1985 – Manx Airlines 30km Walk
Murray Lambden reported:
With three of last year’s British Olympic walkers in the line-up, a dramatic race was expected in the Manx Airlines/Boundary Harriers invitation 30km walk at King George V Park in Douglas, but the drama was even greater than expected.
Leicester’s Phil Vesty was the favourite, having won the 20km equivalent of this race last year and then placing 13th and Britain’s top walker in Los Angeles. This writer privately tipped Ian McCombie to win, but neither did. Instead in Devon’s Chris Maddocks, 16th in the Olympic 50km who stole the show with the second fastest time ever by a British walker.
Ian McCombie was second despite recording the third fastest British time ever, with local starlet Steve Partington taking a courageous third place, after Phil Vesty retired soon after 10km.
The three stars appeared content to watch each other for a move over the first 10km as they walked the distance in 44 mins 59 seconds, but even at this point they were speeding up after a 22.49 first 5km. Soon after, McCombie tried to destroy the opposition as he increased his mile splits from around seven minutes twenty seconds, suddenly “throwing in” a 6 mins 36 secs. It sent them reeling.
Maddocks stuck grimly to the task in hand looking far from comfortable and showing more rough patches than at any other time in the race, while Vesty, totally shattered from a combination of surprise, tiredness from racing indoors in Italy the previous weekend, and loosing training time as a result of the bad weather, soon gave up altogether.
McCombie appeared to be making a staggering debut at the Commonwealth Games distance, as expectations of his final time increased all the time.
It was therefore a surprise when soon after passing 20km in 1.27.37 (5km splits of 22.49, 22.10, 21.23, and 21.15) it was Maddocks who appeared first. The surge in pace had taken its toll on McCombie, and Maddocks, as surprised as McCombie at his own fitness, surged ahead looking more and more stylish, to a magnificent time bettered only by Steve Barry’s Commonwealth Championship winning time.
Amazingly, after covering the final two 5 km splits in 21.31 and 22.01, he had set a personal best of 86.10 between 10km and 30km. McCombie, a London lawyer, would have been pleased with his time had it not left him three minutes in arrears of the Exeter University student who had beaten him for the first time ever.
Steve Partington’s walking was as brilliant as it was painful. He looked extremely relaxed as he took 46.51 for the first 10km, and proceeded to cover the next 10km in 46.02. That 92.53 was the third fastest ever for a Manx walker, and the sky seemed the limit with only a third of the race remaining.
But that final 10km was to take 56.45 as the Island’s outstanding talent (who only the previous week had learned of his selection for a junior international 20km in Spain) suffered more than at any previous time.
However, with a little more experience, the courage that kept him going to the finish to just salvage a Commonwealth Games qualifying time (remainder of sentence not printed!)
There was disappointment for most of the other Manx walkers, although nobody could doubt their efforts either. Allan Callow, John Cannell, Steve Taylor and Tim Baker all put much more into the race than statistics will ever show, but all suffered badly, and perhaps with the exception of Taylor, fell short of their hoped for times.
RESULTS
|
Position |
Christian Name |
Surname |
Time |
Club / Country |
|
1 |
Chris |
Maddocks |
02:11:09 |
Dawlish & South Devon |
|
2 |
Ian |
McCombie |
02:13:58 |
Cambridge Harriers |
|
3 |
Steve |
Partington |
02:29:38 |
Boundary Harriers |
|
4 |
Allan |
Callow |
02:39:10 |
Boundary Harriers |
|
5 |
John |
Cannell |
02:44:08 |
Boundary Harriers |
|
6 |
Steve |
Taylor |
02:45:22 |
Boundary Harriers |
|
7 |
Tim |
Baker |
02:46:22 |
Boundary Harriers |
|
8 |
Brian |
Mayne |
03:21:00 |
Dawlish & South Devon |
