Clarke told me that Clayton's problem was that he only ran. Clarke always did gym work, usually in his home. He told me that he, Clarke, had put a climbing rope on a tree in his backyard for his son to climb. His son could climb to the top but Clayton could barely get off the ground.
The basic Sunday group run in the Danedongs was 17 miles, Clarke told me, from a club mate's house but could be extended to 22. Mo'pak would know the specifics. And yes, Clarke told me, Clayton often ran with the group in the morning and then went for "a further 10-15 miles in the afternoon." On the Wednesday runs Clarke said the two of them ran at a muderous pace chatting away while no one else in the group could keep up. He said he always tried to drop Clayton but never could.
Clayton made that comment about not liking running in other places as well. But once retired and working for Runner's World he was back to around 5 miles a day saying he enjoyed those runs.
Clarke also told me something that I have sometimes thought about myself and it factors into a discussion like this. He thinks that coaches can have an overall detremental influence on their athletes because they need to make themselves useful so they either consciously or sub-consciously create stressful situations that make their athletes dependent on them.
I don't know if I exactly agree with that. But I do think the idea that some people are pushing here, that training is this complicated, precise process and that you need some incredibly clever coach who can guide you through the process or you're doomed.