Saltwell Harriers Fell Race Report 02/07/2013

This is the third time I have ran this race, but the first since joining the club as I was working in London this time last year.

My mate Jonny was also running again, so we drove over together. It's amazing how the weather can change as the elevation changes. As you can see from the picture the conditions were less than ideal with heavy rain and strong winds being a feature of the drive across to the moors above Stanhope where the race takes place.

After a short warm up and a bit of banter with some fellow harriers the race got underway.

The race starts off with a steady climb to the radio mast on the top of Collier Law and I made good progress, picking my way through the field and even passing Jim Thompson near the top (although I could still see Chris Kennedy around 100 metres in front of me).

At this point I was in around 10th place and feeling good, although I knew there was still a lot of work to do.

The descent back down to the road crossing seemed a little easier than previous years as the bracken was at a lower level so it wasn't as much effort to run through it. On this section I could sense Jim very close behind me and knew that if would be difficult to hold him off as he is a very good fell runner.

Sure enough just as we reached the road he passed me, and I started to feel tired and a little concerned that I may have started off too fast.

Those thoughts didn't last too long however.

After running along a disused railway track the route takes a sharp left and descents steeply down a long grassy slope to the river and it was at this point that disaster struck.

Just before the race I had noticed that one of my fell shoes were starting to come away at the sole and made a mental note to bin them when I got home. Unfortunately they decided at this point that they had had enough and the sole of my left shoe almost entirely separated from its upper half.

I stopped and try to patch them up my wrapping my laces round them which helped a little but my foot was still slipping all over the place inside them which made it impossible run at any speed down the hill and a steady stream of people started to go past me.

At the bottom of the hill there is a very steep drop down to the stream where my shoe came off entirely and I sat on the bank contemplating dropping out of the race.

The only problem was the quickest way back to the start/finish was pretty much following the race route, and it I was going to walk back to the start then I might as well try to run there.

I tried patching my shoe up again, and after a dip in the stream to punch my number I set off along the steep valley side.

This was probably the worst part of the race as my shoe wouldn't stay on my foot because of the unevenness and slant of the ground so I was pretty much running barefoot (on one foot) for this section.

Once this was over the final climb up to the finish wasn't as bad underfoot and I managed to hobble in 53:36, a good 5 minutes slower than the last time I did the race but thankful to get to the end without the other shoe disintegrating again.

Weetslade relays race report 26/06/2013

This was my first race since Prudhoe and although I had gained fitness since then I was still not at my best so was a bit apprehensive approaching the race.

Couldn't have asked for better conditions on the day - warm, sunny and not a trace on wind. When I arrived I found out that we had 4 teams (of 3) competing and that I would be running the first leg in my team. This put me with Graham Harrison, Darren Smiley & Graham Stephenson.

I knew that Graham Stephenson had been running really well and came on leaps and bounds since he joined the club so I made my race plan to stick with him as much as I could.

The race set of at a furious pace but I was able to tuck in behind Graham and stay there for the first mile or so until the course veered up the short hill in the middle of the course. I'm normally quite strong on hills and thought I might have made up some ground at this point but I didn't seem to have that extra kick on the day.

The route is only just over 2 miles, so it wasn't long before we descended the hill and headed back along the path to the start. I was still keeping up with Graham at this point and made a move to try and go past him, but he must have sensed me coming and speeded up himself.

Then before I knew it we were approaching the slight incline to the finish, and I didn't have anything left in me to try and mount a sprint finish and Graham pulled away from me and ended up finishing 9 seconds in front.

All in all I was happy with my performance, although the almost immediate soreness in my legs (which lasted for a good few days) was a telling sign of my complete lack of speed-work this year.

14:31 and 15th out of 64 runners on the first leg

Prudhoe xc race report 23/03/2013

This was my first race of 2013 due to being injured for most of the year so far. In the few weeks leading up to the race I was able to run without pain, but was only able to make it up to around 6 miles so again I was aiming to get round the course with no more injuries or setbacks.

Last year it was over 20 degrees and brilliant sunshine for the race, but this year it was almost down to zero with gale force winds. Keith had put out a call to action the week before as we were in danger of being relegated and needed to put in a good performance to avoid the drop.

As the race began I didn't feel too bad - its pretty flat to begin with before a steep descent down the hill and I was able to run comfortably before having to face the hill for the first time.

By the second lap the tiredness was starting to hit me and I really had to dig deep to get up the hill the second time. By the time I reached the top and turned into the gale force winds I was glad the finnish was just round the corner.

But was it......

As I approached the finish area no-one seemed to be stopping and then it hit me - we had another lap to go! Last year it was only 2 and I did think the course seemed to be a bit shorter. Afterwards I learnt that a big loop at the bottom of the hill had been cut out because the ground was in poor condition after all the recent rain and snow.

At this point I seriously considered dropping out of the race as I just couldn't contemplate doing another lap. Its one thing pushing yourself to your limits when your running well, and another to just hang on and I'm not sure which is the most painful.

On the last lap I was passed by many runners and my lack of training and endurance really put me in the red zone and reduced me to a snails pace up the hill for the final time.

Ironically I was passed by Jim close to the end and finished one place behind him as I did in the same race last year. The difference this year was that he had missed the start of the medium pack and had to run with the fast pack (as did Chris) and so was a full 5 minutes ahead of me.

On the day I was 183rd out of 384 in horrendous conditions but on the positive side we didn't get relegated and will be in the 2nd division again in the next season.

Shibdon pond xc race report 17/11/2012

I went into this race still injured from the Cramlington race and xc training session the week after so it was never going to be a great performance. My hamstring hurt just walking so my plan was to try and run round comfortably and not make the injury any worse.

Because of this it was a pretty uneventful race, my hamstring was pretty sore all the way round but not sore enough to stop me running and didn't seem to be any worse  after the race.

It was the first time I had ran the course which is very short, flat and fast apart from a small hill you do a/few zig zags on.

Probably the slowest I've ever ran a race (i was 211th out of 460) , but at least I was able to race which is always a good thing.

Cramlington cross country 27 oct 12

First race of the cross country season and the conditions couldn't have been any more different than the last race in prudhoe back in march. Back then it's was breaking 20 degrees with sunny blue skies. Today the sky was pretty clear but temperatures were a lot lower and the abundance of rain (and overnight snow) in recent weeks resulted in the muddiest race I've ran so far.

The snow had melted by the time the race started, and there was an impressive turnout on the day.

After finishing 31st at prudhoe my aim was to try and break into the top 30 and make it into the medium pack. Even though I haven't ran much since kielder I think I'm still in pretty good shape so I thought I was capable of getting there.

When the race kicked off I made my way as close to the front as I could and felt pretty good for the first lap. Although certainly not a flat course, cramlington wasn't as challenging as wrekenton and didn't have the prudhoe hill. As Keith from the harriers said to me though at prudhoe all the courses are hard when your pushing hard which I felt I was for the whole race, and as the second lap went on I started to feel the effects.

Counting the people in front of me at this stage I was in around 25th place. I knew though that I would be overtaken by medium and fast pack runners by the end so breaking top 30 would be a difficult task.

Sure enough as the third lap unfurled I started to be overtaken and was slipping down the rankings. In a race I always think it gives you a psychological kick to overtake runners in the latter stages of a race, so it is a bit disheartening when this happens but I try and use this as motivation to run faster and keep ahead.

As the end of the race drew near I was feeling pretty tired and regretting the wine I had drank the night before, but I managed to put in a final sprint to overtake another runner on the line and finish in 38-23 in 41st place (out of 425 runners).

Even though it was disappointing to not make it into the medium pack again I only missed it by 17 seconds so that is my goal for the next race.

Kielder Marathon race report 7th Oct 2012

I've been running marathons for 2 and a half years now (this is my 5th) and I've now reached a point where it's getting harder and harder to get a pb. of the nature of the course I knew beating my Sunderland time of 3:04 was out of the question so my A goal was to try and beat last years time of 3-24.

I think I'm pretty much in the same shape as last year, although I haven't managed to get in as many long runs as I would have liked and haven't managed to get over 18 miles in training. Apart from my first marathon in Edinburgh I felt as least prepared as I ever have for a marathon so my confidence wasn't great going into the race.

I decided my race strategy was to try and sustain 7:30 to 7:40 mileing which would take me to around a 3-20 finish, and see how I felt later on in the race.

My mate Jonny was also doing the race this year too - his 3rd marathon and first time at kielder so I picked him up and we drove up together.

The weather was ideal for running - pretty nippy at first but clear skies all day and not a hint of wind - different story to last year. As we drove up towards Bellingham there was a stunning mist inversion covering the valleys below us, something that I remember from the first year I did the race.

As we set off the first mile was slow as ever - a combination of a hill right on the start line, and the difficulty of overtaking people on the narrow track. After around 5 miles or so though I had settled into a steady pace and was deliberately slowing myself down to keep close to my target pace.

Once I got up to around 7 miles I started to feel tired, but didn't want to take a gel so early as I had only brought 4 so I just kept going. The mental battle that normally kicks in later in the race had started already and the questions were floating round my head.

Why was I feeling so tired so early in the race?
If I was feeling this tired now, how would I feel later in the race?
Should I slow down and take it easy for a while? If so then it would be almost impossible to beat last years time.

I the end I decided to keep going at the pace I was running at for as long as I still could and hope I could sustain it till the end.

I took finally took my first gel after 11 miles, which didn't really help much but at least I was t feeling any worse and I went through halfway in 1-38.

I felt pretty much the same until around mile 15 when something bizarre happened. I took an energy drink from a feed station and it was like a kick start. All of a sudden the lethargy had gone and I felt really good.

I thought that the feeling wouldn't last long, maybe I mile or so and I would need another kick but by mile 17 I was still feeling great and started to push on and overtake people. I had another gel at mile 18 even though I felt like I didn't really need it and up until around mile 21 I still felt pretty good. I felt really confident of finishing now with a decent time and although the inevitable muscle soreness and fatigue started to kick in by mile 22 I was still able to sustain a decent pace. Thankfully the cramp that plagued me last year also stayed away.

The last few miles were pretty hard, and I had to dig deep to get through them, but it was a marked contrast to Sunderland where I was really suffering from around mile 14 and I was able to push on and overtake a few more people (including Jim from Saltwell who was suffering from cramp) .

My final time was 3:20:26 and I came 44th and Jonny did really well to finish in 4:19.

I got some massive pluses out of this race, firstly how well I was able to run considering the quality of my pre race preparation. I ended up taking all my gels but felt like I didn't need then all and could get away with less in the future.

Secondly I was happy at how consistent my pace was- although I didn't manage a negative split it is the closest I've ever came to one and I didn't implode in the second half of the race like I did in Sunderland. More than ever I feel like my best strategy is to pick a realistic finish time and try and stick to a constant pace all the way round, as opposed to starting faster to try and offset slowing down later in the race.

It is a massive psychological boost to speed up and overtake people in the latter stages of a marathon and something I am defiantly going to work on next year.

I've signed up for Sunderland again next year and my goal is to break 3 hours. For now though I'm going to have some much needed R&R and reflect on a great running year do far.

Great North Run race report 16 Sep 2012

Although I've been running again for just over 3 years now and ran on and off since I was a kid I've never done the Great North Run before. In fact I've never raced a half marathon so this was a first on a number of levels.

I've got a long time goal to try and crack 1-15 for the distance but I knew I wasn't in that type of shape for this race. Realistically I thought that I'd try and aim for 1-23 which meant just under 6-20 pace.

My biggest mistake of the day was underestimating the time it would take to get to the start line. I set out for South Shields at 8-30 to get there before the roads closed with Donna who was going to wait for me at the finish line. Heavy traffic and a busy metro ride back to town meant I didn't get to the start line till 10-20, with the race due to start at 10-40.

By this time I had missed the baggage bus so had to race up to the top of Claremont Road to put by bag on the late baggage bus. I was advised not to try and get back into my starting pen and join the race at the back which would have destroyed any chance I had of getting near my target time. For this reason I decided to take a chance and raced back down to my start pen (Orange B) which was just closing (aaaaegh - at least I had managed to get a warm up racing to the baggage bus and back).

Streams of runners were walking back up the road so I felt resigned to going all the way to the back when I noticed one of the pens still letting people in. I managed to just squeeze in, but it still was nearly 15 minutes before I reached the start line just as it started to rain.

I resisted the urge to high 5 Mo Farah as I crossed the line and finally started to run. This is only the second race I've ever taken part in where there is a significant amount of support along the way (the first being the Edinburgh Marathon) and I think this is one of the reasons the race has came to be so big as it certainly isn't the most scenic of routes.

From start to finish I was constantly dodging past people so found it difficult to maintain a steady pace but I still managed to maintain my target of 6-20 mileing. I managed to maintain this until around 9 miles where fatigue started to kick in and I reached a steady incline before the steep drop down to the coast.

Although a net downhill course the route certainly isn't flat with a number of steady climbs which shook things up a bit.

I had made a decision not to take on any fuel or drinks during the race, consistent with my training were I have ran up to 18 mile with little fueling. In retrospect maybe a gel at mile 8 may help so I will give this a try next time.

At the 12 mile point I put a final kick in to the finish line for a time of 1-23-31 , pretty much exactly what I was aiming for. Maybe with a better starting point I could have got closer to 1-20 , but this now gives me a mark in the sand to try and beat next year.

Having ran my first half marathon and first great north run I feel that with the right training and preparation that 1-15 is in reach and something I'd like to work towards next year.

Next up: Kielder Marathon