Liz McColgan broke with prevailing wisdom yesterday when she attacked the softly-softly attitude to exercise for youngsters.
"It's one reason why we don't succeed in endurance athletics," said McColgan, first UK woman to hold a world distance title and Scottish record-holder at 10,000m and the marathon.
"It's not just a matter of insufficient physical education in schools. We're too scared to let youngsters do any distance running. Look at kids in Ethiopia and Kenya. They do far more than we do, and produce far more champions. It's not just about altitude.
"When I was a kid, I ran everywhere. I even ran to races. I was training the Kenyan way without knowing it. If we are going to produce champions, we have to get volume fitness into children, some decent mileage, and stop over-protecting and pampering them.
"If we don't, Britain is never going to produce another Paula Radcliffe the world marathon record-holder. It annoys me to see our sport in such a poor state. The depth of talent is just not there compared with 20 years ago. Public expectation was so much higher then. I don't understand why we're accepting softer standards now."
The Carnoustie mum of five is clearly not going quietly into retirement, after her final appearance in the Flora London Marathon 12 days ago, when she jogged round in just over 2hr 50min, for Leukemia Research.
"I really put nothing into that. I was just hoping to get round because I'd done so little training, after problems 14 operations with my toe. It's mind-blowing to think that at 42, I'm still capable of running a time which would qualify for the world championships this year. But I'm not interested in trying for it. I was only ever interested in running as fast as I could, and being the best in the world.
"I think a lot of athletes don't have that kind of drive. They do not get down to the nitty gritty of what training is about."
She criticises coaches for not sharing information, and questions the work ethic. "I'm not saying that all athletes aren't training hard. Some are bursting a gut, doing sessions. But I wonder about the structure, and the context of their training. Some just want to get on the Great Britain team, and do only what needs to be done for that. But don't dream the dream and then not do the work. Some of them just haven't got the drive.
"I think coaches are too secretive. Paula and people like us should get together and say exactly what we have been doing. But to be honest, very few people have ever asked how I actually trained."
Supreme endurance athlete of her era, Liz is still a big enough name to be in demand for event launches, as she was yesterday in Glasgow where Norwich Union announced a new city v city 10k. London, Liverpool, and Glasgow will stage races for the public and fun runners on June 3. One race will start as the other finishes, and there will be live on-screen handovers. Up to 3000 athletes will run in the Scottish event in Strathclyde Park. The winner will be determined by the average time of every runner in the field, using computer chip technology. To enter, visit: www.cityvcity.com
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