Distance runner remembers the Bislett Games in Oslo in July 1988 when he won the 10,000m in a British record of 27:23.06<\/span><\/h5>\nI was still working for Ford at that point \u2013 officially as a testing and development engineer, testing all of the various components around the car. When I came back from the 1984 Olympic Games, the powers that be there met me and asked: \u201cIs there anything we can do to help?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019d gone to Europe after those Olympics and raced in Cologne and Koblenz, as did Dave Moorcroft, and I spent quite a bit of time with him. He told me that he\u2019d tried full-time working, part-time working and being a full-time athlete. He found that by far the best balance had been working part-time and having a purpose each day so that he wasn\u2019t just hanging around waiting to train.<\/p>\n
So, when Ford came to me, I said I could do with working shorter hours per day \u2013 from 10am until 3.15pm \u2013\u00a0and they sanctioned it. From 1984 onwards, that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n
I just absolutely grabbed it and made the best use of it, thinking I was incredibly fortunate to have been given this opportunity. I had plenty of time in the morning: to train, to stretch, to shower, to do breakfast properly and go to work.<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t really changed my winter, I think I\u2019d added just a couple of miles to the Sunday run, and I just got better and better and stronger and stronger.<\/p>\n
Then, in the transition from winter into spring, I was doing some bigger sessions on the track and they were going fantastically well.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Mel Batty, my coach, said: \u201cYou should really dip your toe in the water at 10,000m this season.\u201d I thought that sounded like a really good idea.<\/span><\/p>\nI was doing big sessions at Basildon and, one time, [1980 Olympian] Barry Smith came over.<\/p>\n
I told him: \u201cI\u2019m looking at running\u00a0the Bislett 10,000m on Saturday.\u201d He joined in, did half a session, then watched the second half.<\/p>\n
He said to me: \u201cThat was absolutely amazing. On Saturday, you\u2019re either going to run a blinder or you\u2019re going to go too fast and the wheels are going to come off.\u201d<\/p>\n
I still had to get my head around the 10,000m. Nevertheless, if you are a track runner at 5000m, and physically doing great sessions \u2013 and mentally they\u2019re tough as well \u2013 you kind of feel ready for it. And that\u2019s what I was doing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIt had rained a little before the race. The air was slightly oxygenated. It was dead still and cool inside. They scheduled the 10,000m for late evening \u2013 just before the Dream Mile, which Steve Cram won. It made it a long old day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn 1988, I won the 5000m in Zurich and came second in Edinburgh \u2013 I\u2019d had a very good season, coming off a comeback year in 1987. After 1984, I kept suffering Achilles problems, having good winters but tough summers. But, that year, I\u2019d raced quite a bit.<\/span><\/p>\nEverything was pointing towards 27:30 and the British record in Oslo if it all went incredibly well. That was my opinion. That was Mel\u2019s opinion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\nEamonn Martin wins in Oslo (Mark Shearman)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Everything suggested it, so I thought I would work my way to the front group, hang on and then really start to think tactically from maybe four laps out, depending how it was going. And that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n
It was a 13:43 first 5km. I was pretty pleased with that, because I felt really, really good and really comfortable. Gradually, it got whittled down to four of us: Hansj\u00f6rg Kunze of East Germany, Arturo Barrios the Mexican and Salvatore Antibo of Italy.<\/p>\n
With two laps to go, I felt the pace was dropping. I heard the time and I just quickly did the calculation. I thought: \u201cI don\u2019t want this pace to drop because I\u2019m well inside the British record. If we do a 65 lap, I can probably run a 55 at least, if not faster.\u201d Two minutes for the last 800m was just in my head.<\/p>\n
I went to the front, just to\u00a0keep the pace going, but I felt really comfortable. I had to make sure I was inside the British record. I\u2019ve never really thought like that, because I\u2019d always thought about winning the race and that was still my priority.<\/p>\n
We got to the bell. Barrios and Antibo were there and I let them overtake me, because I quite like attacking from behind. With 300m to go, I thought: \u201cI feel brilliant. What am I doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Off I went. I thought I\u2019d sprint from there to the finish and that\u2019s what I did. I think I ran 26 seconds for the last 200m, which is why it was seven seconds inside Brendan Foster\u2019s record.<\/p>\n
People say about the tactics. You have to be aware that there were some seasoned runners in there and I thought I might be hanging on for dear life towards the end of the race and just using my sprint. But I was feeling good and that was probably the really pleasant surprise.<\/span><\/p>\nTwo months later, I didn\u2019t finish in the Olympic 10,000m final. It was two races. I always felt that it was almost ridiculous: running qualifying heats in the 10,000m. Runners are all different and different physical sizes. As a runner, I was probably more on the heavy side so I didn\u2019t think that naturally lent itself to recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/eamonn_martin-e1671370109978-750x442.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEamonn Martin (0381) (Mark Shearman)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Also, I was in great shape for 5000m. I got almost morally pressurised into the 10,000m because I was the British record-holder but I wasn\u2019t an experienced runner. I was a much better 5000m runner then.<\/p>\n
When I went to the World Championships in Tokyo in 1991, they actually had the heat of the 10,000m on the Friday and the final on the Sunday. At least at the Olympics, it had been Friday and then Monday. I ran 28:23.42 in the heat on the Friday on a really hard track. My legs were not in good shape. When I tried to get massage out there, I struggled. The masseurs had gone to bed when I finished the race.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s one-off races at major championships, which is much better. That doesn\u2019t make it easy, but it makes it much better because you\u2019re not recovering from a 10,000m just before you race the final. I\u2019m glad that changed for the better of the sport.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00bb <\/i><\/b>This article was originally published in the October issue of AW magazine. To subscribe, go <\/i>here<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019d gone to Europe after those Olympics and raced in Cologne and Koblenz, as did Dave Moorcroft, and I spent quite a bit of time with him. He told me that he\u2019d tried full-time working, part-time working and being a full-time athlete. He found that by far the best balance had been working part-time and having a purpose each day so that he wasn\u2019t just hanging around waiting to train.<\/p>\n
So, when Ford came to me, I said I could do with working shorter hours per day \u2013 from 10am until 3.15pm \u2013\u00a0and they sanctioned it. From 1984 onwards, that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n
I just absolutely grabbed it and made the best use of it, thinking I was incredibly fortunate to have been given this opportunity. I had plenty of time in the morning: to train, to stretch, to shower, to do breakfast properly and go to work.<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t really changed my winter, I think I\u2019d added just a couple of miles to the Sunday run, and I just got better and better and stronger and stronger.<\/p>\n
Then, in the transition from winter into spring, I was doing some bigger sessions on the track and they were going fantastically well.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Mel Batty, my coach, said: \u201cYou should really dip your toe in the water at 10,000m this season.\u201d I thought that sounded like a really good idea.<\/span><\/p>\n I was doing big sessions at Basildon and, one time, [1980 Olympian] Barry Smith came over.<\/p>\n I told him: \u201cI\u2019m looking at running\u00a0the Bislett 10,000m on Saturday.\u201d He joined in, did half a session, then watched the second half.<\/p>\n He said to me: \u201cThat was absolutely amazing. On Saturday, you\u2019re either going to run a blinder or you\u2019re going to go too fast and the wheels are going to come off.\u201d<\/p>\n I still had to get my head around the 10,000m. Nevertheless, if you are a track runner at 5000m, and physically doing great sessions \u2013 and mentally they\u2019re tough as well \u2013 you kind of feel ready for it. And that\u2019s what I was doing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It had rained a little before the race. The air was slightly oxygenated. It was dead still and cool inside. They scheduled the 10,000m for late evening \u2013 just before the Dream Mile, which Steve Cram won. It made it a long old day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 1988, I won the 5000m in Zurich and came second in Edinburgh \u2013 I\u2019d had a very good season, coming off a comeback year in 1987. After 1984, I kept suffering Achilles problems, having good winters but tough summers. But, that year, I\u2019d raced quite a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n Everything was pointing towards 27:30 and the British record in Oslo if it all went incredibly well. That was my opinion. That was Mel\u2019s opinion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Eamonn Martin wins in Oslo (Mark Shearman)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Everything suggested it, so I thought I would work my way to the front group, hang on and then really start to think tactically from maybe four laps out, depending how it was going. And that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n It was a 13:43 first 5km. I was pretty pleased with that, because I felt really, really good and really comfortable. Gradually, it got whittled down to four of us: Hansj\u00f6rg Kunze of East Germany, Arturo Barrios the Mexican and Salvatore Antibo of Italy.<\/p>\n With two laps to go, I felt the pace was dropping. I heard the time and I just quickly did the calculation. I thought: \u201cI don\u2019t want this pace to drop because I\u2019m well inside the British record. If we do a 65 lap, I can probably run a 55 at least, if not faster.\u201d Two minutes for the last 800m was just in my head.<\/p>\n I went to the front, just to\u00a0keep the pace going, but I felt really comfortable. I had to make sure I was inside the British record. I\u2019ve never really thought like that, because I\u2019d always thought about winning the race and that was still my priority.<\/p>\n We got to the bell. Barrios and Antibo were there and I let them overtake me, because I quite like attacking from behind. With 300m to go, I thought: \u201cI feel brilliant. What am I doing?\u201d<\/p>\n Off I went. I thought I\u2019d sprint from there to the finish and that\u2019s what I did. I think I ran 26 seconds for the last 200m, which is why it was seven seconds inside Brendan Foster\u2019s record.<\/p>\n People say about the tactics. You have to be aware that there were some seasoned runners in there and I thought I might be hanging on for dear life towards the end of the race and just using my sprint. But I was feeling good and that was probably the really pleasant surprise.<\/span><\/p>\n Two months later, I didn\u2019t finish in the Olympic 10,000m final. It was two races. I always felt that it was almost ridiculous: running qualifying heats in the 10,000m. Runners are all different and different physical sizes. As a runner, I was probably more on the heavy side so I didn\u2019t think that naturally lent itself to recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n Eamonn Martin (0381) (Mark Shearman)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Also, I was in great shape for 5000m. I got almost morally pressurised into the 10,000m because I was the British record-holder but I wasn\u2019t an experienced runner. I was a much better 5000m runner then.<\/p>\n When I went to the World Championships in Tokyo in 1991, they actually had the heat of the 10,000m on the Friday and the final on the Sunday. At least at the Olympics, it had been Friday and then Monday. I ran 28:23.42 in the heat on the Friday on a really hard track. My legs were not in good shape. When I tried to get massage out there, I struggled. The masseurs had gone to bed when I finished the race.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s one-off races at major championships, which is much better. That doesn\u2019t make it easy, but it makes it much better because you\u2019re not recovering from a 10,000m just before you race the final. I\u2019m glad that changed for the better of the sport.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00bb <\/i><\/b>This article was originally published in the October issue of AW magazine. To subscribe, go <\/i>here<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n