HELENA VALLEY/ KENYAN SECRETS

This Sunday run has been a regular for Perth's elite long distance runners ever since Rob DeCastella lived in Perth during the early 80's. Rolling hills, soft pea gravel underfoot and beautiful fresh air. Today, we had no less than 14 runners- including Joel and Gilbert from Kenya who are here for the City to Surf Marathon- but more importantly, junior runners in their late teens who represent the future of middle and long distance running in WA.

I have been fortunate to come through an era where running 23-30km with Ray Boyd and other members of the Club Helena pack was the weekly Sunday norm. Unfortunately, since the late 90's I have noticed our top up and coming juniors have never followed the right of passage and been initiated into the hard yards and massive benefits of running at Helena. The fact that this is changing is going to result in a watershed of improved distance running in years to come.

Running with Joel and Gilbert is also a classic example of the work required to be a world class runner. Too often, runners from East Africa are viewed as having some genetic advantage over the rest of the world. While altitude may assist, I think it is far from the secret to their success.
The secret is HARD WORK. No where else in the world will you find as many athletes (we are talking thousands of athletes) willing to run160k-240k per week/every week, rest after training to ensure full recovery (Often in racing periods abroad barely leaving the house) and following a strict high carb and protein diet with little or no saturated fats.

At the end of the day, distance running is a simple sport and the simple things in life take the most dedication and commitment to excel at.

Till next week

Running Regards
Radar