Today I ran my first SunderlandParkrun. It was their 17Th Run. What a difference comparing it to Newcastle. Firstly its pretty sheltered from the wind, Its a couple of laps round a small lake/Pond and its got a few small hills. Now, the hills had me thinking. I'm going to struggle with my bad knee and also end up with poor times. Not to be. My knee was fine and I smashed my Newcastle time by 17 Secs. All this witnessed by the posse of one. Definitely coming back to this one. Once again well organised and friendly.
Position 13/41 Position 12th Male Position 8 VM45-49
I decided that I could do more at the Newcastle Parkrun. I set out to beat my previous time ( like your supposed to) and managed to muster up 67 seconds to set a new personal Best. The conditions today could not have been better. It was not as Icy as before and there was a lack of wind. I was on my own today(no posse of one), as it was a last minute decision. loving this Parkrun gig.
position 29/60 with 22:54 New PB set position 24 Male only position 3 VM45-49
I'm Back! Its a new Year and I start with a new plan.
Since my injury back in August it has been a very slow recovery. To date my max mileage per week is 7 Mile and that was back in early December. So I took the plunge into the world of Parkrun! What a fantastic idea. A 5k timed run every Saturday morning a various places around the nation. Brilliant. Today I ran Newcastle's Inaugural Parkrun on the Town Moor. There were 43 runner's on very cold damp morning. It was a very well organised event. I remember being on the Town Moor doing a 10k. That was a bit bleak too. Very windy I recall. At least this was not as far. It was fast though and I'm sure I can do it faster. Its very different from the 10k, but equally enjoyable. Funny, I would never have ran a 5k before my injury. But when its your limit for distance you sharp change your attitude. The posse of one was there. (My Father in law)Which I always appreciate. Viki Thomson was there and we had a wee chat at the start, before she romped off into the distance leaving me to finish 3 places behind her. I have to mention the guy with the dog, he finished ahead of me even though his dog done its business and the guy even picked it up!!!!! Great Day. Great Idea. Here are my Stats:
Catastrophy! 7 miles into a 10 mile training run, Bang ! My left knee gave up the ghost. I stopped running for a bit then tried again. I got about 100 yards then Bam! It went again. That was the end of my training for the Great North Run. What a disaster. I went to the hospital the following day, and they referred me to a knee specialist. She said it may be down to over training. ( Well I did try 30 miles in one week). If I wanted to do the GNR then I would have to be prepared to rest until race day, run easy on the day, walk some and down a load of Ibuprofen. Not quite the way I wanted to do it. Gutted! So I deferred the race till 2010. Not a happy bunny.
I did however manage to drag myself round for my son who did the mini Run. Now that was a good day!
45:48 New 10k PB I missed out on this last year. So I made a point of it this year. I really enjoyed this race. It was well organised, traffic free (almost) and bloomin fast. I say almost, because for the first time in my short running history, I ran a race that included wheelchair competitors. They were set away about 10 - 15 mins in front, so were finishing as we were starting. We overlapped a bit on their last lap. Top of the bill for them was Dame Tanni Grey Thomson. High light of the race has to be smashing my Newton Aycliffe PB by 58 secs. Dave (my Father in law) was with me on his own on this occasion, it being a Wednesday night it was a bit late for some of the posse. (William had school next day). I would recommend this race to anyone looking for a fast PB. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Garmin Data :- HERE 2009 Pitstop 10k
This is my second time running at this event. The first time I set my 10k PB. So I was a bit dissapointed with todays times. No excuses for a slow run. I went out to smash my 10k PB and failed miserably. Once again, like last week, I think the heat was a major factor although I remember last year being hot too. However as always I enjoyed it and the full Posse turned out for me today, which is always nice. I did manage to just beat the two lads in the picture. Pos:- 194/374 Time:- 48:21 Garmin data Here 2009 Newton Aycliffe 10k
Another first for me.
The 2009 Mizuno Blaydon Race. This is the biggest field of runners I have run with. It was as expected very crowded at the start. Around 4000 runners descended on the Cloth market, outside Balmbras. There was quite a buzz in the air. Live music and can-can dancers and an air of nostalgia as the lord Mayor stood there in all his finery with the starting bell, down on Collingwood St. ready to set us on our way.
I managed to catch up with Frankie from work and his daughter Emma, just as we were ready for the off. Half of my posse was up the other end at Blaydon waiting to see me in.
At 19:17 we were off, a bit later than expected. Elbows and ankles flailing, dodging, ducking and swerving for a bit of space. There was a lot of support from people along the route.
All except the ones waiting to cross the road at the Arena, on they’re way to see Boyzone. Then before you know it we were on Scotswood road passing the first live band belting out the Blaydon races. Brilliant. As we headed over the Scotswood Bridge I kind of lost my bearings as we went down under and turned back on ourselves a few times. Apparently to make the race a tad longer. Lots of speculation about the distance these days. What with GPS watches and the like. My garmin puts it at something like 6.1 Miles, but I did start it half way up the Cloth Market to try and get the start time right. Whereas the actual start line was in Collingwood Street. As we headed into Blaydon, I was well aware by then that Superman had been trying to pass me. The crowd were egging him on “come on superman” they yelled. It was to no avail as I kept my head down and beat him across the line.
If I can beat Superman there’s still a chance for me yet.
Huge wedges of Black pudding, large Pickles, ham and peas pudding Sandwich, Bottle of Broon,
Race certificate and a fab running shirt to finish a great night at the races!
Oh! me lads, ye shud a' seen us gannin,
Passin' the folks upon the road just as they were stannin'.
Thor wis lots o' lads and lasses there, all wi' smiling faces
Gannin' alang the Scotswood Road to see the Blaydon Races.
I could'nt resist putting than in.
1343rd of 3426 Finishers
Time :- 48:16 Garmin Data:- Here 2009 Blaydon Race
This is the first time I have ran this race, and its only in its second year.
Today must have been the hottest day of the year.
Even with an early start the temp must have been in the lower 20’s C.
My son and his cousin also ran today in the junior race. This formed part if not the whole of my warm up session.
I bumped into Vicki (Graceless whippet) and had a bit crack, she had a chat with the posse whilst I made my way to the start with the kids.
This is the second time out for my son. He was up against some good competition in his age group. He still managed to bag a medal and proud of it too. His cousin also managed to get a medal but was also rewarded with 3rd prize in her age group, so scored for a £5 sports voucher.
As per usual in the 10k I started off way too quick. (6.47 min/mile) So I had to calm it down some and soon settled into a good rhythm, a more sensible 7.5 - 8 min/mile. Then about half way nature called and I had to stop for a pit stop. At which point Vicki passed me. I then had a target to go for (sorry Vicki) I caught up with her as we entered the wood, which was fantastically cool and a welcome break from the sun. I struggled with the terrain in there, and watched Vicki carefully picking through the trail of weed, root and other lumpy stuff in front of me. On leaving the woods we had to climb the large hill we had been up before, once again.
I had passed Vicki by this point thinking she would sail past me on the hill. To my surprise the gaining footfalls were not hers but some bloke giving it large. With the hill fast approaching, I decided get the head down and switch to auto pilot.
My rather small but effectively fast strides up the hill had him done for. His footfalls no more in my ear, I coasted in to the finish slightly disappointed that I had no one to challenge to the finish line for the posse to get their moneys worth.
Vicki came in First in her category F35. Well done to her.
Now I know its early days but, I am starting to find my times are sliding. I have noticed this even in training, although I have shifted my goals from speed to distance as the GNR approaches. So not all bad.
I still thoroughly enjoyed this race for a whole stack of reasons. The obvious being it is such a beautiful location. We had lovely weather, even if it was on the hot side and, I was in really good company. As well as the usual posse, we had a good friend of ours who was also running. She was running for charity and a few other personal reasons. She also brought her posse with her, which was nice.
I did not take up the offer this year for a pre-race massage, as last year I did, and the sand loves the sticky oil they rub on your legs.
The race went well for me but, as ever I forgot about the few rather long hills this race has. The beach this year was also a bit of a struggle for me as unlike last year the sand, although wet, was rippled instead of smooth. Ouch! The heat was indeed an issue. It was pushing about 20 deg C . with not much of a coastal breeze. It claimed one poor guy about 100 yards from the finish line. I had just finished and heading back to the posse when I saw him collapse. I dont think it was anything more serious than having a few too many the night afore, although he did require medical attention. So I hope all is well. Looking forward to next years already. Great Race meeting.
Welcome to my Blog. This is a quick summary of races I have taken part in since taking up running, around October 2007. The main Blog appears in reverse order i.e. First race at the bottom, most recent at the top. Use the list below to access a particular race without the need to scroll to the bottom of the main Blog.
Today I ran my first Sunderland Parkrun. It was their 17Th Run.
