Just when things couldn't get much better they took a turn for the worse. Over the past few days I've developed a rather bad cold. Over the past five or six days I've noticed my morning pulse getting progressively higher and higher and that's usually a sign of illness.
It hasn't been high enough to reduce my training in any way (until today) but yesterday afternoon the cold began in earnest. Streaming nose, tiredness, lethargy, etc. I immediately began taking lots of vitamin C as advocated by Frank Horwill and others. Not as much as he suggested but I realise now that I should have started the 'medicine' a couple of days ago.
One thing I have noticed over the past six months or so is that I seem to have forgotten stuff like that. I'm sure it will all come back once I get properly into training mode again - only another four weeks to go.
As mentioned above my morning pulse was exceptionally high - over 20 % higher than normal. So, I've decided to ease back on the cycling and strength training for a few days. The running, such that it is, is only at a very low level anyway at the moment.
One thing I have noticed ... England Athletics have put on their website details of an English 24 hr Championship - this year held in conjunction with the Tooting Bec race in London. There appears to be some confusion though because there are slightly different details on the two pages it is mentioned - here and here - and no mention on the race website (or on the entry form).
If this is the beginning of an annual English Championship then that can only be a good thing as athletes in all other disciplines have a national championship to aim for. For me it's just a shame I won't be fit enough to take part but hopefully it will be something the powers that be continue with - and maybe (hopefully) us it as a selection event for a home nations 24 hr championships. Or is that a step too far ...
At this point I should mention that I suggested a championship to England Athletics back in 2009 when I also pointed out that the list of English records did not include ultra distance events. Within a week or two some ultra records were included but, even now, the men's 100k is missing and the women's 24 hour (road) has not been updated to include Lizzy Hawker.
Showing posts with label Lizzy Hawker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lizzy Hawker. Show all posts
Saturday, 8 June 2013
Sunday, 12 May 2013
The race I didn't run
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.
"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.
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.
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.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
here we go ...
The trip to the physio provided some excellent news. The stress fracture to my left calcaneous has fully healed now and the achilles tendinosis in the same leg is well under control. So much that it's now easier to get fitter than it is to relapse ... so long as I keep up the good work regarding rehab.
That's ice, exercises and being sensible.
Elsewhere in the news congratulations to Lizzy Hawker who was recently awarded the title 'athlete of the year 2011' by the IAU. Mainly because of her outstanding run in Llandudno at the Commonwealth Championships where she set a new world best performance (24 hr road) of 247.076 km (153.526 miles).
The fourth issue of Nordic Ultra e-magazine is now available. Another good read, see for yourself on their website.
Yesterday Keir came home from school with the news that he and some other students have been selected to visit Auschwitz concentration camp in May as part of their history A level course. That will be an amazing experience for him and I know he'll get a lot out of that trip. It now seems very likely that he'll be going to either Queen's University, Belfast or Ulster University from next September ... so long as he gets the required grades in the summer's exams. We all know he's capable but it's just a question of proving it to the examiner.
That's ice, exercises and being sensible.
Elsewhere in the news congratulations to Lizzy Hawker who was recently awarded the title 'athlete of the year 2011' by the IAU. Mainly because of her outstanding run in Llandudno at the Commonwealth Championships where she set a new world best performance (24 hr road) of 247.076 km (153.526 miles).
The fourth issue of Nordic Ultra e-magazine is now available. Another good read, see for yourself on their website.
Yesterday Keir came home from school with the news that he and some other students have been selected to visit Auschwitz concentration camp in May as part of their history A level course. That will be an amazing experience for him and I know he'll get a lot out of that trip. It now seems very likely that he'll be going to either Queen's University, Belfast or Ulster University from next September ... so long as he gets the required grades in the summer's exams. We all know he's capable but it's just a question of proving it to the examiner.
Sunday, 11 December 2011
getting better daily
Well ... I'm no longer having any pain from my achilles and heel bone injuries which is a good thing. Still cross training hard but the most frustrating thing has been that it isn't a running injury. It happened when I fell down the stairs at home back in October.
Things are looking set for a gradual return to running at Christmas time but a visit to the physio in ten days will confirm that - hopefully.
The recent 24 hr race in Soochow seems to have been a hard one judging by Martin Fryer's comments on Facebook. Glad that he's captured a couple of national age group records though and I hope he recovers well. And a new women's world track record for Mami Kudo who ran 255.303km (158.637 miles). It appears that those runners who were used to the heat and humidity did best in Taiwan.
That makes for potentially a fantastic battle between her and Lizzy Hawker next September in Katowice.
I was under the impression that Soochow was in the frame to host this year's World Championships but it couldn't be done because of scheduled works at the university where the track is situated ... or have I missed something ? Obviously that all happened after the original venue, Basel, pulled out.
Also in the news this week ... a sprinter from London is seeking a sponsorship deal for the 2012 Olympics via eBay. He intends to advertise on the site with a reserve of £30,000 ($47,000) for which he will wear a sponsor's branded kit at training in the run-up to next year's Games. Full details can be found on the BBC website.
I like his ingenuity but I can offer any potential sponsor a similar deal at a fraction of the cost. Please contact me for details but in brief it involves one race in mainland Europe in May followed by the World Championships in September.
Things are looking set for a gradual return to running at Christmas time but a visit to the physio in ten days will confirm that - hopefully.
The recent 24 hr race in Soochow seems to have been a hard one judging by Martin Fryer's comments on Facebook. Glad that he's captured a couple of national age group records though and I hope he recovers well. And a new women's world track record for Mami Kudo who ran 255.303km (158.637 miles). It appears that those runners who were used to the heat and humidity did best in Taiwan.
That makes for potentially a fantastic battle between her and Lizzy Hawker next September in Katowice.
I was under the impression that Soochow was in the frame to host this year's World Championships but it couldn't be done because of scheduled works at the university where the track is situated ... or have I missed something ? Obviously that all happened after the original venue, Basel, pulled out.
Also in the news this week ... a sprinter from London is seeking a sponsorship deal for the 2012 Olympics via eBay. He intends to advertise on the site with a reserve of £30,000 ($47,000) for which he will wear a sponsor's branded kit at training in the run-up to next year's Games. Full details can be found on the BBC website.
I like his ingenuity but I can offer any potential sponsor a similar deal at a fraction of the cost. Please contact me for details but in brief it involves one race in mainland Europe in May followed by the World Championships in September.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
weather and running
Training going well so far and I'm pleased to report that I'm still here after two long runs (yesterday and today) in atrocious weather. Especially yesterday when we had heavy rain, strong winds and cold temperatures all day. After running around Wharfedale and Airedale it seemed to me that the former was much colder than the latter. I arrived home (I live in Wharfedale) with numb fingers which painfully thawed out over about two hours or so. Not much fun but runs like this make one stronger mentally. It doesn't seem so at the time but ...
Today was the same except it wasn't raining. I found a few large puddles and soggy trails though. Again not much fun but with a thermal hat and two pairs of thermal gloves it wasn't too bad.
In terms of the weather in this part of the world, the best day this week is forecast to be Wednesday ... the one day I'm not running. Typical bad planning. Not by me !!!
Congratulations too to Ellie Greenwood and Lizzy Hawker on their excellent performances in last weekend's World & European 100k Championships which were held in Gibralter. For GB to have the gold and bronze medals is truly remarkable - especially as those two runners could be said to be trail running specialists.
Reading the reports carefully it appears that the course measurement or route marking wasn't up to the usual standard and for much of the race the km marking were about 1.3 km beyond where they should have been. At the pace Ellie was running that's almost 6 minutes.
That's one problem we don't have in 24 hour races.
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