1903 it started. June 3rd 1903. And it was started by a load of businessmen in Bradford
who were… they didn’t form a walking club, but they started the race to encourage the
Bradfordians to take up the athletic sport of race walking.
We used to start down at the bottom of the hill there. Near the Town Hall on that side road. So now, you’ve
missed out the first climb now. That’s right now. So, has that made it easier? I would say that,
but you’ve still got the rest of the course to tackle y’know up to Yeadon and that.
What did you find to be the hardest part? Er, none of it really y’know. I never found
it a difficult course, believe it or not, no.
There’s an athletic club at Redcar, and then there’s also a smaller club at Sheffield; but the Yorkshire Race Walking
Club are carrying the banner for race walking in the north. It’s a progression of steps,
so that you don’t break contact with the ground. And you’ve got to have a straight
leg: your rear leg has got to be straight on every step. The really top Olympic walkers
will be doing 8.5 miles per hour, but a club man can do 6-7. In the 20s and 30s it was
a really top class sport with a… people were very very enthusiastic about it. But
nowadays with the other attractions, you’ve got your television, people have cars nowadays,
but at one time it was the sport. At Whitsuntide in Bradford it was regarded as a Feast.
Hollins Hill? That’s a hard part, and possibly going up to the Dynley Arms from Otley.
You’ve got to be fit, you’ve got to be fit, you’ve got to train for it. We’ve got about 30
out today. The record is 300 and odd, which was done in the war time.
Its started to rain, so we’re… it should cool them down, that’s right, yes.
Thousands out to watch it. It was a terrific day out. Every pub would have an extension for licence y’know. They’d
all be out: they’d be all drinking and outside at tables. It was a terrific event. Because
you’d get 3-400, well… well, over 300 walking. Like, we’d watch it down at Baildon
Bridge [Shipley], now from Baildon Bridge the pavements would be dense y’know, 3 or
4 deep, all the way up through Shipley, right up to The Branch [pub] at the top there, and
then thinning out again on top road, y’know, and they’d only been done five miles then;
and thin out again in the rural areas. Ilkley would be packed. And then on the back roads
it’d be thin and then Otley would be packed y’know.
I did it a couple of years ago with some training partners that do it. And they asked; did I want to do it again? So.
I think it was going down… going down the slope, down the bridge [Ilkley] , just that both, I was knackered,
he kept slowing down, so I just thought I’d just try overtaking, so I’d keep it.
Well done lads! Congratulations. Have you, ever, done like a full 50k?
No, the longest I’ve done is a half marathon, this is the longest today. Right. So that’s it. So what do you
think… is that something you are wanting to have a go at eventually? A 50k? I’ll
probably will, but I don’t wanna!
Because I pushed, I pushed hard going for the first 14 mile, and I knew I’d worked hard and so I was concerned about conserving the energy,
so it was just after Ilkley just recuperating and slowing down the pace, recovering, ready
to go again and hit the hill.
People who do this walk do it because of the area, because going round a track, round and round, or a park, round and round, and it’s good to
have these one big loops and if you can do one of these big loops, the changing scenery
takes your mind off the pain.
I was always amazed, when I first come here, and thought: nah, that was dangerous! Now I just come up to things, stop, and they soon put their hands
up and they are very helpful with the car drivers and that - they see you and as long as you’ve
got a white t-shirt and that, and they see your number.
I do this because there’s less impact on your knee, whereas your runners, all I’ll say is that some of the walkers
that I’ve seen, when they get old, they just get a bit of lower back, because of the
twisting. But the modern thought of walking now doesn’t use the twist of the lower back,
it’s using your hips. So, you’ll see some of these guys coming and I just don’t know
where they get the energy from. I keep saying ‘I’m not going to be that old walking
this’, but I seem to be pushing them out, you know. I’m 43 this year, but I seem to
be approaching it. It’s weird, because the pain, and you say: ‘I’m never going to
do this again’; and the thoughts keep going through your mind, that ‘I’m never going
to do this again’. And every time you get to that spot again, you remember it, but when
you come to that point again in the race, you remember that time, and the time before
it and every time you remember those pains. It’s totally weird, but it’s addictive.
I like to technically walk correct, and it is a tough course to walk, especially if you
are trying to keep control and you go in and you feel it jolt all the way through your
body, and you can’t go any faster because if you go out of control, making sure you
have enough energy for that last hill, because they are tough.
One of these races that have got character and tradition. These northern races are a dying tradition - they are superb
- because of risk assessment and safety.
It’s just really a narrow funnel for them to come up, you know, a single file job y’know. Cheering and screaming. Lord Mayor; there’s
always the Lord Mayor here you know, dignitories, you know, local council and it was really,
I mean, to come now and see it, it’s sad. And it’s such a decline you know. So many
other things going on in life I suppose, youngsters aren’t interested are they? Teenagers and
so forth.
It’s what I wanted to win. I tried for a couple of years and because I sorted something out. I thought ‘OK, I feel as though I’ve got some energy, let’s have
a go’.
Usually I used to do four hours thirty something; four hours forty something on here. So I’ve dropped nearly an hour.
It is a shame that there’s not as much competition, but I think the reason for it is that race walking in the UK went downhill when the running
boom came. Numbers dropped and they’ve only just started to come up again; they’ve come
up in the short distance races first. So we’re seeing bigger fields in them.
Well done! I just think that these races should be supported more and for what they are: the tradition
of English life.