Ace

The Croups Profile: Mick McGeoch

March 25, 2004

This is the second in our profiles of members. Mick was, naturally, the person I first thought of, but he warned me that he might go on at great length. And he has.

I’d welcome suggestions for future profiles, just use the comments. I’ve had a request for Alan Mann, so, assuming that he’s willing, he’ll be next.

How old were you when you started running? And why?

I started running competitively when joining Comprehensive School at the age of 11. My brother Keith (he’s five years older than me) had done very well at both cross country and track racing in school, and my sister Jill (who’s eight years older than me) went on to be captain of Manchester University Ladies Team. I was the baby of the family. We’re always likely to be influenced by older brothers or sisters.

However, I would say that the seeds were planted long before that. There were several kids who lived within 100 yards of us who were of a similar age, and had considerable sporting talent. One of them went on to represent Welsh Schoolboys at Football, Cricket and Basketball. We made our own entertainment and were always playing games of one description or another. There were plenty of fields and woods nearby to play in. Also, there were no computer consoles to play with then. Does that make me sound like a grumpy old man? On a serious note, I feel genuinely sorry for kids today that don’t have the facilities that we had. No wonder so few are taking up sport and so many are obese!

Did/do you do other sports?

I tried most sports at school, and in fairness enjoyed most of them. I prefer individual sports to team ones — but that’s just my mentality. I’m selfish — plain and simple. If I do well, I want the glory, and I don’t want to be a hanger-on.
I didn’t have much talent at other sports — my eye/hand co-ordination isn’t very good, for example. Geran shouldn’t have encouraged me to go swimming or cycling when I got injured because, believe me, I’m useless.

Long distance running motivated me because of its relationship between hard work and success. Natural talent, though important, didn’t appear to be as important as in other sports. And the better I got, the more motivated I became. It’s a chain reaction really.

What do you do for a living/recreation outside running? How do they fit together?

I’m very lucky. I’m an administrator for the NHS. I can, for the most part, determine my own work load, which means I can choose to start work at 9.30 AM. So long as the work gets done, my employers are happy, and that, to my mind, is how it should be. I know of plenty of people who claim to work much harder than me, but don’t work effectively. I’m sure you know what I mean.

I’m not at all materialistic by nature: I work to live, not the other way around.

This means I can train twice a day.

I’ve been with the NHS since 1992. Before that, I worked in an accounts office with a heating company in Cardiff. My boss, Harry, a Glaswegian, and I got on very well, but I used to wind him up all the time with my running. “Just remember,” I’d tell him whilst in work “that this is just my rest period between training sessions!” The entire accounts office staff were made redundant in 1991. It was called “rationalisation” but only served to reinforce my philosophy.

Are you obsessed?

…worse than that.

What do you consider your best race(s) so far?

Two in particular stand out. My fastest marathon of 2:17:58 set in the 1983 London Marathon is definitely my finest athletic performance. It was a perfect day. I ran negative splits of 69:07/68:51 — one of only two occasions in my 62 marathons that I’ve managed it. I beat many runners who were clearly vastly superior athletes to myself, simply through self-control and pace judgement, which I’ve always maintained is the single most important factor determining marathon success.

Winning the British Veterans 5000 metres championship at Blackpool in 1997 gave me the biggest buzz. Nothing beats winning, particularly if it’s a very close race and is perhaps, against the odds. I don’t consider myself a track runner and I knew there were athletes in this race who were faster than me.

With 800 metres to go there was still a bunch of six of us altogether. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses in a situation like this is critical. I knew I’d lose if it came to the last 200 metres. I knew I’d lose if I went too early. However, one tactic which I used to use with some success around this time was to throw in a burst of acceleration with 450 metres to go. Rationale: deflate the opposition. Make them think you’re better than them. 450 metres is a long way to try to hold a sprint, but if you hesitate in covering such a break than you’ll find your opposition has suddenly grabbed a 10 metre advantage. So much of running is in the mind.

Anyway, I ran the last lap in 64.2 seconds, which for me is pretty impressive (I was nearly 42, don’t forget!) and my winning time was 15:26.9.

In the same meeting my brother Keith won a silver in the MV45 1500 metres and Eero Keranen won a silver in the MV40 steeplechase. It was a memorable weekend for all of us.

Onward and upward — or all downhill from here?

More of the same, I hope. I need to be realistic though. My body tells me I’m getting old. The stopwatch never lies. I still try to be Peter Pan, but the body clock keeps ticking. It’s still 17 months away, but I hope turning 50 will provide some new goals.

Have you had any injuries?

I’ve been exceptionally lucky. However, an achilles injury sustained in March last year really frightened me. I can usually read my body signs very well, but I genuinely did not know what to do. Healthcare professionals I turned to for advice gave me conflicting information, even though each was justified in what they said. It was a chance phone call to Chris Sharp, my gait analyst in Swansea, which provided the answer. I now wear heel raises in all my footwear (including workshoes) to alleviate any undue strain on the achilles.

I lost my 22 year London Marathon sequence, but fortunately was able to resume training after eight weeks. I still feel that it was a price worth paying.

What sports (if any) do you follow? What teams/athletes?

My wife Caroline and I are both sports fanatics and we subscribed to SKY in 1993. What a brilliant decision! I know not everyone can afford it, and there are compelling arguments on such sports monopolies, but for the £31/month we pay, we couldn’t ask for a better service or choice of sports.

I’m not particularly a team follower, Caroline loves her football, particularly, Liverpool FC. She also thinks Alan Green on Radio 5, is brilliant, both in his commentary and on the 606 phone-in.

Andre Agassi can do no wrong in our house, and tennis will be the poorer when he retires.

We also both enjoy watching the Golf Majors, and think Tiger Woods is perhaps the top sportsman on the planet, although the past couple of years have detracted a little from his world dominance.

And then there’s athletics…

Why did you join us?

Founder member, and one of the original twelve who met in the “Old Arcade". Prior to 1980 there was much less road running taking place, and I was a member of Barry and Vale Harriers very much doing my own thing. The rest is history, and chronicled in back copies of ACE.

Posted by Dave at March 25, 2004 05:32 PM

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