happy ... and a bit disappointed

Just a short update - I've basically spent today catching up with news and family stuff.  I'll post more stuff tomorrow.

The World Championships in Brive was a fantastic event.  Thirty two countries and well over 200 runners.

I passed 100k with a pb but at 99.8 miles it began to slowly fall apart.  Passed 100 miles in 15h 22 (a pb by 18 mins) but cramp, nausea, etc made things very difficult for the last 7 - 8 hours.

Still managed over 222k and a team bronze medal in the concurrent European Championships.

World Challenge & European Championships (again)

Yesterday I studied the results carefully and Anne-Cecile Fontaine of France had a sensational race missing the world best performance by a mere 14 metres.

Let's put that into perspective for those among us who are not ultra runners.  She ran 243.644m and the record is 243.657m.   That is equivalent to missing Paula Radcliffe's marathon record of 2h 15:25 by 0.43 seconds or missing Usain Bolt's 100m record of 9.69 seconds by 0.0005 seconds.

Even comparing it with Tomoe Abe's 100km world record of 6h 33:11 gives the result that Anne-Cecile would have been a mere 1.26 seconds behind.

Amazing

World Challenge & European Championships

When I've had the time this weekend I've been keeping up to date with the World & Euro 24 hr race in Bergamo, Italy. All the details have been on the IAU website ... the final results are here.

It appears that a lot of people ran less than expected. Stephen Mason stated that his target was 160 miles (257 km) and for the first 9 hours or so he was on schedule ... he then faded badly and finished with 133 miles (215 km). The three British women also had bad runs and none of them managed 200 km.

Possibly this was because of the warm conditions (25 decrees C during mid afternoon and 10 degrees C at night). It obviously isn't as simple as that though. Eoin Keith broke the Irish record with 237 km (147 miles). He set the previous record at Tooting Bec last year when conditions were much cooler ... brrrr (235 km/146 miles). Congratulations to him on his new record and on his sixth place finish.

World Challenge & European Championships

All the best to Sharon Gayter, Vicky Skelton, Pauline Walker, Lynne Kuz and Stephen Mason who are representing the UK in Italy this weekend at the 24 hr World Challenge and European Championships.

I believe they fly out today, the race is Saturday and Sunday, and they return home on Monday.

You can keep up to date on the IAU website by clicking on 'Live Updates' which is near the top, in the middle.

There's a good womens team going and if they all perform well they could bring back a medal ... hope so.

World Challenge & European Championship 2009

The International Association of Ultrarunners have just announced that the 24 hr championships for next year will be held at Ciserano (in Bergamo, Lombardy), Italy on the 2nd and 3rd of May.

I believe there is a very good chance that UK Athletics will be sending a team to this event so I will be keeping an eye out for any selection criteria which may (or may not) appear on the UKA website.

In some ways having these championships in early May is good for me because in theory I could use the Tooting Bec race in October to gain the necessary qualifying standard to this race and also, as planned, to the Commonwealth Championships (Keswick - September 2009).

One downside though ... and I think it's a big one ... my wedding anniversary is on the 4th May (and so is Fay's birthday).

On a different note, Keir will begin studying for his GCSE's in September and his favourite subject is History. One of the topics he'll be studying is medieval Christianity in Britain (the rise and fall of the monasteries). We thought this a good opportunity to visit Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, tomorrow. And I thought it a good opportunity for a long run in the countryside, ie run home (I'm sure I can devise a route of approx 24 miles).

Thought of the day

A few things occurred to me over the weekend:

• The IAU have announced the major competitions for 2008 but no European 24 hr Championships - obviously a blip and I can only hope it returns next year (if someone can be found to organise it). Not that UKA would send a team ...
• According to the Planet Ultramarathon world rankings for 2007 my distance in winning the Hull race - 205.028km - comes in at number 167 (UK number 7). Taking everyone's second best performance, my distance in London - 202.685km - comes in at number 33 (UK number 2). Well pleased with this.
• Mick Jeffrey, Otley AC, has asked for suitable articles to be sent to him for February's newsletter (it's his turn to be editor). Would something by Phil Essam or Andy Milroy be suitable?
• Caught 'Songs Of Praise' on BBCTV last night. The program was from the Orkneys but why no mention or sight of William Sichel?