Doctor solves Wardle worries

Sep 19 2002 By The Evening Chronicle

London-based David Wardle may not have won the Tynedale 10 if it had not been for a little help from a Japanese doctor.

The 26-year-old graphic designer was having all kinds of problems with his fitness before being pointed in the direction of the doctor after exhausting every other avenue.

"I was picking up a cold every three or four weeks, which was very irritating," said Wardle, who used to compete for Jarrow and Hebburn before moving south and linking up with the London Irish club.

"No one could pinpoint the problem. I was becoming desperate. I was getting reasonably fit and then picking up a cold which knocked training right back.

"So I had nothing to lose by trying something new.

"He spotted the problem straight away. He said I was anaemic, which I already knew, but I didn't know I was allergic to iron supplements.

"Since putting that problem right, everything has gone well. I have to thank the guy for getting my athletics back on the right track." Wardle was in the North East last weekend visiting his parents and took in the Tynedale race, which he won comfortably by over two-and-a-half minutes.

He hopes his next visit is equally successful when he competes in the North East Counties Cross-Country Championships at Chester-le-Street in December.

"I would love to run well and make the team for the Inter-Counties," added Wardle. "I've been very close in the past but now my problems have been sorted out I would like to think I could do enough to get into the team."