UKC

Ron Hills running streak finely comes to an end, well done Ron you have inspired a lot of people and one of the greatest runners ever on road, fell and cross country.

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/01/30/ron-hill-ends-running-streak-52-...

In reply to robert-hutton:

Slacker : )

In reply to robert-hutton:


I confess, I much preferred Erica Roe's streak to Ron's!

In reply to robert-hutton:

and thanks for the Ron Hills legging type things! not tight like proper leggings nor baggy like tracksuit bottoms, in fact, just right.

In reply to robert-hutton:
I'm a month in to a running streak myself, it really does help as a motivator on those days you otherwise wouldn't bother. Whilst I'm being a bit stricter than Ron has been in recent years about what constitutes a run, I certainly won't be trying to emulate the longevity of his streak. It is worth remembering that he started his streak because he was disappointed with his performance at the 1964 Olympics.

I have met him many times, he is a top bloke. I don't know him well, but we have a few mutual friends. I've always admired him when I have watched him running in local races, finishing third or fourth in his age group, getting beaten by young children and 70 year old women*. Most people who have been the very best just give up when they stop being, Ron just loves running.

*To be fair, I've only seen one 70 year old woman beat him and she is an age group international.

In reply to robert-hutton:

A bit more background here;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-38810882

Just amazing!

In reply to The New NickB:

Yes I am surprised that he has only got an MBE as he has been a great ambassador to the sport, his club attending many of the races just to watch and encourage others, I see he did loads of park runs last year.

With his scientific background he was of the first to log every aspect of his training looking for any gain I am surprised that UK athletics didn't utilise his knowledge back in the 1970/80's, again his books encouraged many runners learning from his mistakes.

Also providing us older ones with the Ron Hill leggings I remember getting my first pair around 1978 wow they was the bees knees, plus his cross over shorts and vest range, in fact the other great Ron seems to be still wearing his vests.

In reply to The New NickB:

Genuine question here - in the 60s / 70s was it generally thought (by coaches and athletes) that running every day would improve performance? (or to flip it round, never resting?)

In reply to Andy Hardy:

I think it was more motivation to do the miles required, unless you were Soviet Armed Forces or East European, none of the athletes were professional, so time would be an issue. You can run every day and still rest, you just have an easier day, it's all relative.

In reply to robert-hutton:

When people ask me, and they seldom do, I always mention I beat a world record holder and Olympic runner.

(To be fair to Ron, it was a Park Run, he's nearly twice my age and he was stopping to shake hands, chat and sign autographs. But a win's a win.)

He's a thoroughly nice bloke, btw. His motivational talk before the run started with the immortal words: "Right everyone, shut up!". But in the nicest possible way. It cracked everyone up and set the tone for a great run.

In reply to Andy Hardy:

If you look at others Derek Clayton, Ron Clark, and Jim Alder running everyday was not the option running three times a day plus a full working week was the norm, in fact if you look at Ron Hills /Clarks or Jim Alder books the best races they did was after a hard week, however athletes was self coached and no one looking on to make a judgement on overwork and the big picture.

In reply to robert-hutton:

Wow. What an inspiration.

In reply to dread-i:

People do tend to talk over Parkrun marshalls, and I do find it a bit rude when they do, so I'd welcome him coming around to more Parkruns to tell people to shut up while they are doing the briefing!

In reply to robert-hutton: I'm sorry, I don't think you're correct at all. Running most days was absolutely normal by the start of the 60's. One of my favourite books is Clayton's 'Run to the Top' and his starting premise was that you would do 5 every morning and 10 every evening and take it from there. I've also gotten this from the horses mouth so to speak. I'm not old enough to remember this but have met a lot of people directly involved at that time. Also there was extensive coaching by the sixties tho' it was rather hit and miss tho' settling down by the mid/late 60's.

You might want to have a look at the UK all time rankings for 10 miles, half marathon to see how effective these methods were. There is a cluster of good results late 70's to early 90's when the fashion was certainly to bang in the miles.

Hill's streak is extraordinary, and he's really toughed it out to get this far. He's certainly run when he was pretty darn ill and I tihnk on top of broken bones too. I do however subscribe to the view that is book is a manual on what NOT to do unless you're interested in overtraining, and there's a pretty harsh critique of his results in Noakes Lore of Running - in summary he should have done a lot better.

In reply to wbo:
Should he have done a lot better? 1969/1970 were pretty amazing. He had no chance at altitude in Mexico.

I've lost a lot of respect for Noakes of late.

In reply to robert-hutton:

Puts the end of my 22 day streak into perspective.

In reply to Andy Hardy:


I used to run in the late 60s, early 70s (before I took up climbing). I can't remember anything being said about resting as part of the training regime, apart from in the final stages of the "glycogen loading" preparation for a marathon (developed, if I remember correctly by Ron Hill). One of the in vogue training regimes at the time was "Long Slow Distance" - with the emphasis on lots of miles - 100+ per week being typical.

In reply to robert-hutton:

And us younger-ones! Got my pair of tracksters in 2004 for the OMM and is probably one of the best £10 I have spent in terms of the use I have gotten from them since. Still available for ~£1`5. My father in law has a purple pair (sadly no longer available) I covet.

In reply to Timothy:

Still wearing basic tracksters all the time, possibly not as trendy as all the modern, stretchy, high tech leggings, but to us oldies they are as indispensable as a string vest - oh hang on, he won races wearing them too