CPM Thame 10K - Sunday 27 June

Excellent organisation and marshals and a nice fast course. I felt well prepared so hoping for a PB - unfortunately however also the "hottest day of the year" (according to the previous night's weather forecast) and 30 degrees at Thame by 9.30am when the race set off. Felt I started off well but got hotter and hotter despite two well placed and well stocked water stations at 3k and 7k and just couldn't get in to it. 58:24 in the end but not too disappointed given the heat. Would definitely do it again but hopefully it will be a bit cooler next year. Was very impressed with the group of firemen who finished in about 70 mins in full kit !

Sarah Allonby 58.24

Herts Hobble, Wheathampstead - Sunday 27 June

This year was a beautiful route which took us through Brockett Park & past Knebworth House. I expected to walk most of it due to the heat, but jogged some where we went through some lovely woods - and was really pleased to beat 7 hours.

David

Greensand Ridge Relay - Saturday 26 June

Well, we didn't want that ugly trophy anyway!

A mere two seconds was all that separated AFF's Damsels in Distress (Carole, Jo, Caroline, Paula, Sally and Kerry) from taking home the dragon trophy for first ladies' team in the Greensand Ridge relay (though as some of us recalled, in the past it has been a fight among the team for the privilege of not having it adorning the mantle piece).

We could all find ways to take the blame for those two seconds - tying a shoe lace for Sally, holding a gate open for another runner in Kerry's case, Paula struggled to work out what to do with the dibber and Steve J tried to send her the wrong way, while I could certainly have got through the odd gate a bit quicker. As anyone who ventured out on Saturday will know it was not ideal running weather and for me on the long and largely shade-free slog through Woburn, overheating was my main concern. Luckily it did cloud over at times with a welcome hint of breeze, though of course never when you really needed it on the up hill sections. We all managed to beat our handicaps in spite of our catalogue of pre-race whinges about the weather, injuries, getting lost etc.

Looks like we'll be back next year to have another crack at winning, though as Jo kindly pointed out we'll be a year older and slower, and none of us in a new age group.

Caroline

Beds RCC Evening League 11.3M - Thursday, 24 June

A brilliant evening, the sun was shining and there were plenty of bikers out enjoying it. My start was pretty good, cooking the first 2 and ½ miles as per normal ensuring I keep the average speed up as high as I could and within minutes I was at eye balls out sweating me nuts off, just before the big hill………….lovely.

My hill climbing was fairly good here, I just kept going and going, I knew I had quick recovery after hills so I just had to have that in mind.

Overall a good performance apart from a minor stop I had to make for a car coming the other way and also there were some women that were walking in the road, they could see me coming their way at high speed but decided not to move or stop, so I just gave them the scare of their lives by passing inches by them at around 20mph.

After a tough ride, I whacked me shoes on and went for a short run, good brick session.

Not sure how I’m going to get to the 33min time as I’m already at a stretch, so if anyone has any ideas…………..

Good to see some other Flyers taking part as well

Until next time…………..

Leigh Pilgrim: 35:29

Just for a change, I thought I would try the L2B bike ride instead of running it, along with 27,000 others. Having not been on my bike for two years, I could not have been more under prepared. Pulled my hamstring two weeks ago and couldn't get my leg over the bike in the week before let alone ride it. In fact borrowed a superb bike form Steve James ( to whom I am enormously grateful ), pedals from a mate, helmet from another and a gel saddle on the morning. Carbo loaded with a chinese take away the night before, quite a few beers and even more vino. Fell asleep on my couch with TV on, woke up 4 minutes before being picked up at 5.30am, forgot helmet, drinks, food, safety pins, instructions, number for photographers and looked and felt rougher than a badgers you know what. Had no.2 in ladies loo in McDonalds. Mate in next cubicle and two women came in. Dived out and mate stayed locked away. Heard one women say she couldn't believe what I had done and called me an animal. Had bacon sarnie and coffee. Wore loud pink flowered hawaiian shorts, no cycling gear and had to put bike at bottom of kerb to get on. Tried bike 10 mins before start. Spent 10 mins trying to work out gears. All other team members suitably fresh, properly kitted out and aghast at the sight before them. Started and worked out how to use the brakes, gears and handle bars at the same time. Stopped for another bacon sarnie, paella, cup of tea and ice cream. Not unsurprisingly, became de hydrated at half way and planned lunch time beer was replaced with more sensible water and lucozade. Cycled all hills save Ditchling as too congested, breezed it, told team members it didn't feel that hard to ride 54 miles without training whilst hung over, cheesed all others off as a result. Had more beers in Brighton, poshest curry I have ever had and the most expensive. Others practically falling asleep in their ant and mogado curry whilst refusing my pleas to hit the Sunday night highlife , followed by an early hours swim in the sea. Mentioned I am planning to run a short race at the weekend ( Greensands 33 miles). Heard one bloke mutter expletive under his breath. Took the mick out of them all night. Shared a room with mate, snored all night and kept him awake. Apparently, the teams are down to 4 next year and they probably wont have room for me. Had a great time and real laugh with a good bunch of blokes, but wont be taking up cycling as I really would get shunted into touch by the Geordie lass.

The point of the ride was to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. Whilst I clearly didn't take the preparations for the ride seriously, I did it with the best intentions which was to raise money for a worthy cause. That was made all the more poignant the following day, when news came through that one poor chap had a heart attack at the top of ditchling and died. Thank you to everyone who sponsored me. Every penny goes to the BHF. If anyone else is suitably unimpressed with my race planning and would never the less like to add to the sponsorship, you can do so via www.justgiving.com/provision . Thank you.

Paul Owen

Up in the 4’s for an early registration at this Leicestershire venue – a cold and blustery morning presented itself for this important UK triathlon calendar event.

I entered the lake 5 mins before the start time to acclimatised myself to the chilly water and attempt some kind of a warm. The unfavourable conditions had lowered my motivation for racing but probably helped me ease into this swim more sensibly. I was please to be out of the swim section in a PB time of 25.30 (+ another 10-15 sec to the timing mat).

Out on the bike and I felt fresh, the wind played havoc with my averages– there were sections where I achieved speeds up 70kph and other as slow as 20kph. I managed 1.14.57 for the 42k loop significantly slower then I would hope to achieve in different conditions.

Out on the run and still feeling strong I managed a 36.51 for the slightly shy of 10k run (9.7k). My total time a frustrating 2.20.11. 11 seconds short of the 2.20 benchmark considered to be the Triathlon equivalent to a sub 3 hour Marathon. Still all in all a very positive result given the conditions.  Finishing 28th /200 in my age group in a World Qualifying event I can’t really grumble.

Well done to my friend and fellow Flyer Martin Beare for a very solid performance - I believe he knocked considerable time of his own course PB.

Stephen Morales

Well after my bitter sweet news that i qualified for the GB squad to compete in Spain on the long course Triathlon, but through a silly admin error on my half, i missed race entry. (there were a few choice words i said to myself, like you silly sausage)

Still i now know my times are fast enough for GB slots in the future and i am still PB ing.

The Dambuster Triathlon is an Olympic distance race and this years race was chosen as a world qualifier for that distance, This distance is a bit short for me and i do better in the longer races however its a favourite of mine because the event is set around the scenic Rutland Water and the swim across the dam is a treat.  The event organisers( Pacesetter Events) do a superb job too with an air of professionalism that is beyond approach.

Needless to say there was some of the fastest Triathletes in the country present all hoping for a GB slot for this distance.  My club had a healthy team entry and a good mix of male and female of varied age categories.  My age group was the biggest with 240 in my wave start.

I got kicked in the face in the opening stages of the swim and nearly losing my goggles, this is always a problem with open water mass starts, they are sometimes referred to as washing machine starts.

My swim was not great so was keen to push on once out on the bike.

We had to contend with constant 25 mph winds which made it a bit twichy and hard work on the undulating 42k bike course. I was unlucky to get stopped at 2 T junctions and was slowed by a bit of traffic on several occasions.

The run was a simple 10k, 2 laps across the dam and then back to the finish where the crowds give great support.  Fellow team mate and AFF Steve Morales had a good race finishing 28th in age cat.

Not my best race however finished 25th out of 240 in my age cat, on a world qualifier i suppose i cant complain.  I am at my peak mileage now for my Ironman races (Switzeland and UK) with only 6 weeks to go. My next race is Half Ironman (cowman Emberton Park) 2 weeks time. Bring it on i say, i am loving it.

Martin Beare

118 started on a fresh and sunny morning, this was my first time and I'll definitely be back for more. I found it a friendly event and certainly one to practice 5K as I expect times on most other cources should be quicker. The route I found quite enjoyable, being a mix of flat tree lined paths and a few very short hills, except one which is a 5 or 6 switchback pathway up the side of a bank which really unsettles you. The finish is a bit difficult to judge as it can be seen from over a mile away; it would be all too easy to strike for home too early, but as my aim was steady Eddie I just tried to keep the form. Due to some timing issues I have a self timed 20;22 ( about 12th home) should improve next time as I now know what to expect.

Mike Petty 20.22

I entered this event the day before my bike accident and news flooded round the cycling community of the news.

The organiser put me off near the back of the field and it is normally an unlucky position to be in, especially when you know you will be the last finisher. It was his tactic, to see if I would start, as the traffic on the A1 can get busy at 7am in the morning plus he knew I had lost some confidence in riding the bike.

The aim was to ride comfortably at 20mph and to record a time of 2hrs 30 mins. To my surprise my time was my 2nd fastest 50 miles of 2hrs 24mins 39 secs and a 6 mins course best.

Comments from the day - I wasn't even trying, being spurred on by the Marshalls at the roundabout, not bad for the 1st 50 miles of the year!

Next Saturday is the National 50 miles champs and in three weeks time is the national 100 miles champs, so who knows.

The problem is after Sunday's performance there are a few people that are now edging their bets for a top 50 placing in this Saturdays National 50 miles and top 30 place in the national 100miles TT Champs

Debbie Knott

This was the first time I’d run in this local event but knowing the area pretty well I roughly knew what to expect. The starting officials (Ady and Tim) set us on our way with the first K a tough climb along a rough pathway to the top of the Barton hills which showed how important those Tuesday night hill sessions are. I was the first flyer to the top but paid the price for too fast a start with Martin and Mark cruising past shortly after. They started to disappear into the distance and I dug in to try and keep them in sight. The route takes you through some splendid countryside which takes your mind off the exhaustion. As you know, you can hit a bad patch in a race but miraculously start to feel better a mile or two later or you just simply get worse. Fortunately this time it was the former and I started to get back into my stride. The last K not surprisingly is a rapid descent and I just let myself go passing Mark on the way down.

Found the event very enjoyable and well organised, friendly and enthusiastically marshalled. There was good turn out from the club for a race that’s well worth supporting.

Andy A

Well what can I say?

Understandably, knowing the weather, I knew this was not going to be an easy ride, the wind and rain were both out to play havoc, arriving at the venue I had to relise that this was not going to be a “PB” evening, but still, its good practise biking in this weather, it makes you work harder……………and more tiring!

I had a good warm up and immediately felt the wind, this was not going to be easy, which ever direction you were going in, you either had cross wind or head wind, no tail wind today………..well saying that, there never is!

The first four miles you had cross wind, so this was the ideal chance to get some speed up before the head wind took over, yet no matter how hard I peddled, I just did not seem to go anywhere, at one point I felt like I was in a car wash, being hammered by wind and rain from all directions!

I did not feel to great during this course, this could have been due to the weather, and as it was very wet, I was not prepare to really go for it, knowing that one slip and I would be finished.

Coming to the finish, I gave everything I could till the end, slightly disappointed as I was 3 mins off from two weeks back but hey I guess that’s what happens

Straight off the bike, my running shoes were there, chucked them on and headed for a short run, good transition practise and felt pretty good.

Lets hope for better weather this Sunday

Leigh Pilgrim 38:10

Another warm one for an undulating Road course on the outskirts of Banbury, not a race I wish to remember, a niggling injury carried for several weeks proved to much on this course, banishing me to second after an overzealous official was just too excitable. The Aff squad picked up some valuable points and again some impressive times. Joel’s improvement by 30 seconds over the Corby Round, demonstrated how tough the Welland valley really was, need we say……. Nick majestically took 2nd MV65…….

Phil Holland

This was my 2nd Triathlon of the season and iam delighted to say it involved an overnight stay in sunny Weymouth as it was a big event and registration was compulsory the Saturday before race day.

My club had a decent entry so it was going to be interesting and exciting racing against team mates.  The race distance was middle distance (half ironman) 2k swim, 56 mile bike, half marathon.

The swim was a in the sea which was interesting initially as the first 100 yards was sent running through shallow water as the tide was out.  I had a bad start as i went anaerobic with the sea temp and excitement taking my breath away, i was forced to tread water to allow my heart rate to return to something like normal. At this point i was 3rd from last, i soon found my rhythm and pace and fought my way up the field and was please to exit the sea at the front end.

A swift transition soon got me on my trusty TT bike, the course took us along the sea front and then away from Weymouth heading for long fast hilly duel carriage ways, villages and long A roads.  I pushed hard on the bike in windy conditions as i had knowledge that i was going to be chased on this race, I had few dramas apart from a near miss with a farm tractor pulling out in front of me whilst i was at top speed, oh dam i cried (i clean that up a bit, ok a lot).

I returned to T2 got my and was holding good position and was happy, until i discovered that my legs would not work, i had pushed to hard on the bike and now i was going to pay for it, added to this my lower back was in spasm too, the heat from the sun was also going to make the half marathon a tough one. This is where i use my trump card, switch the mind to push on and feel no pain, i was not about to give up after all the effort on the swim and bike.

I came in 9 mins faster than last year and a PB and 2nd club member home 4.56.11 only beaten by Elite team mate Craig Halsley who finished 5th overall in a quality field.  I was a little disappointed as i feel my race could have been better, however pleased with my consistent form.

Next race in 2 weeks (A World Qualifying round) The Dambuster, An Olympic distance Triathlon at Rutland Water.

Martin Beare

A pre race treat to see a cheerful bunch of flyers itching to start, A fast start (again) from the Coventry Godiva guy’s pushed the pace hard for the first couple of miles, immediately spreading the field into good working packs, I found myself challenging for the lead and eventually making my kick for home a 7km (knowing the last 2km was fast downhill), I managed to break and took the win. Joel after a very busy race calendar gave a truly gritted race, out kicking three of the competition with a sprint finish. Nick again showed his consistency taking 2nd MV65.

Phil Holland

Where to start? This event was the hardest and most painful physical activity I have ever done, if not the hardest thing I have ever done. I entered this with my two amigo ultrateers, Richard Jones and Robbie Craig. We put in a lot ot training, including 40 mile runs, back to back marathons and 70-80 mile training weeks. I can honestly say I have never been fitter. We thought we were ready. This was an event put on by the Long Distance Walkers Association, with the walkers going off at 10am and the runners 12 or 2pm. Dave Sedgley and Steve Smith went off with the walkers. We went off at 12 with 60-70 runners. There were 17 checkpoints mostly in very remote places, with each laying on an abundance of food and drink. The scenery throughout the event varied between stunning and staggering. We climbed so high, at various points we could see snow on the mountains around us, although we didn't run through any. There was a total of 13,225 ft of assent and descent and by the end, the downhills were as bad as the uphills.

We started off at a steady pace of around 5 miles an hour although we knew that would drop. That might not sound much, but by the time you factor in the stops at the checkpoints and the huge amount of climbing we had to do, that was in fact quite quick. The checkpoints were around 6-7 miles apart and initially we certainly made steady progress. It was 90% off road, over constantly undulating, muddy, wet, stony ground although in the first few sections this was at least on trails. If you don't know Scotland its hard to describe just how remote and unrelenting the country can be, for mile upon mile. Imagine the most difficult patch of ground in Bedfordshire you have ever come across. It will be about a tenth of the difficulty of the areas we went through over 36 hours. Even so, after we started we began catching the walkers and were all running within ourselves and quite well. It drizzled constantly for most of the first afternoon and the temperature was quite low. We passed along numerous Lochs, through open land with mile upon mile of heather and gorse, and lots of forests. We did see a nesting Osprey on route which was a fine sight, but I cant say where due to strict instructions from the organizers.

The rules required that we took with us a number of things including waterproofs. We all cut corners and took the lightest things we could find, which I would deeply regret later. We all ate a lot at every stop, washed down with numerous cups of tea (I estimate I drank at over 40 cups over the event!). We covered the first 36 miles comfortably and met our support crew in advance of time at around 8.30pm and enjoyed a pre ordered salty bag of chips and scotch pie. We were still feeling good at this point. Re-fueled we set off again and prepared ourselves for running throughout the night. It got dark around 11pm and the rain heavier. At this point I was still in a pair of shorts, running top and running jacket, non of which were waterproof. I had been constantly wet for hour upon hour already. My feet were clearly in a bad way, having basically been wet for 8 hours plus. They were already soft and tender and a change of socks brought temporary relief only. Imagine what your feet are like at the end of a hot bath when you have stayed in too long and then multiply that 3 fold.

We ran along the old A9 for a couple of hours, which in truth was dreadful. It was now dark, wet and very cold. By the time we reached the checkpoint, it was around 1am, it was raining very heavily, we were all very cold, sodden and dreading the next 4 hours until it got light. In a tent in the middle of what seemed like no-where, I put on what clothes I had and wrapped a survival blanket around me under my running top, eventually stopping shivering. We looked in envy at the walkers who, whilst tired, were prepared for the conditions with full, thick and warm waterproofs. That probably wasn't the best time to receive a text from George Arbuckle saying we should get some rest and he was off to bed! I managed to reply without swearing. It was around this point that the trails became very intermittent and we agreed to walk. We did so for the next 3 hours, passing through forests, over Erochty Dam and Loch Erochty. By the time it was light, the trails had on the whole disappeared and the pain in my feet had started to become quite bad. For mile upon mile, we had to wade through wet, sodden ground, over and through heather/gorse with no trail at all. The heather was particularly bad. You could not see where you were going to put your foot and more often than not, it was either into a hollow, saturated muddy ground or both. The heather and gorse also lasted for I would guess at least 20 miles over the event.

By the time we reached the breakfast stop at around 6am, we knew we had to have a long rest. Porridge with lashings of golden syrup was followed by a full Scottish breakfast. Richard was so tired, he fell asleep for half an hour where he was sitting bolt upright at the breakfast table. It was hard to leave and indeed Sedgers dropped out at that point. Certainly, people were dropping like flies at every checkpoint, with the body bus in constant use. Seeing people giving up was hard, knowing the distance left and the increasing pain that would inevitably come. Another change of socks, liberal coatings of Vaseline and painkillers had little effect. The only thing that stopped my feet from hurting was sitting down.

Never the less, carry on we did. If I had known then how unrelentingly hard the ground would become and the pain I would go through, I may have given up sooner. They placed one self clip checkpoint at the bottom of one 700 metre climb that was tortuous, up through the heather on a particularly steep incline that took an age to cover. I was developing severe blisters and basically ran and then walked in pain for all of the remaining 15 hours. The climbs weren't just hills, they were literally mountains and munroes. By the time we reached our supporters again the next day, we had been moving forward for over 25 hours and had dropped to running for 100 metres and walking the same. We met them at Fotheringall Yew, which is the oldest tree in Europe, around 4 hours behind time. From that point on, we mostly walked. I had changed my socks 3 times, rested my feet at the stops, put on every plaster I had, used blister and ice spray, but the pain simply would not go away. After Fotheringall, we climbed over 2000 feet up a mountain called Schiehallion, albeit not to the peak, skirted around its flank and dropped back into yet another sodden gorse filled valley that went on for miles. There were sections where we took an hour to cover a mile. It was for us no longer a running race, but simply a test of endurance and will power. By this stage we all had something wrong with us and the banter that had taken place in the first say 15 hours, totally disappeared for the last 20 hours. The most annoying thing for me, was that I still had the strength in my legs to run. I had no muscle problems, no strains, no cramp. What I did have was severely painful feet that hurt with every single step that I took. I had to shuffle along, as the pain of bringing my foot down onto the ground from a running position was just too much.

By the time we reached the 86 mile checkpoint, we were moving at around 2 1/2 - 3 miles an hour, had spread out a bit and we were all hobbling. Richard's head had just gone and he simply couldn't carry on. It was hard to see him in such a bad way, but once he decided to stop it was clearly a relief to him. Robbie and I painfully walked out, to begin another section that would prove to be the start of our downfall. Normally 18 miles to me, is nothing more than an average training run that I dont think twice about, but at this point 18 miles of mostly uphill climbing seemed awful and at least another 7 hours on our feet. The next section just went 1400 feet steadily uphill all the way. How we made it, I honestly do not know. We inched our way along, not saying a word to each other for hours on end. Robbie had fashioned a makeshift walking stick from a tree branch and hobbled all the way. We were both in an awful amount of pain, but we still drove on. The thought of not finishing drove us forward.

We eventually made the 97 mile checkpoint and sat in the tent for 30minutues. Another chap also in a bad way, phoned his wife and told her to go home as he was going to have a kip for 3 hours and try to cover the last 7 miles after that. I wish we had.

We left the checkpoint. By now, it was again dark, we were going into the second night and the trail was totally uneven, very stony and wet. My head was going, I began to see the grass dancing and I was in agony with every footstep. Trouble was, we were still in the middle of no where and had no choice other than going on. The final descent onto a road, finally did me in. It was about a mile long, down a very uneven, steep, stony zig zagging path. Every step felt as though a knife was being plunged into both feet and the pain was more than I have ever experienced. Robbie was in the same way. That last mile probably took an hour. When we reached the road we had covered 101 miles and we had 3 miles to go. 3 miles. Might as well have been 30. I just could not go through another 2-3 hours of that level of pain and had to call in the cavalry to come and get us. For us to give up at that point, we clearly had reached the very bottom of our will power. Those that know me, just know I don't give up on things. If I say I will do something, generally I prepare and just get on with it. To stop with 3 miles to go meant we were both in a very bad way and we were. Even now as I write this days later, I don't regret doing so. I know I simply could not have gone on. I had pushed my mind and my body as far as it could go and I just couldn't go any further. My mind could no longer block out the pain. I really cant exaggerate how much pain my feet were in and indeed had been in for hour upon hour but particularly in the final 18 miles. Once decided, we were both relieved to at least have made 101 miles. We were picked up and my feet tendered by my own private father in law doctor. They were very badly bruised, almost raw and covered in blisters, with two toe nails on their way to dropping off. One blister in particular was the biggest I have ever seen! It covered my heel and part of my instep, was very bulbous and squashingly full of fluid. There were other smaller ones on both feet. My ankles were also swollen and painful. It was sooo nice to sit down, have them treated and drink 3 very large whiskies! I doubt that I could have got as far as I did, without Richard and Robbie. We will share the pain and experience of this event. All I can do chaps is say that I wouldn't have wanted to do it without either of you, your both amazing athletes and most importantly, thank you. By the way, wait until you hear what I have got planned for next year!!

Annoyingly, it was ultimately just my feet and ankles that stopped me. I was actually fit enough. My legs weren't that stiff, they were still reasonably supple and quite strong and after the event I had little stiffness. Could I have done anything different? Well yes. Proper clothes for a start and much better shoes, that might have stopped or at least delayed my feet problems. Very good waterproofs and probably two changes of shoes at least. Would I do it again? At the finish, I didn't even want to run again, but with time the memory of the pain will fade, so ask me again in 2 weeks (and don't tell my wife the answer!). Now, a matter of days after the event, as I write this I am still in Scotland. My feet and ankles still hurt. I am within spitting distance of the finish. I am willing my feet to get better enough to let me run the last two legs, to banish the demons. I suspect I wont be able, but the fire inside me wanting to do it is there. Heck, will I do it again? Of course, only next time it will be bigger and harder and I will be prepared.

On a lighter note, I am enjoying vino, McEwens and the Scottish cuisine. We went to get a pizza the other night and they asked us did we want it fried or battered!!! Honest. Deep fried mars bars also on the menu. We declined.

Quite a turn out this evening for the Flyers, a number of known faces turned up to have a go at this time trial.

The weather was awesome (if a little windy) but otherwise perfect conditions. My aim for this event was to get around 38 mins. With all the training I have put into biking over the last couple of months, plus the advise from training buddies Steve Morales, Martin Beare and Phil Holland, I knew this was possible.

The interesting part of this was, the extreme elites (Phil and Steve) were right behind me, so the idea was to see how far I could get before they overtook.

I darted straight off and found myself in a comfortable position on the tri bars, pushed it as hard as I could, first check point for me was the bottom of the hill, quick gear change, up the hill, the back up in top, bushing as hard as I could.

Without realising it, I was generally doing really well, and for those that know it, it was just after the Cricket ground that Steve James overtook!

Keeping low I tried to keep up with the cyclists in front, on one of the hardest parts of the course, things started to hurt……….alot! But I wasn’t going to give up, everyone probably felt the same, but they all kept going.

On the last stretch of road, the wind was incredible, I could see Karen in the distance and I was getting closer and closer and closer, until yes, I managed to overtake…………….shouting “This really hurts!!”

Finally I passed the line and was amazed to see the time on my watch, I was hoping for around 38 mins and managed 35!

Leigh Pilgrim: 35:40

This particular distance Triathlon is new to the UK and this was the first time it was to be run.  The distance being a 3/4 Triathlon, not quite an ironman. (2,600 meter lake swim,) (80 mile bike) (20 mile run).

This was a big ask this early in the season and the first triathlon for me this year, however the distance was right up my street and a good measuring stick of how well my winter training had been.  The week leading up to this event had been unseasonably cold with 3 nights of frost, this was quite significant as the governing body for the sport the B.T.F have safety limits on water temperature, the limit being 12.5 and it had been 11 only days prior to race day.  A decision could not be made until race morning whether the race was on so it was off down to Romney Marshes on the south coast and to our hotel.

On arrival at race HQ to register the evening before the race, i could not help noticing a huge wind farm, i thought to my self they don't put them there for no reason, this going to be windy one.  Any how i was up for anything as i have been starved of racing since last season and i was keen to find out how race fit i was and to carry on with the pleasing season i had last year.  My race started at 6.45am and my target of 8hrs was very ambitious but that's just me.

The lake was cold but warmer than expected and i was pleased with a solid swim and trying to hold back a little as it was going to be a long day.

T1 was a little slow as i decided to kit up in warmer clothing for the 80 mile bike as it was cold and windy. The first half mile i decided just to spin the legs and re fuel in readiness for some serious biking. The miles came and went and was pleased with a trouble free 80 miles in 3hrs 53 mins. (in 25 mph winds).  I was hoping i had not pushed to hard on the bike so my legs could push out a reasonable 20 mile run.

I was delighted to feel very comfortable and even happier to pick off so many runners, i made sure i used all the aid stations to refuel and hydrate.

The run was quite boring with long empty roads and it was hard to keep the mind going, however i did know i was going well in the race which was enough to keep me focused and pushing.

I was delighted to finish the race and even more delighted to finish in the top 10 overall and 2nd in my age category and beating my target by 17 mins. Total time 7hrs 42 mins including transitions.

Even more pleasing this showed me my training has been good over the winter and my overall fitness is good and my targets for sub 11hr ironman is realistic and on schedule.

I now look forward to my next Triathlon (Weymouth half ironman) in 3 weeks that's a sea swim so hope it warms up soon.

Little gem of a race yesterday, small field, familiar hills from the Oakley 20 route, nice friendly atmosphere and good to see the flyers presence increasing year on year!

It was a beautiful day for a run - around the lovely rolling countryside of west Northamptonshire.

The route was two loops from Farthingstone - the first of 15 miles to the east took in 3.5 mile of the Grand Union canal, with the water shimmering in the morning sun & my first sight this year of an orange tip butterfly.

The second to the north west was much hillier (with some lovley views) and well over 11 miles. I measured it as 12.5 - so we did 27.5 miles in all.

What an evening, the sun was out, no wind and a perfect temperature, ideal conditions for biking, not like the last couple of weeks where I have been fighting, wind, rain, tornadoes and hurricanes (ok, maybe slightly exaggerating there) but with the British weather recently, it has certainly felt like it!

All the usual Monsters were there, until I turned up (Capt Slow) but hey, one must remember this is a race against yourself, so why am I now tying a jet engine to my bike……..(don’t tell work, I’m sure the aircraft can still fly with one engine)

Had a fairly decent warm up and then headed my way to the start. The first 4 miles to the main T-junction are probably the hardest 4 miles of course, believe me its tough, the first hill doesn’t seem much until your right on it, then it hits you, after that your free to burn up the miles.

After getting through the toughest part, I tried to keep a good rhythm and decent speed, but I felt I over cooked it at the start (so what’s new)

The last hill had come and gone, my recovery was pretty quick and I gave it everything, whacked it in top gear and just pumped it as hard as I could, managed to break my speed record as well.

Coming past the hill, still pumping away, I was feeling terrible, I was in the “TRI aero” position and literally bottom off the seat as though I was running, I was absolutely giving it everything I could.

My speed dropped as I got near the end and just had to keep up as much as I could. Coming up to the finish I could not believe my eyes, the time keeps had got up and were walking back to the club house, I shouted at them “last one” followed by my number to which the look on their faces was just as shocking as mine.

Back at the club house there was slight confusion as someone had apparently called out my number, realising I had my number on the back of my jacket, there was no argument. I had also timed myself they took this down, I should have asked them to keep the original…………………..results should be interesting.

I wanted anything under 40mins, so for the first TT of this year, not bad, my aim of 35mins should be completed later this year

The final long run before a three week taper. Hurrah. This was a much busier event than the previous day’s marathon, organised very well by Halstead road runners. I would guess there were about 800 runners. It was dry and warmer than Orpington and probably just about ideal marathon running temperature. I ran it two years ago when the temperature was scorching and this was much better. The course itself is best described as undulating most of the way, as opposed to hilly on roads in mostly open country. We ran past loads of way markers across fields and I just about resisted the urge to dive off onto one of them to see where I ended up. Again there were lots of water stations and encouraging marshals that meant running without the need for a bottle or watch. Mind you, the sausage roll someone gave me at 18 miles did go down very well I must admit. We did have to loop once, but that meant we went past one particularly good spectator point 4 times which gave something to look forward to.

At the start of the race I was surprisingly energetic and even said to Richard that if we ran steady and got to 20 feeling as good as yesterday, we could pick it up for the last 6. Unfortunately early on, Robbie had an injury which slowed him down and would eventually lead to him dropping out at halfway, which was very sensible. The last time I tried to run through an injury in a race, I was out for 7 weeks. RJ and I pushed on and found Paul Barton doing his 9th marathon in 9 weeks I think. It became clear my energetic plans were fading and the fast last 6 miles gave way to a sensible last 5 with a quicker last mile. As we had set out so conservatively, apart from the water stops no one over took us and always from mile 20 on we took over a lot of the field which given we had run one the day before was somewhat surprising and probably made us run a bit quicker. On both days we had no idea of the time and ran on feel, so it was a nice surprise to get in under 4 hours for both and by someway for this one.

At least my lad asked this time how it went and showed some interest. Trouble is that was only number 27 and still have 73 to go! Am now on taper, before a little matter of a 104 miler at the end of the month.

Bit of a grey morning, but a pleasant run over a very flat course. Lots of support from the locals and very well organised with nearly 1700 runners negotiating a narrow start/finish through Higginson Park. Quite a few very quick athletes competing - including Hayley Yelling. The rest of us followed on at a more leisurely pace!!

Nice to see both Pete and Dawn Bird putting in some excellent times.

As I had read that the course was fairly hilly at Bleinheim Palance, I wasn't expecting any record breaking times. The weather was overcast but not raining and fairly nice conditions for running. It was quite a carnival atmosphere as a large majority of the runners were unattached entries. The start wasn't that well organised, and as I was quite near to the back I spent about 10 minutes dodging people, after we eventually got going. The course was as described, undulating, however when you spend some of your time running around Ampthill Park it wasn't too bad. Mainly paved with some rocky bumpy road through the woods. Well marked out and a good reception at the finish, with chip timing and a goody bag absolutely full of energy replacement products (which I didn't feel I needed after only 7K). I was really pleased with my time as it is only my fifth week back running after whats seems ages off with an injury. Would recommend it for a family day out as you can wander round the grounds for free (outside the palace) after the race.

The final long training weekend saw me and the two other ultrateers head off to Orpington for the first of two marathons, on a cold, wet and miserable day. This was a low key event organised by an individual who was raising money for the Footsteps Charity, with the assistance of the local round table and church volunteers. As such, we weren’t expecting a well oiled race organised by a running club, which was emphasised by the notes for the race which basically had a toilet stop halfway around in someone’s house! Never the less, there was a nice atmosphere and a reasonable turnout of about I would guess 70-80. The route was pretty boring, with two laps of the outskirts of Orpington. However, that meant there were lots of water stops and very enthusiastic marshals, who were a real credit to the race. Even the constant drizzle in the second half wasn’t a problem.

We decided to take it easy and ran the first half comfortably, without any watches (or for that matter food and water bottles for the whole race). Things were going fine until Mr.Craigs gastro belching led to a pit stop at the house in question. There was a marshal outside, but it wasn’t his gaff. We think the owners knew their house was being used, but Ricard Jones and I walked a bit up the road just in case, leaving Robbie at their mercy! He clearly took full advantage of the toilet break and must have cooked them some breakfast the time he took, or else he really did have a dicky botty. Either way, that was about the highlight of the race which was mostly on busy main roads that weren’t closed at all. We crossed a lot of traffic lights and caught some strange looks from the public. There was also a half and 10k, which started 2 ½ hours after the marathon on the same route which meant a busier finish, with still plenty of tea, coffee cakes etc available. On the whole, a good event although not a PB race. When I got home, my son didn’t even realise for an hour I had run a marathon. I might just be running too much me thinks!

This was our final “hard weekend” at the end of four weeks of silly training, before a three week taper leading up to out 105 miler at the end of May.

It was Saturday so it must be Orpington. This was advertised as a multi-terrain marathon so I was a bit put out when the multi-terrain consisted of about 800m of off road running and the rest was running a 2 lap course around the streets of Orpington. It was organised by a local church to support their charity “Little Feet” which raises money to keep kids off the street in Kenya. It was obviously very low key right from our arrival when we were told that there were toilets at number 79. The house next to the church was 147 and when there wasn’t a queue for the loos number 79 didn’t seem to matter much any more.

We started about ten minutes late and set off at a steady pace. Not wearing watches we didn’t have a clue about time and as we didn’t see any mile markers we didn’t have a clue how far we had run, apart from the fact that we hadn’t yet completed the first lap. At least when we passed near the start we knew we must have done about 13 miles. Things were going quite well and I think we were starting to pick up the pace. The race was well supported by marshals and numerous water stations. We stopped at one of the water stations where we’d had a chat with the couple manning it on the first way round. Robbie complained about stomach cramps. Paul and I said don’t worry we’ll walk up this short hill and you can catch us up. When we got to the top of the hill Robbie still hadn’t caught up and we looked behind and we couldn’t see him anywhere. He thought he must be behind the hedge at the water station, but after a few minutes longer we were starting to get a bit puzzled. I must say we were standing in a very pleasant road with very desirable houses. One particularly pleasant double fronted house had number 105 on the door. The penny dropped and a theory was planted in my mind. I started counting the houses back down the hill and finally realised what had happened. So the first time in my life I started running back along a marathon course and Robbie emerged, fully serviced, just before I reached number 79.

The race progressed and Robbie was starting to find the pace a bit stiff. I really fancied a fast last 6 miles but resisted as we had to hold something back for the morrow, but Paul and I picked the pace up and finished quite strongly. Robbie must have had a good last 6 miles as well and came in with stomach cramps not far behind. Robbie then proceeded to chat up some of the upstanding members of the congregation and seemed to be getting on very well with a 75 year old woman who told him, “Seeing all these bare chests, reminds me of my days in the rugby club when all the payers used to run through the bar with nothing on apart from a towel on their head and we had to guess who they were.” She didn’t get on to her desire to relive her past, but it was definitely time to go.

Sunday, so it must be Halstead and another road marathon. Robbie was keen to do his own thing as he wasn’t sure about a few niggles he had, so I set off with Paul, slowly at first and after about 6 miles I felt as though I had run about 18. Remarkably I didn’t feel any worse for the next twelve miles and we started to crank it up. As we approached half way we realised we were on for a sub 4 hour marathon, having been given a distance time update by the ever present Paul Barton at about 12 miles.

We pushed on and just got quicker as the race went on. We both found 18-22 miles difficult but a sausage roll at about 22 seemed to do the trick and we ran hard to the finish. Paul was particularly strong at the end, but I just about managed to hang on.

Don’t tell Brian Layton, but Robbie did not finish as he wisely didn’t push his injury.

I wasn't expecting much from this race and when I arrived with Richard Jones, he seemed a little surprised that it was a road marathon as RunnersWorld had stated it was multi-terrain. In reality there was a 1/4 mile stretch that was off-road, the rest of the course was very urban. and involved pounding the pavements, stopping at zebra crossings and traffic lights and keeping a wary eye out for traffic.

I'm not sure why I enjoyed this race so much, I suspect a lot of has to do with the people that were running it, They were all so keen and the number of marshalls and the frequency of water/iso stops was far more than I'm used to for this sort of event. In addition the out and back 2 lap course course had a long slow downhill on the return. , which suited my running perfectly and for a while even found myself in front of Messrs Owen and Jones. Unfortunately they soon tagged me back and later I had to stop for 5 minutes due to stomach cramps (too much porridge?) which persisted through the last 8 miles of the race. The final mile was a steep uphill, which really hurt, so to still clock 3h:58m while feeling ill, stopping for traffic and walking part of the way , then end up only 6 or 7 minutes behind Richard and Paul was a great result.

By the way, the race was free to enter, but there was a suggested charitable donation. In the end I had to concede the race was worth a lot more than the suggested tariff and stumped up accordingly. Sometimes its suprising and even difficult to say just what makes a race special, but I have to admit, this is one I'll remember.

PS Yes I did run the Halsted & Essex marathon next day, but the less said about that the better

A perfect evening at Silverstone, No wind, great temperature and a wonderful field, had a stunning run, surprised even myself, great to see Richard Wilson’s return to road racing, and a the forever positive Richard Pillinger.

Thanks for your words of encouragement guy’s, and again the coaches for there endless work to improve us all, THANKS

To place matters in context Phil has notched the 4th quickest 10K time for an East Region Athlete this year and is second only to B&C's Owain Matthews who recorded a 30:47 pb at Eastleigh in March.

As a rule I don't do 5 or 10k because they kill me!!! However as I work across the road from the track at Force India F1 Team, I thought it would be rude not too. I first ran this event in my early years as a Flyer, which was nearly 10 years ago :-( I always remember it being a fast one and I was right it's still fast!!!!!!! With my legs still hurting from the Oxon 20 I managed a PB of 55:06...not bad for someone who hates short runs.

The Great Weston 5 lives up to its name I decided today. Running through beautiful Northamptonshire countryside on a mix of road and farm tracks and paths you can almost not notice the ups and downs, of which there were loads – including a notorious climb right at the end. I did notice them, though, despite the drum rolling at the start and end and words of encouragement written on the tracks like ‘real athletes run – they don’t play games’ and ‘runners do, others watch’. And so finished in 47.06 (their time on clock at end) slap bang in the middle of the Weston May Day Fair - where there were lamas and bouncy castles to entertain us. I did feel a slight twinge of guilt for not doing the Flitton Flit this year but as my mum lives near Weston and wanted to do it for her birthday treat I was persuaded to join her. (She’s lucky, my mum.) And it’s a good race to go for if you’re fast because the winners get a barrel of beer, allegedly. I got a t-shirt and a nice medal.

Last weekend marked the start of the season Tri Season for many of us:

On Sunday I had ago at the Beds Sprint ( County Champs)

This was an opportunity to get a feel for the multi discipline race environment, get comfortable with the TT bike set up again and generally just test the water (metaphorically speaking).

Conditions were awful - amongst the worst I have ever experienced in a Tri - driving cold winds and wet slippery road surfaces.

Despite this I was able to claim first place in my age group V40 and finished 13th overall ( possibly aided by absence of the usual contenders Kieran Lewis and Steve Mac)....still I’ll take it while I can.

I was very please with my run split @18.21 for 5k (winter running miles have definitely helped) but the bike needs work – the 400m swim was OK approx. 6.40 excluding run to the chip mat.

We definitely had a record turnout from the club for this event. I think 3 did the 40 miles, while I opted for the shortened version, and over 15 did the 20!

Lots of bluebells, cherry blossom and even an Orlando Bloom.

Daayyyy 384 in the big brother ultra training huse. If its a Saturday, it must be long distance running day, and so it was. Me and the two ultrateers packed our very worn out daps and headed off to Henley on Thames for what promised to be a very long day out following last weeks marathons. We were all surprisingly OK and not fazed by the days running ahead. This was a Long Distance Walkers Association event, which welcomed runners. It had a 20 mile route, with a 40 mile as well using the same checkpoints, with 3 extra loops from checkpoints 1, 3 and 5 which was a clever use of resources. There was a staggered start, with the early walkers going off at 7am. As a result, we started with just a few runners at 9.23am, with a plan to run slowly, walk the hills and eat a lot at all the checkpoints. The scenery was superb all the way, with the route covering the Chiltern Way. At least 95% was off road and there were many, many stiles, hills, valleys, animals, magnificent country homes, cricket matches, woods, trails and at least 20 plus Flitwick Flyers walking the 20 mile route. It was a nice surprise at around 7 miles to catch up with Goldi, a gaggle of gorgeous gals and Sedgers at the first checkpoint who was also running the 40 but who had started earlier. At checkpoint 3, Ann mentioned she had seen Orlando Bloom walking in the woods ( as did another runner), to which Ricardo Jones replied, who he? The boy has got the makings of a fine Judge, me thinks.

There was a lot of food and drink at the checkpoints, which we consumed with gusto. We wanted to use this as a gauge for our 104, which is now less than 4 weeks away. I found out that lots of sugarery cups of tea are a must, I hate marmite sandwiches and that we are going to have to climb a huge amount in Scotland. This was a very well organized event, the route description was spot on (we did it all without a map and just using written instructions), no medal but certificate in the post, as much food as you wanted all the way with a great cooked dinner at the end. All for the princely sum of £8. This was an exceptionally good value event, on a different planet experience wise to London marathon the weekend before and a very enjoyable long distance training run with no pressure at all. A half marathon midweek and two more marathons at the weekend beckon for me this week and then the taper. So far, not had any letters from a divorce lawyer which is also a bonus.

ORLANDO, A DOG AND A BEVY OF BEAUTIES

For those of you who have ever walked or run the Henley 20 or 40 you will know you are guaranteed to see a whole plethora of differing flora and fauna. So it proved this year when on Sat 1st May a whole squadron of the Flyers finest completed either the 20 mile or 40 mile routes through some of the best countryside England has to offer.

I was very fortunate to be accompanied by 11 lady Flyers (yes boys that is right 11. Well if you have it, why deny it I always say) and one sterling dog. We also saw on route a number of Flyers Nutters namely, Paul Owen, Richard Jones, old Salty Nuts himself Robbie Craig and the indomitable Dave Sedgley powering around the 40 mile course.

However myself and the majority of my lady chums (Val von Arx, Sue Weir, Annie Page, Jenny Pedder, Ann de Winter, Leslee-Anne Dawe and Good Dog Leo) adopted a more sedate pace and enjoyed all that the countryside had to offer. There were those more fleet of foot, namely Pat Godfrey, Ann Clarkson, Chris Inskip, Lisa Bassett and Wendy Thompson who favoured a speedier pace and powered on ahead.

Ah, and what did this superior pace bring? Disappointment I have to say, in that is so doing they missed the sighting of the day, in the shape of a Hollywood Superstar, one Orlando Bloom!!!

Now I have to confess when this gentleman and his minder strolled past with a couple of dogs I paid them no heed. But when Ann de Winter went all of a quiver and started fluttering I did think that for a moment we had espied an especially exotic breed of duck or similar (Ann I should hasten to add is our resident identifier of all things fluttery). No it was aforesaid Mr Bloom.

Well it beats going all orgasmic over yet another bunch of b....y bluebells, or ahhing over lunch in the making in the shape of lambses (although they were a little short in number this year), or gasping at the magnificent red kites that hovered above us, but I did feel a twinge of jealousy. In other words what does Mr Bloom have that I don’t!!! (No replies to this please, as my ego has taken enough of a battering).

So with excitement like this to propel us forward, the remaining 10 miles or so flew by. Well actually they didn’t, but all credit to everyone who finished especially the Henley Virgins (you know who you are) who were completing this magnificent Long Distance Walkers Association event for the first time.

Next year the 40 and perhaps I can rustle up Kate Winslet for the boys – yeah! yeah!

Yours sore of foot

I'm only writing this report because out of all the lovely ladies from Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers who did Oxon 20 GOLDI forgot about me in his report!!!!! Goldi I forgive you :-)

Our aim was not about time it was more about running/walking 20 miles and enjoying ourselves and that's exactly what myself, Chris, Lisa, Wendy, Ann and Pat did. Loved every bit and would do it again...Fab day, Fab event!!!!

Distances: 1st Run:10 KM, Bike:40 KM, 2nd Run: 5 KM

Phil Holland First in 1.46.54secs (36 seconds ahead of the second place athlete).

After qualifying for this race last year, it was always on my radar, but an unsuccessful start to the multisport calendar meant I decided to focus on my running rather than Duathlon for this season (still am), but after Tim Harris gave me some wise words I confirmed my entry.

For a major race I was very relaxed, I was there to enjoy the atmosphere created by the GB Team at these events, and the great racing always being displayed, not to pin my season on, so I stepped up to the start.

The 1st Run was steady, staying with the front pack on the 10k Run, Transition was smooth and found myself quite fresh on bike, 40km later I had slipped down the field to 4th but only 30 seconds behind Bouchette the French No.1, transitioned well and my favorite bit the 5km sprint to the finish, I picked up lee Cauldren (GBR) out of transition, then the German Athlete, I could see Bouchette returning on the 1st of 2 laps, I’d already taken 15 seconds out of him and he looked like he was working hard, I pushed on to an eruptive crowd taking the No.1 spot at the end of the 1st lap, the next 2.5k felt ever so long, I new all I had to do was maintain my pace, Knee’s driving stay relaxed, drop my shoulders, work the arms…. The last 100m was fantastic as we re-entered Stanislas Sq for the last time, the crowd had grown, the noise was unbelievable, I had a GB flag tossed at me as I crossed the line, quite possibly the most emotional finish yet.

My Thanks as always goes to my Wife, Nutritionist & Physio Nik, without Nik I wouldn’t have the support to train as I do, and of course the fantastic coaches at AFF, the training sessions, support and encouragement you give me pushes me forever harder.

A Big thanks to you All.

Well as a London reject I thought I'd trot over to Germany to sample the beer and run a marathon at the same time, as my times generally have been improving recently I felt confident I could comfortably achieve a 4:15 marathon as i'd heard it was nice and flat I put a bit of pressure on myself had A MONTH off the beer and attached myself to the 4:15 pace makers with the bouncy green balloons to help achieve my goal.

Initially i wondered if I'd chosen the right game plan, perhaps I had over egged it and set off too fast?, I wasn't used to this pace in a marathon and dreaded hitting that so far elusive wall. the first 5k was challenging but comfortable and I obviously found my rhythm as I managed to lose the bouncy green balloons at the next water station, kept looking around every now and then but they were nowhere to be seen:-)

Pretty uneventful as i maintained my 5 minute lead on target all the way through the markers, i think it helped a bit that it was in German (KM markers) it confused my brain enough to not count the miles, and you probably know what happens when you start trying to do calculations in your head when its all fuzzy!

At 32k, with only 10k to go I knew I was almost there, kept telling myself only 6 miles, but previous experience shows they are often longer than the previous 20, therefore kept on expecting to feel terrible, yippee that didn't really happen until 5k from the end and by that point I knew I could simply hang on and let the adrenalin finish me off. In true flyers fashion I even managed a sprint finish to try and get in under 4:10 but didn't quite manage it - not too bothered thou as I'd already obliterated my PB by 20 minutes.

As you could imagine was gagging for a beer and my spirits were raised when i saw a tent giving away free beer to all finishers - I felt cheated to discover it was alcohol free, but refreshing none the less (and i made up for it later which was probably more sensible)

To sum up - bloomin hot, excellent race, well organised, friendly, shame not more brits taking part, good transport links, good support from spectators.

Oh and it rained all day Monday so had to spend the day shopping - ho hum :-)

So, 364 days after running my first marathon, I ran my last! Luckily the hot weather warning did not materialise, and at 9:30 I was huddled, shivering in my pen in the pouring rain. However, this was preferable to watching Robbie liberally applying Vaseline to every imaginable part of his anatomy – don’t ask!

As we started moving forward to the start I ran my quickest part of the race back to the toilets, 5 mins before the start! Relieved, I dashed back to the start and gradually moved to the start. This section of the race was not as slow as I thought it would be and I quickly settled into an 8:30 pace, lapping up the atmosphere. A brief chat with Richard Jones at around 3 miles settled me down a bit and I concentrated on keeping my pace.

The conditions got a bit humid so taking on water was important. I glided through 5 miles and before I knew it I was through 10 miles. I was feeling so good I had to concentrate hard to remember to take my gels every 5 miles. The crowds were shouting loud, and at one point a group chanted my name over and over again. To be honest I was struggling emotionally not physically at this point.

No sooner had I got myself together then Tower Bridge appeared, and the crowds were sensational. This was the high point of my race, I felt on top of the world, cruising along with thousands cheering and shouting! How could I ever get tired with this crowd willing me on. I crossed half way bang on my target, but by 15miles things were getting tough already! It wasn’t long before the mile markers were getting further and further apart. The ‘brick’ on my wrist was still telling me that I was maintaining 8:30 per mile pace, which was just ok for a sub 3:45. However.... I was actually running further than the mile markers suggested, because in the crowds I was running wide of the racing line a lot.

Through Docklands, my legs really hurt! Still 8 miles left!! The crowds were shouting, but all I wanted to do was stop. I didn’t, and somehow the miles were eaten up and I staggered through 24, by pouring cold water on my hamstrings and calves managed to keep the pain down. I missed a couple of water stations late on which didn’t help.

Too late I checked the distance on my Garmin and realised that despite my pace I was too slow for a sub 3:45 and to be honest by this stage I just wanted to finish. That I did, just 17 seconds inside my PB from last year. My Garmin clocked 27 miles, and had I run 26.2 I would just have broken 3:45. Ah well, same for most people I guess.

I was too tired at the end to feel anything other than relieved it was over. The memory of running over London Bridge will remain with me for ever, and running two marathons is an achievement that no one can take away from me.

A massive well done to everybody who ran a marathon this weekend. And thanks to the ‘Saturday Crew’ for helping me through my brief but rewarding marathon career. Keep on running.

It’s been bugging me for years that when you tell someone that you are a runner the first question is “have you done the London marathon?”. So, in a fit of enthusiasm I entered the ballot for 2010, was rejected but got the first reserve club place. In February Pat Godfrey decided that she’d struggle to use her club place and made an early decision to pass the place to me, I was already on a marathon training plan but the place in London certainly focussed my attention on the task in hand.

I travelled down on the early train from Flitwick, with Robbie Craig, Keith Morgan, Jeremy Lewis, Val Von Arx and Julie Hodgson-Smith. We picked up Shelley in Harlington and headed down to London. It was really good travelling in a team, having a good natter on the journey. We were all at the blue start, so found a place on the grass and then checked out the toilet facilities.

It started raining at about 9am, but I wanted to get a good place in my start pen so I stripped off and went and shivered for half an hour until the rain stopped. With 15 minutes to go the start pen marshals told us “we’ll leave you to it now, have fun” and they took away the divider so that we could filter into the next pen. That happened with the other pens and when we were ready for the start I could see the start gantry and it only took a couple of minutes to cross the line.

After about a mile I found Tim Hunt and Richard Jones running together, so joined them to run together. Richard wanted to take it easy, so encouraged Tim and me to head onwards. We headed off together and ran most of the way to Tower Bridge together, saying hello to Paul Owen along the way. Tim then got a few places ahead in the crowd and I couldn’t pull him back so I decided to stick on my own for a bit.

Just after Tower Bridge the 23-mile point crossed the 13-mile marker. I saw the top 5 runners go by with all the motorcycle outriders. Those guys really motor along! That encouraged me to press ahead and I was going well until a slow mile with the twists and turns of Docklands slowed my pace. After mile 18 I was really counting down to the end, praying for each mile marker to come into view so that I’d be closer to the finish.

I saw Tim again at about 21 miles and pulled up to him at about 22 miles. We were both running out of gas and just gasped out “I’m knackered, how about you?” as we met.

Lots of people were taking walk breaks, or completely collapsing by this point but I decided that I was going to run every step without any breaks. I kept thinking of one of our juniors who is quite tiny and for her the 2-mile cross-country races are a real challenge but she has real determination and always finishes. If she can do it then I was determined to do it too.

I suppose I should have been encouraged by the 800m to go banner, but was so knackered that 800 still seemed a long way. I tried to smile as I crossed the line, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired before. I was quite misty-eyed as I collected my medal, really pleased with what I’d achieved.

When I reached the meeting-point for ‘B’ I was glad to see Martin Beare and the Boxfit crew, as I wasn’t very well and collapsed in a heap while I tried to take on sugary drinks and some grub. Robbie also joined us and it was nice to have a couple of mates to keep an eye out for me as Annette was stuck by the tube and took a while to reach me.

If you ever have the chance to run the London Marathon then do it, just once.

Thanks to those who sponsored me, I’ve raised over £500 from cash donations and online sponsorship for the Alzheimer’s Society.

As for me, I’ll just say ‘never again’.. probably.

This came at the end of a week of high mileage for me, when I ran the most I have ever run in 7 days including a 20 mile run the day before as part of my 104 mile ultra training schedule. The lactic acid build up was evident in my legs even walking to the station, which was the intention as I am learning to run a long way on very tired pins. Never the less, I wasn’t looking forward to this one and could have fallen asleep on the train. That was a pity as I had waited 6 years to get in. My lack of enthusiasm wasn’t helped by the cold morning and rain whilst we were standing around. Luckily, there were lots of other Flyers around who were bouncing around with added excitement. I made my way to the start line and bumped into Paula James and after a brief chat, I realised that this wasn’t just another long training run and that I really should try to enjoy the experience. My aims were to run as far as I could and try to get in less than 4 hrs 30mins. As time wasn’t an issue for me, I settled into the pace straight away and didn’t start bobbing and weaving all over the place to gain spaces. It was clear that unless you were at the very front of the pen or in the Good for Age pen, this wasn’t going to be a PB race as there are so many people around you all the way. Unlike other races that open out after the start, this was crowded all the way and some weaving is inevitable particularly at the end when people slow down. The crowds were truly fantastic in the support they gave the runners and were the best I have ever witnessed. They were often 2 or 3 deep for long sections as a minimum, but in places this was much more. At Canary Wharf, there must have been 12 -15 deep in sections. The noise in places was tremendous and this did give me a big lift.

My legs were heavy all the way, but they didn’t give in to cramp or any muscle pull which I was half expecting. I settled into a very comfortable pace and didn’t even try to respond when Jeremy and Tim eased past around mile 4. I kept on repeating to myself this was a training run and time didn’t matter, but if I get in again, I will do this for a time if I can get in the GFA pen as the crowd clearly helps you. I found myself expecting to slow down, but I didn’t and for the very first time ever, I did a negative split for the two halves, running the second one two minutes quicker than the first. I was able to run all the way, save a very short wee stop and found myself feeling quite good at the end. For long sections I didn’t bother looking at time and just ran on feel, which lead to very close 10k splits all the way. I didn’t notice once that the balloon arches were mile markers and couldn’t understand why there weren’t any! I wasn’t even sure when we went through halfway! I was very surprised to find myself coming to the end well under 4 hours, overtaking a lot of people and actually getting quicker. As a result of all the above, I ended up really enjoying the day and will be entering the ballot again as soon as it opens in May, which is something I thought I wouldn’t be doing at the start. The best city marathon I have run in terms of crowd participation, very flat course although a little devoid of interest in places which is made up for by the atmosphere. Organisation was superb, didn’t have to do any map reading which was a bonus, nice medal although would have preferred a technical t-shirt to the cotton one we were given and a very nice finish down Pall Mall ( or at least I think it was Pall Mall! ). Found a very disappointed Ed at the end, had a sarnie and easily made our way home despite the crowds. Hope every else did what they wanted, particularly the first timers.

Highlights of the VLM for me were:

· Seeing Princess Beatrice (I'm easily pleased)

· Getting a good sponging from the gravity defying Daily Sport Dollies; I think they wanted to talk about the election, but I may have misheard

· Martin Beare's shiny lycra Union Jack running shorts

· The crowd shouting my name (yep I had it big and bold on my vest)

· Clocking another sub 4h road marathon

· Offering Jeremy Bell a lick of my salty nuts (cashews) after the race

· Jeremy's subsequent psychadelic yawn

· Having a nice cup of tea when I got home

Once again i was privileged and delighted to take part in this race, it never ceases to amaze me the support that the crowds give. Its so nice to be surrounded by decent nice people ie the runners raising money for charities and the thousands lining the streets willing everyone to finish.

I personally was using the race as a building block to my Ironman distance races (iam now entered in 2 ironman races in the same week Switzeland then UK Ironman 7 days later.

I had a trouble free race apart from stopping at mile 25 (big ben) and was sick as a result of a last push to get 3.30.00 instead i lost time in my effort.

I have found my running has suffered in the last 2 years as my training has to be split 3 ways (swim,bike,run) however my overall fitness is much improved. I finished the race in good shape and a smile on my face as i enjoyed the day out in every aspect.

I met up with almost all the Flyers at both the start and finish and some creditable times were achieved well done you Flyers.

My finishing time was 3.37.04

KEBEDE NARROWLY BEATS NICK JONES BY 48 MINS AT LONDON

After preparing for this race over the past 18 months the day finally arrived. Didn’t need the alarm to go off at 4:45 as I was awake by 3:00am anyway. After running at London in 2008 it was my target to go under the three hour mark this year and a consistant weekly average of over 50 mpw with weeks of up to 80 miles had hopefully brought the lifelong running ambition into a distinct possibility. Luckily the achilles problem I had suffered from in March had cleared dramatically. Had mixed emotions ; I was so nervous as I dreaded the thought of putting in all the effort, only to fall short on the day yet on the other hand excited knowing I was in the best form of my life.

Drove down to London along with Ady, his friend Mark, Kieron & Paula. Upon arriving at Blackheath around 7:30am we split up into our various starts. It certainly wasn’t the hot start we were expecting. It turned positively chilly and about 10 minutes before we were due to start lining up the heavens opened. Unfortunately the tents were jam packed so we had cover ourselves the best we could outside.

My plan was to go though to 20 miles in 6:30 pace (2hr 10m), try to maintain a good pace for the next 3 miles and hopefully have enough in the bag for the last 3.

The countdown began and at 9:45 we were on our way. First mile was quite congested and this helped to contain my normal fast start. (6:28). Managed to get into a rhythm and the next few miles were slightly above pace at around 6:20’s but still felt comfortable, although the thought of continuing the pace over 26 miles was a bit daunting. The crowds yet again were fantastic and the atmosphere electric.

Saw Steve James at the Cutty Sark around 7 miles and this gave a welcome boost. Went through 10 miles in 64 mins, bang on schedule. I knew that Nicky & Matt would be at Bermondsey around 11.5 miles and when I saw the big Welsh flag in the distance gave me an added spur. So on over Tower Bridge which was a fantastic experience, you really got the feel of being in a major city race. The atmosphere and encouragement was unbelievable. Still running strongly, managed to maintain the tempo from 14 – 20 although this was the hardest part of the race knowing that I had to maintain the pace until 20 in order to give myself a fighting chance in the latter miles.

It is such a boost to see friendly faces in the crowd and seeing Ischelle and Mark’s wife gave me the encouragement I dearly needed. I reached the 20 mile mark in 2:10:30 which was bang on target. This gave me 55mins to do 10k so as long as I kept up a decent pace the goal was on. Mile 21 I dropped from 6:30 average to 6:50 and subsequently 6:56’s for mile 22 & 23. The legs were beginning to tire but I knew from 23 that I had 29 minutes to do the final 3 and a bit miles.

Although the quads were beginning to scream and a slight tightness in the left calf managed a 6:25 24th mile but then the tiredness kicked in as I slowed dramatically to do mile 25 in 7:40, passing in 2:45 so I had 15 minutes to do the last mile and a bit. Still, with the body at it’s very limit I could not manage one iota of self congratulation as I was painfully aware of how things can suddenly fall apart. Kieron had passed me twice and looked very strong although I knew he had obviously had a problem. Saw Rob & Jane and this really helped. Just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

As I passed Westminster the crowds were brilliant, having your name called out and the shouts of encouragement were so uplifting. Again I looked out for the Welsh flag where I knew Nicky & Matt would be ; it seemed an age before I caught sight of it in the distance. The sub 3 was there and I must admit to being a tad emotional when I passed them with 800m to go. I saw Kieron struggling with cramp at that moment and it just hit home how difficult the last miles can be. Fortunately he managed to get going again.

The feeling rounding the corner and seeing the finish line was absolutely magnificent, all those long cold, icy and dark long runs during the winter suddenly paled into insignificance, knowing that you have achieved your lifelong ambition., with 100 yards to go. Although I had envisioned this moment and told myself to keep calm in case of a sudden muscle pull I couldn’t help myself. So much so that with all the punching the air and trying to put on a “fast” finish that 5 metres from the line I did feel a pull in my right hamstring but luckily crossed the line in 2:53:48., and obliterated my PB by 10 minutes.

So pleased for Ady who managed a brilliant time considering injury & sporadic training, making up for his nightmare last year.And congratulations to all the other Flyers that raced London and Shakespeare, especially the first timers, who all showed great determination and resilience in completing the distance.

This was an LDWA alternative to running the boring streets of London.

With 4,000 feet of climb it was also a bit tougher!

And although it was listed as only 27 miles several people came back after with between 28 and 28.5 on their GPS!

Their would also have been some fantastic views from various points on the South Downs Way, including 4 of the Seven Sisters cliffs - but we had a lot of mist on the tops, and a chill wind at times.

So although I would have liked to be a couple of minutes quicker I was quite please to finish in 7 hours 2 minutes.

With most of my Saturday Morning Club brethren (and sisteren - is that a word?) off on their 26.2 jaunts on Sunday, I felt that I had to somehow support them in some way or another, so I decided that the best way would be....to run a 5K.

I feel like a bit of a fraud submitting this with what lay in store for them on Sunday, but with my last serious race being the FLM exactly a year ago, I had to start somewhere!

This friendly, very low-key event I would highly recommend. As long as you register before 6pm on the Friday you can run the next day and when you have registered once, you can race any parkrun location any week (Saturdays at 0900). Just turn up, run and have your email paper barcode ready for scanning at the end. Couldn't be simpler.

I competed and finished the Half Ironman in very hot conditions (80 F)

My overall time was 6 hours 40 mins 58 to finish 6th in my age group.

Swim - 1.9 km 2 laps  

PB by over 2 mins 54 mins 45 secs

Bike - 56 miles 4 laps 3 hrs 09 mins 02 secs

A bit below par performance in my strongest event, the conditions were very tough and was windy. The course included a one in 7 % hill which lasted 2km before each turn and a few technical turns. There was also a few cobbles to master aswell with temperatures rising throughout the ride. It was the first time, I even took water at the drinks stations to cool my legs down! I was also catching a few people on this section and even another lady commented on my smooth pedalling style!

Run 13.1 miles - 4 laps

What torture! with tempatures reaching 80 and may even over! I just plodded along like my usual self. But kept going, even though people I had over taken me on the bike were passing me. At this stage I was drinking pepsi just to get me through! The first drinks station also ran out of water, which didn't help, but lucky Mike was on hand with one of the drinks bottles I threw at him on the bike!

Pleased with the run time, of 2hrs28mins 57, fastest ever run time recorded at half ironman!

Finishing overall time was 6 hrs 40 mins 58 secs, (which I think is a pb at the distance)

Did raise some eyebrows with the cult racing top at breakfast!

In all an eventful event, shame about the hot conditions, at the end a free massage, with two ladies and then they had to enlist the help of another lady who looked like Helga the Bear wrestler, she was scary!

Bit red and sore, but just eaten a proper american milk shake & veggie burger! Think I deserve it, after my 4000 calories burn off!

"You've got in with a bad crowd" one of the senior coaches said to me recently.

He was right, I just didn't realise how mad, bad and dangerous to know they are. They bait you with on Saturday mornings, they hook you into running to Luton once a week and they reel you in with the prospect of your first ultra marathon (Greensands '09). Next thing you know you're doing a 27 mile circumnavigation of Bedford your training runs are over 30 miles, you've already run 4 marathons before the end of April and your race objectve for the year is to run 105 miles in under 30 hours

I really feel it takes a lack of common sense to take up ultra running; sadly I seem to be developing just this attribute. So having been too ill to work Wednesday, lived off Lemsip and Strepsils all week and failed to train for 6 days, I was stir crazy when ultra-nutter Richard Jones e-mailed me on Friday "Coventry way 40m?".

Sunday 8AM Richard Jones and I left Meriden Village hall and after 200 yards i pulled up in agony. My calves had tightened so much during those few days off that I couldn't actually run. Eventually I was able to jog and after about 8 miles and some stretching exercises, the calf pain, relented, replaced by my familiar friend 'achilles tendonitis'. Then we were flying (subject to volcanic ash) through some suprisingly attracive countryside, pretty villages, country churches, byways, canals, spinneys and manor houses. The weather was pretty much perfect the entire way and my only regret was that at no time during our 9+ hour tour of Coventry was I pain free.

Earlier, in a a fit of bravado I'd said to Richard "I don't do DNFs", he reminded me of this frequently in the last 10 miles, when I just wanted to sit down and cry, but I finished and without Richard there I know I'd have struggled... Bring on those 105 miles (maybe)

Having been injured since December with a fall at netball I decided to train for a sprint triathlon. Seemed like a good idea in January. However with the sun shining yesterday and very little wind I couldn't have hoped for better weather. After getting over the nerves of seeing all the people with the expensive bikes and gear to go with it I had a great time. The event was really well organised and the bike around the Duston area was very well marshalled. Only problem being the photographer at the top of a very steep climb. I was pleased to come away being 4th in my age group knowing that I could do much better as I really struggled on my run and could improve that by at least 5 mins. Must be mad but will be doing Henley in June ! !

Score course ( day 1, 6 hours : day 2, 5 hours)

This was the first MM of the year and we ran (or rather mostly walked & climbed) through some fabulous mountain scenery.

And as Gairloch was officially the sunniest place in Britain this weekend we came back with a suntan!

If anyone out there would like an introduction to this type of event, and fancies a 2 day walk in the hills - I'm still looking for partners for two events - one early July and one towards end of September.

Brian Layton & Ron Smith: Day 1, 260 points; Day 2, 133 points; Total 393 points. 16th overall and 2nd vet handicap.

David Sedgley & Martin Spedding: Day 1, 135 points; Day 2, 80 points; Total 215 points. 28th overall.

We had over 20 Flyers out in the sunshine for the first Club championship race of the year, the Sandy 10. Biggleswade AC were using the Flyer’s timing clock for the race and late on Saturday realised that not all the parts were in the box. A big thank you to Julie Brown for rounding up one of the engineers to open up their workshop so that I could retrieve the missing bits and make sure that everything ran smoothly on race-day.

Its easy to know where to start on the race report.. Phil Holland won the race in 53:16, several minutes ahead of anyone else. A quite awesome performance and a very worthy Club champion. Obviously none of us who ran the race saw much of Phil after the first half-mile, so I can’t add much more.

Back in the pack we were off at a fast pace, running the first mile at 5K pace before I decided to let Tony and John pull away and I eased back to have a steady race at closer to my target pace. It was nice to have a good pack of Flyers running, as most of us had battles for places with Club-mates, or at least had a target to follow and chase. I caught John at about 6 miles and pushed on to keep a gap and go after Tony. He had assured me that he’d blow up at 8 miles, so I was gradually pulling closer to him after 7 miles but he held steady and although I kept gaining on him I just couldn’t close him down and he finished some 20 seconds ahead of me to win the Vet award. I hadn’t realised that we were hotly pursued by Richard Pillinger, who was just another 20 seconds back, so just as well that I’d kept pushing to try and catch Tony.

Mike Petty took advantage of being a youngster in the V50 category to finish his first 10-miler with the Club V50 award. Just behind him Sally finished with the same time as Dave Stanley to win the ladies award (Sally won it – not Dave!).

It was great to see so many Flyers out on an almost perfect morning for running. The start is not the most scenic, in the depths of an industrial estate, and as we all huddled on the line, Phil Holland nonchalantly sauntered up - last to arrive and looking incredibly relaxed. This was the last we saw of him as he led the field home by a clear margin of several minutes (though Phil admitted that having a lead bike to follow was handy in view of his reputation for getting lost).

Tony Cole's dayglo new race shoes clearly paid off with a PB, and Sally and Dave Stanley fought each other hard for supremacy on the line ( and were given identical times). It was a few years since I'd last run this race and the long slog of a hill at 1-2 miles loomed large in my memory though fortunately it didn't seem quite so bad this time. The course then takes runners on a loop of Everton (particularly lively support at the pub - they had the right idea for a Sunday morning) and Gamlingay.

All the marshals were wearing silly hats of some sort - a small distraction from the pounding on tarmac, which was taking it's toll as I

haven't run on roads since early last summer. I was hoping to break 1h 20mins and hit the 5 mile mark in exactly 40min so knew I would have to speed up to make my target. Luckily "that hill" is in your favour on the return leg and I picked off a few tiring runners at this point, making the most of gravity assistance, and hanging on for the line in 1h 19min 24 secs, and I think 4th in my age group. Laura and Ali ( a virgin at 10 miles) also had good runs - as did Jeremy Bell and Robbie Craig (especially considering he had done 32 miles the day before).

My slowest 10 miler for some time but I was far from disappointed as I had just returned from a hard week of walking and running in the Scottish Borders. As it turned out our Club V50 Championship went right down to the wire! This was a different course to when I last ran the Sandy 10 and on that occasion arrived after the race had started, still in my car with runners coming towards me - this time I made sure I arrived on time! The race started on an Industrial estate and I lined up with Jeremy Bell and Tony Cole near the front to ensure I could settle into my own pace straightaway.

After a flat first mile we climbed out of Sandy towards Everton. By 2 Miles I was feeling knackered (15.04)but managed to settle into 7.30 mile pace and went through 5 in 37.28. The course after 2 miles is reasonable flat with few serious inclines and being out and back meant we had the nice downhill into Sandy to look forward to. At around 6 miles Sally Marsh passed me, opened up a small gap of 30 metres but as we approached the downhill section between 8 and 9 Sally was starting to come back towards me. We turned into Sunderland Road to start the long run for home, passed the park on our left and the '400 metres to go' sign when out of the blue Mike Petty comes up on my shoulder. Mike was quite clearly looking strong, but I responded and for a moment moved away from him. Mike kicked again, passed me and we both then passed Sally as we tuned for the final 100 metres sprint to the finish. Mike found another gear and kicked away passing 3 further runners to finish in 1.14.11 and a worthy winner of the Club V50 title. As we closed in on the finish Sally passed me again, I responded and we both went flat out stride for stride together and crossed the line with nothing to separate us except probably my larger stomach as they gave me the nod over Sally for 146th place overall!! What a great competitor Sally is deservingly taking our Women's club Championship and I believe finishing 7th overall in her age group. We had both run a 6.57 final mile. Up front great runs from Jeremy and Tony and a special well done to Phil Holland winning the race overall in 53.16 - over 4 minutes ahead of 2nd place. Lets see 53 minutes - ah yes i was somewhere just past the 7 mile mark at the time - a sobering thought!!

6am get up (not nice for a Sunday) gobble down some grub then head for Northampton for a lovely 60 mile bike ride (should ave stayed in bed? Na that’s defeat)

Owing to a Duathlon the week after, I wasn't going to hammer this, purely use it as a training session for the mileage (Half Iron distance).

Arrive early, set up bike and get all me food ready (practically had the entire of Tesco strapped to my bike) have a chat with the other bikers and then met up with fellow Flyer Debbie Knott who I would be biking with as she knew the route, the last thing I needed was to get lost!!!

Around 300 bikers were there, so 20 bikers were set off at two min intervals.

8:30am and we were off, as usual, the normal bunch of lunatics set off like a bullet, however, we just kept a nice simple pace throughout the journey.

The course itself took us through some known routes such as the MK Cowman and Sprint distance routes, plus the Bedford tri route, so at least some of the time I knew where we were and even better, knew where the hills were, ha that was great!

I found this biking trip more enjoyable than others because most of the time we were talking to other cyclists, it even felt like the Tour de France at one stage when everyone was together!! This also meant that the time / distance was being eaten away without realising it. I often find biking on my own soul destroying and not enjoyable, especially the long distances.

At 31 miles, we had a pit stop where we saw most of the bikers who had gone of like bullets at the start. After filing me self up with a load more fuel, we set off again, I felt pretty good even at 30 miles.

We reached 40 miles and this was perhaps when everyone started splitting up, and then around 45, we felt like the only ones on the course!

50 miles soon hit and I thought, cool, only 10 to go, and of course that’s when the wind hits and your legs feel terrible and my colourful language starts (sorry Debbie) I was literally fed up with everything, the road was very long and more boring than an episode of Eastenders and the wind was just in your face. The last 5 miles were just a nightmare.

Eventually my distance measurer hit 60 miles and I had a smile on my face, I had done it, yet for some reason I was still cycling, all I was doing was looking for the finishing sign and guess what It wasn't around!!!! Ahhhh was we lost? Had we gone the wrong way????? Na, going down one of the final roads I had a chat with "John" the camera man, How far to go I asked, "two miles, only round the corner" was the response.

The final turn and I could see the finishing line, we finished together (OK Debs in front by a sec!)

Next week it’s the MK Duathlon: (10k/40k/5k) which I’m really looking forward to!

Battersea Park hosts the annual Civil Service 10K Champs and a four lap course has huge potential because it is flat as you like and there are no tight bends.

Last year I went there with high hopes but a cottage cheese sandwich had other ideas as it cramped me on lap 3.... a real shame because I was flying.

This year was a case of unfinished business. I've been in reasonable shape and a fair wind permitting had plans to smash a Pb. Sadly, that wasn't to be the case. A sweet first lap settling into the pack and then a head wind took it's toll. I hung on for lap 2 despite the developing squall, recovered in lap 3 and was happy to finish inside the top 10. First home for my team (HASSRA) and some good packing delivered a team silver.

A little disappointed with the time but the conditions were very poor so I shall bank the silver medal and finish the business next year.... 3rd time lucky!

This is quite a small race run by Carterton Town Council and RAF Brize Norton. Not the most scenic course but fairly fast and flat. Very well organised and marshalled. Got a tshirt and a medal - handed out by the Lady Mayoress no less !! Local farm shop was runninng a very nice barbecue. 6 seconds outside last year's end of season PB so pleased with that as a first go at 10k this year.

Back home in the area of my birth and another good, well organised event apart from spectating at the finish. The race is around the affluent lanes and mansions of Cheshire. Big turn out nearly 4,000, lots of spectators and all roads on the course are closed. Winner was home in 64 mins. Rapid!!! I beat my children and their friends, so happy plus back on form with a really pleasing time of 1hr 35 . 27- A happy northerner.

An LDWA 27 mile run/walk around the oldest hills in Britain.

Steve walked this, and as it was twice the distance he'd walked since the recurrence of problems with his knee, he was really pleased to get round. I was also very pleased as I walked most of first 20 miles (at which point I'd have finished in about 7-20 at the same pace) but managed to run most of last 7 miles.

Conditions were almost perfect for this race as I joined a large field of 12,298 strangers and [as I discovered later from the results] Val Von Arx in a road next to the Madjewski Stadium. After an energetically led warm up we all got going on a grand circuit of Reading, through housing estates and the town centre, past several local bands, including a particularly noisy collection of drummers who had picked out a "echo-ey" spot in an underpass, before returning along a fairly dull stretch of dual carriageway and making a dramatic entrance into the football stadium in front of a packed crowd of several thousand. This is the only time I shall ever experience being cheered onto a football pitch and it was really quite something. In hindsight it would have been good to have waved to the masses or sprinted up to the finish, but I contented myself with just staggering over the line.

Reading is virtually flat so I think this is a fast course. I hadn't done anything like enough training but the miles seemed to pass by reasonably quickly. The event is really well organised and obviously with the bonus of a memorable finish. Local support was excellent all around the course with all the roads closed to traffic. Would definitely do this again.

I was very pleased with this, not only did I manage not to loose control and plough into someone's fence or get lost (I know the course now!) but managed to get a respectable time, although its a 12 mile, I arrived early enough to get a 12 mile warm up, which was handy! The race starts off just before the main hill and then finishes off at the top of the hill after completing one circuit

A great race, all the usual friendly bunch of bikers were there and altogether managed to cycle 30 miles which is not bad for a Sunday morning

This is great biking training for the standard distance triathlon

The North Wind did blow, and so did the South, East and West, or at least that is what it felt like. Those of you who have braved this old bomber airfield which now doubles as a motor racing track will testify to its openness and windiness. And by George did it blow. No matter in what direction one ran it always seemed to be into a head wind. When you are a plodder like me the last thing you need is anything that further slows you down.

No matter, it didn’t rain, and as always this was a very popular race, with something like 6,000 completing the course. For the Flyers it was very much a family affair with Wizzle (Leslee-Anne Dawe) and daughters Liz Yelling and Lucy Talbot all competing in the same race. It was good to see Wizzle returning to racing after a long lay off, and her daughters didn’t do too bad either, with Liz winning the Ladies race in a disgustingly fast time of 1.14.50 and finishing 3rd overall, and Lucy helping dear old Mum around.

Pat Godfrey and son Jeremy continued this family affair and returned very respectable times. I didn’t see our redoubtable Welshman (who did himself proud) but then again after the first mile I didn’t see too many people at all, other than my good mate Jenny Pedder who kept me upright all the way round and the very nice St John’s man on a bike who kept asking me if I was alright (he didn’t know how close he came to being mugged for his bike at one stage!!).

And of course my Beloved Twinkletoes who skipped around the course, felt she could have run faster, and then drove home to work a twelve hour night shift. I went home, fell into a Ruby Murray and several tins of cider and felt none the worse for it.

Next year?? Bring it on!!

Running the Silverstone half Marathon on Mothers Day, what else could you wish for! Conditions were fantastic sunny and mild, very well organised and 5750 thousand runners at the start line. Bumped into Paul and Carole Lydon, looking enthusiastic and raring to go. The start got the adrenalin going with the sound of the racing car music. Lots of support from spectators. It was a great race although extremely windy on the last couple of miles. I hobbled back to the car it was pay back time, with the dreaded plantar fascilitiis settling in.

PB by 4 seconds so pleased with that ! Very well-organised race promoted by the people who do the London Marathon. Good touches such as great mile markers with huge clocks and 330ml bottles at the drinks station. Run round the Silverstone track which is a bit of a building site at the moment in preparation for F1. 6000 plus people but its chipped and it all thins out quite quickly.

Generally good mostly flat course with a couple of inclines over bridges - parts of it are quite exposed and it was very windy. Worst bit was the last mile or so into a real headwind. Think it pays to get there early and get away early too if you can - I had heard horror stories about queues getting in and out of the Car Park but I had no problems getting it and got straight away too.

Ran this with Richard Jones and Robbie Craig as part of a training plan for a 100 mile marathon we have entered. As a result, I ran a half marathon midweek, 11 miles on Saturday with two other runs, so this race was all about endurance training and forgetting times. As it was only two miles from my house, I was tempted to run to the start but given it was mothers day and I couldn't be that long, decided against that plan. Starting time was anywhere between 9am and 10am, depending on your speed. It was very low key and laid back, which delayed us at the start whilst we caught up with a few people that we tend to see at these events. It only cost £4 to enter with a request for donations to a charity and was clearly just set up for the runners with no eye on making any profit. We set off from Boxend water skiing park at around 9.30ish on what was a cool but not cold morning. The route very quickly found off road trails that wound within spitting distance of my place and stayed on trails for the majority of the way.

At 3 miles we caught up with a woman who was towing a tyre on a rope behind her. I never really found out why, but even I thought that was a bit mad but there you go. There were around 67 people in the race, but because it wound around Bedford through trails, lanes,woods and farms, we didn't see that many people except when we overtook a few (not that many). It wasn't signposted at all by the race organizers, except the normal way markings on footpaths. However, the route description was spot on and despite lots of twists and turns, we didn't get lost once or even go slightly wrong. There were no medals or even a finish line at the end. We wandered into a tent, casually mentioned we had finished and had a cup of tea! The only downside was at the end. I realized there were 5 of us from the club and grand prix points were up for grabs. Given all my races are marathons or ultra marathons where there generally arent 5 from the club, points are non existent in my world. Having proudly graduated to the lowest league with nil points for the last two years I think, I now have scored with the unfortunate prospect of more points in London and almost unbelievably, points on offer over my 100 mile race as there are 5 of us in that. How bizarre is that!! Anyway, the Clanger is a great race to add to the Bedfordshire race calender and one that I will do again next year. As for the time, nit really sure but would guess somewhere around 4 hrs 40m, but thats a guess.

This was the first big weekend in our build up to our 100 miler at the end of May, so after a 12 mile warm up on Saturday, we headed off to Box End for the Bedford Clanger and to meet an out-take from Twin Peaks “The Tyre Lady”. For the uninitiated the Bedford Clanger is a local delicacy – a Cornish Pasty with a savoury filling at one end and a sweet filling at the other. The Tyre Lady is something else.

I arrived in good time to see Paul Barton and Alistair Gould warming up and ready to go – Paul for his 55th marathon and Alistair for his first. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Tyre Lady making her start, dragging her tyre (Ford Mondeo not Ford Fiesta) together with a white box with flowers sticking out of the box. She just smiled knowingly, which is more than you got from the Log Lady.

Messers Owen and Craig also registered to make it a Grand Prix scoring event. Paul and Alistair stared about 20 minutes before us and we finally got registered and made our move. The route was a clockwise circum navigation of Bedford and apart from a section around the south of Bedford it was really enjoyable. We made a good start and overtook a Tyre following a Lady just past Bromham. She just smiled.

The checkpoints were good with a fine selection of cake and biscuits. We ran together all the way although Robbie chose to run his own race in the last four miles. Paul and I finished feeling strong. And Robbie came in not far behind. The Tyre Lady finished feeling a bit flat. Well done to Alistair on completing his first marathon.

A good addition to the calendar and an enjoyable race.

Kathy & I were supposed to be doing the 2 day Polaris event on the Welsh borders last weekend - but it got cancelled - so we opted for this short 3 hour event instead.

It was cloudy most of the time, with a stiff wind from the west - which we ended up cycling into for the final 8K, just getting back to the finish with a few seconds to spare. I think we chose an optimum route for us as there was a really nice long bridleway halfway round, which some friends did in opposite direction and said was really tough into the wind. And our 230 points gave us first in our class (though there was only us that old!) - and second of all the mixed teams competing (our friends beat us by 10 points for top spot).

For anyone into mountain biking these are fun events. Let me know if you're interested.

A well executed plan went into action. I worked out my times for different mile makers across the route and stuck by them. With thanks to Jeremy Bell, Jeremy Lewis, Tim Hunt and Noel from Boxfit for getting me through the first 6 miles at excellent pace, unfortunately, it was just too fast for me (knowing that there was another 6 miles to go) so I had to pull back and stick by my guns. However, by this time, I was well in time for the predicted time of 1:35 / 36.

The last 3 miles were extremely tough and I was slowing down, but you have to mentally get in your head that its only 3 more miles and then its all over. Although I had that in my head, my legs were finished and there was little energy left in them.

However, saying that, I was still on course for the predicted time and thats what calmed me down, thinking I was getting worse, when actually I was bang on target.

I wanted 1:35 / 1:36 and came away with 1:34, that’s enough Half's this year, its time to get my head down for this years 5 and 10k's

Also well done to Boxfit, all the guys and girls run extremely well! Brilliant job everyone, in particular Steve Morales, his training has been awesome and it showed here with an excellent 1:28 (I believe)

Full credit to those running the marathon, I can safely say that is NOT for me! I think I will stay in bed when that’s on!!

If only I could just get my bag back..............

t last a good run! After recent weeks disappointments it was nice to register a decent performance over a 5 mile multi-terrain race. I did this race back in 2004 - it is set in Wendover Woods which is situated on the northern edge of the Chilterns with spectacular views across the Aylesbury Vale. I travelled over with Laura Johnston, who was running this event for the first time. The race starts by the main visitors centre and for the first mile and a half saw us descending along gravel/muddy tracks. In fact it was 7 minutes before we turned for the first short climb before continuing for a further 2 minutes to the bottom of the valley. Of course what goes down must come back up!

Conditions that morning were really cold (-5 when I got up) and the frozen ground made it really difficult to run along the rutted tracks.

At the bottom of the valley, the course turns and you begin the gradual climb back up. After approx 3+ miles the course takes you off the tracks and through the woods. Conditions were tough here and after one really steep climb we were soon back out onto the tarmac road and heading for home. Level with another runner as we picked up the pace over the final mile it is strange how you then try and psych out your opponent - /'he looked younger than me - bigger build however - reckon I good out sprint him though if needed!'/ Still, didn't want to leave it to that final sprint so picked up the pace and found I opened up a small gap. Then with the finish funnel insight he went past me like a whippet to beat me by 3 seconds - so much for my analysis of fellow runners!!

Laura was well pleased with her run although I did think I might have worried her slightly with over exaggeration about the long tough climb back up.

A lovely setting for the race that was originally postponed from January due to the snow. Although well organised by Justracing it was shame that more runners didn't turn out.

I appreciate that some of my fellow Devonians might be a bulb short of a full chandelier but there was a clue to my nickname, namely Goldi printed on the front of my vest! So how Goldi became Eric I do not know, but one of the many brilliant supporters cheering us around the Cub and Grizzly somehow translated it thus.

No matter, Eric or Goldi or whatever Glorious Devon lived up to its name with a fabulous bout of Spring weather to cheer us on our way. As past participants of the Grizzly and the Cub well know the weather at this event can range from the horrendous to the downright Biblical so to stand atop one of the many cliffs and marvel at the sunlight glistening on the waves below was a sight to gladden this winter saddened heart.

The race itself?? Well it was the usual mixture of hill climbing, shingle walking, angel flying and becoming ever more cream crackered as the race wore on.

However my two best pals on the day namely Karen (my what lovely hair) Hollingsworth and Val (who also had lovely hair) von Arx, bravely volunteered to accompany this knackered old soul around the 9 miles of the Cub course. Without them I believe I would still be gently meandering along the beach towards Seaton so my heartfelt thanks to these two brave ladies. Ali Parker who was a Cub virgin returned a very respectable time of 1.47 so all credit to her for a great run.

So we walked, talked, crawled (me), fell into water (me again) and occasionally ran. The crowds were magnificent and so were the marshalls, especially the very nice gentleman who a mile from the finish gave me a slug from his hip flask (a nice drop of Glenfiddich). With this inside me I managed the last mile it a very happy state of mind.

All in all a madcap adventure (especially for me) but one that is well worth the effort. Next year??? Hum!!

A beautiful clear sky day dawned on East Devon Coast at Seaton lulling yours truly into a false sense of security! Met up with various other flyers pre-race and at 10.30 we were off down the road onto the first of 4 stretches on the shingle beaches, round onto the esplanade and away we went.......up the first of too many steep hills - at least this was on road. About 3 miles in and off road we went round a caravan site and away.... beautiful view of Branscombe bay as we dropped onto the beach for the water crossing - only went up to my midriff! Then away off up into the hills, the relentless hills - a bit of a respite around 8/9 miles whilst skirting round a few farmers fields before dropping down into forest about 12 miles - then the bogs came - with marshals in there in waders to pull you out if you got stuck! a quick stream to wash those shoes off and up again followed by severe off camber hill down into another bog - this time with ropes just in case the marshals couldn't get to you - somehow back into Branscombe (not for the last time) down hill and past the pub where the crowds were 3-4 deep on either side of the road - great encouragement but just round the corner off up another steep hill you would have difficulty in getting a car to go up! More upwards undulations until a marshal tells you you are at the top - its all downhill to the beach again - a 3/4 mile slog along the shingle beach followed up by a near vertical climb on the coastal path to get back eventually into Beer (the place not the drink) - more crowds, more encouragement - less than 2 miles to go - but oh joy more steps up and away over to Seaton - but just for a laugh they throw you back out on the beach for 1 last killer session on the pebbles - back onto the finishing straight - catching a few on the line and finish. 63rd official place 2 hours 56. Okay was hoping for nearer 2 hours 45 but nothing prepares you for the relentless hills both up and down that eventually reduced me to walking some of them. What a race! Nothing prepares you for a course like this - my training of up to 60 mile weeks just got me round but hey there's always next year - older, wiser? Oh and kick me if I ever tell you I'm good at getting up hills - nothing in Bedfordshire comes close.

Well done to all the others who made it down there and round - a particular big well done to Sally Marsh 2nd home for the flyers in 3 hours 31- and I got her name right this time!

Dave Olney

Chiltern League XC, Shuttleworth - Saturday, 16 January

Jeremy Bell

Disney (Florida) 1/2Marathon & Marathon - Sat/Sunday, 9/10 January

Ricky Jennings

Happy New Year & End of Season Championship Results

As we close the book on yet another successful year for the Club it is time to tidy up a few remaining events.  The Marathon Championship is contested over the calendar year and awarded for the best performances over the distance.  Over the year, 50 marathons were completed by Club members.  Not to be overshadowed by those 2  stalwarts of the ultra distance runs, Richard Jones(7) & Paul Owen(5), Paul Barton weighed in with 6 and another 7 people completed 2 marathons during the year.  This total does not include those who decided to swim & cycle their way to the start of the marathon or those that did not stop on the completion of 26.2 miles.  The final results are:

This year, as a result of the unfortunate cancellation of our nominated event, the Leighton Buzzard 10, a hasty and, I hope sensible approach, was taken to contest the Championships over any 10 mile event in the remainder of the year.  During that period 26 times were recorded and the contest was in dispute right up until the final few days of the year when some sterling performances snatched titles that may have seemed already decided.   The final results are:

The Grand Prix Leagues also are concluded at the end of the year.  This, supposedly, "bit of fun", event was well contested right up until the last day the year.  The tables have now been finalised and are available here.  Well done to the 5 winners:- Phil Holland, Jeremy Bell, Rebecca Fleckney, Alistair Gould & Debbie Knott.  The somewhat disappointing thing about this year is the noticeable reduction in participation of GP events.  This is shown by the fact that it is the first time for 5 years that it has not been necessary to populate the Hawks league.

I have now updated my annual Age Related calculations and the updated table can be found here. 

Phil Bierton

Last Updated: Wednesday, 25 August 2010 22:34