Paul Lewis: Marathoner denied a real chance

I wouldn't know John Henwood if he stood up in my bath. But I think he has a point in the selection schemozzle which has risen around the marathoner's non-selection for March's Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Henwood's public spat with the athletics body over his non-selection in the marathon (because he missed the qualifying time by a paltry 5s) will probably ensure that same non-selection when the track team is named next month.

Now 32, Henwood ran in the final of the 10,000m at the 2004 Athens Olympics and came 10th in the final of the 10,000m at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. He shifted to the marathon, as do many 10k athletes, and promptly finished third in Australia's Gold Coast marathon before running ninth in the tough New York marathon, finishing just five seconds outside the New Zealand qualifying time for Melbourne of 2hr 15m. It was only his second marathon. Not bad.

But because he missed the qualifying time by 5s, Henwood was out. Someone from the athletics hierarchy archly pointed out in response to Henwood's complaints that he had "146 Kenyans" ahead of him in the world rankings. Other responses included the contention that many New Zealand athletes had not made Melbourne qualifying times and they would not be going to the games either.

But hang on a moment. This is the marathon. Times are barely relevant. You are competing against the field, not the clock. The event does have a world record time but it is, frankly, about as relevant as a penguin in a sauna or Winston Peters attending a meeting of Foreign Ministers.

Marathon courses are subject to factors like the numbers and gradient of hills, prevailing winds, heat, cold, the weather on the day, race tactics and more. Times cannot be compared nor should they be used as a sole selection tool for the marathon.

World rankings are also misleading. Has there ever been a track event which has been won by so many never-heard-of-thems? It is the nature of the beast. A marathon is not just an athletic event. It is a psychological battle between the athlete and the course; with the conditions; with other athletes; with the limits of the human body. Reputations mean nothing. Rankings mean nothing. Times mean nothing.

In 1984, covering the Los Angeles Olympics, I was exposed to the full blast of Australian super-confidence. Robert de Castella, the world's best, was going to win the marathon. The Aussies knew this. They talked about it in the media centre. They talked about it in the bar. They stopped passers-by to tell them. Someone even spent vast amounts of money putting up billboards across Los Angeles on which, at vast cost, was emblazoned one word: "Deek."

This reconfigured the concept of advertising (selling products people don't need to people who didn't know they wanted them) to one which mystified its audience. Los Angelenos didn't know who or what Deek was. I happily contemplated, in the very home of the consumer society, anxious shoppers awaiting the arrival in the supermarkets of this mysterious new product. I pictured them lining up to make sure they got their can of Deek, the wonder oven cleaner.

Deek didn't win the marathon. He came fifth. Herald photographer Paul Estcourt had a very happy day relieving Australians of large sums of cash after they bet - get this - that De Castella would win the marathon. In other words, Estcourt won even if Deek finished second. As we enjoyed a beer at the end of the day, Estcourt grinned and nodded at passing Aussies. "$50 off him," he'd chortle under his breath as another passed by. "$30 off him".

The 1984 marathon was won by Portugal's Carlos Lopes, aged 37. A world-ranked 10,000m runner and silver medallist at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, he was not regarded as one of the favourites in Los Angeles. But he blitzed the field. It was his fourth or fifth marathon. He didn't complete the first.

Paul Tergat of Kenya was world record holder and favourite in the Athens marathon. He came 10th. Josia Thugwane (South Africa) won the 1996 Atlanta Olympic marathon as a comparative unknown. It was his fourth marathon. He didn't finish the first.

New Zealand Olympic bronze medallists Barry Magee and Mike Ryan (1960 and 1968 Olympic marathons) are part of this country's Arthur Lydiard-led athletics triumphs. Magee was well-known, but not as a marathoner, when he ran third in Rome. Ryan had won bronze in the 1966 Kingston Commonwealth games but was still not ranked high in the world before his medal at altitude in Mexico City. Probably had a lot of Kenyans ahead of him as well.

I am not comparing Henwood with Lopes, Thugwane or even Magee and Ryan. His Olympic and Commonwealth Games records are not, frankly, all that flash and he may not mature further into a medal-winning marathoner. But we'll never know unless we select him. Ask Magee what going to the 1958 Cardiff Games did for his career (highest placing: eighth in the six mile event). Of the "146" Kenyans ranked ahead of Henwood, only three are allowed to compete at Melbourne. Where anything can happen.

One further point. The English, Welsh and Scottish marathon qualifying time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games is 2hr 17m. So, if Henwood was a Brit, he'd be going to Melbourne.