Runners

ILLUSTRATION: PIETARI POSTI``````1.PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE``````026 RUNNERSWORLD.CO.UK JULY 2018``````t’s the night before the Brighton Marathon and my husband,Jeff, is sitting on the sofa scoffing a Magnum Classic. I’vepointed out that a chocolate-covered ice cream doesn’t strictlyclassify as carb-loading, but he doesn’t care – he ate one thenight before achieving a lifetime best in a half marathon lastmonth, so it has now become part of his pre-race preparations.Will it help? Possibly. When, by accident or design, an item(say, ice cream) or procedure (having a haircut) features in thelead-up to a successful outcome, we see causation. I performedwell last month after eating a Magnum – something I’d neverdone before; ergo it contributed to my success. Even if a more rational partof you isn’t convinced it played a part in smashing that PB, you may stillconclude that it’d be crazy to risk not eating one, just as you might chooseto walk around a ladder, rather than underneath it – just in case. ‘It’s aboutbelief, regardless of logic,’ says sport psychologist Andy Lane. ‘If you believea specific action or item can affect how you perform, it probably will.’Jeff is in good company. Many athletes engage in quirky pre-racebehaviours or bear lucky talismans – Paula Radcliffe kept a special set ofsafety pins to use on her race bib, while US 10,000m record holder MollyHuddle paints her nails in a colour that’s meaningful to the race. In fact,research has found that elite athletes are more superstitious than amateurs.Whether it’s donning lucky socks or always listening to a particular songon your way to a race, familiar behaviour patterns help bring a sense oforder and control at a time when stress levels are high. ‘It’s not the socksthemselves that have any effect but what putting them on does for yourstate of mind – helping you relax and raising your confidence,’ says Lane.Another thing Jeff indulges in during the week leading up to a big raceis a daily shot of beetroot juice. Another superstitious ritual, or does theevidence of its beneficial effect on endurance performance elevate it to``````something meaningful? ‘With manyergogenic aids [substances that mayboost performance] there is strongerevidence for the powerful effectbelief exerts than there is for anybiological mechanism,’ says Lane. Ina study he conducted, athletes whobelieved caffeine aided performancegot a stronger ergogenic effect thanthose who did not.But I see a key difference in howthe behaviour becomes part of apre-race ritual. Drinking beetrootjuice is a considered decision, withsome logic behind it. In the icecream scenario, it’s random: youperform particularly well and, inconsidering why this was, hit uponthe fact that you ate a Magnum theday before. You then attribute yoursuccess, at least in part, to that,driving you to do the same thing onfuture occasions. In that sense, Jeff’snow-vital ice cream ritual couldhave been anything – a cold shower,a glass of wine, a curry...I wonder what would happen if Iscoffed all the Magnums before hisnext race? I like to think he’d acceptthat it wouldn’t really matter. But aGerman study^1 found that whena group of people sitting a testwere allowed to keep their ‘lucky’mascots, they fared better than acomparison group whose talismanswere banished. The authorsconcluded that the presence of aperceived lucky charm can lead toimproved performance by boostingour belief in our ability to masterthe task in hand and increasingour willingness to persist in thattask. Conversely, being deprivedof the thing you believe bringsyou luck could adversely effectyour performance.Jeff didn’t get a PB in Brighton,but he did run his fastest marathonfor 18 years (2:31:23). So I’ve got afeeling the Magnums are here tostay. In fact, I might just try onemyself before my next race.WHAT SAM...Ran in...The Sussex roadrelays. Our teamwon silver!``````Launched...A new runninggroup inTenterden, Kent.``````Met...Gobi, the pint-sized caninehero whoaccompaniedultrarunner DionLeonard throughthe Gobi desert,in China, earningherself a foreverhome in theprocess.IMu r ph y’s L o r eBY SAM MURPHYRACE SUPERSTITIONS ARE FORSUCKERS TOUCH WOOD