Hull marathon 2012

Melanie and I travelled down on the Saturday as the race started at 8 and we certainly did not fancy getting up very early on Sunday morning, driving down and registering. There was a four hour window to collect numbers between 10 and 2 on Saturday, which wasn't the best times they could have chosen. This was the first running of this event and there were bound to be teething problems, but there did seem to be a lot. The route was hard to follow on the maps on the website, there was confusion about the start time, they used the wrong postcode for the start in one email, the leading runners were apparently directed the wrong way and ended up 3 miles short and one Fetchie missed out a four mile loop and no marshall spotted it ! The organisers need to polish things quite a bit of they are going to do it again. Having said all that, I enjoyed the race as those issues didn't affect my race. 

After collecting my number (and bumping into TripletDad who went on to run a great pb the following day 😀 we went for lunch in the Ferens gallery and looked around and then went on a museum tour. I lived in Hull for four years and have a lot of affection for the place, but it is thirty two years since I left and there were some bits I just didn't recognise. There lots of new bits for me such as the marina, the Deep and the promenade along the estuary (more of this later).

We were staying at the city Centre Premier Inn which was built on top of car park, so reception and the restaurant were on floor 7 with a view of the estuary and the tidal barrier on the river Hull 😀 Our room was on floor 12 and faced the same way 😀 So we ate in the restaurant and enjoyed the views. They also started breakfast early at 6.30 because of the marathon 😀

After breakfast, where I bumped into Plodding Hippo (it was the sort of event which attracted lots of familiar faces 😀) we went to the start and met up with my clubmate Andy80 and to our surprise another one, Y arrived and it was his first marathon. I think he only got the number at short notice, but Y seems to be able to adapt to most events and put in a great performance for a first marathon 😀 It turns out he has never run more than 14m before, amazing.

I started nearer the from than I would have liked so I hung back a bit and took it nice and easy. After a loop we returned to the start where I stopped next to M to get my base layer off and put back on my long sleeved Fetch shirt. I had thought it would be colder than it was, but I was already warming up and I knew I would not be seeing M again until about 20m.

After a fairly dull section on a road out of the city we turned to do a loop of the KC stadium grounds and I could see I was catching Y and it turned out he was sticking with the 4hr 30min pacer. I didn't have any ambitions for this race, though under 4ht 30min would be great outcome for me. So I decided to stick the pacer as well. It worked fantastically and there was a group of of about nine of us who stayed with him until about 18m. Then Y disappeared ahead into the distance, I stuck with him and everbody else had dropped off the back. It was great to let somebody else be in charge and to run in a group, not to surge ahead as I was tempted to. I kept a check on progress and it was good.

In the meantime, we had a bit of climb up the road leading to the road leading to the Humber Bridge and then onto the Bridge itself. It was pretty misty, we could hardly see the other side and the bridge is certainly not flat ! We reached the other side and returned on the other walkway. The pacer was keeping a steady pas as far as I could see, no change on the uphills or downhills. I realised before the start that I had left my S-caps at home so I was going to have to rely on shot blocks and I decided a disciplined approach was in order, one every twenty minutes after forty minutes. Again this worked well. In the first few miles my calves felt tight and I was concerned that they might tweak as they had done at the end of Kielder two weeks ago, but I got through with no problems.

We went into Pearson Park and did a loop there. This was almost offroad and was a welcome relief. Then came the worst bit a seemingly endless loop through an industrial estate. Finally we made it to the attractive marina at about 20m where M was waiting and it was great to see her and know there was not far to go. 

Soon after that to my surprise the pacer ripped off his pacer badge on his back and seemed to stop. I guess he must have developed an injury, but it was a bit of surprise and I had to wake up and take responsibility for my own time. First thought was, well I have run this far at the correct pace, I am not going to let it slip now, so determination drove me on.

At about this point we had a long out and back section along the estuary promenade. It was great to see other runners and some familiar faces coming back the other way. It didn't take me long to realise that they were suffering because they had wind in their faces.... So I needed to make all I could of the wind behind me before coming to the turning point. I had a lovely surprise when I got there. I heard shouts of Come on Fetchie long before I got there and the marshall turned out to be SodIron ! It was great to exchange a few words before heading back into the wind.

We finally turned off the promenade and headed back into the sheltered streets of the town. I tried to avoid looking at the distance on my Garmin and when we were running on a parallel street to the finish, I thought we might nearly be there. Sadly not, there was a loop to be done before we finally reached the finish. I came home in 4hr 24min 41sec and I was very happy with that 😀

Would I do it again ? Not sure yet, its too early to say

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/B5U4bEXnMyeCdudz5

Kielder Lakeside Way marathon 2012

My sixth time round Kielder and my third time at this low key and free marathon for members of the North East Marathon Club (membership is just £8 !). Thirty runners including five Striders - Will, John Hutchinson, Angela, Sue and me. I was also my first handicap marathon, which I was looking forward to. We had to predict our time in 15 minute intervals and we would be set off with the aim of all of us finishing at 3pm.

Melanie and I drove up on the morning to get to my scheduled start at 10. The mist was very thick in places and it didn't look like we were going to be able to see very much when running. However, the mist lifted about two miles from the dam and it was clear that this would be a hot day.

Melanie was going to cycle round the Lakeside Way in the opposite direction to the runners and take some pictures, so we unloaded the bike and got ourselves ready. There were four other runners starting at 10 and some of them I knew were a lot quicker than me. Three of them shot off and the fourth one, Tim, and I stuck together and chatted for fourteen miles. It certainly made those miles easier, but I probably ran them slightly faster than I should have done

After 30 minutes I started to walk the hills and there are lots of them at Kielder. After 14m I met Melanie coming the other way, she had stopped to take photos in many places and so was a bit behind her schedule. Tim ran on while I chatted to Melanie for a bit.

I almost caught Tim when he was running with Angela and Sue, but then he and Angela disappeared into the distance and Angela put in her now customary storming finish to a long run.

It was getting very warm and I was starting to struggle. I got to 19m and then I was really struggling, lots of walking breaks. Plodded on overtaking the odd runner or so and being overtaken by others as the handicap started to unwind. A couple of calf spasms were a bit worrying. I perked up a bit in the final mile and made it home in 4hr 54min. Before the start I said I would be happy with sub 5 and I was, but it should not have been that hard. It is all down to my lack of training, but hopefully this will make Hull in two weeks a bit easier.

John estimated it would take him 4hr 15min and he came in with 4hr 14min, so excellent pacing in the heat. Sue came in shortly afterwards in a great time on this course. Will was in the last group to start and was starting to slow down, so he pulled out at 17m to preserve his legs for a higher profile race coming up soon.

It is a beautiful but hilly route, almost all on very good, purpose built trail. Road shoes are fine on this surface. A meal in the pub and chats with other runners before we made our way

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/wnbo7vhT7YauBiYE9

Belvoir Challenge 26m 2012

It has been a while, the middle of November was the last time I did a long race. My training since then has been poor, just one long run and that was 15m, so not great preparation for a marathon. I felt that I had to rely on my legs remembering that they had carried me round lots of marathons/ultras last year.

I have done the Belvoir Challenge twice before. In 2009 the ground was firm, but in 2010 it was a mudfest, so I wasn't sure how it would be this year (it turned out to be very firm). I like the event because of the great atmosphere, the route seems to change significantly each year and the checkpoints are usually laden with food. It is also well marked so I didn't use the map for navigation

I drove down to Grantham on Friday night after a very busy week and I was up at seven getting ready. Even so I had to park a fair way from the Race HQ in Harby village. It was good to catch up with about half a dozen runners from fetcheveryone.com who I haven't seen for a while.

I started very slowly on a flat and new section for me up to Granby. At about 10m the shorter route headed back and the 26m runners headed up towards Belvoir Castle. Down to the second checkpoint which I had visited in previous years and then the first big climb out of there. It was quite a warm day and I had overestimated how many clothes I should wear, so I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. The third checkpoint was also familiar and then the slog to the fourth one started. I had done this section before and remembered it well. Parts of it are okay, but it is dull in places. It ends with a big climb up to the village containing the fourth and final checkpoint. It was going to be 8m from there to the finish, so I took on lots of drink and selected from the usual flapjack, scones, brownies, and sandwiches

My legs were now feeling very heavy and the last 8m contained some climbs. It also contained the rusty ladder which goes down a particularly steep bit and then a new very steep descent. Luckily it was only short. There were lots of stiles to climb over in the last 16m, somebody counted thirty and I can well believe that. There was also the odd locked gate and fence to scale.

We got to the top of the Belvoir Escarpment to be greeted by a lovely view across the Vale of Belvoir and Harby, and the finish. However, it had got a bit windy so going across the top was getting harder. The descent was lovely but there was hardly anything left in my legs, my lack of recent long distances was now revealing itself.

I was very pleased to finish, 5hr 23min, and have the free soup and fruit pudding with custard. Then the long drive home and on to the Striders Christmas party which was a great success !

2009 blog : Lisrun: Belvoir Challenge 26m 2009

2010 blog : Lisrun: Belvoir Challenge 2010

Rosedale Ultra 30m 2011

I was up at 4.30, had breakfast and headed off in the dark to Hetton-le-Hole. I got there in plenty of time (I could have slept longer !) and registered. I only knew one other runner to talk to, but there were about three or four familiar faces. There were three distances available 40m, 30m and 13m setting off at half hour intervals. My start was at 8.00 and the mist had not burned off so we set off over the moor with about 75 yards visibility. We hit a small road and followed that to the top of Chimney Bank above Rosedale. There we turned north along the old railway line. Although we were gently climbing all the way, I felt good and it all seemed to be going well. The first checkpoint was at 7m and they only had water as advertised. The sun then came out for a short while and we could see down onto the mist in the valley. Then we were suddenly back in the mist with visibility down to 50 yards and it started to get chilly. We followed the railway line all the way round the head of the valley, but at times the line was just a bog so we ran alongside or up embankments. We came down one of these and it was a bit muddy. I was running in my Hoka's and I had suspected they weren't good in very wet mud. This was confirmed as my feet went from under me and I landed in the mud Three more falls were to come.

After a while we pulled up a large hill, crossed a road and then turned a sharp right into a very tough 2.5m section, which felt much much longer. It was basically a bog initially, then it turned into a mud bath. You would put your foot down and have very little idea how far it would go in - sometimes it would be up my calf, a couple of times it was over my knee. I know I had the wrong shoes on, but even my mudclaws wouldn't have coped with that, however they would have given me more confidence. I was so pleased when that bit was over and the second checkpoint at the end of it was well stocked with food and tea - sadly the remaining ones were just people in cars and large cartons of water on the verge.

We went into Dalby Forest where we were on good trails most of the time. While there some faster runners on the 30m route came by. They had apparently made a major navigational error and added 7m. Out of the forest and back to the moors before the major climb out of Rosedale and up Chimney Bank via a muddy trail. Then it was a lovely run down to Lastingham and then 2m back to Hetton-le-Hole, where a meal was provided. There were 26 runners doing the 30m race and I asked what position I was in when I came in. I had been passing runners, but I was astonished that I was 8th in a time of 6hr 38min What had happened was that a large number of the faster runners had added 7m to their run, which had promoted me way beyond my usual position. A tough run, but an enjoyable one and it will be my last marathon/ultra for 2011.

Shillington Shuffle 2011

Day 3 of the running weekend. This was a lovely event, great route, very clear route description (it wasn't marked), free tea and biscuits to start, cakes and biscuits at the first checkpoint, sandwiches and more at the remaining three checkpoints and a basic meal at the finish. All for £5, I love LDWA events

You could start any time between 8 and 9.30, but the first checkpoint (7m) didn't open until 10.00. Christina (who was accompanying me to the first checkpoint) and I started at 8.17. The first 7m were hilly and we kept an eye on the time, though not because we wanted to go faster, we wanted not to go too fast as we didn't want to cover the first 7m in less than 1hr 43. So we walked some flat bits in order to time it right. Never done that before so early in a run. We got it right and then Christina headed back a different way.

The route description was very good, although there were times when I got together with other runners to figure out which way to go. At one point the route description said something like 'carry on ahead passing three benches until you come to a cross track when you turn left to cross a bridge'. We came across a bridge with a path coming in from the right with a bridge and a bench. We got together and someone asked 'Who has been counting benches?' Lol, of course nobody had, but we made the right decision. The first half was fairly hilly but the second half was flat, but it crossed many fields and one field had no discernible path at all, we just waded through a muddy field of cabbages (or something similar) and I picked up loads of mud on my new shoes, which made them feel twice as heavy. Because you had to concentrate on which way to go all the time, the miles passed very quickly.

It was great to see so many people I knew at this event, it feels like there is this band of people who travel the country doing marathons and there will always be someone you know at any event. I managed to get back in about 5hr 52min and I was pleased with that

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/88NNwsraW34soEUJ6

Enigma Poppy Day marathon 2011

A marathon on a Friday? Well why not, it was the 11th day of the 11th month of 2011. Naturally, the race started at 11:11. At 11 there was a two minute silence after a moving speech by one of the competitors who was a current member of the Armed Forces. There were about 60 runners some of whom started early and I didn't get to see, but there were lots of people I had met at other marathons and ultras.

As this is to be a busy running weekend, the plan was to take it easy and I started off a little quick, but I slowed as the race went on. I had done this seven lap course twice before this year, but I didn't find it dull, though it was relief to go through half way. The weather was cloudy and mild, with only a very slight breeze.

About halfway round lap 6, I realised that a sub 4.30 was on. There have only been three of these this year, so I went on and started to push a bit harder on the final lap. I did the last half of the last lap with another runner and we worked together and came in together with 4hr 29min 4sec.

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/bnneuVbMFb2z9bw6A

Newcastle Town Moor marathon 2011

The first time I did this race, the weather was wild, windy and cold. Last year was wet and cold. This year they moved the race from late November to the end of October and the conditions were almost perfect, mild, only a little wind and dry. In 2009 I didn't enjoy it all, the laps just depressed me. I enjoyed it much more last year as I got more into the social side waving to other runners, appreciating the marshalls. This year the laps weren't an issue at all, I think doing a track marathon earlier in the year has made feel that five laps isn't many at all.... 

The marshalls, who were all so encouraging, were pretty much the same as in the previous two years and they were in the same place on the moor. Many of them had food, jelly babies and drinks as well which supplemented the two drinks stations per lap. Flip applied to be a marshall, went through a rigorous interview, specialised training and a probation period (in other words he volunteered) and took up a position on the moor. Apparently he danced and sang to some runners, but I missed out on that for some reason...

I decided to dig out my annual plan for this race which is run each lap quicker than the previous lap. At least this year it lasted more than one lap, usually I go way too fast in the first lap and that is the end of the plan. I was aiming for 54min laps which have brought be in on 4hr 30. Lap 1 was 55min 21 which wasn't too bad. I ran with two clubmates right at the back just in front of two St John Ambulance cyclists who seemed poised to swoop like vultures watching their prey. 

Soon after the start of lap 2 one of my clubmates said the pace was too fast so I went on ahead at what I thought was the same pace. I was disappointed to find that it was a slower lap than the first lap, but not by very much. But at least the plan had remained a possibility until the end of lap 2.

Plan B was adapted which was just to run the rest at a steady pace and that seemed to work. Lap 3 was fine as I passed halfway (in 2hr 18). Lap 4 was mentally the hardest. Lap 5 wasn't too bad though I walked up the one hill as I knew by then it would make little difference to my time. I came in with 4hr 38min 31sec and had overtaken 22 other runners from the end of lap 1 when I was last.

The one thing that lifted me every lap was Fetchpoint. They were amazing, waving pompoms, offering food, drink and shouting loudly  Thank you

It was also great to have so many runners that I knew doing this race and to meet some Fetchie runners I hadn't met before

A great day out  

Photos : https://photos.app.goo.gl/bnneuVbMFb2z9bw6A