Well worth the experience, if you ever get the chance.
In the interim, you should try and get hold of DST in Guelph, and get a listen to those audiotapes. As I said, they are old and scratchy, but the immense mental strength of Clarke is very evident in his stories, and I would suggest very instructive for our younger runners...
Here's 1 more quick story from Ron Clarke (directly told).
He had been racing in Europe for about a month, and made the long plane ride(s) back to Australia, and on the same evening he arrived home from that, he was scheduled to have a go at the World 10 Mile Record on the Track. He also mentioned that he hadn't seen his wife for a month, so.....and then he smiled, and his wife smiled - she was also there listening. Apparently, they got "re-acquainted".
Then he got a call from the Race Organizer, and he said the race was off, because the weather had turned very bad, stormy or whatever.
So Clarke had a bunch of food, which included a couple of bowls of Jello, which he said he really enjoyed...
Then the Race Organizer called back, and said the weather had cleared, so the race was back on again...
So Clarke went over, and set the World 10 Mile Record that night, within the same day that he had travelled back from Europe, shared some quality time with his wife, and ate a big meal...
Then he said, if you check the splits, you will notice there was 1 very slow lap in the middle, he smiled and said the Jello was re-occurring on him...Digestive issues apparently.
But that's what the man was made of --- no b.s., just let's go...
This story was triggered by a question from the audience in Vancouver, where a coach was saying that his athletes seem to not be to able to race well after travelling...
Clarke's response was typically blunt and to the point....
He said he reckoned that was a flat-out excuse, and representative of some sort of mental weakness, and shouldn't be tolerated. He then said, sure you will feel a bit different after travel, with the time zones and all, but that's JUST A FEELING IN YOUR BODY, nothing that you should not be able to overcome...He said surely, if you can run 13:20 for the 5K before you left, then you should be able to run at least that fast when you arrive...
Your fitness hasn't changed - you just need to be mentally stronger.... Wow ! Needless to say, I was impressed...