Todays Herald carries an interesting article by that well known Watsonian scribe Doug Gillon .
Dave Moorcroft was one of Britains greatest middle distance runners before the Coe/Ovett era.He came from that powerhouse of Midlands athletics Coventry Godiva Harriers the very same club that a young and aspiring Nick Cox trained at in fact he actually trained with Dave Moorcroft's son

Note from Ed not sure if Nick's current training buddie the Rage would have coped with that regime

Maybe some lessons for Scotish rugby here.

Power project designed to put British athletics back on track
DOUG GILLON July 21 2006
AS the rain poured down on last year's World Athletic Championships in Helsinki, the British team was a wash-out: "our poorest performance in living memory," agreed the UK Athletics chief executive Dave Moorcroft yesterday.
"It followed relegation of the GB men from the European Cup. There was one bright spot . . . the Olympic president opening that envelope, and announcing London as the 2012 Olympic city. But it brought a huge responsibility. I sat thinking this couldn't go on, and wondering how we could do justice to being hosts."
Yesterday Moorcroft stood shoulder to shoulder with his fellow former world record-holder, Lord [Sebastian] Coe, and delivered the answer: a project designed to achieve Britain's target of ensuring that 50% of UK athletes in the 2012 Olympics qualify for finals. At the last six global championships their average has slumped to 33%, and the medal haul has fallen.
A scheme called the "Power of 10", which will involve 35,000 competitors annually, will harness computer technology and could change the face of the sport in Britain forever. It could have applications over many sports.
"A lot of people have worked hard on this, and it could define the future of athletics," said Moorcroft. "We have to change its culture."
The aim is to have at least 10 competitors in every event, in every region and every age group, achieving performances better than predefined annual targets – 1233 targets in all. These are plotted against anticipated trends and are designed to raise the bar each year to drive athletes towards the Olympic goal.
Coe, chairman of the 2012 organising committee, said: "Winning medals is partly about setting yourself targets and exceeding them, and the Power of 10 reinforces the importance of this. It is about creating as aspirational environment where mediocrity is unacceptable.
"It's not just another initiative or list of athletic rankings. It's a year-on-year drive for greater strength in depth across all events and regions. After careful analysis of world, UK and regional standards and trends, we've built up a clear picture of the progress we will need to make in order to produce more world-class athletes.
"We can use the data to challenge ourselves. We can see where trends are developing; what's working and what isn't, and transfer lessons from successful regions.
"The rankings will be published on a new interactive website [www.powerof10.info] and will give instant recognition for good performances and a platform for season-long competition across regions."
The project will cost some £200,000, and as yet there is no sponsor.
That might have precluded Coe launching the scheme, but it is tailor-made for commercial backing, as the scottishathletics chief executive, Geoff Wightman, said. The Scottish body is to use the scheme to launch a new dimension of its own. The rest of the UK is expected to follow.
"We have found £5000 to offer acknowledge the role of the most successful coaches and clubs," said Wightman. "It's not a reward – it's about recognition."
To this end, a gold medal will also be presented not only to winning athletes at this year's Scottish championships, but also to their coaches.
"The project has enormous potential," said Wightman, "and it won't come to an end in 2012. It has a long-term furture. It is not a finger in the wind, hoping we will get there in 2012. It will provide a brutally accurate analysis of exactly where we are, right in your face."
The targets have been set using a database compiled by leading athletics statistician Rob Whittingham. Only 4000 athletes are contained in the traditional UK rankings, but the master database contains 650,000 UK and worldwide performances, and is expanding at the rate of 10,000 performances a week.
Access to the rankings will be open to all, meaning a transparency and clarity of purpose all too often absent in athletics.
"If we aren't seeing consistent, season on season improvement, we'll have achieved nothing," added Moorcroft.

This article was originally posted on 21-Jul-2006, 07:24 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 21-Jul-2006, 07:34.