WH4ITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 8,1985, PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson THE ~~- CROW'S NEST by Michael Knell The signa have come down. The phones have stopped ringing. The back room dealing has taken a different tone. And the rhetoric has quietened. The election is over and puzzled pundits have retreated to their favorite hiding places and watering holes to figure out what went right and more impor- tantly, wrong. Here in Durham West we saw the resurgence of the Liberal Party, as amazing as that might sound. Sure, George Ashe won. But if I were him I'd not only be a little humble at this moment, but I'd be looking at my own performance and my team's performan- ce and asking "What went wrong?" "What went wrong?" is a simple question to answer. Liberal candidate Brian Evans ran a good strong campaign, got on the right side of every major issue - including the extension of funding to the senior grades of the separate school system - and got his message across forcefully and rationally. He developed a good rapport with the local press and shone when campaigning on a one-to-one basis. Compared to the campaign Evans waged, the Ashe effort looked like a high school production. I would have thought that a cabinet minister would have spent the 37 days between the writ and the election making the news instead of defending the record of his government and his own performance as MPP. I was disappointed with the Ashe campaign. It was dull, boring and unimaginative. It was a mini-Frank Miller campaign. It was a peek-a-boo, let's hide the candidate from everyone and not say anything affair. In my campaign profile of Ashe, I described him as a professional politician. He is a pro. He should have known better. Ashe has waged enough campaigns to know what its like to stage a winning effort. He may have won in terms of votes last Thursday but the Durham West Progressive Conservative Association knows its in trouble. Proof of this could be found at Ashe's victory party last Thursday night. Com- pared to wall ripper the Tories tlcew when Scott Fennell was returned to Parliament last September or when Ashe won in 1981, the tone of the party was subdued. They were positively depressed. Another interesting note. The local press normally hangs the winner's party - has a brew or two and chats up the faithful looking for a backgrounder or just to relax after an intense day. This time, most of the press gathered at Evans' par- ty - they ignored the winner. Probably because most of them felt that the winner had ignored them most of the campaign. I think its now safe to say that Ashe doesn't enjoy the confidence of the local press (I know, I know, the Ajax News Advertiser endorsed Ashe - but I don't think its reporters did). Ashe increased the number of votes he received over 1981 by just over 1,000. Evans doubled the Liberal vote from 7,400 or thereabouts to over 14,100 - within about 4,100 votes of Ashe. Last time, Ashe won by 9,600 votes. He's in trouble. Also causing Ashe problems is NDP candidate Don Stewart. This man did an amazing job despite the fact that his was also a no where campaign. He managed to make the news but he did without the valuable support of talented campaign people. Stewart added 20 per cent to the local NDP vote. He gave the New Democrats a new respectivility locally. And he also got one thing Ashe doesn't have and has a long fight to get and that's the respect and confidence of the local press. Now, I'm not talking about the corporate editors who give the newspapers official position. I'm talking about the working reporters - the word mechanics who write the important stuff. No matter which way Ashe and the local Tories look at it - they screwed up. They may have won and Ashe may have one of the biggest pluralities of any Tory member in the next Legislature but they screwed up nonetheless. The local Tories had a pro for a candidate. An Ontario cabinet minister - one of the movers and the shakers. They had money, they had organization and they were ready to hit the campaign trail a year ago. They should have walked away with this election. They should have buried the Liberals and the New Democrats - made them local political history. But they didn't. Why, I don't know. All I can do is speculate. There are probably two major reasons. Firstly, there's Evans' impressive campaign. People snickered when he was nominated last October but he showed them he's got what it takes to fight a campaign. He has given the local Liberal party hope, he's made them believe they can win. And if he can keep them together - keep them believng (and working) Ashe could be in serious trouble. The other reason is simple. The Tories got complacent. I think they've forgot- ten how to run a campaign. In 1981, Ashe looked and sounded the way he should have in 1985. They had the money, they had the organization but they had no fire. Ashe spent most of the election campaign on the defensive, when he should have been on the offensive. Evans' stands on separate school funding and the government's sudden shift on GO-ALRT really hurt Ashe. I did an exit poll last Thursday and I can testify that these were the two biggest things on people's minds. Not all the great things Ashe has done for this riding. I keep having to remind myself that Ashe won last Thursday. The returning officer said so. She should know, she counted the ballots. But it wasn't a winning campaign. Evans was looking like the winner and campaign like the old veteran. If the campaign had of been a couple of weeks longer the result could have been very different. We're going to have another election soon. I wonder if the local Tories have learnt any lessons. BILL SWAN Running ambition EDITOR'S NOTE: This week the Whitby Free Press welcomes Bill Swan as our new regular columnist on Advise and Dissent. Bill has been a journalist for a great number of years. Prior to becoming the journalism instructor at Durham College, Bill served as managing editor of the Woodstock Sentinel Review. We are confident that Free Press readers will find his news and opinions, refreshing and thought provoking. Ian Barron has an ambition. Not ready to settle for trifles, he wants to complete a 100-mile road race next year. He means, of course, in an organized competition, all in one day. Most of us don't like to put that many miles on a car in one day. But Ian's ambition is to run the U.S. 100-mile Road Race. And he now has the credentials to make this ambition much more than an idle boast. Ian, who owns Ian Barron Motors on Brock St. N. in Whitby, recently completed the Toronto Longboar 100-kilometre (62.5 mile) race in 9 hours, 21 min. and 28 seconds, a time swift enough to place him eighth of 51 runners. The winner, Jim Pellon, 34, of California, churned through the course on Toronto streets in 7:09:17. Like most of us, Ian was born with legs that wob- bled. So how, at the age of 34, did he turn into an ultra-marathoner? "It started because I was over-weight and had high blood pressure," Ian said. At 5 ft. 8 in. Ian weighed in at 195 pounds. "I started off running just to lose weight. I found it so boring." Most beginner joggers can identify with that. But somewhere along the line, Ian began to enjoy his workouts. His weight dropped (he now weighs 155 pounds) as did his blood pressure. His doctor was amazed. But if a little is good for you, a lot must be even better. Ian increased his mileage, began to run some races: first 10 kilometers (6.2 mile) (his best: 36 minutes, 58 seconds); and then, what once was considered the ultimate, the marathon. He has now completed 13 full marathons (officially 26 miles, 385 yards, or 42.195 kilometers) with a best time of 3 hours and 57 seconds. Another ambition: a marathon in under 3 hours. Athletes know that performance only ices that cake. The real effort, the real science, lies in preparation. So how does one prepare for a 100-km race, let alone 100 mile? Well, first you find a coach, which Ian has in Gary Ranalli of Oshawa, himself no mean runner with a marathon time in under 2:30. Gary put together a schedule to help Ian prepare for his first ultra. That will follow in the next paragraph. The squeamish should not read it. So the secret? 120 miles a week. Three workouts a day: 5 miles in the morning, 15 to 20 miles at mid- day, and 4 miles in the evening. Bed time at 8:30 or 9 p.m. to allow for a 5:30 a.m. wake-up, ready for the morning run. Not much room for social life there. His two children, Pauline, il and Tanya, 6, are supportive. But encouragement from his girlfriend Carol George he credits for his success. "If you don't get that feeling of support from home, then you can't go out and do your best. I was lucky to have Carol on the course with me in Toronto. The support was excellent." Two local runners, Glen Livingstone and Bill Webb also paced him for part of the course. For those who enjoy a little humility in their lives, though, just a bit about Ian's performance in that Toronto race. He admits going out "a bit fast" - a bit below 7 minutes a mile. He completed the first full marathon of the ultra in 3 hours and 26 minutes. He did a full change of gear after 26 miles, and then charged ahead. At half way he took a lunch break for bananas, some cookies and coke. "I was amazed at how I felt near the end," Ian said. "During the second marathon section I drop- ped my pace from 8:30 to 8:45 but felt fit all the way. It wasn't until the 90 km (54 mile) mark that my body began to feel some fatigue, and my legs began to tighten a bit. But there was never any doubt that I was going to finish. I was mentally prepared, and that is the most important part." Incidentally, Ian is president of the 63-member Whitby-Tigers, a local running club. The club meets this Thursday (May 9) at Iroquois Park. New mem- bers are welcome. And this Sunday, six members of the club will be attempting the National Capital Marathon in Ot- tawa: Richard Attwool, Malcolm Suddons, Joe Colasurdo, Alex Cowie, Peter Dopping, and Daryl Bobyk. Good luck to all.