ATHLETICS: This is the race of my life but one day I’m certain to lose it

13 April 2012

The long blond hair is now short and as grey as his pallor but the man serving customers in a small equestrian shop in the Auckland suburb of Newmarket is still instantly recognisable as one of the greatest middle-distance runners of all time.

Running out of time: John Walker

It is 16 years since John Walker, the 1976 Olympic gold medallist in the 1500metres at the Montreal Games, quit athletics, leaving behind him a glittering career that included Commonwealth medals, world records, more sub-four minute miles (135) than anyone in history, as well as intense rivalries with the likes of first Filbert Bayi and Mike Boit and then the great British triumvirate of Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram.

For the past 15 years, however, the Kiwi who was always a crowd favourite in Britain has faced a far stiffer challenge than anything his rivals posed on the track. Walker was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease at just 41 and has been confronting it ever since with a mix of his trademark bullishness and realism.

'This has been the greatest race of my life,' explains the 56-year-old. 'Why? Because it's the only race I know I can't win.'

In typical fashion, though, he has been giving the illness a good run for its money. Medical opinion states that 15 years in anyone's language is a long time to have suffered from Parkinson's. By rights Walker should be in a far worse condition than he is, although he is far from well.

'I get very tired,' he admits. 'I have to pace myself. I'm slower in most things I do and I tend to grow frustrated and then get awkward. I'm on loads of tablets and when they wear off I get withdrawal symptoms. That's when I lose coordination until I take another tablet.

'I'm as good as I can be under the circumstances. People have Parkinson's at different levels. I'm not sure what level I'm at, but I do know most people are in a lot worse a state than I am after 15 years. 'I'm aware that people stare at me a lot these days, and it's not just because I'm John Walker. The facial features give it away.

'The muscles aren't working as well and you can see this in the way my face droops. It's supposed to be worse when you get it young, like I did, so I guess I can count myself lucky. I know of some horrific cases. If it gets bad I wouldn't want to live any more.'

In his prime: New Zealand's John Walker (694), Great Britain's Steve Ovett (375) and West Germany's Thomas Wessinghage (448)

If all this makes depressing reading then Walker is far from down. He is just saying it how it is. You may feel sorry for him but Walker does not, although he admits when he first heard the news he was devastated.

'The docs thought I might have a brain tumour at first but when I got tested they told me I had Parkinson's, and probably already had had it for a number of years, even when I was running. I always thought Parkinson's was something old people got. 'There was a teacher at my school who had it. We used to call him Noddy because of how it affected him. Looking back that was cruel, of course, but that's kids for you.

'I was still young when I was told the bad news and I'd been until recently one of the best athletes in the world. People like me, especially me, are not supposed to get Parkinson's.' Walker does not know why or how he contracted it, and does not really care too much either.

'No one's exempt from it, and no one knows what causes it. It could have been because I was starved of oxygen when I was born or maybe a chemical reaction because my father sprayed a lot on our farm. I get depressed thinking about it until my family helps me to snap out of it.'

Walker's only secret to keeping the ravages of the illness at bay is hard work. He not only works in his shop six days a week but serves as a city councillor in Manukau, another Auckland suburb, as well as helping other sufferers when he can. 'That's why I'm still relatively OK,'

he insists. 'It's because I work long hours and I've tried hard to keep my brain active. I receive a lot of phone calls from fellow sufferers. I tell them to keep on working, don't sit in front of the TV all day. Go out and do something. I get people who tell me they're going to commit suicide. I'm no shrink, but I tell them to enjoy their family, to enjoy life.'

This was something Walker did in abundance, from his first appearance at Crystal Palace when he won the 1500m but was then disqualified for pushing an athlete that resulted in four falling over. 'I vowed I'd never run at the Palace again,' he tells you now. 'I was 21, innocent, arrogant and inexperienced. I ended up running there 85 times.'

He recalls a sport and an era very different from today. It was Coe who took his world mile record, and his 1500m Olympic title in 1980 in Moscow when Walker was not allowed to compete. 'New Zealand boycotted the Games because of Russia's invasion of Afghanistan.

'It was stupid. I would rather have gone and lost my title than not had the chance to defend it. Seb won and Steve came third, but I was in good shape and would have given those boys a hard time. Instead, I commentated for ITV and was 'rewarded' by the New Zealand government with some money and a trip to the UK as a payback. Sport and politics should never mix.'

Four years earlier, the African nations boycotted Montreal following New Zealand's rugby tour of the then apartheid South Africa. This meant that Bayi, who beat Walker at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, did not compete, although the Tanzanian contracted malaria and would not have been able to run in any case. 'It was a real shame that Filbert didn't run and it did me a great disservice,' Walker says.

'If he had run I would have beaten him and broken the world record. For two years I'd been training and visualising beating him. 'The year before I'd beaten him by 30 metres in the World Games and had posted the five fastest times of the year in 1976.

'I had to change all my tactics in Montreal after he withdrew and just came home in front. I had to win that gold, though. If I had not, regardless of everything else I'd achieved, I would have seen myself as a failure.

'In truth, I never thought I'd lose that race. I remember making a point of looking every single finalist straight in the eye like a boxer on the start line. Everyone tried to avoid my stare. They knew the score.'

Coe came out to New Zealand a couple of months ago and dined with Walker, but his best friend on the circuit was Ovett. 'Steve was greatly misunderstood, although he didn't help himself by not talking to the media.

To me he was very kind and generous. On Sundays we'd go for two-hour runs and talk. I'd often stay at his house in Brighton and once he loaned me his flash, gold car. We all just loved to run in those days and often, after we'd competed against each other, we'd stay up drinking beers till two or three in the morning.' Walker's view of the sport these days is very different. 'When money started to become dominant, that’s
when people in athletics really began
to cheat,’ he says. ‘I’m not saying they
weren’t around in my day because they
were. But now I believe the sport’s been
ruined by drugs and the Olympics
have therefore become a farce.’

I put it to Walker that perhaps his
competitive edge as a former athlete
has served him well over the past 15
years battling against Parkinson’s, but
he refutes this notion. ‘I don’t believe
that for a moment,’ he says. ‘You see in
sport you can win and you can lose, but
with Parkinson’s you just lose.’

The prognosis for Walker is not good
although long-term, due to stem cell
research, he is hopeful that future sufferers
may be cured. ‘It won’t happen
in my lifetime, and people like George
Bush have been the biggest hindrance
due to their opposition to stem cell
research. He has pandered to the
Christians for votes and not given a
thought to those with brain inflictions.

‘No, I’m resigned to having Parkinson’s
for the rest of my life, however long
that may be. What I really fear is old
age. It’s bad enough being old, but not
being able to do the things that I can do
even now is very scary. I try not to
think about it too much.’

Instead he is making final plans for
his 30th wedding anniversary, which
sees 50 of his closest friends joining
himself and his wife Helen on the
shores of Lake Como in a couple of
weeks’ time. ‘It’s a time to celebrate
life and friendship,’ Walker declares.
And a determination to meet adversity
head on even when the outcome
has already been decided.

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