By all accounts the weekend's race in Steembergen, Netherlands was a hard one. At one point there was a facebook post by the Aussie team which read:
"at the moment we're having four seasons worth of weather ... every 15 minutes."
No doubt about it that is the stuff that makes things very difficult in a 24 hour race and, I guess on average, performances will have been reduced by about 5 % and the winner's distance was probably not as far as expected in a World 24 hr Championship race. Previous winning distances (men) are shown below and full results can be found on the DUV website.
2013 ... 269 km
2012 ... 277 km
2010 ... 273 km
2009 ... 257 km
2008 ... 273 km
2007 ... 263 km
2006 ... 272 km
2005 ... 268 km
2004 ... 269 km
2003 ... 270 km
2001 ... 275 km
Some of the UK performances seem to have been quite amazing in those circumstances ...
Steve Holyoak ... over 246 km and a new pb
Robbie Britton ... over 239 km and a new pb
Sharon Law ... over 226 km and a new pb
Karen Hathaway ... over 210 km and a new pb
Sharon set new Scottish records for 200 km and 24 hours (on the road). Amazing.
Debbie Martin-Consani, Emily Gelder, Pat Robbins, John Pares, Matt Moroz and Lizzy Hawker had less successful races and, unfortunately, I wasn't there so I can't really comment as to the reasons for that. Perhaps an injury or two.
Congratulations also to Torill Fonn who beat her personal best by almost 5 %.
Overall, as I'm a recovering injured ultra runner, I found it quite difficult mentally to keep up to date with all that was happening in Steenbergen ... I guess I'm just missing the racing a bit. I'm glad I persevered though as it has given me some much needed motivation for racing next year and training in the second half of this year (with perhaps a race thrown in ...).
Full results here.
Showing posts with label Emily Gelder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emily Gelder. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 May 2013
Friday, 22 March 2013
Keir and the World Championships
Woke up this morning to find lots of snow all around - I guess it must have been 10cm or so, everywhere. I know that isn't particularly deep but for this part of the world, near the end of March, it's lots.
Apparently there are only two places in the whole country with so much snow at the moment - Yorkshire and Northern Ireland and the consequences are that Leeds Bradford Airport and Belfast City Airport were both closed. They are open now ... but only just and with many flights cancelled or delayed.
Keir is coming home from university today for the Easter holiday. He is at Ulster University and is flying from Belfast City to Leeds Bradford. There are three flights today ... he's on the third but the first two have been cancelled. I think it's fair to say we're a bit worried at the moment.
Apart from that, news has recently appeared from British Athletics [new name for UK Athletics ... not sure why] about the team for the World 24 hr Championships in Steenbergen in May. On the men's team is John Pares, Pat Robbins, Matt Moroz, Robbie Britton and Steve Holyoak. If John is fit he should do very well - he's is capable of a top 5 placing at his best. Pat and Steve are both capable of over 240 km and I don't know too much about Robbie and Matt except that perhaps they prefer the trails. I really do hope everyone has an outstanding race though.
The women are represented by Lizzy Hawker, Emily Gelder, Debbie Martin-Consani, Sharon Law and Karen Hathaway. Lizzy broke the world 24 hr road record in her last race of this type (Llandudno - Sep 2010), Emily finished third in the last world championships and Debbie is the Scottish record holder. An excellent team and, again, I wish them all every success.
My recovery seems to be going well at the moment too. On Wednesday I had to forego my strength training and cycling though as I had to do some emergency DIY repairs in the bathroom. Without going into great detail I had to replace the light fitting, pull cord and part of the ceiling. Managed 20 minutes through the snow this morning with the same tomorrow and all in all everything seems OK.
Apparently there are only two places in the whole country with so much snow at the moment - Yorkshire and Northern Ireland and the consequences are that Leeds Bradford Airport and Belfast City Airport were both closed. They are open now ... but only just and with many flights cancelled or delayed.
Keir is coming home from university today for the Easter holiday. He is at Ulster University and is flying from Belfast City to Leeds Bradford. There are three flights today ... he's on the third but the first two have been cancelled. I think it's fair to say we're a bit worried at the moment.
Apart from that, news has recently appeared from British Athletics [new name for UK Athletics ... not sure why] about the team for the World 24 hr Championships in Steenbergen in May. On the men's team is John Pares, Pat Robbins, Matt Moroz, Robbie Britton and Steve Holyoak. If John is fit he should do very well - he's is capable of a top 5 placing at his best. Pat and Steve are both capable of over 240 km and I don't know too much about Robbie and Matt except that perhaps they prefer the trails. I really do hope everyone has an outstanding race though.
The women are represented by Lizzy Hawker, Emily Gelder, Debbie Martin-Consani, Sharon Law and Karen Hathaway. Lizzy broke the world 24 hr road record in her last race of this type (Llandudno - Sep 2010), Emily finished third in the last world championships and Debbie is the Scottish record holder. An excellent team and, again, I wish them all every success.
My recovery seems to be going well at the moment too. On Wednesday I had to forego my strength training and cycling though as I had to do some emergency DIY repairs in the bathroom. Without going into great detail I had to replace the light fitting, pull cord and part of the ceiling. Managed 20 minutes through the snow this morning with the same tomorrow and all in all everything seems OK.
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
well, I made it (back home)
Just a brief race report for now ... more later, I'm sure.
The first ten hours went very well indeed and at that point I was still on my 245km schedule. The eleventh hour was a struggle and my left shoulder began playing up so I went in for a massage which worked wonders.
The next few hours were also good and I managed to keep to my schedule well although it was inevitably getting harder by now. Had another short shoulder massage at 15 hours before being told to get moving ... passed 100 miles a minute or two outside my pb but felt much stronger than when I set that time in 2010.
Towards the end of the 16th hour both my big toes began to feel badly bruised and within ten minutes or so I could barely put any weight on them. So ... I asked the physio to sort me out. And he worked a miracle here, both big toe nails had almost come off and both socks were quite badly blood stained. At this point I was just on target for 245 km so I knew that a new pb was in the bag (my pb is 238.286 km). I don't know what he did but within fifteen minutes of lying on his couch I went from having badly bruised feet to having feet that felt like new again.
Looking at the hourly splits now, it was obviously not quite as simple as that because I was slowly falling behind that schedule. Then ... at 19 hours I suddenly had a feeling of pins and needles in the sole of my right foot - not a good sign I thought. So, once again, physio Guy sorted me out (pointing out that the toe on my left foot was still bleeding). For the next couple of hours I ran much as before but I was aware that it starting to become seriously hard work now. I still expected to finish with more than 240k though.
But then, at 21 hours, tragedy struck. My left ankle began to feel very weak and over the next lap or two got very bad indeed. I knew this was serious so I had Guy sort me out again - lots of strapping and bruising. And my toe was still bleeding. When I mentioned that "I hope it isn't a stress fracture" he said: "we'll worry about that after the race ... just get out there for three more hours."
And so I did. The ankle was still weak but there wasn't much anyone could do about that but I decided to run for one minute then walk for one minutes, then two minutes of each, then three and so on until I reached the point which was most comfortable. Within a couple of kilometres I had decided to go with four minutes running and two minutes walking.
Over the next hour or so I began to realise that 240k was now out or reach - I was walking two much. I had no idea how far I had run but I didn't want to know either. I was just trying to focus on blocking out those regular four minutes of pain.
After the race had finished Guy helped me hobble back to the crewing area where slowly everything was packed away. For a few hours afterwards I simply didn't care about my final distance. I knew I didn't have a pb and that was all I wanted to know.
Sleeping on Sunday night was not easy and when I finally got out of bed at 6.30am my ankle had swelled considerably and walking was difficult. It only got worse as the day progressed. During breakfast, the day after the race, Guy suggested I have an x-ray when I arrived home just in case ...
Getting home from Stansted was very difficult and painful and I'm deeply grateful to Eleanor Robinson for carrying my bag and physically helping me onto the Leeds train at Peterborough.
As I write this post I now know that my left ankle is just badly sprained and is probably a repetitive strain injury caused by the uneven surface on a 300m section of the circuit. A tight left hand corner leading into that section didn't help either. I'm not exactly happy though having to sit here with a crutch, an ice pack and some ibuprofen.
On a positive note ... I now know without doubt that I can run 150 miles (241.4 km) in 24 hours and I would have do so but for a sprained ankle.
The results for the UK runners were:
Pat Robbins ... 246.071 km
Steve Holyoak ... 240.377 km
Emily Gelder ... 238.875 km (3rd woman)
me ... 231.339 km
Debbie Martin-Consani ... 217.180 km
Sharon Law ... 210.404 km
John Pares ... 180.838 km
Karen Hathaway ... 179.956 km
Jen Salter ... 145.217 km
To finish I'd just like to thank EVERYONE who was there for Team UK (athletes and helpers) - they all made the weekend a memorable experience and I hope to get another chance next year at 150 miles.
Lots of photos here from Rory Coleman and from the IAU here.
The next few hours were also good and I managed to keep to my schedule well although it was inevitably getting harder by now. Had another short shoulder massage at 15 hours before being told to get moving ... passed 100 miles a minute or two outside my pb but felt much stronger than when I set that time in 2010.
Towards the end of the 16th hour both my big toes began to feel badly bruised and within ten minutes or so I could barely put any weight on them. So ... I asked the physio to sort me out. And he worked a miracle here, both big toe nails had almost come off and both socks were quite badly blood stained. At this point I was just on target for 245 km so I knew that a new pb was in the bag (my pb is 238.286 km). I don't know what he did but within fifteen minutes of lying on his couch I went from having badly bruised feet to having feet that felt like new again.
Looking at the hourly splits now, it was obviously not quite as simple as that because I was slowly falling behind that schedule. Then ... at 19 hours I suddenly had a feeling of pins and needles in the sole of my right foot - not a good sign I thought. So, once again, physio Guy sorted me out (pointing out that the toe on my left foot was still bleeding). For the next couple of hours I ran much as before but I was aware that it starting to become seriously hard work now. I still expected to finish with more than 240k though.
But then, at 21 hours, tragedy struck. My left ankle began to feel very weak and over the next lap or two got very bad indeed. I knew this was serious so I had Guy sort me out again - lots of strapping and bruising. And my toe was still bleeding. When I mentioned that "I hope it isn't a stress fracture" he said: "we'll worry about that after the race ... just get out there for three more hours."
And so I did. The ankle was still weak but there wasn't much anyone could do about that but I decided to run for one minute then walk for one minutes, then two minutes of each, then three and so on until I reached the point which was most comfortable. Within a couple of kilometres I had decided to go with four minutes running and two minutes walking.
Over the next hour or so I began to realise that 240k was now out or reach - I was walking two much. I had no idea how far I had run but I didn't want to know either. I was just trying to focus on blocking out those regular four minutes of pain.
After the race had finished Guy helped me hobble back to the crewing area where slowly everything was packed away. For a few hours afterwards I simply didn't care about my final distance. I knew I didn't have a pb and that was all I wanted to know.
Sleeping on Sunday night was not easy and when I finally got out of bed at 6.30am my ankle had swelled considerably and walking was difficult. It only got worse as the day progressed. During breakfast, the day after the race, Guy suggested I have an x-ray when I arrived home just in case ...
Getting home from Stansted was very difficult and painful and I'm deeply grateful to Eleanor Robinson for carrying my bag and physically helping me onto the Leeds train at Peterborough.
As I write this post I now know that my left ankle is just badly sprained and is probably a repetitive strain injury caused by the uneven surface on a 300m section of the circuit. A tight left hand corner leading into that section didn't help either. I'm not exactly happy though having to sit here with a crutch, an ice pack and some ibuprofen.
On a positive note ... I now know without doubt that I can run 150 miles (241.4 km) in 24 hours and I would have do so but for a sprained ankle.
The results for the UK runners were:
Pat Robbins ... 246.071 km
Steve Holyoak ... 240.377 km
Emily Gelder ... 238.875 km (3rd woman)
me ... 231.339 km
Debbie Martin-Consani ... 217.180 km
Sharon Law ... 210.404 km
John Pares ... 180.838 km
Karen Hathaway ... 179.956 km
Jen Salter ... 145.217 km
To finish I'd just like to thank EVERYONE who was there for Team UK (athletes and helpers) - they all made the weekend a memorable experience and I hope to get another chance next year at 150 miles.
Lots of photos here from Rory Coleman and from the IAU here.
Monday, 30 April 2012
World Championships qualification
UK Athletics have finally published their qualification criteria for this year's World 24 hr Championships. It's near the bottom of this page on their website.
Basically athletes should achieve the required standard between 1 May 2010 and 31 May 2012 and those all important standards are:
Men - A standard ... 238 km (147.9 miles)
Men - team standard ... 230 km (142.9 miles)
Women - A standard ... 214 km (133.0 miles)
Women - team standard ... 204 km (126.8 miles)
Right, that's one less thing for me to worry about. I ran further than 238 km when winning the race in Perth back in September 2010.
So, apart from relief, what are my initial thoughts ?
1 - the men's standards have risen quite a lot since last time. They were 236 km and 225 km (146.6 and 139.8 miles).
2 - I don't have the figures to hand but I think the women's standards have fallen by a single kilometre.
3 - Runners without the necessary standard have only 34 days to make the grade. I'm guessing that there will be about 8 or 9 European races in May in which to do that ... but how many have an IAU label ? [two I think]. And how many still have places available ?
4 - By way of contrast, the UK qualifying standard for the Olympic marathon was announced back in summer 2011 with the final date to achieve the standard being 22 April 2012. That's about 8 or 9 months and probably quite a few marathons to choose from in which to do the business.
5 - Oh well ... I guess that until we have 24 hr races in the Olympic and/or Commonwealth Games they'll always be seen as not quite as important even though we train just as hard (if not harder) ... grumble, grumble, grumble.
6 - Four men and two women have the A standard. In date order they are: Lizzy Hawker, John Pares, myself, Emily Gelder, Richard Quennell and Jim Rogers. Also, Jen Salter, Pat Robbins, Sharon Law, Marie Doke, Debbie Martin-Consani and Angie Sadler have the team standard.
There are seven women in that list and as there'll be a maximum of six men and six women going to Katowiche at least one of them will be staying at home unfortunately.
So, there it is. A bit late I think but at least I have the necessary standard and now it's down to the selectors who meet at the beginning of June and announce the team on Tuesday the 19th.
As a final point it would appear that in order to get the A standard for the 2013 World Championships I would have to break my pb sometime this year. I know I can do that.
Basically athletes should achieve the required standard between 1 May 2010 and 31 May 2012 and those all important standards are:
Men - A standard ... 238 km (147.9 miles)
Men - team standard ... 230 km (142.9 miles)
Women - A standard ... 214 km (133.0 miles)
Women - team standard ... 204 km (126.8 miles)
Right, that's one less thing for me to worry about. I ran further than 238 km when winning the race in Perth back in September 2010.
So, apart from relief, what are my initial thoughts ?
1 - the men's standards have risen quite a lot since last time. They were 236 km and 225 km (146.6 and 139.8 miles).
2 - I don't have the figures to hand but I think the women's standards have fallen by a single kilometre.
3 - Runners without the necessary standard have only 34 days to make the grade. I'm guessing that there will be about 8 or 9 European races in May in which to do that ... but how many have an IAU label ? [two I think]. And how many still have places available ?
4 - By way of contrast, the UK qualifying standard for the Olympic marathon was announced back in summer 2011 with the final date to achieve the standard being 22 April 2012. That's about 8 or 9 months and probably quite a few marathons to choose from in which to do the business.
5 - Oh well ... I guess that until we have 24 hr races in the Olympic and/or Commonwealth Games they'll always be seen as not quite as important even though we train just as hard (if not harder) ... grumble, grumble, grumble.
6 - Four men and two women have the A standard. In date order they are: Lizzy Hawker, John Pares, myself, Emily Gelder, Richard Quennell and Jim Rogers. Also, Jen Salter, Pat Robbins, Sharon Law, Marie Doke, Debbie Martin-Consani and Angie Sadler have the team standard.
There are seven women in that list and as there'll be a maximum of six men and six women going to Katowiche at least one of them will be staying at home unfortunately.
So, there it is. A bit late I think but at least I have the necessary standard and now it's down to the selectors who meet at the beginning of June and announce the team on Tuesday the 19th.
As a final point it would appear that in order to get the A standard for the 2013 World Championships I would have to break my pb sometime this year. I know I can do that.
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
running news ...
The weather seems to have improved a bit of late although the forecast is for more rain (lots) tomorrow morning when I plan to run 23.5 miles (37.8 km).
The weather in New York seems to be as bad as it is here in Yorkshire. William Sichel seems to running a 6 day race in the rain. Less fun than usual but I'm sure the camaraderie between he runners, helpers, officials and volunteers is helping enormously.
This afternoon I did my weekly long fartlek run which was 21.5 miles (34.6 km) this time. As usual I chose a route with a few hills and recorded a time of 2h 41. I know the time isn't at all important but it does give an indication of my progress.
After a recovery meal I then set to work on half an hour of core exercises.
Recently checked the results of the IAU 100 km World Championships and was surprised to see that Lizzy Hawker wasn't listed in the results. I guess illness or injury was to blame but of the remaining two UK runners Emily Gelder finished in 13th position with 8h 08 and Karen Rushton was 16th in 8h 22. I should think Karen is very pleased with that ... well done to her.
The weather in New York seems to be as bad as it is here in Yorkshire. William Sichel seems to running a 6 day race in the rain. Less fun than usual but I'm sure the camaraderie between he runners, helpers, officials and volunteers is helping enormously.
This afternoon I did my weekly long fartlek run which was 21.5 miles (34.6 km) this time. As usual I chose a route with a few hills and recorded a time of 2h 41. I know the time isn't at all important but it does give an indication of my progress.
After a recovery meal I then set to work on half an hour of core exercises.
Recently checked the results of the IAU 100 km World Championships and was surprised to see that Lizzy Hawker wasn't listed in the results. I guess illness or injury was to blame but of the remaining two UK runners Emily Gelder finished in 13th position with 8h 08 and Karen Rushton was 16th in 8h 22. I should think Karen is very pleased with that ... well done to her.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
bad weather and no UK men in Seregno
Apart from today, training this week has been hard work. Not because of the training itself but because of the weather ...
Monday afternoon was a scheduled 21 mile (33 km) fartlek session. I chose quite a hilly route up the valley and back. A few decent hills but the heavy rain and strong winds made it harder then usual.
Tuesday morning was another long run. Twenty three miles this time (37 km) ... this time I ran up the valley almost to Bolton Bridge on narrow country lanes. At times it was so narrow that cars had trouble passing me. Very enjoyable though, even if the rain was heavier and the winds stronger than the previous afternoon.
Two good character building runs.
This morning it was just a steady 7 miler (11 km) carrying a weighted bag. Much better weather too but still a little chilly though.
Just seen the entry list for this year's 100 km World Championships and disappointed to find that there are no UK men taking part. We have some good women though runners - Lizzy Hawker, Emily Gelder and Karen Rushton - who should do well. But no men. I seem to remember that it was a similar situation at last year's Anglo Celtic Plate when the selectors even phoned me to ask if I would run.
Why no UK 100km male runners ? It could be because of the massive increase in popularity of ultra trail races. But 24 hour races don't seem to have affected by that. Hmmm.
Monday afternoon was a scheduled 21 mile (33 km) fartlek session. I chose quite a hilly route up the valley and back. A few decent hills but the heavy rain and strong winds made it harder then usual.
Tuesday morning was another long run. Twenty three miles this time (37 km) ... this time I ran up the valley almost to Bolton Bridge on narrow country lanes. At times it was so narrow that cars had trouble passing me. Very enjoyable though, even if the rain was heavier and the winds stronger than the previous afternoon.
Two good character building runs.
This morning it was just a steady 7 miler (11 km) carrying a weighted bag. Much better weather too but still a little chilly though.
Just seen the entry list for this year's 100 km World Championships and disappointed to find that there are no UK men taking part. We have some good women though runners - Lizzy Hawker, Emily Gelder and Karen Rushton - who should do well. But no men. I seem to remember that it was a similar situation at last year's Anglo Celtic Plate when the selectors even phoned me to ask if I would run.
Why no UK 100km male runners ? It could be because of the massive increase in popularity of ultra trail races. But 24 hour races don't seem to have affected by that. Hmmm.
Monday, 13 February 2012
only because I was asked ...
Recently I was asked about the UK team for this year's World 24 hr Championships. I must admit that I hadn't given any thought as to who might be included in that team other than I hope I am ...
So, here are my thoughts:
UK Athletics usually have selection criteria along the lines of -
men ... A standard 236 km ... team standard ... 225 km
women ... A standard 215 km ... team standard ... 205 km
and, in theory, what happens is that anybody who has the A standard is automatically selected but if there aren't enough to complete a team then those with the team standard are also considered - but only if there are enough to make a full team.
For example if one man has 240 km and two more men have 227 km each then only one man will be selected.
Of course there is a time frame in which runners are expected to reach the standards and this is usually in the 18 months before selection date. For this year's World Championships I would expect that to be something like:
1 Jan 2011 to 30 June 2012
Between those dates the qualifying performances so far are:
John Pares ... 244 km
Pat Robbins ... 231 km
Steve Holyoak ... 226 km
Liz Hawker ... 247 km
Emily Gelder ... 220 km
Debbie Martin-Consani ... 208 km
Jen Salter ... 206 km
Marie Doke ... 206 km
Because there wasn't a World or European Championships last year it is possible that the qualifying period will be extended back to include the Perth race (Sep 2010) or even the last World Championships (May 2010), in which case the following should be added to the list:
Richard Quennell ... 246 km (May 2010)
Jim Rogers ... 244 km (May 2010)
Chris Carver ... 238 km (Sep 2010)
Paul Hart ... 228 km (Sep 2010)
Angie Sadler ... 205 km (Sep 2010)
As there has been no announcement yet about selection there is a possibility of a few more qualifying performances in the first half of this year.
And of course the selectors usually reserve the right to use other long ultras to help with their choices. Overall then I would suggest that only John Pares and Liz Hawker have earned their place in Poland and as for other runners ... your guess is as good as mine at the moment.
I do know that the team management were hopeful of getting selection sorted by the end of last year but obviously the people at UK Athletics didn't like that idea - probably down to funding.
I also believe that we have some very good ultra runners in this country but very few road and/or track 24 hour races. Only one at the last count. In recent years we have lost races in Hull and Doncaster for example. I know that Pam Storey is looking to stage some races but if we had a few more then the performances would only improve.
So ... who wants to organise a road or track 24 hr race in Britain ??? Count me in if you do.
So, here are my thoughts:
UK Athletics usually have selection criteria along the lines of -
men ... A standard 236 km ... team standard ... 225 km
women ... A standard 215 km ... team standard ... 205 km
and, in theory, what happens is that anybody who has the A standard is automatically selected but if there aren't enough to complete a team then those with the team standard are also considered - but only if there are enough to make a full team.
For example if one man has 240 km and two more men have 227 km each then only one man will be selected.
Of course there is a time frame in which runners are expected to reach the standards and this is usually in the 18 months before selection date. For this year's World Championships I would expect that to be something like:
1 Jan 2011 to 30 June 2012
Between those dates the qualifying performances so far are:
John Pares ... 244 km
Pat Robbins ... 231 km
Steve Holyoak ... 226 km
Liz Hawker ... 247 km
Emily Gelder ... 220 km
Debbie Martin-Consani ... 208 km
Jen Salter ... 206 km
Marie Doke ... 206 km
Because there wasn't a World or European Championships last year it is possible that the qualifying period will be extended back to include the Perth race (Sep 2010) or even the last World Championships (May 2010), in which case the following should be added to the list:
Richard Quennell ... 246 km (May 2010)
Jim Rogers ... 244 km (May 2010)
Chris Carver ... 238 km (Sep 2010)
Paul Hart ... 228 km (Sep 2010)
Angie Sadler ... 205 km (Sep 2010)
As there has been no announcement yet about selection there is a possibility of a few more qualifying performances in the first half of this year.
And of course the selectors usually reserve the right to use other long ultras to help with their choices. Overall then I would suggest that only John Pares and Liz Hawker have earned their place in Poland and as for other runners ... your guess is as good as mine at the moment.
I do know that the team management were hopeful of getting selection sorted by the end of last year but obviously the people at UK Athletics didn't like that idea - probably down to funding.
I also believe that we have some very good ultra runners in this country but very few road and/or track 24 hour races. Only one at the last count. In recent years we have lost races in Hull and Doncaster for example. I know that Pam Storey is looking to stage some races but if we had a few more then the performances would only improve.
So ... who wants to organise a road or track 24 hr race in Britain ??? Count me in if you do.
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