a few things I've found

This post will just be a round up of a few things I've found recently on the web.


First of all ULTRAmarathonRunning.com has a link to a very interesting race (for me at least ...).  It's called Hell On The Humber and basically it's a 12hr race with a difference.  The difference is that each 4 mile road loop crosses the Humber Bridge twice ... and the race starts at 7.00pm.

Now, the Humber Bridge is a remarkable feat of engineering, with a centre span of 1,410 metres (4,626 ft) and a total length of 2,220 metres (7,283 ft), it was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world for 16 years from when it opened in 1981.  The towers, although both vertical, are not parallel, being 36 millimetres (1.4 in) farther apart at the top than the bottom as a result of the curvature of the earth.  It remains the longest bridge in the world that one can cross on foot or by bicycle.  The bridge opened to traffic on 24 June 1981.  It was opened officially by The Queen on 17 July 1981.


I remember, in the dim and distant past, a ten mile race which was held on 27 September 1981.  The race also crossed the bridge twice, starting and finishing in the car park at the northern end.  The race was won by Roger Hackney with 49:51 (he's now a doctor in Leeds, I believe).  Other top names running included Graham Ellis (50:22), Kim McDonald (51:05), Ray Smedley (51:19), David Topham (51:38 - I used to race against him in my school days, where is he now ?) ... and is E.M.Adams now known as Eleanor Robinson ?  She was third woman with 63:07.


There was another 10 mile race the following year but I was unlucky because on both occasions I had been in hospital for a while over the summer and couldn't compete - so I ran in the fun runs instead:  4.3 miles in 1981 and 5 miles in 1982.

Full details of the 12 hour race can be found here.  Unfortunately I won't be taking part as it's too close to the Commonwealth Championships.


Second find is a blog by Steve Magness which has some very good scientific stuff about running and training.  There's nothing that I've seen that's specific to ultra distances but plenty that can be interpolated for our use.  A very good site.


Finally - because I'm running out of time - the DUV website, in German, has started including age graded times/distances with their results.  Full details here.  They have also provided a link at the bottom of the page to the actual tables they've started to use.  I'll also be using that table for all age graded stuff appearing on this site as it is the 2010 edition whereas the one I have been using is the 2006 version.  Just don't ask me to change all my previous results tough.