Details (e.g., entry forms and results) of running races (e.g., 10K, 10M and half marathon),
both road races and multi-terrain,
near North East England:
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear,
County Durham,
Yorkshire, Cumbria, ... .
Generated: Tue 21 May at 11:07:24 BST
I took up running in March 2001 and ran until November 2004
when I developed a knee injury.
During three and a half years,
I completed 149 races.
Because of the knee injury,
I decided to stop training.
However, I started again in December 2007,
and
did my first race after the break in May 2008.
Here are the results of the races that I have completed,
where the races are given in pb order.
These are just the races from May 2008 onwards.
There are separate tables for the 10Ks, 10Ms and
half marathons.
The fastest time is given by the first entry of each table.
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date
day and time
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name of race
length of race
comments
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location of race
postcode and maps to postcode
links to race information and entry forms
other links
link to the results
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my time
0.5K pace
K pace
M pace
win time
me/win
win/wor
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splits
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| 1 | | Oxford Town and Gown 10K
10K
| | | This was a different route from last year and I preferred this year's. The only problem was at the end of the race when people leaving the park collided with late runners. There were thousands of runners; there was good support and it was well marshalled. Although the rain kept off before the race, it rained quite a bit for the first half of the race (which was refreshing). I got a hamstring twinge at 3K which hurt more at 6.5K. Even so, I ran this race to my plan. I was aiming for 1K splits of 4m39s. My actual times for each 0.5K were very consistent: they varied from 2m07s to 2m25s and didn't change from one 0.5K to the next by more than 10s. My watch made this 10.17K but I think that was because of a loss of signal. |
| | 46m44s
2m20s
4m40s
7m31s
32m23s
1.44
1.18 | 2m07s, 2m09s, 2m14s, 2m13s, 2m23s, 2m14s, 2m22s, 2m20s, 2m15s, 2m19s, 2m23s, 2m22s, 2m14s, 2m23s, 2m19s, 2m25s, 2m22s, 2m24s, 2m22s, 2m12s, 0m45s (0.17K) |
| 2 | | Oxford Town and Gown 10K
10K
| | | A slightly revised route this year. In particular, we started outside the Keble gate to the Parks. A bit crowded at times for the first 5K. At each K, I was comparing my times with those of last year's race. My improvements for each K were +9s, +7s, +3s, +7s, -5s, +5s, -6s, -9s, -13s, -12s. So at 4K I was 26s ahead of last year's time but I then slowed up to finish 19s slower than last year's time. This was disappointing. My watch made the race 10.21K but it loses signal in a few places. |
| | 47m03s
2m21s
4m42s
7m34s
32m26s
1.45
1.19 | 2m02s, 2m05s, 2m08s, 2m12s, 2m14s, 2m20s, 2m17s, 2m18s, 2m15s, 2m24s, 2m20s, 2m20s, 2m23s, 2m20s, 2m27s, 2m26s, 2m29s, 2m26s, 2m29s, 2m17s, 0m58s (0.21K) |
| 3 | | Bourton-on-the-Water 10K
10K
| | | This 10K has two laps around the centre of Bourton followed by an out-and-back course along the road that goes towards Great Rissington and then another 1.75 laps around the centre. After last year's race, they decided that the turn-round point was too early: so this year they re-measured and it was definitely 10K. Drizzle, cold and a slight wind made it less enjoyable. The publicity says that it's an "ideal course for a PB". I didn't aim for one and didn't realise I was close to one until I crossed the line: I finished in 47m05s which is 21s slower than my post 2007 10K PB. If only I'd known. This was despite the overcrowding in places and a lot of puddle-avoiding. Although my time was 1.54 times the winner's time, I got a 1.43 against the second place as the winner had a lead of over 2 minutes. |
| | 47m05s
2m21s
4m42s
7m34s
30m33s
1.54
1.12 | 2m01s, 2m08s, 2m13s, 2m16s, 2m20s, 2m21s, 2m22s, 2m24s, 2m16s, 2m18s, 2m22s, 2m22s, 2m29s, 2m22s, 2m26s, 2m25s, 2m23s, 2m17s, 2m15s, 2m15s, 0m41s (0.17K) |
| 4 | | Shinfield 10K
10K
| | | This race starts and finishes at the Green in Shinfield and uses pavements, roads and lanes to pass through the neighbouring villages (Ryeish Green and Spencers Wood). Although it has three gentle uphill long climbs, most of the route is flat. It's the third year I've done this race and once again there was a change to the route: the last 2.5K were different. This change included an off-road narrow footpath across a field in order to get back to Shinfield. It lasted from 8.2K to 8.8K and there was a strong, cold headwind as we crossed the field. And in the last K there was a short section on an uneven pavement. Unlike last year, this year the race was licensed by UKA. Officially I finished in 48m04s but I made it 47m49s. That's strange as it took me less than 15s to get to the start. Last year, my watch made the race 9.88K with my watch roughly agreeing with the K markers all the way until the final K which was short. I completed 9.88K in 48m42s. So that made a 10K time for last year of 49m17s. My improvements on each K against last year's 1K splits were: +4s, -5s, +13s, -1s, +23s, +28s, +11s, +19s, +4s, -3s. Overall that was 1m28s better. The pressure is on to beat my post-2007 10K PB at the Oxford Town and Gown in a fortnight's time. At the finish, there was a Mayday fete including the 4Bs: a bouncy castle, a band, a barbeque and a beer tent. |
| | 47m49s
2m23s
4m46s
7m41s
33m09s
1.44
1.21 | 2m08s, 2m18s, 2m23s, 2m29s, 2m28s, 2m13s, 2m16s, 2m25s, 2m32s, 2m19s, 2m17s, 2m38s, 2m23s, 2m20s, 2m24s, 2m28s, 2m25s, 2m37s, 2m26s, 2m05s, 0m18s (0.09K) |
| 5 | | Andy Reading 10K
10K
| | | This is "a fast, flat course through the village of Chesterton and around the airfield at Weston-on-the-Green". For the first time, chips were used. Last year, I did this race in 49m10s. This year, I aimed for 48m00s which is 1.45 times last year's winner's time. That's 2m24s per 0.5K. But, stupidly, I started running without getting my watch sorted out. As I hadn't crossed the chip, I should had stopped. But I didn't. So I started my watch at the 1K marker and guessed I had run the first 1K in 4m30s and worked with aiming for 43m30s. When I crossed the line my watch said 43m25s. For some reason I thought I was aiming for 42m30s and so I was unhappy with this. BUT <cue-fanfare/> my official chip time was 47m52s and so even with all this faffing I managed to beat my target by 8s. Needless to say, this year's winner was faster than last year's and so I only got a 1.47. It was a chilly day (about 3 or 4 degrees) and I wore an extra layer but regretted that later. |
| | 47m52s
2m23s
4m47s
7m42s
32m31s
1.47
1.19 | 2m14s+2m13s (4m27s), 2m19s, 2m20s, 2m26s, 2m24s, 2m22s, 2m28s, 2m24s, 2m22s, 2m20s, 2m27s, 2m28s, 2m28s, 2m31s, 2m32s, 2m23s, 2m26s, 2m24s, 2m04s, 0m17s (0.07K) |
| 6 | | Town and Gown 10K
10K
| | 48m01s
2m24s
4m48s
7m43s
31m53s
1.51
1.17 | 4m29s, 4m31s, 4m51s, 5m00s, 4m53s, 4m59s, 5m07s, 4m57s, 4m52s, 4m22s |
| 7 | | Fairford 10K
10K
| | | gentle rain; undulating with a hill between 4.8K and 5.8K; unusuallly, I started to push for home at 6K; was pleased with the times for the last 4K except I got a strange time for the last 1K; although my time for Fairford was 13s slower than the Town and Gown, Fairford is harder as it's undulating (but the winning time was only 7s slower) |
| | 48m14s
2m24s
4m49s
7m45s
32m00s
1.51
1.17 | 4m31s, 4m58s, 5m04s, 4m55s, 4m47s, 5m23s, 4m50s, 4m34s, 4m29s, 4m47s |
| 8 | | Leatherhead Fire Station Charity 10K
10K
| | | "Leatherhead Fire Station Charity 10K"; This race is organised by Red Watch of Leatherhead Fire Station to raise money for a local charity. The race is reasonably flat for the first 1.5K but then during the course of about 2.5K there is a gentle climb from 50m to 120m. Over the next 2K, you loose all that height and the remaining 4K is flat. About 2.5K is off-road on gravel tracks through a wooded area called Norbury Park, about 3K is on a cycle path whereas the rest of the course is on roads. Presumably because the race was being timed by chips, the results were being put up almost immediately. I aimed for 1.45 times last year's winner's time (34m33s). That means I was aiming for 50m06s. But, when coming down the hill (from 4K to 6K), I pushed myself with 0.5K splits of 2m11s, 2m14s, 2m08s and 2m18s. Then, on the flat, I rested a bit by slowing down for the next K, but, even though I was tired, I kept pushing myself during the next 3K. In the end, I got 48m21s which is a 1.39. I was delighted with this. As the start and finish was at the Fire Station, I was amused to see the fire engines being moved several times during the course of the morning out of the way of the runners presumably just in case they had to attend a fire. The scenery was good, the signage was good, the organisation was good, the post-race refreshments were good: I'll be back next year.
|
| | 48m21s
2m25s
4m50s
7m46s
34m42s
1.39
1.27 | 2m06s, 2m33s, 2m27s, 2m50s, 2m39s, 2m19s, 2m36s, 3m06s, 2m11s, 2m14s, 2m08s, 2m18s, 2m32s, 2m39s, 2m25s, 2m24s, 2m18s, 2m25s, 2m20s, 1m53s (0.4K). |
| 9 | | Andy Reading 10K
10K
| | | This is a 10K race at Chesterton which is a few miles South of Bicester. It is a reasonably flat course, but it's a bit boring as about 4K is on a straight old Roman Road called Akeman Street and another 4K goes round the perimeter road of a disused airfield. Disconcertingly, whilst on the airfield, you can just about see the lead runners on the other side of the airfield about 2.5K ahead! This year a few gliders were taking off and landing which gave us something to look at. In my warm-up I ran the last K of the route which is the bit along Akeman Street. Whilst doing this in my warm-up I frequently had to slow down as my feet were sliding on ice. This was especially the case on the southern side of the road where the bushes were hiding the sun. Although the race was due to start 30 minutes earlier than last year, the organisers reverted to the normal start time hoping the roads would de-ice. Whilst doing the race, I didn't detect any ice at all. Whether this was because the delay had allowed the sun to melt the ice or whether the trampling of the runners in front of me had melted the ice, I don't know. Last year my section of the pack frequently switched sides of the road when doing the outward stretch of Akeman Street; this year this didn't happen as this section was better marshalled. As it was about 0 degrees when I first started warming up, I wore tights and two layers up top, but whilst racing I regretted this as this made me feel slightly hot as the sun was quite strong. My plan at the start was to try and beat last year's time. Last year I averaged 2m23s per 0.5K and so I tried to keep the pace indicated by my Garmin at about 4m46s and I had a sheet of paper that gave the desired cumulative times at each 0.5K. Even though I managed this for the first 6K I tired between 6K and 8K and in the end finished 33s slower than last year. Although this was disappointing, it was good as I haven't run at race pace for 3 weeks, my times have been slower this year and it beats my 2008 time by 45s. The race is timed as chip to chip where you collect your chip on the day. The journey there is: 19M, 0h28m, 1030/0945/0915/0845 |
| | 48m25s
2m25s
4m50s
7m47s
32m03s
1.51
1.17 | 2m09s, 2m17s, 2m21s, 2m22s, 2m26s, 2m20s, 2m24s, 2m26s, 2m22s, 2m22s, 2m24s, 2m28s, 2m31s, 2m34s, 2m36s, 2m33s, 2m24s, 2m30s, 2m30s, 2m06s, 0m20s (0.09K) |
| 10 | | Eynsham 10K
10K
| | | This 10K is a two lap race which uses a mix of Eynsham's main streets and the roads that bypass Eynsham. It was timed using gun-to-chip. The race requires a lot of marshals and they did their job well. It is advertised as "flat and fast" but I found it difficult to get a good time partly because the terrain was a mix of road and thin footpaths with a few grass verges. Although I aimed to beat my best Oxfordshire 10K time, I came nowhere near this: I just got under 1.5 times last year's winner's time. |
| | 48m29s
2m25s
4m50s
7m48s
33m16s
1.46
1.22 | 2m03s, 2m11s, 2m14s, 2m24s, 2m29s, 2m28s, 2m24s, 2m27s, 2m34s, 2m26s, 2m23s, 2m14s, 2m24s, 2m30s, 2m31s, 2m31s, 2m30s, 2m31s, 2m27s, 2m16s, 0m33s (0.15K) |
| 11 | | Southbourne Fast and Flat 10K
10K
| | | Southbourne is between Christchurch and Bournemouth. This 10K is along an out and back course starting with 0.8K along a road that goes to the promenade and then it's 4K along the prom as far as Boscombe Pier where you turn round. On the way out, the pier looked such a long way away: I could hardly see it to begin with. Although the sun was shining in a cloudless blue sky, there was a cold Easterly wind: so after going round the roundabout outside the pier, the return trip from 4.8K to 9.5K was a battle into this headwind as is clearly demonstrated by my 0.5K splits. So the "Southbourne Fast and Flat 10K" was flat but not very fast. Although there were no cars along the prom, there were a lot of walkers, some cyclists, some stray dogs and some stray children: you had to manoeuvre a way through this lot! |
| | 48m40s
2m25s
4m51s
7m49s
33m40s
1.45
1.23 | 2m04s, 2m11s, 2m16s, 2m23s, 2m21s, 2m22s, 2m24s, 2m24s, 2m21s, 2m26s, 2m33s, 2m40s, 2m37s, 2m33s, 2m35s, 2m34s, 2m30s, 2m36s, 2m32s, 2m13s, 0m07s (0.03K) |
| 12 | | Crowle Gunpowder Plot 10K
10K
| | | The race started (and finished) by going 0.75 times round a field. It then went along a narrow track to get to the road. On the way out, this was crowded. It was an out and back course except for a section in the middle. At the bit of the course that was furthest away we ran down one side of the road for about 1K, turned round and ran back the other side of the road. For this, the road was divided in two by cones, but people slowed down as it got crowded. So, at times when there weren't runners coming the other way, I ran the wrong side of the cones in order to overtake people. There were short hills at 2.3K and 8.5K and two gentler hills at 6.5K and 8.1K. Other than that it was reasonably flat. It was very sunny and I found it hot. Foolishly, I didn't have a plan for this race. Last night I had worked out what 1.44 times last year's winner's time was but I failed to remind myself before running. So I had nothing to aim for. After returning to the car at the end of the race, I discovered I had got 1.43 against last year's winners time which pleased me. However, this year the winner was 18s faster but I still got 1.44. |
| | 48m41s
2m26s
4m52s
7m50s
33m43s
1.44
1.23 | 2m13s, 2m21s, 2m15s, 2m19s, 2m32s, 2m30s, 2m31s, 2m27s, 2m26s, 2m18s, 2m31s, 2m33s, 2m40s, 2m46s, 2m30s, 2m26s, 2m38s, 2m24s, 2m15s, 2m06s (0.47K) |
| 13 | | Shinfield 10K
10K
| | | new route for 2009; "race starts and finishes in Shinfield and passes through the villages of Shinfield and Spencers Wood"; "generally flat and fast"; "medal"; "mayday fete including a bouncy castle and a barbeque"; got a calf twinge before the race; felt sluggish in the second half with some pain in my shins; to begin with I could hardly walk afterwards; disappointed at my time; relative to the winner, I got 1.50 which is disappointing; my watch made the race 9.88K with most of the problem being a short last 1K; so I make that a 10K time of 49m17s with a pace of 7m56s |
| | 48m42s
2m26s
4m52s
7m50s
32m22s
1.50
1.18 | 4m30s, 4m47s, 4m54s, 4m50s, 5m14s, 5m23s, 4m54s, 5m11s, 5m06s, 3m55s (0.88K) |
| 14 | | Exbury Gardens 10K
10K
| | | limit of 350; journey: 74.3M, 1h46m; "flat and fast circular course run over country lanes which starts and finishes in Exbury Gardens, taking in spectacular views of the Solent and includes approx 500m of beach front running on shingle foreshore path at Lepe beach"; 3K marker was too early: it was where the white paint on the ground was but that differs from the printed map; I wasn't very hydrated and it was a very sunny, hot day; even so, I started fast and although each K was getting slower I maintained a face pace to get me my third faster pace since restarting racing in 2008 and a 1.35; very well pleased; I should easily beat last year's Town and Gown 10K time in two month's time |
| | 48m52s
2m26s
4m53s
7m51s
36m07s
1.35
1.32 | 4m28s, 4m35s, 4m45s, 4m49s, 4m49s, 5m01s, 5m06s, 5m12s, 5m02s, 4m45s, 0m20s (0.08K) |
| 15 | | Wargrave 10K
10K
| | | journey there: 26.6M, 0h55m; This 10K is at Wargrave (which is between Reading and Maidenhead). It takes place on undulating rural lanes. As there were 628 finishers, these narrow lanes were a bit crowded for the first 3K (at least they were where I was). There is a hill between 3.6K and 4K, but it's mainly downhill or flat from about 5K onwards. The hardest parts are the straight and flat mile just before 8K and the last 0.4K which are on grass going three sides round the recreation ground. This is especially so when it's hot as there's no shade. The race was well marshalled and there were three water stations. Chips were used for timing. 20 runners were from the Teignbridge Trotters running club which is in Devon. Querying a few of them before the race as to why they'd travelled so far, I learnt that they were suffering from a stag day the day before! However, lots of them finished in front of me even though I'd only had one beer the day before: their first two finishers were at 15th and 17th. I also saw some runners with T-shirts saying 'wide fitting "briefs"'. I asked one of them, during the race, an obvious question to which he giggled and replied '38 inches'. Given last year's winning time of 34m40s I was aiming for somewhere between 48m32s (1.4) and 52m00s (1.5). I was well pleased with 48m52s which is 1.43 against this year's winning time. It was very hot (23 degrees?). |
| | 48m52s
2m26s
4m53s
7m51s
34m05s
1.43
1.25 | 2m11s, 2m24s, 2m27s, 2m26s, 2m34s, 2m30s, 2m47s, 2m43s, 2m29s, 2m21s, 2m24s, 2m26s, 2m31s, 2m33s, 2m20s, 2m28s, 2m23s, 2m11s, 2m12s, 2m16s, 0m21s (0.10K) |
| 16 | | Cursa dels Nassos - Sant Silvestre de Barcelona
10K
| | | "Cursa dels Nassos - Sant Silvestre de Barcelona"; The San Silvestre 10K is a chip-timed race that takes place in the main streets of Barcelona on New Year's Eve at 5.30p.m. It starts just as it's about to get dark. The race is also known as the "Cursa dels Nassos" which is Catalan meaning the "Race of Noses". One web page says that the name "comes from the fact that the date coincides with the last day in the life of the Man of Many Noses, a popular character in Catalan folklore". It was a hard race to run as it was very crowded: space was difficult to find and it was difficult to achieve a constant running pace. I and a few others spent a lot of time being naughty by running along the pavements and even behind spectators in places. This was more hard work because the pavements were sometimes uneven and there are many roads to cross, but I could concentrate on running rather than space-finding. In some ways, this aspect of the race reminded me of the Great North Run. Throughout the race, people were overtaking me at a much greater pace and I was in turn overtaking those who were gently ambling along. This was happening throughout the race, even within the last couple of Ks. They have divided the video of the runners finishing into one minute segments (but I haven't found one of me). Anyway, you can easily see how crowded the race was by looking at one of these videos.
|
| | 48m58s
2m26s
4m53s
7m52s
28m41s
1.71
1.05 | 2m28s, 2m20s, 2m22s, 2m29s, 2m22s, 2m25s, 2m24s, 2m26s, 2m29s, 2m27s, 2m31s, 2m29s, 2m35s, 2m27s, 2m26s, 2m29s, 2m22s, 2m25s, 2m22s, 2m16s, 0m13s (0.05K) |
| 17 | | Andy Reading 10K
10K
| | | This is a 10K race at Chesterton which is a few miles South of Bicester. It is a reasonably flat course, but it's a bit boring as about 4K is on a straight old Roman Road called Akeman Street and another 4K goes round the perimeter road of a disused airfield. Disconcertingly, whilst on the airfield, you can just about see the lead car on the other side of the airfield about 2.5K ahead! This was the first time I had done a race with my new watch, a Garmin Forerunner 305. I had set it to beep at every 0.5K and so I was getting feedback every 2.5 minutes on how fast I was running. This was so cool. And I can get a .kml file from it without much effort. Here's how my race looks in Google Maps. At 8K, I did some mental arithmetic and decided that if I pushed it I could get in under 50m. This proved to be hard work, and I kept pusshing myself as the splits show: I did the last 0.5K at a pace of 6m52s per M. I got a me/win factor of 1.49 which I am very pleased with. Lots and lots of marshals. The race was very well organised. |
| | 49m10s
2m27s
4m54s
7m54s
33m06s
1.49
1.21 | 4m37s, 4m53s, 5m04s, 5m05s, 4m59s, 4m56s, 5m07s, 5m06s, 4m49s, 4m27s |
| 18 | | Shinfield 10K
10K
| | 49m16s
2m27s
4m55s
7m55s
32m25s
1.52
1.19 | 4m50s, 4m58s, 4m43s, 5m14s, 5m11s, 4m58s+4m57s (9m55s), 5m06s, 4m46s, 4m35s |
| 19 | | The Chiltern Chase
10K
| | | journey there: 13M; 0h33m; 1000/0915/0900/0827; The Chiltern Chase consists of two races: a 5K (which is actually 5.4K) and a 10K. Both races start and finish on the Common in Ewelme visiting parts of the Chilterns that are to the East of Ewelme. It was drizzling during this year's races and there was a strong wind from the South East. Before the race, I had read an account of the 2008 race which included: 'the course is narrow in places and the runners ended up in "clumps" because of insufficient overtaking room'. Although there were 100 less runners today, that was still true. There were water stations at about 3.5K and 6.5K. Although my Garmin often reports 10.13K for a 10K race, today it curiously recorded 9.82K. It was reporting each of the markers for the second half of the race as 0.2K early. For the last couple of years, I've got my fastest 10K at the Oxford Town and Gown. Given my time today was 5 seconds faster than my 2011 Town and Gown time, I wonder whether the course was short. I had gone to bed late, had eaten late and drunk too much beer late. So I didn't feel I would do well. And didn't bother with a race plan. But when I started running I felt good. On the odd occasion I looked at my watch I saw I was doing a reasonably fast pace. Probably because there were numerous changes in terrain and many places where you continuously needed to check you didn't stumble, the K markers came quickly. I didn't check my cumulative time much. I think it was at about 6K I reckoned under 50 minutes was on and I thought that would be good. I got 1.37 times the winner's time which is excellent! |
| | 49m23s
2m28s
4m56s
7m56s
36m00s
1.37
1.32 | 2m23s, 2m19s, 2m35s, 2m48s, 2m48s, 2m39s, 2m31s, 2m19s, 2m20s, 2m46s, 2m49s, 2m22s, 2m33s, 2m44s, 2m24s, 2m20s, 2m35s, 2m19s, 2m12s, 1m39s (0.33K) |
| 20 | | Lions Club of Winslow 10K Road Race
10K
| | | After not racing for 3 weeks because of various excuses (cold and sore throat, bad weather, lack of fitness, lazyness), today I did the Winslow 10K. Winslow is in Bucks between Aylesbury and Buckingham and this 10K is organised by the Lions Club of Winslow. This year it was held on a cold morning and, although the overnight slight scattering of snow was still lingering when I drove round the course before the start of the race, it had melted by time we ran it. Besides the puddles that this caused, the roads also had quite a few pot holes which was one of the points made by the race organiser before the race. Curiously, it drizzled very slightly from when we were just about to start until just after I finished. Although my map of the route says it varys from about 85m to 113m, it felt fairly flat when I drove it. However, when I ran it, I found a long gentle incline lasting from 3.5K to 5K and another short one at 5.5K. But the cruel bit was at the end: there was a steep hill from 9K to 9.5K. Needless to say this is where the official photographer was positioned to catch all the grimaces. This hill is noticeable in my last four 0.5K splits: 2m34s, 2m30s, 2m48s, 2m22s.My Garmin said that the K markers were accurately positioned apart from the 1K marker which was a little early. All the markers apart from the 3K marker were on the left. The route was well marshalled: there had to be quite a few of them as there were several winding sections and a few junctions. The route twice goes under the railway line from Bicester to Bletchley (currently freight only) and through Verney Junction which was once an important railway junction. So when we ran pass Station Kennels I was looking out for a pretty disused railway station but found a horrible electricity substation! Last year's winner's time was 32m32s and because I was lacking in fitness and was still suffering from a cold, I aimed for 1.5 times that time, i.e., 48m48s. I was initially disappointed with my 49m23s. However, this year's winner took 34m21s and so I got a 1.44 which is very good. Once more this demonstrates the silliness of aiming for a time based on last year's winner's time. |
| | 49m24s
2m28s
4m56s
7m57s
34m21s
1.44
1.26 | 2m04s, 2m09s, 2m20s, 2m22s, 2m24s, 2m29s, 2m32s, 2m37s, 2m37s, 2m33s, 2m30s, 2m28s, 2m19s, 2m27s, 2m33s, 2m32s, 2m34s, 2m30s, 2m48s, 2m22s, 0m12s (0.05K) |
| 21 | | Upper Boddington 10K
10K
| | | managed the first 4M in 31m00s which is 7m45s per M but there was a strong head wind for most of the last 2M; last 0.25M was around a grassy playing field; strong gusty winds and rain throughout the race; really pleased with the 1.45 against the winner's time which is good given the course; and I got a trophy for being 3rd in my category; junior race as well (at 1230) |
| | 49m26s
2m28s
4m56s
7m57s
34m06s
1.45
1.25 | 6m54s, 7m36s, 8m16s, 8m15s, 8m35s, 8m14s, 1m37s |
| 22 | | Oxford Town and Gown 10K
10K
| | | HRR RC; After making numerous changes to the route during the last few year, this year, for a change, the Oxford Town and Gown 10K used the same route as last year. Unusually for the Town and Gown, the sun was shining and although there was a chilling wind I was a little too hot. My fastest time for this race was back in 2009 when I finished in 46m44s. In 2010, I started faster, doing the first 7K 20s faster than 2009, only to finish 19s slower than 2009 (47m03s). So my plan was to run at the slower pace of 2009 but I failed to get anywhere close to this and finished in 49m28s which is about 5% slower than last year. |
| | 49m28s
2m28s
4m56s
7m57s
31m56s
1.55
1.17 | 2m07s, 2m13s, 2m17s, 2m23s, 2m21s, 2m24s, 2m19s, 2m20s, 2m25s, 2m30s, 2m29s, 2m25s, 2m34s, 2m30s, 2m33s, 2m39s, 2m34s, 2m38s, 2m34s, 2m24s, 0m49s (0.18K) |
| 23 | | San Silvestre Vallecana
10K
| | | The San Silvestre Vallecana is a 10K in Madrid from the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu (owned by Real Madrid) to the Estadio Teresa Rivero. It has been celebrated on New Year's Eve each year since 1964. The 10K for elite runners takes place at 1955hrs and previous winners have included Paula Radcliffe, Jon Brown and Dave Lewis but often the male and female winners are Kenyans. The 10K for the masses starts at 1730hrs, and by "masses" I mean about 30000 runners. So it was often difficult to run at the same pace and I spent most of the time looking where there was space to pass slower runners. There was the usual street furniture to cope with. However, unusual ones were: on the surface there were numerous steel grills providing air to the metro below - these were slippery, and at two points I overtook a motorbike with a TV camera providing live pictures of the runners (as in the Tour de France)! According to my Garmin, the K markers were accurately placed. The race was chipped with pads at each 2.5K. Each runner had to provide proof of their fastest 10K in the last year and this allocated you to a particular pen at the start. So I started in the 46 to 48 minutes pen. I spent the first few K watching the pacer with the 45 minute balloon drift further away and the 48 minute pacer passed me without me noticing. Not having done much running during the last fortnight, I tried to keep my pace under 4m50s per K with the aim of finishing in under 50 minutes. In the days before the race, I'd recced the start area and had run the last 2K. So I was familiar with the steep ascent from 7.8K to 8.8K. All along the route the race was enthusiastically and noisily supported and during this ascent there were three drum bands. Although the race falls over 50 metres, there were several other steep ascents including one for the first 0.4K and another for the final 50 metres. I was the 7075th finisher and was 136th in the over 55 male category. My intermediate chip times for each 2.5K were 12:30, 24:26 and 36:05. After the race, I got interviewed by a Spanish TV crew! |
| | 49m39s
2m28s
4m57s
7m59s
29m11s
1.70
1.07 | 2m34s, 2m34s, 2m26s, 2m17s, 2m24s, 2m19s, 2m18s, 2m23s, 2m18s, 2m24s, 2m24s, 2m32s, 2m22s, 2m23s, 2m26s, 2m27s, 2m49s, 2m40s, 2m26s, 2m26s, 0m50s (0.17K) |
| 24 | | Calne Leisure Centre Clock Challenge 10K
10K
| | | journey there: 58M, 1h19m, 1100/1015/0945/0825. The Calne Leisure Centre Clock Change Challenge is a 10K that takes place on an out and back route mainly on twisty county lanes. As its name suggests it takes place twice a year and it starts and finishes at the Leisure Centre in Calne (in Wiltshire about 18 miles from Swindon). Given its regular occurrence, you would think that everything would run like clockwork. However, for me there were two problems with the race: although my Garmin made it 10K, I don't think the K markers were accurately positioned and on the twisty lane runners were frequently switching from one side of the road to the other even though there were lots of cars about. I've since looked at the Course Measurement web site and on the page for this race it says "full width of country lanes available". My understanding is that the race cuts the corners, taking the racing line around the bends. On a reasonably busy road I think this is "extremely dangerous". To be fair to me I joined in all this switching: I reckoned we were all in this together! It got even sillier when we met runners coming the other way: sometimes we ran on the left, they on the right; sometimes we were on the right, they were on our left; and sometimes they ran down the middle between some of us on the left and others on the right! The race was won by Simon Nott, a 17 year old from Calne Running Club. He finished in 33m20s beating 33m48s, his time for last March. A runner from Witney Road Runners finished 5th. I was hoping to get in by 50m42s which was 1.50 times 33m48s (last March's winner's time). Getting in by 49m01s which is 1.45 would be even better. Because I'd done a lot of training in the last week, I was surprised to find it to be hard work but all the bend switching, car minding and watching runners go the other way made it pass quickly. At about 7.5K, I did some sums and realised that 50m42s was on. At about 9K, I thought that getting in under 50m might be on. I did this: I got in 4s under 50m which was real good as I was still just under 1.50 as Simon had taken 20s off his winning time! |
| | 49m56s
2m29s
4m59s
8m02s
33m20s
1.50
1.22 | 2m12s, 2m23s, 2m20s, 2m30s, 2m34s, 2m36s, 2m38s, 2m37s, 2m31s, 2m33s, 2m37s, 2m28s, 2m31s, 2m26s, 2m27s, 2m32s, 2m28s, 2m24s, 2m28s, 2m25s, 0m16s (0.06K) |
| 25 | | Marwell Zoo 10K
10K
| | | I hate zoos, and the first 2K of this race was around the footpaths of the zoo; the rest of the race was along quiet country lanes; it was undulating with four hills; virtually downhill from 6.5K; well marshalled with two drinks stations; these were useful as it was hot; it was a difficult race to pace; at about 6K I decided to aim for 50m and my 10K time was 49m41s; I got 1.52 which is disappointing |
| | 50m02s
2m30s
5m00s
8m03s
33m00s
1.52
1.21 | 4m56s, 4m48s, 5m24s, 5m19s, 5m56s, 4m38s, 4m55s, 4m41s, 4m47s, 4m16s, 0m21s (0.08K) |
| 26 | | Run Jericho
10K
| | | This was the inaugural 'Run Jericho' race. From what I saw, it all went well. The race was well signed and there were lots of marshals and they were enthusiastic. It's a multi-terrain 10K that started at the St Barnabas Primary School in the Jericho area of Oxford. It first twisted around some of the streets of Jericho before taking Walton Well Road in order to visit the southern boundary of Port Meadow. There was then a long stretch along the Thames Path (as far as the 'Trout' pub) followed by a stretch through the northern part of Port Meadow. The route returned to Jericho along the towpath of the Oxford Canal and the eastern boundary of Port Meadow. A lot of concentration was required as most of the route had uneven surfaces. There were two kissing gates, several constrictions at other gates (which had been opened), a couple of narrow footbridges, four other bridges across waterways and four railway bridges. There were several places where the path was narrow and people had to negotiate to overtake. There was a field with a lot of cows some of which were only 5 feet away; there were cow pats, lots of geese about 30 feet away, several swans (in the canal), three unleashed dogs, a passing train and a few passing canal boats (some on the Thames and some on the Oxford Canal). So it was an interesting route. My 0.5K splits show a fairly consistent pace. After 2.5K I thought 48 minutes might be on but later I hoped to get in under 50 minutes. Even though at the end I worked hard, I failed to accomplish this: I was 8 seconds over! |
| | 50m08s
2m30s
5m00s
8m04s
34m11s
1.47
1.25 | 2m02s, 2m22s, 2m25s, 2m31s, 2m32s, 2m32s, 2m31s, 2m30s, 2m29s, 2m29s, 2m34s, 2m35s, 2m41s, 2m30s, 2m33s, 2m35s, 2m31s, 2m32s, 2m34s, 2m13s, 0m33s (0.14K) |
| 27 | | Thame CPM 10K
10K
| | | journey there: 19.4M, 0h33m; HRR-RC; "chips"; "T-shirt"; "spot prizes"; fun run as well; I didn't enjoy this, mainly because it was very hot (23 degrees) with little shade and also because of the 0930 start. As there were over 900 runners, some parts of the route were crowded. Because it was crowded, at one point I found myself running at the speed of the pack instead of my planned pace (2m20s per 0.5K). At a few places on the Phoenix Trail and also on the path at 9K, it was difficult to overtake because it was crowded. It was well marshalled and there were a lot of enthusiastic spectators along several sections of the route. Generous goody bag as well as a T-shirt. |
| | 50m11s
2m30s
5m01s
8m04s
33m53s
1.48
1.24 | 2m12s, 2m17s, 2m26s, 2m30s, 2m24s, 2m28s, 2m30s, 2m27s, 2m36s, 2m30s, 2m42s, 2m24s, 2m36s, 2m33s, 2m37s, 2m39s, 2m35s, 2m32s, 2m30s, 2m29s, 0m15s (0.08K) |
| 28 | | Ropley 10K
10K
| | | "Ropley 10K"; Ropley is about 13 miles east of Winchester. This 10K takes place on traffic free country lanes which were often lined with tall trees. Although there was brilliant sunshine, a chilly breeze made it not too hot. It is a demanding course as it starts with a 50m climb during the first 1.25K and is then undulating for the rest of the course. There is a short sharp climb at 5.5K but you are rewarded with a 40m drop at 7.5K. A final gentle incline at 9K is followed at 9.5K by a gentle decline to the finish. That didn't stop them at the front from fighting it out. Supporters and onlookers were entertained by the display of a very close finish put on by Toby Lambert (Winchester & District AC) and Haggai Chepkwony (Bristol & West). Lambert put on a superb display of last minute strength and stamina to take this year's win from Chepkwony right on the finishing line. Both competitors recorded the same time, but Lambert was judged to have finished just ahead of Chepkwony by the referee and officials on the line. It was one of those events that brings the village to a halt with most of the roads closed. The race was well marshalled and well supported by people in the villages en route. You could enter teams. I saw a team of American Footballers and a team from the army wearing 44lb backpacks and raising money for "Help for Heroes". They were still smiling at the end. Earlier in the morning, for children, there were 100m and 500m dashes around the Recreation Ground and a 3K Fun Run around the village. All of the events were very well organised. I found this a difficult race to pace. Although I was aiming for 48m06s (1.45 times last year's winner's time) or 49m45s (1.5), I got 50m14s (1.51). This was my first race in my new shoes (Brooks GTS 10).
|
| | 50m14s
2m30s
5m01s
8m05s
32m14s
1.56
1.18 | 2m18s, 2m32s, 2m49s, 2m26s, 2m31s, 2m34s, 2m22s, 2m20s, 2m32s, 2m33s, 2m48s, 2m53s, 2m40s, 2m40s, 2m24s, 2m16s, 2m21s, 2m26s, 2m35s, 2m01s, 0m13s (0.06K) |
| 29 | | Eynsham 10K
10K
| UKA 2011-102751 | | The Eynsham 10K is a two lap race which uses a mix of Eynsham's main streets and the roads that bypass Eynsham. It was timed using chip-to-chip. The race requires a lot of marshals and they did their job well. It is advertised as "flat and fast" but I always find it difficult to get a good time partly because there are quite a few stretches on thin footpaths and some on grass verges. A PB was even more difficult today as there was a strong headwind when we ran alongside the A40. As I've been trying to shake off a knee injury, I've done no running since the Frieth Hilly 10K which was 6 weeks ago. So I took it easy today. |
| | 50m23s
2m31s
5m02s
8m06s
32m03s
1.57
1.17 | 2m10s, 2m17s, 2m19s, 2m29s, 2m32s, 2m36s, 2m32s, 2m36s, 2m43s, 2m39s, 2m27s, 2m24s, 2m32s, 2m38s, 2m37s, 2m34s, 2m34s, 2m43s, 2m26s, 2m08s, 0m28s (0.12K) |
| 30 | | Bromham Pudding Run
10K
| | | Last week's 40m32s at the Wolverton 5 gave me a pace of 8m06s per M which is 5m02s per K. That was for 5M. So today I thought of doing that pace for 10K which would give 50m18s. However, I had too much beer last night and so early this morning I thought Id be happy to get round! According to the car's thermometer, it was -6 when I left home and -2 when I got to the car park. So long johns, two layers up top and I decided to wear a hat. It was a 20 minute walk from the car park to the race route. I then ran back to the 9K marker and then ran to the finish and then walked to the start which was about 0.5K from the finish. What a lot of warm-up. Although it was foggy when I got to Bromham, the sun started shining and warming the place up. When running, I only got one icy patch. The Bromham 10K is a two lap race which means you can easily suss out the end. |
| | 50m39s
2m31s
5m03s
8m09s
34m08s
1.48
1.25 | 4m55s, 5m00s, 5m10s, 5m11s, 5m11s, 5m22s, 4m57s, 5m12s, 4m57s, 4m44s |
| 31 | | Bearbrook 10K
10K
| | | "memento"; "K markers"; "course is mostly flat with a long hill on the A4011 from Wendover to the Halton Airfield turn, the remainder of the course being a slow downhill to the finish at the Rugby club"; As I got some injury to the top of my hamstring last Sunday at the Hooky 6, I took it easy today. It was also very hot, about 22 degrees. I did whatever speed I felt like, rather than using my watch to pace me until the last K which I did in 4m11s. I partly blame the injury on needing some new shoes. I got some yesterday and ran in them for the first time today. In the last few years, the winning time has been somewhere between 31m37s and 33m31s. Today, the course record was broke by 15s by a member of a local running club. He finished in 31m22s with the 2nd person home in 33m30s. I got 1.62 compared with the winner and 1.51 compared with 2nd person. Much of the course was on footpaths or cycle paths which were very uneven. The final section of the course was around the field. The race was well organised and well marshalled. |
| | 50m42s
2m32s
5m04s
8m09s
31m22s
1.62
1.15 | 2m20s, 2m25s, 2m34s, 2m29s, 2m38s, 2m40s, 2m33s, 2m37s, 2m42s, 2m43s, 2m46s, 2m51s, 2m42s, 2m26s, 2m32s, 2m31s, 2m39s, 2m24s, 2m08s, 2m03, 0m04s (0.02K) |
| 32 | | Goring 10K
10K
| | | undulating rural lanes and footpaths with three hills including a hill for the first 1.5K; lots of runners (1200?); I made the route 10.15K and I don't think the markers were accurately placed; was hoping to do the 10K in under 50m but got 50m05s; the last three 0.5Ks were done in 2m15s, 2m01s and 2m10s but 1K of this was downhill; I got 1.50 times the winner's time |
| | 50m48s
2m32s
5m04s
8m10s
33m48s
1.50
1.24 | 5m18s, 4m26s, 5m06s, 4m57s, 5m04s, 5m30s, 5m12s, 5m34s, 4m59s, 4m11s, 0m43s |
| 33 | | Kingham 10K
10K
| | | This was the first Kingham 10K using this route. It started calmly with a run through the village but after 1K there was a 2K hill taking us from 127m to 190m. This was followed by a single track footpath through some woods and then some drive ways of the Daylesford Estate. So it was mainly flat from 3K until 5K when we descended into Cornwell. After turning round and going through the village again we retraced the hill that was the descent into Cornwell: it was about 30m ascent in 0.6K. At 7K, there was a little dip and then at 7.5K we retraced the long outward ascent. So for the last 2.5K it was downhill to the finish. It's all shown in the splits. As it was about 28 degrees, the two water stations at 2.5K and 6K were very welcomed. The parking arrangements were laid back: find somewhere in the village. And there was only a 5K marker, but I saw white paint on the ground for 2K, 3K, 7K, 8K and 9K. |
| | 50m51s
2m32s
5m05s
8m11s
34m14s
1.49
1.25 | 2m12s, 2m34s, 2m48s, 2m45s, 2m47s, 2m55s, 2m31s, 2m27s, 2m39s, 2m41s, 2m14s, 2m14s, 2m56s, 3m22s, 2m41s, 2m21s, 2m15s, 2m16s, 2m16s, 2m05s, 0m04s (0.02K) |
| 34 | | Bourton-on-the-Water 10K
10K
| | | journey there: 42M, 1h01m, 1030/0945/0915/0814; HRR RC; Although I did no training from January 10th to February 21st, I managed to get out three times in the week before this race and did about 30K. So I didn't approach today's 10K PB course with much confidence. Although I started reasonably strongly, I had tired by 5K. Like last year, it was cold and the drizzle started as we started running and rain greeted the tail-enders as they approached the finish. The race consists of two laps around the centre of Bourton followed by an out-and-back section along the road that goes towards Great Rissington and then another 1.75 laps around the centre. It was well marshalled; and as usual there was a lot of crowd support in Bourton and a lot of runner camaraderie during the middle of the course along the out-and-back section. The winner was Dan Robinson (Stroud & District) with Steve Naylor (Woodstock) second. |
| | 51m19s
2m33s
5m07s
8m15s
30m08s
1.70
1.10 | 2m03s, 2m16s, 2m25s, 2m21s, 2m32s, 2m36s, 2m36s, 2m31s, 2m29s, 2m30s, 2m31s, 2m34s, 2m42s, 2m37s, 2m43s, 2m43s, 2m41s, 2m37s, 2m24s, 2m34s, 0m51s (0.2K) |
| 35 | | Wallingford Thames Run
10K
| | | journey there: 13.8M, 0h31m; "multi-terrain course of wide river paths, field tracks and road along beautiful stretches of the River Thames and its lovely Oxfordshire countryside"; "starts and finishes in the grounds of Howbery Park where a number of attractions will be available"; last year's winning time of 32m36s on a course which was less than 10K (I didn't know how much less) made me aim for somewhere between 45m38s (1.4) and 48m54s (1.5); it was very hot (22 degrees?), and I got 51m20s; this slow pace worried me when I was doing the race; however, this year's winning time was 36:35 which means that I got 1.40 which pleases me a lot; the terrain was a mix of tarmac, cart tracks, paths through grass and paths through fields; the route involved crossing fields, some with cows, negotiating recent cow pats, at least five kissing gates and one stile (which caused a queue as indicated by the 3m02s in my splits); other people have said they got held up by 2 minutes and 6 minutes at this point |
| | 51m20s
2m34s
5m08s
8m15s
36m35s
1.40
1.34 | 2m08s, 2m18s, 2m23s, 2m33s, 2m37s, 3m02s, 2m34s, 2m35s, 2m34s, 2m38s, 2m49s, 2m36s, 2m32s, 2m37s, 2m38s, 2m34s, 2m39s, 2m44s, 2m40s, 2m17s |
| 36 | | Goring, Woodcote and District Lions 10K
10K
| | | This 10K is on country lanes in the Chilterns. It starts from Woodcote and for the first 5K it gently glides down a hill into the outskirts of Goring. It passes through woods and because it is hidden from the sun it was about 2 degrees colder. Outside Goring Fire Station the fun begins: there is a steep climb that is 1K long. (This climb is also used for the start of the Goring 10K.) At the top, we were in glorious sunshine with the road passing between two fields containing enormous pigs. There is then a 1K respite but this is followed by a long climb back to Woodcote. Last year, this race was cancelled because of the bad weather and when in 2009 I drove round the course beforehand I was worried that the roads were too icy but the ice melted by the time we started racing. It was a different matter today. Most of the icy bits were on the last 2K much of which is up hill and it's where you're racing for home. I ran with a sheet of paper giving the times for each K when I did it in 2009. After the first 4K I was about a minute ahead of the 2009 times. This worried me: I wondered if I was doing the downhill section of the course too fast. But no, I was even better on the rest of the course except for the last K (where it was slippery!). Here are the figures showing how much better I was for each K: 11s, 7s, 14s, 18s, 25s, 32s, 22s, 23s, 14s, -10s. My Garmin made the course 0.12K longer than last year and I did the 0.12K in 29s and so there are 29s to be taken off those improvements. When we got back to the Race HQ, the hot drinks and biscuits were free for runners. |
| | 51m20s
2m34s
5m08s
8m15s
35m14s
1.46
1.29 | 2m07s, 2m23s, 2m27s, 2m14s, 2m17s, 2m21s, 2m20s, 2m25s, 2m24s, 2m21s, 2m58s, 2m49s, 2m23s, 2m30s, 2m36s, 3m01s, 3m03s, 3m07s, 2m50s, 2m26s, 0m29s (0.12K) |
| 37 | | Blenheim 10K
10K
| | | In my 4.5 years in Oxfordshire, I'd not been to Blenheim Palace before and today I managed to see a lot of its grounds in this 10K race organised by the Rotary Club of Woodstock. The race had a new route this year. Although some runners afterwards described the new route as hilly, I thought the ascents were reasonably gentle, the whole course only varying in height from 75m to 120m. Foolishly, I'd not done my homework and so I didn't know last year's winner's time and so had no time to aim for. And in the early part of the race, I moaned to myself about having two beers the night before as my body didn't feel like racing. Although the surrounding countryside was beautiful, the route was on a wide tarmac path throughout except for a few short off-road sections. At about 6.5K I was running at the same pace as another much younger runner and we swopped positions a few times and it seemed to me he didn't like this. At one point I feel a bit of "road rage" occurred as "we" jostled for position (with no other runners about on this wide path). Just before 8K, on a downhill section I went with some other runners ahead of him and then forgot about him but I see from the results he was only 5 seconds behind me. It meant my splits for that section were faster than they would have been: 2m21s, 2m27s, 2m25s. It was getting near to the end of the race where I usually go faster. At 8.5K my mind was on someone else: a member of my running club who I usually beat had surprisingly overtaken me a lot earlier but he was not far in front. I overtook him with 0.5K to go. It sounds competitive; I see I finished up with a 1.45 (times the winner's time) which surprised me and pleases me a lot. |
| | 51m43s
2m35s
5m10s
8m19s
35m37s
1.45
1.30 | 2m18s, 2m30s, 2m30s, 2m22s, 2m32s, 2m42s, 2m40s, 2m21s, 2m52s, 2m40s, 2m56s, 3m14s, 2m38s, 2m21s, 2m27s, 2m25s, 2m46s, 2m35s, 2m14s, 2m16s, 0m25s (0.1K) |
| 38 | | Thame CPM 10K
10K
| | | All week I wasn't looking forward to this race: the route has two long boring straights and the weather was forecasted to be hot. It turned out to be about 29 degrees. On the start line, I chatted to another Fetchie who said he'd read my comments about the Otmoor Challenge. I began well adopting a pace very close to last year: at each K marker I was only up to 7s different from last year and at the 6K marker I was just 3s slower than last year. But, by about 6.5K, I was exhausted, questionned why I was pushing myself in this heat and slowed the pace down. This was a race in the HRR Road Championship and I was going to come second in my age category: there really wasn't much point in trying to beat last year's time. About 1K later, I saw another HRR runner in front and I wasn't sure who he was and so I increased the pace but slowed down after I'd passed him and discovered he was not in my age category. It's all shown in the splits! In the end I was 1m35s slower than last year. The race was timed by chip-to-chip. Like last year, there was a lot of encouraging support all along the route. At about 9.5K, one man and his child were on a platform on a crane high above the road: I shouted up to them that this was a bit OTT; he shouted back that what we were doing was OTT. Like last year, there was a generous goody bag and a T-shirt and lots to drink at the end. Like last year, it was too damn hot. |
| | 51m47s
2m35s
5m10s
8m20s
33m33s
1.54
1.23 | 2m14s, 2m13s, 2m27s, 2m27s, 2m28s, 2m35s, 2m32s, 2m31s, 2m34s, 2m21s, 2m32s, 2m35s, 2m39s, 3m18s, 3m27s, 2m38s, 2m17s, 2m27s, 2m39s, 2m37s, 0m15s (0.08K) |
| 39 | | Brill Hilly 10K
10K
| | | journey there: 27M, 0h45m, 1100/1015/0945/0900; Brill is a village in the Buckinghamshire countryshire,This was a new 10K organised by Oxford City Athletics Club and the Intsika Trust. The aim is to raise money for the Intsika Trust, a charity for children orphaned by AIDS. The race starts at Brill's windmill; it's then a steep downhill for the first 1K and then it gently descends for a further 5K. This is at the most Northerly point of the course in the village of Ludgenshall. At about 7K it gently starts to rise but this is soon followed by a steep ascent up Tram Hill back to Brill. This 70m climb starts at about 8K, near to Brill's old railway station. The first section of the hill is on a straight road and so you can see what is about to unfold. The road then twists and the hill finishes at about 9.3K when you are in the Northern end of the village. The fast start is very obvious from my splits as is the hill from 8K to 9.3K. I was pleased to get a 2m08s for the 0.5K through the streets of Brill and to finish up with a 1.47. This was my first race in a pair of Brooks GTS 11. |
| | 52m13s
2m36s
5m13s
8m24s
35m25s
1.47
1.30 | 2m01s, 2m12s, 2m21s, 2m21s, 2m24s, 2m30s, 2m29s, 2m36s, 2m25s, 2m29s, 2m24s, 2m42s, 2m37s, 2m40s, 2m42s, 2m42s, 3m16s, 4m01s, 2m48s, 2m08s, 0m15s (0.1K) |
| 40 | | Salisbury City 10K
10K
| | | starts and finishes at the Raymond McEnhill Football Stadium; "medal"; route includes a run round Old Sarum; 10K walk, 5K run and 5K walk as well; disappointingly, we finished and started in a field adjacent to the stadium; the route was a mix of tarmac and off-road; there were slippery patches, a kissing gate and a stile whilst running round Old Sarum; the 1K marker seemd to be 0.15K too early; there were three places where they needed another marshal; a couple of tough inclines |
| | 52m23s
2m37s
5m14s
8m25s
36m37s
1.43
1.34 | 4m33, 5m09, 4m48s, 5m12s, 6m14s, 6m09s, 5m06s, 5m07s, 5m16s, 4m50s |
| 41 | | Finstock 10K
10K
| UKA 2011-101901 | journey there: 24M, 0h43m, 1100/1015/1000/0915  Unlike another race taking place today (the Oxford Half Marathon), we didn't have boring, straight, tarmaced urban highways: instead we ran along twisty gravel paths strewn with leaves and conkers in the scenic Cornbury Park. And the cloudy but bright weather was just right for running and for showing off Autumn in the Park. The course consists of one large lap and one smaller lap and is undulating with several short sharp hills. The only repetition is the last 3K which is great as it means that from 7K onwards you know what's going to happen and can easily pace the rest of the race. Today's winner finished in 0:36:36. This means my time is 1.43 times his time. I'm pleased with this. If I look back over the last 4 years, the fastest time was 0:35:54 which would give me a 1.46 and I'd also be pleased with this. The race was well organised and well marshalled; all the marshals had encouraging words when I passed them. The photo has a sign that you should give way to aircraft: before the race a runner from Charlbury explained to me that the owner (Lord Rotherwick) uses one of the paths as a landing strip. His wife (Lady Tania Rotherwick) was the third woman to finish. Besides the conkers, I saw two peacocks and a large collection of deer. I saw these in my warming-up: they'd gone by the time I reached them in the race! The above photo was taken by Garrett Coakley. It is copyright Garrett Coakley and released with a Creative Commons licence. |
| | 52m26s
2m37s
5m14s
8m26s
36m36s
1.43
1.34 | 2m07s, 2m40s, 2m48s, 2m42s, 2m45s, 2m46s, 2m29s, 2m27s, 2m27s, 2m27s, 2m44s, 2m58s, 2m43s, 2m33s, 2m29s, 2m25s, 2m26s, 2m47s, 2m31s, 2m21s, 0m51s (0.20K) |
| 42 | | Frieth Hilly 10K
10K
| | | "Frieth Hilly 10K"; This 10K race takes place in the Chilterns and consequently the route was wonderful with beautiful scenery. The organisers say the race "involves sections on road, trails and footpaths through woods and fields, including challenging off-road descents and ascents". Very accurate! The race starts in the village of Frieth (which is about 5 miles from Marlow). The route is gently undulating for the first 1.5K first along a lane but then along a path through a wood. In a short break in the wood, there is stupendous view across to the other side of the valley. The Chilterns look wonderful in their Autumn colours. During the next 0.5K, the route throws you down from 160m to 90m. Then the route is reasonably flat along a 1.5K lane from the village of Fingest to the village of Skirmett. And then there is a long hard climb. Although the contours on the ascent are not so close as they were for the descent, it's hard work: in 0.3K you go from 80m to 110m. This is on a footpath that then flattens out for a bit (in Hatchet Wood) before another push in all taking you from 80m to 160m in about 2K. From 6K to 9.5K the route is mainly along country lanes but there is about 1K that is along the side of a field. Although it is mainly undulating, you do gradually drop from 170m to 140m. However, there is a final sting to the race; the last 0.5K is a climb back up to Frieth, from 140m to 175m. If that isn't enough detail for you,here is a link to a map of the route. Throughout the race, there was wonderful atmosphere. Before the start, the Rev John Wigram gaves us his "runners" version of Psalm 23 followed by a blessing. And there were people clapping, shouting and cheering almost anywhere where the route hit a road junction. Following feedback from the inaugural race held last year, this year there were K markers. According to my Garmin, these were accurately positioned. Because of the changeable terrain, I didn't attempt to pace myself. However, before the start I decided to try to aim for 52m54s which is 1.5 times last year's winner's time (35m16s). I did run all the way, resisting the temptation to walk the steep ascents! It was only at 7.5K that I looked at my watch to decide whether it was possible to complete in 52m54s. It looked possible but when I got to the bottom of the 0.5K uphill climb to the finish I wasn't so confident. But when I crossed the line I was jubilant as my watch said 52m52s! A bacon roll, a hot dog, a piece of cake and excellent coffee then followed. What a tremendous morning! So make a date in your diary for the third installment of this race: it's on Sunday 17th October 2010.
|
| | 52m52s
2m38s
5m17s
8m30s
35m00s
1.51
1.28 | 2m16s, 2m14s, 2m22s, 2m20s, 2m23s, 2m28s, 2m29s, 3m09s, 3m16s, 2m50s, 3m26s, 2m54s, 2m46s, 2m27s, 2m22s, 2m28s, 2m44s, 2m19s, 2m25s, 3m08s, 0m07s (0.3K) |
| 43 | | Goring 10K
10K
| | | journey there: 19M, 0h39m, 1100/1000/0915/0835; "chips"; This 10K starts at the bottom of a hill outside Goring's Fire Station. In the first K, the course climbs from 60m to 95m. This is the highest point of the race. You then gradually lose all that height on country lanes, a footpath alongside a field and 1.5K of the Ridgeway before visiting the village of South Stoke. The height is then regained by three smaller hills on country lanes in order to re-visit the highest point of the course. This is about 1.5K from the finish. So you then go down the 35m hill you did at the start but this is then followed by a few meanderings around a housing estate before finishing on a field behind the School. Although it was a bright sunny day with only a few clouds, there was a bitterly cold wind which was noticeable on the hills. As usual there were a lot of runners (1200?). I was 2m18s (4.5%) slower than when I last did the Goring 10K (2009), but my slowness wasn't as bad as last week at Bourton where I was 4m14s slower than in 2010 (9%). |
| | 53m06s
2m39s
5m18s
8m32s
36m23s
1.46
1.33 | 2m42s, 2m43s, 2m15s, 2m20s, 2m22s, 2m45s, 2m30s, 2m30s, 2m36s, 2m38s, 2m53s, 2m55s, 2m35s, 2m56s, 3m02s, 2m52s, 2m49s, 2m27s, 2m14s, 2m32s, 0m30s (0.13K) |
| 44 | | Goring, Woodcote and District Lions 10K
10K
| | | "undulating by-roads, kilometre marked"; "free hot drinks"; "medal"; elsewhere on the web it says "tough road race, 5K downhill followed by 5K uphill" |
| | 53m39s
2m40s
5m21s
8m38s
35m26s
1.51
1.30 | 4m41s, 4m48s, 4m52s, 5m03s, 5m10s, 6m19s, 5m15s, 6m00s, 6m24s, 5m06s |
| 45 | | Peppard Run
10K
| | I entered this race on the day. It appealed to me partly because it was advertised as mostly off-road and partly because it would add a lot of footpaths to my project to do all the footpaths of Oxfordshire. As usual, I warmed up by running the last 1K. Not finding a K marker there, I placed a large distinctive branch in a position where I would see it when I got to this point in the race. I continued my warm-up by running back to the finish. At about 0.5K from the finish I found the 9K marker which was puzzling. In continuing to the finish, I made doubly sure I wasn't missing some weird run round the field bit. On the start line, there were about 93 runners. As soon as we started running, the drizzle which had been threatening for the last hour started, and was with us for the rest of the race. True to the advert, the race was 99% off-road and passed through numerous woods. I remember three up-hill sections. There were about three stiles and five kissing gates. I didn't see any partridges! Although there were a few friendly marshals, there weren't enough for the lots and lots of turns at junctions in the paths and for this we depended on the signage which was excellent. However, I did worry that a vandal would only have to remove one sign and the race would turn into chaos. What with the turns and also the continuous looking at the ground to ensure you didn't trip up, there was no boredom and the race passed quickly. My Garmin measured the 1K marker as being at 1.2K and every marker from there on was late, and gradually getting later. By the time I got to the 8K marker, my Garmin was measuring 8.5K. The large distinctive branch I'd placed 1K from the finish was at 8.98K according to my Garmin. And the finish was at 9.98K. However, given my Garmin's habit of usually recording 10.15K for a 10K, maybe the race was a bit short. This year's winner (Thomas Watkins) took 3 seconds off his time when he won last year and that was in turn one second faster than the winner's time of 2009. I followed everyone else and went off far too fast. After 6K, I had a loo break which cost me a minute. I was reasonably pleased with my time. Without the loo break, I would have got 1.44 times the winner's time. Although I had enjoyed the drizzle that had accompanied my run, unfortunately about 10 minutes after I'd finished it poured with rain for about an hour. This was not at all nice for those still doing the race and for the race officials. Here is a link to my Garmin's record of where we went. We did this route anti-clockwise. |
| | 53m59s
2m41s
5m23s
8m41s
36m43s
1.47
1.34 | 2m14s, 2m25s, 2m46s, 2m28s, 2m27s, 3m28s, 2m32s, 2m35s, 3m08s, 2m39s, 2m41s, 2m48s, 3m26s, 2m54s, 2m46s, 2m45s, 2m45s, 2m43s, 2m28s, 2m13s (0.48K) |
| 46 | | Stoke Row 10K
10K
| | | journey time: 21M, 0h47m, 1030/0945/0915/0825; The venue for this 10K is the Cherry Tree Inn at Stoke Row. The race was the first activity of the day: other things were happening until 8pm. As there wasn't a map beforehand, I was not well prepared. The route turned out to be a letter P with Nuffield at the furthest point away as shown in this map. We started at the end of the stem of the P. The stem is about 0.75K long and it took us away from the village and down along a rough footpath through some woods. We dropped about 65m in that 0.75K. The next 3K gently climbed 90m along a mix of single track footpaths, wide rough tracks and tarmac lanes. We then ran straight across a field and then did just 0.3K of the Ridgeway, the bit from the end of Grims Ditch to Nuffield Church. There was a bit more tarmac at the halfway point when we ran through Nuffield. But after that it was back to the mix of rutted tracks and footpaths occasionally single width. Some of them were through enormous woods. Gradually, we lost all the height we had gained to finish the circle of the P arriving back at the bottom of the 0.75K climb back to the finish. This was a tough way to end! About 60% of the 10K were on public rights of way that were new to me. So I added these to my oxonpaths project as shown on this map. The race was timed with chips. The route was well signed and bunted and there were plenty of enthusiastic and diligent marshalls. For me, the only bad points were there being no K markers (apart from the 5K) and the bar not yet open when we got back! Very enjoyable. It reminded me of the Frieth Hilly 10K and the Rugged Radnage 10K (both in November). two other races to do if you enjoy running in the Chilterns. |
| | 54m13s
2m42s
5m25s
8m43s
37m11s
1.46
1.36 | 2m08s, 2m23s, 2m34s, 2m34s, 2m41s, 3m03s, 2m43s, 2m51s, 2m28s, 3m00s, 2m31s, 2m21s, 2m29s, 2m34s, 2m29s, 2m31s, 2m34s, 2m33s, 2m23s, 4m07s, 1m18s (0.28K) |
| 47 | | Frieth Hilly 10K
10K
| UKA 2011-102955 | | journey time: 31M, 0h50m, 1000/0915/0845/0755; One of the delights of living in Oxfordshire is that the Chilterns are nearby. And Autumn is an excellent time to visit them. There are several races in the Chilterns at this time of year and today it is a 10K from the village of Frieth just 5 miles from Marlow. I have done this race twice before and on both occasions the weather has been chilly but with bright sunshine. Today was no exception. I've been recovering from an ankle injury and have done no running for three weeks. I did 7.5, 8.5 and 9.5 miles of walking on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to test whether my ankle was better. It behaved today OK too. However, a few other events made today's race difficult: one of the pins of my Garmin came loose just as the race started and so I had to run with it in my hand; I accidentally stopped the Garmin three times and so I have no finishing time and splits; I fell over once and nearly fell again. With no idea of how well I was doing, I didn't take the race too seriously: so I took a loo break at about 5K and during the last 2K I failed to push myself. Just after the race finished, the organisers put out two sheets: one with positions against bib number and the other with positions against times: I got 55m06s which is 12s faster than last year. Although this is 2m14s slower than 2009, given my injury and all the messing around, I was pleasantly surprised. As is usual with this race, there was a wonderful atmosphere with people clapping, shouting and cheering almost anywhere where the route hit a road junction and at many other places too. After the race, I had a bacon roll, a hot dog and excellent coffee. Once again the Frieth Hilly 10K had provided an excellent morning! |
| | 55m06s
2m45s
5m30s
8m52s
35m58s
1.53
1.32 | |
| 48 | | Frieth Hilly 10K
10K
| | | journey time: 31M, 0h50m, 1000/0915/0845/0755; One of the delights of living in Oxfordshire is that the Chilterns are nearby. And Autumn is an excellent time to visit them. There are several races at this time of year and today it was a 10K from the village of Frieth just 5 miles from Marlow. It was a chilly morning (5 degrees) but the chill was accompanied by a warming hazy sun. Because I'm still recovering from injury, I was pleased to be just 2m26s slower than last year. A more detailed description of the course is given in my report of last year's race. |
| | 55m18s
2m45s
5m31s
8m53s
35m35s
1.55
1.30 | 2m15s, 2m18s, 2m29s, 2m14s, 2m25s, 2m21s, 2m23s, 3m37s, 3m13s, 2m53s, 3m37s, 2m53s, 2m45s, 2m29s, 2m32s, 2m41s, 2m48s, 2m43s, 2m31s, 3m11s, 1m02s (0.175K) |
| 49 | | Rugged Radnage 10K
10K
| | | Radnage is about 5 minutes from Junction 5 (Stokenchurch) on the M40. It was the inaugural Rugged Radnage 10K and it all worked very well. In the announcements before the race, we were warned that the K markers might be inaccurately placed and the race might be a bit longer than 10K but my Garmin didn't bear either of these out. She also said there may be mud! Well there was a lot of mud, especially in the woods. There were also numerous large puddles on the tracks and the roads. Most people near to me walked the two killer hills: there was one at 4K and the other one was at the start of the last 1K. These are obvious from the 0.5K splits. Between 4.5K and 6K I managed to get some fast running done even though this was on uneven muddyish tracks through woods and I continued this fast running on tarmac between 6K and 8K. I got 1.47 times the winner's time which I'm pleased with. There were lots of marshals: they were enthusiastic and well positioned. The bacon roll and coffee at the end went down well as it was quite a chilly (although dry) day. |
| | 57m31s
2m52s
5m45s
9m15s
39m11s
1.47
1.43 | 2m26s, 2m32s, 2m26s, 2m19s, 2m41s, 2m43s, 2m59s, 4m45s, 3m43s, 2m24s, 2m25s, 2m27s, 2m18s, 2m26s, 2m32s, 2m28s, 2m28s, 2m42s, 4m23s, 3m55s, 0m31s (0.12K) |
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date
day and time
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name of race
length of race
comments
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location of race
postcode and maps to postcode
links to info and forms
other links
link to the results
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my time
0.5K pace
K pace
M pace
win time
me/win
win/wor
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splits
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| 1 | | Rovaniemi Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | Rovaniemi is in Finland a few Ks South of the Arctic Circle. A 10K takes place earlier in the afternoon, and this takes a nice route whereas the Half is the route of the 10K plus 5K down one side of a straight dual-carriageway and then 5K back again. I found the dual-carriageway bit boring and hard work in 22 degrees Centigrade. There's also a full marathon that does the Half twice. As last year's winner's time was 1h15m27s, I aimed for 1.5 times that time, i.e., 1h53m11s, which is 2m40s per 0.5K. As my 0.5K splits show, I managed to achieve that for 7.5K but my attempt for 1h53m11s didn't allow for the 22 degrees Centigrade. Maybe this was was the reason why this year's winner's time was 2m06s slower than last year's. My time was 2m04s slower than the 1h53m11s. I got a 1.49 which pleased me. The change from one split to the next was 5s or less in 75% of the changes. |
| | 115m15s
2m43s
5m27s
8m47s
77m33s
1.49 | 2m17s, 2m26s, 2m33s, 2m44s, 2m39s, 2m42s, 2m41s, 2m41s, 2m37s, 2m36s, 2m39s, 2m39s, 2m38s, 2m37s, 2m38s, 2m42s, 2m44s, 2m46s, 2m44s, 2m49s, 2m45s, 2m49s, 2m43s, 2m45s, 2m45s, 2m41s, 2m42s, 2m50s, 2m56s, 2m46s, 2m47s, 2m52s, 2m47s, 2m50s, 2m53s, 3m00s, 3m02s, 2m51s, 2m47s, 2m45s, 2m35s, 2m35s, 0m59s (0.27K) |
| 2 | | White Horse Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | HRR-RC; The route is flat on country lanes. The race was well signed and well marshalled. The running conditions were good: some hazy sun with an occasional cooling cold wind. As I hadn't done much training during the last two weeks, I was apprehensive and from about 4M onwards I frequently wanted to give up. Curiously, even though I wasn't enjoying it, I was achieving good times. My plan was to get in under two hours and to do about 2m40s to 2m50s per 0.5K. My 0.5K splits show that for most of the race I was well within this pace, but I tired a lot at the end. At about 10M, I was wondering whether I could beat my post-2007 PB (1h55m15s), but a bit of arithmetic led to an answer of "no". In the end, I got a second best time. |
| | 117m19s
2m46s
5m33s
8m56s
72m39s
1.61 | 2m23s, 2m22s, 2m24s, 2m22s, 2m32s, 2m35s, 2m30s, 2m28s, 2m36s, 2m37s, 2m37s, 2m38s, 2m43s, 2m34s, 2m35s, 2m47s, 2m44s, 3m24s, 2m43s, 2m44s, 3m19s, 2m41s, 2m46s, 2m46s, 2m45s, 2m46s, 2m45s, 2m54s, 2m45s, 2m48s, 2m52s, 2m57s, 3m01s, 2m50s, 2m53s, 2m58s, 3m04s, 2m49s, 3m04s, 3m01s, 3m00s, 2m54s, 1m23s (0.26K) |
| 3 | | White Horse Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | HRR RC; journey there: 10M, 0h22m, 1000/0915/0830/0808; A fortnight ago I completed the Banbury 15 in a time that was 9m09s slower (which is 7% slower) than last year. A colleague from HRR accused me of starting too fast. I completed last year's White Horse Half Marathon in 117:19, and 7% slower would mean 125:32. However, I decided to aim for two hours. That's about 5:40 per K which is 2:50 per 0.5K. For the first 3K, I kept telling myself to slow down. Once I'd done this, all my 0.5K splits (apart from two loo breaks!) were between 2:41 and 2:52 which I was pleased with. I finished in 118:21. Who knows: if I hadn't had the two loo breaks I probably could have beaten last year's time! The race was well marshalled. It was a twisty course, and I was particularly impressed by each right hand corner having a "keep to the left" sign on the approach and a marshal on the corner. There were enthusiastic crowds in the villages of Charney Bassett and Denchworth: this encouragement was particularly useful as these villages appear late on the course. It was hot but there was a reasonably cold breeze. |
| | 118m21s
2m48s
5m36s
9m01s
72m07s
1.64 | 2m32s, 2m35s, 2m35s, 2m36s, 2m42s, 2m46s, 3m26s, 2m43s, 2m45s, 2m44s, 2m47s, 2m42s, 2m48s, 2m48s, 2m41s, 2m45s, 2m45s, 2m41s, 3m43s, 2m43s, 2m43s, 2m47s, 2m48s, 2m47s, 2m45s, 2m45s, 2m44s, 2m52s, 2m50s, 2m46s, 2m48s, 2m52s, 2m51s, 2m51s, 2m48s, 2m49s, 2m44s, 2m48s, 2m51s, 2m47s, 2m45s, 2m41s, 1m15s (0.28K). |
| 4 | | Marlow Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | "Marlow Half Marathon"; A return visit to the Chilterns: a fortnight ago I was here on a bright chilly dry Sunday morning for the Frieth 10K; today it rained most of the time for the Marlow Half Marathon which has a "challenging and undulating scenic route over quiet country lanes through the Chiltern Hills". Meaning that the first 2K is up a hill, and that there are four other uphills at 3K, 5K, 13K and 17.5K. Of course every uphill has a downhill, and as usual I didn't know whether to take these gently or to gain a few seconds by charging down them. Besides being very wet, it was also windy. We tried to avoid puddles and splashing each other but on several occasions we got wet as there were mini lakes to run through. I had driven round the course yesterday afternoon and so I knew where all the uphills and downhills are. I knew it was going to be tough. Before the race I had looked at last year's winner's time (1h14m42s). Multiplying this by 1.5 gives 1h52m03s. As I thought it was unlikely I would get anywhere near this time, I didn't try: I just wanted to get round. As I've already mentioned, the first 2K is all uphill (where my 0.5K splits were 2m48s, 3m00s, 2m46s and 2m44s). During this 2K, I was beginning to feel a pain in two familiar places: my right knee and the top of my left hamstring. This didn't bode well and it depressed me for several Ks. When I looked at my watch at just after halfway, I saw that I'd done that half in about one hour. So I wondered whether I could finish in under two hours. However, there were still two uphills to come. But there had been uphills in the first half. The most significant remaining uphill was between about 12.5K and 13.5K where my 0.5K splits were 3m36s and 4m39s. I did some more sums at the two thirds point. These suggested I would finish in 2h03m. This spurred me in adopting a faster pace for the level and downhill sections from 15K to 17K (2m21s, 2m34s, 2m36s, 2m28s). The final hill then appeared and like others I walked a bit of it (3m26s, 3m05s). After that it was flat for 1K and then downhill for 2K: so there was no stopping me trying to get in under 2 hours. My splits for the final 2K were 2m33s, 2m26s, 2m12s, 2m03s. In the end, I finished in about 1h58m. I'm pleased with this: it is 3m slower than the Half I did in Rovaniemi but that was on a flat course. However, it is 2m faster than my appalling Half on a flat course at Krems. The race was well marshalled and marshalled with enthusiasm which was nice given they had to stand around for about 4 hours in the rain. Several of them said "well done Headington" which I liked. There were several water stations also being cheerfully and efficiently manned, often by kids. But unlike some races they knew what to do. And probably because it was often pouring with rain I said more thank yous to these people and to the marshals than usual.
|
| | 118m38s
2m48s
5m37s
9m02s
75m30s
1.57 | 2m48s, 3m00s, 2m46s, 2m44s, 2m39s, 2m30s, 3m28s, 2m28s, 2m53s, 3m00s, 3m06s, 3m07s, 2m55s, 2m55s, 2m51s, 2m37s, 2m47s, 2m43s, 2m31, 2m45s, 2m50s, 2m36s, 2m47s, 2m44s, 2m41s, 3m36s, 4m39s, 2m51s, 2m51s, 2m48s, 2m21s, 2m34s, 2m36s, 2m28s, 3m26s, 3m05s, 2m38s, 2m42s, 2m33s, 2m26s, 2m12s, 2m03s, 0m43s (about 0.2K) |
| 5 | | Otmoor Challenge
half marathon
| | | I enjoyed this: it was along footpaths and roads around the Otmoor. Pouring with rain before the race which eased off as we started to race and was only drizzly from then on. There were two long sections of mud and one short section. As this was my first Half since November 2004 and I've done no training at this distance, I just aimed to get round and hoped to finish within 2h. Although some have claimed this is more than a Half my watch made this 20.99K which is pretty close to 21.0975K. It's mainly off-road for the first 4K and this explains the 3m23s 0.5K split: it is for a mud section. Then for the next 6K it's along a road where I repeatedly did times close to 2m46s per 0.5K. The over 3m splits are another mud section. The long hill in and steep hill out of Beckley accounts for the 3m16s and 3m27s. I managed to achieve some fast times in the last 2K. Here's where we went in Google Maps and in WheresThePath. I saw runners from Oxford Hash stop for beers on three occasions! |
| | 118m50s
2m48s
5m37s
9m03s
75m01s
1.58 | 2m31s, 2m41s, 3m23s, 2m44s, 2m38s, 2m41s, 2m49s, 2m47s, 2m46s, 2m48s, 2m45s, 2m47s, 2m44s, 2m49s, 2m51s, 2m46s, 2m42s, 2m49s, 2m52s, 2m52s, 3m12s, 3m31s, 3m06s, 2m50s, 2m54s, 2m58s, 2m59s, 2m56s, 2m36s, 2m44s, 2m58s, 3m05s, 2m54s, 3m16s, 3m27s, 2m37s, 2m41s, 2m42s, 2m25s, 2m28s, 2m32s, 2m17s (0.485K) |
| 6 | | Wachau Halbmarathon
half marathon
| | | This half marathon from the village of Spitz to Krems is alongside the River Danube for the whole distance. On the same morning, there is also a full marathon and a quarter marathon which also start in other villages on the Danube. On the day before race, I had walked the last 3K of the route of the race, and had found white paint marks on the ground for the 19K, 20K and 21K markers. On the morning of the race I had to get a bus from outside Krems railway station to the start of the race. There's a choice of a ship at 8am (which takes 90 minutes) and 20 buses at 8am and another 20 buses at 9am. I have booked a seat on the 9am bus. I do a 2K warm up by running from my hotel first to the 20K marker, then to the finish and then back to the railway station. I'm in plenty of time for the bus. It's very crowded in Spitz, there being about 4 thousand runners. About 6 weeks ago in Finland, I'd done a flat half marathon in 1h55m55s, that's a pace of 5m27s per K. That day, I was aiming for an average pace of 5m20s per K, but failed to achieve that pace because it had been so hot. I try for that pace again today. But again I don't achieve it. However, today it's not very sunny and, although it's warm, it's not too hot, and so it's ideal to get a good time but I don't feel motivated. The course is again flat but it feels long. Because the Danube doesn't twist much, the route has long straights. The only thing that motivates me are the crowds alongside the route as we run through the villages of Woesendorf, Weissenkirchen, Duernstein, Unterloiben, Oberloiben and Stein before reaching lots of support through the streets of Krems. In the early stages of the race, I see a runner that has no feet. His legs end in stubs to which are attached some weirdly shaped, artificial legs/feet. It's impressive and some times he's ahead of me and some times behind. I don't know whether he beat me. Although my 0.5K splits don't change much, they gradually get slower: at 5K I'm doing 2m45s, at 10K it's 2m47s, at 15K it's 3m00s. Aside: at about 10.9K, my Garmin watch goes AWOL as we go through a 0.9K tunnel and it thinks I do an extra 0.11K. At 16K, with 5.1K to go, I work on how I can get in under 2h. I keep working out whether it's achievable to do this if I average 3m00s per 0.5K (which I can do without too much effort). It keeps looking that it's on. When I get to the 19K marker (which I saw yesterday), I start to speed up. I'm encouraged by passing several runners and by knowing these streets. I get to the 20K marker which is where I warmed up earlier. As I enter the long straight finish in Ringstrasse I look ahead. Because I've done my homework I know where in the distance the finish is and I get my 0.5K pace down to 2m30s. Foolishly, in the last few seconds of the race, I keep glancing down to my watch. I really want to finish in under 2 hours. The watch is only showing hours and minutes and not seconds; each time I look it says 1h59s, and it still says 1h59s as I cross the line. Yippee. I made it 1h59m46s. The winning time was 1h05m03s which gives me a ratio of 1.84 which is not impressive. The first seven finishers in the Half Marathon were from Kenya and Ethopia. The first woman was 10th overall. Although I should have done a better time, I came 17th out of 41 finishers in my age category. The races are very well organised with lots of details truely thought out. There is a free early morning train service from Vienna and a free bus shuttle from car parks in Krems to the railway station where there is free transport (bus, train, ship) to the starts of the three main races. The race is chip-timed from start to finish. And after the race, the competitors pass through a large funnel containing water, isotonic drinks, bananas, energy bars, apples, cakes. There is then a park where you can buy lunch (such as bratwurst) and beer/coffee. Two criticisms: although there were numerous refreshment stations en route (where you could get water, isotonic drinks, banana, gels), there were insufficient people manning the drinks and so you would have to wait to get a drink. You could purchase a chip or pay a deposit for a daily hire of a chip, and, although there were lots of signage for various things after the refreshment tunnel, I didn't see any for getting your chip deposit back. Being shattered, I nearly forgot to get my deposit back, and when I did remember I didn't know where to go. In the end, it was obvious: it was where I had got the chip in the first place. |
| | 119m48s
2m50s
5m40s
9m08s
65m03s
1.84 | 2m31s, 2m37s, 2m35s, 2m44s, 2m35s, 2m42s, 2m41s, 2m42s, 2m43s, 2m45s, 2m43s, 2m54s, 2m46s, 2m43s, 2m47s, 2m48s, 2m44s, 2m50s, 2m45s, 2m47s, 2m48s, 2m52s, 2m57s (0.39K), 2m51s, 2m49s, 2m54s, 3m00s, 2m55s, 3m01s, 3m00s, 3m05s, 3m06s, 3m03s, 3m06s, 3m04s, 3m06s, 2m57s, 2m58s, 2m45s, 2m48s, 2m33s, 2m30s, 1m15s (0.30K). |
| 7 | | Otmoor Challenge
half marathon
| | | The Otmoor Challenge is a half marathon along footpaths and roads around the Otmoor. Together with 5 mile and 13 mile walks for walkers, it forms one of the events of Horton-cum-Studley's Otmoor Day. Like last year, it was hot but not quite as hot as last year and this year there was a strong chilling wind. Last year, I struggled in the heat finishing 19 minutes slower than 2009. Thirteen of my 21 1K splits were larger than 6m00s and there were three over 8m00s within the first (non-hilly) 16K. Yes there were many sections where I walked significant distances. So given today's heat today I decided to take the pace down to 6m00s per K. That would give me a finishing time of 126 minutes which would be 12 minutes faster than last year. As my 0.5K splits show, I failed to get this slow very often but my final time was almost spot on 126 minutes. I had stashed 100 cc water bottles at 4 places and I used these, and stopped to finish this water at the water stations. I also listened to Classic FM on an MP3 player and wore my running bumbug. These many changes made today's race more enjoyable. |
| | 126m45s
3m00s
6m00s
9m40s
77m17s
1.64 | 2m18s, 2m32s, 2m36s, 2m34s, 2m38s, 2m43s, 2m45s, 3m02s, 2m46s, 2m48s, 3m04s, 2m46s, 2m53s, 2m53s, 2m50s, 3m05s, 3m36s, 3m31s, 2m53s, 2m51s, 3m18s, 2m53s, 2m64s, 3m22s, 3m47s, 2m51s, 3m01s, 2m54s, 2m51s, 2m53s, 2m54s, 3m12s, 3m03s, 4m28s, 5m16s, 3m05s, 2m39s, 2m56s, 2m36s, 2m40s, 2m41s, 2m32s (0.48K) |
| 8 | | Adderbury Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | This Half Marathon is a mix of off-road and tarmac. It was mainly a flat course with a few inclines. We met all sorts of traffic: motorway traffic, slow moving canal bridges, a hot air balloon and even a steam train! We also met stiles, steps, kissing gates, old wooden kissing gates that wouldn't move and cows that were standing across the path. It was hot (about 23 degrees); thankfully there were four water stations and these were cheerfully manned. It was a race where people exchanged words as they passed, and it was a race where people looked after each other. At 6M I asked a walking runner if he was OK and he retaliated about 0.5M later. And whilst crossing a stile I glanced back and saw the runner behind going the wrong way. I ran back to the junction and shouted to her. I had to do the stile again. Grhh! I hate stiles. After finishing, I learnt that a fellow HRR runner had gone wrong there too: a direction arrow or a marshal was needed. As it was hot, I didn't try to get a good time. Since last year's winning time was 1h21m04s, I thought I might do 1.5 times that time, i.e., 2h01m36s. So that means doing 6 minutes for each K. So that was the plan for the race. However, I started too fast and spent a large amount of the first part of the race trying to slow myself down failing miserably as the splits show and exhausting myself. Still I was happy with 2h08m28s. |
| | 128m28s
3m02s
6m05s
9m47s
79m50s
1.61 | 2m10s, 2m35s, 2m30s, 2m41s, 2m45s, 2m34s, 2m37s, 2m46s, 2m45s, 2m49s, 2m48s, 3m40s, 2m52s, 2m54s, 3m21s, 4m01s, 2m51s, 2m49s, 2m50s, 3m41s, 3m32s, 2m58s, 3m05s, 3m32s, 2m57s, 2m52s, 3m28s, 3m10s, 3m21s, 3m47s, 3m08s, 3m06s, 3m21s, 4m08s, 3m09s, 2m44s, 4m16s, 2m47s, 2m34s, 3m09s, 2m29s, 2m36s, 0m23s (0.09K) |
| 9 | | Woerthersee Halbmarathon
half marathon
| | 
A lake called Woerthersee lies to the west of Klagenfurt, a large town in Austria. I was there to do a Half Marathon. The Half was just one of a series of events being held during the weekend. On the same day (Sunday) there was also a 10.55K race (a Vietelmarathon) and a 10.55K walk. On the previous Friday, there had been a 4.2K night run, and on the Saturday, runs/races for children (0.25K, 0.7K, 1.4K, 2.1K, 2.8K), a women's race (4.2K) and a family run (0.7K). There was also a dogging event which was 4.2K long. This attracted 135 runners with their dogs, the fastest pair finishing in 0:12:26. The Half Marathon entails running along a road or cycle path all the way from one end of the lake to the other, from Velden at the western end to Klagenfurt at the eastern end. The organisers provide free trains to convey runners to the start. Although the race started at 9.30a.m., it was baking hot, probably about 28 degrees. As a result, I acquired a pink sunburn that shows the outline of my HRR vest. Talking to other runners, it seems this race has been attracting these temperatures for the last few years. You can see from the photo that the 2009 Half also took place on a hot day. Along the route, there were lots of Versorgungsstations, serving water, isotonic drinks and bananas. Although I was carrying an isotonic drink, I made myself drink water at each of these. There were also several people using their garden hoses to offer runners showers. I made use of most of these. Here is a link to a map showing where we went (according to my Garmin). Before the race, I thought that given my level of fitness, I ought to complete in 2h00s. So I planned to run at 5m40s per K. However, a quarter of the way through, I decided to slow the pace down to 6m00s as the heat was getting to me. Later, I slowed down even more. Given the heat, I was pleased to get under 2m10s. There were a couple of blind runners. Although one was accompanied by a sighted runner, the other was ahead of them on his own. At the 10K marker, I shouted zehn kilometre and he said danke. Although he was coping well with the route, he was getting into a bit of difficulty at one point as we had to do 4 left turns in succession as we went under a bridge and then up a slip road and over the bridge we'd just gone under. I shouted out links at him several times. I thought I was dreaming when I overtook a Kenyan runner (Kipsang Zakayo-Biwott) but he had retired from the race for some reason. 23 runners from Kenya finished. Of these 18 finished in the top 30 with Kenyans taking the first nine places. The winner was Wilson Kipsang who finished in 1:02:25. Another Kenyan, Florence Kiplagat won the woman's race in 1:08:02. Even though it was so hot, she broke the women's course record by 0:02:30. This morning's local newspaper describes her as Fliegende Florence, i.e., flying Florence. The night before the race whilst in the platz outside my hotel I'd seen two young lads (Nikolaus Risslegger and Stefan Rißlegger) who had pre-run goody bags slung over their shoulder: they'd just been to collect their race number. They were from Carinthia but they spoke perfect English. They were hoping to complete in 1h40m. Just after I'd crossed the line, they shouted Barry. It was great to be cheered in in the sea of thousands of runners. They had finished in 1h50m. The above photo is copyright gholzer and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.  I found two other opportunities for running in the Klagenfurt area. First, there is marked route for a Half Marathon that takes you round the town. On the signboard in the photo on the right, the route is shown in blue. Click on the image for a larger photo.
Whilst staying in Klagenfurt, I walked the Woerthersee Rundwanderweg, a 55K path in the forests that lie to the North and South of the lake. It takes you several times from 450m to about 670m and back down again. If you're interested, here's a web page giving more details about the Woerthersee Rundwanderweg. In the forests, I found waymarks for lots of running trails. For example, the first photo shows you are at the 4.55K marker of a 11.08K trail. The second photo shows an example of the terrain in the forests. Again, click on an image to get a larger photo.   |
| | 129m47s
3m04s
6m09s
9m54s
62m25s
2.08 | 2m38s, 2m37s, 2m38s, 2m47s, 2m45s, 2m43s, 3m45s, 2m47s, 2m49s, 2m50s, 2m51s, 2m58s, 3m01s, 3m03s, 2m56s, 3m03s, 3m01s, 2m56s, 4m48s, 2m56s, 2m57s, 3m45s, 3m05s, 2m52s, 4m07s, 3m54s, 2m57s, 3m03s, 3m18s, 2m58s, 2m49s, 2m55s, 3m14s, 3m04s, 3m03s, 2m57s, 2m51s, 3m07s, 3m32s, 2m46s, 2m43s, 2m24s, 0m42s (0.157K), 0m19s (0.054K), 0m30s (0.000K) |
| 10 | | Otmoor Challenge
half marathon
| | | The Otmoor Challenge is a half marathon along footpaths and roads around the Otmoor. Together with 5 mile and 13 mile walks for walkers, it forms one of the events of Horton-cum-Studley's Otmoor Day. Last year, when I did this for the first time, it was very wet and the route had three very muddy long sections. This year it was very hot and humid (25 degrees). I didn't cope with the heat: I had to stop and walk. There were others doing this and I had several long conversations. Although I started off well on my way to beat last year's time, this plan was soon ditched. When I finished, I didn't even wonder what my finishing time was for about 10 minutes. I made use of two of my four stashes of isotonic drink but the 500ml were too much. This was my 26th half marathon and it is now my personal worst time beating my previous by 17 minutes. I would like to thank the organisers who put out extra water en route and to those kind people of Noke who used their garden hoses to cool us down. Thanks also to the St Johns Ambulance: I chatted to one of them at Noke, he seemed worried about my state and was all smiles (like me) when I saw him again on the road in the last mile. |
| | 138m04s
3m16s
6m32s
10m31s
77m55s
1.77 | 2m15s, 2m27s, 2m35s, 2m32s, 2m34s, 2m36s, 2m38s, 3m02s, 2m35s, 2m43s, 2m40s, 3m33s, 2m45s, 2m48s, 2m52s, 3m25s, 4m58s, 3m03s, 3m00s, 3m37s, 3m09s, 3m32s, 3m03s, 3m00s, 5m04s, 3m08s, 4m21s, 4m13s, 2m59s, 3m12s, 3m55s, 4m04s, 4m13s, 4m58s, 6m13s, 2m59s, 2m57s, 3m13s, 2m45s, 2m51s, 3m06s, 2m34s (0.460K) |
