Moira Gordon: Radcliffe joins forces with McColgan to call for cycling-style centres of excellence for athletics

Published on Saturday 22 November 2008 18:38

TWO OF Great Britain's top endurance runners have called on the sport to start pulling together in the quest for medals. With the London Olympics less than four years away and the Commonwealth Games coming to Glasgow in 2014, Liz McColgan and Paula Radcliffe say there has to be a shake-up to the system now, before it's too late.

Citing the British cycling team as the perfect role models, McColgan said: "Look at their success. The best cyclists weren't told to stay in their own little corners of the UK, they were told that if they wanted to be part of Team GB they had to come to Manchester where they could sleep, eat, drink and train.

"The best coaches are there and they have all the best technology for bikes and no stone has been left unturned and if you want to do it, to be successful, you will jump at the chance to go into an environment like that.

"I think with athletics you would need more than just one centre, ideally you would have a base at altitude so the athletes could go and train in the camp there and you would probably have to have a base in London and then one outwith the central belt, maybe up north, in Scotland or even in Wales. Then you would have a co-ordinator, where all three were connected by someone who could work out criteria and say at the moment you are better to go here or spend six weeks of the year there. We don't have that co-ordinated structure at the moment and because of that, other than Paula, we have zilch, no good men or women endurance runners."

In Scotland to work with the scottishathletics Bank of Scotland Endurance Squad which McColgan fronts, Radcliffe was quick to support the view that a more unified squad system would help at all levels.

"That's one of the things we have done wrong in this country," said Radcliffe, who recently added a third New York Marathon win to her collection and aims to keep going until 2012 in search of the elusive Olympic medal. "People are almost afraid to go and train together and are happy being the best in one training group and another person is happy being the best in their training group but you get more out of yourself if the best athletes are all going out and training together. You push each other that little bit extra.

"There's rarely going to be a day when three people in a group all have a tired day or a down day on the same day so that helps lift you and gives you that extra 10 per cent that you can put into the training. And you learn from things other athletes do. You don't even need to ask questions, you just see things you can incorporate into your own training."

During the 70s and 80s, squad training was massive, according to Radcliffe, and Britain reaped the rewards during a halcyon time, especially in the middle distance events. There has to be a return to that approach and fast, says McColgan.

"It's so important that we don't do anything wrong now because there is no time left to fix mistakes. That's why the rush is on now. Endurance in Britain just now is a mess. They don't have a year to sort it out! What we need to be doing right now, this minute, is getting the top crop of 17-20 year olds together and up and running.

"That's what we are looking for but we are a good nation for dragging our heels and we need someone to step up to the plate and say this is what we need to be doing now.

"We do have a lot of talented youngsters but if we don't do something now we are not giving any of them enough time to develop into an Olympic champion."

By working with the endurance squad, McColgan is already pointing the way. She has now gathered a group of aspiring youngsters together near her Carnoustie base and has ensured they have the right environment to concentrate on the running.

"Several of them are at the stage now where they have to be thinking, in four years time I want to be there challenging for an Olympic medal and that's what they are thinking.

"They are actually into flats where they are all athletes and they are out of the university party environment. They live at the golf course where they have their runs set out and train as a group. They have already shown that commitment and that's why I'm excited but we need that to be copied in other areas of Britain.

"At the moment there is still no reason why, in 2014, we can't have a Scottish runner up there with a medal – it's still not too late – but if we don't get it right now, that won't materialise and I think everyone is beginning to realise that. With 2012 and 2014 coming up, we have to have winners and we are getting a good push but we are still not quite getting it right."

The appointment of a new head coach, Charles van Commenee, is seen as a step in the right direction, as is his tougher stance on funding. Neither McColgan or Radcliffe feels the lottery funding has been spent wisely, with the latter referring to the "private-number plate brigade", who have squandered their funding rather than channelling it for the good of their athletics development.

McColgan also wants to see it spent more wisely. Instead of placing all the eggs in one basket and funding one or two talented stars, she believes it would be better spent fostering a group training environment.

Radcliffe speaks of the benefits she got from attending Loughborough University. One of the best sporting establishments in the country, it allowed her to continue training with her own coach at the weekends while also being welcomed into the student sessions. McColgan had to travel to Florida to find an environment similarly conducive to success.

If 2012 is to leave a lasting legacy, there are worse things it could consider than centres of excellence, where not only the next McColgans and Radcliffes could prosper but the generations after them.