Most expected result at the Commonwealth Games? A Kenyan 1-2-3 in the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase. For some reason the Kenyans have dominated this race at just about every Olympics, let alone Commonwealths, since the 1970's to the extent that themost competitive race in the world track and field calendar is the Kenyan 3000 metres steeplechase, where usually a good ten of the world's top 15-20 steeplechasers all come from the Rift Valley area.
I should know because I onceparticipated in a(not necessarily "the") Kenyan trials race in this discipline at a ramshackle stadium in Kapsabet in front of 15,000 fans and around a grassy centre which had animals grazing. To add to the pressure/spectacle/humiliation Kip Keino, the manwho, with Abebe Bikila, opended the door to African long-distance running, was watching.
Was it tough? Let's put it this way. There seven top quality Kenyans and one decidedly average Englishman. Moreover the race was taking place at an altitude of 3,000 metres - as high as the race was long - or 9,000 feet. Oh, and the local media were so flummoxed by my entry that they made me headline news in the sports pages, announcing me as Britain's top long distance runner!
By the end of the first lap either it was patently clear they had got that bit wrong, or Britain's top long-distance runner had suffered a disastrous loss of form. With two laps to go everyone else had finished, leaving me two laps of dishonour in front of quite a few laughing fans who watched in disbelief as I all butfell into the water jump.
At the end prizes - in the shape of various animals - were awarded to the top three and, surprisingly, me. "You can have a fish," announced a smiling Keino. "Because you spent so much time in the water."
