Marathon runner in top condition

Press, 3 August 1983, Page 22

Marathon runner in top condition

By

ROD DEW

An excellent 10km time trial of 29min 40s — just 16s outside his personal best — has convinced the 26-year-old Christchurch road and cross-country specialist, Don Greig, that he is in top condition for his most testing athletics assignment yet, the inaugural world marathon championship in Helsinki on August 14. Greig left New Zealand last week with New Zealand’s two other marathon representatives, Paul Ballinger (Auckland) and Trevor Wright (Tauranga), extremely happy with his training form. “I am coming up well” Greig said before leaving. “I am in good shape, especially so considering the cold weather. I am in a lot better condition than I was before the Commonwealth Games marathon last year." The reserved New Brighton runner was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth event in Brisbane suffering from blisters and. cramp just a few kilometres from the finish. But that course was a demanding one, with a hilly section towards the finish which eliminated a number of top runners. Some dubbed it the 'killer course.’

The world championship course in Helsinki should not present the same problems. It is of the out-and-

back variety, although it does have a couple of stiff climbs at 15km and 35km which will test the strength of the runners. Greig, at any rate, is perfectly happy with the description he has been given. “There is a bit of undulation, but I have been training for this type of course,’ Greig said. The race is scheduled to start at 2.20 p.m. on the last day of the world track and field championships and some runners have expressed concern at the possibility of a heat problem in the afternoon sun. But Greig has been watching the temperatures in Helsinki and the highest he has seen so far is 21 deg. This, he considers, would be ideal for the race.

The amount of work Greig has done in recent months is a record for him. He has been consistently running 200 km a week in training, and that is about 16km a week more than he achieved in his build-up for the Commonwealth Games.

Although he has done a high proportion of this on his own, he has often had the company of club-mates in the .New Brighton club, among jthem Peter Renner, Neil Lowsley and the new

Canterbury cross-country champion, Tom Birnie. He will polish up his preparation with a final road race over 10km in Helsinki a week before the big race. Greig intends to set out at smin-mile pace, which would give him a finishing time of 2h llmin, comfortably inside his previous best of 2h 13min 50s which he has recorded twice. “I think I am capable of running it in this time,” he said, indicating that he would probably stay close to Ballinger, whose 2h lOmin 15s win in the Fukuoka marathon in Japan last December made him New Zealand’s fastest marathon runner. “Some of the runners will be pretty erratic. I want an even pace, especially early in the race,” Greig said. The battle for the gold medal is expected to be between the tough Australian, Robert de Castella, winner of the Commonwealth Games event, and Carlos Lopez, of Portugal. Greig has the feeling that this time it might be the little Portuguese runner who reaches the finish first. Both have been within seconds of the world’s best time. If they burn one J another out, then top honours

could go to any one of a dozen runners. The selection of the three New Zealand representatives for the event must have given the selection panel some problems. Ballingdr, who had not shown bis full potential before the Commonwelath Games and was left at home, is suddenly elevated to the No. 1 slot after his great Fukuoka performance. This had to earn him automatic selection, but the next two places were not so clear. Greig got the nod after his 2h 15min 29s run for second in the Auckland international marathon at the end of May. He was beaten, unexpectedly, by Alain Lazare, of New Caledonia, but had the satisfaction of pushing the man who has been considered New Zealand’s top marathon exponent in recent years, Kevin Ryan, into third place. Greig has been criticised for travelling to Auckland for the race instead of running in the City of Christchurch marathon in his home city a week later. But he had hoped for some strong competition from Ryan. “That was just a gamble I took. And I was not disappointed by my performance. I had had only five weeks training at the time.”

Wright, an Englishman living in New Zealand, earned his place with a 2h 12min 29s run for eighth in the London marathon in April. The factor that Rod Dixon, Dick Quax and Ryan have all run faster than either Greig or Wright could not match the more consistent and more recent performances of those chosen. Greig, in particular, has

grown markedly in stature as a marathon runner in recent times. He has now started in 11 and has completed nine. He is in no doubt that he will chalk up his tenth finish in Helsinki, and in impressive style. Then it will be time for thoughts of the Olympic marathon in Los Angeles next year — the greatest challenge of all.