IS IT TIME ‘THE COMPLETE RUNNER’ CALLED HIS CAREER COMPLETE?

At the time of writing, TERRY LONERGAN has completed 99 x half marathons, (95 of them under 90 minutes), with the long established Freckleton Half Marathon planned for his 100^th. Add to this record 112 x sub 40 minute 10ks, 100 x 10 milers under 68 minutes (75 sub 60 minutes) and 25 x sub 3 hour marathons, (PB. of 2:25.35), but with PBs well in the past and old rivals now getting the better of him, it begs the questions………….’Why he is still racing?’ ‘What drives him on?’ Is it time the ‘Complete Runner’ called his career complete?!

Manchester born TERRY LONERGAN began his running career 47 years ago, gaining selection for the Manchester Schools’ team after his first ever race, the city championships, where he placed 7^th. Invited shortly afterwards to join Sale Harriers, he enjoyed much success during his teenage years as the team won East Lancashire, Northern and National Cross Country titles and shares a 4 x 1 mile relay British record which still stands. Further success came with a 3^rd place in the AAA junior 2000 metre steeplechase, 9^th in the Northern Cross Country Championships and 4^th behind three senior GB internationals in the Rivington Pike Fell Race.

The future looked bright until a series of collapsed lungs, (spontaneous pneumothorax), dashed hopes of international steeplechase selection but, undeterred, within six weeks of surgery in 1969, he was out running again!

Leaving teaching after six years, Terry established ‘THE COMPLETE RUNNER’ shop based in Ilkley and began the club clothing brand FASTRAX in the early 1980s; now visible on thousands of club vests throughout the U.K. and Ireland.

Terry returned to regular competition with Bingley Harriers on the country, on the road and on the fells. The highlights in this period being a “first class” time of 3:13.07 in the 3 Peaks (1977) and silver in the Northern 12 man relay of 1978 which saw Bingley break through as a force to rival the then dominant Gateshead Harriers and Bradford based Airedale and Spen Valley.

With the advent of the “running boom” in the early ‘80s hundreds of new clubs were being set up, just like Wesham, and Terry changed his allegiance to one such new club in Leeds - Valley Striders. The “buzz” in the new club was, like so many others at the time, about the marathon. He had sampled two marathons in the ‘70s with moderate success but, with a greater respect for the 26.2 mile event, he went on to race a further 23, (most of them around 2:30 to 2:35), including two first places at Morecambe and Selby in 1984, (of five run that year!) However, many older members will recall the run with Grete Weitz in London in 1983 when she broke the world record and Terry ran a P.B. of 2:25.35. A time good enough for only 200^th place back then, but would merit a top 40 place now. Half marathon wins followed at Garforth, Saddleworth and the Brass Monkey in York (67.55) - a favourite with many Wesham members.

With Valley Striders seemingly reluctant, at that time, to look much further than marathons for team competition, as a M50 veteran Terry was lured back to Bingley Harriers and went on to win several BVAF team Golds. The standard necessary to stay in the team meant that in 1999, when he turned 50, was an especially good year with a 34:58 clocking in the Salford 10k and a 76:16 half marathon in Spain.

2002 saw him back on the surgeon’s table having a tumour removed from his left foot, (Morton’s Neuroma), as suffered by Paula Radcliffe a few years ago. In 2006 he suffered a shoulder dislocation. But still the training and racing continued. Terry is now 60 and is virtually semi-retired so has time to run every day. This year, 2009, he has not missed a day and is currently averaging 53 miles per week.

Terry believes the key to continuity is in the planning. Set goals for a period, say January to Easter, define what you want to achieve, choose the races accordingly and plan your training to achieve those goals. He believes it is important to stay focussed on your own aims and objectives. Don’t be deflected by others who are not necessarily working to common goals. In the planning, build in a good deal of variety. A sensible blend of long runs, going over your racing distance, speed work (at least 3 miles of effort up to 5/ 6 miles for marathons) hill sessions, off road. Do your races…..then evaluate your performance …….good or bad………reviewing the training you put in.

What does Terry think about Wesham Road Runners?

“I have been impressed by the growth of Wesham and am very appreciative of the business the club has put our way since its inception. I particularly admire the members’ appetite for racing and the way races are targeted collectively. Unlike my own club, Wesham members are not afraid to travel out of the area for races. The camaraderie developed has resulted in a high performance standard as witnessed by the M50 team winning BVAF relay. Contrast this with my club where, despite having over 340 members, last year we only had one man and one woman under the hour for 10 miles. However, I suspect quite a few Wesham members are addicted to their weekly fix to the detriment of even better performances. I was guilty of this in my 30s; in 1985 I did two marathons, four half marathons and two 10k’s in 9 weeks! Needless to say, the second marathon on week 9 was a big disappointment, albeit in 2:31.19. You will find then, as you get older, that racing back to back weekends can lead to problems. Better that races are part of a build up to a key event and chosen sensibly in line with your own personal aims.”

“With so many racing so frequently on Sundays common sense would plan Monday as an easy recovery day. Yet Wesham’s club night is Monday when inevitably there is some good hard training to be engaged in. The danger I feel is that you go down to the club for an easy run and chat after your weekend race but someone who hasn’t raced the previous day “tempts” you into a run which is too hard and too long……result...injury! I’m sure you’ll tell me that there are hard training sessions done by groups of members on other nights and at weekends.”

If you are drifting through your week’s running, going along with what others are doing, it’s because you’ve no plan. As they say:……FAIL TO PREPARE…PREPARE TO FAIL…..or become injured! I use Excel on the computer to plan and monitor training/ racing. I use www.gmap-pedometer.com to plan and measure runs to ensure they are of the correct distance and, of course, the GPS systems help with pace. Recording is vital to evaluate …whether successful or not

BUILD INTO YOUR PLANNING

Easy/ recovery runs (2 to 2 .5 mins. Slower than 10k pace)

Steady runs (1.5 to 2 minutes slower than race pace)

Brisk runs (1 minute slower than race pace)

Tempo runs (plus 10% onto your race pace)

Speed sessions (at race pace or under)

Whilst I’m running 50 to 60 miles at the moment, averaging 53, at my peak in the ‘80s I would have been doing in excess of 70 going up to 90, 12 runs per week. Whilst racing marathons, in that week there would have been a long run of between 20 and 30 miles, (yes, OVER the marathon distance!), and two speed sessions. Now at the age of 60, whilst I am still racing half marathons, I will still do an over distance run of up to 16 miles and fit in one speed session. The speed session is usually 4 or 5 miles of effort in the winter…..2 x 2 miles, 4/5 x mile, 1k reps. After Wilmslow I’ll try to sharpen up a bit for the shorter races.

What I’m finding now is that the start of runs is very slow until the old bones get going. So when racing I need a good 2 miles warm up and always run the second half faster. After the Green Drive 5 last year, (in which legs still recovering from the Ultrafit 10 miler the previous week were asking questions after 4 miles!), a certain Wesham member who shall remain nameless…….let’s called him Rock H……queried the fact that I wasn’t quite the runner I was. Maybe, like he did years ago, I should take a break from training everyday and frequent racing. But as I have said I have the time to run everyday, so why not!

I achieved athletics data ranking on all distances last year as a top age 55, so why not! I am still achieving times which a lot of younger people would wish for, so why not! I still generally finish high up in the age group, generally beaten by rivals comparatively new to the sport, so why not! But most of all ………….after nearly 50 years, I am still enjoying my running……along the canal towpaths of the Leeds to Liverpool canal, around the Fewston/Swinsty reservoirs, along the trails at Bolton Abbey and at the track in Nelson. Lots of variety! Onward and forward!

Written by: Terry Lonergan – Ilkley Harriers AC

Submitted: 25^th March 2009

Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor