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.

ULTRArace 100

This will be just a short, preliminary report - no doubt I'll gather my thoughts for a proper report in a week or two.

You know it takes me a while to get those things together.


A month or so before the race I set myself a target of 16h 30 and I was about 5 minutes ahead of this until about 59 miles when I needed an emergency toilet stop.  At about 69 miles I was sick three or four times.  When approaching the 80 mile checkpoint I tripped/fell and whilst dusting myself down, locating the pain, limping, etc I ran past the turn and continued for about three quarters of a mile before realising - this means I ran about 1.5 miles EXTRA this year.


Makes up for last year I suppose !!!


At 80 miles I was scheduled to finish in about 17h 20.


So I dug in deep and finished in 16h 41:16


Pleased with that for three reasons:


(1)  an hour quicker than last year
(2)  to run a very fast last 20 miles after those mishaps was very satisfying
(3)  UK Athletics wanted me to run sub 18 hours to prove my fitness ahead of September's World 24 hr Championships - just a bit of added pressure


Disappointed with only finishing second though.


Many thanks to Hugh Pearson for being a great crew person ... and to Rory and Jen for organising a fantastic race.  I only wish there were more events of this type in the UK.


And not forgetting those people who anonymously donated via PayPal using the link on the right.  I welcome your faith in me and hope that faith is beginning to be rewarded.

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.

headaches ... and other race news

After my last long run (Wednesday) recovery was progressing nicely when, about 7 hours after I got back home, I developed a headache.  Didn't think much about it but it gradually got worse and despite some ibuprofen before going to bed my head still throbbed when I woke the next morning.

I couldn't face a 16 mile (26 km) run in the rain with a pounding head so I cancelled that idea and went straight for the coffee.  Magic ... within half an hour my headache disappeared.  That got me thinking about the cause ...

I have had similar headaches in the past after a long run and my theory is that as the long run was in the morning I didn't have my usual caffeine shot (or three, in my case).  I guess my body was telling me what was wrong and now that I've heard the message I'm going to try taking some caffeine tablets during my next long run.

That is planned for next Wednesday when Hugh and I will be trekking around the Yorkshire Dales for 44 miles (70 km) so we can learn about how best to develop the runner/crew relationship and put into practise what we learn in my next race ... ULTRArace 100.  Only 8 weeks to go.

Which reminds me ... the organisers of that race (Rory Coleman and Jen Salter) have another race on the go at the moment.  A 16 day stage race from John O'Groats to Land's End which saw 11 runners leave northern Scotland last Friday ... there are only two remaining now as the other 9 have succumbed to injury and/or severe wear and tear, etc.  I've not been much interested in stage races before but I must say that I'm enjoying reading the race blog and I'm seriously thinking about giving it a go in the next few years - if I can find the £2000 entry fee.

William Sichel is still running well in New York's bad weather but it looks like he'll have to settle for second place this time although there's still a long time to go in that 6 day race.  He's now into the final 20% of the race though and I wouldn't be too surprised if he does end up winning.

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.

injury news

Just arrived back from seeing the physio at lunchtime today ... and the good news is that I've been given the all clear to begin running (sort of) next Monday.

I've got to start with alternating 5 mins running with 5 mins walking and after a couple of weeks hopefully I can begin gentle runs of around 6 to 7 km (3.7 to 4.3 miles).  That will follow a return to the physio on 11 January.

So, on Boxing Day I'll be doing some training outdoors for the first time since 16 November.  Fresh air at last.  Not far at first, I guess I'll be out for about 40 minutes.  And then I'll gradually add more outdoor time and I should be up to 60 to 70 minutes by the time I report back to the doc.

The visit to Rome University at the weekend went well and Keir was impressed with their history department but on the flight home he quietly confessed that he would prefer to study at Queen's University in Belfast.  Was it worth going to Italy for the weekend I ask myself ...

And finally ... congratulations to Jen Salter and Sharon Gayter.

This weekend

Just time to let you know about a couple of things happening this weekend in the world of ultra running:

First of all Sharon Gayter is on a treadmill at Teeside University going well in her attempt to record the farthest distance ever in a seven day period.  The current record is 753 km by Lee Chamberlain back in 2009.  All the news is on Sharon's website.

Then, over in Spain, there's the Barcelona 24 hr race.  I know there's at least three British runners out there - Heather Foundling-Hawker, Paul Hart and Jen Salter.  I wish I could be there but, apart from my injury, I'll be flying to Rome this afternoon with Keir as he's been invited to look around the university there as it's his favoured place of undergraduate study at the moment.  He'll be reading Roman History from September 2012.

I wish the Scots, English and Welsh runners all the best.

Finally ... Athletics Weekly have just published, in their latest edition, something I wrote a week or two ago.  This is a good move as the media do tend to ignore ultra running a bit.  For instance, in the same issue, they have a month by month review of the year in athletics terms ... but for September no mention is made of the Commonwealth Championships despite all the home countries medals (and world best performance).  Not had time to check everything yet but I hope there's no typos and that any photos have been correctly attributed.  My apologies if anything is amiss.

And then there's the Otley AC Christmas handicap.  The culmination of a running competition lasting almost twelve months ...