Ryde Harriers Running Club

2 weeks ago

A write up that appeared in the Road Runners Club Magazine, many thanks to them for allowing us to reprint.

Ian Jolliffe Memories of the Isle of Wight Marathon
(especially 1968)

Inspired by Edwin Oxlade’s ‘Memories of the Finchley Twenty’ and John Trory’s mention of the Isle of Wight Marathon in RoadRunner Number 211, I thought I would share some memories of my own. I am of the same generation as Edwin – indeed we overlapped slightly as students at the University of Sussex in the 1960s. Hence, like him, I also had the Finchley 20 as one of my regular races for a few years, albeit somewhat slower than Edwin.
However, amongst my regular longer races the Isle of Wight Marathon always took first place. This is because throughout its 60 years it has always been a welcoming race, with courses that have changed to accommodate increasing traffic, but which have remained interesting and challenging. An extra personal reason is that the Isle of Wight is where I grew up, so from the time it started it was always my ambition to run it. I left the Island when I went to university (returning after retirement) but my family remained there, so a visit to the family on the 3rd weekend of May incorporated the marathon in many years when I lived in Kent, though it was a bit too tricky to arrange in most of the 12 years that I lived in Aberdeen. Its 1968 edition was my first marathon, and 2016 my last.
The marathon celebrated its 60th running in 2016 (now in October, rather than May), and it was my 26th and final completion. The first time it was run was in 1957, when I was 11. My first memory of it is of ‘ grizzled old men’ (probably in their 30s) running through Brading on a hot day, with at least some of them wearing wet knotted handkerchiefs to keep themselves cool – or am I imagining this scene? I knew I wanted to do it at the earliest opportunity, namely at 21, the youngest age at which such a distance was allowed for men – and, of course, ladies were deemed far too fragile to attempt such a distance at any age. Unfortunately, my final university exams were scheduled in the week following the marathon and I really had no idea what the after-effects of such a distance might be, so I took the sensible decision and postponed my debut for a year.
I can’t remember my training schedule for my first marathon, but I suspect it mainly consisted of races for the university cross-country team, mostly over 5 miles or so. One longer preparatory race was the Sussex 20, the previous month. There were only 6 competitors, and I was 6th in around 2 hours 15 minutes, more than 10 minutes behind the 5th finisher. I wasn’t completely alone, though. The 20 mile walking race started half an hour earlier over the same course, so I was very slowly picking off the walkers.
After this inauspicious rehearsal, the marathon could only be better, and so it was. That year (1968) it incorporated the RRC Championship, so numbers were high - 89 finishers, compared to 56 in 1967 and 49 in 1969. It was won by Roger Cressy of Hillingdon AC in 2.28.49, with yours truly finishing 49th in 3:01:07. Although I was running for the University of Sussex, I was also a member of Ryde Harriers. They kindly allowed me to count as an ‘Island runner’ and I managed to squeeze home first in this category by less than two minutes.
My last IW marathon in 2016 was nearly 2 hours slower but, fantasising for a moment, if I’d reproduced my first ever time I’d have finished 6th in the race, though only 2nd IW runner. 240 runners finished my final IW, compared to 89 in my first and the profile was very different. Five runners (2%) finished inside 3 hours and 158 (66%) outside 4 hours in 2016 compared to 47 (53%) and 3 (3%)respectively in 1968. The increase in numbers and the widening of abilities and ages (see below) are, I believe, a really good thing. My opinion is that races similar in size and nature to those organised by Ryde Harriers are ideal. The big city marathons have their place, but I recommend doing them once to tick the box before settling on real marathons like the IW.
I still have the Official Programme (was there an unofficial one?) for the 1968 race and an amazing document it is - 20 pages, of which 7 are advertisements for local companies. Entries probably closed some weeks earlier, as the programme includes a complete list of entries, and handicaps were calculated for the more experienced runners, with 4 handicap prizes awarded. With many years to wait before online entries, everything was reliant on the good old GPO and a local printing company. The programme devoted a page each to who might win the race and who might be first IW finisher, though in neither case did they manage to successfully predict the winners. There were prizes for the first 4 finishers, for 3 teams of 3, and for the first over 40. There were only 7 in the over-40 category (8% of finishers) whereas 65% of male finishers in 2016 were over 40, with 6 of them (3%) over 70. There were, of course, no women in the race – compare that with 61 (25%) of those finishing in 2016.
Prize values ranged from 7 guineas for the winner to 1 guinea for 4th handicap and a cup or shield (and the glory) for the 1st IW and 1st IW veteran. A Grand Social Evening took place in the evening. Over 30 Race Officials were listed in the programme, as well as organisations providing ‘Markers’. I assume that the ‘markers’ are marshals, but I must confess that I’m not sure what the 9 judges did. If you were a spectator you could hop on a coach “immediately after the start, following the progress of the race, stopping frequently to watch the athletes go by”. Sadly, the one other University of Sussex runner that day, Chris Forton, was never seen by the coach. He chose to travel on the day and fell foul of the ferries, setting out on a lonely run 40 minutes after the rest of the field - though he did catch one other competitor.
Between 1968 and 2016 I managed to fit in another 25 starts, finishing in 24, for a total of 26 finishes, an appropriate number for marathons. The one non-finish was in 1972. Having steadily improved in the previous 4 years, I foolishly tried to stay with a chasing group of runners early on and slowed down rapidly after losing touch with them. When I was walking DOWNhill at 20 miles I was only too happy to accept my father’s offer of a lift. There were other years when the heat tempted early retirement, but I kept it going, hoping that the tide was in at the finish along the sea wall. I can also remember years when there was no longing for high tide, as the torrential rain around the course kept everyone suitably damp. My best ever IW marathon was in 1981 when I got round in 2:39:06. One of my best runs ever at any distance, given the hilly nature of the course, but I was only 21st home on that day.
And so back to my final ‘Isle of Wight’ in 2016. I was tempted to do it one more time after a 10-year gap, to celebrate its 60th edition and my entry into the M70 category. We had a beautiful day for it, mainly sunny and reasonably cool. Like all IW courses it has its fair share of hills, especially in the final 5 miles, but traffic is at a minimum compared to its earlier routes. Not the easiest run I’ve done, but I had the company of my son all the way and we finished reasonably strongly, though more than two hours slower than my best. Many many thanks to Ryde Harriers for organising this wonderful event 60 times – long may it continue. I’ll look forward to helping out in some of the next few.
Ian Jolliffe (RRC 3295) ... See MoreSee Less