DAVE Lewis spends his working hours as a development officer for Age
Concern, but there was little charity in his heart yesterday for the
elder statesmen of world athletics who came to Edinburgh.
Lewis swept past 37-year-old Irishman John Treacy in a sprint finale
to the BUPA Great Caledonian Run, heading the 1984 Olympic marathon
runner-up by two seconds as he won the 10,000 metres event in 28min
56sec.
Treacy, who won the first of his three world cross-country titles in
Glasgow 16 years ago, has proved one of the world's most durable
athletes on a consistent regime of 100 miles per week -- and one beer
every six months. He put up a tremendous struggle and probably would
have succeeded but for Lewis's physique which proved crucial into the
wind over the finishing straight in Holyrood Park.
Among 32-year-old Lewis's other victims were last year's winner, the
former European 5000m silver medallist Gary Staines, and Douglas
Wakiihuri, the former Commonwealth marathon champion. Wakiihuri summoned
all the concentration of his Zen philosophy to hang on to leading Scot
Tom Murray, then used his strength to thrust past the skelf-thin
Greenock runner on the charge to the line.
There was an eight-man breakaway as early as the first kilometre
(2-47), and by 3000m (8-31), Kenyan Wakiihuri was already dropped.
Murray survived just another kilometre as Staines, Treacy, and Kassa
Tadesse, former world junior half marathon champion, led by turns, then
passed 5k in 14-40.
Three-times English cross-country champion Lewis kept the throttle
down with the seventh to ninth kilometres covered in a brutal 5-36.
First Staines was dropped, and finally Tadesse, with just half a mile
left.
It was only Lewis's third race since March, following back injury. ''I
was delighted to find there was no pack of young Kenyans to demoralise
me,'' said Lewis, who now has Olympic marathon ambitions for 1996.
Portugal's Rosa Mota, the former world and Olympic marathon champion,
and triple European champion -- the most prolific women's marathon
titleist ever -- whose career looked over thanks to a hip problem, used
this race to test herself against serious opposition for the first time
in her fourth comeback race in as many weeks.
Mota pronounced herself happy, and ready to tackle her first marathon
in three years, possibly in Japan next month, even though beaten into
second. She finished in 33-08, only 10 seconds behind the winner, the
1988 Olympic 10,000m champion, Olga Bondarenko.
Maybe by then Yvonne Murray or Liz McColgan can be persuaded to offer
meaningful home opposition. Mota hopes McColgan can recover, as she has.
''I'm just delighted at last to be able to run again, after I thought it
was over.''
Ross Low, who set a Scottish 800m record at the Commonwealth Games,
won the wheelchair event in 30-35, while Red Star clubmate Karen Lewis
took the women's wheelchair division in 41-06. More thought could have
gone into the disabled event. It was started ahead of the main race, but
so fast were the wheelies that Low had completed the opening loop and
had ran into the back of the main start. ''It must have cost me five
minutes,'' said Low who then had to pick his way through the whole field
of more than 3500.
Among them was the Scottish Sports Council's chief executive, Allan
Alstead, awe-struck after being passed on Princes Street, then
resoundingly beaten, by the running figure of one-legged Kilmarnock
volleyball player David MacRae -- appropriately Scotland's new
development officer for Teamsport for the disabled. Details:
Men: 1, D Lewis (Rossendale) 28min 56sec; 2, J Treacy (Ireland) 28-58;
3, K Tadessa (Belgrave) 29-05; 4, O Strizhakov (Russia) 29-10; 5, G
Staines (Belgrave) 29-16; 6, F Wilboard (Tanzania) 29-31; 7, D Wakiihuri
(Kenya) 30-04; 8, T Murray (IBM Spango Valley) 30-11; 9, P Dymoke
(Livingston) 30-48; 10, C Buckley (Westbury). Veteran: W Anderson (Gala,
29th overall) 33-18. Women: 1, O Bondarenko (Russia, 23rd) 32-58; 2, R
Mota (Portugal, 27th) 33-08; 3, A Wright (Bridgnorth, 46th) 34-16; 4, J
Coleby (Durham, veteran, 62nd) 35-00; 5, F Lothian (unattached, 87th)
35-58; 6, S Ridley (Ernst and Young, 89th) 36-02.
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