Elite coaching special - Steve Cram on succeeding over 800m/1500m

Cram says he developed some of the key racing skills as a youngster – he learned how much he could afford to sit and kick, and how it was possible to win a race from the front. His 3min 29sec world record ahead of Aouita and Cruz was an awesome demonstration of his intuitive ability of when to go to the point and take the race on. From half way Cram continually wound the race up and despite running the last 100m in under 12sec Aouita just could not get past the ever accelerating Cram.

Steve says: "I ran some of my best races as a youngster - you looked at the line up and thought 'There's no-one, I'll go’. We'd go to the Tyneside track league and say to each other - you take 200m I'll take 200m then it's every man for himself. You have got to go out and do it.”

Crams boldness was there from and early age: "I front ran 3min 42sec at 17 in the English Schools. I kind of looked around and thought 'Here's a race, I'm going to go and race.'"

Cram believes many athletes miss the opportunity to learn racing skills and are too prone to sit around and look at each other, or to be reactive rather than proactive. He says: "You have got to set goals within races. Even when it is an easy race then you give yourself a goal for the race - run the last 300m in 39sec. Instead of just running around you have got a target for the race that is difficult. Say you're going to give the field 15 yards at the bell. You are going to make yourself work. You're going to put two hard laps in during the middle of a 3K race and see what happens. You have got to do it otherwise you won't get any better - you don't find out.”

Cram does not believe timidity and racing can mix. He is not impressed by people ducking races: "All this stuff about not racing people - how do you find out if you are better than them? Go and race them.”

He believes this is the best way to learn where you are at and what you need to do: “If you can't beat them go back and say 'I'm not happy about that. I'm going to have to do X, Y and Z'.”

On the other hand, he says, you may win. And winning is what it is all about.

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