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.

almost there ...

This afternoon I completed my last training session with the weights.  Just three more runs now before the race ... fartlek on Monday and Tuesday with a final steady run on Wednesday.

Started drinking the beetroot juice yesterday.  Half a litre per day every day until the race.  I'm sure I've mentioned it before but it was Jim Rogers in May 2010 who introduced me to the delights of the red stuff.  I used it with good results in early September of that year.

Heat training continues tomorrow for the last time and I've been asked, by Martin Fryer, to wear the Australian jacket he kindly gave me after winning the inaugural Commonwealth Championships in 2009.  Of course I'll wear it ... and hope a bit of the magic will rub off.

ps ... I'll also be wearing 2 T shirts, a long sleeved top and 2 sweatshirts.

Selection Criteria

Here it is ... the selection criteria has been announced for England in the following ultra races next year:

- Commonwealth Championships - 24 hr race and c.50k trail race
- Anglo Celtic Plate 100k

Personally I'm only interested in the Commonwealth Championships 24 hr race and I read that selection will be in two waves:

(1a) for those men who have run over 230k between 1 May 2010 and 3 April 2011
(1b) for those women who have run over 205k between 1 May 2010 and 3 April 2011

(2a) for those men who have run over 225k between 1 September 2009 and 5 June 2011
(2b) for those women who have run over 200k between 1 September 2009 and 5 June 2011

I would imagine that only performances in race with an IAU label will be taken into consideration therefore I believe the following men from England have met the criteria:

Richard Quennell ... 246.121k ... World C'ships (14 May 2010) and
 ... 234.813k ... London (18 Oct 2009)
Jim Rogers ... 244.108k ... World C'ships (14 May 2010) and
 ... 228.214k ... Commonwealth C'ships (18 Sep 2009)
me ... 238.286k ... Perth (5 Sep 2010) and
 ... 231.506k ... Commonwealth C'ships (18 Sep 2009)
 and also ... 222.760k ... World C'ships (14 May 2010)
Pat Robbins ... 231.086k ... Perth (5 Sep 2010)
 and also ... 215.818k ... Commonwealth C'ships (18 Sep 2009)

The following men would also be in with a chance of selection as they have run over 215k:

Keith Straw ... 221.882k ... Cleveland (USA) (4 Oct 2009)
Chris Finill ... 219.032k ... World C'ships (14 May 2010)
Neil Bryant ... 218.425k ... London (18 Oct 2009)

The women who have met the criteria so far are:

Sharon Gayter ... 226.489k ... Commonwealth C'ships (18 Sep 2009)
Vicky Skelton  ... 212.683k ... Commonwealth C'ships (18 Sep 2009)
 and also ... 198.098k ... Perth (5 Sep 2010)
Angela Sadler ... 205.984k ... Perth (5 Sep 2010)
Marie Doke ... 203.985k ... World C'ships (14 May 2010) and
 ... 201.631k ... Commonwealth C'ships (18 Sep 2009)

The following woman should also be in with a chance of selection as they have managed  a performance of over 185k:

Sandra Brown ... 187.119k ... Commonwealth C'ships (18 Sep 2009)

Of course there is still quite a few months in which other runners can register a qualifying performance ... but I'm confident of my selection.

As only five men and five women can be selected it appears that for the women it's quite straightforward but not so for the men at all.  And then there's 'current fitness' to take into account when the selectors meet next April and June.

I would suggest we have a couple of good teams though.

a little extra help

When the UK team met at Heathrow Airport on the way to the World Championships earlier this year Jim Rogers mentioned that he had read about a study promoting the benefits of beetroot juice for improving stamina in endurance running.  I remember a few of us not taking him particularly seriously as he began drinking from a large bottle of the red stuff.


However, a couple of days later he ran a very good personal best and I began to take notice and find out for myself about this mysterious elixir.


The best report of the benefits of beetroot juice is on the NHS website and I'm now into my third day of my own trial.  Obviously I won't know whether it worked until next week but it'll be in my report.

Perth Ultra Fest

Yesterday afternoon Norman Wilson from England Athletics phoned to confirm that I've been selected to represent England again.

Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that I've been expecting it for a few weeks now and planning/training accordingly.

The race is an international competition between Scotland, England, France, Ireland, Italy and Wales and will take place in Perth, Scotland on 4/5 September.

I don't want to put the names of the English runners on here yet (just in case they haven't been officially informed) but I do know that:

John Pares (Wales) cannot run due to work commitments,
William Sichel (Scotland) is running,
Jim Rogers (England) is not running.  In Brive earlier this year he spoke of his desire to compete in the Spartathlon, which is also in September.

initial thoughts and questions

At least eleven national records from the 229 competitors shows what a high quality field it was.  Generally, 100 miles is seen as a good performance and at Tooting Bec the organisers try to have 25% above that distance, in Brive it was over 75%.

Eight runners over 250k, 43 over 225k, 100 over 200k.

Twenty one runners over 150 miles, 98 over 125 miles, 173 over 100 miles.

A true World Championship.

For my part there are a few questions:

- the temperature was consistently about 9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees F) below average. Did my heat training therefore have an adverse affect on my performance ?

- my plan was to start at about 7:45 per mile and gradually slow down to about 9:45 per mile at the end. Would I have done better if those figures had been 8:00 and 9:30 ?

- did I take my caffeine tablets at the most appropriate times, would they be better used when I feel a bad patch coming on ?

- cramp, why ?

Other thoughts/memories:

- the American woman, Amy Palmiero-Winters ran with a prosthetic leg but every few hours had to have the dressing on her stump changed.  She ran very close to 200km.  My hero for the race.

- Jim Rogers had been drinking beetroot juice for a week before the race. He ran a very good pb.

- my hydration plan worked exceptionally well.

- six portaloos for over 200 runners wasn't enough.

- the meals provided by the organisers before and after the race were excellent.

- the crowd support was absolutely amazing.  Hundreds of people lining the course, especially near the feed stations, made for a very special atmosphere.

I feel much more myself today, not running yet though - I'll save that for Thursday.  Hopefully the full race report will make an appearance in the next few days.

UK Team - ready to roll

Things have been moving apace recently.

I now have full details of who's in the team for Brive and who the management will be.  There have also been discussions about travel to and from the event and also communications from UK Athletics about anti doping, code of conduct, kit, etc

The men's team is:

John Pares - third at the Commonwealth Champs

Stephen Mason - fourth at the Commonwealth Champs

Richard Quennell - winner of the Tooting Bec 24 hr race last year

myself - fifth at the Commonwealth Champs (and second team)

Jim Rogers - sixth at the Commonwealth Champs (and second team)

The women's team is:

Sharon Gayter - winner of the Commonwealth Champs (and first team)

Marie Doke - fourth at the Commonwealth Champs (and first team)

Pauline Walker - seventh at the Commonwealth Champs (and third team)

The management will be:

Richard Brown, Eleanor Robinson and Adrian Stott.  All highly experienced but I think we could do with a few more bodies manning the refreshment tables during the race.

Training going extremely well too.  Ran 22 miles on Tuesday including a lovely stretch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal (and Hollins Hill !!!).   Yesterday I completed a hilly 22 miles fartlek style [6 mins hard, 4 mins easy, repeat].

Tooting Bec ... update

I've just seen the official results from the Tooting Bec 24 hr race and it appears that Richard Quennell was just short of 235 km.  Still a very good result for him though.

This means that the UK still has only two men over the A standard for the 2009 World Championships.  And now three men over the B (team) standard of 225 km, ie myself, Jim Rogers and now Richard Quennell.

This means, in theory that, if the qualifying standards for the 2010 World Championships remain at 2009 levels then John Pares and Stephen Mason will be automatically selected based on their performances at the Commonwealth Championships.

Then, if UKA decide to send a full team, they can choose one or two or three from myself, Jim and Richard.

Now, having achieved a personal best in my first championship race is surely a point in my favour.

I know I can improve on that too - I just need a chance to prove it ... in Brive next May.

I feel a bit better than I did last night.

world 24 hr challenge 2010

I've just been looking at the IAU website on which are the up to date world rankings - thanks to Andy Smith.

Looking carefully at the statistics shows that if those were the finishing distances and positions in next year's World Championship then the UK men would finish as fourth team behind Australia, Germany and Russia.

That is a fantastic thought and surely on that basis John Pares, Stephen Mason, Jim Rogers and myself will be selected for the race which is on May 13/14 next year at Brive-la-Gaillarde in France

team news

Recently there's been a couple of last minute additions to the England team for the 24hr race in next week's Commonwealth Championships.  The five men are:  Ken Fancett, Chris Finill, Pat Robbins, Jim Rogers and myself.  The five women are:  Sandra Brown, Marie Doke, Sharon Gayter, Vicky Skelton and Ramona Thevenet-Smith.

There are 22 runners in the men's race and 22 in the women's race from the following countries:

Australia (six men and six women)
Canada (three men and four women)
England (five men and five women)
India (one man)
Isle Of Man (one man and one woman)
Kenya (one man)
New Zealand (one man and three women)
Scotland (three men and three women)
Wales (one man)


A few surprises here:   Kenya - hope their guy isn't as good as the top 10k and marathon runners; only four countries have sent men's teams - increasing the likelihood of England being among the medals; no runners from South Africa (none in the 100k race either).

I would guess that the individual favourites would be Martin Fryer and Jonathan Blake (both from Australia) and Sharon Gayter (although Vicky Skelton isn't far behind).  Martin ran a fantastic 48hr race in Surgeres earlier this year to place second on the all time list with 433.686 km - his feet were a real mess afterwards though.  Sharon had a great run at Badwater [hope she's recovered].

Still relaxing lots - no loud music, no late nights, no stress ... and no caffeine.

bad weekend

Looks like John Pares had a bad run in Basel. I don't think he'll be happy with 133k. Ramona would, I think, be pleased with her 162k. Les Hill I think will be disappointed with 180k but where was Jim Rogers ...

My bad weekend has resulted in me having to take some drastic action to restore my sanity. More details another time.

The reasons for Sharon's bad run in Bergamo appear to have been of a medical/nutritional nature ... too much sodium.  Electrolyte imbalances over a long period of time when exercising can cause major problems.

chasing the distances

All the best to Les Hill, Jim Rogers and John Pares who are running the Basel 24 hr race this weekend no doubt in a bid to get a qualifying distance for the Commonwealth Championships.

As Les is Scottish and John is Welsh their performances won't effect my chances of being selected for England. Jim is English and although he had a bad run at Tooting Bec last October he is definitely capable of passing 225k to join Chris Finill, Ken Fancett and myself with the English qualifying standard.

I hope Les has a better time than his previous 24 hr race (Hull 2008) when he collapsed during the 22nd hour whilst in a good position - I don't think he ran again in that race.

Ramona Thevenet-Smith is also running ... hope she does well too.

Thanks to Nadeem Khan for posting the piece on the IAU website. I feel honoured to have my story on the site of the world governing body (I did find a small mistake when I read it but I think it's just a typo).

I certainly don't feel as if my life has been extra ordinary ... I'm just a lucky guy doing something he loves which he happens to be quite good at.

London entries

Twenty three miles yesterday. The first 20 were at 7:50 per mile and then the last three were at 7:17 per mile ... and it was easy. The whole lot took well under three hours.

Tempo run this afternoon - seven miles in 47 minutes. Not too difficult but the headwind in the last mile and a half didn't help.

In the post this morning came the start list, and other stuff, for the Tooting Bec 24 hr race in London. At first glance a couple of things are noticeable:

1) there are at least three other Englishmen in the field who are capable of running 225k, ie the qualifying distance for next year's Commonwealth Championships. The three are Ken Fancett, Jim Rogers and Chris Finill. I've just re read the selection criteria and it does specify that up to six men will be included.

2) William Sichel isn't listed even though his website is still showing that he's taking part. Obviously there's a mistake somewhere.

3) Sharon Gayter is on the list although she writes on her website that she only starting running again in mid August following a stress fracture.