2009 ANNABLOG
2009 ANNABLOG
The bare bones of 2009 are that I ran 1433.5 miles ( 2307 K ) bringing my lifetime recorded totals to 152,991 miles ( 246,213 K. )
I ran 32 races 16 of which were trail races. That 32 makes a lifetime total of 2297 competitions. I gained no new countries and in fact had no races at all abroad.
My last 1/2 Marathon ( I think) was at Freckleton in June on the 40th anniversary of my setting a course record of 64:45. It is still the course record ! My time this year was 1:49:59 and I was happy with that.
The highlight of my year was 3 weeks island hopping in Greece with my wife, May. Santorini, Ios, Sikinos, Folegandros and Thirassia. Great weather, new runs and scenery. Plus May started tentatively to run again.
The UK summer weather was rubbish and at the end of the year diabolical.
My form seemed to diminish with the passage of the months and efforts got harder only to produce slower times.
Currently, I have little desire to race. If I do, I expect a dramatic drop in performance as I feel to push myself would be detrimental to my health and enjoyment.
To me, now, running is about HEALTH and ENJOYMENT !
December 2009
PERSISTENT PAIN The day after Silkstone I ran 3 1/2 miles. Recovery run. Then Mon. 4 1/2, Tue. 2 1/2. Weds morning, 4 1/2. I seemed to have my rib problem sorted. After the run a tried some gentle, half sit-ups. On the third one I heard a crack in my right rib. The pain was back. After lunch I was changing my jeans to go into the garden when the act of bending made the pain ten times worse. I could hardly sleep that night. Which ever way I lay, every time I turned the rib(s) hurt. The next morning it took me 43:25 to run 3 1/2 miles. Looking in the mirror I noticed bruising in the centre of my chest. It looks like this is going to be a long haul back! THE GREAT LANGDALE XMAS PUDDING 10K, DECEMBER 12TH Slow healing ribs. I had hurt my right ribs three weeks prior to this race and was still not fully mended. To be fair it was not sore when I was running but I was not doing sit ups or press ups and it was painful if I lay on that side in bed. Luckily I feel that it gets very slightly better with every day that passes. Langdale races. My friend”Rocket” Rod I was in this competition to enjoy it and did not worry as I went with the crowd on undulating roads being passed by a few tardy starters but in turn overtaking several myself. At around 2 K I ran past a couple I had seen virtually on the front row before the off. I wondered what they thought they would gain by being passed by probably three quarters of the field by the end of the race. This was one race where I did not look at my watch until after the finish. Conrad Slater, a regular rival in my MV 70 division battled me for the first 3 K; he was faster on the downhills but I was able to leave him on the up hills until I never saw him again. Around 4 K we did a loop round the Langdale Hotel estate then back on to public roads. We were running back the way we came. I continued to move up the field. At 7 K there was a long uphill. I remember runners remarking that this would be tough on the way back. I had made a mental note myself. After that there were more hills I had not noticed after the start, being fresh and in the crowds. They were beginning to hurt. I picked off a handful more and finished pretty tired at the back of a group of five. At the presentation, my club mate, Roger Brewster, who was 14th and first MV 50, 36:37), remarked," How could you not be inspired by the mountain scenery in the latter stages of the race?" I hadn't seen the views with my head down concentrating on the road ahead! Over the finish line. Now I looked at my watch. 50:38. A bit disappointed. But it had been very cold and there were, for me, difficult hills. Consolation was 1st MV 70 out of three in my age group. 217th out of 446 meant I had beaten 51% of runners. Way above average than the norm. But the number of unattached runners was a revelation. 267; that was 60% of finishers! Rod put on his usual superb performance at the presentation. He does not take prisoners! I was his assistant, shaking hands and handing over prizes. The race winner was Lee Cook, Tri Clan, 33:05. The leading female was Helen Waugh, Tyne Tri, in 11th position, 36:30. Morning run I stayed the night at the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel. I wanted to be first down fir breakfast, so was up at 6:30 and out for a 3 mile run at 7:30. It was still pitch black. As I passed a line of parked cars there was a single honk of a horn. I thought I had triggered an alarm and continued gingerly on the icy roads first to Stool End Farm, crossing a couple of cattle grids. I was surprised to see a shadowy figure ahead and passed a lone walker making an early start for the hills. An inspiring run as the light crept up the valley. I was first into breakfast, a full English, and was joined by Rocket Rod and his wife Dorothy. It had been Rod who had honked me as I left for my run. He'd been up since 4:00am and out checking the course for the second 10 K race at noon that day! Small Landmark On Friday, 18th December, my training logs, started on Monday, September 3rd, 1956, reached a total of 246,000 Kilometres. BIG LANDMARK Two days later, December 20th, one of my favourite training runs completed 45YEARS OF NOT MISSING A DAY'S RUNNING. My elder son Steven accompanied me as we struggled through snow and ice up a road named Running on the six days after the completion of the 45 years of my streak were very difficult because of the icy conditions, but a note in my training log for my run on Christmas day was significant, " .....Heart felt a bit tired on the railway....." and the following day, when I ran only 2 miles because of the extremely icy surfaces, ".....could feel the strain of my heart....." The next day I arrived early in Clitheroe to collect my number (George Woodburn, the race director, had allotted me No. 1) and give me plenty of time for a 2 mile warm up. I got well wrapped up as the air temperature was hovering around zero. Standing at the back as the race commenced was a wise move as, trying to relax, I found that my position did not change that much and I passed only a few people throughout the race. The course had been modified slightly compared to previous years, the start and finish being in the same spot. This entailed adding a short out (uphill) and back (downhill) section at 5K to maintain an accurate distance. On the “back “bit, into a head wind, it began to rain. I was not enjoying this! On to the familiar course now we had a favourable tail wind all the way home. I was with a group and counting down the kilometres. I had deliberately not looked at my watch but was pressing it to get the splits. At 9K an unattached female runner in a khaki t-shirt, No. 663, asked, “What was that?" I glanced down, “47:04” But that included the 20 seconds it had taken me to cross the start line. Another runner, stocky Martin Doig, of BRJ RR, Huntingdon, who had been around me for most of the race exclaimed; “Now we've got that bloody hill!” After a sign indicating “440 M “we ran down to The men's winner was Tom Lancashire, Bolton UH, 29:21, Course Record. Female winner was Helen Clitheroe, Preston H., 32:53. I stood around a long time at the presentation. At one stage I began to feel faint and light headed. I knew it was a low blood pressure episode and luckily it passed. For the moment. Later I looked back and realised that I had had only a mouthful of fluid before the race and nothing afterwards despite sweating a lot in warm up and racing. I just hadn't felt thirsty, but I must have been dehydrated. FULL ON POORLY The reading was 90 / 50. This was not good. But I felt peaceful and thought this would be a nice way to die as I was not in any pain. Back to reality. On my run I had had pains in my knees and in the area of my kidneys. I WAS SEVERELY DEHYDRATED. I drank a large glass of orange juice and a 500ml bottle of Lucozade Sport. I was in bed again by 7:00 after a tiny amount of steak and mashed potato. I slept the night through only disturbed by cramp in my lower left leg and arthritic pains in my left hand. More evidence of chronic dehydration. Four days into the New Year and with short slow runs, 2 to 3 miles, and the occasional swig of water, I am feeling much better. Mind you, I will not be going out running on cold days carrying a bottle of water! But I will be taking care and thinking about hydration. DECEMBER STATISTICS My training log shows 129 miles (208 K) for December, including 2 races, bringing my lifetime recorded total to 152,991 miles (246,213 K)
The day after
November 2009
THE 50TH DERWENTWATER “10 ", NOVEMBER 1ST
What a shame about the weather. The 50th anniversary of this classic 10 mile road race greeted by what must have been the worst weather in the history of the race. I had won the race on October 26th 1963. That day I was timed at 49:48 which must have been a course record. The race was reputed to be slightly under distance but we were misdirected in the town of
Unfortunate start - Photo Credit: May Hill
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Happy to finish- Photo Credit: May Hill
My training log reports of this day's conditions, “A dreadful, dreadful day - cold and rain and floods." So horrible in fact that I pinned my race number “1 " on to a jacket over my long sleeve and Clayton - le - Moors club vest. I wore tights tights under my shorts and put on cap and gloves. This attracted a lot of weight when my kit was soon soaked. I can honestly say I was not looking forward to this race.
From the off I did not feel good at all. Despite starting near the back people were passing me and I struggled on the hills from the beginning. At about 2 1/2 miles two large collie dogs passed me pulling a female competitor behind them. They disappeared into the distance and I never saw them again. Many parts of the road were now flooded and like many of my fellow strugglers I tried to run in the middle of the road where the water was shallowest. This was not easy as many impatient drivers were forcing their way past in both directions. At about 4 1/2 miles, at one particularly deep spot, I was forced into deep water by a double decker bus coming in the opposite direction, charging through and spraying me with water.
I turned right at Grange on to the hilly part of the course. I was just about holding my on with respect to the other runners. The mile between 5 and 6 took me 10m 49s, dragging my sodden shoes and socks up the hills and across the streams flooding off the fells. I was plodding along with a woman, a portly bloke in a white vest just behind, and a tall guy wearing a bin liner. The rain stopped at 7 1/2 miles. At 8 miles the tall guy took off his bin liner and shot off into the distance. After 8 miles a lost my two companions on the downhill’s. In the distance I could see two other runners ahead a man in a purple t-shirt who appeared to be running slowly and a woman in a navy and sky blue jacket. Purple t-shirt, Andrew McIntosh, Unatt., must have speeded up as he overtook the woman in the blue jacket, Alison Andrew, Cumberland A C, and went away. I wasn't bothered. I'd had enough. I just wanted to get to the finish. In fact I was so anxious to get it over with my last mile was the fastest of my race, a pathetic 8:37, but it took me past Alison Andrew.
My time was a P W, 1:31:10 for 335th place of 410, brave soul, finishers. I had managed to beat only 18% of the field, one of my worst performances for a long, long time. Something had definitely been wrong with me. I was 2nd MV 70 to Peter Taylor, Cumberland Fell Runners, who ran 1:26:27.
Andi Jones, Salford H., the winner in 2008, ran an excellent time of 51:48 to win by 2m 20s from James Douglas, Border Harriers, whilst Rebecca Robinson, Kendal A C, the female winner in 2008, won again, in 9th position overall, with a time of 50:09.
My admiration and thanks go to Alan Ritchie, aided by his wife Elaine, for keeping this true and historic classic of the
RACING / RECOVERY / AND A DOG
The day after Derwentwater I ran a 3 miler, out and back, on the railway trail, before we returned to Hyde. Tuesday morning I ran 4 miles on the road. It took me 45:17. My log records, “Legs lifeless." By the end of the week I was running a little bit better but “feeling tired, " and this was just easy running! I had done no speedwork for ages. Derwentwater had been my 29th race of the year. Had this got something to do with it?
At the beginning of the next week I ran a 4 1/2 on Saturday and a 5 1/2 Sunday, trying to continue with runs partially off-road before the mud gets too deep. But having to put on full gear to protect against foul wet weather I find depressing. To add to my misery, Monday morning I was running on a disused railway track, now tarmac'd, a course I really enjoy, when a dog off its leash came bounding towards me, went behind, got caught up in my heels and sent me sprawling forwards on to the hard surface, taking most of the force on my hands. It hurt! I stopped my watch before getting to my feet starting the watch and continuing. My right hand sustained a torn glove but on my left hand, which was sorest, I noticed blood beginning to seep through. When I got home I noted a small cut on my left hand which eventually became a big blood blister but more importantly I had damaged some bone near the wrist which I had hurt severely in the Idle Trail Race in August.
I could not do press ups for a week. Healing was quick. Dogs can do damage beyond biting. By the end of the week I was still feeling tired. I set off on the same run as Monday. As I reached the railway trail another man got there just before me. He was stooped, wore thick glasses and was wearing shorts and a black t-shirt heavily faded at the shoulders. I was in full gear. I pondered how long it would take me to overtake him. I kept looking ahead and blow me if he didn't move further away before exiting the trail! What speed was I doing? Time to retire? Not a bit of it. I can only give what I have got and will continue doing so.
GILL PIMBLOTT MEMORIAL 5K, NOVEMBER 15TH.
There have been some half decent days amongst the recent gloomy windy wet weather that has been thrown at us recently. One such day was November 15th when I returned to compete in the Gill Pimblott Memorial 5K. The venue was
The start is very narrow at this race but, unworried, I stood at the back of the field of 85 runners. It is an uphill start for a first short lap of just under a mile. Being amongst the slower runners controlled my speed and saved me from getting into immediate oxygen debt. The trails had some puddles but these were easily negotiated and I overtook a few on this short loop. There was then a gap in front of me. Relaxing on the bigger lap I managed to overtake eight runners in the second mile. It had taken me 9 seconds to cross the start line. My first mile was 8:32 and that second mile 8:08. I was happy with that.
Now there was a much bigger gap ahead to a group of four. I just kept striding but an 8:06 third mile saw me passing no-one but took me close enough to overtake one more in the last bit. I was 52nd out of 85 ( 1st MV 70 ) in a time of 25:44. I had beaten 39% of the field. 2008 had been 55th out of 80 ( 2nd MV 70 ) in 24:34 - now a year older ? - this year worse conditions ? but last year I only beat 31% of the field. I think I was a bit more comfortable this year so all in all a positive result. I think the long warm-up helped !
The men's winner was Guy Heyes, Horwich RMI Harriers, 17:13; and his clubmate, Emma Perrin, was first female home in 19:13.
This is a great little race, preceded by a Fun Run for youngsters and beginners, and organised on a friendly way by Astley and Tyldsley Road Runners. This club is doing a great job in promoting running in this area and last year doubled their membership !
THE SILKSTONE SHUFFLE, 4TH & FINAL RACE IN THE 2009 SERIES, 28TH NOVEMBER.
I seem to have been dogged by unlucky injuries this year. Six days before the above race I was climbing a short ladder when I slipped, skinned my left shin and hit my right side on a low wall. I cracked a rib. This got more painful as the days progressed but was not a sufficient problem to stop me racing. What looked like more of a problem on the journey to the race was the weather. I set off up the
I had run the first race of the series on March 28th and enjoyed it so much that I promised race director Ian Meade that I would come back for the final competition. Actually he had bribed me with a promise of a series t-shirt and a pint if I ran! The conditions were more difficult this time around with some deep puddles on the road section, exceptional mud in places, and an extra couple of stiles plus an electric fence to climb over.
Despite the weather delays I had time for a 2 1/2 mile warm up before heading for the start wearing two long sleeve shirts, my club vest, tights and shorts, cap, gloves plus cycling gloves, padded at the palms, in case I fell down. Starting at the back and relaxing, I was surprised to find the field running away from me and it was not until about 10 minutes into the race that I caught a runner, Barnsley Harrier, Vikki Skipper. I was able to overtake two more before the top of the first long hill, taking me 14 1/2 minutes, then three more on the road, firstly flat, then down, then up before a turn downhill on to a trail. I passed one more woman just before the trail turned left, which left one more runner in my sights. He was wearing the vest of Northern Veterans AC plus a white cap. I could not make out whether he was in my age category but struggling over the stiles, as I was, he seemed to have a bit more spring than I did. I later discovered from the results that he was Thomas Finch an MV 60.
Approaching one stile his cap caught on a hedge branch and flew off. His stopping to retrieve it allowed me to close right up. Just before a long downhill soggy grass section I over took him. Striding as well as I could I followed two women, one of them losing a bit of ground on the other at each of two stiles. But they stayed in front of me. I found the stile leading to the final road section really awkward but still had a good margin on Thomas Finch. Donna Hackleton, Kingstone RR, was now running away leaving a woman in pink jacket, Rebecca Branford, just ahead. I was close at the penultimate stone stile, across a short wet field, and after the last wooden stile, I discovered the lady in pink shouting, “Which way, which way?” “Over the low wall to the right, " I directed. She was also confused about the way on to the finishing field and I passed her. But she was not giving up. As we splashed our way round the field she came alongside then started to sprint. I did too but was not strong enough to hold her.
I clocked 41:44 (2m 15s slower than March) for 104th place out of 123 finishers I beat only 15% of the field! I knew I'd had a poor run, but by not pushing too hard I had enjoyed it more. In March I was 124th out of 157 runners (a record?) in front of 21%.
The race winner was Nick Swift, Sheffield R C, who remarkably ran 32 seconds faster than in March with 25:20. The women's winner was Pippa Wilkie, Hallamshire H. 30:24.
I stayed on to help with the prize giving and received a bottle of red wine for 1st MV 70. Just before the ceremony started a young woman came up to me and said, “Hello,
I'm Ian Thompson's daughter." I was amazed. Ian had come out of the blue in the October 1973 Harlow Marathon, the Trial for the Commonwealth Games to be held in
Outsprinted!
My cracked rib had not affected my performance; I only felt it over the last 1 1/2 miles. I got my t-shirt. I got my pint of excellent Moorlands bitter in the Ring O' Bells and went home happy.
NOVEMBER STATISTICS.
My training log for November shows 135 miles (217 K) around 30 miles per week, bringing my total recorded mileage to 152,787 miles (245,886 K)
October 2009
AUTUMN LEAVES.
Autumn leaves are falling fast now and, as well as giving splashes of red and a gold colour to pavements, trails and paths, the smell is very evocative. For me, visions of past cross-country races appear, especially of Wythenshawe Park in Manchester where I ran many course record breaking races at a time in my University days of six years and in an era when cross-country was my favourite discipline.
But a word of caution; where the leaves are deep, especially on pavements and paths, take care, you never know what is under there. Branches, stones or ditches can easily lead to a twisted ankle.
It is also a sad time. The mornings and evenings get darker. The weather turns wetter turning summer paths into clinging, shoe soaking mud. Both of these force me on to the roads. I have been using as many of the “country " courses as I can before the inevitable. All this brings back memories of the period 1964 to 1975 when I used to run to work and back for my training. Then winter was always morning and evening runs in the dark. Not pleasant, but achievable, and I had some success on the back of it!
STADIUM RUNNERS'
Jane Denniss, Ladies Rep at stadium Runners contacted me ages ago about being Guest of Honour at this year’s event and, when I finally consented, the Event Committee Chairman, Brian Pinder, wrote to me. “Dr Ron - we would like you to start the race, run the race and then present the prizes." No problem. Without a decent map the venue,
Smiling - The easy bit - Photo Credit: Stadium Runners
After 1 1/2 miles warm up I carried out my first duty, sounding he horn for the start. Joining in near the back, the first bit felt difficult as being uphill I was quickly into oxygen debt. Nevertheless I was passing and when the traffic free estate road went down I was able to recover and stride. Just before we left the road I passed a Wakefield Harrier, Stuart Anderson, an MV70 who had beaten me last year in the Wombwell “5 “in
Another steep down then a left turn to face a huge hill. The race marshals were all fantastic telling us how great we were doing and looking. No matter how we felt inside! I thought I would try to run all the way to the top of this hill but in the end succumbed to - walk 10 double paces - run 15 double paces. After two of these we reached some levelish trails where I could recover a little before hitting the road and climbing past the start to commence the second of two laps. On this ascending section I was able to overtake a couple of runners including Karen Thrippleton in the yellow vest of Pudsey Pacers who seemed determined not to let me pass. On the downhill road I passed and soon overtook Donna Sibery who had out sprinted me at “
“Run Rabbit." Overtaking a runner here, who said he had run four marathons this year, I recounted that I was concentrating hard. The next second he hit a tree root, tripped, but just managed to stay on his feet.
NOT smiling - the not so easy bit - Photo Credit: Stadium Runners
There was no queue at the wall stile this time around, but I climbed over very carefully. At the big hill I began - walk 10 - run 15 early and after three sets was running freely and not far behind Stuart Anderson. On the flat trails, amazingly, so near the finish, he stopped at a water station. I passed but soon he was sprinting past me. I thought this unwise and that he would pay for it by the finish, but he kept going to finish 5 seconds ahead of me. I had nothing in my legs for a sprint. On the whole the weather had been bright with a rain show during the race. Which nobody noticed! The”goody” canvas bag was so full you could hardly lift it, and the race T-shirt was made from a technical polyester fabric.
I stayed on to help with the presentation and promptly got lost on the way to Holmfirth and then home.
Presenting Julie Buckley with her prize - Photo Credit: Stadium Runners
The men's winner was David Watson, Holmfirth H, 34:39, and the women's winner, FV50 Julie Buckley, Penistone Footpath Runners, 42:33.
I was only 3rd MV70 behind Stuart Anderson and the winner of our division, Jeffrey Taylor, Meltham A C, 51:36.
My 167th place out of 250 finishers meant I was ahead of 33% of the field.
What a race and what a reception for me. Thank you Stadium Runners!
WARM (AND WET) WEATHER TRAINING.
A week after the Woodland Challenge May and I flew to Kalamata in
My kit just about dried before the next mornings run and as May and I set out to run the first 1/2 mile together it was warm and sunny. This is what we had come here for. But the weather had not finished with us yet. The next morning, off with May, then on alone to the main road where I headed north as far as a big supermarket. We had holidayed in Stoupa in 2000 and the supermarket was not there then, but I recalled heading up into the hills on a road, now beside this building, and took this road again. As I started to climb rain came belting down. I passed an old couple sheltering in a doorway. They must have thought I was mad as by now I was ankle deep in streams covering the road.
Luckily that was the last we saw of bad weather and every day I would leave May at some point and run high into the hills. 4 miles was my maximum But I could have gone much further. Maybe another time! We did some good walks, enjoying the sun, the butterflies, the rosemary and sage and the wild pink cyclamen.
Oh, and I managed to read another book from my refound library. "The Power and the Glory," by Graham Greene, first published in 1940. My second hand copy had been sold off by Bury and District Co-operative Society Ltd. - Educational Department - sometime around 1955. An interesting tale.
THE 200TH WIRRAL
The morning after arriving back from
I had moved up the field a bit on the run to the sea but seemed to make little headway from there on. The gale was whipping swirls of sand which ran ahead along the concrete. I think the previous day's journey had taken a lot out of me as I was finding very difficult to find a relaxed pace. I was eyeballs out! Towards half way I caught a tall guy who looked familiar and who looked like he was in my age group. I passed him then immediately after a young lass from Wirral AC, Emily Atkins. As often happens with runners I pass, she saw the back of me and gained added strength, overtaking me and staying in front of me to finish 8 seconds ahead. It just seemed to get harder and harder. My heart and breathing could hardly take it. Over the last bit I was right behind a group of five but could raise nothing of a sprint and had to let them go.
Me at the back of my group - 640, Emily Atkin; Harry Greenwood - Photo Credit: www.tonyclixby.com
Some consolation should have been the time, 22:44 compared with 23:42 in March, but the wind had been much stronger this time. Perhaps I should have taken a little satisfaction from my position - 76th out of 154 athletes which meant I was ahead of 51% of the field. In March 61% of the field of 99 had beaten me. The tall runner I had passed at half way? After the race He asked me, "Will you be doing
The men's winner was Shaun Egan, 15:29 and the first woman, Rachel Jones, Preston Harriers, 7th overall, 17:03.
Congratulations to Roy Fisher and his wife Alison for keeping this popular race thriving.
OCTOBER STATISTICS
Daily runs in October totalled 121.5 miles (200 K) bringing my lifetime recorded total to 152,652 miles (245,669 K)
September 2009
LAKELAND TRAILS, PUMA DERWENTWATER 14K
It can be seen from my recent races that I am enjoying and favouring off road events. On the other hand some of these races have not been kind to me in terms of falling down! I just have to be more careful. This means concentrating more, especially when I'm tired and I am not picking my feet up properly. I have enjoyed some of the Lakeland Trails series. The Coniston Trail in October 2007 was held on an incredibly beautiful day as was the Hawkshead Trail in April this year. All the races involve serious (for me) climbs and descents and with my fallibility on downhill’s I wanted to do the Derwentwater "whilst I still can."
This time the weather was not so kind but with only a little rain during the race and a stiff headwind on the tops conditions were not too bad. Warming up around
Derwentwater Start - Photo Credit -May Hill
I thought I had lined up near the back of the field. At 2 o'clock the horn sounded to send us on our way, up past the old railway station and on to the abandoned railway track for 3 kilometres of gradual incline. I knew immediately that I was not having a good day. Wearing a cap in anticipation of the forecast bad weather due to arrive mid-race I was starting to sweat. It seemed hard work. And people were passing. And passing. And passing. It looked like I was going to be last and I actually looked round to see if anyone was behind me. I didn't see many! Left turn off the railway track and a steeper climb. I managed to keep running. Down and through a stream, then a long climb began alongside Glenderaterra Beck. The trail became a path and the path turned into a bog. We had been warned about this, “2 to 300 metres." It must have been at least 1 kilometre and almost impossible to run on wherever you put your feet.
It is not easy nor that enjoyable to run when you are absolutely knackered. Floundering in the bog I happened to glance ahead and saw in the distance a snake of runners on a hard climb. Looking to my left and raising my eyes, a file of figures way, way above heading back. Inwardly I groaned. Out of the bog, stony trails to be negotiated with extreme diligence, then the muddy upwards trudge. The path along Lonscale fell was the scariest of all. Some parts were good running and I could try to sit in behind other runners, mainly female. There were a couple of tricky bits however. Slabs of bare rock which were very slippery wet. I walked; saw a bit of gritty path down to my left and jumped. My landing was not very elegant and I almost lost my balance, just steadying myself at the last second. That scared me as there was a massive drop if I had gone down.
Now I really had to concentrate hard. Runners were still overtaking me, mainly women. There was one short uphill section on which my legs felt really tired, then some steep downhill trails where I tried to stride out. On to a road, then back into
Derwentwater, approaching the Finish- Photo Credit -May Hill
My "chip" time was 1:32:59, not far off what I expected, and I was 323rd out of 397. I had had a bad day as only 19% of the field were behind me. In my category, MV60, I was 11th out of 17.
The race winner was James Walsh, Leeds City AC, 51:53 (Course Record) First woman was Vic Wilkinson, Bingley AC, 8th overall, 60:07.
In my August blog, Saddleworth "6," I mention the winner, Tony Byrne, a Salford Harrier. I hadn't seen Tony in years and had no idea what had become of him. Just before the start of Derwentwater, a man with a newspaper under his arm rushed up to me. "Ronnie, Ronnie." I realised it was Tony and said I would see him at the presentation, which I did and introduced him to a couple of his other contemporaries, Colin Robinson and Harry Walker. He was in Keswick, by chance, with three cousins celebrating a birthday. We had a drink together later. He had stopped running long ago but I tried to persuade him to run my birthday 5K on September 24th.
Another coincidence. I helped out at the presentation handing out the prizes to the female veterans. Second in the FV50's was Jill Horsburgh, Lothian Running Club. She told me she used to live at Low End Farm half way up
WHY SO TIRED AND SLOW?
Running has not been so easy lately and it is only logical to search for the reasons why. Getting older obviously has something to do with it but there are other over 70's faster than me, though perhaps they have not been running as long as I have. Is there a wearing out factor?
I have seriously neglected our house and garden for the last 25 years due to work commitments and projects of various kinds. With the recent prolonged dry spell I have been able to devote some time to the garden. Much of this has involved digging and the lifting and moving around of heavy stones. Not quite back breaking work but in the mornings after my legs were telling me that something different had happened the day before.
Athletics Weekly recently had an article on the reasons why athletes lose their form. One suggestion was that it could be stress due to poor time management. For a long time I never believed in stress but now I am beginning to think there is something in it. I go into my office at home to see piles of papers everywhere plus heaps of socks and other clothing. I know I have to take our partnership accounts and tax returns down to our accountant with all the relevant documents. I have to keep our expenses sheets and motor mileage log up to date. There is invoicing to be done. Sometimes I just feel like turning round and going to bed to sleep.
My monthly bog often gets behind.
Then there is the internet. E-mails. I know it is great and it cuts out the need for writing and replying to letters. But it all takes time. Luckily for me it is just a tool and I would rather be doing something else than additional things in front of a screen.
Sometimes when I have had my run and filled in my training log I feel like my job for the day is done!
Maybe I'm racing too much.
Must break off now to answer an interview for "FitPro" Magazine!
WORSLEY WOODS TRAIL RACE, SEPTEMBER 13TH
What a great little race this 4 1/2 miler was. Organised by "athlete matters", sports physiotherapists the 10:00 am start was in Roe Green on a railway trail. I had never visited this area before and was amazed at the diversity of he course. I entered on the day, was there early and received No. 11. How many were going to run ? I need not have worried, there were 94 finishers. A 2 mile warm up and I was ready to go, despite all the gardening the day before ! The user friendly route was interesting. Flat railway trail, cross-country fields and woods and stepping stones across a stream. At one point on a very short steep drop I saw what were the edges of bright white stone poking put of the ground. I thought that was curious until I realised that the organisers had sprayed bricks which could have been hazardous to competitors.
I thought I would start midway up the field. That didn't work. For over a mile on the railway trail people kept passing and passing. There was nothing I could do. I felt really, really tired and could not hang on to anyone. In the second mile only two passed me. The miles had gone 8:01, and 8:40. I was slowing. In the 3rd mile, 9:03, I passed one and two passed me. The same in mile 4, 9:41. Something of an effort over the last 1/2 mile, 4:30, gave me a final time of 39:55. I could not believe how slow I had been over that last 2 1/2 miles! It had been a nice day, little wind and good conditions underfoot.
I was 60th of 94. 37% of runners behind me, probably slighter better than normal, but still not happy. I was 1st, and only, MV70.
The winner was Andy Jones, Salford H and AC, 23:43; first woman, Donna Jones, 6th overall, Sale H Manchester, 29:18.
MY 71ST BIRTHDAY 5K RACE, LITTLEBOROUGH, SEPTEMBER 24TH.
Obviously not exactly my birthday which is the 25th but Andy O'Sullivan always organises this race on the Thursday before the actual date. Considering the race starts at 6:45 pm Andy got a great response with 329 finishers receiving a special mug commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first Gold Medal of my career in the Marathon in the European Games of 1969, held on the original Marathon to Athens course. The date of that race was September 21st.
Team Clayton Le Moors - Photo Credit STEVE BATESON (www.runningpix.co.uk)
Dr Starter! - Photo Credit STEVE BATESON (www.runningpix.co.uk)
I acted as the official starter, firing the gun, handing it to Andy, then joining close to the back. 84 year old Louise Gilchrist had announced to me before the start that she was not running. That made my run a little easier as I always have a job trying to beat her. I was determined to try to take it easily and ran on the pavement up Rochdale Road quietly overtaking on the long, slightly uphill slope, left down Smithy Bridge Road I relaxed then faced the long climb to Hollingworth Lake. Luckily we did not have to use the underpass and steps at the level crossing and crossed the railway lines. Just after this I overtook Brenda Robinson wearing some old Ron Hill racing shoes. "Nice shoes," I remarked. "My favourites," she replied.
Rear Guard Runners - Photo Credit STEVE BATESON (www.runningpix.co.uk)
Up ahead I could see a Clayton vest and closed in on FV55, Eileen Jones who I had battled with to half way in "
The men's winner was Ian Grime,
Perusing the results to see who had travelled furthest, Robin Whitely who had finished second was from
CITY OF SALFORD 10K, Three days after my birthday race I was back in action. The race has a wonderful setting for the start and finish, right in front of the Lowry Theatre. I was not looking to kill myself. After a short warm up I stood at the back and was last across the start line. There seemed to be a bit of a competition for this dubious honour. My gun time did not matter. I would have a chip time at the end. I did not look at my watch throughout the race but noted afterwards that it took me 41 seconds to cross the start line. It was a cool day, little wind and completely flat. For once I actually enjoyed a race. I was passed by only one person in the whole run and I reckoned that guy had missed the start. It was somewhat strange in that nowhere amongst the runners did I see anyone I knew. Probably most were unattached, that is not club members. Come to think of it I saw very few club vests. My pace increased towards the end as my body had warmed up and the competitive urge returned a little. One guy almost caught me in a sprint but just failed to overtake and we were given the same time. My gun time was 53:00 for 201st position. I'd passed 150 of the 351 finishers. My chip time, 52:19, had me at 194th place so I was faster than 45% of the runners. Not bad for me. I think I was the only athlete over 70. The race winner was Tom Charles, Trafford AC, 33:44 with the women's winner, Jessica Riley, Stainlands Lions, 39:33. What a wonderful setting for a 10K race. I'm sure 2010 will feature far more runners on what must be a PB course. LOOKING FOR SOMETHING POSITIVE. I always like to take something positive from any race. My time at SEPTEMBER STATS. In September I ran 4 races and logged 121.5 miles (200 K) which upped my lifetime total to 152,530 miles, (254,473 K)
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August 2009
Try to stay on my feet ! Twenty days after falling in the Rombalds Romp my ribs are still hurting especially when getting in or out of bed. I have been there before and realise that the healing takes a long time especially as I get older. A further fall in my first race in August did me little good.
THE IDLE TRAIL RACE, AUGUST 2ND.
I was belting down a hill, just after the 5 mile marker, on a rough stony track called
One Mile in Photo: May Hill
I'll Finish! Photo: Idle AC www.idleac.co.uk
Up until then things had gone well. I had fully expected to finish near the back as with my cracked rib I could not get a deep breath. I would "race" but run carefully and enjoy the different surroundings. A good training run. There was a bottleneck as we approached the bank of the Leeds -
5 Barred Gate Photo: May Hill
Field Finish! Photo: Idle AC www.idleac.co.uk
The fall had stopped my watch at 49:35. I don't think I stopped it ! Not many more people passed me as I limped on, hurting like hell. My pace picked up a little. With great car I negotiated a stile which led to a downhill run over a lush grass field. At the bottom a five barred gate. Locked. May was at the other side She'd said to me emphatically before the start, "Don't fall down." The help of a marshal was needed to get me over this obstacle. Then I was on the bank of the river Aire and at the 6 mile point with just a long run into the wind, across the field to the finish. I was in a mess but had still beaten the hour with a time of 59:03 for 177th position from 254 finishers.Despite everything 30% of the field were behind me. I was only 4th in my MV70 category the first being Jeffrey Taylor, Meltham AC, 51:00
Overall winner was Stephen Broadbent, Bingley H. 36:17, with the women's winner, Lizzie Spencer, Leeds Bradford Tri Club, 16th overall in 42:49.
The Damage Photo: May Hill
I was lucky not to break my humorus bone again, aggravate my cracked rib or break a leg. LESSON LEARNED !
WHAT WAS I PLAYING AT ?
I can't believe how stupid I was . What was I doing hurtling down a hill with unsure footing ? Why did I not just jog down then pick up the pace? Ten days on my knees, protected by some strong supports, otherwise they would have been shredded, have more or less recovered. My left hand is healing but I still have a hole in my right elbow.
THE FRANK HODSON SADDLEWORTH " 6 " - THE 34TH RUNNING OF THIS EVENT, AUGUST 12TH
I ran in the very first Saddleworth "6" on September 22nd 1976, finishing 2nd to Tony Byrne who I think was in Bury and Radcliffe Harriers at that time. Tony ran 29:48 to my 29:57. I was probably pretty tired though as I had run two marathons in the previous eleven days. The first was the Polytechnic Marathon on the 11th where I got 3rd in 2:18:44; the second was the Berchem Marathon, Belgium, on the 17th, where I placed 4th in 2:23:38. 3rd and 4th in that first Saddleworth race were Dave Brown and Mike Deegan who both became Salford Harriers.
I was feeling somewhat beat up in this year's race with two bad falls in my previous two races. I was determined to stay on my feet and intended not to "race". From the back it took me 14 seconds to cross the start line and I thought I'd had a pretty slow start and seemed to be struggling. I was surprised to see 8:14 on my watch at 1 mile. A mile in 8 minutes was excellent for me. The middle miles were slower, but from 2 miles onwards I was moving through the field. With so many new faces around, a good thing for running in general, it was difficult to spot potential rivals to give me a benchmark.
"Slow" Start Photo: May Hill
Into the second lap I spotted the backs of two green vests in the distance. They were both East Cheshire Harriers. The first was Ann cherry and behind her Colin Timpson. I told myself to relax and that helped as, on the hill up to 4 miles I closed in on Colin and caught him soon after. I didn't go past and sat quietly behind him, content to wait and if necessary sit in, into the wind, after the left turn at the Clarence pub and 5 miles. But before this a guy with "Road Runners Club" in blue emblazoned on his white vest shot past. He was MV50, Keith Rant I decided to go with him for as long as I could and hung on for about 1/2 a mile during which we passed Ann Cherry.
Overtaking Caroline Broderick Photo: May Hill
He had taken me up to a group of runners and I passed a few on the long street to the finish on the track. No final sprint but my time for the final mile was very pleasing: 7:41.I hadn't run that quickly in years ! I wrote in my log, "Pretty amazing for me."
I stopped my watch at 49:16. The official results had me at 49:22. That was impossible. The one before that was 49:17 and that must have been me. 190th place from 272. 30% of the runners behind, exactly the same as my previous race. But as in that race the leading MV70 was Jeffrey Taylor of Meltham AC. His time was 46:00. I was 2nd in that category.
The race winner was Gareth Raven, Sale H. 29:07. First woman, Tess Walker, Salford H. 34:45.
WARM WEATHER RUNNING,
After eight races in eight weeks, including two nasty falls, and one of the worst summers I can remember, I felt I was in need of some of some sunshine and warm weather running. We chose Gumbet, near Bodrum in
We went to find our previous hotel on the first day. It had been called the "
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8 Windmills high
May outside the Bitez Mosque
Our 1998 hotel was on the north side of
Sarnic Water Storer
We walked a lot too, each day catching an inexpensive dolmus to a different resort and exploring on foot. We must have visited some of these in 1998 but with the amount of development that had occurred they were unrecognisable. We enjoyed the sun but after a night flight back felt like we needed another holiday.
BOOKS
We have emptied our loft with a view to rearranging the contents. A lot of stuff got put up there when we moved into our present home twenty- nine years ago. There were many books, untouched since that move. Some were in boxes, many in bags. A few had been nibbled by squirrels. Before our trip to
ALICE'S RUN, 10K TRAIL, MYTHOLMROYD, and AUGUST 30TH.
On a pleasant sunny morning, I warmed up a couple of miles recycling the last 1/2 mile of the course from the finish at
Soon we were directed left uphill on paths and tracks. I had passed three more runners in the 5th mile (10:48) but was starting to get tired. The 6th mile included four awkward styles plus a slippery uphill on wet stone slabs. I had passed the two women I had dogged after 4 miles but they came back at me as we passed 6 miles (6:56?) and commenced a downhill section on to the school field. On this level bit a sprint was not forthcoming and showing a complete lack of sympathy for age the two females surged past. I clocked 54:41 with Donna Siberia 2 seconds ahead and Liz Flanagan 1 second in front of me. Later Donna came up to me to say I had passed her in the Saddleworth " 6 " Looking up those results later I found I had finished exactly 2 minutes ahead of her 51:22 there. Her
The winner of the race was Chris Miller, Harrogate H & AC, 34:48.
The female winner was Susan Robinson, Unattached, and 45:44.
I was 131st out of 259 finishers, and first V70. A good run for me, approximately half way up the field (51 % in front.)
Of the last 40 runners only one was a member of a running club.
The race was in aid of Epilepsy Action.
STATS
Augusts daily runs produced 114 miles (183K), bringing my lifetime recorded distance to 152,411.5 miles (245,376K)
July 2009
JULY 2009
THE GO FASTER LOOK
I am sure that some readers of my blog will have noted from the pictures that I am sporting a new hair style. Before we left for our Greek holiday I had the lot shaved off down to the scalp. The reason? Simply that I had never done it before. Some years ago a friend had said about my hair, "If you've got it, flaunt it." So I did. The new look was something of a shock and the top of my head peeled a few times in the wonderful Aegean sun, but now I am used to it and will probably keep it like this for a good while. It certainly kept me cool in the Freckleton 1/2 Marathon but occasionally just recently I have had to don a cap to keep my had warm in this awful summer that we are experiencing.
TOO MANY RACES?
June saw me racing on four consecutive weekends. Who needs speedwork? But my knees are telling me that maybe this is overdoing it no matter how much I like the excitement of competitions and travelling to different venues. Perhaps twice a month is a better target to be aiming for. If I can hold myself back!
THE SPORTS
Both the start and the finish were on the track at Sportscity Manchester. I had been invited to be the official starter along with the Lord Mayor of
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Tracking Chris Bird (No.7) at the start Picture: May Hill
The mayor and I pressed the horn sending over 1600 runners on their way round the streets of
The third K was a little better, 4:55, but lots of people were passing me. I slipped to a 5:08 on the third K but recorded 4:53 up to 5K for a time of 25:15. Multiply that by two and I was heading for a finish of 50:30. Not good. At 6K we were back in sight of the stadium. I looked ahead and saw a petite blonde woman in a pale blue outfit and thought, "76 year old Lou Gilchrist?" There was a water station at 6 1/2 K; she stopped; it was her. I dashed past. I did not need a drink in a 10K race. Just before 7K a guy in a full BEAR SUIT overtook me saying, "Come on Ron, keep going, you are my hero." Away he went. I was not enjoying this!
7 to 9K was with the wind and it got very warm, but it did not bother me. I was speeding up. In the 9th K on a slight uphill to the stadium, I was sitting in behind other runners for a 4:53 split. In the final K I was striding out, just anxious to get to the finish. There was almost a full lap of the track, clockwise, as we entered the stadium. I looked at my watch and thought, "Perhaps I can beat 50 minutes." With around 150 metres to go I sprinted like hell, weaving in and out of the other runners, and crossed the line with a time of 49:58. That was fine. I had salvaged something from the race. Based on the chip times ( the time from crossing the start line to the finish ) Lou Gilchrst lost only 51 seconds on me to record 50:49, and Chris Bird, running with a heel injury, ran 54:29. My position, based on actual (chip) time was 522nd from 1622 finishers. 68% of the field were behind me plus I was 1st MV70.
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Receiving 1st over 70 prize from the Lord Mayor assisted by Chris Bird Picture: May Hill
Winner of the race was Ezekiel Cherob, Birchfield H, 30:27. First woman home was Nicki Archer, Vale Royal AC, 35:24.
Every one seemed to enjoy the race. Certainly one for your diary next year.
LANDMARKS
The 25 miles in the week following the 10K I reached a lifetime total of 245,000 Kilometres. I find it motivating to have these little landmarks.
ST. ANNE'S CARNIVAL 5K, JULY 12TH.
The weather was not great for this seaside race. Cool and a stiff breeze coming off the sea. I did a 21 minute warm up to loosen my quads which were stiff from gardening the day before and to determine exactly where the wind would be difficult. Setting off steadily, with the wind, I was being passed for the first K, then began to move up the field. To my surprise I overtook Derek Walton, Altrincham, who called, “Go on Ron." At 2K, reached in a respectable, for me, 8:45, I sat in on a
Leaving the lake there was a sharp left turn and a steep little hill. I just managed to get behind a couple of runners, Elliot Fraser, in a black and white vest and a young girl, FU14, Kirsty Fraser, Lytham St Anne's RR. I sat behind them all the back. We passed Derek once more and he didn't hang on. 4:56 for the third K. we passed a couple more but the wind took its toll and the 4th K was 5:10. The last K, 4:53, was perked up when my two pace makers sprinted up the home straight leaving me by 2 seconds. I could not go with them and I would not have tried to beat them having used them for the last 2K. My 24:43 compared favourably with the 24:51 I ran in 2007 and the other big plus was it was the first time in years I had beaten Derek Walton who came in in 25:13. John Winter was 1st MV70 in 23:48 and I was 2nd. I was 80th of 120 finishers. Exactly 2/3rds (66.66%) of the field were in front.
The winner was Sam Dalgleish, Unatt, 16:07, and 1st female was FV45 Carolyn Robbins, Blackpool W. & F.AC, 19:44.
THE GRAVY SIX, JULY 9TH.
I had run this race a couple of times before including last year when I ran with my arm in a sling after breaking my humorus on holiday in Santorini. The start was 11:00am near to Hadfield railway station and the route climbs on the Longdendale Trail, once the railway line to
It was a miserable day, rain and wet conditions underfoot. Not unusual for this year's summer. I didn't feel fresh and started at the back of what must have been a record field, running easily, on the road at first. I passed a blind runner as we entered the trail with a couple of East Cheshire Harriers women, Ann Cherry and Pat Hanley just ahead. I passed Pat and another Pat, Pat Curran, Salford Harriers. In turn Mike Cutler,
There was a strong wind from the left as we levelled out on the head of a dam. At the end, a left turn up a sharp hill into the wind, and I let Ruth pass so I could sit in for a while. We caught Ann Cherry and I ran carefully with these two along a stony, uneven trail, eventually leaving the pair. Down on to tarmac and another dam head to the right. I made something of an effort to cut the gap to the Todmorden couple and got in behind them. Dave turned to me and said, "Go ahead Ron." "No thanks," I replied. A sharp left turn and a steep climb back to the trail, which I was expecting. I managed to stay with them and could nicely sit in behind them. I knew there was not far to go. Soon we were almost within sight of the finish. I said, "We could get one more." They did not respond so I speeded up past a
My time was 48:49 (that compares favourably with last year - 53:27, and 2006 - 47:50) and that brought me 130th out of 171; 24% of runners behind me.
The race winner was Gareth Raven, Sal Harriers, 29:35. Women's victor as Olivia Walwyn, Altrincham AC, 33:34.
40TH ANNIVERSARY
The next morning my 2 1/2 mile run celebrated my victory in the Maxol Manchester Marathon of 1969 (see my book "Manchester Marathons, 1908 - 2002, co - authored with Neil Shuttleworth) in a personal best time of 2:13:42, a best long overdue as I had run 2:14:12 way back in 1964. This was the beginning of my "purple patch" of marathon running.
ROMBALDS ROMP TRAIL RACE 25TH JULY
Continuing my preference for off road races I sent an entry for this race. The instructions and course descriptions were amusing. They posted back my number. “1. “The race was originally 8 miles was now 9.
I arrived early for the 10:00 am start on a fine summer morning (for once.) Because of unusually boggy conditions on Rombalds Moor, south of Ilkley, the race would now be 7 miles. I warmed up just one mile and stood at the back of the field for the start. A bit of steep uphill on the road, then a long gradual climb on a decent path to the 2 mile point. Two high stone stiles on this section thinned the field out and as there were bottlenecks at each one I lost quite a bit of time, in fact about 7 or 8 metres per runner. At 2 miles the course turned left up on to boggy moorland. I was following a woman in the black vest of Rotherham AC, Adele Morris, but she began walking on the reedy bits, even when it was flat, and at the first opportunity I overtook her.
Dead heat with Adele Morris, Rotherham AC Photo: Sarah Jarvis
At the top of this section we turned right then left into a forest area which was very muddy. It was difficult to find a good line and avoid the deepest puddles. Out of the woods the course ran into a deforested area where I was careful to avoid the tree roots. After this the course started to descend through heather with only narrow sheep tracks for a footing. I was trying to stride as I had one guy behind me and a female in the yellow vest of Pudsey Runners, Jenny Cooper, just ahead. The water station at 4 miles was in sight. Suddenly I caught my right foot on a root and fell heavily on my left side. I feared I might have damaged my left shoulder or humorus bone again but I was quickly to me feet. The runner behind caught me saying, "Are you OK?" I told him, "Yes. It had to happen. You go on." I could feel a slight hurt at the left of my chest.
www.woodentops.org.uk photo: Dave Woodhead
At the water station a young lad offered me water. "No, thanks." Pudsey Runner and the guy had stopped. I reached the tarmac and a left turn. The road seemed to stretch for a mile and got steeper and steeper. I plodded on. The man I had passed caught me, stayed with me for a while, then moved away. I slowly caught a woman in green and black, Dragons Running Club, Kaye Barney, and said "Well done." She immediately overtook me and ran away. This happens often! I could see people walking ahead. I just put my head down, looking at the road one metre in front. When I did look up I saw I was catching a stocky runner in the red vest with green band of Ilkley AC, Rob Payne. He was walking. Then on the steepest bit I started: walk 10 - run 15. After only a couple of these I saw a photographer in the middle of the road who shouted, "Go on, Ron." So I had to keep running. At the top my ears popped! The photographer had also said,” Downhill all the way after this." Wrong!
I didn't walk, honest! Photo: Dave Woodhead
Left off the tarmac and I passed Kaye Barney again. It was a long downhill trail. I passed a female Basildon Runner and got close to Rob Payne but never quite caught him. I was getting tired and thought we must be getting near to the finish. We hit the bottom of the trail and to my shock were sent left, uphill and into the wind! I gave up then and ran to finish. There was more downhill but now on narrow twisting paths which needed a lot of care on my part. I could not afford another fall. I reached the good path of the early part of the course and turned, with the wind towards home, the finish. It still seemed a long way away. Suddenly my pursuer was with me. It was Adele Morris. "It's me again." she said cheerfully, and overtook me. I strode out and kept close, within 10 metres. I could hear someone else close on my heels. With the finish in sight I speeded up, playing a game. I didn't actually want to beat Adele and we crossed the line together in 71:02. But I got the verdict. We had held off Jenny Cooper by 16 seconds. 108th position out of 151; 28% of runners behind me. I was satisfied.
The winner of the race, Steven Neill, Pudsey and Bramley AC, ran 43:50, whilst his female counterpart, Laura Martin, Otley AC, came home in 53:41.
The next morning my suspicions were confirmed. I had cracked a rib. On my 2.5 mile run I had to be extremely careful, I could not get a deep breath, coughing and sneezing were out of the question, and later on I found that turning over in bed was agony and I had to sleep lying on my back. This was going to take some time to heal. But it was not going to beat me!
JULY STATISTICS
Daily runs throughout July gave me 110.5 miles (178K), making a lifetime recorded total of 153,317.5 miles (245,1125K)
June 2009
First of all apologies to regular readers of my blog for the delay with June; Coming back from three weeks in the Greek Islands took some getting used to but I am now firmly in racing and writing mode, so here goes.
RUNNING IN THE
On the 26th of March HILLY CLOTHING LTD. was sold to the Bollin Group who also own Ron Hill Sports, so the two are now together. I remain a technical consultant with Hilly and hopefully will become an ambassador for both companies. Having reached the age of 70 I decided I needed to set an example to others by taking the longest holiday we have ever had, three weeks. I am aware that I will not live forever, though sometimes I act as though I think will, and there are still plenty of things I want to do. With this in mind we flew to the
Turn around point on run in Santorini
Our next stop was the
Aghios Irini Windmills at Chora
Our second short hop was to the
Zoodochos Pigi Sikinos Scenery Episcopi monastery
It was not far, an evening ferry, to our third island, Folegandros, where we were picked up at the
Local Greek Children performing for the crowd
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Pangea Church May on our morning run
After four nights in Folegandros we sailed back to Santorini for a week of what seemed more like a holiday. We stayed in Kamari at the Horizon Resort in a lovely room with a sunny balcony and a view to the road to Ancient Thira. Running here was good as I was on familiar territory after three previous visits to Kamari. I would start out with May, running down to the beach road before continuing with a loop back to Horizon and continuing on he quiet roads towards the airport. One day I actually ran twice! The second run was on the small
View from our balcony Rough surface for a fall Turn around point on run in Thirasia
Time to leave Santorini
One run I did not attempt was the run up the road to Ancient Thira where last year I had fallen near the bottom and snapped the ball off the top of my humorus bone. We did walk up one day and over the top to Perissia, but what was until recently a quiet peaceful walk had now become busy with the traffic of tour minibuses, cars and noisy quad bikes. We had enjoyed our extended break with blue skies every day and it is the first time May has said, "I don't want to go home!" I had covered 76.5 miles in 21 days, all of it easy running. Would I be ready for my last 1/2
THE 45TH FRECKLETON HALF
My pre - 2009 history with Freckleton
In 1965 I won the very first race in what is now the oldest established 1/2 marathon in he
The race in 1965 was interesting. It was held on a Saturday evening and that afternoon I had raced in the Northern Counties 3 miles Championships on a cinder track at Kirkby, near
The next time I raced Freckleton was 1969. The race was part of my preparation for the Maxol International Marathon which would take place in
I returned in 1970 nine weeks after winning the Boston Marathon where I set a course record of 2:10:30. I won again in a time of 66:03. Again this was preparation for my next major marathon, the Commonwealth Games in
I defended my Freckleton title in 1971 a week after winning the Maxol Marathon in a time of 2:12:39. That night, for a change, I ran dead last for one lap of the three laps of the field, and then began to move through. By the time we hit the road I could see that the leaders were about 200 yards ahead. It took me until 7 1/2 miles to catch the then leader, John Fewery,
It would be five years before I returned in 1976 to finish 4th in 65:42, not far behind winner Roger Harrison, Liverpool, who clocked 65:31.I got out of the Freckleton habit after that, mainly because of the many marathons I was chasing and clashes with the series of veterans races in Brugges, Belgium.
After a gap of 24 years! I ran again in 2000. The day was torrid. The temperature must have been over 100 deg F, approaching 40 deg C, for the now Sunday 2:00 PM start. I ran without a vest, probably illegal, and certainly not wise! By 8 miles I had died. At 9 miles I had to walk for a minute then jog. This was deliberate as I had said to myself, "If you don't walk you could die." I even had to walk with only 600 metres remaining and finally crossed the line in 1:52:07. A PW - Personal Worst.
The next year, 2001, on a totally different day, 61 deg F (16 deg C), I cruised round in 1:35:45.
Over the next six years I lost my appetite for half marathons and returning in 2007, on a warmish day, clocked 1:52:46. Another PW.
This year's race
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I wanted to have an enjoyable race for my last one but felt tired even before the start. After four minutes warm up I was presented to the crowd of around 600 runners and given an engraved pint glass tankard before giving a short speech saying that the fact my course record was still standing after forty years reflected the decline in distance running in the
I saw Brian being sick at 3 miles and came up to him asking,” What were you drinking last night ?" "It usually happens to me at this stage in a race," he replied. We ran together then. I was nice and relaxed and surprised at the good pace with miles of 8:04, 8:14, 8:09 and 8:03 up to 4 miles. On the hills up to Wrea Green I sat behind Brian as we slowly overtook people. Running down to 6 miles I said, "I'm going for a finish, not a time." "So am I," he said, "And I'm sticking to you for as long as I can." Between 7 and 8 miles we encountered some headwind and I told him to get behind someone and just relax. There was a refreshment station at 8 miles and I took my first sponge, ignoring the drinks and moving forward. Realising Brian was no longer with me; I slowed to allow him to make contact again. I was not racing and some company would make the journey easier.
With race director Brian Porter (45R) at 7 1/2 miles Photo Credit: Tony Croft
We hit the main
Still together at 10 miles Photo Credit: Tony Croft
Now it was getting hard. I was hot and my legs were tired, we were still climbing through mile 12 which was our slowest of the race at 8:59, but every mile had been under 9 minutes and I was pleased at that. A right turn into the village with crowds cheering the runners on and Brian began to put on the pressure. Down at first then up a short steep hill at about 12 1/2 miles. Brian suddenly said, "I'm going for a time now!" His pace increased. Right turn on to a level road. I could see the 13 mile marker and I was hanging on. He speeded up even more. The 13th mile was 8:31. He had calculated better than me and was obviously to beat 1:50:00. I didn't want to sprint and he went ahead. A left turn and the finish was in sight. Brian looked round, hesitated to let me catch him and we crossed the line together. 1:49:59. my position was 241st out of 534 finishers meaning I had beaten 55% of the field. I WAS HAPPY WITH THAT! There were only two finishers in my age category and I was beaten by John Winter, Blackpool Wyre and Fylde AC, who ran 1:48:48.
Approaching the finish with Wife, May in the background - Photo Credit Billy Matthews - www.flickr.com/
Sharing a celebratory pint with Brian at the finish with aforementioned tankard
The winner of the race was Ben Fish, Blackburn Harriers, in 68:44, almost exactly 4 minutes outside my course record of 40 years. But he was hardly pushed as second and third runners; both V40 veterans were 7 minutes behind him with 1:15:42 and 1:15:48. Another reflection of the state of British long distance running! The first female was Beverley Wright, FV45, Blackpool Wyre and Fylde AC, 1:26:40.
A comfortable race and a reasonable time for me. Does that mean I will be reconsidering my decision to quit half marathons? The answer is "NO." I do need to preserve my knees and hips.
SPEEDWORK VERSUS RACING
I normally incorporate some speedwork, fartlek or 70 second strides with 50 second intervals, into my training if I am approaching an important (to me) race. Before Freckleton I had done none at all for 14 weeks but had run four races on consecutive weekends prior to going on holiday to
ROUND THE RESERS”5”
Three days after Freckleton I lined up at 7:30 for the start of the Round The Resers 5, Tintwistle. I warmed up, one mile. My legs were a bit stiff and I felt very very tired. There was a moving full one minutes silence in respect of Angela Deegan, a popular Sale Harrier, who had passed away recently after a long battle with cancer.
I started off steadily on the downhill run to the two reservoirs which we circled twice before finishing. The race flier had advertised a souvenir Tintwistle Gala mug to the first 120 finishers. At the start I had looked around and the highest race number I could spot was 148. Could I put 28 runners behind me? I had been honoured with race number “1." An absolute gale was blowing down the
Overtaking Julie Ryan on the first lap
I could not pull away and she matched me stride for stride. As we got into the wind on the second lap I moved behind to shelter from that awful wind. She faltered on the steep hill so I got in behind a bloke in black. He was slow, but I didn't care as I was tired, and there was no way I was going to run head on into that gale. Julie Ryan passed again and I went with her pulling away as we dashed down again for the long run to the finish. I hit a good rhythm, with the wind, passed two more, and finished in 43:23, 14 seconds faster than I had run in 2007, though that year I was running with a heavy cold. I apologised to Julie after the race and she said, “I knew exactly what you were doing." I got 113th place out of 141 finishers. 80% of the field beat me, but I got my mug.
The overall winner was Tom Bush, Altrincham District AC, 29:54. First female was Olivia Walwyn, (2nd position overall!) Altrincham, 30:11.
That experience taught me a lesson: I cannot handle two races so close together!
JUNE STATISTICS
In June I ran 118 miles (190K) Bringing my lifetime total to 152,173 miles (244,898K)
May 2009
THE GRAND
My first two runs in May were in
Scenic Drive, Sandrigham Estate Rhododendron tree
Trevor took us round the town of
Ron with Trevor Mace at Brancaster Beach. The Custom House King's Lynn
The weather had changed by Sunday. It was cold and whilst doing my 16 minute warm up, I discovered that a strong wind had developed. This would need some "sitting -in" tactics on my part whether I was now well rested or not. Approaching 10:30 the weather seemed to be improving and I opted to run in a singlet. I forgot to take my energy drink and at the start stood at the side of the road until the "Sub 50 Minute” group started to pass. I noticed a lot of runners who had ignored the Finish Time instructions and were far to near the front! It took me 21 seconds to cross the start line and I did not feel comfortable but did not panic when the field concertinaed. The first K marker I saw was 2K. 10:03 for that split. This was in the narrow streets of the town. A bit disappointing, but I suppose it was a fair pace for the start. I tied to relax and shortly we were on the bank of the River Great Ouse. This was an exposed stretch with the strong wind coming from the right and slightly behind. I sat in with a small group, running on their left, taking advantage of the tailwind but avoiding the buffeting from the right. We reached 4K; somehow I had missed the 3K marker, and that last 2K had taken me 10:13. Again not good, but I had not been forcing it. A left turn, down a straight road with rows of houses giving shelter from a side wind. I was trying to stride and reached 5k in 24:59 from the start line. That last 1K was 4:43. Better.
Approaching the 6K marker
We ran down a wide road towards the town centre before turning into a park and the 6K mark. 4:54 for that 1K. I was not comfortable but was staying below 50 minute pace. Rounding Red Mount Chapel, before a sharp left turn, I spotted at tall suntanned runner with grey hair and a grey moustache. He was wearing a blue vest with yellow writing on the back. I suspected he was in my age group, the M 70's. I slowly pulled him back, caught him at about 7 1/2 K and decided to stay behind him. Shortly after 8K, back in the narrow shopping streets, someone passed the pair of us on the right. I quickly slotted in behind him thinking I would leave my adversary behind. By now I had ascertained he was a Norwich Beach Runner and was well known locally as people were urging him on, "Go on, Malcolm." He did not drop behind. Indeed, I was on the right shoulder of our overtaker when Malcolm went past on the right. It took me a few seconds to adjust my position and a lot of effort to catch up. To much of an effort and at 9K I began to lose him. I heard him call over his shoulder, "Come on, Ron." Maybe he waited momentarily and I caught him once more, just as we entered South Quay to run into the teeth of a gale. Unashamedly, I ran right behind him sheltering from the wind. He didn't complain and bravely forged ahead. Right then left and we were into the home straight still into the wind. I think he was weakening a bit and I would have been a coward to try to out sprint him. With about 80 metres to go I said,” Go on mate." He shot off and I'm not sure if I could have held him. Dick Hughes, the race announcer, could see us coming and proclaimed, "Come on you can beat 50 minutes." I sprinted for all I was worth to get 49:57 on the clock, 2 seconds behind Malcolm Ball, who took first prize in our age group. Third place went to Mike Creasor, RRC in 50:53. A healthy set of 70 year-olds! I was even more pleased with my "chip" time, 49:36! Ronnie's back! I was 484th overall out of 1550 finishers. Only 31% of runners were in front of me and 69% behind.
Malcolm Ball and Ron. Photo: Alan Miller at Johnston press plc
First man home was last year’s winner, Andrew Hennessy, Wells City H., in 31:34. The women's winner was Olivia Walwyn, City of
An excellently organised race in an historic town, a superb finisher’s medal, a flat course, a wonderful part of the country. Get down there in 2010!
THE
At the start of the Salford 5K (152,000 Miles writen on my race number)
With only five days to recover from the GEAR, I had to continue with easy running and ignore speedwork. That week, which ended on Friday, was 25 miles; bang on target.
It was a cold blustery day and I warmed up by doing a full lap of the course in full gear, noting that the wind would be against us in the latter half of the race, especially the final 1/2 mile up to the finish.
There would be a small landmark for me that day. After one mile of the race proper I would achieve a lifetime total of 152,000 Miles.
My first 1K, mainly downhill was not very clever, 4:57. My second K, up quite a steep hill to Heaton Hall was better, 5:03, and I passed three runners and was gaining on others. The third K was my slowest, 5:13, as we climbed a further slope and started to catch the wind. Just after 3K, I managed to catch a grey haired runner in the colours of Manchester Harriers, blue vest with a red chest band. I stuck right behind him, passing one runner, on some undulations, until a downhill section before a left turn to the 4k marker. I stretched away here and on a short section without the headwind caught an "unattached" runner, Phil Beach. My 4th K had been 4:45. Feeling tired, I was content to stay behind on the downhill run before a right turn and the long finish. Suddenly, a young lady in the colours of Sale Harriers Manchester, Lauren Davies, burst past on the right. If I could stay with her I would get a quicker ride to the finish. I sat and sat until I could see the finish line then sprinted to get the best time I could but taking only 3 seconds out of Lauren.
My final time was 24:43. I was happy with that considering the weather conditions. In both 2006 and 2007 I had run 24:35. I was 103rd. out of 135. 76% of runners were ahead of me, but I finished 1st M70.
The winner was John Brown, Salford H. & AC, 15:54 and first female was Natalie Grant, Rotherham H., a junior and 12th overall, 17:35.
THREE OF THE FIRST FOUR WERE M 40. WHERE ARE ALL OUR PROMISING MEN IN THEIR EARLY TWENTIES ? ? ?
MAY 16, THE
My club, Clayton -le - Moors Harriers, had selected me to be a member of their three man M70 team. In my race each leg was over a distance of 3 miles and the W35, W45, W55, M50, M60 and M70 all started together. The course at
Being at the rear of the field I avoided the pile up and concentrated on my running, head down attacking the hill. It seemed every one of the first leg runners was running away from me. I was out of breath, in oxygen debt and near the top of the hill felt so bad I almost came to a standstill. I hope when I made the right turn on to the more level bit, with the wind behind me, I would recover. I had just squeezed passed a big guy in the black vest of Birchfield Harriers and was trying to stride. By the sound of very heavy breathing just behind me I was not getting away. Only as we approached the short out and back section of he course did the gasping noise begin to fade. I turned at the cones and was surprised to see not the black Birchfield vest but the green and gold of East Cheshire Harriers. Wade Cooper. Another M70.
Back slightly uphill then a left turn for some downhill of about a mile to the finish. Surely I would get my breath back here. It was not to be, but I had to keep going as best I could as two other team members were depending on me. I was out on my feet but knew I had to give every thing I had up the steep rise to the changeover point. My time was 23:26 and I handed over to Lawrence Chew. I jogged the lap the opposite way round, cheering on Lawrence and eventually Ted Orrell our last leg runner. It looked like he was third M70 but maybe I had missed someone. I waited at the finish line with Lawrence who had run 23:13 for his leg. We only saw two M70's finish and perhaps we had bronze medals. This was confirmed after I had departed for home. Ted had run 20:58 for second fastest M70 of the day behind John Perratt (Exmouth) 20:43.
The winning team was Exmouth H., 65:42; second were Bingley H., 67:03 and Clayton -le -Moors third with 67:37, 34 seconds behind silver.
My time of 23:26 equated to 24:11 for 5k. Three weeks previously at the Grand East Anglia run I had clocked 24:38 for the second 5K on a flat course, and last week I had run 24:43 at the
In any case we are proud of our Bronze Medals and the fourth team was 5 minutes 34 seconds behind us.
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Ted Orrell, Ron and Lawrence Chew - Bronze Medal -National Vets Relays
MAY 24, THE ILKLEY TRAIL RACE. 6.9 MILES
A lovely sunny day and excellent underfoot conditions greeted the runners. The uphill start on the road did not do me any favours. It was the steepest hill on the course and I was quickly into oxygen debt. But I was not forcing it and as we turned left into the woods the gradient was not so great and I began to pick people off. Although the race venue is only 60 miles from my home there were very few people that I passed that I knew. One was Sue Exon, Trafford AC, who politely greeted me with "Good morning, Ron," as I overtook on a grassy hill. We climbed fairly gently until we reached Ilkley Moor. I was wearing a headband so was definitely "Baht'at."
Continuing to climb reasonably well and just after the top I succeeded in overtaking a heavy runner in the colours of Ilkley Harriers, red vest with green chest band, who looked as though he could be in my M70 age group. As passed the water station at 5 miles, which I ignored, I temporarily overtook a couple of runners, one of whom said, "It's an honour to be beaten by a legend." I responded with, "It's not over yet." In the end he finished a few seconds ahead. The other runner, a tall athlete in Ilkley Harriers, stayed just ahead and with about 1 1/2 miles to go began calling to the marshals, "This is the great Ron Hill behind."
Down the fields we went and just before the woods I overtook Colin. I knew his name by now from the shouts he was getting from the local spectators. To his credit, Colin shouted to the next marshal, "That's the great Ron Hill in front!" I passed one or two in the woods and a couple on the road towards the finish, which got me clear of any close followers as we hit some steep downwards steps, which I had been dreading. Luckily I managed them gracefully and fled down to the finishing funnel to record 63:51 on my watch, nearly a couple of minutes outside the 70+ course record.
But I was unscathed and happy. A race I can recommend!
The race winner was Tom Adams, Ilkley Harriers, 42:18; and the fist woman was Jennie Guard,
I finished in 205th place out of 338, meaning I had beaten 39% of the field, excellent for me. Plus I was 1st MV70.
May ended in the
Photo Courtesy of Stadium Runners
April 2009
LEARNING SOME SENSE ?
At the beginning of the month I felt so bad with a heavy head cold and chest infection that probably, for the first time in my life, I opted out of a race I had wanted to do the Gill Pimblott 5 Mile off-road race at
THE RIVINGTON PIKE FELL RACE, APRIL 11TH.
I first ran in this competition 51 years ago in 1958. I took 5th place just behind local star, Joe Salt, Rochdale Harriers, in a time of 19:56. It was my first ever fell race and I described it as "a very tough course." This year would be my 35th. running, the first in my seventies, and I did not want to miss it. On a mild spring day, with the sun shining and conditions underfoot excellent, I would take it easily and just record a finish. I had intended to run all the way to the top as I used to do in the old days, but that was now out of the question. In fact for many years I would run to the top as a warm up and a "recky." This year, just 1 1/4 miles warm up, not feeling good at all, would allow me to record 4 1/2 miles in my log book as the course measures 3 1/4 miles in total.
"Walk 10"
There can't have been many people behind me as we headed up the road to begin the climb proper. I was wearing my Hilly compression socks and some "far infrared" knee supports. At a steady plod I passed a few people, Howard Henshaw,
Ungainly but taking care on the decent
Only two runners passed me on the way down. I followed the grass by the trail as it looped round "the quarry" in order to keep a good stride going and was careful to see where my feet were landing all the way down. The last road, as always, was very hard work, but I finished in 30:40, 52 seconds faster than last year thanks to a much swifter descent. My position was 207th out of 234 finishers. 88% if the field were ahead of me. 296 had finished in 2008 an inexplicable decline for such a classic event. I was only 3rd in the over 70's. My club mate Ted Orell won this category in 27:04.
The race winner was Rob Hope, Pudsey and Bramley, 17:25, and first woman, Claire McKittrick, Charnwood AC, 21:17.
I paid for the fast downhill run with sore quads for four days afterwards. Also my cold and blocked chest had not fully cleared by my next race a week later.
THE PUMA HAWKSHEAD TRAIL RACE 15K, APRIL 18TH.
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In an e-mail to Race Director, Graham Patten, I explained that I wanted to do this race "whilst I am still able." Having overdone it a bit lately, my knees had become a bit suspect, plus after my fall in Santorini last June I was becoming terrified of descents on rough ground.
Another beautiful day and after a 1/2 mile warm up I stood at the very back of the field telling myself that this was going to be a run at training pace. On the kilometre of road I was moving through nicely and continued to do so on some strenuous climbs. On a level section I caught someone I knew, Dave Sinnott, Saddleworth Running Club. I stayed with Dave for a long time, being extra careful on the rocky downhill sections, and we were still edging ahead. there seemed to be a lot of women in this section of the field. I ignored the water station just after 7K . There was a long section of climbing during which Dave was just ahead, but on the run down to the shores of
At the start - Hawkshead trail - Photo Credit: May Hill
By the lake was the 10K marker. It had taken almost 69 minutes to get this far. Unbelievable. And I was knackered. Another feed station at 11K, again ignored, a left turn and the start of the notorious "Coffin Trail," about a 1k steep climb on a path paved with rocks. A lot people, including me, were walking. Half way up this section, I was looking ahead at a plastic glass from the last feed station, placed on a rock, and thinking ,"How disappointing someone had not disposed of it properly," when I tripped and fell forward banging my ring finger and left elbow. Concentrate. As the trail began to level out it was run - walk and then run, but I was so tired I could hardly stay on my feet.
Ahead of Dave Sinnott (255) - Photo Credit: James Kirby http://www.jameskirby.me.uk/event-photography.php
My hips and the tops of my gluteal muscles were aching and there began a rough descent, the reverse of our route on the way out. I tied to avoid the rocky bits and stay on the grass but despite being ultra careful I tripped andfell again. Luckily on grass and no damage done, except to my pride. A woman, Janice Metcalfe, Preston Harriers stayed right behind me for the last 2K. We hit a bit of road at 14K, then ran down through some fields, over a high stone stile and on to the flat field of energy sapping long grass leading to the finish, which I was very glad to see. My watch showed 1:44:57, and my gun time was 1:45:32 for 434th place out of 560 finishers, including 163 women. 23% of the field were behind me. I was pleased with that. Dave Sinnott had arrived in 1:44:27 only 65 seconds ahead, but out of sight !
The men's winner was John Hennighan, Pudsey and Bramley, in 58:09, whilst in 19th place overall came Candice Taylor, Clayton - le - Moors Harriers, the women's winner in 71:17.
A great race and I'm glad I did it.
REST AND RECOVERY
The remaining days of April I ran easily. I had a special 10k race at the beginning of May and had I been fully healthy I would have been doing some speedwork but my decision was to get that race fully recovered from illness and take my chance.
April ended with a total of 107.5 miles, (173K) and my lifetime total at 151,968.5 miles, (244,569K)
March 2009
SIX RACES IN MARCH
Reaching the beginning of March I realised that I had not raced for seven weeks and that I had had only one race in 2009. I already had two invitations to races in
The Cloud Nine Hill Race, Congleton March 1st,
I ran this race in 2003. It is described as "a scenic and challenging off-road race from Congleton to the summit of Bosley Cloud ( 1125 feet ) and back, via the ancient Bridestones ( ca. 2000 BC)."
On November 13 2001 I set out from home on a 5 1/2 mile run. My left foot was sore but inexplicably after 1/2 a mile my leg almost collapsed under me. I continued slowly and it happened again. I had no idea what the problem was. November 18, I ran the
I had read my training log's account of that 2003 effort and decided that this year I would treat the race as an adventure and enjoy a race in the countryside. It was a cold day with sharp south westerly wind and I wore compression socks, tights, cap and gloves. Warming up I spotted an old adversary, Joe Park, Cheshire Tally Ho, a fellow V70 and thought, "He's going to be hard to beat." Starting near the back, I ran as I had intended, trying to relax and not worrying about some long delays at two stiles and a narrow downhill path into woods. The final climb to the summit was hard and a few young females bounded past, in particular three lasses in bright green T-shirts. Earlier in the race, I had caught sight of a runner I had out sprinted in the Tegg's Nose 5K in November 2007, to take first place in the V65 category. In my log I'd christened him "Old Wilmslow," after he club he was in. I wondered whether he was V70 now, but he had disappeared ahead.
Glancing at my watch, I saw I had reached the summit about 3 minutes slower than in 2003, but it was a much bigger field this year and the delays had cost me a good bit of time. Now the difficult bit came; the downhill. I was as careful as I could be on the narrow paths and luckily it was not as rocky as the ascent. After my incident in Santorini last June when I tripped and snapped the ball off my humorus bone, I am terrified of falling. We hit a wooded area and I was quite prepared to let anyone, speeding down behind me, come through. The tree roots were treacherous and, despite all my care, my shoe caught one and I went stumbling forward. I don't know how I stayed on my feet, but I did. I was sure I was going to fall and the incident left me in shock. Another queue at a very high stile, then down an open field and up the other side, into the wind. on to a trail and through a farmyard where a sign indicated "5 Miles." A glance at my watch showed 58:00. 58:00? That is slower than 11 minute miling!
There was some good downhill after this, some on the road some on a red sandstone trail where again I was careful to avoid some of the smooth rocks poking through. The trail turned to road, then a stile leading to a steep flight of steps, road again then fields and galvanised metal gates instead of stiles. I was now catching people and by the time we hit the railway once more, there was quite a group in front of me. I knew it was the same disused railway trail we had run out on but suspected it was not a run straight to the finish. A marshal confirmed this. I caught a young woman, one of the green T-shirts, and as I went past she said, "You've got some stamina." I could see two more green T-shirts ahead and also "Old Wilmslow," Trevor Faulkener, about 40m ahead. We turned off the railway on to road and I relaxed, passed the two green T-shirts and got in behind Trevor. I left him on a downhill stretch and as we made a left turn on to a steep uphill ran quite strongly. Strongly enough to catch Mark Hughes of Trentham AC and with enough breath to be able to exchange a few words with him. A sign signalled "400m to go. It was down to the railway and a sight of the finish. I eased away to gain 3 seconds on Mark, but resisted the temptation to sprint after two women.
Heading for home - Photo Credit: www.racephotos.org.uk
"Green Tee Shirt Birgade" Runcorn Hockey Club members and i post race
From Left to Right - Barrie Cavanagh (01:24:40), Kate Wozniak (01:37:22), Ron Hill, (01:36:45) Andie Cole (01:37:24) and Karen Jones (01:37:24)
My official time was 96:45, whereas in 2003 I ran 93:11.I reckon much of the difference was due to the size of the field: 427 finishers’ v 171 last time, which meant longer delays at the bottlenecks. Last time I was 152nd, 89% of the field ahead; this time 366th, 86% of the field ahead. I had been 3:34 slower than ' 03; Trevor Faulkener must have had on off day as he was 10:27 down on ' 03. But that meant he had hammered me by 6:31 back then! The results showed he was still a V65.
First male was Lloyd Taggart, Dark Peak Fell Runners, in 54:57.
First female was Olivia Walwyn, Altrincham AC, 12th overall, in 59:03.
But what about Joe Park? He beat me for the V70 prize, recording 88:07. 8 MINUTES 14 SECONDS AHEAD OF ME. FANTASTIC.
Joe Park - Photo Credit: www.racephotos.org.uk
March 8th The 32nd. Ballycotton 10 (miles),
I have run many classic races in my time but never the Ballycotton 10. The race director, John Walshe, came to my 60th birthday race in Littleborough, and last year to my 70th birthday 5K. An invitation followed shortly after my expressing an interest. But fist I needed to recover from the Cloud Nine. The day after that race my left foot was sore and my right knee was pretty badly swollen. Three days of easy recovery running with a support on my right knee and I was beginning to feel better. By the time of my first run in
Garryvoe Chapel and Graveyard
Later, John transferred us to the Bay view Hotel in Ballycotton itself, which opens on this weekend at this time of the year purely for the race. The village is not what you would expect, hosting such a huge and prestigious event. The main street has two pubs, a bar, a diner, a post office and a snack bar. The houses overlook a tiny harbour and lifeboat station with a lighthouse on an island some
The night before the race we had "An Evening with Ron Hill" in the hotel, introduced by Frank Greally, the editor of Irish Runner magazine. The subject of declined standards in marathon running and what can be done to reverse this came up. My answer was to look at the training done by John Treacy who took a Silver Medal for
The course for the race is a fast one, and has not changed since the inaugural competition back in 1978 when 31 runners faced the starter’s pistol. The course record is an amazing 47:00 set by Gary Staines, Belgrave H. back in 1995. Jerry Kiernan, Clonliffe Harriers ran 47:04 in 1983 and local hero Noel Berkley had three performances under 48 minutes between 1995 and 2000. For this year’s race, the initial allocation of 2500 numbers sold out in three days and when club members and people who ran the local summer series were added, the total was more than 3,360! 820 extra entries had to be returned. By the end of the race 2402 runners had crossed the line plus one wheelchair athlete, Jerry Forde. John Walshe gave me race number “10 " in honour of my World Records for 10 miles on the track in 1968, 47:02 and 46:44.
Start Line - Ballycotton 10 - Credit: John Walshe
It was a windy day; into the faces of the runners at first but following for the last two miles. After warming up one mile, I had to push my way from the start line through a packed throng on the narrow road to a position which I judged would not impede other runners behind me. I never heard the gun and pressed my watch on the start line. My time for the full course would be recorded accurately by the Champion Chip attached to my right shoe, but I wanted to monitor my mile splits along the way. The first two miles were downhill and in the crowd my first mile was 8:28 followed by an 8:13. But I did not feel comfortable. I could not relax. My recovery from Cloud Nine had not been complete. My body never really got warm. A couple of rain showers soaked my gloves and my hands were cold. At one stage my left hip started to hurt. But the welcome was warm and many runners turned to me, shook my hand and said, "Welcome to
Just before 5 miles I was tracking two big guys, chatting away. I was sheltering from the wind at this point. One man turned to me and asked, "Are you enjoying this?" "No," I replied. "You're smiling though," he retorted. I was still averaging just under 8:30 per mile which is good for me. Some people were warm as there were hats and T-shirts hanging from the hedges! After 7 miles the wind was strong from the right hand side. I kept to the extreme right, alongside a dyke. At 8 miles we began a climb all the way to the finish. I put my head band on and it was not too bad. 8:46 for that mile. The hill levelled out but was still up. I had been surrounded by people every yard of the race and now, with the sun shining and the finish not far away, everyone was upping their pace. The last mile was my fastest of the race, 8:06.
Crowded Finish
The finishing positions were listed on "gun" times not chip. My time was 1:25:41 for 1484th position. My Chip time was 1:24:27, almost the same time I ran in the Derwentwater 10 last November. Such was the packing of the field that 16 runners crossed the line in the 10 seconds ahead of me. There were 2402 finishers, therefore 62% of runners were ahead of me, but more importantly 38% were behind me.
Winner of the race was Vinny Mulvey, Raheny Shamrock AC in 49:06, and the first female home out, of 788 finishers, was Pauline Curley, Tullamore Harriers in 59:03.
I took second place in the V70 category to Tadhg Twomey, Metro St. Bridgids AC, who clocked 1:14:24. That was 11 minutes 17 seconds ahead on gun times. Amazing!
May and I had a wonderful dinner with Middleton AC after the race. The following morning I ran 3 miles with John, along a cliff path, across a field and back on the roads to the hotel. I'm not a good judge of pace and was surprised to hear John say, "We're doing 9 1/2 minute miling." As we ran up through the village, John said, "I'll time the last 1/2 mile to the finish line." 4 1/2 minutes. 9 minute miling. It must have been because I had my lightweight ASICS DS Racer VII shoes on. The village was spotless. You would not have believed that almost 2500 athletes had been there the day before.
In the afternoon we visited John Buckley Sports in
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May, John, Ron and Mary at John Buckley Sports
Before dropping us at
A couple of easy day's recovery runs, two runs including speedwork, in anticipation of my third March race, and two more day's easy, left me feeling tired. I had not felt right since returning from
Wirral Seaside Runs - March 15th
This was the first of a series of eight races throughout the summer, all on the same course of 4.92K (3.05 miles,) from Leasowe Lighthouse near Moreton, along the sea embankment to
At the start being greeted by Roy Fisher Awaiting the starters orders
It was a new race for me and the weather being bright and not too cold I was able to race without tights for the first time this year. I warmed up 2 miles on the lanes and trails near the lighthouse. A Pensby Runner introduced himself at the start saying he was Neil Thompson and had been
There was a following wind for most of the way. On the short section from the start to the lighthouse, we were running into the wind, and I relaxed, sitting in behind the other runners. Once on to the sea wall I tried to stride out and was in a group of Pensby Runners. I passed Neil Thompson, then he passed me, but my strides overtook him once more and I did not see him again until the finish. The rest of the runners just seemed to increase their lead over me, especially on the short sections of the route covered in sand, some of it quite deep in parts, blown up from the beach in winter storms. I did not find it easy but kept on pressing. I passed a young woman in the colours of Wirral AC about midway, then near the end a Penny Kane Strider, Robin Ireland and another runner in black. I pushed on to the finish, which was on sand, and was happy to hear 23:42, a reasonable time for my tired condition. I had left Neil Thompson by only 25 seconds, so he was still in reasonable shape.
When I got home I looked in my 1959, bound copy, of Athletics Weekly. There were some interesting names from the past, and in a couple of cases the present. Winner of the senior race was the late Fred Norris, Bolton, from Gerry North,
I'll be back to Wirral before the year is out.
Crossing the sea wall with a group from Pensby Harriers
Leading Neil Thompson at the Wirral Seaside Runs - Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davepinno
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Approaching the finish
The "Connemarathon" 1/2 Marathon,
Sebastien Locteau, a French triathlete, long distance runner, member of the Run Ireland Team, who is coaching in Ireland, contacted me on behalf of Ray O'Connor, Race Director of "Connemarathon ' 09," to see if I would go over and be the official starter for the 1/2 Marathon. I said, Yes, and in a fit of enthusiasm asked for a race number. It was a whirlwind trip, out on Friday afternoon with May, flying to
In addition to being the 1/2 Marathon race starter, my duties included leading a group of runners on a mid-day run, out and back, from the west end of the promenade of The Salt, a popular route for local runners, which was accomplished with about a dozen runners taking part. My final contribution was to meet and greet competitors during the last three hours of registration at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel. May and I had a few opportunities to slip into
Before arriving I knew little about the set-up except that there were three races in all, a Half, a Full and an Ultra Marathon. I knew less about the geography as I had seen no maps. Each race had its own start time and start point. The Ultra ran a 1/2 marathon distance before continuing on the Full marathon course which eventually joined the 1/2
Most runners are bussed out to their various starts. I was lucky and had a 10:00 ride out to my start in Leenaun with Mick Rice, an ultra runner, along with
The first 500m were downhill, turning left in the village centre to face a seriously steep hill up to the 1 mile marker. With the human traffic and weaving in and out to overtake, that first mile took me 10:45. After that I relaxed, dropping my arms on downhill sections, sometimes looking around at the mountain scenery. I was running well and my 3rd mile was 7:38. I was not daunted reaching the 6 mile point knowing that there were still 7 miles to go. The sun was shining and at his point I took off my gloves, tucking them into the front of my shorts. My 8th mile 7:39, nicely bringing my average per mile below 9 minutes, which was my loose target. There was no problem with my left knee which had felt worryingly unstable when I had begun my warm up. At times you could see the line of runners stretching way into the distance. I got a lot of good support from the other runners, many saying, "You are an inspiration to us all," which was very inspirational to me.
At 9 1/2 miles a huge hill loomed, rising for a visible 1 1/2 miles and strewn with runners. The mountain did not intimidate me and I just put my head down and relaxed. My 10th mile was 9:00 taking me to the 10 mile marker in 86:46. The next mile, all uphill, was 9:24, so I was going to be easily inside my 9 minute mile average. The 2 miles to 13 miles were not difficult. In the last 192.5 yards I saw a runner with white hair, figured he could be V70 and sprinted past him to record 51 seconds for that final stretch. My watch read a pleasing 1:53:18, which should have been my "chip" time. However, when the official results were published my gun time and my "chip" time were both given as 1:56:12. Perhaps my presence at the start line as "starter" had triggered the mat. It looks as though I was around 756th from 2542 finishers, including walkers, so about 30% in front and 70% of competitors behind was a great result for me.
Kimutai and Norman battle it out
Lezan Kimutai - 1:08:09 Andy Norman - 1:08:48
The male winner was
The female winner was Eilis Conner, St.Laurence O'Toole-Carlow AC, 1:24:40.
For further information go to www.connemarathon.com
As well as the satisfaction of an enjoyable run, there were further rewards with an excellent finishers’ medal and souvenir Ronhill T-shirt in a technical fabric.
A couple of 2 1/2 mile easy runs was probably not enough recovery before my fifth competition in March.
The Vera Hurst 5K, Littleborough, March 25th.
The 6:45 pm start meant it was going to be dark by the time we finished. I got there early in order to register, have a walk, then do a gentle 1 mile warm up. It was a cold night and I raced with my Clayton vest over a woven fluo jacket, over a long sleeve top and wearing gloves. Anyway, I was determined that this would not be a serious race as I was still in a recovery phase and wanted a relaxed run.
Starting right at the back, I was soon out of breath and only moved through slowly up
Near the top of he hill I caught sight of V75, Peter Dibb, Longwood Harriers. It took me all of the road alongside the lake to catch him. Starting the long downhill to the finish, I strode out and overtook him. This was not relaxed running now, and passing two more runners I crossed the line in 26:03. Will I ever learn ?
The men's winner was Matthew Proctor, Rochdale Harries, 15:43, and the women's winner FV45, Sue Beckonsall, Bingley Harriers, 18:51. I was first V70 in 197th position out of 243 finishers, 81% of the field ahead of me. But what a good turnout for a dark Thursday evening.
Of the next morning's 2 1/2 mile run I noted in my training log, "Left knee and left leg not good." And the morning after,"Left knee / leg suspect." Not a good omen for my 6th race in March, a trail race the very next day.
The Silkstone Shuffle, Silkstone, near Barnsley,
This race would get my average races per month up to just over two.
I had to park in the village and jogged up to the Sports Pavilion to collect my race number then continued to the first part of the course and back for an easy two mile warm up, which left me feeling better than when I started out. The course ran slightly downhill for a few hundred metres then climbed a long, long hill. From the back of the pack I passed a couple of people and a couple passed me. I was being sensible and running within myself, enjoying the new terrain. It was a windy day and, running without cap or headband, my hair was a nuisance, flying in my eyes when the breeze was behind. A couple of Northern Veterans were just in front and I passed one as he started to walk.After a right hand turn we ran downhill on the road. The second NO. Vet. stayed with me. Another right turn and now it was a steep uphill into what seemed like a gale.
I tucked in behind my rival.Two runners passed and I got behind a woman wearing a loose jacket until another right and off the road on to a trail. I moved ahead.
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A woman in pale blue, Lisa Hinchcliffe, was just ahead and stayed there for a long time. We ran across fields, into woods, which were muddy in parts, and over many stiles , some of them high, which I found awkward, as I was still tired from the previous week's two races. Each time a gap appeared which I had to close to get back on terms.We came to a long, long downhill run on grass by the side of what looked like a horse race course. With an effort I overtook my female adversary and for the last three stiles she had the task of trying to make up the gap on me.
We hit the road again,the first part of the course in reverse, and I thought to myself, "I'm racing again now instead of running easily." I relaxed a bit after that. Over a stile ..... a stile with a wall ,,,,,, passed a runner seemingly wallowing in a muddy patch ...... a final stile then a run down for a final lap of a flat grass field. The mud dancer, Peter Davison, passed me and I tried to shelter behind him into a strong wind, as I heard frantic shouts of encouragement for a Barnsley Harrier bearing down on us. Too late. Nothing I could do about it as Richard Latchem sprinted past.
First man home was Nick Swift, Sheffield Running Club, 25:57; and first woman, Deborah Richards, Sheffield Running Club, 29:52. I was 124th in 39:29 ot of 157 finishers. 79% of these were in front of me, almost the same as my previous race. The chair of Barnsley Harriers, Ian Meade, told me this was a record field, possibly because he had mentioned on the club web-site that I would be running.
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I stayed behind to present the prizes, including one for myself as winner of the V70 category, and in addition to the prize for first V65, John Hewitt received a birthday cake. It was his 65th birthday that day!
This was the first race of a series of four throughout the year. I'll be back for another.
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March's Aftermath.
The result of 6 races in a month ? My knees were complaining and I picked up a severe chest infection and headcold. My bodies resistance had been lowered lowered and it's ability to recover diminished. Also my weekly mile has crept up to around 30 and I must return to 25.
March showed a total of 135.5 miles ( 218 K. ) bringing my lifetime's recorded miles to 151,861 ( 244,396 K. )
February 2009
AM I GETTING SOFT?
At the moment it certainly feels like that! I dislike training in the cold, especially when it is icy underfoot. Then it can be downright dangerous. That is what it was like for the first nine days of the month. Similarly the thought of racing in cold weather does not attract me. I missed out on one of my favourite races, the Nick Beer 10K, Llandudno, on the 8th, because the forecast had been for snow in
A friend, David Denton, who I've not met in years, owns a house in
David does a great deal of charity work in Kerala raising funds to help poor families and individuals in many ways including sinking wells for drinking water, building toilet facilities for houses without them, buying goats to give away to families seeking self-suffiency , etc. He receives guests in his house: friends and friends of friends. Up to four couples can stay at any one time and he charges next to nothing, often picking up guests at the airport in the early hours (including May and I.) Included in his charge is breakfast, made by his maid Kuvala, who does a mean mixed omelette, or provides a plate of fresh pineapple, papaya and banana.
Monday morning, 9th February, a 2 mile run at 4:59 am was the entry in my training log, before travelling to
The weather in Kovalam was superb; hot and sunny. And David's house was only a five minute stroll through the palm trees to
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Lighthouse Beach
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Hauling in the nets at Lighthouse Beach
May and I spent most of our time walking in the morning; there are several other small beaches and villages nearby to visit, drinking a cold beer with lunch, a siesta at the house, then down to the beach to sunbathe. Two sun beds cost less than £1.50 at the "evening" rate. Back to the house then out for dinner. Although Kerala is supposedly a "dry" state, some restaurants have a license to serve alcohol. Those that do not serve beer in pottery mugs and hide the bottle under the table. There is a "beer shop" just a coupe of minutes up the road from David's. We found the beer excellent and there are several brands. However, you had to buy what the beer shop had in stock, once you had awakened the proprietor, and that stock varied day to day, but at about 75 pence for a 650 ml. bottle we weren't grumbling.
Laundry and Bathing pool Crows' Bathing pool
Several brands of beer
Morning catch at Vizhinjam
Local beer shop
Several inexpensive excursions were available through Kuvala, who was something of an entrepreneur. We took a full day trip, in a private taxi, to the southernmost tip of
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Padmanabhapuran
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May & I at Kanniyakumari
Running was not easy with the heat and humidity to contend with. Early mornings were best. The situation was made easier by having company on some of my runs. For three days at the beginning of our stay I ran with 53 year old Jim Davies from Lincoln who was coming to the end of his holiday with partner, Sandra. We started our runs with an extremely steep 100m.ascent, and immediate oxygen debt, followed by a gentler one mile climb to "The Junction." From there it was downhill to
Post run with Jim Davies and Mike Brake
Another couple arrived a day after Jim left; Mike and Judy Brake. 73 year old Mike was a member of the "Epsom Oddballs" club. Meanwhile, I had found a 3 1/2 mile run with a downhill start. We ran this three times, twice on his arrival and once after he had been on an extended excursion. In the interim, I ran the same course but introduced some speedwork, fartlek and 70 second strides, in anticipation of the Cloud Nine Hill race in Congleton, on March 1st.
March 1st. would be the day of David's race in Kovalam. A week before there was an official launch of the event at the Subash Centre where the race would start. I was the guest of honour and after various speeches was presented with a specially made, large, wood and gilt metal plaque. This was embarrassing as I realised how much it must have cost to make and how little these people had. David assured me that they had enjoyed my presence.
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Launch of Subash 5.3K Marathon
(Back Row 2nd Left - Martin Rouse. Front Row 1st Left - David Denton)
One memory I took away from
My final run in
The winner of the SUBASH 5.3K
In 10th place was M51, Martin Rouse, Invicta and
Anyone interested in the race, or Kovalam should log on to www.runningwithdavid.com
In February I ran exactly 100 miles ( 161K ) bringing my lifetime total to 151,725 miles ( 244,177K.)
January 2009
AWFUL WINTER WEATHER
It has been a pretty miserable start to the year. Freezing temperatures and snow has made running very difficult with slippery dangerous conditions and often black ice. My priority has been not to fall meaning careful easy running and no speedwork.
BELLE VUE RACERS " HIT THE TRAIL 5 "
I had only one race this month, the Belle Vue Racers "Hit The Trail 5 " held on the 11th. This was an off-roader on the paths and trails of Reddish Vale,
Round a big loop of grassy path then back up to the railway on a series of steps. Looking ahead, I could see Sid Bailey an MV50 of Dee Striders. He usually beats me, but he seemed to be struggling, walking up the steps. Back along the railway
My watch was stopped at 41:49, highly satisfactory; however the official results had me down at 42:07. I have never been 18 seconds out plus the gaps behind me did not seem to tally. The time in front of mine was 41:48 so I guess this was my time with Sid Bailey 42:07 and Elizabeth Stillo 42:21. I was 99th out of 156 finishers meaning 37% of the field were behind me. Also I was 1st (and only) MV70. I did not attend the presentation; I wonder if I got a prize?
The men's race was won by 2008 winner Damian Nicholls from Wilmslow RC in 26:06, while first woman was Joanne Seymour from Hallamshire Harriers, also a winner in 2008, in 31:10.
NUMBERS
Do you ever read any significance into the number you are given in any competition? I do not believe in fate but sometimes I wonder at what the numbers could mean. In my last four races of 2008 I received number "1" in the Derwentwater "10" which was an honour, number “1” in the Gil Pimblott 5K. In the Ravenstonedale 10K I got two 1's, number "11" - were they trying to go one better than Derwentwater? In the Ribble valley 10K it was number "1" another honour. Finally in my first race of 2009 they gave me "170" and I finished 1st 70 year old! What will the future bring?
SLIGHTLY BETTER WEATHER
The rest of January was slightly better from a running point of view, as with rain, frozen ground turned to mud but pavements cleared of ice. Some speedwork was possible to prepare for potential races in February.
On January 30th I passed the minor landmark of 244,000K recorded running.
Daily runs in January totalled 123 miles (198K), bringing my lifetime's total to 151,625.5 miles (244,017K)
Ron's 2008 Annablog
2008 WAS A YEAR WHEN I ACHIEVED MY TARGET 0F COMPETITIONS IN 100 COUNTRIES DESPITE SUFFERING THREE INJURIES, OUR FIRST GRANDCHILD WAS BORN AND I REACHED AGE 70.
The first injury came out of the blue on April 9th. I was not one mile into a 5 mile run, and going downhill, when an excruciating pain hit me in the left leg from the groin downwards. There was no warning. I hoped my left hip had not gone. Thinking I could run it off, I completed distance. Having no idea what was in that part of my leg, I consulted a diagram and concluded it was my “abductor longus," which I had not heard of before, that had torn. Running gently for the next four days the pain disappeared and I set out on a 9 mile run as a test for the
May 18th, just setting out, a pain so bad hit my right groin area that I thought my right hop had shattered and I almost turned back. Continuing on a”wander” run, very slowly, the groin pain eased but my right knee almost collapsed three times. It took me an hour to cover 4 1/2 miles. But the “streak " was still alive. Running easily for the next 3 weeks, with no stretching, sit-ups or press-ups or speedwork 30mile plus weeks were maintained and I managed a 48:50 in the Morecambe 10K.
In June we took a two week holiday in Santorini, staying just outside Kamari. We had been here in 1994. Far above Kamari up a zigzag road of hairpin bends are the remains of the city of ancient
On August 10th we arrived in
Our first grandchild was born on August 31st. a girl, Katie Allanna, daughter of elder son Steven and his partner, Jill.
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September 7th my 100th country was achieved with the Torshaven1/2 Marathon in the
I celebrated my 70th birthday on September 25th along with over 460 runners with a 5K race in Littleborough organised by my friend Andy O' Sullivan. My 2260th race.
On October 9th I reached 16,000 says of my "streak."
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May & I in "Side"
In total in 2008 I ran 23 races and covered 1514.5 miles ( 2437K ) in training which brought my LIFETIME TOTAL to 151,557.5 MILES ( 243,908 K)
December 2008
HOLIDAY IN
True winter set in at the beginning of December creating dangerous icy running conditions which did not suit or please me. The only advantages offered were firstly opportunities to run on off-road routes which had become too muddy, although these can become dangerous in freeze then thaw conditions, and secondly, occasionally, some spectacular frost white scenery.
Fortunately we were able to escape in the middle of the month for a week's holiday in Side, a vast Roman site on the Mediterranean coast of south west Turkey. We were staying at the Melas Resort Hotel, about 2K along the beach to the NW of the ancient ruins. We had visited Side in 1992 for a two week holiday with our friends Harry and Sylvia Smith in some pretty basic accommodation, the Villa Mine in the centre of the old town. It was still there but it took some finding! It had been a miserable time for me running-wise. Four weeks previously, I had been loading the bowl of a concrete birdbath in to the boot of my car when something happened to my back. I still ran a few races but my left leg was dead from a power point of view and was dreadfully painful, aching even at rest. I tied sleeping on the floor and taking copious pain killers but seemed to lie awake all night. Jogging even was very painful and it was very difficult for me to keep up with May and our two friends. Getting out once a day my distances for the three weeks straddling the fortnight's holiday was 12 1/2, 13 1/2 and 14 1/2 miles only. It was 12 weeks before I could get my training up to 20 miles and beyond.
Entrance to ancient "Side" Temple of Apollo
This time was different. The Melas Resort was luxurious and our all inclusive package ensured that we had all the excellent food and drink that we needed. Plus I was not injured and could enjoy my running. The weather was warm during the day but quite cool in the morning, around 5deg C and I was glad I had packed my running tights and gloves. After a couple of days exploring, I found an excellent run which took me about 2 miles on the road to ancient Side, then around 1 1/2 miles back on the hard packed sand of the beach. I even managed some speedwork in preparation for the
Melas Resort, Beach and Hotel
The organisers gave me race number "1". They had attracted a huge field with 888 finishers. A freezing day meant I ran in tights and wearing gloves, however, the brilliant sunshine provided some warmth as the race progressed. This year the roads were closed in the interests of safety and the course was remeasured following the swiftest line on bends making corner cutting legal! My race was very similar to 2007. At around 2K I caught MV70 Peter Edwards, Northern Vets. A C, as I had done last year. He surged ahead. Every time I caught him he surged again. At around 7K I backed off to leave him to it, but by 8K, without tying I was alongside him once more. I pressed my watch and he asked, “What time was that?" “43:35, " I replied. In fact it was more like 43:55 as I had lost about 10 seconds starting my watch at the off. " I was hoping for quicker than that," he commented. “Likewise," I said. We had just passed “
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Racing Peter Edwards "666"
I had to try to take something positive from this race. Doug Brown, winner this year in the MV70 category was 2m 41s slower than ' 07 and club mate Richard Lawson, who always beats me handsomely, was 2m 56s down. This year, Doug Brown was 24s ahead of me but 33s in ' 07, and Richard 2m 35s ahead but 3m 16s last year. Plus I had turned the tables on Adrian Leigh changing a 2 seconds deficit in Ravenstonedale to a 3 seconds advantage here. Of this group of runners only Peter Edwards fared better than me, losing only 2m 22s on last year and finishing just 7 seconds behind against 17 seconds in' 07.
The winner of the race was Ben Lindsay,
First female was Helen Clitheroe, Preston Harriers 32:31.
DECEMBER brought me 116.5 miles (187K ) making my lifetime total of recorded miles 151,557.5 ( 243,908K )
November 2008
DERWENTWATER 10 - November 2nd.
Three races in November showed I was losing no enthusiasm for racing. A flying start was provided by the 19th Derwentwater 10. I had run this race several times, actually winning it in 1963 in 49:48, but had not raced there since 2001 when I clocked 77:39. As one of my favourite races, I wanted to do one more at age 70. When I learned that it was the 49th, I realised that I would have to do one more, the 50th, as one of the past winners.
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We drove up the morning of the race for the 12:00 noon start which had been changed from my last outing to the centre of Keswick, attracting a huge crowd of spectators as well as a large field of over 450 runners. I warmed up 2 miles and was expecting to run around 90 minutes trying to enjoy the route. The race organiser, Alan Ritchie, had honoured me with race number 1.
My first mile was 8:05; too fast, but it was difficult to slow down. There was little wind, the sun was shining on our faces and my next two miles both showed 8:12. Anne Bennett, Barnsley A C had joined me at 2 miles and a little another woman in a pale blue vest with a white stripe, Ali Strafford, Blengdale Runners. About 4 miles Anne dropped back and shortly after we crossed the bridge at Grange to head back on the other side of the lake. I knew we had the toughest part of the race to come but had forgotten about the major climb after 5 miles. I just hung on to Ali as tic mile took me 10:02! The scenery on this part of the course compensated for the pain with clear skies, autumn colours, step fells to the left and Derwentwater, far below to the right glistening in the sun.
Down hill after miles 6 and 7 allowed some recovery. A sing in the tail came with a tough climb in the 8th mile. At the bottom I caught a Blackburn Road Runner, Sandra Snape, and together with Ali we slowly pulled back, then latched on to a former Tour of Tameside stalwart, Anthony Baker, who announced whilst we were chatting that he had run 31 races in June and had raced cross - country the day before this event ! As we passed 9 miles in Portinscale, Anthony began to pull away. I wasn't bothered, knowing that any major effort to stay with him was out of the question. But I did speed up, passing three more runners to record 84:24 for 308th place out of 452 finishers and first over 70. That last mile was my fastest, 7:59. I'd slowed by 6 mins 45 secs in seven years.
The men's winner was Andi Jones, Salford Harriers, 50:19, and the women's winner, Rebecca Robinson, 57:47 and 16th overall.
Should be a great race next year; November 1st, I guess.
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DERWENTWATER 10 MILE - FINISH
GILL PIMBLOTT MEMORIAL 5K - November 16th
Derwentwater 10 gave me a big week of 29 miles and was followed by a more regular week of 24 miles. The Gill Pimblott Memorial 5K is held near
Approaching the finish at Gill Pimblott Memorial 5K
The men's winner was Scot Mark, Blackburn Harriers, 16:46. The female winner, only a junior, was Laura Riches, Leigh Harriers, 18:35.
RAVENSTONEDALE 10K - November 29th
The last two weeks of November were 25 and 26 miles respectively. During the last week I had to make a business trip to
Driving up the morning of the race, we had to contend with fog and freezing temperatures but arrived in time to check into the hotel and for me to do a 2 mile warm up before the 1:00pm start. There was still ice on the roads and care was necessary even though the sun was shining and the bigger roads had been gritted.
Setting off at the Ravenstonedale 10K wearing race number 11
There was a small lap of about 2 1/2 miles, then back through the village before heading out on the larger lap. The fog had cleared and although the hills were tough, the Dales scenery was remarkable. By 2 miles my position was more or less sorted after a bloke in a blue and white vest, Adrian Leigh of Settle, overtook me saying," It's an honour to be running with you." Downhill into the village then a climb out again. I closed on a youth, Josh Lascelles, of
On a hill at 4 miles my legs seemed to turn to jelly and I thought, "These last 2 and a bit miles are going to be hard." We dropped down on to the A 683, turned left, down for a further 1/2 mile, including a cattle grid, and then left again onto narrow, undulating country roads. We passed a tall guy wearing a large printed T-shirt and go close behind Adrian Leigh and a runner wearing an "
The men's winner was James Bulman,
We spent a comfortable night at the Black Swan, to be greeted by frost and fog the next morning. My 2 1/2 mile run, up to Greenside and back was careful, comfortable and enjoyable.
Lower Greenside St Oswalds Church
In November I ran 115 miles, bringing my lifetime total to 151,441 miles ( 243,714 K )
October 2008
Reducing my mileage to 20 miles a week, as I had intended after turning 70, proved impossible.There were two favourite runs, one 5 1/2 miles, the other 4 1/2 miles , which I could not drop; plus if I raced at the weekend , that added another chunk of miles.With my other staple runs of 2 1/2 miles my average weekly total has been around 25 miles.This is perfectly acceptable as I have no overuse injuries and occasional longer weeks are not out of the question.
LANDMARK
My 70th birthday was a massive landmark last month, but another one was achieved on October 10th when I reached my 16,000th consecutive day of running.
Mid-October I was guest of honour at Bolton United Harriers 100th Anniversary Dinner. B.U.H. had made me a life member many years ago, and it was the club at which I performed my greatest achievements before returning to my present club, Clayton-le Moors Harriers.
WARM WEATHER RUNNING IN
Shortly after this May and I had a week's holiday and warm weather running on
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Costa Blanca in Benidorm
STANDISH HALL TRAIL RACE
In March 2003 I ran the Standish Hall Trail Race "approximately 10K" and had a disastrous run. At the start it seemed everyone ran away from me and in the end only 10 of the 130 finishers were behind me. It had been very uncomfortable and I made a mental note not to return, even though the course was pleasant enough with traffic free trails and beautiful woodlands. I was going through a really bad patch at that time. A note in my training log of a long hill up a field, which had to be negotiated twice, read, "good job it was dry or there would have been some tremendous mud." My time was 54:49.
Five and a half years later, October 25th, I tackled it again.It had been a month since my birthday race 5K and I was keen to compete again. The weather forecast was very bad and a windproof top, tights and gloves seemed sensible. The forecast was wrong and, apart from a short shower after 10 minutes, it was a bright, breezy day.
It was almost "deja vu" as I was left behind at the start. There was only old rival, Northern Vet., Malcolm Towler, not far in front and as we turned left to climb the first hill, a glance back revealed just seven runners behind. My lungs were unable to get a deep breath. Passing Malcolm after about 1 1/2 miles, I slowly began to pull back other athletes. The hill up the field at the end of lap one was as my prediction of 2003, very muddy after a prolonged wet spell. I plodded up, not losing ground, and on the second lap began to close in on then pass some runners. In the woods, in the last mile, I overtook three runners including Ron Bray in the orange strip of Blackpool Wyre and Fylde AC. A good job because he was the only other V70 in the race and this gave me my first win in the O/70 category. My time; 58:17, slower than 2003, bit this time I beat 18 of the 115 finishers. That was positive !
OCTOBER'S TOTAL was 109 miles bringing my lifetime total to 151,326 miles ( 243,353K )
September 2008
100th Country, Faroe Islands, Torshavn 1/2 Marathon
Robert Wilhelmsen, secretary of the Bragdio Running Club, replied to my email, “We would very much like to see you participate in our race on September 7th." My 100th country was now assured. They also provided a return ticket, from London Stansted, on Atlantic Airways, one of the race sponsors. I had to travel to Stansted by train and stay in a bed and breakfast in nearby Elsenham but was compensated by an uplifting 4 mile run the next morning down Tye Green lane and along quiet country roads to the airport perimeter and back, helping me to a week of 31 1/2 miles, much needed preparation for the race. Fridrikur Blanamar, chairman of the club was at the airport to greet me and show me something of the eighteen islands, giving me a flavour of this spectacular, rugged country. It reminded me much of the Falkland Islands, sparsely populated, around 48,000 inhabitants and lots of sheep, about 70,000! There is a strong British connection as 8,000 British troops were stationed there during WW2 and they established the airport there. Plus the Faroese at that time shipped supplies of fish to the British Isles at much danger to themselves.
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My accommodation was in a top floor apartment of Fridrik's parent's house, shared with a Finnish lady who lived on Arland Island, where everyone spoke Swedish, and was working on a six week project with the Faroese government. I asked Fridrik about buying some beer. He said the liquor store was closed but gave me four bottles of excellent local Foroya Bjor. That night I was speaking at a Seminar on Marathon Running at the SMS Shopping Centre, where the race organisers had set up their headquarters. A meal there beforehand was not cheap and the pint of beer with it cost me over £5.50! My talk, with a big audience, all of whom understood English, was about my training from my Maxol Marathon win in 1969 when I set a PB of 2:13, through my European Marathon victory in Athens 1969, in 2:16; 2nd place in Fukuoka, December 1969, in 2:11; winning Boston in April, 1970, in a record 2:10; and finally my success in the Commonwealth Games Marathon, Edinburgh, July 1970, in 2:09:28. I included details of each week's mileage, converted to kilometres. It went down very well.
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Ancient settlement of Kirkubour Photo Credit: Alan Brockie
The next morning I ran 4 miles with Fridrik and his friend Hans and later that day a journalist from the national newspaper, Sweinur Trondarsson, took me out to the ancient settlement of Kirkubour for a long interview. I didn't mind; I was sightseeing. My dinner was a take-away pasta salad and after finishing Jim Hogan's biography I went to sleep early. Saturday morning I ran 3 miles alone. Fridrik's beers had all gone and wanting to return the favour and replenish my stock, I walked quickly to the nearby National Liquor Store to get there before mid-day in case they closed then. They had not even opened on a Saturday! The whole day was so quiet it seemed like a Sunday. I slept even earlier that night and after beginning Roy Fowler's biography I switched out the light at 8:35.
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I was not looking forward to a 1/2 marathon. At Freckleton in June last year I had run a PW of 1:52:46, slightly down on 2000, 1:52:07, when it was so hot I'd had to walk and even the winner that year walked ! In October last year my time in Podgorica, Montenegro had been 1:45:00, but that had been a hard, unpleasant effort which I did not want to repeat. I decided to treat this race as an adventure and told the organisers I would be happy to beat 2 hours. Fridrik had driven me round the course and although there were hills on the way home from an out and back section, they did not seem that bad. Also, mentally I was going to split the race into sections. When I got to 5K a quarter of the race had gone and at 10K, half the race had gone and so on. Our race started at 1:00 along with he full marathoners. Shortly after a health run of just over 5K would start on our course. Elsewhere there would be a fun run for kids. The organisers had caught the imagination of the people as the total number of runners taking part in all events was more than 4,000. That is almost 10% of the population!
Pre Race at the start line
Photo Credit: Ulla Johansson
The conditions were perfect at the start. Around 12 deg C and I was able to run in a singlet. The start was downhill, through the city and harbour then back up to the start area. A lot of the 5K health runners went past on this lap before we headed out alone. My time at 5K was around 26:10. Down through the city again along the coast ahead of a climb to the turnoff for the out and back section. I caught a woman here and she asked, "What time are you going for?" "Anything under 2 hours," I replied, "How about you?" “I’m looking for 1:44." I never saw her again, except on my way back. I reached 10K in around 52:13. A line of runners was strung out ahead. The course dropped a little then climbed to a roundabout. The road dropped steeply here, then a flattish bit and once more a steep descent almost to the shoreline. The guy in second place, coming back, held up his hand for a high five. I raised my left arm, the one I had broken, and the impact gave me a severe pain. Quite a long flat bit, then the 14K marker, then the turn. The runner in front of me instead of going round the bollard took a drink, turned round on the spot and almost collided.
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Photo Credit: Ulla Johansson
I was now running into a cold head wind and I could see a woman in black about 60 metres ahead. The hills were now much harder than they had seemed in the car. First one then another. I had not known that the locals called these “The hills with no mercy." One of my K splits on this section took me 6 minutes. Downhill to 18K then another climb. I got to within 6 metres of the lady in black then decided I wanted to cross the line alone. Coming into the car park of the SMS Centre I saw the finish, held my arms aloft, made the sign of a "C" for 100 and the next thing I knew I was on the ground! I'd hit the raised section of a brick speed bump and I didn't bounce. My right knee was cut as was my left elbow, rather badly, and my left shoulder was grazed. Lying there, I groaned, "Oh no," thinking I may have rebroken my left arm. I was pulled to my feet and taken away for first aid. The arm was not broken. But imagine what a story it would have been if I'd broken my neck and died. My last act on earth would have been reaching 100 countries of competition. My time 1:53:29 was a new PW and I finished 32nd out of 67 men. The winner was Regin Zachariasen, Bragdio in 1:22:49.22 women finished, two of them in front of me and first place was Ann Thomsen, Bragdio in 1:49:19.
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Approaching the finish - Photo Credit: Alan Brockie
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Crossing the line in a PW in my 100th Country - Photo Credits: Alan Brockie
Click here for footage and interview of the finish in Faroe Islands
The marathon was tougher still but I know there are a lot of people looking for challenges such as this as I was to find out he next weekend. The Torshavn races are well organised and I would recommend them. If you arrive by air grab a couple of free maps from the arrivals area. They will give you bearings.
Despite my fall, Post race with Fridrik and my finishers medal
The Great Langdale 1/2 Marathon, September 14th.
Click here for further details
Rod Berry, the charismatic race director and organiser of this race and a long time friend, had invited me to be the starter of the race and in a rash moment I asked him to sort out a number for me. The marathon, two laps of the 1/2 marathon route started at the same time, 12 noon, and after shouting, “Go!”I stepped to the side and waited until the last runner had passed then joined the field at the back. I had set one PW, 1:51:24, in this race, way back in 1992, so I knew what I was in for. As at Torshavn, I wanted to have an adventure, rather than a race; placing and time did not really matter. The major difference from '92 was that we were running anti-clockwise. The weather was kind. No sun, little wind and warm enough just for a singlet. Threading my way slowly through the back markers, the first mile took me 9:45. After that a huge hill loomed with a narrow snaking road. “Rocket Rod's pass “I believe they called it, and I passed Rod on the lower slopes. It took a great effort not to walk and the second mile took me 11:57!
After that it was up and down and I was careful not to strain myself and bring on the cramp in my legs that I could feel lurking. It was interesting to hear the full marathon runners discussing their next races, some the following week. I told myself that 6 miles was half way to the 12 mile marker then there would be just one mile to go. At about 7 1/2 miles we came to a hill so steep I seemed to be tip-toeing up the slope. It was called "Fool's Step” and was reputed to be the steepest public road in Britain. And there was no respite. It got less steep but went on for another couple of miles. After that a long downwards swoop to 10 miles. “About half an hour to go," I told myself. My legs were getting very tired and it was a matter of moving forward and overtaking where-ever I could. My last mile was my fastest in the race, 7:54, as I approached the finish with Mike Carr of the RRC. My watch was started as joined the back of the field and was stopped at 2:03:04; the result sheet shows me as 2:04:06 for 284th place out of 446 finishers. Of the M65 age group my position was 2nd out of 8. Poor old Rod, who had had only 4 hours sleep in the previous 24 hours, was last in 3:02:17, the first and only V70, and just in front of the winner of the marathon. Race winner was Paul Muller, Horwich RMI Harriers, 1:17:50; first woman was Sarah Ridehalgh, Accrington Road Runners, 1:29:24.
In action at Great Langdale
The full marathon winner was Nigel Thompson, Lytham St. Annes RR, 3:03:02 and the women's victor was Adela Salt, Trentham Running Club, 3rd place overall, 3:15:46.
I was exhausted in my training for the next ten days, right up to my 70th birthday 5K.
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LITTLEBOROUGH, 25TH SEPTEMBER
More info on the event can be found here and here and Race Pictures by Steve Bateson here
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1970 Edinburgh Newspaper cutting Presentation
Photo Credit STEVE BATESON (www.runningpix.co.uk)
This run was amazing for me. Andy O'Sullivan had put an entry limit of 450 on the field and had to turn a lot of people down. To get to the Falcon Inn, Littleborough for 6:45 on a Thursday evening cannot have been easy. We were blessed with good weather and Andy's team coped very well with 467 finishers. I was so busy with photographs it was difficult to warm up. But it didn't matter. For me it was an occasion rather than a race and television had turned up to record it. My two sons, Steven and Graham both ran it whilst May and Steven's partner, Jill and our grand-daughter, Katie, spectated. All the staff at Hilly ran. I met hundreds of friends, some of whom had travelled great distances. A special souvenir coffee mug had been created for all finishers.
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Pre Race with members of Rochdale Harriers
Photo Credit STEVE BATESON (www.runningpix.co.uk)
a Still from BBC "North West Tonight" Live Coverage with reporter Lisa McAllister
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Photo Credit 1 STEVE BATESON (www.runningpix.co.uk)
Photo Credit 2 JOB KING
My official time was 26:02, but I'd had to start at the very back and ran more like 25:44. My position was 331st, so I'd had the chance to pass a few people! Up front, Steve Vernon, Stockport H & AC had dead-heated with Ian Grimes, Newham and Essex Beagles in a time of 15:27. Ellie Baker, Stockport, was first female in 18:11. The Falcon was heaving afterwards and Andy was probably right when he announced that it was probably the busiest pub in Britain at that time. What an honour for me. I was so busy I only managed to down three pints! But a great night for my 2,260th race.
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Post Race with joint winners Steve Vernon and Ian Grimes
Photo Credit STEVE BATESON (www.runningpix.co.uk)
WHAT NOW? IT IS SOMETHING I NEED TO THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT. I HAD INTENDED TO DROP MY MILEAGE FROM 30 MILES A WEEK TO 20, BUT WILL I BE ABLE TO DO IT? THE IDEA WAS TO PROTECT MY KNEES AND HIPS, BUT I HAVE NO REAL PROBLEMS THERE. I WILL SEE WHAT EVOLVES.
70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION, SWEATSHOP, HYDE.
Two days after my birthday race Sweatshop put on a birthday celebration at their shop in Hyde. This shop is significant to me as it was the first property I moved to from home in 1976 after setting up Ron Hill Sports in 1970. It was solely a retail and mail-order operation in those days. There was a breakfast run up to Werneth Low with eventually three groups finishing the session at their own pace and distance. I signed some specially commissioned T-shirts and at the end of the morning was presented with a Golden ASICS Shoe on a plinth inscribed, " To Commemorate Ron Hill's 70th Birthday and a lifetime of achievements in Running." Quite an honour !
Pictured with the Golden Shoe and Sweatshop Hyde's Jason
SEPTEMBER showed 135 miles total for my daily runs making a lifetime total of 151,217 miles (243,354 K) Reaching 250,000 K is one ambition.
August 2008
99TH COUNTRY OF COMPETITION - PANAMA
I had hoped that the last two countries of competition, taking me to 100, would be Afghanistan and Iraq where a race with some of our forces would provide them with a diversion from the dangerous job they are doing out there. I nearly got there but at the last minute the MOD were notified by the commanders in Kandahar were not willing to take the risk of having me run at altitude, in high temperatures and probably wearing body armour and a helmet. Maybe they were scared of an almost 70 year old beating a lot of people! But that left me with a major problem of finding two other countries at short notice. Discovering a marathon, 1/2 marathon and marathon relay in Panama, September 7th, I made contact with Allen Jones, via their website, and he said he was sure he could find me a place on one of the marathon relay teams. Last minute fares to Panama City are not cheap and it cost us almost £1000 apiece to get there. The journey was long. Manchester to Edinburgh, to Newark, New Jersey, to Tocumen International Airport, Panama City. We were supposed to arrive at 21:51 but with a 4 hour delay in Newark it was 1:45 am when we arrived. I didn't expect anyone to meet us at that hour but Sjef (pronounced “chef “) van Eijs, a member of Panama Hash House Harriers was waiting. What a relief. He took us swiftly to the Hotel Costa Inn, downtown, where in tiny, grubby room 316, we finally got to bed at 8:30 am UK time. I'd run 2 miles before 5:30 the previous morning before leaving, so the Streak was still intact. We upgraded our room next day. We had been to Panama City before, in 2001, landing on the day of 9/11, on route from a 1/2 marathon in Medellin, Colombia, to a 10K in the Cayman Islands. We were stuck there for four days before getting the first flight out to Miami, then on to Grand Cayman after an overnight stay arriving for " To Hell and Back " 10K the day before the race. I remembered how difficult the running was with heat, humidity and traffic; hence the choice of a relay leg over the 1/2 marathon. The Costa Inn was nearer to the coast and much easier for running from a traffic point of view. My 3 1/2 mile morning run took me down Calle 38 to Avenida Balboa then right, along the sea front to Casco Viega and back again. That run took my LIFETIME TOTAL to 243,000 KM., with the next morning's run seeing me through 151,000 MILES. The day before the race Sjef picked us up and took us to a local, temperance, cafe where we met Bob McIntosh, founder of the Panama Hash, along with the rest of the Hash teams, and collected our numbers and race shirts. We dined on grilled chicken, rice and lentils. On race day we didn't go to the 5:00 am start. Sjef and Bob were both doing first legs of the relay, and after finishing collected us at the hotel with Bob driving us to the 6 to 7 leg changeover for Sjef to prepare for his second stint of the day before handing over to me for the final leg. As I warmed up at my changeover it began to rain. Sjef came down a hill and as he handed me the baton a thunder storm erupted. Soon the water on the road was 10cm deep and streams were crossing the route. My shoes were soaked and heavy. The storm abated after about 2K but it was difficult avoiding the floods for the rest of the way. No-one passed me and I managed to overtake a few runners strung out along Avenida Balboa. I felt shattered and found the last section tough; uphill and inland for about 1K before the thankful finish in the huge car park of the Multicentre Pacific. My time for the 6K plus leg was about 33 1/2 minutes.
Taking over from Sjef for the final leg of the race
Our team was " LOS ABUELOS ( GRANDFATHERS ) 1 HASH and we finished 26th out of 55, 4th in the Grand Masters Masculine category, with a time of 3:49:15. There were several Hash teams all running in the memory of a female Hasher shot dead in the crossfire between police and bank robbers who had taken her hostage. After the weather became sunny and warm and we hung around chatting and drinking beer. All the Panamanians were standing in the shade! Later Sjef took us with Bob to one of their favourite restaurants, the Napoli, near Casco Viejo, where we ate clams in wine sauce mopped up with garlic bread, then pizza, washed down with Sangria and finally a warm brandy.
Hash post race celebrations
We did not plan this trip very well and spent another day in Panama City and I ran with the Hash in the evening, around the Allbrook area, which was fun. About 2 1/2 miles actual running, much of it off the beaten track, followed by beers and barbecued chicken with potato salad. The next morning we took a taxi to the Allbrook Bus Terminal and bought tickets to the town of Chitre in Herrera Province. My guide indicated that there were buses to several towns in that area and I was looking for a base so that I didn't have to handle my large heavy bag which was awkward with my healing broken left arm. The fare for the 4 hour journey was $7.50 each, about £4! Our prebooked hotel was only about 1K, and $1.50, from the bus station. What a gem the hotel Hong Kong was. We got a first floor room overlooking the swimming pool and across the road was a big Super 99 where we could buy cold beers and all the provision we needed. The town centre was 2K away. We had booked seven nights at $70 a night and when we added a three night extension we got that for $62 a night, about £31. May had a swim whilst I sat in the hot sun by the pool. In the evening we walked into town and ate inexpensively at the Cafe Chiquito. May had 1/2 chicken and chips and I had prawn chow mien. There was a surprisingly large Chinese element in the town. The only slight drawback to the Chiquito was that it did not serve beer or any other alcoholic drinks. But the iced water was free. The minibus back to the hotel was 25c apiece.
Chitre - Cafe Chiquito
Chitre - Super 99 Hotel
We enjoyed our stay and I think we saw only two other tourists the whole time. I ran 3 miles, out and back every morning with some speedwork in preparation for my 100th country. Mainly the weather was excellent with just a couple of tropical storms; it was the rainy season! We visited Playa Aguillo, more of a nature reserve than a beach, with the sea far away over a marshy foreshore. A couple of times we got a minibus to Playa Monagre and nearby Playa Rompio and walked from one to the other along the beach watching the frigate birds soaring and flocks of buzzards scavenging. There were always buzzards circling in the sky even in the towns. One feature of these places was the hangar like "Refrescos" with just a few tables scattered widely and loud Latin American music playing. On a visit to the town of Las Tablas we found little to interest us, having discovered that the craft market shown on the town map did not exist. Heading back for the minibus we called into a Refresco for a cold beer. There were only four sets of customers in the huge place. One guy sat at the bar with six large empty bottles in front of him. A group of five men chatting and laughing loudly whose large empties were filling two crates. A couple at the far edge of the place and another couple, not far away from us, with about sixteen bottles on their table! Everyone seemed happy and peaceful and no-one was falling down drunk.
The minibuses came in all shapes and sizes, were cheap and seemed to be privately owned. Often they got crowded, but a delightful feature was that when anyone got on the bus they said, "Buena" and all the other passengers chorused back, "Buena!" Very soon we were doing it too. The stay had been great and the running too. We returned from Chitre by bus to spend one night near the airport, after a scary ride in a decrepit ”taxi" during which we skidded on a wet bend and almost hit the concrete central barrier. Our flight back on Saturday 23rd was via Miami and Newark then direct into Manchester.
Refresco, Las Tablas Buzzards at the beach Refresco, Monagre
THE WAKEFIELD HOSPICE, SANDAL CASTLE 10K.
On our return home a week of 27 miles took me to the Sandal Castle 10K, held at Pugney's Park near Wakefield. This is one of my favourite races and although the course had changed from my previous outings, it was still mainly off-road with trails, grass, a boardwalk, a climb up to and a circuit of the castle itself, a bit of road, more trails, farm fields and a mile of trail in the park to the finish. This would be good training for a half marathon the following weekend in the Faroe Islands, my 100th country of competition. Moving through all the way, I didn’t flog myself. Entering the park for the last mile and a bit I caught Sue Exon, Trafford AC, a stalwart of the Tour of Tameside when that event was running. I tracked her until she noticed me, saying, "Hello, Ron" We ran together then until almost the end when I got caught up with the sprinting finishers and left her. My official time was 53:13, for 250th place out of 570 finishers, putting 56% of the field behind me. 3rd. 65 + out of 8 was alright, and deducting the 5 second it took me to cross the start line gave me 53:08. A bit long?
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FIRST GRANDCHILD
The most important event of August was on the 31st. when elder son Steven's partner, Jill, gave birth to a little girl, Katie Allannah. Both are doing well.
Son Steve, Steve's partner Jill and Grandaughter Katie Allannah
August totalled 1131/2 miles of running bringing my lifetime's total to 151,082 miles, (243,163K)
July 2008
It was only nine days after I fell and broke my arm in Santorini but it did not stop me attending the launch, July 1st, along with Olympic Decathlon Gold Medallist Daley Thompson, of " re:fresh ", a scheme in Blackburn with Darwen, which gives residents over 50 free access to the running track, swimming baths and gyms in an effort to make people aware of the value of exercise to there health. Currently this area has one of the lowest life expectancies of the whole country and one of the lowest rates of exercise. The day concluded with a walk from a Darwen park up to Darwen Tower and back. I had to be very careful on the descent. Another fall would have been disastrous.
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Ron with Daley Thompson at the launch of Re:fresh in Blackburn. Darwen Tower
Photo Credit: Blackburn Council
Ron, Daley and local councilors at the launch of Re:fresh in Blackburn.
Photo Credit: Blackburn Council
The first part week of July ( my training log week starts on a Saturday ) showed : 2 1/2 , 2 , 2 1/2 , 2 1/2 miles,careful running with my arm in a sling and under a jacket and held by my right hand to immobilise it. The next week commencing July 5th gave me : 2 1/2 , 3 , 3 , 3 , 3 , 3 , 3 miles, a total of 20 1/2, with some gentle fartlek on the last day. The following week : 4 , 4 1/2 , 3 , 3 , 4 1/2 ,3 , 3 miles, a total of 25, with a bit of speedwork on days 2 and 6
The next weekend I ran 4 miles on Saturday and raced " The Gravy 6 " in Padfield on Sunday. I was quite prepared to run 10 minute miles and finish in 1 hour and possibly last. After 1 1/2 miles careful warm up I set off at the back, my arm in a tight sling strapped against my body and wearing a padded cycling glove in case I fell on the downhill or rough rocky sections in which case I would make sure I landed on my right hand. As I hit the Longdendale Trail there was only one runner behind me and with a steady effort I passed 12 more before turning left off the trail and descending to the dam head. My arm had spasmed a couple of times on the trail. Crossing the dam a fierce wind was funnelling up the valley and I had to hang on to my cap, which was pretty awkward. Shortly after I hit a really rough, rock strewn, part of the course where extreme caution on my part was required. The last 3 runners I had passed on the trail, a couple and a big guy in yellow passed me. My arm was now spasming regularly with each uneven jolt and I had to keep grabbing my broken arm to stabilise it. Off the rough and on to undulating farm tracks I was more relaxed and the final short step climb up to the trail once more was not that taxing. I had the 3 in front in my sights. Big yellow left the couple and I closed in on them. I was now putting in an effort and as I passed they did not resist. Continuing the momentum, I got past big yellow within sight of the finish. Again, no response and I crossed the line in 53:27. Sub 9 minute miling except the course could have been a mite short. My arm was sore after and I wondered whether I had been wise. 139th out of 152; psychologically I was happy. The men's winner was Damian Nicholls, Wilmslow R.C. in 30:31 and the women's winner was Donna Riding, Sale H. in 34:42. The rest of the week went : 3 , 3 , 4 1/2 , 4, 3 , giving a total of 29 miles, close to my target of 30 when in full health.
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Approaching the finish of The Gravy 6 in Padfield
July's last week of running showed : 4 1/2 , 7 1/2 , 3 , 4 1/2 , 4 ( TOOK THE SLING OFF ), 4 1/2 , ( 3 , 1st August ) with speedwork on days 1, 3, 6 and 7 for a total of 31 miles.I was gearing up for the 6K last leg of the Panama Marathon Relay and my 99th country of competition on August 10th.
July's total was 112 miles giving me a lifetime figure of 150,968.5 miles ( 242,954K )
Click to read more about Ron's involvement in "Re:Fresh"
June 2008
June started off well. It had taken me a month to recover from a cold and chest infection which afflicted me straight after The Great East Anglia Run 10K on May 4th. I was keen to race again and did not know what to expect after a month of no speed work, but entered in the Morecambe 10K on June 8th. It had to be a flat course; after all it was on the coast. A lovely day with a head wind out, good for sitting in and a following wind back. Ideal. A fast start and I seemed to get left behind over the first mile or so until I found someone running my pace. Along the promenade until after 2 miles then, looking up, I could see the field ahead snaking up a steep hill. So much for flat course! There were several more undulations after that, but nothing too taxing and I was moving through the field. 3 miles passed in 22:56, which was a bit quick for me ,then my watch started to malfunction and the splits were inaccurate which meant I did not know what pace I was running. Up ahead I could see the green vests of the Willoughby brothers of St Anne's runners, I hadn't beaten them in years, and a regular rival, Jim Taylor, Darwen Dashers. Passing Trevor Willoughby as he made a pit stop, and Jim just after 4 miles. I latched on to a group and as we turned left, to head for the promenade once more, passed Rae Willoughby. "Go on, Ron," he shouted. My triumph was short lived as he overtook me as we hit the prom. It seemed a long way to the finish but in the end only 1 second separated us and I was rewarded with a 48:50 clocking and 136th place out of 243 finishers. I was happy with that. Jim Taylor hung on and was only 3 positions back. Men's winner was Matt Moorhouse, Salford, 32:47 and first woman was Bev Wright, Blackpool, 38:55.
Three days later, after 2:45am 2 mile run, we were on a 6:00am flight to the Greek island of Santorini. We stayed on the outskirts of the resort of Kamari where we had holidayed in 1986 and 1994. The weather was superb, 30 deg C or 86 deg F, in the morning. We took a trip, and spent 2 nights on the nearby island of Los, staying at a wonderful hotel, the Homer's Inn We will definitely return there. Above Kamari, at a height of around 500m or 1,500ft is the archeological site of Ancient Thira. There is a zig-zag road with around 20 hairpin bends leading up there. On the 1994 trip I had run up there twice, the first time taking 18m 04s to ascend and the second time, in racing shoes taking 16m 57s. I was interested in seeing how 14 years had affected my abilities and on our 4th day there I headed up the rough bumpy road once more.
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Top Left: Santorini Church Top Right: View from Homer's Inn
Bottom Left: View from Thira Bottom Right: Thira coast line
It was a tough climb, but the views were worth it. 23:46, so I had slowed by almost 6 minutes. Although it had been hard, I decided the run would not get the better of me and on June 22nd, a couple of days before returning home I set out to do it one more time. There was a celebratory bottle of ice-cold Heineken waiting in the fridge. As I neared the summit I noticed that my stop watch was not running which meant I would not get an accurate climb time. Also there was a hard gale blowing off the sea which made it dangerous to linger at the top. Checking the actual time, I estimated I'd run about the same time as earlier in the holiday. No time to linger. Hugging the hillside, so as not to get blown away, I jogged down on the difficult surface. Almost at the bottom, I tripped and went full length hitting the rough granite sets with my outstretched left hand. Before I landed, I thought, " This is not going to be pleasant. " I slithered to a halt on my stomach. Turning over on to my back, I noticed my left arm was tuned inwards. Grabbing it, I turned it back outwards. There was a squelching noise and I thought maybe I had dislocated my shoulder and had put it back. By the time I was on my feet I realised that it was far more serious than that and something was broken. The hand was bleeding and carrying the left arm with my right, I walked over a mile back to the accommodation.
I reported to the owners that I had broken my arm and needed to go to the hospital in Thira, the capital, 10 kilometers away. They asked if I wanted them to call me a taxi! 2We'll have a cup of tea first and I’ll get cleaned up," I replied.
After 3 hours wait in the Emergency department of the hospital the X-ray man arrived. Okay, it was Sunday. He explained that my arm was broken in 3 places and that I may need an operation. I had to return in the morning to see an orthopedic expert. The next day I ran 2 miles in a makeshift sling, holding my left arm with my right hand and screaming at the speeding car drivers who were forcing me over to the uneven edge of the road. It was very very painful as was the following day's 2 miles. The orthopedic guy told me to go to hospital as soon as we got home. Which I did. Further X-rays confirmed that the ball at the top of the humerus had snapped off completely and the ball itself was broken at the front and the back. Fortunately everything was aligned properly and I should not need surgery. A technical sling would immobilise the break allowing it to heal. I continued with 3x2miles, tried a 3 miller, which was too painful, so backed off for the moment.
These events brought a reduced total for June of 115.5 miles giving a lifetime total of 150,856.5 miles ( 242,773K )
May 2008
THE GREAT EAST ANGLIA RUN 10K
I was invited by long time friends Harry and Diane Collins to take part in this race on May 4th. They are Race Director and Deputy respectively. The journey from Hyde to King's Lynn was a nightmare and I should have known better than to set off at 3:00 pm on a Friday of a Bank Holiday weekend.4 hours 45 minutes for 159 miles left me tired and stressed out. My spirits were revived by Saturday morning's run in Sandringham. A polite and knowledgeable gentleman, Trevor Mace, picked me up at the Knights Hill hotel at 7:00 am and drove me in a brand new Audi Q7 drove me to the park, and dropped me at the start of the " Scenic Walk." A complete lap then a part lap with a few small diversions brought me to the visitor centre, where Trevor was waiting, and 4 miles. I heard a cuckoo, saw a jay then a golden pheasant on the way out, plus no sign of my abductor injury, left me happy and ready for breakfast!
Trevor was to chauffer me over the next two days and after my meal and a catch up with my diaries, we visited the start and finish area in the Tuesday Market Place to meet Harry and Diane and observe the considerable work taking place to make the next day's race a success. After, we drove those parts of the course which were not pedestrianised. The runners would not be bored. Then we headed for a tour of the Norfolk coast. I have never been in that part of the UK before and on a lovely day the journey round Hunstanton, Brancaster, Burnham over Staithe and Wells-next-the-sea was interesting and relaxing. We stopped at one inlet to eat a fresh crab baguette which was a delight. I have never seen so much sea food for sale and the flint stoned walls of the cottages seemed unique to this area.
Fishing boat on the Norfolk Coast
That morning my heart rate had been 57 bpm, low for me. Race day morning it was 67 bpm. Strange, as I had slept well. Trevor was there early to drive me down to the start. There were over 1900 entries and my warm up was curtailed by radio interviews and photographs with other competitors. I ended up starting well back in the field and it took me 51 seconds to cross the start line and a lot more time was lost passing the slower runners in the narrow streets. After taking off the 51 seconds, 5:21 at 1K was very disappointing and at that pace I would end up with 53 minutes. The next 2K were little better, 10:27, way outside 50 minutes pace, which had been my target. After 3K, with some clearer running along the Great River Ouse path, I clocked a 4:50 K, better, then a 4:41 on the Wisbech Road to half way. I was struggling and failed to register that my 5K time was 25:19. My watch started to play up then so I had no idea what pace I was running. The next 2K took us into, round and out of a park to rejoin the narrow streets for the last couple of miles. The crowds here were great. giving much needed encouragement. Entering the last K at South Quay , I came alongside a charity runner, Stephen Auker from Keighley ,who I'd met before the race for a photograph. We ran together until we entered the long finish straight. He turned to me and asked, "You're not going to outsprint me are you?" "No," I replied, and he crossed the line 2 seconds ahead of me. My official time was 50:32; therefore, taking 51 seconds off, I'd done 49:41 for the actual 10K and 24:22 for the second 5K. That was OK.
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With Stephen Auker, finish of Great East Anglia Run
Photo Credit: Joanne Marsh
Click here for more details about G.E.A.R (Great East Anglia Run)
There were 1691 finishers out of which I was 481st.The men's winner was Andrew Hennessy of Wells city Harriers in 31:10 and the first woman home was Olivia Walwyn, City of Norwich AC in 36:08. Definitely a race worth running with King's Lynn an interesting ancient and historic town.
The journey home, following a different and longer route took me 3 hours ! Monday morning my heart rate was 77 bpm. I was going down with a chest infection/cold. no wonder the race had been a struggle ! The illness lasted for a month during which racing was out of the question.
The "abductor longus " tear seemed to have healed, but five days later I got pains in that area whilst out on a run. The next day the pains had gone until a further eight days had passed, when starting out on a run the pains in my groin were so bad I almost turned back. Easing into a limp, my knee on that same right leg almost collapsed a two or three times. Stopping and walking a few times, my running time was just over 59 minutes. At 13 minutes per mile, my calculation of the pace, that was 4 1/2 miles. A careful 4 miles the next day, May 19th, was without pain, and I have been pain free since then? I stopped stretching before my run not wanting to risk aggravating the tear, and for 3 weeks I quit my post run exercises; sit-ups, press-ups etc., but these I've now resumed.
Daily runs in May totalled 141.5 miles bringing my lifetime total t150,741 miles ( 242,587 K )
April 2008
My focus for April was to train to a peak for the Belgrade 1/2 Marathon on the 19th and hold that fitness for the Great East Anglia Run 10K on May 4th. The reason for the Belgrade race was that I had dropped out of the European Marathon championship race in 1962 and I had counted Yugoslavia as one of my countries of competition on my way to 100 by age 70. I was not comfortable with a DNF and decided to delete it and hopefully add Serbia.
On April 5th disaster struck! I set off at a gentle pace for a 5 mile run, was running downhill and had not done a mile when I suffered a startling pain at the top of my right leg, on the inside, from the groin almost down to the knee. I thought my hip had collapsed and almost turned back but carried on, even attempting the speedwork I had planned after 2 miles. Inspecting diagrams of the leg it looked like I had torn my abductor longus. After four days of gentle running I set off on a 9 mile run to prove to myself that getting round a 1/2 marathon would be possible in 5 days time. After a pain free 41/2 miles I began some strides. At 6 miles the pains in my right groin began. At 8 miles the pain was so bad it stopped me, forcing me to WALK home !
Contacting Belgrade, they replied that I would always be welcome in the city and I could run the 5K race. Three times 2 miles over the next 3 days had me slowly controlling the pain. The atrocious weather endured over the previous two weeks, including hail and snow did nothing for my mood, but a 3 mile run in shorts aroundBelgrade's Kalemegdan Fort and park, with no pain, lifted my spirits. The 5K was a mass affair with a lot of children, starting about 10 minutes after the 1/2 and full marathon runners had gone. Carefully climbing he long shallow hill to the 2k marker, I was rewarded with a time of 11:30: better than expected. A right turn and a short sharp hill took us to the high point on our course and the ensuing downhill was comfortable. The next kilometres of 4:18 and 4:40 had me enjoying the race and there not that many in front now. At 4K we left the marathon course and headed to the finish area. The last ' kilometre ' took me 7:00, so the course was over distance. My watch showed 28:29, indicating a pace of just under 9 minutes per mile. Without pressure and without hurting myself, I had thoroughly enjoyed the race. I had my 98th country. The Belgrade Marathon and 1/2 Marathon were superbly organised events and would be an interesting alternative to anyone who could not get into London.
Self Portrait - Belgrade Marathon 5K
Kalemegdan Fort - Belgrade
The day after my return from Belgrade, May and I flew out to Lanzarote for a holiday, rest and welcome warm climate running. Carefully increasing my mileage, I got back to 30 miles a week. The weather was superb in Playa Blanca, one day reaching 114deg F/ 44deg C in the shade. Mostly I ran from the Riosol complex along quiet roads to the Faro Pechiguera lighthouse, and back along the traffic free promenade. One day I ran to the top of the 580 ft. Montana Roja, an extinct volcano, around the rim then back down. A thrilling run with remarkable views. In the warmth my injured leg gave me no trouble.
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Left: Faro Picharaguo Top: Relaxing with May in Lanzarote. Bottom: View of Montana Roja
LIFETIME AWARD. In mid April, on the occasion of the London Marathon, I was honoured to be selected in Runner's World Heroes of Running Awards 2008. My award was for THE VETERAN - A ' lifetime achievement ' award for a veteran runner with decades of running under their belt and whose commitment has never wavered. I am very proud of this award, sponsored by Norwich Union.
Daily runs in April provided an injury reduced 124 miles, taking my lifetime total to 150,509 miles. Injury and tiredness resulted in only one race
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Runners World Award - The Veteran - Ron Hill
Click to Read more about Ron's Runner's World Award
March 2008
The last two days of March showed a glimmer of sunshine and a promise of better weather to come. In contrast, Monday the 10th the forecast was predicting gale force winds and rain. It was raining when I got up and, dressed in waterproof jacket and over-trousers, I ran 4 miles. The sun shone for most of the way and the wind was light! Wednesday the gales had arrived but there appeared to be little rain. It turned out to be a most horrible 5 mile run. I had abandoned the water proof over-trousers. The moment I stepped out of the door it poured. Within 1/2 a mile my pants were soaked and my legs were freezing. I almost curtailed the run but stubbornly carried on, arriving back satisfied that I had conquered the conditions. It was impossible not to speculate how nice it would be to live and run somewhere warm in winter.
March was a busy racing month. Four races. The first, on the 9th, was the RODDLESWORTH ROLLER 6 miles, described as ' starting and finishing near the Hare and Hounds, Abbey Village, traversing the shale tracks of Roddlesworth, the roads of Tockholes and the scenic delights of the area.' The race is held in the county of Lancashire. The ' scenic delights ' are there, but for me not appreciated during a race. Iran here in 1994 when it was a 5 miler, and had forgotten how tough it was.The ' roller ' part of the course was near the beginning and the end. Runners seemed to be passing me for the first mile or so, then I was holding my own.The only regular rival I could see ahead was Jim Taylor, Darwin Dashers, about 60 metres in front.After a couple of miles of limestone grit trails we had to climb a stony, streamy hill with the last section so steep that I had to walk, along with therest of the athletes around me.We then turned left on to a road and the gap to Jim Taylor was down to 10 metres.
He gained some ground on this downhill tarmac, but not much, about 30 metres at the left turn on to steep a downhill trail. I gained a few places here with the confidence of studs on the slippery surface. Back on to the ' Roller.' Here it got tough. The final steep uphill was another walking bit, but it took me closer to Jim. Passing him on the last downhill, he said, ' Sneaking up on me, eh ? ' I had been with a group of five, but could pass none of them, finishing in 49:49, with Jim one place and only 7 seconds behind. After the finish someone asked me, ' Did you enjoy that ? ' ' No, ' I replied, ' It was hard.' 'A proper Lancashire course that,' he responded. 147th out of 249 was satisfactory; 59% of the field in front. But I was first V65 !
My second race, on the 16th, was the 10th running of the JIMMY'S 10K in Downpatrick, whose main sponsor was Down Democrat newspaper. The race was a St. Patrick's Festival event and organised by East Down AC whose secretary, Joe Quinn, had invited me over to discus the logistics of organising a Tour race along the lines of the now defunct, but formerly popular, Tour Of Tameside. Eighteen years previously I had been here to race in a five miler !
Jimmy's 10K - About to be passed by my pacer No256
I had agreed to do ' An Evening With Ron Hill ' on Friday night before the Sunday race. This was well attended, about eighty present and proved to be a lively affair with lots of questions.I even sold 16 copies of my book ' Manchester Marathons 1908 to 2002, ' co-authored with Neil Shuttleworth, which is more copies than I sold at the London Marathon Exhibition last year ! May and I have never been more welcomed at a race in the UK. We felt like we were famous.
Saturday morning, four of us did a 5 mile run, on most of the 10K course. Joe Quinn, Liam Keenan and Mark Quinn kept a gentle pace as we chatted the whole way, out on the roads and back on the banks of the river Quoile. In the afternoon, after we had visited Down Cathedral, St. Patrick's Grave, the Mound of Down and Down County Museum in the restored buildings of the 18th century County Goal of Down, Mark , in his car, and Liam gave us a quick tour of the surrounding countryside. We visited Inch Abbey, Soll Church, Struell Holy Wells and on to Strangford to watch the ferry docking and departing. Unfortunately the weather deteriorated and strong winds and horizontal rain slightly spoiled our visit to the fishing village of Ardglass. That night we were the guests of Joe and his wife, Vera, at the Down's Arts Centre for a concert of Irish Music by a band called ' North.' Very enjoyable. Despite the noise from a rowdy birthday parry in our hotel, we slept well.
The weather had cleared for Sunday's mid-day race start, but a cold northerly wind was blowing, meaning headwind on the way out and tailwind on the way back. Joe had given me race number 209, a reference to my best marathon time. A couple of miles warm-up and my watch seized up, stuck on ' Hold To Store. ' I had to run the race ' blind.' From the start I never really felt comfortable. People were passing me; upthe hill of English Street, up and around Down Cathedral., and it wasn't until about 2K that I began to hold my place. At this point I got in behind No. 256, a lady in a dark pink vest, Maureen Oliver of Dublin, and sheltered from the headwind. I make no apologies for this; I was hanging on ! Beyond 5K the course turned sharp left then left again to follow the trails by the River Quoile. 256 appeared to slow just before 6K and I went ahead, pulling back a few runners over the next 3K. At 9k I passed two women before a final climb, but this seemed to fire them up and they re-overtook for the descent into town and the finish. Raising a final sprint a managed to close in on the pair and finished behind but in the same second, the overhead clock showing 48:57.
At the presentation I had the pleasure of handing out the awards with Dame Mary Peters. By chance she had her Olympic Gold Medal from Munich with her. I only glanced at it, being reminded that my opportunity for Olympic Marathon Gold had disappeared at that Games. Liam and Mark accompanied us to Belfast Airport with their friend, Greg Deegan, driving and Liam quizzing me the whole journey !
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Presenting awards with Dame Mary Peters Joe Quinn and myself at the "Evening with Ron Hill"
Three days before my third March race, the RIVINGTON PIKE FELL RACE, I began to feel really tired. The day before the race, my log records, ' Felt really tied all over - must have some sort of illness - tired all the way. ' With this in mind I decided not to run hard. Two miles gentle warm-up, a relaxed start at 3:00 pm, and an 'easy ' run to the top, I turned in 20 minutes, vs.. 19:08 last year. No reckless descent and one or two passed me on the first steep bit, but then, relaxing, holding my own, striding rather than charging down.As the final road approached, I could hear footsteps closing behind. Malcolm Schofield, a V70 runner from Altrincham AC passed. I had no intention of battling him and found the final few hundred metres far easier than in the past. I had descended in 11:32 vs.. 10:24 in 2007, for a final time of 31:32 vs.. 29:30. Underfoot conditions had been reasonable, but a strong headwind on the way up accounted for some slowing in my time. 256th out of 296 was not brilliant !
Star of the race was Harry Minshull, race winner in 1957 and 1960. He was running the race at the age of 80 and had also returned fromSouth Africa to compete at age 70 and 75.I, like Harry , am an ex-Manchester University cross-country runner and an ex- Bolton Harrier. We overlapped almost seamlessly. I won the Pike race in 1961. In 1960, Harry had finished 9th in the International Cross-Country Championships for England. In 1962, I made that team and finished 11th. In 1960, Harry was running sub-50 minutes for 10 miles on the road. What does that say about the current standard 48 years later ?
Because of my softer approach to the race, my quads were not anywhere near as sore as in previous years on my next day Sunday run; however, my log reports of Tuesday's 5 mile run, ' Felt absolutely exhausted. '
My final race of March, the 29th, was the CLAYTON VALE 5k TRAIL RACE. I tried a ' green ' journey to the race, a bus to Hyde, a bus towards Manchester, alighting below Debdale Park for a 21/2 mile run to Clayton Vale. The first part of this run was Tan Yard Brow which had been part of my run from Fallowfield to Droylsden when I first started work. There were only 37 starters in the race probably due to a clash withthe 2000 strong Wilmslow 1/2 Marathon the next day. The course was excellent, traffic free and in peaceful scenery. I didn't have a good one. Two East Cheshire ladies, Ann Cherry LV50 and Pat Hanley LV55, were in front of me for about 1K. I passed them, but shortly after, Ann overtook me. I passed a further four runners but could just not catch Ann, finishing one behind her in 23rd position out of 35 finishers in a time of 25:18. I was none too pleased with that and the run back to the bus, into a headwind was tough.
March's daily runs had brought me 148 miles bringing my lifetime total to 150,475 miles (242,159K )
February 2008
About the only good thing about our winter weather is that occasionally we will get a hard frost that freezes the mud and water on country trails and fields and makes off-road routes accessible.
Three races this month. First was a trip back to North Wales for the Nick Beer 10K, Llandudno, on the 10th. I competed here in 2002 ( 53:57 ) and 2005 ( 52:07 ). On both occasions the weather had been atrocious.Gales so strong at the top of the Great Orme, that people were blown off their feet. Scary. This time the weather was good as over 600 runners started on the long climb from the pier. I had my eye on Joe Park in his red and white hooped vest of the Cheshire Tally Ho club, an O/70 runner who had been a regular competitor in the Tour of Tameside and was never far away from me in races. The uphill ended steeply at about halfway before plunging back to sea level over the next 2K. By then my legs were struggling. Level to 8k then a nasty hill, not steep but fatiguing before a drop down to the promenade and 9K. The last kilometre seemed like a mile. Joe Park was just ahead, but there was no fight left in me and 4 seconds separated us at the end. My watch showed 49:22, not brilliant but a big improvement on previous years. 296th from 632 put me more than half-way up the field. On the next morning's 4 mile recovery run I was pretty tired and my quads were quite sore from the downhill running.
My next race involved a visit to Yorkshire for the Wombwell 5 Miles on the 15th. Apart from one Sale Harrier I was the only runner there from my side of thePennines. It was a freezing day. The start and finish was on a go kart track and it was uphill out and downhill back. I did not have a good run ! 39:39 gave me sub 8 minute miling but 168th out of 262 meant I was very much in the latter half of the field.
Six days later, by invitation, I competed in the 100th running of " Scarrig, " the traditional cross-country course of Giggleswick School in North Yorkshire. What a course that was ! Miscalculating the time it would take me to get to the " Past Pupils' " start which was up a bloody great hill and around a quarry, I arrived, exhausted, with about 90 seconds to go to the 2:30 start. I never recovered. This was true cross-country - big stiles, ups and downs, slippery limestone " pavements " and paths, bogs, hills, mud, strong winds, watering eyes........Was I glad to see the finish ! 32:47 for 3 1/4 miles.Many ran, including the headmaster, the present male pupils had started further back and the present female pupils further forward to avoid congestion at the styles.
I presented the awards in a big dining hall seething with people. Congratulation to all the finishers. After it was a dash home to finish packing for an early flight toPortugal for five days of product development meetings. We stayed in the pretty tow of Santo Tirso where magnolias and azaleas were everywhere in full bloom. The hills opposite ere great for running. Narrow cobbled roads, beautiful granite houses, stately estancias and fresh air.
Daily runs for the month totalled 138.5 miles.
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Nick Beer 10K
Ron wearing Black Headband and Fluo Trainers
Photo by STEVE BATESON (www.runningpix.co.uk)
January 2008
As I get older I dislike winter more and more.The dark nights and mornings and especially the cold and the rain. And the cold dislikes me, especially my knees. If the temperature gets anywhere near 0 deg Con goes my double legwear. It is a matter of staying warm and comfortable. Usually it is gloves, hat, two long sleeve tops and a windproof jacket. If it is raining I now don an ASICS Goretex Paclite jacket, with a hood which keps me dry and has been a godsend.
Two races this month. First, Saturday, 19th, The Twin Piers 10K from Llandudno toColwynBaywhich I'd contested in 1998 and run 44:45.Aftersomething over 2 miles warm up and the bus ride to the start Iwas expecting to continue my run of good form at the end of 2007.4:52 and 4:48 for the first 2Ks, on the flat of the promenade and with a following wind was disappointing.On the hills of 3 and 4k worse was to follow - 5:27 and 5:24. What was wrong ? 5K passed in 25:32. Pushing on and overtaking the odd runner brought me 23:40 for the second half and a final clocking of 49:12, 2nd in the O/65 categoryand 133rd out of 248 finishers. 54% of the field were in front of me.
Eight days later I lined up with around 500 runners for the "Chernobyl"10K at Walton - le - Dale nearPreston. The course runs down trais to the river Ribble, east following the river to the A6, left on the pavements to bidge the river, west along the north bank to another bridge, cross back then a long climb back up to the finish. That last bit was a struggle for me but I managed a big sprint to hold a few runners off and record 49:25. A year ago I ran 50:29 so I guess you can say that is progress. Also, 219th from 409 runners means 55% of the field were behind me.
In January I ran every day and clocked up 145.5 miles.
Ron's 2007 Annablog
Sadly, on April 17, my mother, Eva, passed away. She had had a stroke just over a year previouslyand had not really recovered, being more or less paralysed down her right side. We had had her close to us in a nice home, Bowl acre Home, in Hyde. She died at the age of 89 of heart failure, very shortly after contracting a chest infection. Her suffering was minimal and her passing was a release from a final life of frustration and hopelessness, being incapacitated after having led a very active life.
Running: I didn't miss a day's running andcompleted 1676 miles - the most since 2001 (1596.5 in 2006 ) and competed in 28 races (12 in 2006,)fulfilling my resolutions for the year. I gained 5 new countries:Ecuador, Namibia, Montenegro, Argentina and Uruguay. There wereno running injuries, but I did fall down some steps to a canal warming up for the Idle AC 10K Trail Race in July. I'm sure I broke a bone in my let hand/wrist and dislocated my shoulder. I still raced! The hand has healed but the shoulder still gives me trouble.
On October 21 I ran 49:58 at the Waddington 10K, my first time under 50 minutes for a couple of years, and followed that with 47:23, 48:47 and 48:15. How? Why? More racing and a couple of speed sessions a week. Also, I'd been tested at theBritish Medical Instituteto see if my heart had been a factor in myslow times before. A clean bill of health gave me confidence. Later, I had more tests done privately. The surgeon refused to give me an angiogram as hefelt it was totally unnecessary. More reassurance. My verdict: "Make the most of what you've got."
A proud moment came on December 22, when, at Accrington Stanley's football ground, I passed through 150,000 recorded miles. My training logs began on September 3, 1956.
Resolutions for 2008? More of the same. Race frequently and run a little over 30 mil s per week until I'm 70. Then what? I don't know! Except that I will keep running every day.
Passing 150,000 Miles
Photo Credit: Job King
Click here to read an article about Ron's achievement in the Independant
December 2007
The Nativa 10K race in Montevideo, Uruguay, was on Saturday December 1st. Monday, the day after the Officnet 10K in Buenos Aires we took the "Buquebus,” sailing to Coloniain Uruguay. From there a couple of hour’s bus-ride took us toMontevideo. Thejourneywas interesting, mainly wide open rural county side. At the bus station we were met by Tony Vigil, a former coach and a distance running enthusiast. Tony had worked hard to find me the two races in South America.
We checked in at the Ibis Hotel, which at first seemed a bit basic- no fridge - but ultimately proved to be ideal. Opposite the hotel was a red post, kilometre 3 of the Rambla, a promenade which followed the coast for 32 K each K marked with a red sign. This was great for training plus the road alongside was part of the race route. We had our own kettle, so my pre-run coffee with honey, first thing in the morning, was not a problem and a couple of hundred metres away stood the "Disco" supermarket. Cold "Pilsen" beers were available conveniently.
We have never received a better reception in any country! Tuesday we had lunch with the Race Director; Wednesday we visited the British Embassy, where I was interviewed and photographed for a magazine article. This was organised by Public Relations Officer Carla Piaggio Puig, who was about to run her first ever 10K on Sunday. Thursday, Tony took us north to the seaside resort of Punta del Este and Friday, the Consul, John Pearson, himself a runner, organised a reception in our honour at the British Embassy. I was so busy talking to people that I hardly had time to drink any of the Champagne. There were several groups of enthusiastic runners there and maybe missing out on the champagne was not a bad idea as the race was the next evening.
British Embassy Reception
Training had gone well, with mainly 4 mile runs, out and back on the Rambla and even a 2 mile loosener the morning of the race. That morning run was a little ominous as it indicated there would be a head wind throughout the race. And so it was. I would say it was almost a gale blowing as I warmed up for just over19 minutes. I had not realised that Tony was a runner,and his wife, Paola, too. Along with John Pearson, we started in an “Elite" area, ahead of the masses numbering almost 7000. My race number was 0001, another honour!
At 7:00PM we were off. Tony and Paola were in sight for 1K then forged ahead. John Pearson was going to run with me and followed as far as 4K, slipping behind then through lack of training due to injury. The fast pace surprised me as 4:47, 4:38 and 4:47 K's took me to 3K in 14:02. I was shattered. The wind was very strong. People were passing and I could find no-one at my pace to shelter behind. I was out of my depth! Runners were shouting for me and giving me encouragement. My name was on the back of my black race t-shirt. Some people paused to shake my hand as they were passing. There was a hill leading up to 5K and I struggled. Looking at my watch I thought it would be difficult to get under 50 minutes. It was hot but I took no water. There was a long straight on the flatafter 5K and I hit a decent rhythm.
Just before 7K I got behind someone who was running at my pace. I tracked him all the way to the finish. 5:00 between 7 and 8K made sub - 50minutes a possibility. Downhill slightly for the next K gave 4:40. Athletes were still passing; even more in the last K which was slightly uphill and cost 5:06. Was I glad to see the finish and the clock showing under 49 minutes. Paola ran 47:24, Tony, 47:35. I got 48:45, was second in the V 65's and 1229th overall out of 6,560 finishers. Less than 20% of the field were in front of me, and the 47:23 in Buenos Aires the previous weekend had not been a fluke! Carla ran just over the hour. The winner was Andres Zamora in 31:11.
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Nativa 10KM Finish After the finish with Paola & Tony
Sunday we went with Tony, Paola and their two youngsons Mathias and Seby to the sea-side town of Piriapolis to watch Paola's brother Marcello start and finish a log mountain bike race. I had a sunny 5 mile run, at a good pace,with Pablo Gardiol, a good friend of Tony, who had finished second in the previous day's 10K, just 11 seconds behind the winner. A taste of summer before UK's December weather.
We returned to Buenos Aires forone night before the long flights home. Gabriela had booked us a nice hotel, The Aspen Towers. Whilst we were in Uruguay, Hilly Clothing in the UK had received an e-mail from Buenos Aires. It read, "My name is John. I do not have a job. I am a "cartonera"and try to make a living by searching through litter bins. I have found this wallet with a few documents." We arranged to meet him in the lobby of the hotel. He arrived on time andhanded over the wallet with no demands.It still contained our NHS cards and Flying Blue and American Airlines loyalty cards. On handing him $22 in cash as a reward, he said, "Thank you. That's great for me," and disappeared. The long journey home via Sao Paulo and Paris began the next afternoon, only to find on arrival in Manchester the next evening that our suitcases were missing. They arrived six days later!
THREE MORE DECEMBER RACES.
Sunday December 9. A multi-terrain 5 miler from Littleborough in Lancashire. I found the hills tough and could only manage 62nd out of 88 finishers. However, my time was 43:07 compared with 43:23 in July. Some progress.
Sunday December 16. Staffordshire Moorlands Xmas Cracker 8. Another multi-terrain with hard hills and in sub-zeroconditions. Many runners were in fancy dress. After more than 3 miles ofroad, trails, fields and a long climb on tarmac the course turned on to a path ascending then traversing "The Roaches." As I started this section, two young women dressed as angels skipped past me. Was I going to heaven? My knees were freezing, not bendingeasily, and it was with great care that I negotiated thelong path along the top. One false move and a trip on the numerous rocks would have meant painful disaster. My time of 83:00 meant an average of more than 10 minutes per mile, but 167th out of 322 finishers placed me more or less half way up the field.
Sunday December 30. The Ribble Valley 10K. A great race and a fitting way to end the year. I was honoured with race number 1.I battled with a couple of old guys for most of the way. We reached the 6 mile point in 46:09 and I calculated that a 47:40 finish time was on the cards. I had not factored in the short sharp before the end and this slowed me to 48:15. Still - not bad! The Argentina and Uruguay times had been for real. My two previous outings on this course had been 52:48 in 2003 and 50:36 in 2004. Excellent improvement.
DECEMBER LANDMARK.
On December 22nd the number of miles recorded in my training logs, which began on September 3rd 1956,totalled 150,000 miles. I chose to reach this landmark at Accrington Stanley's football ground - I was born in Accrington - and it was preceded by a 3 mile run with a big group of local runners before I breasted a tape held by wife May and elder son Steven at the centre circle. I never would have predicted that distance when I started the log all those years ago.
3 mile pre-run to the stadium with friends and local runners
Photo credit: Job King
Breaking the 150,000 mile tape held by my wife, May and elder son, Steven
AND I'M STILL GOING STRONG!
Click here for an article in the Lancashire Telegraph regarding Ron's achievements
November 2007
My first race was on the 10th, the Tegg's Nose 5 in the Country Park above Macclesfield. On a wild and windy day I struggled round a course which was out for 600m, two laps of a hilly, and muddy in parts loop, then back. I thought the finish was coming up quickly and just managed to out sprint Trevor Faulkner of Wilmslow A.C. We were the only two V65's in the race, I clocked 25:31. No wonder the finish had come early, it was 5K , not 5 miles as I had thought! I was 51st out of 68, 75% of the field in front of me, but an event well worth the effort.
ARGENTINA - 96TH COUNTRY OF COMPETITION
It was our third day in Buenos Aires. We were on our way to the port area, about 4K away to buy tickets for the Buquebus, the cheapest way to get to Uruguay. From our hotel, the rather smart Abasto Plaza on Avenida Corrientes, was just a few stops on the Subte, or underground. The train was crowded and we were standing. Approaching the station Callao, an old man, about 70, with white hair, moustache and pale blue short sleeve shirt, got up from his seat next to the door and came over to our side of the carriage. "That's odd," I thought. The next thing, another man about 60, glasses and fawn cardigan, came across and started pushing and crowding us. I thought perhaps they were going to get off at this side of the carriage and complained, "What's the rush?" My cap went flying. The train stopped. People got off at the other side, the doors closed and the train moved off.
The other passengers looked at me suggesting something might be wrong. I looked down, my bumbag was open and my wallet had gone! Drivers license, cash, credit and debit cards and other plastic all stolen. The first time in my life I had been pickpocketed. That was the day finished. Tourist police first, then hotel to phone England and stop the cards, back to another police station to file a report, then a long walk from the hotel to a Western Union office to pick up emergency cash. The robbery was a lesson, only take out the minimum you need: copy passport, a small amount of cash, one card and keep them out of sight! At night we had dinner with Carlos Nielsen, business manager of "Officenet" and organisers of the 10K I was here to run on Sunday. The steak was magnificent and the excellent red wine soothed some of the stress of the day.
The next day we walked to buy the Buquebus tickets! The Abasto Plaza is not situated in a good place for running; no nearby parks just busy streets, but I made the best of it with only 3 mile runs on my schedule. One advantage of the hotel was the proximity of the COTO hypermarket where we could buy the excellent and inexpensive local "Quilmes" beer (plus others!) My first run, the morning after landing had been in the leafy suburb of Palermo at a park where the 10K race was to be held. This was organized for me by a very helpful young lady, Daniela Dalla Torre. I ran three laps of 2K, on a trail around a lake amongst jacaranda trees in full bloom of flowers the colour of blue wisteria. My companion on that run was Paul Rotich, a Kenyan runner living in Argentina. I felt good in the warm conditions, no vest, and the pace was well under my usual 5 minute miles.
Race day, Sunday 25th, Daniela and her partner, Ernand, took us to the start. It seemed quite windy on my 2 mile warm up, but with the sun shining the temperature was just right and during the race the breeze was not that fierce. The organisers positioned me on the start line. At the 9:00 am gun I had to push it a bit to keep clear of he surging masses. Only after about 2k did I settle down. 4:43 for the first K seemed a bit ambitious for me, but that was followed by a 4:49 then a 4:45. The twisting and turning course was flat and the file of runners was pulling me along. 4:51 took me to 4K. My shoe lace had come undone and the stop to retie cost me about 15 seconds. The K up to halfway took me 4:56. I didn't panic.
The pace was a lot quicker than I had been used to lately. I tried to relax and go with it and 4:48 and 4:49 took me to 7K. Here a short, heavy runner in grey t-shirt and fluorescent green shorts passed me. He looked like a V70. I sat on him, sheltering from the wind at times for K's of 4:46 and 4:51. In the last K he seemed to speed up and had me hanging on until sight of the finish when a big sprint took me clear.
To me my time was astounding, 47:23 on my watch (47:19 officially.) I was 165th out of 984 finishers meaning only 17% of the field were ahead of me. In the 45 plus men I was 25th out of 207. Immediately I suspected a short course, but the K's had been regular and the winning time was only 35:04. Most important it was my fastest 10K for over two years and, apart from my 49:58 at Waddington at the end of October, my first real dip under 50 minutes.
There was obviously a lot more of Argentina to see but we were off to Uruguay. Anyone fancying a race in Argentina should contact Daniela at: info@antoniosilio.com.ar
November finished with a total 123.5 miles, a run every day, and 2 races.
Palermo park 10Km Daniella and i pre race
October 2007
95TH COUNTRY OF COMPETITION - MONTENEGRO
October 28th. About 1:00am, the day of the Podgorica Marathon and 1/2 Marathon or " Polumaraton," the thunder started and continued the rest of the night.
We have been unlucky with the weather in my previous two new countries this year. For this latest venture we landed at Dubrovnik airport, in Croatia, to be greeted by pouring rain, which stayed with us across the border into Montenegro and over the mountains from Budva to Cetinge and down to the capital, Podgorica.
We had arrived early, this was Monday night for pre-race press conference the next day, held in our hotel, the Crna Gora, an establishment with a pre-independence, communist atmosphere and facilities in much need of refurbishment. But the Press Conference itself was the biggest I have attended, bar none, with well over a hundred people there. I was honoured with a beautiful gold plaque and made very welcome.
After that, the general race secretary, Milan Madzgalj, left us to our own devices; he had a lot on his plate ! We explored on foot. The city map stated, " though people have been living here since the pre-historic age,Podgorica has very few preserved old edifices because of its turbulent wartime past." We saw most of them. The 11th century St. George's church next to Park Suma Gorica, the 18th century Clock Tower, the remains of the 14th century Ribnica Fortifications, two mosques from the times of the Turkish Governance and a beautiful stone bridge, with foundations dating back to Roman times, over the river Ribrica, only a stream when we were there, which runs into the wide Moraca River. The ultra-modern Milenijum Bridge spans the Moraca further north.
For anyone wishing exploration further a field, bus fares are cheap and Cetinge, an ancient capital in the mountains, which we visited in a day, Budva and Bar, both on the coast, are all easy to get to.
Training went well. I found a nice route out and back to a hill in Park Suma Ljubovi and managed a couple of speed sessions.
On race morning it was still pouring as the marathon runners left Republic Square at 10:00am. Having seen them off, us 1/2 marathon runners were taken by bus to the small town of Danilovgrad. The road was awash and I thought, " How on earth are we going to race through all those huge puddles ? This is going to be a nightmare." The mayor presented me with a carved wooden plaque of a local monastery built into a mountainside. Five minutes warm-up was enough. There were only a handful of runners. The highest number I could spot was " 58 ".
11:30 and we were off. Downhill out of the town, then south east, following the course of the river Zepa towards Podgorica.I did not feel good. Women and old men went ahead. A veteran Albanian in a red t-shirt overtook me and latched on to two of his compatriots ahead. At 3k two young women started to walk. Starting to warm up, I passed the three Albanians just before 5K, reached in 25:40. The time was disappointing, but my pace had increased and one of the next 5 K's I clocked at 4:46 using some old road works K markings on the side of the road.
At every house and road junction on this lonely road clusters of people applauded. All traffic was forbidden ! Miraculously, almost all the floods. My second 5K was 25:00.
This was more like it. I had passed five or six runners and the only ones I could se ahead was a French couple in purple vests with " Souresnes sur Bois " printed on. It took me 5K to catch them and I only passed when they paused for a drink. My 75:55 at that point was equivalent to 80 minutes for 10 miles. I was flying. The French female passed me and I could not hang on.
The Zepa joined the Moraca River and the Milenijum bridge and the stadium were in sight in the distance.Tiredness set in and concentration was needed. About 18K someone shouted, " Come on Engerland ! " Two strugglers who had blown up came back. My watch had stopped. Surviving to the finish was now my only goal. Milan's team had omitted to put out the 20K marker. Now mixed in with the finishing marathon runners, the French female, Sahondra Limane, pulled ahead of me by 16 seconds to win the women's race. Her team-mate Nourredine Medhaoui took 10 seconds out of me up the finishing street.
I was 23rd out of 52 finishers in 1:45:00 and pleased with that. The winner was Duvo Kodzo, Russia, in 67:35.
Podgorica Marathon finish
Local Television interview post race
The day after the race we headed down to the medieval village of Prcanj, overlooking the Kotor fjord. Melanie Wilkinson-Walsh, an ex-Clayton Harrier and her business partner Dan Atkinson - they oversee the renovation of properties in that area - had found us an apartment to rent there for seven nights. The weather was not brilliant, but we explored Kotor with its old city battlements and fortress of Sveti Ivan, high up. We never reached the fortress; I was too tired from the race. We walked up to the ancient village of Gornja Lastra. Plus we got a bus to Budva and walked along the coast to Becici to pick bright green pebbles from the beach again - we had been there before many years ago.
Impressions of Montenegro ? Wood smoke, wild pomegranates and spectacular mountains. Beer was excellent and inexpensive. One curious thing though. We bought 1/2 litre bottles of beer in a supermarket only to have them taken away because we did not have the relevant empty bottles. We could not buy the bottle and no-one could explain how you " got on the ladder. "
Anyone interested in finding an apartment in the Tivat/Kotor area could contact Mel on: lordbyroninn@hotmail.com
Anyone interested in an Adventure Race in Montenegro, or transport, Dubrovnik Airport - Montenegro, could contact jack@montenegroholiday.com
Also check here for more details for the marathon
The Podgorica Half Marathon was not my only race in October. I ran three others.
I was invited to compete in the Puma Trailfox Coniston Trail Race over 15km. What a great race that was, made special by the hospitality of the organisers and sponsors and the superb weather of that weekend. It was a tough one, but I managed not to walk up all the hills to about the 4km point. After that it was total concentration to avoid tripping on the rocky paths and downhill trails. Luckily May and I had had a chance to walk part of the course the day before and could admire the glorious surroundings.
My watched showed 1:32:33; officially my time was 1:33:59 for 262nd place out of 352 finishers, meaning 74% of the field were ahead. About average for me, and no ill effects on my knees.
The next weekend, something different. The Northern Veterans 10 mile race in St. Annes, Near Blackpool. I last ran this race in March 2002, recovering from a nasty injury to my left knee. The previous November my left knee has mysteriously collapsed, whilst out on a training run, and having bought airline tickets I raced a half marathon in Havana, Cuba only four or five days later, during which my left knee kept locking. Painfully! Then three weeks later I raced a10km in Mauritius, and made matters worse with a 54:10 – P.W. (Personal Worst).
With low mileage, trying to nurse the knee back to health, that 2002 10 mile race saw me recording 88:03, another P.W. What with a last mile of 10:15, and exhausted, I was shocked.
This time around, running from the back, my first 5 miles were: 8:31, 8:03, 7:57, 8:07 and 7:56. It had been ages since I had run a sub-8 minute mile in a race and a finish time of 81:23 was a delight. What was going on?
That 10 miler was preparation for the Podgorica Half Marathon, and the weekend after that I raced a 10km from the pretty, little Lancashire village of Waddington. A lovely day, but a hilly course, especially at the beginning, and a first kilometre of 5:56, followed by a 5:31, left me very disappointed. Doing my best, and with more downhill in the second 5km, I stopped the clock at 49:58. It was the first time I had beaten 50 minutes since May 2005!
During October I ran everyday including 4 races, adding 145 miles to make a running total of 149,885 miles.
Puma Trailfox Trail Race. Coniston
September 2007
94TH COUNTRY OF COMPETITION NAMIBIA
After my efforts in Ecuador, I imagined that my altitude running was over for a while; but I was wrong. Windhoek, the capital ofNamibia, where I would run my 96th country of competition, was at 5670 ft. - 1730m. luckily, the race was in Swakopmund on the Atlantic coast, some 356k or 31/2 hours away by shuttle bus. After an overnight flight from Gatwick we were met by Frank Slabbert, secretary and treasurer of Swakop Striders, and his wife, Almut. Our accommodation in Swakopmund had not been finalised so we stayed a night in the capital at the Kalahari sands hotel. Not a bad thing as my daily run had still to be performed. It was a weary 3 miles up and around the Parliament buildings, made difficult by the heat rather than the altitude. The next morning's run, up in the hills by the " Cone ", was much better, in the cool air and country surroundings. A flock of big grey guinea fowl took to the air as I padded along the dirt road at the highest point.
By contrast, Swakopmund was totally different. We arrived in the evening to stay in a flat attached to the house of Johan Bronkhorst, a runner himself and chairman of Swakop Striders. My next mornings run was down a wide sandy street to the Strand and a block-paved path by the sea. It was cold ! At that time of year , the wind blows off the cold Atlantic bringing a mist, and it is only by mid-afternoon that the sun burns it off. This was Africa ! I had brought only lightweight hot weather gear.
Saturday the 8th's " Arandis Services " 15K had a 7:00 am start and it was still dark as I walked down to the Strand to the assembly point to register. One mile warm up and I joined the 45 other entrants. The course was well organised, with kilometre markers to a turn at exactly halfway and the same markers utilised on the way back. The first couple of K's were on tarmac, then we ran on sand roads made hard and smooth by spraying with a strong salt solution. An excellent surface for running. On the tarmac section I battled with three black race walkers who were in a separate competition. Once ahead of them I passed a woman, Claire Van Aardt, wearing a blue and fluorescent yellow jacket and full length tights. It was cold ! I needed gloves as well as my long sleeved top and singlet. Then I caught two friends, running along chatting.Norbert Fleidl in a blue jacket and chubby 52 year old Jan Van Niekerk. I ran with them for a short while.
There was a headwind and it was slightly uphill. On an incline just before 3K I left them. A left turn and we were heading out into the desert, following the coastline on a long straight road. My hands and arms wee cold as I pressed forward. Between 4 and 5K I could hear voices behind. " Cyclists, " I thought, but glancing back I saw three runners were catching me, Van Aardt, Fleidl and a coloured runner, Deon Beukes, wearing a yellow vest and a thick woolly hat. 5K had gone by in 27:18, which was very disappointing. At a spot named " Mile Four " we turned right and inland. Now the wind was with us, and I knew it would be a headwind on the way back. The three passed and shortly after I overtook two others.
Just after 7K, a left, and a short distance to the halfway turn point. Van Aardt and Fleidl stopped to take drinks from small plastic bottles. As usual I did not drink but slowed to let Van Aardt get ahead and take the wind after the right turn. Fleidl passed and I hung on behind the pair of them as long as I could. Letting go, Buekes was my next shelter as he overtook, taking me almost to " Mile Four "when again I had to let go. Here, Fleidl stopped to take off his jacket and I never saw him again.
The wind was at our backs now and it was slightly downhill. I felt in control. At 12K Van Aardt stopped for a drink again, I overtook her but she soon passed. Buerkes was moving away from both of us. At the top of a steepish hill Van Aardt ran away from me; but I was not bothered, kept up a good pace, and cruised home in 77:42. My return journey was 3 minutes faster than the outward half and my last 10K was covered in 50:26, satisfying in view of my recent 10K performances. Two men, Leonard Namupala and Tomas David had dead-heated in 46:02. My place was 27th out of 46. More importantly I had gained my 75th country of competition.
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In action in Swakopmund
We spent a further four pleasant days in Swakopmund. On Monday , Johan and his partner Annya took us on a drive into the Namib - Naukluft Park, up the dried up bed of the river Swakop, with spectacular rocky scenery and sightings of ostrich and springbok,to the Goantikontes Police station. A dry, isolated ruin from colonial times. What an isolated posting, but what an outlook. Afterwards, Johan and I ran 9K on a mainly downhill gravel road with the girls following in a four wheel drive vehicle. Shirtless in the sun, fresh air, spectacular surroundings and we saw only one other car. A run to remember ! Later we went to see the peculiar Wellwischia mirabilis, plants supposedly 100s of years old, with ground hugging leaves, some more than a metre long. We finished the day with a visit to the impressive sand dunes, south of Swakopmund.
Johan and I on a 9K, downhill, gravel road run
Tuesday morning Frank Slaabert took us south to Walvis Bay to see flamingos and a sea salt works. In the afternoon he took us north, towards Henties Bay, passing a guano factory,salt pans, and another salt processing plant to see more flamingos. In the evening I ran their regular 4K time trial with just three others - Johan, Scotsman, Jimmy Gallagher and Ken Roberts who was recovering from a bout of pneumonia. Enough effort for me to enjoy some good ale and an Oryx steak at a get-together at a local restaurant.
Flamingos at Henties Bay Local German Colonial Buildings
We enjoyed several walks around the town admiring, the German colonial buildings, and a couple of evenings we sat outside The Old Brewery Pub, overlooking the mole and the Atlantic, watching the sun go down, whilst savouring a couple of pints of excellent Windhoek draft beer. We returned to Windhoek by shuttle bus, spying giraffe, warthog and baboons along the way, spending two hot days there before the long journey home.
69th Birthday Race.
On the 27th, Andy O'Sullivan MBE organised my 69th Birthday 5K in Littleborough. 160 runners turned out for a 6:45 PM start, and I finished 123rd in 24:35 ( on my watch ), 15 seconds faster than 2005, 24:31 officially. By a bizarre coincidence my race number was 110,in Swakopmund , my previous race, it had been E 1110. Andy is expecting a huge turnout for my 70th and has put a limit of 500 entrants.Get in early ! andemsrunners@btinternet.com
Track 5K
Three days later, the 30th , I ran in the Northern Veterans Track championships 5K at Wilson's Playing Fields, Clayton - le - Moors. In the 40 - 50 race there was just one entrant ! ! ! In the women's and men over 50, many more. I can't remember my last track race and I'd forgotten how hard it was ! I was lapped several times but managed 23:46, my fastest 5K for ages, largely due to a last lap of 103.5 seconds. My god, how pathetic is that ?
Summary
September brought me 3 races, one new country and 147 miles taking my lifetime total of recorded mileage to 149,624 ( 240,790K ).
August 2007
SUNDAY, AUGUST 12 TH. We arrived at the Refugio Carrel, 4800m ( 15750 ft ) up, and near the summit of the Chimborazo Volcano, in Ecuador, at around 9:00 am. We had left our hotel in Riobamba at 7:40 am. Thank god we had not joined the main body of runners who left the town of Riobamba at 6:00 am.
Myself, May and Pascal Preault,at Refugio Carrel
The journey up had been ominous with mist and rain plus a long bumpy ride on a dirt track with many bends. The refuge was in cloud with snow on the ground and snow falling. We could not see the summit and never did see it in the seven days we were there due to constant cloud cover. I was on the volcano to run a 1/2 marathon race. In late 2003 we received a postcard from two French friends, Jean-Claude Moulin and Louis Panzera saying they were at this race, it was Christmas time, and the sun was shining brilliantly.The race descends all the way to the finish at the " Estacion de la Empresa Electrica de la Cemento Chimborazo " at 3200m ( 10500 ft ) and is held every two years, normally in December. This year the French organiser, Pascal Preault, had to change the date to August. What a difference four months made !
I was not prepared for the weather and had not bothered to pack any long tights.The altitude I reckoned I could handle by letting gravity do the work. Saving my warm up until the first couple of miles of the race, I stayed in the warmth of the refuge until just before the 10:00am start before stripping off to my long sleeve top, singlet and gloves. This would be enough, I thought, to get me through the coldness of he highest points to warmer air lower down. How wrong I was !
A fleet of buses left before the runners. I marvelled at how they had got up there ! To the line, and we were off.Immediately some runners slipped and fell on the slick compressed snow.Right at the back, I picked my way carefully down the dark brown earth fo the zig-zagging trail, avoiding the snow where I could and seeking out the smooth parts of the dirt surface. Only a couple of runners came back to me.
Chimborazo Volcano 1/2 Marathon Race
Descending, as we took the many bends, when we headed along in a certain direction, it was into a strong wind with frozen rain which felt like grains of sand rasping against the skin. Thirty-seven minutes into the race the tarmac road appeared out of the mist and my spirits lifted as I imagined a better surface and a following wind. A group of seven runners ahead gave me some hope of progress as they emerged then disappeared in the mist. How wrong I was about the conditions. It was headwind and now I had hailstones to contend with, lashing against my body and covering the road and the verges with freezing slush.
The first runner to come back to me was a young lad in a mesh vest. But there was little time to feel sorry for him. I was beginning to freeze. My arms were beginning to lock at the elbows so I could hardly lift them to wipe my face and eyes. My shorts and long socks were sodden and it was hard to reach down and pull them up. My quads began to freeze. I glanced at my watch. One hour had elapsed of my predicted two hour finish time.Where was this going to end ? How was I going to get to the finish ? there was just one of the group left in front of me; a guy in a woolk hat and white T-shirt over a full tracksuit.There was no scenery to enjoy as I had imagined just the mist and driving rain. One difficult glance to the side revealed fantastic rock formations and strata, but my face was now frozen and I had to really concentrate on moving forward. My cadence became metronomic in rhythm with my breathing. Surprisingly, my heartrate was steady at around 150, but it was survival and I just had to let time wash over my head.
I got close to the runner in front a couple of times but never near enough to be able to sit in and let him take the wind. He ran the whole of the second half of the race with his hands by his side, holding his traksuit bottoms up. We passed another young runner whose legs had seized up and was receiving massag from a truckload of supporters in the middle of the road. Gradually the mist cleared, green-ness appeared, then houses, then people.My rival, sensing the finish, moved away.
There had ben no kilometre markers, so with no idea of exactly where I was , I plodded on and finally achieved my goal: THE FINISH. My watch showed 1:59:26; the official results gave me 1:56:29 and 123rd out of 138 finishers. The winner Gualotuna Cesar had clocked 1:07:58. I could hardly speak as my jaws were frozen and it took me two and a half hours to stop shivering. However I was proud of myself. My only altitude preperation was a 4 mile run in Quito and five runs in Riobamba, a lot these at 2800m or just over 9000 ft. I guess the next edition will be in December 2009. Anyone interested should contact Pascal Preault on: ppr@episcentre.com
We saw a bit of the country,but through inadequate planning not enough. A longer stay in Quito than an overnight would have been useful.Bus travel in Ecuador was incredibly cheap with the three and threequarter hour journey frm Quito to Riobamba costing just under Ł2 apiece. We had bus excursions to Guano with its two impressive churches, to the town of Guanomoto on market day; a crowded spectacle with everything on sale from the local felt trilby hats to hardware to sheep,chickens and pigs. Many of the latter were being led squeeling through the crowds. What animals were not sold were manhandled into the backs of trucks and driven away. As we waited for the bus back to Riobamba we saw a huge sow, roped to the roof-rack of a van, having to be lifted down then back to be secured more securely. A very noisy procedure ! And to Alausi where the famous stretch of rail track, " The Devil's Nose " begins its descent of a mountainside in a series of back and forth manouvers. Unforunately the tickets were sold out. We should have booked in advance at the railway station in Riobmaba.
The Devil's Nose rail track
We had travelled to Ecuador via Miami and the day after the race we headed straight back. We had a four day stay at the Best Western Oceanfront Resort in the Surfside area of Miami Beach. We had had a couple of nights break on the on the way out and had searched further north, in the Sunny Beach area, for the Suez Hotel where we had stayed in 1983 with a group of runners, including the British Women's Marathon Squad, prior to the Orange Bowl Marathon. It was no more. All the low rise hotels had been bought and demolished and instead a line of highrise condominiums filled that stretch of beach. The Best Western was one the last low-rise hotels remaining and a great base for running in the welcome heat, on the beachside path, close to the warm ocean.
Returning to England, I had one more race, on the 26th, the 7 mile Norland Moor Trail Race at Copley, nearHalifax. On a bright, breezy morning I finished 96th out of 116. A great race, fabulous scenery, entry on the day only.
August brought me one new country, 2 races bringing my 2007 total to 15, and 132miles taking my lifetime recorded mileage to 149,477 ( 240,553 K ).
July 2007
Despite not being fully recovered from my cold and chest infection, I raced four times in July. Foolish one might say, but I tried to run within myself.
1st of the month a Northern Vet.'s 10K trail race at Radcliffe. Almost at the back at the start , I spotted my regular rival Malcolm Towler some way ahead. As I got closer Idecided to play a game with him and stayed a few yards behind him throughout the first 5K lap and well into the second. At the top of a hill I tucked in behind him into a head wind. As we headed to the finish along an old railway line I went alongside him. It began to rain and I was amazed to see him slow, pull out a black bin liner and put this on ! Waiting until he caught up we ran together until the turn for the finish with the wind against us.I tucked in once more until 50 metres from the end then sprinted like hell to take 2 seconds out of him.
" That's my revenge for the Gin Pit 5, " I said. 51:31 was OK.
One week on was the St. Anne's Carnival 5K. From the off I did not feel good. A following wind took us out to Fairhaven Lake and I was way behind my usual rivals and making no headway. Into the wind I sat behind one woman, moved up to a couple of women, sat there until they slowed then finally got in behind Lytham St. Anne's runner Paul Martin. As we turned into the finishing straight I upped the pace to let Paul shelter behind me, but he faded, one of the couple of girls mad an effort and I had to sprint home. 24:51, pretty pathetic ! What is the matter with me ?
My results from tests at the Centre for Sports Cardiology At the Olympic Medical Institute had arrived. The conclusions were:
" Resting and exercise electrocardiogram which denotes the electrical activity of the heart was entirely normal. Your gas exchange response which denotes the function and integration of the heart, lungs and skeletal musculature was entirely normal. Peak oxygen consumption was 48.0 ml./kg/min (174% of age and gender predicted maximum). The echocardiogram which examines the structure and function of the heart was entirely normal. The cardiac MRI which examines the structure and function of the heart in great detail indicated some minor abnormalities in systolic function, however at this stage we are unsure as to the clinical importance of these findings in elite veteran athletes. There is evidence of myocardial fibrosis that would suggest prior injury to the heart due to a myocarditic type infection ( there is no evidence of infarction ). The perfusion scans which examine blood flow to the myocardium were normal, suggesting normal, patent, coronary vasculature.
In conclusion, your cardiovascular function is entirely normal at rest and during exercise. the importance of the minor abnormalities observed in the cardiac MRI is not clear at present and may warrant follow up examination at some time in the the future. "
So what the hell is the matter with me ? Why am I so slow and tired ?
On the 12th I was the " Mystery Runner " at the Hardwick Hall 6 mile road race, carrying a heavy " Bess of Hardwick " flaming torch from Hardwick Hall, 3 miles, to the to the village of Pilsley, in Derbyshire, where the race starts and finishes, lighting two beacons at pubs along the way. Hard work in gusty conditions which blew the torch out twice, but an honour.
On Sunday, 15th, I ran the Idle Trail race near Bradford for the second year in succession. The race starts with a lap of a school field then heads out on to the Leeds - Liverpool canal in the direction of Leeds. For my warm up I ran to the canal but slipped on the bottom two steps of the descent to the towpath landing on my left knee, hip and wrist and sliding into a bed of vicious stinging nettles. Not a clever thing to do ! Undeterred, I completed my 2 mile warm up and the raced. After around 21/2 miles on the canal the route exits left on to paths, a cobbled bridge, field paths, a private road with some tough ( for me ) climbs between miles 3 and 5, followed by a steep run down to the finishing field. This year the course had to be diverted as because of all the heavy rain the bank of the river Aire where the normal route runs had collapsed. This meant climbing a five-barred gate at the 6 mile point. My time of 53:59 was over a minute faster than last year mainly because 2006 was run in heatwave conditions whereas this year was cool. When I ran the next morning, my left knee, hip and groin were sore plus I'm sure I broke a bone in my wrist !
We got so fed up of the atrocious wet weather, we booked a last minute, one week holiday in Kefalonia in the village of Vlachata. There it was hot. My morning runs including steep hills and beaches normally started at 85 deg F. One morning it was 77deg and that felt cool. By mid-day the temperatures the temperatures had soared to 104 deg F and beyond.But I managed the runs well and even started some speedwork. I don't normally drink water but I can honestly say that I drank more water that week than all the previous months put together !
I think it is good to repeat some races to give an idea of progress or otherwise. The Chernobyl 10K at Walton-le-Dale is held twice a year. I had run the last two recording 50:29 on each occasion from crossing the line to the finish. On the last Sunday of this month I raced again on a cool fresh day. In the first mile we diverted off the pedestrian way did a short loop then rejoined the traditional course.I thought perhaps that they were going shorten the end of course to take out a nasty little hill. No such luck,and I ended up with a 50:49, probably equivalent to my last two efforts taking into account the extra distance.
My daily runs in July totalled 142.5 miles bringing my lifetimes recorded distance to 149,345 miles ( 240,340K ).
St. Annes Carnival 5km
June 2007
JUNE FRECKLETON HALF MARATHON WAS HARD !
I hate it when you return from holiday in the sun to find that there has been a heat wave back home. Even more annoying when the weather here then turns wet and nasty.
Just to return to Mikonos, the fastest 400m I could manage there was 1:47, which equates to 7:08 for a mile. But I could not have continued at that pace for a mile ! Pathetic, but I'll just have to accept it.
What tempted me in to running the Freckleton 1/2 Marathon on June 17 ? Two things. First, the race director, Brian Turner had written to me offering a free race entry for life along with the race number 65. I would always have No. 65 as I was the winner of the inaugural race in 1965 in a time of 65:44. Incidentally I still hold the course record of 64:45 set in 1969. And second, I wanted to test myself over the distance as I had planned a 1/2 marathon in Ecuador in August. Mind you, the Ecuador race would be slightly different with the start at 15,748 feet and a downhill run all the way.
Cool weather the morning of Freckleton was encouraging,and cloud cover at the 2:00pm start looked like being ideal. From the back it took me 24 seconds to cross the start line. My first mile was 8:21, too fast, so I relaxed to a slower pace.At about 1.5 miles I caught John Rudd from Sweatshop, Wrea Green, who stayed with me. Half a mile later we caught my old adversary Malcolm Towler, N.Vets AC who, finding new strength, tagged along with us.
The clouds started to disappear and it got hotter and hotter. By 6 miles the skies were clear and we were running on open country roads with no shade. The three of us were passing runners all the time. Around 7 miles John drifted off the back; we had been running steady 8:30 miles.
Miles 9 to 12 were particularly hard as it was slightly uphill along Lytham Road. Just before 10 miles we passed race director, Brian, walking. He gained new life and ran with us for about a mile. Around 11 miles Malcolm gradually fell behind. My pace had dropped to 8:40 but I managed to hold that to the finish. My time was 1:53:10, but deducting the 24 seconds to get across the start, my actual time was 1:52:46 and I was happy with that. Malcolm slipped to 1:54:13 and John slowed to 1:55:27. I was 273rd out of 497 finishers meaning I was in front of 45% of the field, one of my best performances for a long time. A bonus was a Lancashire County Gold Medal for first in the O/65 category !
Freckleton Half Marathon
The day after my right knee was badly swollen, probably due to some lightweight shoe inserts which I will not use again. Also I was tired for days after the race. It had taken so much out of me that by Thursday a sore throat heralded a chest infection and head cold that antibiotics could not shift.
Sticking to my resolution to race more this year, a week later I lined up in the Georgia Pacific 5K on a cold rainy