Sunday 28 October 2012

Newcastle Town Moor marathon 2012

I felt quite optimistic about this race. I put the fact that this would be my third marathon in four weeks to the back of my mind.

Just before the start I came back to earth and I decided to tag along with the Striders 10.5min/mile bus. I decided it would be much more enjoyable and I could always speed up a bit later on. This was also the fourth time I had done this race which was five laps around a not very scenic moor, so I thought being on the bus would help with the mental side. 

This certainly worked. The bus started with six runners, but this race had a high casualty rate on our club runners. Shortly into lap 2, the first one pulled out with a dodgy stomach. The second one went shortly after the end of lap 2 and the third soon after. That left three of us on the bus. We soon passed another runner from our club who was retiring with back problems. Soon after halfway, one of the other two stopped to take a stone out of her shoe and I found myself alone, but expecting them to catch me up very quickly. It didn't happen for another lap. Because of the bus, my first three laps were very consistent, 55mins for each of them. I speeded up a bit on lap 4 and did 50min, partly because one of the bus members, G, had caught me up and we ran together for the last part of that lap.



Teamwork!


Each lap we passed Fetchpoint (PenW and Scribbler) who were great and the Striders cheering point - at least six clubmates had come just to cheer. Their numbers were swelled by those runners who had pulled out so by the end of lap 4, there was a lot of noise as we went by. Most of them were singing Happy Birthday to G who had chosen to spend her birthday running her second marathon.

By the start of the final lap I knew I was in trouble, I could not keep up with G. So I walked sections. The wind was also picking up and it started to rain. I also walked up the hill having run up it the previous four times - this has happened every time I have done this event.

The route was muddier than the other times I have done it, but most of it was on tarmac paths so it wasn't an issue. I came in with 4hr 43min my worst performance there, not great, but I think it was largely down to lots of recent marathons and not good preparation for them.

This race is very social, you quite often see other runners (apart from the time they lap you ...) and it was good to see clubmates and Fetchies. The marshalls were as ever fantastic (at least three of them have stood at the same place out on the moor for every running of this event) and it was good to see KateS helping at the drinks station.

I was getting changed at the Striders cheering point when the organiser cycled over and asked if I was still there. Yes, I said and was astonished to hear I had won a prize - 3rd place MV60 ! A nice trophy too :-) A good end to the day

Saturday 13 October 2012

Adventure Hub Norfolk Coast marathon 2012


Dave gets another marathon under his belt.I missed doing a stage of the Round Norfolk Relay this year and as we were visiting a friend in Norwich it seemed a good idea to fit in a race along the North Norfolk coast. I expected it to be flat, but it started on a heath above the coast and we ran down to the coast. As it was an out and back course I knew I had the climb at the end to look forward to.
We hit the coast and and 2m stretch of shingle beach. This was very hard work, as bad as running in sticky mud but you come out with clean shoes. Luckily I missed some it by keeping inland as much as possible - although I had not run this stretch before, I had seen other runners on the Relay taking an inland route. It was a bit muddy in places, but far better than the shingle. But you couldn't avoid all the shingle. Finally it ended and I got to the first checkpoint.
From there to the turn around point, it was easy going, hard paths, little wind, a bit of sun, but not too much and lovely views. After a cup of tea and biscuit I started back. There were still runners coming towards me and some were carrying on along the coast as there was also a 100K event, so the marathon was just the short event !
About two thirds of the way into the event, I started to feel the after effects of doing Kielder six days ago. My legs became very tired and the shingle beach sapped even more energy from my legs. The gentle climb back to the heath and the finish seemed steeper than it was. It felt good to finish and I was happy with my time of 4hr 49min

Sunday 7 October 2012

Kielder marathon 2012

This was my seventh race around Kielder and my second time at this event organised by Steve Cram. Like last year and as at the Sunderland marathon, it was well organised. The numbers of people participating seemed to have risen this year and I met a few who were doing their first marathon. The scenery on the course is great, but it is a hard event as the Lakeside Way, which the race follows, is continually up and down.
I was aware that my last marathon was almost two months ago and I have only run a 13m route since then, so the aim was to start at the back and just get round. I also have the Norfolk Coastal marathon in six days so I didn't want to do any damage.
Starting at the back was a good idea, the early narrow stretches were not as crowded as they were last year. I had decided to walk all the hills, even the one just after the start and that approach seemed to work well.
Last year I got to the dam at 17m and felt great, so I thought I speeded up and overtook lots of runners. Looking at the times later I realised I was just running at the same speed, it was just that other runners were slowing down because the relentless climbs had taken energy from their legs. This year I found the same thing happened and I was passing lots of people. It was all going very well until 3m from the end when my calf pinged alarmingly. I backed off immediately as I didn't want to do any damage and plodded the last miles. To my surprise my time of 4h 52min was about what I normally would do at Kielder, I was expecting something closer to 5hr 30min before the start.
Sue had a fantastic run and knocked many minutes off her previous run at Kielder. I think Bill was taking it relatively easy because of an injury. Andrew and Maggie also had good runs.