Distance running in Barbados is heading in the wrong direction.
George Griffith, a former Barbados half-marathon champion, is concerned that the sport seems to be making more backward strides after perusing the results of this year’s Powerade Run Barbados Series.
Griffith, the executive director of the Barbados Family Planning Association, expressed shock that the first Barbadian finished the half-marathon in 1 hour, 20:32 seconds, slower than he (Griffith) did more than 40 years ago.
It was the Independence half-marathon of 1967 where he clocked 1:13.35, taking nine minutes off the 1:22 held by Cleveland Yarde, the distance champion at that time.
“While I would want to commend and congratulate the Barbadians who participated, and especially those who finished, I am disappointed and a little bit saddened that so many years after, the first Barbadian who finished
would have done a time that was six minutes slower than I did 43 years ago,” Griffith said.
“The winner came in only about four minutes faster [1:09:47]. I really feel it is saying that we are moving in the wrong direction as far as distance running is concerned.”
The race followed a course from the Harbour to President Kennedy Drive, Eagle Hall, Codrington, White Hall, Holder’s Hill, Highway 1, Black Rock, Eagle Hall and finished in a loop at the harbour near the customs roundabout.
These days, the course is flatter and with the advances in equipment and gear, Griffith, who ran barefooted or in a pair of shoes borrowed from his grandmother, is perplexed.
“Today, there are greater opportunities for scholarships and sponsorship. Equipment and the kind of gear are considerably improved compared to what it was then. I really feel that the Amateur Athletic Association as well as the Ministry of Sport have to look very seriously
at the reasons for the lack of progress in this particular sport.”
He remembered taking a letter from Louis Lynch to various business places in Bridgetown soliciting funds to purchase his first pair of Adidas which had cost $34.
He believes it was the volunteers (Carl Springer at St Catherine; Bernard Pilgrim, now Rev., at Princess Margaret; Hal Gollop, Jerston Clarke and Frank Blackman) who made the difference in the lives of the young men.
“We had a group of men who were so committed to the success of young men, young people, they would come for you in morning at 4:30 and five o’clock, pick you up and take you to Bridgetown or wherever there was a road race
or to a cross-country run and you paid nothing. These men just motivated you, they encouraged you.
“We had training sessions during the course of the week where you did running on the road or the track. We need more people in Barbados to volunteer their time and energy to the encouragement and general motivation of young people.”
Griffith said the scholarships that young people got from running were sometimes the only passport to a better future.
But Griffith is not naïve. He concedes these are different times, with television, other sports like basketball, Blackberrys and even iPods competing for children’s time. He said children of his generation also weren’t interested, but the kind
of faith and belief the coaches had in you made you want to do well.
