As a kid you cannot run without the support of your school, parents or both. In my case it was my Grandfather whom I grew up with, in two separate stints! He claimed indifference but strangely the dog always needed a walk somewhere different when I needed a lift to a race! Turning up at school cross country races claiming he didn't know I was running was always appreciated, but his way was never to show interest, even though we both knew he never walked that way! I still remember him letting me have my Christmas present early after winning the District Cross Country in the second year, my first record player and tape deck! I also remember that he made me pay for half of it too - some point of principle that I never got at the time! I guess I never fully appreciated him for it- the memory always soured by being sent out into the garden in the dark, freezing cold and tired to clean my spikes!
However, that support would never have been needed if it were not for my major inspiration - everybody's favourite, the Chemistry teacher!
When I started secondary school that Chemistry teacher who ran the cross country and athletics teams was called Alan Domleo. An old fashioned character who generally did not get the respect of the students but who clearly lived and breathed running. I never saw him run and it was many years before I learned about his background and history.When you are a kid you just don't think to ask!!
He ran the school races and drove us around Derbyshire to a variety of small races against other schools. Those who showed promise or who were just keen he introduced to his club, Derby and County AC. Here I started to run proper races- North Midlands League cross country and the Young Athletes track and field league.As I progressed I did the Northern Counties and even the Nationals, always being fetched and carried by Mr Domleo.
I have no idea how much of his time was given up to drive me around the country but it was a lot- 2 or 3 times a week for 7 years, and it was a 10 mile round trip just to pick me up! I later found out that he had suffered a serious injury and had had to give up running but he was actually a former international, running the marathon for GB or England in one of the major championships in the 60's or early 70's- shamefully I cannot remember the exact details but I did find that in the 1973 World Marathon rankings he was in the top 70, just 4 minutes behind Ron Hill!
So to the point of this tale- kids do not appreciate the efforts people make on their behalf. We all know that so what did I do to put this right? Well in 2010 the National Cross Country came back to Roundhay Park in Leeds. I was still not running again at this time but thought it was a great opportunity to look up my old mentor and say hi.Incredibly I managed to find him and introduced myself (he looked the same, I have aged a lot!) and he thought I was there to run. I explained how I had gone up on the off chance he would be there to say thanks for everything he did for me.
The bus full of kids he had with him could not understand why he was so emotional - I explained that 25 years before I was like them, being run around the country and it took me until I was a lot older to appreciate him- and I hoped it wouldn't take them as long.
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