Britain’s Steve Cram offers Boulder runners training insights

ON RUNNING

Micaela Degenero won the 2024 Mile High Mile at Potts Field with a time of 4 minutes, 31.6 seconds, setting a new Colorado soil record. This year’s Mile High Mile is set for Niwot high school on July 19. Roll Recovery is offering a bonus of $1000 to the first male breaking 4 minutes or female clocking under 4:30. LANE1PHOTOS — COURTESY PHOTO

Former mile world record holder Steve Cram talks with Front Range Elite runners, from left, Annmarie Kirkpatrick, Rachael Rudel, and Anna Petre after Saturday’s Pearl Street Mile. Rudel won the women’s elite race. MIKE SANDROCK — COURTESY PHOTO

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Soon after winning the women’s open division of Saturday evening’s Pearl Street Mile, Rachael Rudel had a question for one of history’s all-time great milers, Britain’s Steve Cram, who was watching the series of miles go around a circuit in downtown Boulder.

“What’s your best advice?” Rudel asked the former world record holder and the first man to run under 3 minutes, 30 seconds for 1500 meters, on how to fit in training while living a full life.

“Find balance,” said Cram, 64, who was in Denver for meetings and visiting former CU All American John Gregorio and former elite steeplechaser Gary Staines. “Stay in the moment. Find the level of training that is right for you and is achievable. Training is hard” and runners need to fit it into work and family life.

Cram told a story about speaking at a camp for up-and-coming elite runners the British Athletic Association hosted sometime after he retired. During his presentation, Cram placed up on a wall a chart showing a training segment from his career; weekly totals were roughly 30 miles a week.

“I asked the runners to guess what age I was,” during that training period, Cram recounted. “Most guessed 16 or 17; it was not that impressive.”

Actually, the training showed Cram’s mileage the month just before setting the world mile record of 3:46.3 in the summer of 1985. “Training is cumulative,” he said. “The principles are that you get out what you put in; you build and build and build. You don’t become great overnight and you don’t become bad overnight.”

Cram had much success in a storied career, during which he was part of the mile’s Golden Era, which included fellow Brits Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe. They had a rivalry that brought worldwide attention to middle-distance racing. Cram is now a top track and field commentator and analyst; you have heard him if you watched the recent Grand Slam track series or one of the high-level Diamond League meets in Europe.

Those European meets draw sold-out, packed stadiums in cities from Brussels to Paris; the Pearl Street Mile had a couple hundred family, friends and fans watching and cheering on the runners. However, said Cram, speaking as the racers ran along 13th Street before beginning their finishing sprint on the Pearl Street Mall, “The feeling (of racing and winning) doesn’t change; the context does” as a runner moves from a small local meet all the way to, perhaps, the Olympic Games.

The personable and easy-going Cram lingered and talked track for as long as runners asked questions. “The advice he gave me was incredibly valuable, even though it was something we all already know,” Rudel, 30, said. “Having someone with his stature and influence restate what we, as runners, often forget — that you need to listen to your body; train in the way that works best for you; take it day by day; and above all, make sure you still love the sport — was a powerful reminder.”

Another runner taking Cram’s stories to heart was John Minen, head of Colorado Sports Chiropractic, who clocked 4:31.9 in the men’s elite race. After inviting Cram to have a beer with the staff of Colorado Chiropractic at the Bohemian Biergarten, Minen said, “It’s no wonder Steve is one of the most-liked running sports commentators out there. He is as fast between the ears as he was on his feet. Obviously a true master of the sport but also a fan of all levels and abilities.

“Conversing with him you get a genuine sense that he appreciates the process that all go through on their running journey and is generous with his insights and support.”

The local running journey continues Friday, with the popular Avery Brewing 4K on the 4th (teamboco.com), starting at 8 a.m. to beat the heat, and then the July 19 Mile High Mile (boulderroadrunners.org), another evening series of mile races with a range of age groups, this year to be held on the Niwot High School track.

The Teri Leiker Memorial Mile, held to honor one of the victims of the 2021 King Soopers shooting, will once again be part of the program. It is, wrote Boulder Road Runners president Deb Conley, a walk “celebrating the enduring joy, kindness, and light that Teri brought into our lives and community.”

Follow Sandrock on Instagram: @MikeSandrock.