I hope the cricket goes well for us today... after the extraordinary day yesterday of tumbling wickets.
My best 1500m
It was the 16th November 1974, at the Woden Athletics Field grass track. Conditions were perfect; and the track was good. But my right achilles tendon was a bit sore so I did a thorough and slow warm-up. I was annoyed about the tendon because I was in pretty good form at the time, and my annoyance produced an aggressive race where I refused to let others determine how I would go. My lap splits on the grass circuit were 64, 66, 67 with a last lap of 63. With 100m to go there were four of us across the track in a line, but somehow I managed a finishing burst to win. Here are the final places:
1. Geoff Moore 4:04.3
=2. Gary Lavers 4:06.1
=2. Graham Moon 4:06.1
=2. Mike Kennedy 4:06.1
5. Peter Bowman 4:06.4
The time of 4:04.3 remained my PB, even after our move to a far better track, the main stadium at Bruce, a couple of years later.
The report in the Canberra Times:
Other 1500m times that season at Woden were Phil O'Hara 4:01.8, Nigel Beeson 4:02.3, Mike Kennedy 4:05.1, and Graham Moon 4:05.6. I ended up ranked third for the season.
The achilles tendon in question was injured in mid 1974 by twisting the ankle while orienteering, then running a set of 200m sprints and playing squash before it had recovered. Even today it remains sore and still needs a good warm-up. I wonder how much better I could have run over the years, including the marathons which started in 1975, if I hadn't injured the achilles?
Meanwhile here is someone who is still at the very top ... ringed by admirers?
