Speed River Article in Mercury

We notice when a Canadian wins a medal. We see it as an individual success, but it takes more than an individual to reach that level.
Every culture, every country in the world runs. Three per cent of the world plays hockey, very few countries have swimming pools and diving facilities. The carbon-fibre bicycle is a luxury but runners are everywhere. To be an international-level runner is to truly be amongst the best in the world

The World Championships in Track and Field begin in Berlin in two weeks. The World championships are held one year and three years after the Olympics and are equal, if not in hype, then in quality. The entry standards are the same as for the Olympics. To get to the Worlds from Canada, you need to be amongst the best in the world.

The season to qualify for the Worlds closed last Sunday. Only a few local athletes made the cut. Reid Coolsaet qualified in the marathon, Rob Watson in the steeplechase. These two Guelph-based athletes were joined on the Canadian team by Nathan Brannen of Cambridge in the 1500 metres.

This doesn’t tell the whole story. At the Canadian championships, Guelph’s Speed River Track and Field Club had more athletes entered than any other organization. In some events, a third of the runners were training in Guelph. For each one that makes it to the Worlds, there are 10 other runners on his or her heels.

Why Guelph? It is not the facilities. The university has a dirt track, built before Canada adopted the metric system. The St. James track is more holes than patches these days.

Our resource is human, a group of athletes that train together. This is the factory that produces international-level runners.

In a workout, they push themselves through a series of runs, trying to increase their speed as they get more and more tired. The strongest runners lead, the others try to maintain contact. They support, help and push each other. It is this depth of talent working together that produces superior athletes.

Often towards the end of a workout, one of the younger runners will push through to take the lead. This is where the next generation of athletes is found.

Great athletes are the product of these small groups. Pickering and Whitby are now producing our 100-metre female hurdlers. For years Michigan has produced our 1500-metre runners. Britain in the 1980s produced the world’s best middle-distance runners. The training camps of Ethiopia and Kenya are producing the world’s top marathoners.

When the next medal is won, we will learn about someone new, how he or she started to compete in high school and has trained for years. We will praise their individual talent and pin our hopes on their next performance.

The source of talent is social. Over the years, something happens during those intense workouts; something is transmitted, runner to runner, that transforms them into world-class athletes.

You can see them now, on the roads and trails. They are young and lean, running faster than you or I can imagine. This is the place in which champions are forged.

John Marsden is a local runner. His column appears every other Tuesday. He can be reached by email at john@tenda.ca