Annual Review - 2009

As usual for the last post of the year I intend to look back over the previous twelve months and briefly revisit some of the many highlights of 2009. I hope you enjoyed reading about them at the time and that this post refreshes your memory as well as it refreshes mine.

JANUARY
Announced my intention to raise money for Orchid by undertaking a (very) long run from Otley to London. Spent three weeks looking at maps and planning a suitable route before beginning specific preparation by using a headtorch for the very first time. I also spent lots of time writing letters and emails to suitable businesses in the hope of arranging sponsorship. I currently have two sponsors so all that time was worth the effort but overall things could be better on the sponsorship front. Perhaps the economic climate is against me at the moment. Very cold weather this month made training difficult at times.

FEBRUARY
The Run To London route was measured at 218 miles. The cold weather continued and in the middle of this month I caught a cold - my first since 2006. At the end of this month the website for the Commonwealth Ultra & Mountain Running Championships was launched and The Wharfedale & Airedale Observer published a lengthy article about the Run To London.

MARCH
Began assembling a dedicated crew for the Run To London. Ran most of the route checking for road works, diversions, etc. Sponsorship reached £1000 - all going towards research into the prevention and cure of men's cancers (penile, prostate and testicular) and at the end of this month Up And Running donated lots of kit, and some shoes, for me to use whilst on the long road south.

APRIL
At the start of the month I took part in the North of England 12 stage relay for my club - Otley AC. Had a very enjoyable day in Stockport where we qualified for the National 12 stage relay for the first time in the club's history. In the middle of the month Keir took part in a 5k race in Leeds as part of his Duke of Edinburgh (bronze) award - very proud of him.

MAY
Three women and one man represented Britain at the World 24 hr Challenge in Italy where Anne-Cecile Fontaine ran 243.644 km to fall short of the world record by an agonising 13 metres. Also this month Nadeem Khan wrote a profile of me for the IAU website detailing the Run To London. At the start of the month I had three very successful crew meetings in Leeds where I met many of the dedicated bunch of helpers for the first time ... I was very impressed by their dedication and willingness to give up their weekend to help me raise as much money as possible. And then I resigned (after almost ten years) as secretary of Otley AC and as race director of the Otley 10 ... the workload was becoming more and more unmanageable and the resulting pressures had meant that something had to give. Also attended an England Athletics ultra squad weekend where I met a few of my heroes for the first time. Interviews with Radio Leeds and Yorkshire TV Calendar followed towards the end of the month. Oh .. and then there was the Run To London.

Donations are still welcome at Bmycharity.

JUNE
Began training seriously for the Commonwealth Championships later in the year. There was also the Otley 10 where I helped at the finish for a change. This was followed a few days later by a large get-together of myself and many of those who helped raise well over £2000 for Orchid a few weeks earlier. Later in the month Assist Creative Resources decided to sponsor me by supplying Shotz electrolyte tablets, Shotz gels and Shotz energy bars - all very welcome for the race(s) in Keswick (and beyond). At the end of the month I ran a 5k race around a reservoir near Rochdale and was rewarded with an age-graded pb. Considering I ran 218 miles only four weeks earlier this was a big surprise ... as was the presentation by Andy O'Sullivan before the race.

JULY
Greg Mulholland MP tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons about the Run To London followed a few days later by phone confirmation that I had been selected to represent England at the Commonwealth Championships. In the middle of the month I had a bad race in Hull - I guess my body needs more than seven weeks recovery after 218 miles in 45 hours. At the end of the month I took part in the Washburn Valley Relay for my club.

AUGUST
The England kit (part of it) arrived in the middle of the month and I road tested all of it at least twice. Cannot be too careful about seams, good fit, chafing, etc in long ultras. Felt a bit strange though running around Wharfedale in England kit. At the end of the month I spent a week crash training ... ran over 160 miles and spent over 32 hours running, cycling, stretching, strength training, etc. A very tiring month.

SEPTEMBER
At last ... the Commonwealth Championships ... I spent five nights in Keswick and my race was on days two and three. Overall it was a very good few days and I was very pleased with my position and my team silver medal.  Less pleased with my overall distance though - I should have run at least 4k more. I know I can do that.

OCTOBER
At the start of the month a family member died and at the end of the month I spent a few days in hospital having a throat operation. Also in this month came the sad death of the brother-in-law of Helen Barber - one of my helpers on the Run To London. He had been suffering with penile cancer for a while but was hoping to run part of the way with me. Sadly he took a turn for the worse and his health then sadly deteriorated quickly.

NOVEMBER
Greg Mulholland MP tabled another Early Day Motion, this time trying to get the British media to give more coverage to ultra distance running. Spent this month slowly getting back to fitness after my illness and surgery.

DECEMBER
Finally got around to analysing all the lap times from Keswick. Set personal bests at 50k, 100k, 150k, 200k, 50 miles, 100 miles, 6 hrs, 12 hrs and 24 hrs. At the prestigious BBC Sports Personality Of The Year I was disappointed that the Commonwealth Championships were not deemed worthy of even a brief mention. Very bad weather this month caused the cancellation of the Otley AC Christmas handicap for the first time ever.
Overall 2009 was an amazing year with two big highlights. I'd like to thank everyone who contributed in any way whatsoever but particularly my sponsors ASSIST Creative Resources Ltd., FitnessFootwear.com and Alan Young for all his help and advice (for 2009 and beyond).

As for the future ... well May 2010 has the World 24hr Challenge in Brive-la-Gaillarde and in September there's the Perth 24 hr race (probably). The only downside is that UK Athletics won't select the team until February - so it's a case of keep training for now and hoping for that UK vest. Possibly fit in a couple of other races too but these are my 'target races' for the next twelve months.

If not this year then I'm confident of putting in a very good performance in Perth which will strengthen even further my case for selection for the 2011 championships.

Happy New Year and/or Hogmanay to you all ... and thanks for reading.

short race

Yesterday I travelled across the Peninnes to take part in a 5k race.  The organiser, Andy O'Sullivan, donated £50 to Orchid when he heard about my Run To London and he has since been wanting to meet me at one of the many races he organises.

In the Rochdale and Littleborough area he has organised hundreds of races over the past 26 or 27 years. They mainly range from 5k to 10k but are often around local reservoirs or in other scenic places.  They may not attract hundreds of runners - they are usually pretty basic (the race HQ is often a pub) - but the friendliness is always there.

Andy and I couldn't chat for long because, as race organiser, he was rather busy as you would expect.  Before the race though ... at the start line in fact ... there was a rather nice surprise.  He presented me with a boxed presentation salver. J ust like the picture but engraved with the words PRESENTED TO CHRIS CARVER FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO ATHLETICS.

Not sure what I've done to deserve that but I handed it back immediately [to look after until after the race].

The race in question was the Ken Taylor Cowm Reservoir Road & Trail Race. As the name suggests, Ken Taylor of Rossendale Harriers was also being honoured 'for his outstanding contribution and for being such an inspiration'.  He is also having chemotherapy at the moment as he has cancer.  Cowm Reservoir is about three miles north of Rochdale on the Bacup Road.

Anyway ... the race.  Began with half a mile uphill then two laps of the reservoir then half a mile downhill. Simple really.  The strong wind didn't help at all though and the narrow paths made overtaking difficult in places.  Reached halfway in 10:10 feeling strong, out of breath and expecting to slow slightly.  At the finish I couldn't believe the time - 19 minutes 15 seconds.  That means I completed the second half in 9:05 (5:50 per mile).  No idea about my position.

This time represents an Age Graded personal best of 17 minutes 28 seconds.  Something I'm very pleased about as it came only two days after my previous race and not too long after the Run To London.  Speedwork seems to be working OK then.

Updated the Personal Bests page too.

New Challenge

Charity Number 1080540

After the disappointment of December and having to withdraw from the race in Athens I've been thinking of another way to raise funds in aid of Orchid whilst using my 'ultra running talents'.

My main focus for this year is the Commonwealth Ultra Running Championships in September so anything I do has to part of my overall planning for that. I would also like the event to pander to my competitive nature ... and, for the time being, not involve huge sums of money travelling to the venue.

So ... I've decided that beginning on Saturday 24 May 2009 I'll run from my home town of Otley all the way to London. The approximate distance is about 210 miles (over the next few weeks I'll get an accurate measurement) and my proposed route can be viewed here.

For my competitive nature: in late May 1985 Mike Newton ran the following on the London to Peterborough road:
1) 300 km in 36h 26:29
2) 200 miles in 38h 22:15
3) in 48 hr he covered 363.228 km

Although these are not official British Records they are apparently the best recorded performances and it would be a good incentive to try and better one or more of them.

Also, they'll be an inaugural time for Leeds to London for other runners to aim for.

Well, that's my target for late May. Must get back to training now. There'll be regular updates regarding the route, how to donate and other relevant stuff about the run.

Bad News

Well, here we go with some sad news before Christmas ... as you all know I plan to take part in a 48 hr race in Athens and raise funds in aid of Orchid.

Unfortunately, events of the past two weeks have necessitated a change of plan. In order, these events were:

late Nov: announced plan to race in Athens
10 Dec: lost job therefore no means of paying for travel, accommodation, etc
18 Dec: major high street retailer offered to pay costs
23 Dec: said retailer pulls out of deal as they are now in administration
24 Dec: unless a business (or individual) offers to pay costs I'll have to withdraw from the race

So, there we have it. In a nutshell I cannot afford to get to Athens and back. However I would still like to raise funds this year in aid of Orchid so I'll have to think of something else ...

Apologies to all concerned but keep reading for updates as soon as I have them. If anyone out there has some spare cash (!!!!) please get in touch.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.

charity fund raising

charity number 1080540


Well here we are - the big announcement. Regular visitors will know by now that I plan to raise some money for charity next year. After much deliberation I've decided to raise funds in aid of Orchid.

Orchid is the only UK registered cancer charity to focus entirely on the male-specific cancers; prostate, penile and testicular. Orchid exists to save lives and suffering caused by these diseases by funding medical research and promoting awareness about them. More information can be found here.

The race I plan to take part in is a 48 hour race which is part of the Athens International Ultramarathon Festival 2009.

I'm sure you lot will give generously. Most of you know by now that I had cancer back in the 1990s (testicular which then spread to my lungs) so this is quite dear to my heart.

Right ... moving on ... the song lyrics on the last post. Well Alastair Humphreys got the first one correct. They were Nothing Else Matters by Metallica and Ain't Gonna Cry No More by Whitesnake. The latter especially has lots of memories for me ... when originally told I had cancer I couldn't seem to stop playing that particular Whitesnake album (Ready an' Willing). Must've driven all the other patients mad but it certainly helped with my frame of mind.

Another brilliant song which puts things in perspective is When A Blind Man Cries by Deep Purple.

Now then - why would Alastair Humphreys be reading this blog. I don't have anything in common with this adventurer type bloke except that we're both Yorkshiremen. He's twelve years younger than me and I don't recall ever meeting him ... if he does though I 'd be interested to know when and where. Anyway I wish him all the best for his long journey home !!!

All the best too to Steve Battle, Les Hill and Paul Tranter who are taking part in tomorrow's Rowbotham's Round Rotherham 50. I hope the weather is better than last year for you ... it can't be worse. Commiserations to Phil Robertson who has had to withdraw through illness.

Remember - Orchid exists to save men’s lives from testicular, prostate and penile cancers through pioneering research and promoting awareness.