MARATHON MAN MYSTIFIED BY TOKYO FAILURE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30592, 7 November 1964, Page 13

MARATHON MAN MYSTIFIED BY TOKYO FAILURE

"The Press'* Special Service AUCKLAND, Nov. 6. One man who agrees with any expression of disappointment in the New Zealand marathon runners in the Tokyo Olympic race is the man who suffered most and finished the furthest back of the New Zealanders, I. Keats. Keats said yesterday that he, along with the other runners, R. L. Puckett and J. L. Julian, and the New Zealand coach, Mr A. L. Lydiard, had

been mystified by the poor performance. “I agree with what Mr Lydiard says about us looking as if we had been hit by a steamroller,” said Keats. ‘‘But what was the steamroller? We don’t know. “A lot of runners from other countries were as far below their best as we were. If you investigate you find that below the top six no-one ran up to his best “I can’t see what could have caused the trouble. The course was tough, but only through the monotony and the hard-

ness of the surface. Jeff Julian had won the pre-Olym-pic race on the same course. “The pace was very fast—but I certainly wasn’t running too fast, and I don’t think the others were running over-fast. “I keep feeling that there was some intangible factor that caused a lot of us to run poorly—but I don’t know what it was. "You can’t help but come back to the old fact that it’s the results that count and that you should be able to be at your best “I had stomach trouble. But then, if you’re ill it can be argued that you ought to have avoided or overcome that illness. If you’re injured

it can be argued that you should have made sure that you did not get injured. “After all. it’s not just good luck that the champions get to the start line without having been upset by troubles. Getting there in top condition is part of being a champion. “I agree that we performed poorly and that marathon running in New Zealand has been set back. We have to admit it and now try and do something to restore it.” Keats, who has been ill since returning from Tokyo, ran in a 60-mile two-man relay on Saturday, to keep faith with his team-mate, but was unable to finish.