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: Sun 05 Feb at 09:20:20 GMT
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 details of the races that I've completed.
The latest race is given first.
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date
day and time
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name of race
length of race
licence
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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| 259 | | 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) |
| 258 | | 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 | |
| 257 | | 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) |
| 256 | | Cotswold Classic 10
10M
| UKA 2011-102750 | journey there: 21M, 0h35m, 1030/0945/0915/0840
HRR RC This is advertised as a tough 10 mile one lap road race in the picturesque Cotswold countryside. I'd done it once, in 2009. And I found it lived up to that description. One of its features is an endlessly long but gentle climb of about 90m, the gentle hill lasting for 4K from Crawley to Leafield. Elsewhere on this course, there are a lot of sharp descents and ascents. So the course is quite a challenge. When I did it in 2009 I wasn't in good form, and so I walked a couple of these hills. Today I felt good and I ran it all. The race takes place on pretty country lanes and roads where there is little traffic. It was sunny but not too warm, and there was a strong, gusty wind at times. There were water stations at 1.2M, 5.2M and 8.1M. The race was very well marshalled. My plan was to try and improve on my times from 2009. After about 5K, I was 1 minute ahead. Although this put me into a good mood, I was worried I had pushed myself too much on the gentle climb to Leafield. However, it got better: by 7K I was 2 minutes ahead. For the next few K, it dropped slightly under 2 minutes but by 12K it was back to 2 minutes. I then concentrated on my running. At the top of the last ascent (i.e., just after Crawley), when there was about 2K to go, I didn't do a check but I now see I was 3 minutes ahead. That would have been delightful to know. Instead, I began to push. Incredibly I finished 5m20s ahead of my 2009 time. I was well pleased. This was the penultimate race in the HRR Road Championships. Unfortunately, BG was hurt again and I think GN was on holiday. So I came first in my age category and replaced a 13 from earlier in the season by a 15 and also got my final set of 5 points. KV was second. Neither GN nor I need to do the final race (which is at Hanney) as we're bound to get the Gold and Silver. At the moment, KV will get Bronze but if I've done the arithmetic correctly BG will get the Bronze if he does Hanney and if he beats KV. |
| | 87m26s
2m42s
5m25s
8m44s
56m00s
1.56 | 2m20s, 2m22s, 2m49s, 2m39s, 2m41s, 2m45s, 2m49s, 2m53s, 2m55s, 2m48s, 2m53s, 2m46s, 2m34s, 2m36s, 2m36s, 2m43s, 3m03s, 2m59s, 2m37s, 2m38s, 2m52s, 2m43s, 2m38s, 2m40s, 2m58s, 2m46s, 2m43s, 2m34s, 3m16s, 2m30s, 2m18s, 2m17s, 34s (0.14K), 15s (at start) |
| 255 | | 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) |
| 254 | | Oxford Mota-vation Run
6.6K
| UKA 2011-102139 | | A disappointing run. I wasn't expecting too much as I haven't run for 10 days and whilst warming up my knee was grumpy. At about 2.6K, BG overtook me and went away about from me. He's in my age category for the HRR Road Championship races but this wasn't one. However, I thought I'd gradually catch him up and then sit behind him with the hope of beating him. So my pace increases. But then at about 4K mark I got stitch and couldn't shake it. I finished even slower than when I last did this (2009) when I was returning from injury and was just coasting and got 33m14s. |
| | 34m16s
2m35s
5m11s
8m21s
20m11s
1.70 | 2m16s, 2m33s, 2m31s, 2m41s, 2m41s, 2m38s, 2m29s, 2m31s, 2m42s, 2m53s, 2m53s, 2m47s, 2m32s, 0m08s (0.03K) |
| 253 | | 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) |
| 252 | | Volkslauf rund um den Klopeiner See
10.4K
| |  Klopeiner See is a lake about 25K east of Klagenfurt, a town in Austria that is served by Ryanair flights from Stansted.
The 34rd International Volkslauf rund um den Klopeiner See 2011 took place late on the afternoon of Monday 15th August. Each year, this day is a public holiday as Austrians celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. There was a 5.2K race, a 5.2K Nordic Walk, and a 10.4K race, together with two races for children of 0.5K and 1K. The three longer events took place on the road or cycle path that goes round the lake. Hence the title of the event. As you can guess, the 10.4K race involves doing the circuit twice. I opted to do the 10.4K race. I think this variant was new this year. The above photo is copyright pixel0908 and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. I had arrived the previous Thursday and each day temperatures had reached about 25 degrees. However on the Monday afternoon there was a torrential downpour that lasted several hours. It didn't look as it would ever stop: I didn't know whether the events would be cancelled or whether I would be standing around before the start in pouring rain. It was time to acquire a bin bag to stick over my head: I asked at my Hotel's reception for einer gross Muellsack. Unflinchingly, the receptionist got me one. Although it was still pouring for the children's races, the rain went away for the two 5.2K events and the 10.4K race which all started at 5p.m. The fastest person doing the 5.2K Nordic walk overtook me as I was doing the last K of my first lap. So he was just about to finish. It wasn't clear to me as to whether he was walking fast or running slowly. He finished his 5.2K in 0:25:35, about 46 seconds faster than me. Besides the weather, the other problem was dealing with people, kids, pushchairs, dogs, ... . The route runs between each hotel and its strandbad (swimming/sunbathing area). So people cross the route if they go from their hotel to their strandbad. And of course people promenade along the route enjoying their ice creams, pushing pushchairs and with uncontrolled kids/dogs in tow. Luckily, the weather had put most of them off, but on the second lap it was more of a problem as there were less runners taking part. Here is a link to a map showing where we went (according to my Garmin). Wearing my HRR vest, I was hoping that maybe some other Briton may recognise it. However, looking at the results, I now see I was the only one from Britain taking part: apart from Austrians there were also competitors from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Slovenia (which is just a few K away). The race was timed by chips and those doing the 10.4K race ran across the finishing pad at the end of both laps (as shown in the times below). |
| | 54m41s
2m37s
5m15s
8m27s
35m56s
1.52 | 2m12s, 2m26s, 2m24s, 2m39s, 2m52s, 2m30s, 2m28s, 2m36s, 2m36s, 2m33s, 2m38s, 2m46s, 2m47s, 2m54s, 3m11s, 2m44s, 2m48s, 2m44s, 2m39s, 2m32s, 1m24s (0.3K) |
| 251 | | Hornton 6
6M
| | | HRR RC; journey there: 40M, 0h57m, 1900/1815/1745/1645; The Hornton 6 is described as a "virtually traffic-free course over a scenic and undulating race route". Like 2010, the start/finish was at the Village Green which is about 350m from the start/finish of the 2009 race. So there was a 350m long gentle rise before the first steep hill. It's then flat for a short while before a big dip. However, the flattish bit of the race starts at 2K and lasts for about 3K. At 3M, it's steep down into Horley but that is immediately followed by a long gentle climb through and out of Horley. From 4M, it's reasonably flat for about 1.5M. The race ends with 0.5K down hill back to the Village Green. After the race, there is a bar, a barbecue and free overnight camping but this year (probably because of the ominous weather forecast) I didn't see any tents! My time last year was 2m02s slower than in 2009. Today I was hoping to improve on last year's time. Whilst running, I had the 1K splits for both years in my hand. I decided to try to keep to the same times for the first 2K and then to pace at 4m50s per K along the flat bit: hence the splits that hover around 2m25s. Like last year, I found the flat section from 4M hard work. However, persistence got me a time 71s faster than last year. The cumulative improvements every K compared to 2010 were +1s, +3s, -2s, -5s, -2s, -3s, +21s, +52s, +77s and +71s. Although I did roughly the same pace for the first half of the race, I did a faster pace later. However, this year's time was 51s slower than my 2009 time. The improvements compared to 2009 were -11s, +7s, -1s, +1s, +5s, +19s, +13s, +7s, -28s and -51s. Here it looks as if I ran faster up the hill in Horley but slowed after that. This is a race in the HRR Road Championships. As GN had a bad evening, I was the first in the M60 category. Yeh! Steve Naylor won again allegedly "smashing the course record". Again he won by about 2 minutes. His time was 31m22s. That gives me a 1.55. Stephen Male was 2nd with a time of about 33m33s which would give 1.45 which would have been good. Steve is a pain on my me/win ratios!!! |
| | 48m32s
2m30s
5m01s
8m05s
31m22s
1.55 | 2m25s, 2m41s, 2m10s, 2m41s, 2m28s, 2m25s, 2m26s, 2m26s, 2m25s, 2m21s, 2m27s, 2m50s, 2m43s, 2m31s, 2m29s, 2m28s, 2m39s, 2m42s, 2m23s, 0m55s (0.26K) |
| 250 | | 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) |
| 249 | | Combe Mota-vation Run
6.32K
| | | When I arrived at the race, menacing black and dark grey clouds were threatening. I got a little soaking whilst warming up. During the race, occasionally there was some gentle rain that had big droplets. Unfortunately, my sheet of last year's times got wet whilst warming up and so I put it in my pocket. After 1K I noticed I was slightly slower (8s) than last year. I pushed it just before 2K and got there slightly ahead (3s) of last year. The route of the race is then along a mainly flat but boringly straight road (to Stonesfield). I tried to adopt a good running style and tried to get a fast time along here and at the same time worried I might burn out. Because last year's times were in my pocket and I was concentrating so hard, I failed to get it out at appropriate times to check how I was doing. Looking at the 0.5K splits now and comparing them with last year, I was getting better as the race progressed: -3s, -8s, -10s, +3s, +9s, +16s, +23s, +21s, +23s, +29s, +31s, +32s, +37s. After the turn in Stonesfield I tanked it down the hill and then worked hard up the only real hill on the course which is just before the 3M marker. I continued to press home during the last M which was rewarded as my final time was 34s better than last year. |
| | 29m57s
2m22s
4m44s
7m37s | 2m21s, 2m14s, 2m24s, 2m32s, 2m27s, 2m25s, 2m22s, 2m22s, 2m33s, 2m26s, 2m21s, 2m14s, 1m15s (0.33K) |
| 248 | | Ridgeway Relay - Stage 5
10M
| | | The Ridgeway Relay is a relay race divided up into 10 stages. This year, 40 teams took part. Although I'd done Stage 3 (Whiteleaf to Lewknor) twice before, this was the first time I'd done Stage 5, the 16.44K stage from Swyncombe Church to South Stoke. In my recce, I'd done this stage in 1h44m. I was running for the HRR Vets team. The HRR teams organiser had put me down for 1h36m. I thought I'd get nowhere near this time. When SG arrived at Swyncombe Church finishing Stage 4 for the HRR Vets team, we were about a minute ahead of the time predicted by the HRR teams organiser and so there was a bit of pressure on me to get 1h36m. During the first 2M to Nuffield, I managed to take 5 minutes off my recce time for this bit. This put me in a good frame of mind. There's then a 4M section that runs due westwards and unnoticeably downhill: it's the Grims Ditch. Along this section there are lots of tree roots. Before the race, I was fearful that I'd fall over: I did twice. Even so during this section I got to being 10 minutes earlier than my recce time. The final 4M stretch is from Mongewell to South Stoke via the villages of North Stoke and Little Stoke. It's full of gates which means it's hard to get a running rhythm going. This stretch is only yards from the Thames, and so it's flat. However, you don't see the river until the last 2K. I finished in 1h32m, 12 minutes ahead of my recce time and 3m38s ahead of the HRR teams organiser's time. I was 1.44 times the stage winner's time which is excellent. In 2010 GN did this stage in 1h31m and he's a lot better than me. So I was well pleased with this time. My team completed the 10 stages in 12h24m beating our last year's time by 1h05m. We were the first vets team and so I got a bottle of wine. A great day out with thanks to AH, DS, LH, MR and RS for their help. |
| | 92m19s
2m52s
5m44s
9m13s
64m19s
1.44 | 2m01s, 4m14s, 3m06s, 2m30s, 2m15s, 2m47s, 4m01s, 2m46s, 2m47s, 2m45s, 2m40s, 3m09s, 2m44s, 2m38s, 2m34s, 3m20s, 2m34s, 2m33s, 2m49s, 2m56s, 2m29s, 3m05s, 2m32s, 2m36s, 2m53s, 2m47s, 2m56s, 2m57s, 2m45s, 2m51s, 2m37s, 2m45s, 1m57s (0.435K) |
| 247 | | 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) |
| 246 | | 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) |
| 245 | | Bletchingdon Mota-vation Run
4.25625M
| | | journey there: 16M, 0h24m, 1930/1845/1815/1750; HRR RC. Like 2010, it was a hot evening. I had splits for last year, 3% slower and 7% slower but I didn't look at these much. I did notice that after 2K my time fitted into a 3% slower figure. And it turned out that my final time was exactly 3% slower than last year. There was a noticeably big turnout from HRR as it was a RC race. In the age 60 category, BG was still injured (and was marshalling). So I came second to GN. |
| | 33m13s
2m25s
4m50s
7m48s
21m04s
1.58 | 2m12s, 2m14s, 2m15s, 2m41s, 2m24s, 2m15s, 2m18s, 2m29s, 2m26s, 2m35s, 2m51s, 2m34s, 2m17s, 1m42s (0.4K) |
| 244 | | 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) |
| 243 | | Charndon 5K
5K
| | | journey there: 27M, 0h48m, 1930/1845/1820/1730; HRR RC; As I wasn't feeling well I didn't want to push it. So I took it easy. As you can see from the splits, I didn't even push myself doing the last 1K even though I felt good and wanted to. Like the Town and Gown two days ago, it was an HRR Road Championship race. GN and BG passed me early on. So I had decided I would finished 3rd in my age category. I just had to ensure that I didn't go too slow that KV passed me. However, there was a sorry site at about 2K: BG was hobbling as he had a pain at the top of his hamstring. So unexpectedly I finished 2nd in our age category. As usual, I waited at the finish for KV to come in. He finished just in front of BG who walked/hobbled across the finish line. |
| | 26m03s
2m36s
5m12s
8m23s
15m10s
1.72 | 2m16s, 2m33s, 2m33s, 2m39s, 2m36s, 2m39s 2m40s, 2m41s, 2m42s, 2m37s, 0m07s (0.03K) |
| 242 | | 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) |
| 241 | | Charlton-on-Otmoor Mota-vation Run
4.09545M
| | | journey there: 18M, 0h34m, 1915/1830/1800/1725; As in 2010, because there were a lot of entries, men and women started separately: the women start 18 minutes after the men. RT says it's 18 minutes because someone worked out that this means the fastest women do not finish amongst a lot of men. I checked his year: as far as I could see, it worked. Stupidly, even though I'd charged up my Garmin, it was flat. And I had no standby stop watch. So I did this race blind. Whilst running, I did find out from GN how long had elapsed just before the 3M marker but that was it. I started fast, but felt good. To the left and right at about 1M, I saw the start of footpaths I'd recently done as part of my oxonpaths project some of which are being proposed to be closed and this is being discussed at the Chiltern Evergreen inquiry. Just after 1M, HN and GD passed me but I kept up just behind them until about 2.1M (Oddington) where they seem to me to slow down. So I sailed pass. In my age category in the HRR Road Championships, GN and BG are significantly better than me. In this race, it appears that they had been running together. Just before the 3M marker, they both passed me and I tried to keep just behind them. At about 3.4M we ran through Oddington again. HRR were marshalling this junction, and they enthusiatically shouted us through. One of them encouraged me to sprint to the finish. And I wondered whether I have a reputation for fast finishes. I smiled and he noticed this. However, on a 4M race with 1K to go I thought it a bit early to sprint. At about 3.6M, GN went ahead of BG. At this point, I thought I could keep up a pace faster than what BG was currently doing all the way to the finish. I thought about sneakingly passing him within yards of the finishing line so that he didn't have an opportunity to re-pass. However, I thought that wouldn't be fair. So at about 3.8M I stormed pass him but he didn't retaliate. From GN and BG's watches, I calculated I finished in 31m00s with GN about 12 seconds ahead of me and BG 7 seconds behind. Seeing that when we last ran a 10K, GN finished 3 minutes ahead of me and BG 1 minute ahead, I was well pleased with this. My time was not as good as my 2010 time (30m32s) but it is about the same as my 2009 time (31m04s). But it was another reason to be pleased as recently I've been running races about 7% slower than last year. Superfast Steve Naylor won the race by 1m10s. My time was 1.54 times his time. Against the second finisher I got 1.46! |
| | 31m00s
2m21s
4m42s
7m34s
20m04s
1.54 | |
| 240 | | 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). |
| 239 | | 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) |
| 238 | | Banbury 15
15M
| | | HRR-RC; This didn't go well with various temporary problems during the race: stitch, stomach pain, right knee pain left knee pain. I also decided I need a new pair of shoes. Although I started off trying to keep to last year's pace, this didn't last long, and I settled into an attitude of just trying to get round which I didn't find very motivating. I finished 9m10s slower than last year (which is about 23s per K). |
| | 146m03s
3m01s
6m03s
9m44s
85m43s
1.70 | 2m30s, 2m32s, 2m34s, 2m40s, 2m41s, 3m05s, 2m46s, 2m47s, 2m54s, 2m48s, 2m33s, 2m32s, 2m45s, 2m56s, 2m55s, 3m00s, 2m59s, 2m51s, 2m53s, 2m58s, 3m13s, 2m51s, 2m47s, 2m56s, 2m54s, 2m55s, 5m03s, 3m29s, 2m58s, 2m54s, 2m57s, 3m01s, 3m06s, 3m05s, 3m09s, 3m01s, 3m04s, 4m35s, 3m44s, 3m03s, 3m03s, 3m03s, 3m17s, 2m52s, 3m02s, 3m27s, 2m56s, 2m46s, 1m12s (0.25K) |
| 237 | | 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) |
| 236 | | 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) |
| 235 | | 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) |
| 234 | | 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) |
| 233 | | XIII Cross Popular de Navidad
2.33K
| | | I spent my Christmas at San Sebastian on La Gomera, a Canary Island off Tenerife. Just by chance I saw a poster for a race. It was chaotically but reasonally well organised. For me, it was good that the organiser spoke English. Although the start time was 5pm, nothing happened then, but a few minutes later two vans turned up, one with a fold up table and the other with a fold up tent. There were numerous boys races and girls races some with only three runners which made it very competitive. All the races consisted of running round the pedestrianised area of San Sebastian with the older children doing multiple laps. There was a lap counter which indicated how many laps were left for the front runner. In between two races, I ran the circuit to see how long it was: 450 metres. Several hours later it was my turn. Although it had been indicated to me that the vet men would do 5 laps, there was some confusion as to whether the senior men and the vet men would run together. There were a lot of runners for this the final race. After doing one lap, I saw the lap counter was 7 and I wondered what was happening. Each circuit was tricky as you had to negotiate round old people moving slowly with walking sticks, loose dogs and shoppers pushing pushchairs. The lap counter wasn't much use as it was indicating the laps-to-go of the fastest senior man. Having nearly completed 5 laps, whilst about 200 metres from the finish line, I asked "5 or 8" in my best Spanish of somebody who I also thought was a vet; he said "5"; and so I then sprinted to the line. I came first in my age category but there were only two other competitors. For the presentations, there were stands of increasing heights for 3, 2 and 1. I wondered whether the vet men would get prizes. Eventually, they did and so there I was standing on the number 1 stand shaking hands with the 2nd and the 3rd and receiving an 8" high trophy! |
| -
| | San Sebastian (La Gomera) | | | | | | raceInfo | - | - | | | - | - | | - |
| 10m16s
2m12s
4m24s
7m05s
10m16s
1.00 | 2m00s, 2m14s, 2m20s, 2m18s, 1m25s (0.33K) |
| 232 | | 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) |
| 231 | | 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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day and time
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| 230 | | 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) |
| 229 | | 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) |
| 228 | | Hanney 5
5M
| | | HRR-RC; journey there: 9M, 0h20m, 1100/1015/0945/0925; The Hanney 5 is a very flat, rural race that is 5M along country lanes starting outside the Village Hall in East Hanney and finishing with a loop around the sports field behind the Village Hall. About 7 weeks ago, I fell over and bruised/cracked my ribs and so I have done little running in that time. Being very unfit, my plan was just to get round preferably without walking and I was pleased I was able to do this. My time was nearly 5 minutes slower than last year! |
| | 43m21s
2m41s
5m23s
8m40s
24m44s
1.75 | 2m23s, 2m24s, 2m30s, 2m43s, 2m48s, 2m47s, 2m50s, 2m48s, 2m51s, 2m49s, 2m50s, 2m45s, 2m46s, 2m44s, 2m21s, 2m22s, 0m41s (0.20K) |
| 227 | | Standish Woodland Chase
15.19K
| | | The Standish Woodland Chase is a multi-terrain race over a course of almost ten miles following parts of the Cotswold Way. My watch made it 15.19K which is 9.43M. The route is hilly and run on mainly woodland trails, with some road, along the scenic Cotswold escarpment. From 0.5M to 1.5M there is a 500 feet climb; there is then two laps of a 3.4M circuit through the woods; finally you return down the hill to the finish. The woods are gorgeous and they reminded me of my training runs in the Chilterns. I even heard some Red Kites. The terrain in the woods was rough and undulating. I found this hard to pace: I'd walk a bit and follow this by a run using a pace that was too fast that I had to walk again. This was much to the annoyance of runners who I played cat and mouse with. I didn't have a plan for the race. I thought it would be nice to get under 100 minutes but was just 45 seconds adrift of 90 minutes which was great and gave me a 1.49 against this year's winner's time and this year the race was won by a woman. Yeh! |
| | 90m45s
2m59s
5m58s
9m36s
60m55s
1.49 | 2m35s, 3m07s, 4m29s, 3m59s, 3m27s, 2m41s, 2m41s, 2m58s, 2m53s, 2m48s, 2m22s, 2m28s, 3m24s, 3m10s, 3m14s, 3m42s, 2m39s, 2m54s, 2m54s, 3m18s, 2m46s, 2m36s, 2m57s, 3m31s, 3m14s, 3m07s, 3m12s, 2m26s, 2m10s, 2m13s, 0m49s (0.19K) |
| 226 | | Hooky 6
6M
| | | journey there: 31M, 0h52m; Given my car had a flat battery yesterday evening and the man from the recovery service was puzzled as to why and reckoned it may be bad electrics, I was half expecting not being able to start the car this morning. But it started OK. When just about to start off to Hook Norton, I found my Garmin had a flat battery even though I thought I'd charged it the night before. During the race I resorted to my Timex Ironman watch using the mile markers and some 0.5 mile points I made up when driving the route before the race. Even though I started the stopwatch as I passed the start line, I must have missed the button. I discovered this towards the end of the first mile; I shouted to GN "how long have we taken"; he said 6m04s; I started the stopwatch and, at each 0.5M, in my head I added 6m04s to the watch's figure in order to see whether things were going to plan. Without my Garmin giving me up-to-date and accurate information I was a bit lost as to my pace. I thought I was doing well but in the end I was 46s slower than last year. My time was 1.48 times this year's winner's time. My official time was 1s slower, i.e., 47m53s. Given all my stress and that it was hotter than last year, I did OK. After the race, the car started OK but it's going to the garage tomorrow! |
| | 47m52s
2m28s
4m57s
7m58s
32m15s
1.48 | 7m30s (3m45s+3m45s), 4m03s, 4m07s, 3m58s, 3m43s, 8m08s (4m04s+4m04s), 4m38s, 4m18s, 4m02s, 3m25s |
| 225 | | Chipping Norton Mota-vation Run
6.86K
| | | This race is along three roads to the South East of Chipping Norton, starting and finishing at the Chipping Norton Rugby Club. Although there is a gentle climb in the first mile, the rest of the route is undulating but with a gentle downhill in the third mile. The three roads form a triangle and the roads have many long straight sections. This year, during the third mile, there were some roadworks on the right hand side of the road with lights controlling the traffic. Before the roadworks runners were to cross from the left to the right hand side, then run to the right of the cones (that were in the middle of the road) and then rejoin the left hand side of the road. This all turned out to be less adventurous than initially broadcasted. As in the previous Mota-vation Run at Combe, I had done a 13K hilly off-road training run the night before and so tonight I aimed for 2m24s per 0.5K. In the end I did 2m22s. I got 1.56 against this year's winner's time. |
| | 32m41s
2m22s
4m45s
7m40s
20m57s
1.56 | 2m22s, 2m19s, 2m22s, 2m26s, 2m32s, 2m20s, 2m27s, 2m24s, 2m24s, 2m23s, 2m21s, 2m23s, 2m36s, 1m24s |
| 224 | | Hornton 6
6M
| | | HRR-RC; The Hornton 6 is described as a "virtually traffic-free course over a scenic and undulating race route". This year the start/finish was at the Village Green which is about 350m from the start/finish of the 2009 race. So there was a 350m long gentle rise before the first steep hill. At 3M, it's steep down into Horley but that is immediately followed by a long gentle climb through and out of Horley. The race ends with 0.5K down hill back to the Village Green. After the race, there is a bar, barbecue and free overnight camping! I was 2m02s slower than last year which was disappointing. |
| | 49m43s
2m34s
5m08s
8m17s
32m20s
1.54 | 2m22s, 2m45s, 2m08s, 2m45s, 2m25s, 2m23s, 2m24s, 2m25s, 2m26s, 2m23s, 2m19s, 2m57s, 2m56s, 2m42s, 2m45s, 2m43s, 3m00s, 2m46s, 2m20s, 0m55s (0.252K) |
| 223 | | 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) |
| 222 | | 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) |
| 221 | | Combe Mota-vation Run
6.32K
| | | I did a 13K off-road hilly training run on the night before this race and so I didn't push myself: well I did to begin with until my legs said no and I did towards the end. The route was flat in many places but there were a few inclines and some sharp dips. One of these dips was at about 2.5M where the road goes down to make its second crossing of the Roman Road Akemann Street (which is now used by the Oxfordshire Way): I hurried down the descent and then maintained a good pace overtaking several runners on the ascent. I felt good. At the end, I didn't have enough energy to get inside 1.5 times last year's winner's time. |
| | 30m31s
2m24s
4m49s
7m46s
19m06s
1.60 | 2m18s, 2m15s, 2m26s, 2m25s, 2m33s, 2m32s, 2m29s, 2m20s. 2m35s, 2m32s, 2m23s, 2m15s, 1m20s (0.32K) |
| 220 | | 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) |
| 219 | | Ridgeway Relay - Stage 3
9.4M
| | | The Ridgeway Relay is 86.5 miles done in 10 stages. The first stage starts at Ivinghoe Beacon in Bucks at 0730 and last stage ends in Marlborough (in Wiltshire) at about 1930. There were 38 teams (each with 10 runners). Headington RoadRunners (my running club) had entered 3 teams. I was doing Stage 3 (9.4M or 15.2K) as part of the HRR Over 50s Team. I had done this stage last year. As the first 5 miles are "navigationally tricky", I recce-ed them a few weeks ago to remind myself. I did the recce without looking at a map. So I felt well prepared. At 1004, Carol came up the slope, touched my hand and off I went. The route first crosses through the road and goes through some woods and at that point I met another runner who was lost. He had got lost in the first minute of running even though presumably he had been hanging around the start area for some time. Another runner had gone passed him whilst he was somewhere in the woods. He said he would follow me but I soon left him behind. Like last year, I didn't see many runners en-route. During the course of the 9.4M, I overtooked another runner and one person overtook me. The route is interesting for the first 5M and during this bit there is a hill which is obvious from the splits. I had stashed some water at a road junction and drank some of this whilst walking going up the hill. The last 4.4M are boring as they are along the broad, rutted, straight, level paths that are common on the Ridgeway. At the start of this, I picked up some more water. By this time I had managed to build up a lead of 90 seconds ahead of last year's time. This motivated me and the last 4.4M didn't seem so much a drag as previously. It's always a joy to hear the noise of the M40 as, just after going under the M40, the stage ends. I finished 57 seconds ahead of last year's time. I was also 1.43 times the fastest time for the stage. Both are excellent results. With 38 teams taking part, each handover point will be full of cars. So for the rest of the day I drove round to points roughly halfway through each stage standing in the road to help runners cross and offering my team water if they needed it. I missed Mary (Stage 4) but managed to get Graham twice (Stage 5), Neville (Stage 6), Marie-Anne (Stage 8), Kit (Stage 8), Barry (Stage 9), John (Stage 10) and Sarah (Stage 10). At the first point on Stage 5 in the midst of nowhere, I was piecing together a story from the runners coming through: a female runner from team 23 had sprained her foot and another old runner was walking with her. After Graham had passed, I decided to wait for the hurt runner. The old runner who had been walking with her had left her and came to where I was. He said he had mobiled the race organisers and had tried to explain where they were. I said I would walk back to the hurt runner. So he ran on. But then, before I left to walk back, a car turned up and it was one of the race organisers and so I left him to walk back and assist the runner. I found another point on Stage 5, saw Graham through again, and then waited for the old runner to tell him that his phone call had worked and that a race organiser was now assisting the hurt runner. Hopefully that cheered him on to complete the last 2.5M of Stage 5. |
| | 82m12s
2m43s
5m26s
8m44s
57m31s
1.43 | 2m39s, 2m40s, 2m23s, 2m16s, 2m20s, 2m36s, 2m34s, 2m43s, 2m52s, 2m54s, 4m19s, 2m56s, 2m38s, 3m08s, 2m44s, 2m45s, 2m29s, 2m37s, 2m37s, 2m41s, 2m32s, 2m46s, 2m35s, 2m37s, 2m29s, 2m41s, 2m37s, 2m46s, 2m47s, 2m32s, 0m54s (0.24K) |
| 218 | | Banbury 5
5M
| | | This 5M race is on rural roads in the outskirts of Banbury. There is a slight hill at the 1M marker, a big hill before the 3M marker, a slight dip at 3.6M, flat from 4M onwards and a slight decline to the finish. I aimed to get a better time than when I did the race 2 years ago. I planned to do just faster than 2m27s per 0.5K. However, between 1.5M and 3M a competitor in my age category of the HRR road championship ran just behind me in a position where I could just see he was there. He should easily beat me but he's recovering from injury. It encouraged me to adopt a faster pace than I was planning which I was able to keep up and I tackled the hill at 3M at a slower but a good pace. I was concentrating so much on my running style that I didn't notice when he went away. I finished about 1m ahead of him and 1m34s faster than when I did the race two years ago. My average pace was 2m21s per 0.5K. However, my time was only 1.49 times the winner's time which is not that good. |
| | 38m02s
2m21s
4m43s
7m36s
25m27s
1.49 | 2m14s, 2m17s, 2m15s, 2m34s, 2m21s, 2m21s, 2m13s, 2m23s, 2m23s, 2m39s, 2m21s, 2m18s, 2m24s, 2m19s, 2m23s, 2m10s, 0m26s (0.12K) |
| 217 | | 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) |
| 216 | | Bletchingdon Mota-vation Run
4.25625M
| | | I was aiming for 32m00s bu got 32m16s which was a 32s improvement on last year. It was hot. Fair amount of traffic. |
| | 32m16s
2m21s
4m42s
7m34s
21m05s
1.53 | 2m07s, 2m10s, 2m15s, 2m37s, 2m23s, 2m10s, 2m13s, 2m25s, 2m22s, 2m29s, 2m39s, 2m24s, 2m16s, 1m45s (0.42K) |
| 215 | | 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) |
| 214 | | Charndon 5K
5K
| | | HRR-RC; This is a flat 5K on local roads around the village of Charndon which is 4 miles outside Bicester near the larger village of Marsh Gibbon. The race starts and finishes at Charndon Village Hall. Last year's winner (Anuradha Cooray, Vale of Aylesbury) who last year took 33s off the course record went and took another 3s off this year. Not for me, with weary legs and not enough sleep the night before, I was disappointed but not surprised to get 16s worse than last year. My improvements compared with last year for each 0.5K were: +3s, +1s, -1s, +0s, +2s, -2s, -2s, +2s, -5s, -2s. |
| | 22m56s
2m17s
4m35s
7m22s
14m58s
1.53 | 1m58s, 2m15s, 2m19s, 2m22s, 2m17s, 2m19s, 2m24s, 2m20s, 2m20s, 2m11s, 0m10s (0.05K) |
| 213 | | 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) |
| 212 | | 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) |
| 211 | | Charlton-on-Otmoor Mota-vation Run
4.09545M
| | | This was my first anniversary of running with Headington RoadRunners. This year, because there were a lot of entries, men and women started separately, the women starting 18 minutes after the men. Why 18 minutes? Like the last two races, at each K, I was comparing my times with those of last year's race. My improvements for each K were -9s, +6s, +15s, +23s, -3s, +0s, -9s. So during the race I managed to get over 30s ahead of last year's time but I dropped 9s in the last 0.67K. So in the end I finished 24s ahead of last year's time. My watch made the race 6.67K (4.14M) (which is the same as last year) which gives a pace of 2m17s per 0.5K. |
| | 30m32s
2m18s
4m37s
7m27s
20m19s
1.50 | 2m08s, 2m14s, 2m15s, 2m22s, 2m21s, 2m23s, 2m19s, 2m18s, 2m22s, 2m22s, 2m23s, 2m17s, 2m08s, 0m41s (0.17K) |
| 210 | | 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) |
| 209 | | Houghton 11K Trail Run
11K
| | | This is a gorgeous run that takes place around Houghton which is a village in the Test valley that is about halfway between Salisbury and Winchester. The course is mainly off-road: it starts with a long gentle climb along a rutted cart track; then down along rough tarmac; uses a footbridge to bypass a ford; then there is a narrow footpath that climbs gently up through a wood (where you are warned to watch out for tree roots). The rest of the course is either flat or downhill, again on rough tarmac, on wide bridleways/cart-tracks or on grassy footpaths through fields where there are two stiles. The route also passes a bluebell wood, a magnificently preserved disused railway station and several bridges across the River Test. Like least year, my watch made it 11.35K. Hot, but not as hot as last year. I was 29s faster than last year. This was mainly because I tackled the first 4K faster as these differences in 1K splits show: +19s, +18s, +15s, +9s, -5s, -5s, -3s, -8s, -13s, -2s, -2s, +6s (0.35K). As it was less hot, I was hoping for a much better time. I got 1.35 against the winner's time. As well as a 11K run, there was a 4K run, 14K and 31K cycle runs and a walk. I met some cyclists and walkers when I got to 8K. This included a young lad on a unicycle! After competing in the 31K cycle run, three people then did the 11K run (on their own). Mad. Although the organisation is a bit laid back, it all works well. |
| | 57m16s
2m36s
5m12s
8m22s
42m24s
1.35 | 2m21s, 2m33s, 2m21s, 2m31s, 2m15s, 2m25s, 2m25s, 2m45s, 3m10s, 2m53s, 2m23s, 2m17s, 2m23s, 2m31s, 2m37s, 2m29s, 2m55s, 2m42s, 2m34s, 2m24s, 2m23s, 2m26s, 1m32s (0.35K) |
| 208 | | 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) |
| 207 | | Banbury 15
15M
| | | "Banbury 15"; The course first runs along narrow paths through Spiceball Park and then on footpaths alongside a main road (the A423). The first hill is at about 1.25M. Just after 2M the course leaves the main road and ventures into the countryside visiting the villages of Little Bourton, Great Bourton and Cropedy. The course is a shaped like a letter P: the out and back bit is about 5M long and so at 5M we start the circular 5M bit of the P. Here there is a short hill and at 6M there is a longer hill. Although most of the time we were basking in sunshine, along this stretch we ran into a cold NW wind. The nicest part of the course was between 6.5M and 8M: so peaceful on a quiet, narrow lane that crosses the Oxford Canal (between Claydon and Appletree). There are other significant hills at 8M and just after 11M. Like others I walk bits of these. This last hill was just outside Great Bourton. There were noisy supporters at the bottom of the hill: they had enthusiastically cheered people on on the way out and again on the way back. Four people from a Banbury boxing club "Spit and Sawdust" did the race as a relay in memory of their boxing coach who died recently; they used a small bunch of white carnations as a baton. This was the first time I had run 15M. My fastest recent half marathon was done at a 5m27s pace on a flat route but when it was very hot. Today I aimed for a 5m30s pace to complete in 132m. As the route was hilly, I was reasonably pleased with doing it at 5m40s. I think the winner's time beat the course record by 1m05s. Today's race was the first in the HRR road championships; 39 HRR runners took part and as I came 3rd in my age category I got 13 points (plus 5 points for taking part).
|
| | 136m54s
2m50s
5m40s
9m07s
81m44s
1.67 | 2m21s, 2m30s, 2m33s, 2m28s, 2m36s, 3m01s, 2m44s, 2m31s, 2m39s, 2m40s, 2m25s, 2m23s, 2m38s, 2m39s, 2m43s, 2m44s, 2m54s, 2m41s, 2m45s, 2m45s, 3m10s, 2m40s, 2m33s, 2m44s, 2m47s, 2m43s, 3m30s, 3m19s, 2m47s, 2m44s, 2m43s, 2m48s, 2m56s, 2m49s, 3m16s, 2m50s, 2m58s, 3m49s, 3m20s, 3m47s, 2m57s, 2m56s, 2m50s, 2m32s, 2m49s, 3m00s, 2m43s, 2m54s, 1m19s (0.25K) |
| 206 | | 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) |
| 205 | | 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) |
| 204 | | 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) |
| 203 | | Lliswerry 8
8M
| | | Because of the recent bad weather and some lazyiness on my part, this was my first race for a month. The Lliswerry 8 is a flat 8 mile race to the East of Newport in the coastal plain of the Bristol Channel. I forgot the strange anachronism of having to pay £5.50 to drive across the Severn. Because of "cuts", the school at the start/finish was not available and so there was a 0.5K walk/run from the Race HQ (in Newport Stadium) to the start/finish. This was beneficial as it provided the runners with a compulsory warm-up/down. I found this to be a well organised and well marshalled race and there was an atmosphere of friendliness. Maybe this was brought on by having to share the weather: although it was sunny, this was not very noticeable as the temperature was only just above freezing. Of course, most of the runners were from Wales and the Severn Valley although there were about 20 or so from Eastleigh: I found out that they always do this race. During the first 2K, I was passed by a runner who on reading my HRR vest asked me whether I was from Oxford. He told me that his daughter goes to University here and that he had just bought some shoes from Headington's "Up and Running". Even though I was a foreigner, during the last K, there were a couple of cries of "Well done Headington". Back at the Race HQ, I was approached by someone who used to be with HRR. I didn't know him as he left several years ago: it was Chris Nellins who now runs with Penarth and Dinas Runners. Because I hadn't done any racing for a month, I hadn't done my homework and so I didn't have a time to aim for. So, as it was a bit of a long race, I just aimed to get round. It was only two thirds into the race I wondered what time I should be aiming for, but I couldn't do the mental arithmetic. My time was 65m31s which was 1.54 times the winner's time (42m33s). He took over a minute longer last year which would have given me 1.49. If you look at the splits, you can see where I stopped to have a piss! |
| | 65m29s
2m32s
5m05s
8m11s
42m33s
1.54 | 2m15s, 2m23s, 2m23s, 2m29s, 2m29s, 2m30s, 2m33s, 2m32s, 2m32s, 2m33s, 2m34s, 2m36s, 2m34s, 2m38s, 2m39s, 2m37s, 2m34s, 3m22s, 2m30s, 2m31s, 2m31s, 2m34s, 2m25s, 2m23s, 2m24s, 1m57s (0.92K) |
| 202 | | 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) |
| 201 | | 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) |
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date
day and time
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name of race
length of race
licence
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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| 200 | | 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) |
| 199 | | 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). |
| 198 | | 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) |
| 197 | | 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) |
| 196 | | 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) |
| 195 | | Hanney 5
5M
| | | HRR-RC; This was a very flat, rural course (lots of pheasants and two coots) that is 5M along country lanes starting outside the Village Hall in East Hanney and finishing with a loop around the sports field behind the Village Hall. As I hadn't done much training recently, I wasn't expecting much. I just needed to get round to come second in the Age 60 category of the HRR Road Championship. Against last year's winner's time (26m04s), 1.45 is 37m48s and 1.5 is 38m06s. Although I aimed for 37m20s (2m20s per 0.5K), this was not on, and I got 38m31s (which turned out to be 1.46 times today's winner's time). My watch made the course 8.11K (5.07M) which is curious as there was little hindrance to satellite reception. Very light drizzle with a slight head wind for most of the course. |
| | 38m31s
2m23s
4m47s
7m42s
26m24s
1.46 | 2m04s, 2m20s, 2m24s, 2m26s, 2m27s, 2m25s, 2m23s, 2m28s, 2m29s, 2m28s, 2m28s, 2m29s, 2m24s, 2m24s, 2m19s, 2m12s, 0m25s (0.11K) |
| 194 | | 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). |
| 193 | | Cotswold Classic 10
10M
| | | "Cotswold Classic 10"; HRR-RC; This is advertised as "a tough 10 mile one lap road race in the picturesque Cotswold countryside": it lived up to that description. The race was well marshalled and marshalled with enthusiasm! I'm currently 3rd in the age 60 category of the Headington RoadRunners Road Championship. The guy who's 2nd is Kit. I need to compete in both today's race and a 5 mile race on October 11th. Normally it'll be a doddle to beat Kit but with the injury to the top of my hamstring I'm worried about even being able to do 10 miles. I've done the sums: today I just need to finish. If I don't beat him today, I need to beat him at the Hanney 5 which should be easy enough to do. Last year he did today's race in 1h29m30s which sounds like a good time for this course. The only 10 mile I've done recently I did in 1h26m21s and that was on a reasonably flat course. I decide to aim for 1h28m which means 2m45s per 0.5K. I drove round the course beforehand and lost track of the number of hills: there were a lot of sharp descents and ascents. Even so, when I was running I found the difficult bit was the endlessly long but gentle climb of 90m: a gentle hill lasting for 4K from Crawley to Leafield. I decide to take it reasonably gently but trying to keep to some thing like 2m45s per 0.5K. However, because it's so undulating/hilly, it's difficult to judge whether I'm doing this. At about 7.5K, Kit overtakes me. This is a bit of an upset to the plan! I decide the best idea is to sit on his tail. I run behind him for about 0.5K but he slows down when we get to a hill and so I overtake him. This is probably a silly move as for the remainder of the race (8K) I'm worrying about how far behind me he is. In the end, I finish 50 seconds in front of him. So if I've really done the sums right, I just need to get round the Hanney 5 to finish 2nd in the Road Championship: I could even walk it in just over an hour!
|
| | 92m46s
2m52s
5m45s
9m16s
58m42s
1.58 | 2m29s, 2m31s, 2m48s, 2m57s, 2m42s, 2m55s, 2m59s, 2m55s, 3m04s, 3m02s, 3m09s, 3m02s, 2m48s, 2m47s, 2m30s, 2m41s, 2m56s, 2m49s, 2m37s, 2m34s, 3m08s, 2m39s, 2m57s, 2m46s, 3m16s, 2m50s, 3m04s, 2m42s, 3m40s, 2m47s, 2m49s, 2m36s, 1m19s (0.23K) |
| 192 | | Oxford Mota-vation Run
6.6K
| | | HRR-RC; I had done no running since August 9th because of a strain at the top of my hamstring. So I just coasted along. It was really great to be running again. |
| | 33m14s
2m31s
5m02s
8m06s
21m21s
1.56 | 2m12s, 2m27s, 2m26s, 2m41s, 2m35s, 2m38s, 2m34s, 2m39s, 2m34s, 2m30s, 2m39s, 2m27s, 2m26s, 0m39s (0.1K) |
| 191 | | 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) |
| 190 | | Hooky 6
6M
| | | journey there: 31M, 0h52m; "goody bag, and T-shirt"; "undulating"; HRR-RC; Once again, there's a sea of yellow and blue: a big turnout from HRR (my running club) because it's one of the races of our road championships. Last year, for some reason, I did the first lap of this two lap course badly, and finished in 52m12s. This is 1.57 times last year's winner's time (33m16s). Today, I aimed for 1.45 times that time, i.e., 48m14s. That requires a pace of 2m30s per 0.5K. About 1M into the race I find myself running alongside F1 Fan, another fetchie who I recognise as I'd been looking at his page on www.fetcheveryone.com earlier today. I say hello and tell him some of this. I'd learnt from the web pages that he's raising money for the Willow Foundation. At about the same point on the second lap, the person in front of me throws up whilst he's running: not a pretty site and I try not to look! With most of my splits from the first lap being faster than 2m30s, I start to think I would finish in 46m, but I tire a little and finish in 47m06s which is 1.41 times this year's winner's time (33m20s). I'm very pleased with this. The sun was quite hot and it reached about 18 degrees C. I couldn't resist a half of Hooky (and two bacon rolls, two pieces of cake and two coffees)! People from HRR come away with 5 prizes and the Women's Team Prize. |
| | 47m06s
2m26s
4m52s
7m51s
33m20s
1.41 | 2m10s, 2m22s, 2m28s, 2m19s, 2m32s, 2m28s, 2m32s, 2m21s, 2m26s, 2m20s, 2m30s, 2m38s, 2m31s, 2m41s, 2m32s, 2m39s, 2m17s, 2m21s, 2m13s, 0m46s (0.19K) |
| 189 | | The Conkwell Killer
8.38M
| | | "The Conkwell Killer"; journey there: 76.3M, 1h38m; This race took place at Winsley near Bradford-on-Avon. Described as "approximately 8M", it turned out to be about 8.4M. The first 3M of the race is along lanes to the west of Winsley. The lanes have thick, tall hedges; the road is just wide enough for one vehicle; and they just twist, twist and twist: yes, there are few straight bits. There are a couple of undulations. After that, you go along the side of a main road as it plummets its way down 100m during the course of 1K. I tried not to go too fast down the hill but got 0.5K splits of 2m11s and 2m13s. The race then joins the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal not far from Limpley Stoke and not far from where some scenes of the film "The Titfield Thunderbolt" were shot. After about 1M, we ran across the Dundas Aqueduct, used a bridge to cross the Somersetshire Coal Canal, used another bridge to cross the Kennet and Avon, and then ran across the Aqueduct again this time on the other side of the canal. The hill that immediately follows is the reason this race is called the Conkwell Killer: the route is up through Conkwell Wood going up 100m in 0.6K. Hence the 7m14s and 3m24s in the splits. Here are two photos of Dundas Aqueduct with Conkwell Wood behind. The final section of the race takes a slightly different route around the lanes to the west of Winsley. Whilst running along the towpath, I was delighted to see a boat that I'd seen when I walked the Kennet and Avon Canal two years ago. The boat is called the "Laura B"; two years ago I took a photo of it because someone at work is called "Laura B". The race was well organised and well marshalled. There were refreshments (coffee, tea, real ale, bacon rolls) and the results were printed out and the prize-giving done promptly. Although I knew this was going to be a difficult course, I thought I would be ambitious and aim for 1.45 times last year's winner's time (49m48s). That means I aimed for 1h12m13s. I entered this time in fetcheveryone before the race. I worked out that if I did an average pace of 2m40s per 0.5K that would get me round in 1h08m41s and that would give me time to walk up the hill. Even though the route was 0.7K longer than I expected, I got 1h11m40s which was 1.46 times this year's winner's time (49m05s).
|
| | 71m40s
2m39s
5m18s
8m33s
49m05s
1.46 | 2m16s, 2m32s, 2m31s, 2m40s, 2m45s, 2m39s, 2m42s, 2m19s, 2m18s, 2m11s, 2m13s, 2m24s, 2m31s, 2m32s, 2m34s, 7m14s, 3m24s, 2m32s, 2m23s, 2m22s, 2m23s, 2m16s, 2m17s, 2m25s, 2m30s, 2m25s, 2m18s |
| 188 | | Hornton 6
6M
| | | HRR-RC; "virtually traffic-free course over a scenic and undulating race route"; "bar, barbecue and free camping!"; It started raining just before the start of the race and continued for half of the race. A hill start, then down, then up, then flat for some time, then down into Horley and a slow gentle climb out, followed by a flat, a quick down and up, a flat, and then a steep drop down into Hornton. The race was well marshalled and there was a good atmosphere. I aimed for 48m52s, 1.5 times last year's winning time (32m35s) but got 47m41s and the winner got 33m09s giving me a 1.44 which was very good considering it was hilly. The 0.5K splits for the last K are 2m16s and 1m56s which is a pace of 6m46s per M. I came 4th in the MV60 category, GN beating me for the bottle-of-wine prize by 27s. |
| | 47m41s
2m28s
4m56s
7m56s
33m09s
1.44 | 2m38s, 2m17s, 2m30s, 2m39s, 2m21s, 2m24s, 2m27s, 2m27s, 2m26s, 2m24s, 2m42s, 2m49s, 2m39s, 2m29s, 2m29s, 2m22s, 2m30s, 2m16s, 1m56s, 0m56s (0.24K) |
| 187 | | 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) |
| 186 | | Songan ympärijuoksu
11.3K
| | | In Finnish, ympäri means around and juoksu is the word for running. So this was a race around the lake at Sonka, which is about 30K from Rovaniemi in Finland. Sonka is just inside the Arctic Circle. The run was on a mix of rough footpaths through woods, gravel roads and tarmac. There were two gentle hills at 2.3K and 7.0K each lasting for about 0.6K. It was about 8 degrees C which was a shock after leaving England basking in 30 degrees. I was the only competitor from outside Finland. I came 4th out of the 7 M50 runners. The race commentator mentioned Headington RoadRunners (my running club) on three occasions, but as he was speaking Finnish I didn't know what he was talking about! |
| | 55m36s
2m27s
4m55s
7m55s
38m02s
1.46 | 2m04s, 2m25s, 2m33s, 2m27s, 2m44s, 2m33s, 2m19s, 2m33s, 2m37s, 2m29s, 2m24s, 2m35s, 2m35s, 2m31s, 2m48s, 2m45s, 2m23s, 2m13s, 2m18s, 2m23s, 2m26s, 2m17s, 1m13s (0.29K) |
| 185 | | 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) |
| 184 | | Ridgeway Relay - Stage 3
9.4M
| | | The Ridgeway Relay is 86.5 miles done in 10 stages. The first stage starts at Ivinghoe Beacon in Bucks at 0730 and it ends in Marlborough (in Wiltshire) at about 1930. There were 41 teams (each with 10 runners). Headington RoadRunners (my running club) had entered 3 teams. I was doing Stage 3 (9.4M or 15.2K) as part of the HRR Over 50s Team. It was the first time I've been involved in a relay. Adrienne (HRR) had produced a rough time schedule and Kit (who was doing Stage 2) arrived a minute early. After a brief touch of hands, off I went. It is really weird being in a race where you are on your own for most of 9.4M. I had just four encounters with other runners, where they caught me up and sailed straight passed or I did the same to them. I saw more walkers, dogs and cyclists than runners. Very weird. My stage has a "steep downhill at the start, a significant hill to climb and descend in the middle, but otherwise it is fairly flat". It's easy to see where the hill is from my splits. There were numerous kissing gates, several road/lane crossings and one railway line crossing. Some parts were along footpaths alongside fields or across fields whereas other parts were along broad, rutted, straight, level paths that are common on the Ridgeway. As the first 5 miles were "navigationally tricky", I had recce-ed this section last Friday night. That was worthwhile as I found a few places where I had to ponder for a moment wondering which way to go, which is not too good if you are in a race. HRR's time schedule had me down to do this in 1h29m. Last year, the fastest time for this stage was 58m22s and if I were to achieve 1.5 I would have to complete in 1h27m22s. Although I had suggested that 1h35m might be more realistic, I managed to achieve 1h23m04s which is 6m ahead of HRR's time schedule! And I got 1.46 against this year's fastest time for Stage 3. I was very pleased. |
| | 83m05s
2m44s
5m29s
8m50s
56m57s
1.46 | 2m50s, 2m31s, 2m29s, 2m24s, 2m30s, 2m49s, 2m48s, 2m52s, 2m59s, 2m58s, 4m45s, 2m35s, 2m30s, 3m24s, 2m36s, 3m03s, 2m34s, 2m31s, 2m35s, 2m28s, 2m29s, 2m41s, 2m32s, 2m31s, 2m27s, 2m40s, 2m43s, 2m49s, 2m45s, 2m30s, 0m46s (0.19K) |
| 183 | | HRR Time Trial
6.36K
| | | handicap; too much on my mind to beat my previous time; I even forgot to stop my watch; however, it turns out I was just 16s slower than last time; I'm afraid I don't enjoy the route |
| | 29m37s
2m19s
4m39s
7m29s
23m04s
1.28 | 2m21s, 2m25s, 2m21s, 2m24s, 2m31s, 2m23s, 2m17s, 2m21s, 2m21s, 2m16s, 2m20s, 2m15s, 2m02s (0.36K) |
| 182 | | 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) |
| 181 | | 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) |
| 180 | | Bletchingdon Mota-vation Run
4.25625M
| | | "closing date for postal entries for the series is Wednesday Apr29"; undulating; sunny but not too hot; I got stitch at about 1.8M which did not go away; I aimed for 31m21s which was just under 7m30s per M but I got 32m48s which is 7m42s per M; I used the stopwatch on my watch as my Garmin had a flat battery; beforehand I identified 0.5M points using the car's mileometer but my 0.5M splits revealed these as badly measured or wrongly remembered |
| | 32m48s
2m23s
4m47s
7m42s
22m19s
1.47 | 7m10s, 7m51s, 8m09s, 7m42s+1m56s (9m38s) |
| 179 | | 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 |
| 178 | | Ollie Johnson Memorial 5 Mile Run
5M
| | | journey there: 27.7M, 0h43m; "run on quiet roads and tracks around Inkpen and Kintbury"; "accurate mile markers"; "choice of medal or T-shirt"; this starts with a run round a football field and then it's uphill for 1M as my splits demonstrate; they also indicate the race ends with a slight uphill; mainly tarmac or concrete but there were a few small, loose gravel, uneven paths; curiously my official result was 37m53s and my guess is that that should be 38m53s; I aimed for 39m which is about 1.45 times last year's winner's time but because this year's winner's time was a minute faster I got 1.48 |
| | 38m50s
2m24s
4m49s
7m46s
26m15s
1.48 | 2m05s, 2m42s, 2m41s, 2m26s, 2m30s, 2m30s, 2m31s, 2m24s, 2m19s, 2m15s, 2m17s, 2m12s, 2m22s, 2m16s, 2m22s, 2m59s |
| 177 | | Shaw & Whitley Stampede
5.7M
| | | journey there: 69.6M, 1h25m; "challenging run over fields, woodland, road, mud and gravel tracks"; "village fete"; there is a 3K family fun run as well; given last year's winner's time of 32m40s I was aiming for somewhere between 45m45s (1.4) and 49m00s (1.5); I got 47m30s which is 1.37 against this year's winner's time (34m33s); there was a long gentle up hill between 1M and 2M and much of the race was off-road including running along a track through a broad-bean field, kissing gates, stiles; so it was a difficult race to pace; well signed and marshalled; car park was a long way from the start/finish which meant I was too tired to return for a hot dog; it was very hot (22 degreees) |
| | 47m30s
2m35s
5m10s
8m20s
34m33s
1.37 | 2m09s, 2m20s, 2m32s, 2m35s, 2m51s, 2m48s, 2m44s, 2m39s, 2m39s, 2m23s, 2m33s, 2m32s, 2m36s, 2m39s, 2m35s, 2m46s, 2m44s, 2m41s, 0m47s (0.18K) |
| 176 | | Charndon 5K
5K
| | | HRR-RC; "course is a flat 5K on local roads around the village of Charndon which is 4 miles outside Bicester near the larger village of Marsh Gibbon"; "the Race starts and finishes at Charndon Village Hall"; although it was threatening to rain, it turned out to be a nice sunny evening; the winner was Anuradha Cooray who broke the course record by 33 seconds; hence my 1.51 (instead of say 1.46) versus the winner's time; I think there were 252 finishers most of whom seem to be attached to clubs; I did a 3.5K warm-up for this 5K race; I was aiming for 23m20s but got 22m40s (with a pace of 7m17s) but I'm not used to running short distances; once again my 0.5K splits only varied from 2m01s to 2m22s; for a change my watch accurately agreed with all the K markers on the course; a slight hamstring twinge |
| | 22m40s
2m15s
4m31s
7m17s
15m01s
1.51 | 2m01s, 2m16s, 2m18s, 2m22s, 2m19s, 2m17s, 2m22s, 2m22s, 2m15s, 2m09s |
| 175 | | 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) |
| 174 | | HRR Time Trial
6.33K
| | | handicap; I suggested 30m00s but I was given 29m50s and so started at 19:30:10; my official time was 29m23s; so I finished at 19:59:53 which was 7s too early! |
| | 29m21s
2m19s
4m38s
7m27s
21m47s
1.35 | 2m07s, 2m19s, 2m13s, 2m19s, 2m25s, 2m25s, 2m17s, 2m25s, 2m21s, 2m23s, 2m22s, 2m20s, 1m25s (0.33K) |
| 173 | | St Albans 10K
10.07K
| | | journey there: 61M, 1h13m; the race is described as "undulating, rural" and it lives up to that description: it is undulating throughout and is along country lanes; the route is a figure P where the first and last 2.5K are the same; very hot; uneven footpath/grass for the first and last 0.5K; the 8K and 9K markers were 0.1K late; well marshalled; given last year's winner's time of 34m54s I thought I'd be lucky to do 5m00s per K but did a lot better than that (4m53s); my time for the 10K was 0m48s slower than last year's Town and Gown which is good given today's terrain; use this link to get the route recorded by my watch |
| | 49m07s
2m26s
4m52s
7m50s
33m26s
1.47 | 4m46s, 4m52s, 5m01s, 4m40s, 5m01s, 5m01s, 5m10s, 4m56s, 4m48s, 4m35s, 0m18s (0.07K) |
| 172 | | Charlton-on-Otmoor Mota-vation Run
4.09545M
| | | HRR-RC; after last Monday's disaster I just wanted to get round without injury; I aimed for just under 32m00s and got a little better than that; my watch made it 6.66K and that's a pace of 7m30s per M; crowded at the start; flat; refreshing drizzle for most of the way; no injuries to speak of so far; my first race in a HRR vest! |
| | 31m04s
2m21s
4m42s
7m35s
21m22s
1.45 | 4m13s, 4m43s, 4m59s, 5m00s, 4m41s, 4m40s, 2m40s (0.66K) |
| 171 | | 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) |
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date
day and time
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name of race
length of race
licence
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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| 170 | | Houghton 11K Trail Run
11K
| | | my watch made it 11.35K; its route is shown here; mainly off-road on wide bridleways, grassy footpaths through fields, beside a bluebell wood, beside a magificent, disused railway station, a narrow footpath up through a wood and several bridges across the River Test; a comment on RW says "there is a slow climb at the start which is a bit rutted and at 3 miles, watch out for tree roots along the path - after that, it's plain sailing (one or two stiles..) - beautiful setting"; very hot; very pleased with my performance which gave me 1.38 against the winner's time |
| | 57m45s
2m37s
5m15s
8m26s
41m43s
1.38 | 5m13s, 5m10s, 4m55s, 5m19s, 5m58s, 4m35s, 4m51s, 4m58s, 5m24s, 4m56s, 4m47s, 1m38s (0.35K) |
| 169 | | Corri con L'Esercito
11.5K
| | | only saw markers at 7K to 10K and a marker at 6K facing the wrong way and a red painted 4K; in the first 2K it was slightly uphill into city centre where there were cobbled streets and there were some slight ascents onto flyovers after 9.5K; half marathon as well; I started with the half marathon runners and when I got back to the UK I discovered from video clips on the web that there was a separate start for the 11.5K runners; how come my chip time was 4m20s less than my watch time; my Garmin was bust and so I used an old stop watch; I only hope that I got my time right as the pace was 5s per M faster than any race since I restarted running and so I was very pleased |
| | 54m39s
2m22s
4m45s
7m38s
40m37s
1.35 | 19m27s (4m55s, 4m51s, 4m51s, 4m50s), 14m41s (4m50s, 4m50s, 4m51s), 4m57s, 4m36s, 4m45s, 6m23s (4m16s, 2m07s) |
| 168 | | 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) |
| 167 | | 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) |
| 166 | | Salisbury 10
10M
| | | journey time: 64.5M, 1h21m; chips; excellent run from Salisbury NNW along rural roads up the valley of the River Avon to visit the villages of Little Woodford and Middle Woodford. In Upper Woodford, the route turns east for 0.5M before going due South down the other side of the valley through Salterton and Little Durnford; the route is undulating throughout with the only significant hill being at 6.5M; there were water stations at 2M, 3.5M, 5.5M and 8M, and as the sun was making it hot I grabbed water at each of these; there was a bit of a cold head wind at times during the last couple of miles; although the race was marked with mile markers, I chose to get feedback from my watch at every 0.5K; my watch created a map of the route |
| | 86m21s
2m40s
5m21s
8m38s
51m10s
1.69 | 5m07s, 5m10s, 5m30s, 5m35s, 5m34s, 5m30s, 5m30s, 5m46s, 5m24s, 5m28s, 5m36s, 5m21s, 5m10s, 5m11s, 4m58s, 4m45s, 0m58s |
| 165 | | 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 |
| 164 | | 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 |
| 163 | | Epsom Oddballs Perch X
9.9K
| | | "a scenic and challenging course over the famous Epsom Downs"; "traffic free, multi-terrain route on tarmac, tracks and grass"; "start and finish at 'The Rubbing House' on Epsom Downs (10 minutes from Jct 8,M25)"; "long sleeve T-shirt"; I found this hard work and spent most of the time looking at the ground to see where it was best to go next; not much tarmac, mainly muddy and puddly footpaths with some treacherous muddy bits but not deep and some large puddles; crossing the Epsom Racecourse a few times; some grassy bits; undulating with three uphills; although described as being 2000 perch, i.e., 6.25M or 10.05K, curiously my watch made it 9.90K; I was pleased to get a me/win ratio of 1.45; ITV took some pictures |
| | 54m30s
2m45s
5m30s
8m51s
37m31s
1.45 | 5m17s, 5m11s, 5m23s, 5m37s, 5m55s, 5m34s, 4m57s, 5m48s, 6m02s, 4m48s (for 0.9K = 5m20s per K) |
| 162 | | Not the Roman IX
12K
| | | "a 12K Road Race over the old Roman 9 course"; strangely within the first 3K I didn't feel like running; then from 4K to 4.5K there was a slight hill which I didn't spot when recceing the route by car! between 5K and 5.5K there was a significant hill; after that I felt like running; the parking-raceHQ-start was very sprawled out and there were not enough loos; very well marshalled; bummer, against last year's winning time I would have got 1.48 but today's winner was a lot faster and so I got 1.51 |
| | 61m58s
2m34s
5m09s
8m18s
40m57s
1.51 | 5m01s, 5m19s, 5m24s, 5m34s, 5m43s, 5m31s, 4m50s, 4m36s, 5m15s, 5m13s, 5m11s, 4m22s |
| 161 | | 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 |
| 160 | | 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 |
| 159 | | 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 |
| 158 | | Wolverton 5
5M
| | This 5M race is on the cycle paths surrounding Willen Lake in Milton Keynes. The first lap goes round the lake North of the A509 and the second lap goes round the lake South as well as that North. The route is marked with mile markers.
Before the start, I ran the last 0.5M of the route in order to recce the finish. It was a very cold day (about 2 degrees C) and there was a Northerly wind which would be noticeable on the Eastern side of the lakes.
The funnel at the start made it a crowded start and so I positioned myself well ahead of where I should be in order not to get crowded and had worked out which side had firm grass if I needed to run off-path. That worked well.
Last week, I had managed to do about 5m05s per K for those Ks that were flat and so today I was aiming for this pace, i.e., 8m11s per M, which would mean 41m. This is what I predicted on fetcheveryone.com.
I found it difficult to establish a pace. I did the first mile in 7m46s and was feeling a bit exhausted. So I slowed down to do the next in 8m19s. The next two miles I did in 8m05s and 8m33s. So I had achieved the first 4M in 32m44s which was spot on, and it looked likely I would finish in 41m.
In the first lap of the lake, I had established where I thought 0.5M from the end was. So I got another indicator of my final time at 4.5M. I pushed it in the last M to do the final mile in 7m48s. My time for the race was 40m32s. My official time (using a chip) was 40m38s.
The winning time was 23m40s which gives a me/win factor of 1.71. That time was a minute faster than the fastest times of the last three years. |
| | 40m32s
2m31s
5m02s
8m06s
23m40s
1.71 | 7m46s, 8m19s, 8m05s, 8m33s, 7m48s |
| 157 | | Boscombe 10K
10K
| | | I had hoped to do this in 55m and so aimed for 5m30s per K. My splits were 4m54s, 5m00s, 5m31s, 5m56s, 5m03s, 6m09s, 5m03s, 5m41s, 5m07s, 5m05s. The race starts with a lap of the stadium which was windy. The course is undulating. I set off fast. It goes under Wessex Way twice which means descending a ramp and going round barriers. Hence, the 5m56s and the 5m41s. There's also a 0.5K hill just after 5K. Hence the 6m09s. Torrential rain until 20 minutes before start meant I didn't get to warmup the last K. The rain ceased for the start and the first 5K but started again when we did the hill. It was windy at times and cold. I didn't have much left when we returned to do another lap of the stadium but pushed it to get under 54m. The race was well marshalled and they were a cheery lot which given the weather was nice. |
| | 53m28s
2m40s
5m20s
8m36s
32m53s
1.63 | 4m54s, 5m00s, 5m31s, 5m56s, 5m03s, 6m09s, 5m03s, 5m41s, 5m07s, 5m05s |
| 156 | | Herbert's Hole Challenge
10.5K
| | | "challenging multi-terrain"; "T-shirt"; I'd done two training runs (3.9M and 5.8M) since July and so this was ambitious. This was about 10.5K marked with K markers. It had an uphill start and was undulating with three main hills. Although there were two short sections on tarmac, the route was mainly on footpaths which were very muddy in places: it was difficult to walk let alone run! Damp with a little drizzle at times and a more continuous drizzle for the last 0.5K. Given the conditions and my lack of training, I was pleased with my time. I found a photo of the start and so you can now enter a "spot the barry" competition. I found me but I wouldn't bother if I were you! Just not to help you I'm looking at the ground. Here I am turning a sharp corner at the top of the first hill and here's a photo of me coming up the final hill and here I am nearing the top. But the photographer's camera was getting wet by then! |
| | 68m50s
3m16s
6m33s
10m33s
39m14s
1.75 | 6m09s, 6m18s, 6m43s, 6m43s, 6m12s, 6m31s, 6m29s, 6m16s, 6m22s, 7m21s, 2m55s |
| 155 | | Hooky 6
6M
| | | "flat/undulating"; "goody bag and T-shirt" |
| | 52m12s
2m42s
5m24s
8m42s
33m16s
1.57 | |
| 154 | | Banbury 5
5M
| | | slight hill just after 1M marker and big hill before 3M marker; slight dip at 3.6M; flat from 4M onwards |
| | 39m36s
2m27s
4m55s
7m55s
25m25s
1.56 | 7m16s, 8m20s, 8m26s, 8m06s, 7m28s |
| 153 | | 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 |
| 152 | | 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 |
| 151 | | Town and Gown 10K
10K
| | 48m01s
2m24s
4m48s
7m43s
31m53s
1.51
1.17 | 4m29s, 4m31s, 4m51s, 5m00s, 4m53s, 4m59s, 5m07s, 4m57s, 4m52s, 4m22s |
| 150 | | Shinfield 10K
10K
| | 49m16s
2m27s
4m55s
7m55s
32m25s
1.52
1.19 | 4m50s, 4m58s, 4m43s, 5m14s, 5m11s, 4m58s+4m57s (9m55s), 5m06s, 4m46s, 4m35s |
| 149 | | Marabana: Havana Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | humid; mainly flat with 4 slight hills between 8K and 13K; aimed for 6m per K but at 15K thought 2h was on and was pleased to achieve this; 5K, 10K, 15K and a marathon as well; developed knee problem after 2K and although this seemed not to affect my race I haven't been able to do any running since |
| | 117m14s
2m46s
5m33s
8m56s
66m10s
1.77 | 5m28s+5m28s (10m56s), 5m51s, 5m47s+5m47s (11m34s), 5m41s, 5m39s, 5m35s (6m35s inc loo break), 5m56s, 5m50s, 5m42s, 5m26s+5m26s+5m27s (17m19s), 5m52s, 5m33s, 5m02s, 5m33s, 4m56s, 5m15s, 4m32s+0m27s (4m59s) |
| 148 | | -
6.25K
| | | "Durham University Past vs Present"; officially 6K; excellent course in excellent conditions: cool with slight drizzle and very muddy in places; probably came first (and last!) in the M55s; Men do 6K at 1130 whereas women do 4K at 1030; registration at 0930 |
| | 30m31s
2m26s
4m52s
7m51s
21m27s
1.42 | 11m30s [2.39K,7m45s], 3m03s [3.11K,6m49s], 0m38s [3.23K,8m30s], 2m56s [3.83K,7m52s], 2m55s [4.11K,16m46s!], 3m03s [4.83K,6m49s], 0m38s [4.94K,9m16s], 1m36s [5.32K,6m47s], 4m16s [6.25K,7m23s] |
| 147 | | -
10K
| | | humid, quite hot; long drag with one hill during first 4K, undulating and off-road (muddy) until 7K, downhill for 2K with a flat final K; collect numbers on the day |
| | 51m33s
2m34s
5m09s
8m17s
36m27s
1.41
1.33 | 5m06s, 5m27s, 4m16s, 5m51s, 6m05s, 4m31s, 4m53s, 4m13s, 5m33s, 5m40s |
| 146 | | Bramham Park Fun Run
10K
| | | bright with some drizzle: excellent running weather; muddy; multi-terrain, undulating; 5K run and 5K walk as well |
| | 47m57s
2m23s
4m47s
7m43s
36m32s
1.31
1.34 | 4m19s, 4m30s, 4m55s, 5m24s, 4m22s, 5m09s, 4m59s, 5m01s, 4m42s, 4m38s |
| 145 | | -
5.5M
| | | "INOV8 Trail Race"; "field, moorland and woodland paths, tracks and trails"; excellent, but nowhere near the advertised distance of 8M: I estimate it to be 5.5M; here is a link to Gilbert's video; I saw this outsider (from Bingley) at the start and nearly spoke to him: he won; amazingly there was 2 minutes between 1st and 2nd and also between 2nd and 3rd, and I'm not sure where the first NE runner came |
| | 46m19s
2m36s
5m13s
8m25s
30m40s
1.51 | pace in square brackets: 7m28s (top of hill) [12m47s], 10m54s (V turn) [7m22s], 14m02s (Salters Gate) [8m08s], 5m39s (start) [7m59s], 6m37s (T junction) [8m41s], 1m51s (finish) [7m20s] |
| 144 | | Norham 10K
10K
| | | LesV writes: "Started to rain as race started. Quite damp throughout, and fairly windy. Sun came out when race was completed"; .it rained just for the 10K; got drenched by 3M; there was also a strong headwind for the first 3M; excellent atmosphere; across the Tweed to Scotland and back; the 2nd M has a significant hill, the other incline is in the 5th M; collect numbers on the day |
| | 47m03s
2m21s
4m42s
7m34s
31m44s
1.48
1.16 | 7m19s, 8m14s, 7m33s, 7m39s, 7m58s, 6m57s, 1m24s |
| 143 | | Great North Run
half marathon
| | | officially 109m40s but took about 3m to get to the start; what a lot of people! bright and cool but with a head-wind for the last M; was pleased with my result even though it's not my best GNR |
| | 106m32s
2m31s
5m02s
8m07s
59m37s
1.79 | 7m11s, 7m28s, 7m43s, 8m28s, 8m17s, 8m14s, 7m51s, 8m03s, 8m20s, 8m18s, 8m56s, 8m37s, 7m58s, 0m48s |
| 142 | | Ray Harrison Memorial
10K
| | | "Ray Harrison Memorial"; very very hot; first run after holiday and little training |
| | 48m14s
2m24s
4m49s
7m45s
32m03s
1.50
1.17 | 4m15s, 4m30s, 4m51s, 4m26s, 5m09s, 4m48s, 5m07s, 5m10s, 5m14s, 4m47s |
| 141 | | Riverside Challenge
6M
| | | outward route didn't go along the riverside due to path closure and so the route was about 160 metres short of 6M; lots of runners; like last year, there was a 3M marker and some rough K white paint markers: I wish there were proper markers |
| | 44m45s
2m19s
4m38s
7m27s
32m00s
1.40 | reached halfway at 22m04s; rough splits: 4m33s, 4m39s, 4m37s+4m36s (4m51s+4m22s), 4m55s, 4m50s, 4m41s+4m41s (4m55s+4m27s), 4m30s+2m42s [0.6K] (7m12s) |
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|
date
day and time
|
name of race
length of race
licence
comments
|
location of race
postcode and maps to postcode
links to race information and entry forms
other links
link to the results
|
my time
0.5K pace
K pace
M pace
win time
me/win
win/wor
|
splits
|
| 140 | | Auckland Castle 10K
10K
| | | hot; enjoyable; 1.52 against the best NE runner (Mark Hudspeth in 31m01s) |
| | 47m01s
2m21s
4m42s
7m33s
28m56s
1.63
1.06 | 4m42s, 4m17s, 4m30s, 4m19s, 5m22s, 5m05s, 5m03s, 4m35s, 4m41s, 4m30s |
| 139 | | Darlington 10K
10K
| | | very, very hot; enjoyable; today's splits are very consistent, but overall my pace was 35s per M slower than last year (which is similar to the drop in performance in recent races); the team from the University's CEM Centre ("Cem 6") got the non-athletic club team prize and ITS Club 9 came second |
| | 48m21s
2m25s
4m50s
7m46s
31m55s
1.51
1.17 | 4m30s, 4m39s, 5m00s, 5m01s, 4m59s, 5m03s, 5m03s, 4m59s, 4m58s, 4m19s |
| 138 | | Harrogate Town Centre 10K
10K
| | | very different course from 2003; just as hilly; cool |
| | 48m12s
2m24s
4m49s
7m45s
31m00s
1.55
1.13 | 7m07s, 7m54s, 7m32s, 8m15s, 7m50s, 8m32s, 1m04s |
| 137 | | Burton Leonard 10K
10K
| | | hot with a strong headwind; looks more like 6.7M to me; mainly off-road; seemed to more up than down! part of the Black Sheep Brewery Race Series; 2M fun run as well |
| | 50m47s
2m32s
5m04s
8m10s
36m40s
1.39
1.34 | 7m01s, 8m15s, 8m58s+8m59s (17m57s), 7m19s, 8m10s, 2m05s |
| 136 | | Northumberland Coastal Run
13.1M
| | | the Northumberland Coastal Run was hot with a strong head wind at times; didn't know what time to aim for but beat two of my usual "companions"; enjoyable; although you can choose route, most people went same way (except N and Scott who said it was quicker via Dun.Castle!); as the tide was out, it went along the beach on several occasions; got my feet wet numerous times; Alan Purvis' description and map is here |
| | 116m17s
2m45s
5m30s
8m52s
78m52s
1.47 | no markers; although advertised as 14M, I made it 13.1M; very rough mile points: 8m59s, 7m59s, 9m33s, 6m35s, 10m48s, 8m38s, 10m16s, 7m59s, 9m37s, 9m04s, 9m26s, 7m42s, 9m29s |
| 135 | | Darlington Pit Stop 10K
10K
| | | "Darlington Pit Stop 10K"; 3 laps of the Croft motor racing circuit; 2K fun run and wheelchair race as well; warm; ITS Club 9 won the Corporate Team prize for the 2nd year running; I was 53s slower than 2003; Martin Scaife beat the course record with the 2nd person 3m32s behind; I got a 1.53 against Martin's time and a 1.37 against the 2nd person! I was disappointed by a lack of markers (which I found stressing); support from Gilbert and his Puttnam friend |
| | 45m41s
2m17s
4m34s
7m21s
29m52s
1.53
1.09 | 4m24s+4m24s+4m25s+4m25s (17m38s), 4m50s+4m51s (9m41s), 4m44s+4m44s+4m43s (14m11s), 4m12s |
| 134 | | Kielder Forest Wild Race
10.9K
| | | enjoyable run; it's a hard start climbing until about 4K and then it's down hill but undulating; worked hard from 4K to the line; found out afterwards I should have done it 32s faster to beat last time (2002); lots of midges as usual |
| | 56m21s
2m35s
5m10s
8m19s
41m16s
1.37 | no markers, splits at approximate K points: 6m19s+6m19s (8m02s+4m36s), 6m27s, 4m29s+4m28s (8m57s), 4m50s, 4m59s, 4m59s, 4m28s+4m29s (3m17s+5m40s), 4m33s |
| 133 | | Tynedale 10K
10K
| | | cool with a strong Ely wind; very enjoyable; support from Hetty and Gavin; "flat rural 10K along minor roads and tracks"; collect numbers on the night |
| | 45m55s
2m17s
4m35s
7m23s
30m56s
1.48
1.13 | 6m33s, 7m20s, 7m40s, 7m36s, 7m50s, 7m18s, 1m30s |
| 132 | | Burn Valley Run
half marathon
| | | big disaster: stitch at 8M, I just wished there had been a bus back; hot with a strong cool breeze; good water and sponge stations and a good tea afterwards; photos of the runners are here, e.g., here's one of me; part of the Black Sheep Brewery Race Series; 3M fun run as well |
| | 122m09s
2m53s
5m47s
9m19s
81m03s
1.51 | 7m10s, 8m39s, 7m51s, 9m00s, 10m00s, 9m42s, 9m18s, 9m47s, 9m45s, 10m25s, 9m51s, 11m14s, 8m37s+0m52s (9m29s) |
| 131 | | Rainton 10K
10K
| | | strong breeze for small part of race; hot; disappointing performance; not surprising (nt, np, tmb); in 2003 5th M was bad: so this year I did a split at 4.5M and this improved my time for the 5th M; good photos of the runners are here, e.g., here's one of me; part of the Black Sheep Brewery Race Series |
| | 47m36s
2m22s
4m45s
7m39s
32m58s
1.44
1.21 | difference from 2003 in brackets:
6m54s [+08s], 7m32s [+27s], 7m38s [+27s], 8m23s [+29s], 8m07s [-5s], 7m35s [+24s], 1m26s [+10s] |
| 130 | | -
15K
| | | I made my time 112m21s (which is 1m35s slower); beat my 2003 time by 4m25s (or 2m50s) but it was not hot like last year; about 15K going S from Bowderdale, up W side of Bowderdale Beck, then up hill to SD675975, and back via Hazelgill Knott and West Fell |
| | 110m46s
3m41s
7m23s
11m53s
69m51s
1.59 | 9m32s (junction), 10m14s (SheepPen), 15m07s (YalesideSpur), 5m54s (BotHill), 10m52s (OppValley), 12m00s (TurnRound), 7m02s (col), 5m36s (YalesideSpur), 2m05s (HazelgillK), 15m35s (WestFell), 9m38s (junction),
8m44s |
| 129 | | Ripon 10M
10M
| | | baking hot; 21s faster than my 2004 Fountains 10M; drag from start to 4M with some respites; long steep hill between 5M and 6M; I think the 3M and subsequent markers were too late recovering at the 9M marker; well marshalled; two water stations at 4.5M and 7.5M; got confused by swing gate at 9.5M; only 83 finishers; hot dogs were good; more enjoyable than I thought it would be but I preferred the Wed 10K |
| | 81m09s
2m31s
5m02s
8m06s
61m06s
1.33 | 7m56s, 8m08s, 9m01s, 8m03s, 7m45s, 8m53s, 8m19s, 8m07s, 7m07s, 7m54s |
| 128 | | Blaydon Race
5.7M
| | | officially 44m20s; disaster: I chatted to someone at 1.8M and got terrible stitch which I could not get rid of |
| | 44m01s
2m23s
4m47s
7m43s
27m15s
1.62 | 6m47s, 7m13s, 8m39s, 7m41s+7m40s (15m21s), 6m00s |
| 127 | | Kirkby Malzeard 10K
10K
| | | 3 water stations which was good as it was very humid (with a breeze at times); disappointed there were no 1M, 4M or 6M markers, maybe there was white paint; part of the Black Sheep Brewery Race Series; fun run as well |
| | 46m39s
2m19s
4m39s
7m30s
33m10s
1.41
1.21 | 7m28s (cemetery), 6m51s, 8m18s, 7m09s (Warren Farm), 8m12s, 7m10s+1m30s (8m40s) |
| 126 | | -
5M
| | | "Court Inn Clamber"; two lap circuit through woods and along a lane; excellent run with lots of local runners; buffet afterwards; very enjoyable; runners also inc nd, dm, kg and je; M, S and kg got spot prizes |
| | 38m25s
2m23s
4m46s
7m40s
30m11s
1.27 | start 4m50s woods
5m29s (1K) ravine 4m41s (1K) stile 4m32s (1K) phr 4m03s (0.8K) woods 5m14s (1K) ravine 4m44s (1K) stile 4m17s (1K) phr 0m24s |
| 125 | | Melmerby (Ripon) 10K
10K
| | | very hot; lots of sponge (and water) stations: thanks; undulating; had a cold which didn't help me beat last year's time; incredibly, at each K I kept within 7s of my 2003's times except lost 12s in each of the last 3 Ks; part of the Black Sheep Brewery Race Series |
| | 45m55s
2m17s
4m35s
7m23s
33m14s
1.38
1.22 | 2003 splits in brackets:
4m01s [4m00s], 4m34s [4m30s], 4m27s [4m31s], 5m00s [4m59s], 4m31s [4m38s], 4m47s [4m45s], 4m48s [4m45s], 4m54s [4m42s], 4m38s [4m24s], 4m16s [4m04s] |
| 124 | | Clive Cookson Race
10K
| | | "formerly the WoW Race"; "T-shirt"; "barbecue" (not free); 2 lap course |
| | 45m03s
2m15s
4m30s
7m15s
32m41s
1.38
1.20 | 4m09s, 4m39s, 4m41s, 4m15s, 4m26s, 4m35s, 4m55s, 4m50s, 4m18s, 4m14s |
| 123 | | -
7.5M
| | | officially 54m17s (which would give me 1.42); hot; finishers got a sports holdall or backpack; SS Pier to Roker Pier; bus from Roker to SS; previous winning times: 1999 39m09s, 2000 39m30s, 2001 36m44s, 2002 38m59s, 2003 39m27s; maybe I should aim for 54m36s (39ms00s times 1.4) |
| | 53m30s
2m12s
4m25s
7m07s
38m10s
1.40 | GPS made it 7M; rough splits: 8m40s (top of hill), 7m07s (2M), 7m03s (3M), 6m53s (4M), 7m42s (5M), 9m17s (6M), 6m48s (finish) |
| 122 | | -
11.5K
| | | hot; reverse of 2003 route; forgot to take a split at the turn; won a spot prize |
| | 68m11s
2m57s
5m55s
9m32s
46m20s
1.47 | 5m19s (1K point), 5m24s (top split), 2m17s (bot split), 1m45s (turn right), 2m18s ("3K point"), 7m06s (green cabin), 4m25s (stream), 6m06 (turn), 2m52s (stream), 4m52s (green cabin), 4m47s ("3K point"), 2m01s (turn left), 2m29s (bot split), 8m06s (top split), 4m39s (1K point|), 4m03s |
| 121 | | Fountains 10M
10M
| | | part of the Black Sheep Brewery Race Series; there are 5 hills in the last 6K of the route and the earlier moorland section (2K long) was boggy with deepish puddles; humid, but cool; burned out by 7.5M; the winner's time was 4m42s slower than in 2003 and so I got a 1.36 but I would have only got 1.48 with the 55m12s of 2003; disappointed there was no burger stall |
| | 81m30s
2m31s
5m03s
8m09s
59m54s
1.36 | 7m18, 9m10s, 6m52s, 7m50s, 8m03s, 7m42s, 7m53s, 8m37s, 9m39s, 8m27s |
| 120 | | -
10K
| | | "Cursa Bombers" (race of the firemen) ; hot; became exhausted; too much wine?; 6411 runners |
| | 45m58s
2m17s
4m35s
7m23s
28m32s
1.61
1.04 | 4m14s, 4m28s, 4m34s, 4m27s, 4m35s, 4m35s, 4m47s, 5m01s, 4m52s, 4m26s |
| 119 | | -
10K
| | | "Guiseley Gallop"; part of the Airedale Triple; bottle of beer; no markers: on the map I made it 9.3K; different route at the end of the first wood; greasy through the woods; two hills in last 2K; I made my time 48m45s which would give me a 1.34: don't understand the discrepancy; crowded? |
| | 50m17s
2m30s
5m01s
8m05s
36m16s
1.39
1.33 | rough splits: 5m06s, 4m41s, 4m30s, 4m05s, 5m15s, 5m05s, 4m44s, 7m59s, 6m02s, 1m17s |
| 118 | | Marske 10M
10M
| | | 1M circuit followed by 3 x 3M ||gram with mile markers and water every 3M; flat; warm and windy; my 5th fastest 10M |
| | 75m48s
2m21s
4m42s
7m34s
52m20s
1.45 | 6m59s, 7m30s, 7m52s, 7m23s, 8m01s, 8m09s, 7m29s, 7m32s, 7m53s, 6m59s |
| 117 | | Great Grizedale Trail Run
10M
| | | sunny at first but sleety rain during last 4M; hard-core trail through forests with views; green cycling route clockwise; first 2M is hilly; although described as "undulating" the course had a tendency to hill in many places; I did well as my time was a 1.35 (and 1.31 times 2003's winning time 59m24s) |
| | 77m49s
2m25s
4m50s
7m46s
57m40s
1.35 | cumulative splits: bottom 329926 7m01s, zigzag 326930 10m30s, FP to L 318943 20m04s, FP to R 326954 27m28s, top 332983 44m13s, carpark 342965 60m00s |
| 116 | | Hamsterley Forest Wild Race
10K
| | | usual slog to Doctor's Gate as shown in this photo by John Bright; got a 1.33; did it in 2m04s less than last year: that's 20s less on each M; enjoyable; randomly allocated prizes which was good |
| | 50m49s
2m32s
5m04s
8m10s
38m20s
1.33
1.40 | 4m32s, 2m55s, 6m41s, 2m12s, 3m26s, 2m10s, 6m37s, 7m35s, 0m38s, 1m29s, 2m07s, 1m27s, 6m18s, 3m02s |
| 115 | | -
10K
| | | enjoyable; bright but chilly; scenic; described as "undulating" but it's hilly; fast finish; beat last year's time by 13s; officially 48m01s but took 4s to start as the start was very crowded |
| | 47m57s
2m23s
4m47s
7m43s
33m45s
1.42
1.23 | 7m21s, 8m53s, 7m23s, 8m20s, 7m39s, 6m59s, 1m23s |
| 114 | | Brass Monkey Run
half marathon
| | | officially 102m31s but it took 9s to start; first race in Nike Air Pegasus 2002; when I bought them I didn't know they are 395g; blue skies, strong warming sun, a gentle cold wind and a flat course: except for about 3 icy patches this was PB country; enjoyable; I did better than a fortnight ago (MtoN) but still not close to a PB; race limit reached on Oct 16 |
| | 102m22s
2m25s
4m51s
7m48s
68m26s
1.50 | 7m13s, 7m21s, 7m37s, 7m53s, 7m12s, 8m03s, 8m08s, 7m58s, 8m15s+8m16s (16m31s), 8m12s, 7m48s, 7m42s, 0m45s |
| 113 | | Morpeth to Newcastle Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | officially 104m51s; didn't do well; slower than 2003 MtoN, 2003 Burn Valley (hilly), 2002 MtoN; some excuses: (a) strong SW wind which was head-on at times, (b) bright sunshine which was head-on most of the time, (c) got stitch after 4M; slight change to route because of roadworks; more supporters and more crowded: number of finishers up from 612 (2002) and 726 (2003) to 1020 (2004) |
| | 104m47s
2m28s
4m57s
7m59s
67m23s
1.56 | 7m24s, 8m02s, 7m29s, 7m41s, 8m13s, 8m12s, 8m18s, 8m09s, 8m00s, 8m29s, 8m11s, 8m19s, 7m37s, 0m42s |
| 112 | | -
4M
| | | officially 32m32s; cold; difficult run after doing no training for 3 weeks; a mix of cross-country and narrow tarmac paths; lots of runners which meant running off-path on the sections with paths; many grass sections were muddy or very muddy; so difficult to make progress at times; lot of fun runners and started long way back: I overtook a lot of people; two hills in the first 1.1M but flat after 1.5M |
| | 32m05s
2m29s
4m59s
8m01s
20m50s
1.54 | 9m30s, 7m54s, 7m21s, 7m21s |
| 111 | | Leeds Abbey Dash
10K
| | | officially 43m46s but took some time to get to the start and the finish look chaotic; winner was 36s faster than in 2002; dry with bright sunshine making markers difficult to detect on return route; seemed to be more runners where I was but only a 6% increase in finishers; disappointed not to get a PB: got a third PB; they'd change the finish: it was narrower and crowded which made it difficult to do a last minute sprint; was good to leave at 0700 |
| | 43m31s
2m10s
4m21s
7m00s
29m24s
1.48
1.08 | 3m50s, 4m29s, 4m22s, 4m22s, 4m45s, 4m09s, 4m21s, 4m33s, 4m24s, 4m17s |
|
|
date
day and time
|
name of race
length of race
licence
comments
|
location of race
postcode and maps to postcode
links to race information and entry forms
other links
link to the results
|
my time
0.5K pace
K pace
M pace
win time
me/win
win/wor
|
splits
|
| 110 | | Maltby Road Race
7.7M
| | | it was my birthday: I'm now in the same category as Mike Walker (Gosf): watch out Mike! cold but bright sunshine; 6M marker was too early; I did well: finished 43s behind MickyC; after 3M I was 54s behind him but I did the rest (4.7M) 4s faster than him; got a 1.28 but 2002's winning time (Martin Scaife in 39m02s) would give 1.44; thanks to Carole and Gilbert for support |
| | 56m20s
2m16s
4m32s
7m18s
43m56s
1.28 | 7m01s, 7m26s, 7m43s, 7m26s, 6m45s, 7m00s+7m00s (6m30s+7m30s), 6m01s |
| 109 | | Brampton to Carlisle Road Race
10M
| | | strong NWly headwind; did not feel like running; 35% more crowded than last year: 385 in 2001, 364 in 2002, 493 in 2003; Carlisle car park was 2 UKP, bus from C to B was 1 UKP; mainly flat course with a downhill finish; Elvet Striders' map of the course is here |
| | 77m13s
2m23s
4m47s
7m43s
50m23s
1.53 | 6m32s, 7m37s, 7m26s, 7m24s, 7m42s, 8m04s, 8m02s, 8m16s, 8m38s, 7m38s |
| 108 | | Town Moor Memorial 10K
10K
| | | dry, with a headwind from the SE; uneven tarmac paths; I beat last year's time by just 8s; the course went the opposite way round to last year's; 8K marker was 0.2K too early; 5 runners from DU CC club did well |
| | 45m05s
2m15s
4m30s
7m15s
31m04s
1.45
1.14 | 4m15s, 4m29s, 4m29s, 4m35s, 4m38s, 4m37s, 4m41s, 4m27s+4m27s (3m33s+5m21s), 4m28s |
| 107 | | Gibside Fruit Bowl 7 Trail Race
7M
| | | a Wild-Race-like race; "not flat"; bright, but "greasy" underfoot; took me 10s longer than last year; Gavin shouted at me for my poor hill-work! |
| | 55m32s
2m27s
4m55s
7m55s
40m21s
1.38 | 6m54s, 9m20s, 7m00s, 7m08s, 10m51s, 7m20s, 6m58s |
| 106 | | Jedburgh Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | a little chilly with a slight drizzle at times; mainly flat; some uninteresting long straight roads; I made it a PB beating my Turin time by 5s but officially it was 97m39s which is 2s slower than my Turin time or 24s faster than the chip Turin time! |
| | 97m32s
2m18s
4m37s
7m26s
72m48s
1.34 | 6m46s, 7m34s, 7m13s, 7m01s, 7m43s, 7m31s, 7m31s, 7m50s, 7m52s, 7m31s, 7m53s, 7m12s, 7m12s+0m43s (7m55s) |
| 105 | | Bramham Park Fun Run
10K
| | | multi-terrain, undulating; lack of water at end; bad that 10K started at same time as 5K and later got mixed up with 5K walkers; need a consistent approach to cattle grids; however, very enjoyable |
| | 45m42s
2m17s
4m34s
7m21s
32m46s
1.39
1.20 | 4m21s, 4m21s, 4m28s, 5m03s, 4m23s, 5m05s, 4m46s, 4m35s, 4m29s, 4m13s |
| 104 | | Derwentside 10
10M
| | | dry, slightly chilly with gentle breeze; long hill bet 1M and 2M, two hills bet 3M and 4M, same two hills again bet 6.5M and 7.5M; took off 5s for near collision with car! |
| | 78m30s
2m26s
4m52s
7m51s
55m50s
1.41 | 6m30s, 8m42s, 7m29s, 9m05s, 7m51s, 7m14s, 8m14s, 8m33s, 7m27s (7m32s), 7m17s |
| 103 | | Turin Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | hot, with a gentle wind; officially (using a chip) my time was 98m03s: I can't explain the discrepancy; 1247 runners; I came first out of the 5 UK runners; chip time for first 10K was 47m11s |
| | 97m37s
2m18s
4m37s
7m26s
63m52s
1.53 | 4m41s, 4m34s+4m34s (9m08s), 4m48s, 4m42s, 4m38s, 4m43s, 4m36s, 4m45s, 4m44s, 4m14s, 4m51s+4m50s (9m41s), 4m38s, 4m37s, 4m37s, 4m33s, 4m38s, 4m53s, 4m28s, 4m09s+0m25s (4m34s) |
| 102 | | -
10K
| | | took 1h20m to get there; part of the Castleton Show; a bird's eye view of the route is here; scenic with about 6 uphill sections; no markers; very hot with warm head wind; beat last year's time by 1m21s which was good since it was hot but last year I didn't "create" M markers; so well pleased with performance especially during last 3.21M over undulating terrain; just 22 runners; I came 16th |
| | 48m17s
2m24s
4m49s
7m46s
35m28s
1.36
1.30 | no markers; roughly 8m09s, 8m42s, 8m22s, 7m29s, 6m56s, 6m56s+1m42s (8m38s) |
| 101 | | Catterick 10M
10M
| | | hot; think the 8M marker was 0.2M early and the last mile is only 0.8M; enjoyable; went to plan; came 17th (out of about 54); 4th fastest 10M; 1m01s faster than last year and same (good) me/win (1.30) as last year |
| | 75m20s
2m20s
4m40s
7m31s
58m01s
1.30 | 7m19s, 7m59s, 7m28s, 8m48s, 7m29s, 7m20s, 8m00s, 6m17s, 9m05s, 5m39s |
| 100 | | -
5K
| | | my 100th race! and I got a T-shirt commemorating this from Jason; 2 lap course on tracks in Watergate Park; no markers; I was aiming (rightly or wrongly) for 21m20s and got 21m27s; nearly equals pace of my 10K PB but this was an off-road 5K |
| | 21m27s
2m08s
4m17s
6m54s
15m12s
1.41 | rough 1.25K splits are: 5m09s, 5m12s, 5m27s, 5m40s |
| 99 | | Tholthorpe 10K
10K
| | | warm; good atmosphere; 364 finishers; tried but failed to do negative splits on made-up K markers; hard to go slow at start; last year's winner did 32m45s, multiply that by 1.40 gives 45m52s, so I aimed for 5K of 4m40s followed by 5K of 4m30s to give 45m50s but got 44m50s! |
| | 44m59s
2m14s
4m29s
7m14s
31m03s
1.45
1.14 | mile markers; rough Ks were 4m25s, 4m36s+4m36s (5m15s+3m57s), 4m42s, 4m26s, 4m44s, 4m50s+4m50s (5m34s+4m06s), 4m18s, 3m25s |
| 98 | | Auckland Castle 10K
10K
| | | hot; early; hadn't done any training (because of a knee problem); walked four times |
| | 46m40s
2m19s
4m39s
7m30s
29m13s
1.60
1.07 | 4m24s, 4m06s, 4m26s, 4m38s + 4m51s (5m38s + 3m51s), 5m02s, 5m11s, 4m43s, 4m40s, 4m40s |
| 97 | | Riverside Challenge
6M
| | | marker at 3M which I did in 21m54s (which is a 7m18s pace); also white paint K markers on the ground if you can find them, but maybe inaccurate; enjoyable; birdseye photos of the route are here; good scran at M's afterwards |
| | 43m39s
2m15s
4m31s
7m16s
31m25s
1.39 | roughly 4m24s, 4m34s, 4m39s, 4m47s, 4m47s, 3m41s, 4m39s, 4m36s, 4m17s, 3m15s |
| 96 | | Darlington 10K
10K
| | | before the start, we applied sunblock because of the strong sun; however, the weather suddenly changed: we started in complete darkness which developed into a thunderstorm with torrential rain, strong cross-winds, 6 foot wide rivers and enormous pools some of which (5" deep) could not be avoided; disappointed at my time but, if you take 40s off for the conditions, it was my 4th fastest 10K; ran with HangedUp's kinetic work looping in my head; Peter Grime (Durham University) came second and ITS Club 9 won the male non-athletic club team prize |
| | 44m43s
2m14s
4m28s
7m11s
31m01s
1.44
1.13 | 3m57s, 5m28s, 3m36s, 4m41s, 4m22s, 4m45s, 4m43s, 4m31s, 4m39s, 4m02s |
| 95 | | Morpeth 10K
10K
| | | humid; enjoyable; covered the last 1.21M in 7m34s which seems to be a 6m15s pace (!) or 14m54s for last 2.21M which is a 6m45s pace; this is my 5th fastest 10K |
| | 44m17s
2m12s
4m25s
7m07s
31m27s
1.41
1.15 | 6m48s, 7m39s, 6m43s, 8m13s, 7m20s, 6m15s+1m19s (7m34s) |
| 94 | | Harrogate Town Centre 10K
10K
| | | hot; nice course: two laps, with small hills at 1.5K, 4.8K and 7K, a 2K downhill from 3K and 8K; too much traffic; lots of entries from the AFC |
| | 44m43s
2m14s
4m28s
7m11s
30m37s
1.46
1.12 | 4m23s, 4m23s, 4m36s, 4m03s, 4m11s, 4m57s, 4m39s, 5m26s, 4m02s, 4m04s |
| 93 | | Burton Leonard 10K
10K
| | | warm with a light breeze; "30% road and 70% tracks and country, undulating"; J beat me by 5s but he took a (permitted) shortcut through a 5" deep ford; markers didn't seem to be accurately placed; info about BSBRS is here |
| | 47m56s
2m23s
4m47s
7m42s
35m46s
1.34
1.31 | 6m47s, 7m41s, 7m59s, 8m42s, 7m11s, 7m33s, 2m06s |
| 92 | | Yorkshire Wolds Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | hot again; I was aiming for 104m but instead I got almost my slowest 13.1M; tougher than Burn Valley or Baildon but not so scenic; long hill (170 metre climb) between 3M and 6.5M including 135metres climb in 1.5M, then the nicest bit: an off road downhill (down 130 metres) to 8M, a steep hill (30 metres) just after 9M and a 75 metre climb between 11M and 12M, down down down (90 metres) from 12M to end; my guess is that the me/win will be something like 2.00! |
| | 114m15s
2m42s
5m24s
8m42s | 7m17s, 8m20s, 7m45s, 10m04s, 10m33s, 9m25s, 7m16s, 8m37s, 8m37s, 9m26s, 7m57s, 11m25s, 7m03s, 0m36s |
| 91 | | -
6M
| | | another 1.36 like Wed Jul 09 and Wed Jun 18; didn't enjoy it as we did not know route and there were no markers; sultry; a bit like a wild race in places; got a spot prize (woolly hat) |
| | 47m57s
2m28s
4m57s
7m59s
35m14s
1.36 | 9m42s, 3m33s, 12m54s, 1m03s, 5m44s, 5m46s, 1m52, 7m24s |
| 90 | | Kilburn Feast
7.19943M
| | | undulating with several long gentle hills; although there was a slight SE breeze at times, it was very, very hot; because of this it was difficult to run fast; nevertheless enjoyable; managed to do the last 1.2M at under 7m00s pace; however 7m48s for 7.2M doesn't compare well with 7m57s for last weekend's 13.1M; would need to have done 55m46s to get a 1.40; scenic (houses from 1662, abbey, white horse) |
| | 56m11s
2m25s
4m50s
7m48s
39m50s
1.41 | 7m07s, 8m00s, 7m03s, 8m19s, 8m40s, 8m40s, 7m12s, 1m08s |
| 89 | | Darlington Pit Stop 10K
10K
| | | 3 laps of the Croft motor racing circuit; boring but flat; muggy; ITS Club 9 won the Corporate Team prize (a silver plate each for M, L and me) |
| | 44m50s
2m14s
4m28s
7m12s
33m03s
1.36
1.21 | 4m18s + 4m18s (3m16s + 5m20s), 4m43s, 4m34s, 4m24s, 4m25s, 4m43s, 4m21s, 4m49s, 4m18s |
| 88 | | Burn Valley Run
half marathon
| | | before race I decided on 8m10s but got 7m57s; well pleased; still feeling good in last 3rd of race as shown by splits; lots of water and sponge stations; good atmosphere; mainly road, hilly and scenic; warm but mainly overcast; free "post race tea"; info about BSBRS is here |
| | 104m25s
2m28s
4m56s
7m57s
74m34s
1.40 | 7m15s, 8m13s, 7m26s, 7m53s, 8m21s (8m51s), 9m17s (8m47s), 8m14s, 8m11s, 8m01s, 7m59s, 7m32s, 8m03s, 7m17s+0m54s (8m01s) |
| 87 | | Tynedale 10K
10K
| | | need to leave work earlier than 1735; "flat rural 10K along minor roads and tracks"; very slight drizzle; 2nd fastest 10K (29m48s) I've entered; I was lazy during 3rd M; the 6M marker was too early and this caused me to burn out in the final straight; pleased with my time; good atmosphere; support from Karl and Fiona; skipped the pie and peas 'cos of long queue; went to Boathouse afterwards with D, O, K and F |
| | 43m33s
2m10s
4m21s
7m00s
29m48s
1.46
1.09 | 6m33s, 6m58s, 7m22s, 6m58s, 7m19s, 6m13s, 2m07s |
| 86 | | Rainton 10K
10K
| | | "70% road and 30% tracks"; flat; very hot; think I ran out of energy 'cos of the heat; overtook JE on final straight but he raced me to the line and beat me; good village atmosphere; info about BSBRS is here |
| | 45m36s
2m16s
4m33s
7m20s
33m20s
1.37
1.22 | 6m46s, 7m05s, 7m11s, 7m54s, 8m12s, 7m11s, 1m16s |
| 85 | | Croxdale 10
10M
| | | 4 laps of 2.5M which meant 0.5M markers; warm, refreshing wind; didn't beat 2nd PB by 5s, however 1.41 for me/win is good; got lapped by 2 people, first one at about 6.1M whereas 7.4x=5.3y, y=x+2.5n gives 6.3M |
| | 74m31s
2m18s
4m37s
7m27s
52m52s
1.41 | 6m54s (3m26+3m28), 7m36s (3m51+3m45), 7m30s (3m50+3m40), 7m26s (3m28+3m58), 7m37s (3m47+3m50), 7m21s (3m47+3m34), 7m57s (4m02+3m55), 7m28s (3m45+3m43), 7m19s (3m30+3m49), 7m23s (3m54+3m29) |
| 84 | | -
10K
| | | two long drags in first 2M; steep hill in 4th M; 5M marker was probably too late; nice sausages; good atmosphere; warm |
| | 45m41s
2m17s
4m34s
7m21s
33m41s
1.36
1.23 | 7m15s, 8m06s, 6m41s, 8m21s, 6m43s + 6m43s (8m16s + 5m10s); 1m52s |
| 83 | | Newton Aycliffe 10K
10K
| | 45m42s
2m17s
4m34s
7m21s
32m14s
1.42
1.18 | 4m13s, 4m16s, 4m25s, 4m50s, 4m37s, 4m35s, 4m52s, 4m47s, 4m55s, 4m13s |
| 82 | | Blaydon Race
5.7M
| | | sultry; took 24s off stopwatch time as it took this to get to the start; officially 40m38s; much better start thanks to MickyC who beat me by 12s; 2M marker was too early; not sure why 7m52s |
| | 39m40s
2m09s
4m19s
6m57s
26m24s
1.50 | 6m57s, 5m52s, 7m58s, 6m59s, 7m52s, 4m27s |
| 81 | | Kirkby Malzeard 10K
10K
| | | hot and sultry; used suntan lotion; reasonably hilly; may have been short of 10K; well pleased with my time which was only 34% more than the winning time; got 2 points in the BSBRS for this race; info about BSBRS is here |
| | 45m53s
2m17s
4m35s
7m23s
34m08s
1.34
1.25 | 7m43s, 7m30s, 8m03s, 7m29s, 7m29s, 6m51s, 0m47s |
|
|
date
day and time
|
name of race
length of race
licence
comments
|
location of race
postcode and maps to postcode
links to race information and entry forms
other links
link to the results
|
my time
0.5K pace
K pace
M pace
win time
me/win
win/wor
|
splits
|
| 80 | | -
15K
| | | this was at Bowderdale (GR 678046); very sunny and hot: got sunburnt; tough course; first outing for my new trail shoes (Nike Tupu) |
| | 115m11s
3m50s
7m40s
12m21s
70m05s
1.64 | 21m02s (SheepPen), 16m50s (YarlsideSpur), 5m47s (BotOfHill), 10m30s (OppValley), 9m09s (TurnRound), 3m49s (Col), 12m45s (YarlsideSpur), 2m07s (HazelgillK), 15m45s (WestFell), 17m29s (finish) |
| 79 | | Melmerby (Ripon) 10K
10K
| | | undulating; got drenched for 5m after 1K; gave new shoes (Air Span Triax) a christening; big puddles on country lanes; undulating; difficult-to-find K markers; info about BSBRS is here |
| | 45m16s
2m15s
4m31s
7m17s
31m48s
1.42
1.16 | 4m00s, 4m30s, 4m31s, 4m59s, 4m38s, 4m45s + 4m45s (9m30s), 4m42s, 4m24s, 4m04s |
| 78 | | -
10K
| | | drizzle; 2 laps; some uneven surfaces and a slight headwind at times; felt good and pleased with time especially last 2K; too late for the barbecue |
| | 45m38s
2m16s
4m33s
7m20s
31m22s
1.45
1.15 | 4m04s, 4m52s, 4m50s, 4m20s, 4m26s, 4m34s, 5m06s, 5m03s, 4m11s, 4m12s |
| 77 | | -
10K
| | | hot; 95% off-road; puddly; musical marshal stations; crowded especially for first 2M; still got a knee injury |
| | 47m28s
2m22s
4m44s
7m38s
32m43s
1.45
1.20 | 6m54s, 8m02s + 8m02s (11m58s, 4m06s), 8m43s, 7m11s, 6m50 + 1m43s (8m33s) |
| 76 | | Fountains 10M
10M
| | | only done 3M of training in last fortnight because of knee injury; took it gently and was pleased to have got round; across moorland from 1M point to 2.5M; undulating plus 4 hills in last 4M; strong headwind at times; hail at times; well organised; excellent burgers and good pint of BS; info about BSBRS is here |
| | 85m14s
2m38s
5m17s
8m31s
55m12s
1.54 | 7m48s, 8m59s, 7m47s, 8m11s, 8m21s, 8m20s, 8m57s, 9m05s, 9m27s, 8m06s (3m53s, 2m27s, 1m46s) |
| 75 | | -
11K
| | | drizzly; hilly; tough course; strong headwind for 2K; Jason beat me by about 4m; I think I'm still recovering from flu; I walked several times, and even got overtaken by walkers! |
| | 67m48s
3m04s
6m09s
9m55s
46m35s
1.46 | 5m32s (1K point), 11m09s (turn left), 2m34s (3K point), 12m46s (stream), 5m16s (turn), 2m42s (stream), 9m29s (3K point), 2m07s (turn left), 12m18s (1K point), 4m07s |
| 74 | | Guiseley Gallop
10K
| | | disaster; I'd done no training 'cos I'd had flu all week; spent most of the race doing mucus control! was tired after 3.5K; later I even walked on the level; Diane (who I beat by 8s and 55s in the previous two races of the Airedale Triple) beat me by 5m today; after the race, she commiserated; I was very disappointed not to have a fair go at the Triple; the results of the Triple are here; I came first (and last) in the M50 U/A category and so I won in this category! |
| | 53m52s
2m41s
5m23s
8m40s
34m05s
1.58
1.25 | no markers; roughly 4m08s, 4m20s, 5m12s, 6m17s, 5m02s, 6m01s, 3m51s, 7m31s, 7m40s, 4m05s |
| 73 | | Meanwood Valley Trail
8M
| | | hot; tough; spent most of time looking at ground; no M/K markers; well marshalled; second race of the Airedale Triple |
| | 59m40s
2m19s
4m38s
7m27s
42m11s
1.41 | 21m13s (tunnel), 11m41s (bottom), 8m56s (tunnel), 17m50s (finish) |
| 72 | | Baildon Boundary Way
half marathon
| | | dry, with slight wind; Baildon Boundary Way is excellent being multi-terrain, rural, undulating/hilly; well organised; too many other walkers/cyclists; first race of the Airedale Triple |
| | 111m23s
2m38s
5m16s
8m29s
79m29s
1.40 | 7m00s, 7m14s, 8m54s, 8m15s, 8m37s, 7m22s, 8m14s, 7m09s, 9m18s, 12m27s, 10m01s, 7m27s, 8m11s, 1m02s |
| 71 | | Hamsterley Forest Wild Race
10K
| | | hot; the hills in the first 4K are killers; better course than last year; GR 093313 |
| | 52m53s
2m38s
5m17s
8m30s
38m18s
1.38
1.40 | 4m30s, 2m03s, 6m24s, 2m35s, 6m56s, 5m51s, 7m28s, 0m40s, 1m20s, 2m17s, 3m05s, 4m01s, 5m47s |
| 70 | | Ackworth Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | officially 102m38s but took 5s to get to the start; reasonably hot and sunny; undulating; lots of runners which made the first 2 minutes crowded; good atmosphere and countryside |
| | 102m33s
2m25s
4m51s
7m49s
65m18s
1.57 | 7m06s, 7m43s, 7m29s, 8m47s, 7m25s, 8m08s, 8m06s, 8m01s, 7m40s, 8m09s, 8m00s, 7m44s, 7m33s, 0m36s (0.1M) |
| 69 | | -
7.5K
| | | undulating; great village atmosphere |
| | 35m53s
2m23s
4m47s
7m41s
27m35s
1.30 | 4m29s, 4m57s, 4m37s, 4m53s, 4m47s, 5m26s, 4m41s, 2m10s |
| 68 | | Pafos (Cyprus) Half Marathon
18.752K
| | | meant to be half marathon but runners were misdirected and so about 2.3K short; hence 15th split is for 0.7K and last is for 1.1K; strong headwind for half the course; estimate of 100m33s for half marathon |
| | 89m53s
2m23s
4m47s
7m42s
69m03s
1.30 | 4m29s, 4m51s, 4m53s, 5m03s, 5m01s, 4m56s, 4m54s, 5m32s, 4m42s, 4m51s, 4m55s, 5m04s, 4m38s, 4m45s, 3m09s, 4m56s, 4m29s, 4m44s, 4m34s |
| 67 | | -
10K
| | | dry and sunny; several significant hills with a downhill fast finish |
| | 48m10s
2m24s
4m48s
7m45s
34m12s
1.41
1.25 | 7m06s, 9m24s, 7m22s, 8m19s, 7m26s, 7m16s, 1m16s |
| 66 | | -
10K
| | | 2 lap 5K course with muddy and puddly footpaths except for 1st K and last K which were mainly on tarmac; undulating, with one small hill; strong headwind at times; Sir Jimmy Saville OBE gave me my medal |
| | 47m30s
2m22s
4m45s
7m38s
35m52s
1.32
1.31 | 3m38s, 5m50s, 3m58s, 5m40s, 4m00s, 4m20s, 6m09s, 4m03, 5m49s, 4m05s |
| 65 | | Brass Monkey Run
half marathon
| | | limit reached on Nov 7th 2002; officially 98m18s but took 13s to start; strong headwind (15mph?) at times |
| | 98m05s
2m19s
4m38s
7m28s
67m56s
1.44 | 7m03s, 7m28s, 7m51s, 7m41s, 7m11s, 7m36s, 7m49s, 7m38s, 7m39s, 7m36s, 7m41s, 7m07s, 7m01s?, 0m44s? |
| 64 | | -
10K
| | | sore throat; no map; drag bet 1M and 3M; steep downhill at 3.5M; 5m00s hill bet 4M and 5M; missed 5M marker |
| | 47m35s
2m22s
4m45s
7m39s
33m47s
1.41
1.24 | 7m30s, 7m36s, 7m12s, 6m48s. 9m32s?, 7m25s?, 1m34s |
| 63 | | Morpeth to Newcastle Half Marathon
half marathon
| | | dry, cold; officially 98m56s but took 14s to start |
| | 98m42s
2m20s
4m40s
7m31s
67m48s
1.46 | 7m50s, 7m10s, 7m11s, 7m10s, 8m05s, 8m10s, 7m44s, 7m29s, 7m18s, 7m40s, 7m30s, 7m59s, 6m57s, 0m43s |
| 62 | | -
6M
| | | no markers; splits are for specific points of the route; wet underfoot; headwind for half of the course; Nev's first race; he did it in 46m35s |
| | 41m30s
2m08s
4m17s
6m55s
28m33s
1.45 | 2m13s, 2m35s, 3m32s, 2m33s, 3m38s, 3m30s, 2m28s, 4m02s, 3m51s, 2m43s, 3m37s, 3m33s, 2m12s |
| 61 | | Leeds Abbey Dash
10K
| | | officially 43m02s; foolishly forgot to eat and drink on journey to Leeds; drizzle; hemmed in at the start; didn't see 6K and the 3m56s looks odd; 16 runners from DU CC Club took part |
| | 42m52s
2m08s
4m17s
6m53s
30m00s
1.43
1.10 | 4m08s, 4m14s, 4m15s, 4m20s, 4m26s, 4m40s, 4m40s, 3m56s, 4m12s, 4m02s |
| 60 | | Brampton to Carlisle Road Race
10M
| | | dry; no wind; excellent race giving me a 10M PB and the first 10K was my 3rd fastest; did the 10M at same pace as last week's 10K! would have got even better time if I did not have stitch after 4M and slight right calf twinge after 6M; 2 pounds car park and 1 pound bus |
| | 72m43s
2m15s
4m31s
7m16s
48m35s
1.50 | 6m12s, 7m10s, 7m05s, 7m02s, 7m16s, 7m44s, 7m40s, 7m50s, 7m44s, 7m03s |
| 59 | | Town Moor Memorial 10K
10K
| | | three laps; flat, tarmac, puddles; dry with a headwind for half the course; problem with watch so last two splits are made up |
| | 45m13s
2m15s
4m31s
7m16s
31m06s
1.45
1.14 | 4m20s, 4m25s, 4m23s, 4m35s, 4m52s, 4m36s, 4m32s, 4m33s, 4m30s, 4m27s |
| 58 | | Guy Fawkes 10
10M
| | | excellent running weather: sunny but reasonably cold with wet surfaces; start and finish on trail bridle ways; gradual rise during first 3M; uphills at 4.5M, 6.5M, 8.1M; Ripley Castle |
| | 79m35s
2m28s
4m56s
7m57s
53m48s
1.48 | 7m10s, 9m01s, 8m57s, 6m18s, 9m43s, 6m41s, 8m43s, 7m28s, 8m22s, 7m11s |
| 57 | | Gibside Fruit Bowl 7 Trail Race
7M
| | | another Wild Race-like race; "greasy" again; slightly different course from last year; the 2nd mile included a 5m0s hill; the 4M marker was too early; the 5th mile included another long hill; support from Ian MacPhee and Gilbert |
| | 55m22s
2m27s
4m54s
7m54s | 6m40s, 9m27s, 7m03s, 6m05s, 11m37s, 7m29s, 7m02s |
| 56 | | Richmond Castle Race
6.05M
| | | freezing; 4 uphills; MickyC did well (43m27s); support from Hetty |
| | 46m13s
2m22s
4m44s
7m38s
33m48s
1.37 | 6m58s, 8m34s, 7m25s, 7m23s, 7m54s, 8m00s |
| 55 | | Harewood 10 mile Trail Race
10M
| | | path in first mile is narrow and so it's best to start towards the front; officially 79m47s but got delayed at stile by woman with 2 dogs; sunny, but cold so ideal for running; mostly off-road, with many Wild Race-like sections but fast around reservoir; "greasy" (Phil Liggett); undulating with 2 horrible uphills in the last mile |
| | 79m00s
2m27s
4m54s
7m54s
54m46s
1.44 | 7m30s, 7m20s, 8m29s, 8m29s, 7m24s, 7m45s, 8m55s, 7m48s, 7m35s, 8m36s |
| 54 | | Great North Run
half marathon
| | | hot; very crowded; passed Frank Bruno at 6M; officially 104m02s but took about 4m to get to start; probably would be well under my target of 100m if it were a real race; support from Dave and Gilbert |
| | 100m06s
2m22s
4m44s
7m38s
59m58s
1.67 | 8m14s,7m35s, 7m34s, 7m38s, 7m46s, 7m24s, 7m11s, 7m25s, 8m12s, 7m41s, 8m09s, 7m40s, 7m00s, 0m42s |
| 53 | | Catterick 10M
10M
| | | enjoyable; hilly for 5M, undulating for rest; new shoes (Asics 2070) and watch (Timex Ironman Flix); last two splits are strange; good time considering the hillyness |
| | 76m21s
2m22s
4m44s
7m38s
58m49s
1.30 | 7m05s, 7m45s, 7m28s, 8m38s, 7m31s, 7m40s, 7m45s, 7m57s, 8m26s, 6m02s |
| 52 | | -
10K
| | | drizzly mist; no markers; scenic; 6 serious uphill sections; only 37 runners; part of the Castleton Show;bird's eye photo of the route is here |
| | 49m37s
2m28s
4m57s
7m59s
35m41s
1.39
1.31 | |
| 51 | | -
10K
| | | very scenic course; well organised; M markers; very hot; there were four uphills; went to good pub (Barrels Alehouse) |
| | 50m15s
2m30s
5m01s
8m05s
34m44s
1.45
1.27 | 7m18s, 7m20s, 9m22s, 8m00s, 7m55s, 8m30s, 1m52s |
