Athletics - Marathon training is tough, says Albert Marie |02 March 2017
Training for marathons is very hard and on top of an athlete’s natural talent, he or she must be willing to work hard and has the desire to listen and learn.
Seychelles men’s marathon record holder Albert Marie said this to Sports NATION yesterday when asked what it takes to be a good marathon runner.
Marie got the Seychelles record of 2 hours 25 minutes 48 seconds (2h25:48) on October 23, 1988 and the record is one of the oldest on the Seychelles Athletics Federation’s record books and if no one improves it by the end of this year, it would have stood for 29 years.
Not only was Marie fast on the road, but he’s a great runner to learn from because he’s made every mistake in the book.
“Running a marathon is tough. You have to feel pain and the training is very tough. In those days, we trained in hills of La Misère and Sans Soucis. We also trained early morning as from 4am. Nowadays, most youngsters don’t want to work hard enough to achieve results,” said Marie who was initiated to athletics by Selby Dora.
“I was always willing to learn and listen and that made a big difference. I also had a good coach in Ronald Wong and I followed his training programmes. My training partners – Terry Payet and Roger Morel – were always pushing me and I took up the challenge,” he added.
Marie explained that marathon runners should be true to themselves because compared to 100m, 200m or 400m running where the coach is there watching you, marathon runners don’t have this luxury as the coaches don’t run the distance.
“Marathon runners have to be true to themselves. They have to stick to their training programme. They have to love running, make a lot of sacrifices, eat well, rest a lot, get a lot of sleep and have the support system behind them,” added Marie.
The 59-year-old added that the Seychelles Athletics Federation should get youngsters to love long distance running as it takes a lot of training to reach the top.
“Marathoners have to do a lot of repetition to get speed and run up the hills to build up strength. They need a good coach and good training partners. They have to be hard-working people and who want to maximise their full potential. I remember the days when marathoners like Augustin Choppy, Roger Morel, Terry Payet, Gerard Esparon, Antoine Radegonde, Eddie Kilindo challenged me, I became so motivated and I trained harder so as not to lose against them,” said Marie.
He added that with 46-year-old Simon Labiche retiring from marathon running, young Geno Belle, who took a win in his first race in a time of 3h03:29 during Sunday’s 10th Eco-friendly marathon, has to be nurtured to develop into a good distance runner.
“He needs all the support he can get. He also needs special food, sponsorship to purchase good running shoes and other equipment. He also needs to be surrounded by a good coaching and more runners to push him in training and official races,” said Marie who is expected to leave this week for England where he has been living for the last 27 years.
Meanwhile, the Seychelles men’s junior marathon record of 2h40:49 is held by Eddie Kilindo since October 23, 1998.
Simone Zapha (now Dick) is the women’s record holder of 3h34:49 and she set the time in Reunion on July 5, 2009.
G. G.