slight changes

Hello all. Recently been in contact with Tom Meldrum (a few times actually) over the past month or two. He came first in the recent Crawley 12 hr race with 75.8 miles and he has a very good blog which I've added to the list entitled 'Other Blogs I Like' over on the left.

I've also done a minor update to the Help & Advice page.

Also, all the best to Richie Cunningham and Phil Robertson who are running The Highland Fling Race at the weekend - 53 miles on The West Highland Way in Scotland. And also to the Otley AC runners in the London Marathon on Sunday ... running 26 miles with over 30,000 other folk isn't my idea of fun but some people are apparently very good at it.

Crawley 12 hr

Apologies to Tom Meldrum but I should really have included this in yesterday's post.

Well done to him on winning the Crawley A.I.M. 12 hr track race at the weekend with 78.5 miles (whilst I was racing 2.36 miles !!!). I know he's entered the Tooting 24 hr race in October and this is a good stepping stone for him in his first track ultra.

Tired today

Yesterday's race went brilliantly apart from a lack of manpower at the finish. We were saved though by Roy Hollingworth of Dragons RC who stepped in at the last minute to help out - many thanks to him.

I must admit that today I feel a bit of a fool. Derek Martin (Abbey Runners) turned up to hand out race entry forms for his club's 10 mile race - The Eccup 10 [a very good race, which I would run if it were not on the same day as the Hull 24hr race]. At first I didn't recognise him and when it dawned on me who I was talking to I forgot his first name. I know he's running in Hull too and I hope he does well - he was 4th last year (and second in the Crawley 12 hr race this year I believe). Apologies to him then for my disrespectful attitude at times.

This morning I ventured out on a slow 23 miler - including a very hilly 10 mile section - to make sure all the signs, etc have been collected. Last year I had to carry a sign (36 inches by 24 inches - on a wooden stake) back home from the 4 mile point ... not much fun.

Today was my first run this year where I didn't use ice before or after. Only 5.25 miles but I feel OK ... and so does my achilles.

Just looked at the results of the Crawley 12 hr race (I was going to do this before injury struck, remember). John Pares won with just over 130k but I also notice that Derek Martin finished in third with over 102k - well done to them. It seems to me that I would have finished much closer to John than I have on the previous occasions we've raced - maybe he had a bad run, I've no idea - but I'd have been looking for something over 125k. Full results can be found at http://ultrarunner.co.uk/

Yesterday on my local BBC news program I was interested in their piece about the Three Peaks Race - 24 mile fell race in the Yorkshire Dales taking in Whernside, Pen Y Ghent and Ingleborough. They made it seem as if it was the most difficult race in Yorkshire !!! All us ultra runners know that it isn't (it's merely the race with the best scenery) and more difficult races include Fellsman (61 miles from Ingleton to Grassington), Round Rotherham 50 and Hull 24hr track race. I sent an email to the news program with this information and hopefully we'll get some publicity for ultra races ... or maybe not !!!

This morning I looked at Phil Essam's website (http://planetultramarathon.wordpress.com/) and noticed that he is looking for a helper to post information while he is 'going part time' later this year ... could I do that ? Need to think about whether I can spare the time ...

Also noticed on that website that Yiannis Kouros has won the Ciserano 24 hr race (Italy) with 261k ... this took place on 20 April, just three weeks after he won the Brno 48 hr race with over 400k - amazing recovery.

If anyone comes across any good decaf coffee please let me know - thanks.

I wish I were racing too

I'm now well into my second week of proper training and it seems to be going well except that when I'm doing a paced run my actual speed is all over the place. It'll come back with practice though.

Good to see the Barry 40 results in last weeks Athletics Weekly - one ultra race which makes the results pages every year although there should be an in depth article about this race considering the number of world bests set there over the years.

All the best to Sharon Gayter and Paul Tranter who take part in the Marathon des Sables later this month and to William Sichel who's in Athens as I write this for a 24 hr race.

In the accompanying 7 day race Wolfgang Schwerk seems to be doing very well (839k after 5.5 days). I also notice that the Italian bloke who just beat me in the London 24 hr race (last October) is also doing very well - he's in 5th place at the moment with 677k.

I'm just jealous of you all, that's all. Still, it won't be long now before I'm back racing.

Hope everything goes well with Pam Storey too and her 12 hr & 6 hr races in Crawley - wish I could be there Pam.

New stuff and apologies

What a way to start the New Year ... new blog, new training regime and new injury which requires a new stationary bicycle, new supplements and new strength exercises.

The injury is achilles tendinosis and I've not run now for a couple of weeks but the pain is getting better and the achilles strengthening exercises seem to be working slowly. On the advice of Sharon Gayter's website I've also purchased a product from Neovite to aid recovery.

I've also had to cancel my plans to take part in the Crawley 12 hr race at the end of March. I hope Pam isn't too angry after I had promised to enter before the new year.

Must also say thanks to Carl Walsh and The Divan Centre for his kind sponsorship ... and apologies too for having to miss the first race.