Sir, – In her article "Striving to fulfil aspirations at 7,000 feet", Sport, April 21st), Sonia O'Sullivan wonders if it is "a fear of missing out" that motivates many talented middle-distance and long-distance runners, who aspire to be champions, to relocate to places like the Flagstaff, Arizona, training camp to undergo periods of altitude training.
Particularly so as it is something that many of them can barely afford.
For more than 50 years now it has been an article of faith, held almost universally, among the middle- and long-distance running community – athletes, coaches, sports journalists, physiologists, etc – that there is a significant performance benefit to be gained from a period of training at altitude. However, throughout that time it has never been scientifically proven that such a benefit does indeed occur. The absence of any conclusive proof, though, has not prevented that belief from remaining dominant.
Of course this is not to deny that there are other performance benefits that can and do occur when runners come together to train in dedicated camps. It’s just that those camps don’t necessarily need to be located high up in the Rockies or the mountains of East Africa. Having such a camp in low-altitude Ireland would work just as well.
With many aspiring young runners who pay good money to avail of these camps, Sonia is to be commended for giving attention in her article to what became and continues to remain an unnecessary expense for those who believe that altitude training will benefit them as they strive to be champions. – Yours, etc,
MICK BOURKE,
Clane,
Co Kildare.
