MY ROAD RACES SINCE AUGUST 2008
Unfortunately this will not take a great deal of space as after running
satisfactorily in the Burnsall 10 (23rd August), I then hurt my
back and could not take part in the Langdale
Half or Garstang Half, which I
had planned as build up races for the Great
North Run in October.
When my back recovered, after seeing my
physio, Mark Ghee at Blackpool Physiotherapy Centre, Whitegate Drive, I developed a cold,
which seemed to end just before the GNR
and begin again a couple of days after. Not the best preparation.
Great North Run - 5th
October
A group of 4 from my employers Chartered Accountant’s Horne Brooke Shenton, Caunce Street, Blackpool (I promise, Brenda and Bill, that’s
the last free advertising), myself, Dominic
Haley, Joe Hindley and David Wells
decided to do the GNR this year. We
did it in aid of Barnados and raised
£850. I didn’t get in through the
ballot.
The latter is a member of WRR but if his % attendance at Carr Hill
had been the same as a pupil as it is on a Monday
night, then his parents would have been in jail for failing to assure his
attendance.
Dom, Joe and myself decided to use Nirvana Sports, who do a race transfer
service. We stayed at
So, armed with bible, hymn books and cassocks
– only joking – on Sunday morning we
got the coach at 7-25, thinking it would take a while with the traffic etc. Not
a bit of it! We arrived at 8-10 for a race that starts at 10-40. And, whilst
the rain had stopped it was bloody cold stood around.
The baggage buses – for those who don’t
know the race is from Newcastle to South Shields and baggage buses are
used to transfer the competitor’s luggage from A to B – were leaving at 10-10 so, to make sure we
didn’t miss them, we made sure our bags were on at 9-40. This meant an hour in
disposable t shirt and vest and shorts. As I said - not warm!
I don’t like the fact that there are so
many runners, (52,000), but its popularity swells the spectators and the
atmosphere is out of this world, so I can put up with it.
Of course, as soon as you start running it
soon warms up and eventually, you get into a rhythm. At the start the rhythm
was Ok – 8 minute miling or less – and at 9 miles I was at 74 minutes.
Unfortunately the proverbial wall hit me, due to not being able to do the
training, and the next 4 miles were plodded in a less than respectable 41
minutes. But I finished in 1-55.30,
which is 16 minutes slower than my only other attempt in 2000. Joe finished in 1:47 – ecstatic; Dave in 2:17 – happy - and Dom in 2:24 (doing
cartwheels as he had not really trained for it).
One sad footnote. In 2000, Carol’s Uncle Hughie
kindly put us up for three or four days before the race. On 2nd October 2008, three days before this race, he
died – if you believe in strange phenomenon’s this has to be one – and so I was
back up in Northumberland on the Friday after the race for his funeral.
Wesham 10k - 29th
November 2008.
I won’t rabbit on about this one as
everybody will know what happened. Fog, cold, but what brilliant conditions.
Didn’t help me though as I struggled to 47:26.
This did help me two days later though.
Handicap - 1st
December 2008
I know a handicap race is not usually
included I feel I have to blow my own trumpet when I can, because it won’t
happen again in a hurry. As I hadn’t done the Winter Handicap this season I used Saturday’s race as a basis. This gave me a low handicap and, as a
consequence, I was in the fourth group to start.
For some reason, I felt good and decided to
go for it from the start and see how it went. I started to pass the people in
front and nobody was passing me. Just before Dowbridge, on the second lap, I passed a lady runner, (sorry don’t
know who), and wondered whether I was in front. I decided to keep going as well
as I could – I wasn’t sure whether Dave
Jones was still ahead. I got up Dowbridge
and still nobody had passed me but I hadn’t caught Dave up, as it turns out this was because I had passed him already.
I kept going and when I turned into the school road, Ian Rawcliffe told me I was 200-250 yards ahead. I went up the road
with arms aloft and broke the tape – FIRST.
Another sad
footnote. My
handicap has risen to 9 minutes from 5. Do I care – not a jot. I have had my
moment of glory. Time to let someone else.
Guys 10 - 7th
December
Full of confidence from Monday, I ventured to the icy waste
that was the Guys 10, not knowing
what to expect from the conditions other than I was going to go for it from the
start. The only two problems that I could foresee were:-
We started off and the conditions were
good, in fact perfect, for running and I made a decent start. At this point, I
would say that my best 10 miles in 2008
was 81:57 and I was hoping for,
maybe, 77 or 78 minutes. My time at 2 miles was 14:40.
When we turned off the main road, however,
the ice was lying on the road and everybody was more tentative. Fortunately,
this was intermittent and by 5 miles had slipped to 37:30, still well within my target. Between mile 6 and 7 was the
worst ice – at one point, when I could see it at the bottom of a slight incline.
I slowed down considerably to get by it. It didn’t break my rhythm, though. At
8 miles I was just over 61 minutes.
Even though I didn’t feel I had slowed down
greatly, I looked at my watch at 9 and I was over 69 minutes – more than 8
minutes a mile. I was disappointed but kept going and was amazed when running
to the finish line and the time hadn’t reached 76 minutes – I finished in 76:12. Methinks the 9 mile marker was
out.
Boy was I happy. Nearly 6 minutes off my
best 2008 time after slowing down
for the ice. What could it have been? Hopefully the next 10 mile race will tell
me. It was like winning on Monday.
Written by: Pete
Cooke
Submitted: 31st
December 2008
Edited by: Brenda J
Earnshaw WRR Editor