OLYMPIC MEMORIES: RONNIE DELANY 1956

  I can't really say that I was into the difference between slow and fast twitch fibres when I was 11. All I knew was that when I playing  for the under 11 school football team,  at the end of the game I was still running around  like Carlos Tevez on speed whilst most of the rest of the team were looking to the ref. to blow for the end of the game. I think today they would have called me "Duracell Boy"
  I also recall  that morning classes finished at 11.55 and even getting home for lunch was turned into a race even though I ran by myself.
Each day I would  dash out of the classroom,  down the stairs, across the playing fields and through the neighbouring valley, aiming to be through our back door before the "buzzer" sounded at noon at the local fabric mill.

  As I ran I would pretend to in a mile track  where the lead would change throughout my 5 minute effort.
Ibbotson,  Landy, Elliott,Bannister would all figure but everyday my hero Ireland's RONNIE DELANY would win with a last lap sprint as he had in the MELBOURNE  Olympic 1500 metres.  My affinity to Ireland largely down to my grandmother's reminders that we were of Irish descent. 

We went sent to school on St.Patrick's day with shamrock pinned to the lapel of our blazer, after all!
 I was 7 years old in 1956, when Ronnie Delaney became  the seventh runner to join the  sub 4 mins mile club. In the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne he  qualified for the Olympic 1500 m final but I remember the Australian  JOHN LANDY being the hot  favourite. Delany shadowed  Landy until the final lap, when he unleashed his final sprint, winning the race in a new Olympic Record.  I would pretend to replicate this finishing sprint each lunchtime as I ran home from school, leaving my imaginary rivals in my wake.  Delany had  become the first Irishman to win an Olympic title in athletics since  1932.

  But whilst Delany's Olympic gold medal for Ireland was inspiring it would be another 5 years before I test myself
over that kind of distance. For the time being football was king. 
 Unfortunately, there were no cross country leagues for primary schools as there are now, so any natural ability to run hard and long was never really discovered.  But when it came to sprinting  I was up against it.   
  I was only a reserve for the school under 11  4 x 110 yards relay team which was selected to compete in the Manchester Primary Schools.  I recall it was held on the speedway track at Belle Vue funnily enough.  This was the only competitive running we did at St.Clare's Primary School, North Manchester.
 My sprinting ability had not improved by the time I went to St. Bede's College across town after passing the 11+ exam. 
  Memories  of those times are naturally a bit  hazy I recently received from my older brother the results of his perusal of old school magazines of the 1960s.
It appears I  was entered for the 100 yards and 440 yards, the longest event,  in the school sports but as far as I can remember I failed to make the final of the 100 yards, certainly didn't win a medal.
 The 440 yards , however, was a different story and saw me coming through after a cautious start to see me grab the win.  The record shows the time as 69.2.  But there was no real future in it ; 440 yards was too short, however, I wish  I could run that now!
 The following year  I repeated that 440 win but felt far more comfortable running 2 laps.  A half mile (880 yards ) win in 2:28 on the school grass track.
 This opened up selection for what would be my first real open competition this time 50 years ago; the MANCHESTER SCHOOLS TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS 1962.   A  satisfying 3rd place but no time recorded  and the distinct feeling that 2 laps around the grass track was not enough.
 But the opportunity to tackle RONNIE DELANY'S distance would have to wait for another year;  my twitch fibres were calling out for more, but they would just have to be patient!!

4 X MILE AT 10K PACE......SIMPLE??

 AS I start this post the rain is hammering down once more and the trees outside the office window are taking an early morning buffeting. Another brilliant summer day. Not.
 The weather was a bit kinder on Sunday and Pat and I finished the training week with a visit to Fewston/Swinsty reservoirs. 


 The recent threat of being attacked by a boa constrictor had seemingly been forgotten or  was being ignored as we arrived late morning to find the large car park entirely full.  Zig zagging through families often with multiple dogs proved challenging to say the least. 

 Pat's photo of the overflowing FEWSTON reservoir indicates that there should be no need for a Yorkshire Water hosepipe ban any time soon.
 Yesterday saw a return to the Seedhill ....

A CLASSIC 4 X MILE REP SESSION
WITH 3 MINS INTERVAL RECOVERY



 Lapping the track carrying out rep sessions in the months of January and February,  the mind naturally goes forward to the summer months and we dream of temperatures demanding little more in the way of attire other than a skimpy pair of shorts.  Dream on!


 With changes of routine and the calf niggle it was 2 months ago until yesterday  that I had last visited Seedhill, Nelson.  I haven't avoided speed sessions altogether but the grass track and the road just don't seem to enable me to get anywhere near the same pace as on the tartan.
 I think part of the benefit is that every 400 metres or even 200 metres a glance gives a guide to the pace.  Too slow,  bang on or too fast...well, never too fast!
 Regretably with the temperature at a moderate 15 and a constant threat of heavy rain a waterresist tee was the order of the day.  Let's hope that the weather will eventually break for the Olympics.
    Nothing fancy for today's session. A classic mile rep session that I was weaned on nearly 50 years ago and have continued with ever since.  Simple aim being 4 x mile ,aiming for 10K race pace with today a 3 minute interval jog recovery.
 Simple aim but not easily achievable running solo with the usual Seedhill breeze to toil against.  With a season's best of 43 minutes a perfect world would see rep times down around the 7 minute mark but as usual apprehension about the calf and prevailing conditions sees returns of 7.20  7.21 and 7.17 for the first 3 reps.
 A bit disappointing but as no other miles in the week are faster than 8 mins still very worthwhile and beneficial I would say.
 It's only on the last rep that I feel confident enough to push on and my reward is a solid 7.01.
It may be a minute and a half slower than I used to run for 26 miles but I still think there's no better feeling in training than feeling you are giving it 100% on the tartan.
Perhaps I should one time experiment with say doubling the recovery time to 6 minutes or so; a bit more emphasis perhaps on the speed rather than endurance? Watch this space.

FASTRAX ON THE ROAD

Fearful that Barclays would erode my pension pot even further I recently surrendered it in and have used part of the lump sum to buy a new NISSAN JUKE DIG-T.
 I have had it "logo'd up" for the FASTRAX side of the business, so Pat and myself will be hopefully easier to spot at a race if runners want to talk club sales business or simply talk!
 We don't envisage selling at the events,however. Not quite what we want to be returning to at our age!

For many,many years Pat and I  would fill the COMPLETE RUNNER van and travel to races throughout the north on a Saturday and a Sunday selling our wares.  The routine was to arrive two hours before the race start time so that by the time the runners arrived we were set up and ready for any prerace business.
 Ideally I would try to step out from behind the counter 20 minutes or so before the off so that I could do a bit of warm up before I took my place in the race field.  But often runners were still trying to buy socks or even shoes until the very last minute and my warm up would get out of the window.

 I recall one such incident, 30 years ago now, in 1982. We were set up selling at the Daffodil Marathon in Stockport.  I was just about to start my brief warm up when a  runner  dashed up to the stall saying he'd forgotten his shoes and desperately need a pair to race in. Whilst Pat sorted another runner out with new socks I served  the frantic runner and we dashed over to the start together.  Afterwards, having finished 12th in 2:33,  I sat on the grass by the van nursing my sore feet, battered and blistered from the 26.2 miles.  
As I recovered  my last minute buyer  breezed up as happy as Larry saying, 
 "Great shoes,mate.  Not one single blister. Perfect!"  
 Very often  we had proved race support with COMPLETE RUNNER vouchers. This meant having to stay "open for business"  but with a big lull in selling  until the presentation had been completed,often hours after the first runner had come in.  Then of course the voucher winners would descend upon us like plague of locusts desperate not to drive home until they had "spent" their voucher.   Very  often we were the very last to leave.  It was hard work and meant for long days.
 A few years ago we decided we'd done enough "mobile selling". We would sell the van.  We would  still enjoy going to races but I would be able to warm up properly and focus entirely on the race.  

DEBDALE PARK 7K VIDEO

No runners visible on the thumbnail above but there should be 18 plus minutes of action with accompanying music of last Sunday's DEBDALE PARK EDDIE CHEETHAM MEMORIAL 7K with this link to YOUTUBE.
 

DEBDALE PARK EDDIE CHEETHAM 7K

DEBDALE 7K PRE RACE THOUGHTS (Saturday)
It's back to Manchester tomorrow  for the 4th of 5 events in the MANCHESTER PARKS GRAND PRIX series.  Hosted by Belle Vue Racers the DEBDALE PARK (Eddie Cheetham Memorial ) 7K race is a  pretty low key event of 2 laps; mildly undulating on tarmac and potholed trail.
  I'm committed to the series, great value at 5 races for £25(!), so need attendance is mandatory but in fact the 4.3 miles distance should be just about right to test current fitness after 3 weeks of ticking over with mileage 50% of my yearly average.
 Unlike the waterlogged Platt Fields 10K it'll be a 100% effort tomorrow.  It would be good to see a return to racing speed around the 7 mins per mile point but not having been within a minute of that pace for a month  the injection of adrenalin will have to be  a big one!

DEBDALE PARK EDDIE CHEETHAM MEMORIAL 7K PERSONAL RACE REPORT


  Manchester is noted for rain but contrary to yesterday's forecast it failed to materialise and 125
runners enjoyed (or endured) a dry,if very humid, morning. Apparently it was a bit too sticky for many but personally I welcome wearing just one layer for a change.


 The plan to stay firmly in touch with those of similar ranking fall apart almost immediately as despite me putting in a 6.55 opening mile I found myself totally isolated (ref. video).  A large gap in front and under no threat from behind.  One of the drawbacks of low key, low participation races with a great breadth of standards.
 As I swing back up the rough trail for the second lap  I've reconciled myself to just one grand prix point and my main motivation becomes trying to get near to last year's time.  But the hill and the humidity seemed to be taking a toll on those in the distance and the gap to them is reducing......very quickly.  I catch up to Jake S. a young fit looking Manchester Frontrunner but he responds only momentarily to my encouragement and I drive on to catch teammate Jackie Cordingley which I do at the 3 mile point.  I consider running in with her but decide that she is not enjoying the morning and won't thank me for pushing her on.  I drive on alone.


 As we turn back into the park my M60 "rival" appears to be suffering as much as Jackie and I'm within touching distance as we reach the last small incline.  It's up on the toes for once and straight by; holding on for the last 200 metres to stay 5 seconds ahead.  2 points in the bag.
 Post race comments were "you really came through on that second lap" "you need to start faster, Terry!"  but  my garmin splits suggest that several others set off more at 5K pace.
 My mile splits were............6.55  7.07  7.01 6.53 to the 4 mile point.
  Timewise,  25 seconds slower than last year so all things considered, acceptable.  Aim of 2nd M60 grand prix achieved , 3rd overall.  49th of 125 who finished.
  It was double victory win  for the club, Sale Harriers, with club mates ROB FLANNERY (24:21) (pictured above)
and LOUISE WHITTAKER (26:27)enjoying victory.

 It was also good to see RON HILL winning his M70 age group running 37:29.  As brand competitors in the supply of club we stood chatting at the presentation and I pointed to the Wasp logo on the back of the vest on a local runner. His comment was immediate and to the point..
"yes, it's stings doesn't it!
  (Thanks to clubmate Frank Cordingley for these photos)

BINGE ROAD RACING.........1987 STYLE.

 Nowadays I'm quite happy to space out races every 2 or 3 weeks to allow the old body to recover between efforts.  But this date 25 years ago would see me running a 6th race in a 7 week period as the LEEDS SPORTS CENTRE GRAND PRIX continued,  interspersed with others.   
 Of the 6 races in this period none of them take place now.
  Last week we ran the HARRY RAMSDENS 7.5 mile road race, sponsored  by the famous fish'n'chip company.  This pic shows the original Guiseley restaurant of a company which over the years became a national brand. 

Speedy miler SIMON FIELDING  showed us all a clean pair of heels but it was another  very good day for VALLEY STRIDERS  with JOHN CONVERY 5TH,  KEITH CLUDERAY 6TH, MARTIN HOPSON 7TH and myself 8th.
 JO FRICKER,  pictured below winning the Ilkley 8, who has just completed 25 years working with us at Fastrax,  notched up her 3rd win in 3 weeks in local races; having won the Ilkley race  and the Airebourough 10K in the previous weeks.


This date   JULY 5 1987 saw a return to another Leeds Grand Prix event.  The MORLEY 7 mile race.  Yet another race which if run today would be converted to 10K no doubt.   JOHN CONVERY won yet again and continued to lead the race series.  My 4th place kept me in second Grand Prix place as 2nd and 3rd in the race were no Grand Prix entrants. 
  With 7 races of the 9 in the race series now completed John had scored 7 wins and topped the rankings with a maximum  1400  points.   I was placed second with 7 x 199 points for 7 runner up places.  
   There was no way I could win the series unless John missed one or more event as to do so would lose him 200 points.  Question was could both of us stay fit and well for another two months bearing in mind the number of races we were tackling in this very very busy summer of 1987. Time would tell.

 If I was to be racing every week nowadays,  whilst I would continue to run every day,  I wouldn't be inclined to be doing  much in terms of speed work in the week.  
 But during this period the routine pattern of training was  a tad more intense than nowadays............
MONDAY...........2 runs of 4/5 miles morning and evening.
TUESDAY...........morning 4 easy...............evening hill session
WEDNESDAY....morning 4 easy..........track session (e.g. 4 x mile)
THURSDAY........one run of 8/10 miles
FRIDAY..............generally 2 easy runs as Monday
SATURDAY.......3 or 4 miles easy.
SUNDAY ..........RACE.

Total mileage being around the 60 mile point as there were  no marathons on the horizon for once. 
                     THOSE WERE THE DAYS!!

Olympic selection for Sale Harriers

 It was good to see 4 SALE HARRIERS selected for TEAM GB for the 2012 Olympics which was                      announced today.   

ALEX SMITH   HAMMER

                   

                                                     ANDY TURNER  110 M. HURDLES

                                                    KATE DENNISON POLE VAULT

                                             STUART STOKES  3k STEEPLECHASE


                                     Congratulations and best of luck to all 4 of them!

RUNNING THROUGH INJURY

  I've just added last week's Platt Fields 10K to this year's races on the blog and added it to my list of all time 10Ks.
  Simply scanning the list,  dropping from 43.00 at on the promenade of Blackpool  on May 13 to  a 48.03  on the park pathways of Platt Fields looks like a big drop in form.  But of course whilst the pictures tell the story of last week the results don't indicate that large parts of the course were under water,  which made it so tiresome for us all and on a personal note I was nursing a calf strain.

  Of course it's stand out on my alltime list as by far the slowest of the 142 run. But on the positive side it looks  a certainty that my next 10K will show significant improvement!  All being well; providing I can get back to 100%.
  I've tried to continue with a bit of running each day except Friday this week as the strain heals. Probably not what some would recommend but  it generally works for this grade of strain.   With the weather being so poor it's certainly not a bad time to be just ticking over and letting the old body enjoy a bit of a recovery with over 1000 miles logged in the first half of the year.
  I've managed 23 miles; the majority of it on grass. Just trying to maintain cardiovascular levels.
    I have just watched interviews featuring several runners competing in the European Championships in Helsinki (where the weather appears to be as bad as ours) and so many of them refer to competing having been injured this year.   It's a fine line between fitness and injury the harder we try to race better.
   I could have done with a little more time before racing again but next Sunday is the fourth of the five Manchester Parks series; so the task this week will be to try to get the legs moving a bit quicker without suffering another setback.  A tightrope exercise ahead then.
  My state of fitness is of little importance in the grand scheme of things (except to me, of course) but how good to see that local triathlon hero Alistair Brownlee has recovered well after his achilles injury. Even brother Jonathan must have been amazed with which he marked his return with a seemingly comfortable World Series win in Kitzbuhel.
  

  


  

Making a point at the PLATT FIELDS 10K

 Over the last few years I've come to realise that leg strains occur not  so much due to  the training being done on the day that the pain comes so much as a result of the hard  training accomplished in the 3 or 4 days before.
 Things have generally been going pretty well since the SALE 5, the second of 5 races the Manchester Parks Grand Prix Series.  Perhaps too well. I hadn't race in the last 4 weeks and consequently I managed 3 weeks of sustained training with just the odd easy day per week.
 I was looking forward to better run at today's PLATT FIELDS 10K than last year particularly as the temperature would be far cooler.
 I finished last week with a pretty tough 2 lap trail circuit of the Strid Woods on the Saturday.   An undulating "up on the forefoot"  session which worked the calves well.  Sunday, trying to stay in touch with medium length runs I ran 12 on the canal.   Not overly swift but as usual a brisk second half.
"Coach" would have said, "you've had a tough weekend and you have a race next Sunday so do Monday and Tuesday at very easy pace,  a few 300s on Wednesday then ease down.
 I did  have an easy Monday running wise but was stood up all day at the shop; but  I attacked the 2 resrun too hard on the Tuesday , probably 4 minutes too hardt and as a result warming up for the 300s on the Wednesday the left calf (again) said...."If you put me through this, the moderate pain you are experiencing now will become acute and you will really suffer!!"  Session aborted. Very frustrating!  So....
 Thursday...........jog 2 .....not too clever.
 Friday............nothing......missed first day this year!
 Saturday...........jog 3.......not 100%...............but could probably manage the 10K distance.

Given the rain hitting the North West over the last few days I figured large parts of the PLATT FIELDS 10K  course would be under water and given the  vulnerable leg I went to bed on Saturday having decided to give it at a miss.  
 But with the weather forecast reasonable and given that I would probably cover 5 or 6 in training anyway I changed my mind and decided  to journey over the Pennines after all.
 Having committed to the 5 races in the Grand Prix I knew I would be disappointed not to complete them all;  I would not race 100% but if I could finish I would at least gain a point in towards my grand prix total.
 I warmed up with friend Brian Bradshaw from Sale and our fears that the trail section of the course would be under water were quickly realised.  Unfortunately so were several sections of the tarmaced park paths as well.   I  started to think that all things considered a time about 50 minutes would be satisfactory compared to 44.17 last year.  


 We hit the first stretch of water after just 2 minutes.  I was running alongside Brian but whilst I splashed through trying not to lift the knees and aggravate the hamstrings he pranced  through with high knee lift and immediately opened up a gap of 20 metres.  I felt the odd tweak in the lower calf but I was coping and at least managing sub 8 minute mileing  but Brian was maintaining the gap in front. (see pic above)
 On the garmin the miles reflected the "interval" nature of our efforts; working reasonably well on the dry parts, slowing down through the water.  7.27....7.55.....7.54.....7.49....7.26.
 I overtook a few on the 3rd of the 4 laps but at the five mile point decided to throw caution to the wind as they say ,  quite quickly closing  Brian down and  made a young Manchester Frontrunner the next target.
  As we splashed along the trail for the last time I was  singing the 3 Dog Night song, MAMA TOLD ME NOT TO COME! as I passed the marshal and slipped past my young rival who to his credit responded immediately by repassing me.  But he couldn't maintain his  charge around the lake as I prevailed, covering the 6th mile in 7.09 for a final time on my watch of 47.59.  At least I'd done one mile near to race pace.
 So to conclude  on the plus side, a good solid effort , a point gained towards my Grand Prix total and still a chance of completing all 5 races.
                        On the negative side..............tell you after tomorrow's test jog!

A STRESSFUL ILKLEY 8 MILE ROAD RACE 1987

  A lovely lady came into the shop yesterday representing a new club situated between Settle and  Lancaster.  VALERIE HARROLD of BENTHAM BEAGLES Running Club had entry forms for the club's  10K which will be held for the first time on Sunday 22 July.
  She expressed concern that they had only received 6 entries at the moment and the race would incur a heavy loss but we tried to assure her that no doubt there will be a significant flow of entries between now and the July date and of course many will enter on the day.
  Her concerns reminded me of  the risks involved in putting on a race today with increasing expenditure but still it was good to hear of  a young club being keen to put back into the sport by hosting an event themselves.  Check out more details at  www.benthambeagles.co.uk
  Hopefully the race will not upset local motorists as Ilkley Round Table's 10K did. In hindsight perhaps going metric and changing the course was a bad idea.  The two lap 8 miler  we started off with was clearly a safer course which  was less likely to hold up Sunday morning drivers.
  It was  the challenge  several hundred local runners faced this date  25 years ago.....

JUNE 14 1987  THE ILKLEY ROUND TABLE 8 MILE ROAD RACE.
  There are no doubt several people reading this blog right now who are as fitter and faster than 99% of the population but are reluctant to return to racing because of the weight and pressure of expectation.  
 Previous success leads others to expect that high achievement will continue. But after injury or a period off racing through other aspects of life,  the fear of not reaching former levels is sadly enough to put many off racing altogether.
 I was always extremely  nervous for this race in my home town,    much the same as I was when competing in the school sports from the age of 14.   Having represented Lancashire etc.  I was expected to win 2 or 3 events at the school sports but particularly trying to win over 880 yards (800 mts) was never a certainty when 400 runners of similar county standard moved up. But  as house captain I had to turn out for the points.
 Having won a couple of marathons, half marathons etc the weight of expectations was similarly great for this local race.  But 2 laps of 4 miles with a steep ascent and descent was another challenge altogether!  I recall the day also being extremely stressful as I had had a hand in the organisation with the Round Table and then there would be the task of holding off Ilkley Harriers
new "star" runner, a 23 year old JAMES PARKER who was rapidly making a name for himself.
 But as usual once the adrenalin kicks in and the focus is on the race itself things go pretty well.
At 38 I was alongside  many fast young guns on the start line but  managed 8th place by the end of the tough event.  It was excellent day for VALLEY STRIDERS with 4 of us in the first 11.
The race was won by CHRIS PROCTOR of then KEIGHLEY ROADRUNNERS in 41:13
followed by  MARTIN HOPSON  (VALLEY STRIDERS)  42:07  and a young MARTIN ROSCOE (Leeds University) who is now one of the country's best vets in his age group. 
My old friend HILARY McEWAN was 4th.
  JAMES PARKER  edged me out by 12 seconds for first local in 6th place  to my 8th. 43:08 to 43:20.  He went to enjoy much success on the fells particularly before turning to biking and rowing.
 First lady in the race was fellow Valley Strider JO FRICKER who now works in the FASTRAX part of my business ensuring there is a steady flow of vests, t-shirts, hoodies etc to our clubs in G.B. and the Republic Of Ireland.
 This was the first of 3 consecutive weeks of local races.  Could she manage a hat trick of wins?
                                        

ILKLEY TRAIL RACE VIDEO(S)...

A real Sunday feeling to this Tuesday's trek along the normally quiet back lanes of the town towards Bolton Abbey. It seemed so many people chose to celebrate their jubilee holiday by digging out their old bikes and
giving it their all alongside the usual "professionals". Not the most relaxing of runs!
 So another morning with hundreds of bikers and just 2 runners. Well, 3 including me.  A contrast to yesterday when 219 turned out to run the 5th Annual ILKLEY TRAIL RACE.
 The race is one of many events which have evolved from road races.  Originally muted by the local Round Table as a fun run,  it became a "legal"  8 mile, 2 lap road race......went metric as a 10K road but as the Round Table bowed out under the weight of complaints from motorists was adopted by ILKLEY HARRIERS.   After early course problems the route devised in conjunction with race director Lawrence Basham seems to work and is challenging but runnable unlike races on the other side of the valley which are more geared to the dedicated fell runner.
 For once we were blessed with pretty good weather but I must confess I abandoned filming at the uppermost point where it was becoming distinctly chilly!

 They say if it isn't broke don't mend it.......well I changed a filming routine which lead to editing into 2 parts.................

ILKLEY MOOR RUN 1987... a gruelling run?

It was shades of the Manchester marathon conditions today with a low temperature of just 6 degrees, steady rain and  a blustery cooling easterly wind .  Tempting to settle for a short run in such conditions but having driven over the hill to battle up and back on the canal,  I stuck to plan,  persevering to bring week 20 to a close with a moderately paced 11 miler.  Compensation being that the dreadful weather put off the bikers who normally wizz past on the towpath with undue care and much abandon.  Just 4 seen all morning!
 No track session this week but a good solid week's training  after last Sunday's 5 mile race.  Particularly pleasing being one of the fastest circuits of the res in a long time; probably because I had company for the first 3 miles which meant I started faster than normal!  44 miles on the week.  912 on the year and the average over 41. No days missed this year; so have to be pleased with the consistency which I hope will lead to some good race performances  over the next few months.

                                TIM      JOHN       HILARY   BEN      TERRY           CHRIS

                             AGAR CONVERY McEWAN  GRANT LONERGAN LEGGATT

 Tomorrow's it's time for the annual ILKLEY TRAIL RACE which covers a route on the north side of town.  This weekend 25 years ago the ILKLEY MOOR RUN took place.  It was the 5th event in the Leeds Grand Prix of that year,1987.  A series in which I continued to place second fiddle to my young rival, JOHN CONVERY , who had maintained his position on top of the leader board with a string of wins, whilst I had tried to stay in touch at least with a second and a couple of 4th places.
 This day would be a slightly different challenge.  Not a shortish road race as the previous events had been.
The local paper the WHARFE VALLEY TIMES described it as a "gruelling 13.5 mile run over the top of Ilkley Moor.  In truth I would suggest there was not a lot of climbing in the run compared to the 700 feet which runners will face tomorrow; but a good challenge nevertheless.
 304 completed the race which started and finished in Guiseley.  JOHN CONVERY would maintain his position as Grand Prix leader but had to content with second in the race.  He was beaten by Harrogate's BEN GRANT.  Ben  Grant is nearly 64 now but is still racing and still capable of a 5K just under 20 minutes!  He has enjoyed an excellent career with success on and off road as he showed this day 25 years ago beating John by over 5 minutes.

  In 6th place was CHRIS LEGGATT, a Sale Harrier teammate in the '60s who  was then a Valley Striders teammate.  Pictured here crossing Ilkley Moor with me two places back.
I  ran an isolated 7th  (2ND Grand Prix entrant) with  KEVIN O'HARA 9TH  and my now departed friend HILARY McEWAN  10TH.
  LINDA LORD (Clayton)  was first lady followed by local Skyrac ladies, CATH RILEY and ALICE GULL.

                 1.  BEN GRANT                  HARROGATE              83.35
                 2.  JOHN CONVERY          VALLEY STRIDERS   88.39
                 3.  M. HOLLIDAY               LEEDS CITY                90.05
                 4.  M. FALGATE                  PUDSEY                      91.17
                 6.  CHRIS LEGGATT           VALLEY STRIDERS   92.22
                 7.  TERRY LONERGAN       VALLEY STRIDERS  93.28
                 9.  KEVIN O'HARA              UNATTACHED          94.38
                10. HILARY MC EWAN        VALLEY STRIDERS  95.04


A  fortnight later many of us gathered  again for the event which preceded tomorrow's trail race, the Ilkley 8 mile road race.  Another race in which the white and black of Valley Striders would feature to the fore.

SALE HARRIERS 5 MILER

My pre-race thoughts last Sunday  can probably best be summarised as follows........

 I DON'T NEEDTHIS...............I don't really feel I've recovered from two weeks ago.

 I DON'T NEED THIS..............I feel ***ckered from standing up at work for hours this week.

 I DON'T NEED THIS.............the temperature is going to mid 20s....why bother!?

 I DON'T NEED THIS..............my head's blocked up from hayfever or do I have a head cold?
 I DON'T NEED THIS...............it's bound to be a P.W. for a 5 miler.

 BUT in line with many I spoke to the SALE (HARRIERS) 5 MILE ROAD RACE  was the second race of 5 in the Manchester Parks Grand Prix and we were ultimately all keen to maintain our presence in the series.  Having to commit and remain fit over a period is a real  incentive  and advantage of taking part in a Grand Prix series, isn't it?

 So it was a case of don extreme weather white mesh club vest, white cap and sunglasses and go for it!
At least I hadn't raced for a fortnight;  several were talking about having raced on Friday night, many spoke about having raced yesterday in their weekly parkrun, and perhaps regretted it as the temperatures sored.  But club mate and follower Frank C. made it 3 in 3 days even after a half marathon in Latvia last week.  Well done, Frank. Couldn't do it at my age, I'm afraid.

  We arrived in plenty of time and for once I had a reasonable warm up.  For "warm up" read loosener ; just stepping out of the car we were warm enough.  I joined the small select field of just 146 runners and slottted in to the left of the start line to stay out of the basically. Good job.  I  thought I had a couple of minutes to relace my untied shoes  but then  the gun went. Fortunately as was at the side of the track as every single entrant swept past.  Some start!  Some handicap.  Last out of the blocks.  I managed to overtake 77.

 Still it forced the adrenalin to kick in perhaps more than normal and I think I managed to run to expectations except I just failed to catch M65, MIKE CUNNINGHAM of Manchester A.C. who was first M65 ; my consolation being that I was first M60 and of course 1st M60 in the Grand Prix as a bonus.

 My splits on the course based on the placing of the mile markers were

7.01  7.57  6.28  7.01  6.41..............35.14   (A personal worse but not too bad all things considered)
But official time on results sheet  35.24. 
  Conclusion ...it took me 10 seconds to tie my shoe lace up and someone didn't quite get the placing of the mile markers correct. But more importantly some race days go a lot better than you think they are going to go when you first step out of the car on arrival.

SALE 5 MILE VIDEO

It was a hot one...........!!

Failure to focus ?

No matter how we express it,  "withdrawing from your fitness banks" ,  "breaking down walls" or whatever,  put simply racing takes it out of us all. No matter how old we are.
 But it's so often said that recovering from races getting harder as we age.  After the Beaverbrooks 10K, a week last Sunday, in which I had to work very hard to run  43 minutes,  it was 6 days later on the following Saturday that I felt up to getting anyway near that race pace.  Last week was a hard week indeed.
  The track session of 10 x 600 metres reps with 200 metre jog recovery was executed at 45 mins pace
with the temperature showing 4 degrees and me dressed as if the calendar was reading February.  Desperate stuff.  A stark contrast to today with the temperature getting well over 20.
 Another indication of the impact of that 10K was shown in comparing last week's and this week's 2 res run. Last week, again in cold blustery  conditions,  64.15.  Yesterday, despite a temperature of 19  degrees...59.15. So 5 minutes faster. Perhaps I just thrive with a bit of  sun on my back!
 Of course , you young 'uns often take a different view with regard to races.  Take one local  F50 who prepared for a hilly marathon last week by running a club league race on the Tuesday night and not content with that slotted in a sub 20 mins 5K on the Wednesday night.  A different view to marathon taper; but a time which "forecasted" to about 3:10.  She ran 3:26 and  missed out on a category win in the marathon by t just 3 minutes?!  Failure to focus,perhaps or just enjoying racing?
 I follow the progress of a club mate who in his late teens was at much the same level as me as a steeplechaser. His times recently have been a tad disappointing but he did go back under 9 minutes last year.  He ran in a fairly prestigious 3k steeplechase last Sunday but missed on a sub 9 mins clocking by ten seconds.  The night before he had raced a 1500 metre race, finishing 11th.  Failure to focus, pehaps?
 The great wee man, Haile, ran a superb Great Manchester 10K time of 27.39 and will turn out again this Sunday in Hengolo, Netherlands supposedly  in an attempt to gain an Olympic place over the same distance, having missed out on  a marathon place.   Will he still have that road 10K in his legs and miss out?  We'll see on Sunday. Would you have raced the Manchester with the trial 7 days later? Failure to focus perhaps ?
 I know many vets like to race every week. I've queried this with a few and they tell me in between they just "tick over", doing no track sessions; they use  the races as their speed work.  It's an approach which seems to work for many; but  I'm not sure it would work for me.  I'm not sure I want to be heading out every Sunday morning or even earlier for 9.00 a.m. parkruns.
   I think I'm  strong enough to race pretty well a couple of times each month at the moment but perhaps try to "peak" for a few key  races where the courses are particularly conducive to a  good performance. Hopefully I can maintain that approach until  November then ease down for a few weeks.

JOHN CARR 5K SERIES RACE 3 VIDEO

  The ever growing strength of the parkrun empire is having a bit of knock out effect on 5ks organised by running clubs.  Salford Harriers moved their Sunday 5K to a Thursday night.  Our club dropped our 5K as their is a weekly parkrun in the same park.  But the club has persevered with a heavily marketed 5K series, the Sizzlers,  Lancaster & Morecambe are still running the Saturday night 5K series.
  Locally, the newly named SALTAIRE STRIDERS (formerly St. Bede's A.C.)  have enjoyed success with their JOHN CARR 5K sreies of 3 5Ks despite the weather!
  I popped down to the nearby village of Esholt , where Emmerdale was filmed before they built their  own Emmerdale village,  and witness 308 thrash out a fast furious 5K.
 Sally M. said she had secured a late entry and said that they had reserved a number for me as well; but, one,
my asthmatic lungs do not work well on a course which is largely based in a sewage works(!) and two, last Sunday's 10K took a lot out of me and there was no way I was going to extend myself again just 3 days later!
 Not a great evening for filming with the setting sun but here's a flavour of the action......

BEAVERBROOKS 10K..it takes all sorts!

 In order to secure an entry on the day, I arrived quite early for last Sunday's BEAVERBROOKS 10K in Blackpool.  As I walked across the Hilton Hotel car park to enter I thought it was unusual to be racing on the Fylde Coast in a race NOT organised by Ron Mc Andrew of fyldecoastrunning.    But as chance would have it, Ron was the very first person I met as I reached the basement door of the hotel.  He would be marshaling today. He quip was,
                                                "Terry Lonergan doing a fun run!".   

When the charity event first started in 1982 it was an issue whether club runners should take part as it was not a "registered" event.  There was talk of local AAA officials out spying to make a note of any club runners taking part and have them banned! Not sure if that ever happened but
certainly many club runners wore alternate vests for the day.
 I stuck to that practice on Sunday but  times have changed; with no threat of a ban many local runners wore Wesham and Blackpool colours as normal.
 However, as an unregistered race, our performances will not appear on Power Of 10 records.
Probably justified as times seemed to have been rounded up/down to the nearest 15 seconds!
According to the results 17 of us crossed the line in exactly 43 minutes. Some deadheat!!
  The leading runners were heading back up as we approached the Pleasure Beach and club runners obviously made up the first dozen places or so.  But around me I would say the majority were "unattached".  Many young men with talent and potential running an occasional race but not in local clubs.
 The results show hundreds under 35 took part; yet this is the age group so lacking in "normal" club races.  The question is then, how do we get them to join our running clubs?
  
Over my 50 years of competing,  relationships are established with runners, like Ron McAndrew who I first competed against in 1968.  Relationships often established  actually during  the race itself.   Not a conversation as you might have when training of course but a bit of race banter and  then the inevitable after race post mortem. 
 Sunday saw little of that as nearly every runner around me was listening to music.  Now you might say it was a good thing they couldn't hear me but they cut out a lot of the atmosphere of the event.
The cheering of the holiday makers lining the route,  the sounds emitting from the arcades on the Golden Mile,  the screams from the Big Dipper on the Pleasure Beach,  the clanking of the trams, the cries of the seagulls. And no real rapport with fellow runners; no relationships developed!

 With no real malice intended, quite often fellow runners say to me, "you're not the runner you were,  are you, Terry?  With two fingers forming a "V" either side of my nose, I point out that I am 63 and the years of competition have taken something of a toll. 
 However, taking part in mass participation events such as the Beaverbrooks brings home the opposite. Compared to the general running public,  we are in fact pretty fit indeed. 
 In the recent Salford 5K with 106 in it I was nearly half way down the field  in 52nd place.
                      Here with I was in the top 6% of the 2500 who took part.  
                        It was that kind of event. Nice for a change, I suppose.

BEAVERBROOKS 10K 2012...fun at the seaside?

I generally tend to shy away from so called "mass participation" events  with the exception of the Great Manchester 10K in my home town. But having finished only 4th in the M60 age group last year, though I'm convinced one who beat me was running as his father, I failed to win a "prize" entry. So instead I thought I would reaquaint myself with the delights of the BLACKPOOL promenade and race the BEAVERBROOKS 10K.
 The 30th running of a FUNRUN which helps participants raise thousands of pounds for charity whilst giving "serious" runners the chance of a fast outing ; just short of 5K down to the famous Blackpool pleasure beach and (ideally) a fast belt back up the promenade. Simple. Simple, providing the weather is perfect!
 But as is so often the case on the west Fylde coast the wind played a part in spoiling the party. Not so simple.
Very often we race in windy conditions and afterwards we say "the wind never seemed to be behind us did it?"  Yesterday,  there was no mistaking the way the race would go.  True to the BBC weather forecast,  chilly, strong south westerly winds  brought flags along the promenade to horizontal and we knew the first half of the journey, south towards the  Pleasure Beach would be hard . Very hard.
As usual  I was still warming up as over 2 thousand other runners stood in place suffering the sea breezes.  I came onto the course and slipped a few ranks behind the "serious" sub 40 minute runners.  Many looked as if they were running their first race; never mind able to run sub 40 mins!!

 Inevitably the start was a tad traumatic.  Elbows set at shoulder height in "defensive mode".  The cold, wind working against the old heart and breathing.  The "young guns" were now passing  me by the dozen.  Spiderman flew past to my left.  5 extremely fit looking young men flew past to my right clad in head to foot lycra body suits with no visible holes for breathing.  Blue, yellow, black, green and red.  Were they the Olympic rings running in formation, full of chat and high spirits as they sped on away from me in their Morphsuits!
 I figured today then would be a case of participation. One for surviving the first 5K and trying to salvage something on the way back for a solid run. Nothing more.
 And so it seemed as we went through 2k in 9.03. and followed with splits around 4.30 going through 5k in 22.26.   But.......
 I spy Spiderman now at the side of the road; he is peeling down the top half of his lycra suit. he has expired.  The Olympic ring runners have broken rank. They too have unpeeled. The top half of their Morphsuits around their waists.  Now they can breath!
But the relief of battling against the strong winds elevated the spirits. Unlike small races where it's often the case of running solo, here there was always someone to fight as they came past, always someone to chase, always someone to run shoulder to shoulder with. And so the acceleration came........
 6th K....4.11.....7K....4.10.....8K  4.05!
Disappointingly we were not turned down onto the lower promenade at this point but carried on
slightly uphill past the start and we slowed to 4.20 but with plenty still to aim for,.....................
 Somehow despite that first 5K we were now racing to dip under 43 minutes as we now turned onto the lower  walk but for me the wind, now against us again  for the last few hundred yards proved too strong and at least on my watch, I just missed out by 3 seconds but the results read 43.00 for a whole group of us.
But 3.50 for the last kilometre?  Possibly a bit short?
 Besides the "batch timing" be prepared for results only by age group if you ever run this one.   At 63 I was put in the 55 and over group, not the usual M60 category,  but was still pleased to finish  3rd of 170.
           All in all a good day out on the coast but we could have done without that wind!

Jack Bloor Race 2012

 For once the weather for the 27th annual Jack Bloor Senior fell race was tolerable; although true to form by the time the prize giving took place,  many were complaining of being bitten by midges as usual. 
 As the Complete Runner were co sponsoring once more with the Ilkley Brewery Company popping up the moor from home provided a pleasant break from the delights of the print room where on the Fastrax side of the business we are extremely busy getting your club vests etc out!
 Unfortunately it's not an event easily covered midrace but I hope the following video captures the atmosphere around the start and finish area............

MANCHESTER MARATHON POSTSCRIPT

The daily running has been hard this week. Not hard because of any real pace. Just hard work.  I had put the tiredness down to reaquainting myself with  developments in the FASTRAX print room which has seen me standing   printing for several hours each day.  With a staff retirement ,a  necessary exercise; one, to ensure that the vest ordered continued to flow out and two , so that I am able to teach new recruits how to cope with the orders in turn.   Printing your club vests is often more difficult than you night imagine.
 So standing for several hours a day,  has been a factor . However, when I measured how far I had run in supporting  Sally Malir's superb GREATER MANCHESTER MARATHON , I found that it was 18  miles in total!  Hardly surprising the miles since have been somewhat laboured.

 Going back to Sunday the running forums have been awash with comments about the race.  Many have praised the marshals, many from my own club Sale Harriers, and the people of south Manchester who not only gave vocal support but as the day's cold, very wet conditions continued throughout the morning came out to give much needed comfort, shelter and physical support to so many runners struggling from half way.
 But the majority have mentioned the inefficiency of the bag retrieval system.  In short, it was "back to front" which meant that as the faster runners entered the tent asking the cadets for their bags which couldn't be found, the queue then developed OUTSIDE the tent.  Now on a warm, spring morning this meant not have been so bad but to have run 26.2 miles and then have to queue with just a "space blanket" for warmth was not welcomed by the runners. Many perhaps not unexpectedly , let's just say, became quite inpatient so much so that I am told the army cadets deserted their posts or were told to retire to leave a free for all!
 That aside, once I had ensured she did not suffer hyperthermia, Sally's day went  very well.  By coincidence, we were back in Longford Park, Stretford, on Tuesday night with Sal's daughter, Georgia. (She ran 10:44 for the 3K as a season opener) A comment was made to me that Sally " lost it" in the second half!   His  broken nose is mending nicely!
  Far from "losing it"  her pace per mile, targeted at 7.15, never drifted to over 8.00, she overtook  65 men from the midway point and  3 women to come through from 5th to 2nd within yards of  the line.  Not exactly "losing it".  Obviously begs the question  though, , what time would she have run in favourable conditions!!
  A quick scan of the top 100 in the race shows that all "lost" several minutes over the second half.  The rain was bad enough; but it was the low 4 degrees and wind chill that did the damage.  Given the weather forecast  it suggested it really would be a marathon of winter conditions, I am so surprised that so many elected to race in just vest and shorts( see pic above).
 Better weather today though.  Bright blue skies over Wharfedale. Over a week since the Salford 5K and time finally to try to inject a bit of pace back into the old legs with a track session!  Bring it on.