AT THE close of a week that has pushed the appliance of science into the heart of the debate over where exactly sport’s moral boundaries lie, Susan Partridge has a simple solution to those who are weighing up which supplements, infusions, or even breakfast cereals might give them the merest improvement.
“Just run,” Oban’s own running boffin declares. “Science is available to us now and I don’t think there’s anything wrong in looking for that one per cent. But everyone is looking for that. Some people just need to run more.
“What I’ve decided is I like the purity of running, whether it’s hard or easy or fast or slow, without over-analysing it. That takes the fun out of it for me. And the thing is, it’s not so much about performance enhancing. There is so much pseudo-science, so much bullshit. You get people wanting the easy way.”
Which is why, even at the tender age of 37, Partridge has refused to cut corners ahead of tomorrow’s London Marathon, taking the high road to Colorado for a pre-race training stint that she hopes will deliver greater satisfaction than 12 months ago. Then, the Great Britain internationalist had the goal of rounding off an already impressive CV with a maiden Olympic appearance but instead, for the first time in her career, she dropped out – disappointed and disconsolate.
When Rio came around, it felt like a little joy had been sucked out of the Games. “Because there was a feeling of what could have been when I was watching it. It’s not the first time I’ve wanted to make a team and not done it. I’m fairly good at moving on to the next thing. The initial disappointment came after London, so fairly straight away I could move on. But it was still there.”
There will be a strong British female contingent in London this time, with Jo Pavey – still enthused at 43 – heading a group looking for a performance that would earn selection for this summer’s world championships in London. All, you sense, expect a fairer shake than in 2016 when UK Athletics took only two females to Brazil despite others holding the official qualifying mark.
“That made it worse,” the Scot confirms. “It made it look like we didn’t have good enough athletes to be there. Joe Public would have thought that and it’s not true. We have very good distance runners, as good as the men and they got three.”
This may, or may not, be Partridge’s last stand. Newly bestowed with a PhD in the field of hip replacements, she readily admits to pondering a life where athletics is no longer a priority. Her previous London trip created an itch, to exit with a feeling of satisfaction, not despair. Hence she will be on the start line once more, and will not settle for coasting in the pack. “I’d love to get to a third world championships,” she underlines. “It would be a home one which would top off a career perfectly.”
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