I’ve got nothing against Mo Farah. In fact my favourite ever television sporting moment was seeing him hold on to win the 5000m gold medal at the London Olympic games in 2012.
Actually, my FAVOURITE television sporting moment has got to 
be Keith Houchen’s flying header in extra time to win the FA Cup for Coventry City back in 1987!
“Play up Sky Blues”
Anyway. Mo had won gold in the 10000m the previous Saturday, on the night Greg Rutherford and Jessica Ennis were also flying the Union Jack on the highest pole. Rather than let the euphoria last and sink in though, Mo had to recover quickly and run a heat of the 5000m on the Wednesday before coming back to make it 50 hard hard laps of the track in a week.
Nope, I definitely have NOTHING against Mo Farah.
Elite sport in general? I’m becoming increasingly disinterested to be honest. The veil of secrecy, the omerta, the cynicism, the protective practices and apparent corruption protecting the commercial income at the top of many sports. There appears to be an unwillingness to seriously break the culture of corruption and the more sellable the performer the less likely they are to have deliberately taken anything that accidently ends up in their bodily fluids. Anyway, that’s for another day…
So then, Mo, why might he have grated my cheeselets? Well, I know I’m light years behind here, but that Mo documentary screened last year, showing his relentless schedule and commitment to his craft. At one point, he was filming himself, in an eerie Blair Witch Project light, whispering that it was 6am and he was already up and off to train.
Don’t get me wrong, he reportedly trains as hard as anyone on the elite circuit and is willing to put in the hard sessions, the hard miles and the hard lifestyle choices needed to be a winner. Its the suggestion that by getting up before sunrise he is making a huge sacrifice. Presumably breakfast, laundry, massage, ice baths, recovery meals etc etc are very much, and quite rightly, provided for and arranged on behalf of such a superstar of the sport.
A good friend, to whom I have already referred in a previous post, was out at 6am in hurricane Doris (I’m a Secret Strava Nosey Parker), a bit like Mo. Only he had just finished his 10 hour shelf filling night shift in the supermarket and getting a 10 miler in before taking over parental duties from his wife, herself off to start her nursing shift. He was probably hoping for 4 hours sleep before starting the whole process again.
Anybody kind enough to be perusing this blog probably has at least a passing, more like participatory, interest in our wonderful world of running.
I imagine then that you will be impressed by the incredible performances of those, like Mo, at the very sharp end of sport.
I also imagine that the runners among you are engaged in some or most of the following list; going to work, cycling or walking there, looking after children, grand children, partners, parents, pets, studying, shopping, doing the laundry, cleaning and maintaining the house and garden, juggling finances and banking, paperwork for the self employed, giving lifts to and from late night teenage antics etc etc.
You may too, quite like to find time to get and there and run.
We get it Mo, we too are tired.
Packing Our Trunks 