Charlie's Running Section
Many thanks to © Darren Aherne 2012 for picture from Cambridge Half Marathon, passing King's (click for full version)
Many thanks to © Darren Aherne 2012 for picture from Cambridge Half Marathon, passing King's (click for full version)
Click here to skip down to race results log...
I have niche videos on blood sugar monitoring, shoe experiments and ultramarathon/fell-running adventures here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCnNAoFmhpw2HTbJT9-pC_g
In July 2023 I was honoured to be interviewed by Ben Baldelli of Cambridge Endurance Sports Podcast. Here is my episode on Spotify and Apple.
The London Marathon is my annual big treat. One can do it every year by getting a qualifying time for a championship start (just behind the world elite!) or good for age place.
For London I use this spreadsheet to produce both a timetable of where I hoped to be at what time for the family (and where the elites would be too), and a custom dual-column (A and B target) pace band for myself. Do take a copy and put in your own target times. You can't rely on GPS distance in London so a pace band is vital! Now with a new sheet showing splits and average min/M allowing for downhill mile 3, which has always thrown me out a bit before now...
From this spreadsheet:
I run for the distance running section of Cambridge and Coleridge Athletic Club.
These latest club records are auto-extracted from the national databases thepowerof10 and runbritain, then merged with the official club track & field records that predate PowerOf10. The latest official version is now on the club website.
How and why I cut the heels off my race shoes -- click here.
And are those Vaporflys really faster? For me, yes -- by experiment.
Completing at least the last 100km of the Camino pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela is a recognised thing -- and struck me as an obvious ultramarathon challenge. Here's how it went for me in Aug 2018.
To make navigation possible for 24 hours, I created perhaps the world's first Garmin 305 with integral USB socket to allow charging on the go, which worked very nicely.
Unfortunately it then died in the rain just before my BGR! (Nothing to do with my mods :-)
Plastic bottles or paper cups, in races, always a topic for debate. Here's the best of both worlds. Someone please make these!
I scored 63 ml/kg/min in Mar 2016, hardly stratospheric, but not too bad for an old guy. See here for more.
If you also participated in the ARU marathon pacing study, click here for a utility to get heart rate data in CSV format from Garmin Connect data.
Ever get into that state in heavy training where you just run slower and slower but breathe quite fast? Here's an idea for what's going on at a cellular level.
I previously just referred to my powerof10 page, but recently (as RunBritain) they've stopped including many small races (if they can't find a licence number, true of those done through ARC instead of England Athletics). I do have an ARC page with some results (some only have gun not chip times though). But anyway, all my results are tabulated below. I also have a Parkrun results page and a German ultramarathon results page.
| Date/Strava link | Race/Garmin link | Time | Placing | Finishers | M |
U |
Notes |
| 21-Dec-2024 | Coldham's Common Parkrun (5K) | 19:13 | 7 | 241 | Quite windy today so did this off-road course for a change. Still had 6 mm track pins in my spikes, should have gone for longer ones for the muddy patches today. | ||
| 14-Dec-2024 | Storeys Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:12 | 23 | 366 | Happy with this as I had an ankle problem I feared might flare up when pushed, and enjoyed impromptu pacing duties for a stranger towards the end. | ||
| 30-Nov-2024 | Storeys Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:24 | 15 | 432 | Not a great time but more evenly paced than last time, and a bit of a breeze. | ||
| 17-Nov-2024 | St Neots Half Marathon | 1:25:48 | 73 | 1111 | A bit disappointed with the time, but good sociable racing. Undulating course, quite a stiff breeze but mostly found shelter behind others. Only 8th MV50. | ||
| 09-Nov-2024 | Storeys Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:11 | 17 | 450 | Just at the tail end of a lurgy, and legs not feeling great before or afterwards, so pleasantly surprised with the time here. Perfect conditions though. | ||
| 20-Oct-2024 | Yorkshire Marathon | 2:55:25 | 148 | 5329 | 45 | Named storm 'Ashley' coincided exactly with this race, but while we got drenched it was often not raining, and while the winds were strong I often managed to draft others, at least. Only a minute slower than London despite all that and a lighter training regime (but retaining the training marathons). 9th MV50. | |
| 28-Sep-2024 | Storeys Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:29 | 22 | 429 | Legs, especially right calf, a bit dull so not too bad. Great conds. 24M for the morning, York marathon now 3 weeks away. | ||
| 22-Sep-2024 | Ouse Valley Way Marathon | 3:13:35 | 4 | 72 | 44 | Low-key friendly multiterrain event I didn't know I'd held the course record for from 2016 (but not after today!). Continuous rain after a long dry spell made it muddier than I expected, and I made a bad choice of road shoes; I was slipping all over the place for much of the second half, maybe costing me 3rd place which I lost near the end. Prep for York, but I ran it harder than a normal training run. | |
| 22-Aug-2024 | Arkwright Royston club 5K (XC) | 20:35 | 54 | 312 | Inter-club evening cross-country, last of the summer 5K series, on undulating grass and chalk paths. My legs weren't up to much after a week of run-commute doubles, but I picked it up in the second lap having maybe been too conservative in the first. Great to catch up with lots of people. | ||
| 17-Aug-2024 | Coldham's Common parkrun (5K) | 18:41 | 10 | 311 | Nice conditions and fresher legs, fastest time here for a few years. | ||
| 03-Aug-2024 | Bug Hunter Waters parkrun (5K) | 19:15 | 13 | 262 | Sensed my legs weren't up to much today so tried this more distant parkrun for the first time, a ~7M run each way, 18M for the morning. | ||
| 17-Jul-2024 | Wimpole Belts ~10K club race | 44:48 | 14 | 83 | Nice social, picnic afterwards. I held back a little effort-wise anticipating the Fairlands Valley 50K 4 days later, but got Covid after this so should have raced it. | ||
| 06-Jul-2024 | Coldham's Common Parkrun (5K) | 18:59 | 3 | 151 | In DragonFly spikes again, bit breezy this time. | ||
| 03-Jul-2024 | Eastern Masters 4x200m | 2:05.9 | 2 (team) | 2 | Part of team scraped together from MV50s of any discipline still around wearing a C&C vest! Obviously had to start my watch before the first handover and stop it after the second, so both distance and time for me a bit uncertain, but I think my leg took ~32 s. | ||
| 03-Jul-2024 | Eastern Masters 1 mile | 5:30.0 | 7 | 17 | Overall placing for field including M35+, M50+ and M60+ runners. Felt hard but not as painful as the last mile I remember, maybe I wasn't hurting myself enough. Bit of a headwind down back straight. | ||
| 29-Jun-2024 | Coldham's Common Parkrun (5K) | 18:49 | 5 | 316 | My 50th parkrun. First use of DragonFly "superspikes" in lieu of the XC spikes I often wear here, and I did log the best WAVA score I've ever had on this course (though conditions good too, pretty warm but no wind and dry). | ||
| 23-Jun-2024 | Newmarket 10K | 39:27 | 7 | 191 | Disappointed with the time; felt I was blowing up near the end, but the bigger hills were there too so hard to say. Hot conditions but dry underfoot so the off-road bits were fine. Team & 1st MV50 prizes. | ||
| 15-Jun-2024 | Coldham's Common Parkrun (5K) | 19:52 | 7 | 300 | Quite breezy and an all-grass course, but still my slowest parkrun ever my quite some margin. Maybe legs not quite over Flaming June yet. | ||
| 09-Jun-2024 | Flaming June Half Marathon | 1:24:24 | 12 (excl DQ) | 210 | Multiterrain but generally dry, not super-hot like last year (but disappointingly no faster). 1st MV50, narrowly, after someone else gamely returned the trophy having realised he'd taken an inadvertent shortcut (but still in results). | ||
| 25-May-2024 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:03 | 23 | 476 | Identical to January result, pleased my legs able to do this after scarily debilitating DOMS after the ultra 13d previously. Tantalisingly close to sub-18 again but maybe that's impossible now. | ||
| 12-May-2024 | Shires and Spires Ultramarathon (~35M) | 4:49:51 | 3 | 120 | 9 | My initial pacing was way too optimistic for the 2600'/800m of hills and many very rough fields as time went on -- my quads were totally trashed. But I managed to stay relatively cool in the very warm sunshine with lots of water over my head and body, which I guess meant I suffered less than some of my competitors. 37 DNFs. | |
| 21-Apr-2024 | London Marathon | 2:54:19 | 2376 | ~53000 | 43 | A couple of minutes slower than I'd predicted, so a little disappointing, but as ever a fabulous day out. Was quite breezy but I felt I sheltered fine behind others so I don't think that affected me really. | |
| 10-Mar-2024 | Cambridge Boundary Run (approx marathon) | 3:24:12 | 25 | 253 | 42 | Just run as a social training marathon; almost continuous rain and a lot of bog in the second half this year. All good fun. | |
| 03-Mar-2024 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:21:17 | 424 | 13005 | Very happy with pacing, perfect conditions -- though I was rather hoping to be under 1:21, just over here. A great day socially, excellent club pub session afterwards. | ||
| 17-Feb-2024 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:18 | 20 | 554 | 18:16 unofficial. Happy enough as got myself boxed in congested start and legs not totally fresh. | ||
| 21-Jan-2024 | Cambs Cross-Country Champs (~10K) | 41:51 | 32 | ??? | Happy with pacing, conditions not bad (one boggy stretch, headwind in final straight). Course shortened since last time I did it, closer to 10K now. County medals for 2nd MV50 and first vet team. 16M for the morning. | ||
| 13-Jan-2024 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:03 | 14 | 486 | Perfect conditions, much happier with this than Oundle last week. 20M total. | ||
| 07-Jan-2024 | Oundle 10K | 39:01 | 21 | 256 | Happy with my execution, but rather slow, even allowing for the course being acknowledged long (I made it by ~200m). Prize for 1st MV50. | ||
| 23-Dec-2023 | Coldham's Common Parkrun (5K) | 19:24 | 2 | 223 | Slowest ever parkrun! Tough wind on home straight though. Airing spikes on this all-grass course ahead of Cambs XC in a couple of weeks. 20M for the morning. | ||
| 16-Dec-2023 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:02 | 27 | 404 | Pleased as legs didn't feel too fresh. Breezy but otherwise good conditions. 21M total. | ||
| 09-Dec-2023 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:52 | 14 | 277 | Very wet and windy, but even so a bit disappointed with the time here; have been logging some consistent miles lately, though legs maybe a little jaded from that. | ||
| 19-Nov-2023 | St Neots Half Marathon | 1:24:26 | 57 | 1001 | Not that fit (after recent calf problems) and strong wind, but effort about right and really enjoyed risking some tactical surges to gain drafts, pulling a couple with me. | ||
| 11-Nov-2023 | Newark Parkrun (5K) | 19:08 | 2 | 202 | First hard running for nearly 8 weeks because of calf problem, but no issues here. GPS trace looks good so course maybe genuinely a little long. Nice route though. | ||
| 15-Oct-2023 | Cambridge Town & Gown 10K | 43:58 | 376 | 2661 | Didn't race this, just took it steady convalescing from a left calf strain. Suspicions that the course was a bit short (I made it 6.10M as plotted online). (Later officially notified that it was short.) | ||
| 26-Aug-2023 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:29 | 23 | 331 | Not bad considering legs oddly wrecked by training mid-week. Nice conditions. | ||
| 17-Aug-2023 | Arkwright Ely club 5K | 19:33 | 45 | 312 | Beautiful evening, fairly rough course in places with knobbly grass and stony gravel. Probably a better performance for me, relatively, than the Debden one a few weeks previously. | ||
| 12-Aug-2023 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:39 | 16 | 288 | Bit post-Covid and dodgy ankle so not too bad; windy, but drafted well. | ||
| 22-Jul-2023 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:05 | 13 | 332 | Bit breezy and legs weren't feeling too fresh beforehand, so happy with this. | ||
| 13-Jul-2023 | Arkwright Club 5K, Debden Airfield | 18:11 | 63 | 399 | Decent hard course with only one really sharp turn (and a few stony patches), so a bit disappointed to be ~15s slower than parkrun recently amid the hubbub of a big club race. Lovely to see everyone though. | ||
| 02-Jul-2023 | Fen Gallop 10K | 38:55 | 11 | 209 | Quite rough in places (multiterrain) and windy, overreached trying to hold onto upwind draft. First stitch for about 30 yrs last 1K! Prize for 1st MV50. | ||
| 24-Jun-2023 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 17:55 | 6 | 287 | Fastest parkrun for a year and 3rd on my all-time WAVA list of all races. Muscles able to drive me to high heart rate for a change; stiff calves afterwards. Pleased with this, thought my sub-18 days might already be over. | ||
| 11-Jun-2023 | Flaming June Half Marathon | 1:24:27 | 4 | 151 | I knew this would be a race of attrition in very hot sunny conditions, which usually gives me a relative advantage, but I suffered myself rather with few opportunities to get wet, and felt a bit peculiar afterwards -- max HR at worse than marathon pace in the last few miles. Trophy for 1st MV50. | ||
| 03-Jun-2023 | Milton Country Parkrun (5K) | 19:04 | 8 | 291 | Disappointing lack of oomph compared to last week, legs not able to lift HR to similar levels this time. | ||
| 27-May-2023 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:02 | 12 | 342 | Legs surprisingly OK 13 days after Leeds (I have had some hilariously bad races a fortnight after a big marathon), fastest 5K since about a year ago and one of my better age-graded performances ever. | ||
| 14-May-2023 | Leeds Marathon | 2:58:46 | 43 | 8366 | 41 | Rather warm sunshine and hilly, but no wind, just 3 weeks after London. A huge fundraiser for Motor Neurone Disease in honour of Rob Burrow. I tried to run to heart rate whatever the gradient, fell behind sub-3 pace after a long climb to 20 miles, but then regained a couple of minutes in the downhill last 10K for a (Headingley) stadium finish. 3rd MV50. | |
| 23-Apr-2023 | London Marathon | 2:50:30 | 1507 | 53229 | 40 | Very happy with the pacing here, running around 143-144 bpm initially instead of my former 145 seemed about right, with even splits given the mile 3 downhill and a bit of oomph for the last couple of miles. Same WAVA as Cambridge HM would have been sub-2:50 though... | |
| 12-Mar-2023 | Cambridge Boundary Run (approx marathon) | 3:37:57 | 28 | 187 | 39 | Determined to take this easy as a sociable training marathon for London, to avoid the bad DOMS I had after the Cambridge half the week before, but even then I overdid it a little in the first half and blew up rather in the mud, wind and hills of the second half. Ran fasted and unfuelled since aiming to train not compete. | |
| 05-Mar-2023 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:20:08 | 347 | 11382 | Over a minute slower than last year, but again really happy with how I paced it. With an experimental extra insole in L shoe. Always a treat to see so many people I know before, during and after this race. | ||
| 18-Feb-2023 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:50 | 22 | 413 | Experimentally ran with 2 additional insoles in L shoe only, in an attempt to improve symmetry and avoid persisent R ankle problems. Felt fine but legs sluggish (also windy today), again couldn't get heart rate up to 5K levels. 23.4M for the day. | ||
| 28-Jan-2023 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:28 | 20 | 442 | Legs felt good in warm-up but couldn't seem to get HR up to 5K levels here. No wind, cold. First race of any kind for some time, have been rehabilitating cranky R ankle but recently embarked on marathon training. | ||
| 03-Dec-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:18 | 20 | 338 | Test run after a 3-week running break, then gradual return to strengthen ankle -- which was a touch iffy the day after this, but hopefully I'm getting away with it. Reasonably quick given lack of training and ~2kg weight increase since London. | ||
| 29-Oct-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:22 | 18 | 390 | Test run after a week off, trying to let cranky ankle heal. Ankle fine in this but still dodgy afterwards. | ||
| 22-Oct-2022 | Glyn Smith memorial parkrun, Coldham's Common (5K) | 19:07 | 11 | 300 | Great C&C turnout to honour the legend of Glyn Smith, before memorial do in Histon. | ||
| 15-Oct-2022 | Woodhouse Moor Parkrun (5K) | 18:59 | 11 | 456 | Undulating course, all tarmac though a couple of slippery corners and some congestion. First run since London. | ||
| 02-Oct-2022 | London Marathon | 2:55:58 | 1326 | 47006 | 38 | A minute quicker than I feared, but I've still slowed a lot in ~4 years. Shambolic starting arrangements: I was in Red wave 1, which was held back until Yellow had all gone, so I crossed the line 18 mins after the gun. The next 15 miles was spent ploughing through slow runners, up on pavements and even grass verges, or sometimes just getting stuck. Then my quads felt threatening so I had to ease off a little to preserve them. But still a grand day out. | |
| 17-Sep-2022 | Round Norfolk Relay stage 4 (11.2M) | 1:15:22 | 5 | 53 | East Anglia's version of Ekiden: a 17-stage, 200-mile relay. I intended to go at marathon effort but it was more like HM. Mainly off-road, but largely good surfaces with the exception of some bog. Ran back along the route and had a warm-up to make it 24M for the day, my last long run before London. | ||
| 04-Sep-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:24 | 10 | 310 | Intended submax effort but HR says otherwise, so no real excuse for +25s since last time. R ankle bit cranky though. First race since 2 weeks hot training in Barcelona (and a lot of heat here before that). 10K before and enough afterwards to make another training marathon, with London 4 weeks away. | ||
| 06-Aug-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:00 | 17 | 259 | Sub-18 by 300ms by my watch! 5M before and 18.2M afterwards to make it a training marathon overall. | ||
| 31-Jul-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:06 | 16 | 377 | Calves a bit wooden beforehand, so happy with this. | ||
| 17-Jul-2022 | Fairlands Valley Challenge Marathon | 3:23:36 | 1 | 28 | 37 | Low-key, multi-terrain, self-navigated, DIY feed station marathon. Not a race... but results published later in order of time. First training marathon for London, but I overdid it with quads stiff for days, after really noticing the modest descents. Hot conditions but managed to keep myself doused with water OK. | |
| 02-Jul-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:15 | 11 | 288 | Windy but drafted OK. R leg a bit cranky beforehand so happy enough with this. | ||
| 18-Jun-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:19 | 15 | 337 | Legs seemed a bit jaded despite previous day off. | ||
| 12-Jun-2022 | Peterborough Midsummer 10K | 38:46 | 20 | 458 | Not a great time, though the course had stretches of grass and stony path. Ill-advisedly pushed on a little early on, only to be reeled in by Matt Slater more wisely pacing Joey Colley to a PB. | ||
| 28-May-2022 | York Parkrun (5K) | 18:33 | 8 | 444 | A bit disappointing on this fastest of courses, but there was a bit of a northerly breeze. Official result given as 17:18 in error, notified them and later fixed. | ||
| 28-May-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:05 | 11 | 355 | Feeling a bit meh beforehand (and afterwards on way home, maybe still a touch post-Covid) so not too bad. | ||
| 19-May-2022 | Haverhill/Horseheath Hockeys 5K | 19:18 | 53 | 355 | A hard effort on a somewhat rough, stony course, though couldn't get HR to same level as recent parkrun. Nice social club do though. | ||
| 14-May-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 17:53 | 23 | 336 | Encouraged by last week I had another go, this time in perfect conditions. Very high HR for me (sustained 174 bpm near end, blip to 178). Fastest proper 5K since 2016. | ||
| 07-May-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 17:58 | 10 | 334 | Fastest proper 5K for years (and highest HR), felt good at end. | ||
| 30-Apr-2022 | Heslington Parkrun (5K) | 18:07 | 5 | 184 | First experimental race since Manchester. Been feeling woozy in the head for weeks since Covid, but this felt OK in fact. | ||
| 03-Apr-2022 | Manchester Marathon | 2:53:05 | 669 | 14170 | 36 | I was a bit anxious having felt a bit post-Covid this week, was even considering switching to a different marathon in a week or two. But actually I felt fine running, going through half way comfortably on a 2hr49 schedule. But then it started to feel a bit wrong, and the wheels really came off in the last 3 miles or so - felt like I might collapse in a heap before reaching the finish but actually survived OK. Odd tingly hands and headache maybe mean I was just "bonking", hitting the classic wall and getting hypo, something I normally avoid OK. Maybe that's a post-Covid thing in itself, or I neglected the carb loading a bit. | |
| 13-Mar-2022 | Cambridge Boundary Run (approx marathon) | 3:10:45 | 6 | 173 | 35 | I only intended a steady effort here as a training run for Manchester in 3 weeks, but got a bit carried away chatting and ran a touch faster than I should for a good chunk of it, resulting in a rather feeble finish (I didn't know it, but I may have already been affected by Covid at this point, too). All good fun though, very low key and well run by this year's batch of students. | |
| 06-Mar-2022 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:18:43 | 191 | 9889 | Pleased with this, my 3rd best race ever by WAVA (84.23%), despite not being the quickest of courses. I was lucky to draft a couple of tall guys into the headwind in the latter miles. 3rd MV50. | ||
| 26-Feb-2022 | Storey's Field Parkrun (5K) | 18:12 | 18 | 358 | Bit of a breeze, otherwise nice conditions. A bit slower than before Xmas despite (or because of?) recent marathon training. Less wrecked afterwards though, 20.5M total for the morning. | ||
| 16-Jan-2022 | Brass Monkey Half Marathon | 1:19:37 | 149 | 1409 | Perfect conditions, and went much better than I'd hoped -- I found myself running faster than expected at lower perceived effort, so was able to up the pace a little once I really believed it. Very strong field. 4th MV50. | ||
| 09-Jan-2022 | Cambs Cross-Country Champs (St Neots, ~6.5M) | 43:14 | 36 | 88 | Overcooked initially, reprieved last lap. Hard run Thurs probably still in my legs a touch. Nice to see people, anyway! Only 4th MV50, so no medal. Only 13s slower than 2 years ago though. | ||
| 26-Dec-2021 | Cambridge & Coleridge Boxing Day Race (4M) | 24:08 | 3 | 44 | Annual low-key club race, not many people because it was raining. Pretty happy with my pace as it was slippery, taking corners very gingerly and losing traction a little quite often. And full of Christmas food of course! | ||
| 18-Dec-2021 | Storey's Field (Eddington) Parkrun (5K) | 18:03 | 11 | 253 | No wind, tantalisingly close to 18 min threshold again. Fast course but for a few sharp corners. 1st MV50. | ||
| 11-Dec-2021 | Coldham's Common Parkrun (5K) | 18:38 | 10 | 215 | All grass with some mud but wearing spikes, so traction fine. 1st MV50. | ||
| 28-Nov-2021 | Bass(ingbourne) Belle 10M | 1:02:00 | 11 | 331 | Quite windy and an off-road stretch, though that was OK. Held back a little at times with a slight hip adductor niggle. 1st MV50. | ||
| 20-Nov-2021 | Eddington (Storey's Field) Parkrun (5K) | 18:02 | 17 | 366 | Surprisingly quick, though legs rather wrecked immediately afterwards. | ||
| 13-Nov-2021 | Remembrance Run Half Marathon | 1:22:42 | 2 | 61 | A bit of a leg test to see if they've forgiven me for the October marathons. Got round in a pleasingly steady clip without killing myself, so quite encouraged. | ||
| 17-Oct-2021 | Yorkshire Marathon | 2:51:28 | 61 | 3001? | 34 | Just two weeks after London, I feared this would be a bit of a disaster in advance, yet also had hints that my legs were surprisingly perky -- so I didn't know what to expect. Learning from London, I aimed at slightly lower HR (more like 143 bpm) and tried to avoid over-exerting my legs, which did feel a bit beaten up as time wore on -- but then I surprised myself by being able to turn up the effort (if not speed) for the las few miles without the nasty wrecked quads of my last outing. BMAF 2nd MV50 medal, though I was only 7th MV50 in reality! And run in an England Athletics vest for the masters competition. | |
| 03-Oct-2021 | London Marathon | 2:49:52 | 985 (masses) | 35833 | 33 | Haphazardly paced, but pleased overall. Training only suggested 2h53 but faced dilemma of whether to hold back a bit to save legs for England Athletics event in York 2 weeks later. Ran well within myself for 15M or so, but pace was better than expected anyway. Quads started to suffer from 20M though -- old 'safe' HR clearly needs revision -- so backed off to preserve my legs a bit for York. But with a mile or so to go realised I could get possibly my last sub-2:50 if I went for it, so sped up again to the end. A little windy in odd places but not really a problem. | |
| 04-Sep-2021 | Kevin Henry 5K (virtual) | 20:35 | 72 | 449 | Solo time-trial as part of 10M run. Problem with R leg/foot though less bad today. GPS trace well inside actual road loop, so time rather pessimistic. | ||
| 15-Aug-2021 | Kimbolton Half Marathon | 1:22:14 | 11 | 351 | Not quick in absolute terms but happy with pacing/tactics, taking places in the last couple of miles exploiting downhills, and great to race again and see people. 4th MV50. | ||
| 07-Aug-2021 | Kevin Henry 5K (virtual) | 19:34 | 33 | 423 | Hamstring better now. This was early on in an otherwise easy 27M marathon training run. | ||
| 10-Jul-2021 | Kevin Henry 5K (virtual) | 21:58 | 99 | 442 | I had a L hamstring problem, and then a problem with my L hip adductor. So this was a cautious modest effort at the start of a longer run (from the off, in case I had to call it a day). But got away with it, phew. | ||
| 23-May-2021 | Peterborough Marathon | 2:57:44 | 49 | 560 | 32 | Tried to follow my usual 'safe' heart rate but my leg muscles weren't up to it. Clear by about half way they were working too hard, and had to accept a kind of managed fade, with trashed quads last few miles. A bit of niggle back R thigh (nerve/tendon?), an ongoing thing. But wonderful to have a normal race, through town and public areas, not cancelled due to Covid. 2nd MV50. | |
| 09-May-2021 | Cambridge Boundary Run (Marathon) | 3:31:37 | ?? | ??? | 31 | Just a steady training run for Peterborough, but logged as a virtual race. But nobody ever collated the results AFAIK. | |
| 18-Apr-2021 | Essex Marathon | 2:53:59 | 27 | 134 | 30 | I wasn't very trained up for this (53 mpw avg before taper week), but after umming and ahhing did run it hard -- my first race in my home-hacked Nike NEXT%. Might be the only official marathon I get this spring, who knows -- those in towns might still get cancelled for Covid. | |
| 11-Apr-2021 | Frostbite 5M | 31:00 | 28 | 481 | Last in the virtual series. Mainly crosswind breeze, but helpful in places. | ||
| 14-Mar-2021 | Frostbite 5M | 31:16 | 41 | 535 | Virtual club race; mostly downwind, though with some awkward wiggles and final poor surface. | ||
| 28-Feb-2021 | BMAF Virtual 1 Mile | 5:35 | 257 | 1039 | British Masters Athletics Federation fun event. No wind. 34th MV50! | ||
| 14-Feb-2021 | England Athletics Virtual 5M Road Relay round 2 | 29:54 | 407 | 1033 | Straightish-line point to point with some wind assistance! HR properly maxed out though (max 168 bpm). 11th MV50. | ||
| 14-Feb-2021 | Frostbite 5M | 29:54 | 29 | 575 | Same as above, logged it as both events. | ||
| 10-Jan-2021 | England Athletics Virtual 5M Road Relay | 31:36 | 777 | 2465 | Another solo time trial effort round the Science Park. GPS track again systematically inside aerial image of road... | ||
| 10-Jan-2021 | Frostbite 5M | 31:36 | 64 | 610 | Same as above, logged it as both events. | ||
| 31-Dec-2020 | Peterborough New Year's Eve Virtual 10K | 38:57 | 8 | 254 | A solo time trial effort round the Science Park, cold but little wind. 2nd MV50. | ||
| 31-Dec-2020 | British Masters Athletics Federation (BMAF) Virtual 10K | 38:57 | 94 | 426 | Same as above, logged it for both events. | ||
| 13-Dec-2020 | Rememberance Run Essex 10K | 38:19 | 23 | 172 | A bit cold, wet, and windy, but great to race again and see people, this time on Debden Airfield. 1st MV50 (by a whisker) after results sorted out. | ||
| 13-Dec-2020 | Frostbite 5M (virtual) | 30:10 | 19 | 543 | Just the first 5 mile split of the 10K race above, so I could simultaneously count it as Frostbite. Chose the first rather than last 5M to be a bit less affected by the wind. | ||
| 08-Nov-2020 | Frostbite 5M (virtual) | 32:16 | 38 | 561 | A solo time-trial on grass, wearing spikes, for authenticity. | ||
| 18-Oct-2020 | Bedford Autodrome Marathon | 2:47:16 | 30 | 198 | 29 | I felt I hadn't really done myself justice 2 weeks previously and the DOMS wasn't so bad, so I decided to treat it as a hard training run and race again here. Perfect conditions and pushed myself a little harder for a much more satisfactory time. 2nd MV50. A very strong field again, given so few opportunities to race officially during the pandemic. | |
| 04-Oct-2020 | Big Flat Runway Marathon | 2:56:48 | 35 | 132 | 28 | Ran this a bit conservatively to be sure of securing an official 2020 marathon time to perhaps use as a 2022 VLM GFA qualifier. Fairly stiff breeze in one direction on the runway, but nice downwinds. Great to be able to race again. 1st MV50 (of only 5). | |
| 04-Oct-2020 | Virtual London Marathon | 2:55:06 | 389 | 43072 | As logged on my watch in the real race above, stopping it at an indicated 26.23M as a backup Strava time in case the VLM app didn't work. | ||
| 01-Aug-2020 | World Masters Rankings Virtual Half Marathon | 1:29:11 | ?? | ?? | Muscle problem returned after ~8M, so again throttled back a bit to hopefully avoid provoking injury. Also feeling unfit, and hot weather, quite breezy. But good workout at least. | ||
| 18-Jul-2020 | Virtual Kevin Henry 5K | 19:33 | 47 | 454 |
Muscle problem after ~1M, so throttled back to hopefully safe level to just score a club point. Was intending
to combine this with World Masters Rankings 5K event, but will try again for that now.
Never did try again as problem persisted, so submitted for WMR too after all. |
||
| 11-Jul-2020 | Virtual England Athletics 5K road champs | 18:03 | 443 | 1764 | A blast down the busway -- variable light breeze, helpful at times. 20th MV50. | ||
| 14-Jun-2020 | Virtual BMAF relay (5K) | 18:11 | 640 | 3284 | Warm, sunny, no wind. Happy to be a bit quicker than last month, in fact same as a track 5000m a year ago. Only 56th MV50 though! | ||
| 14-Jun-2020 | Virtual Kevin Henry Newmarket 5K | 18:11 | 19 | 480 | One and the same solo time trial as BMAF relay (above), submitted result for both races. | ||
| 16-May-2020 | Kevin Henry (Virtual) 5K | 19:23 | 43 | 505 | Feeling slightly unwell, so a submaximal effort for this one to at least score a point for the club. | ||
| 09-May-2020 | Open European Masters 5K Virtual Challenge | 18:27 | 93 | 346 | A hard solo run, no wind. 17th MV50. | ||
| 26-Apr-2020 | Not The London Marathon | 3:01:21 | Wanting to mark the day VLM should have happened, I made my first attempt at GPS art, sketching "Covid nurse-angel with mask and hat" in a marathon from home -- though it looked more like a Ghostbusters monster perhaps. Quite hard for a training marathon, but not full tilt, as I wanted to reserve any leg-damaging effort for races in future. Write-up on the C&C club site here. | ||||
| 05-Apr-2020 | National Virtual 5K Relays | 17:56 | 1272 | 2434 | Covid-19 lockdown in progress, so the national 12-stage relays were done as a leaderboard of solo 5K time trials. C&C asked for only sub-17:30 men to register (so I didn't) and there was no obvious vet competition, but when the results came out it turned out there were in fact 40+ and 50+ categories, annoyingly. I still did my solo blast up the busway -- admittedly tailwind-assisted -- so here it is. I stopped my watch ~7s late, running ~0.02M extra. Placing as it would have been had I registered (25th/373 MV50). | ||
| 08-Mar-2020 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:19:14 | 145 | 11260 | A bit quicker than I feared given the windy (but drafted OK) and somewhat twisty course, and think I set about the right just-sustainable effort level (153 bpm avg). Only 6th MV50 though, too slow for a prize. | ||
| 23-Feb-2020 | Stamford Valentine's 30K | 1:59:47 | 31 | 562 | Delayed by a week for Storm Dennis, but still windy, and quite hilly. Didn't want to sacrifice another week of training to a taper for a B-race, so this was quite decent after an 80M training week, even if it was only my York Marathon pace. Only 4th MV50 though (but only ~1 min behind 1st MV50). | ||
| 12-Jan-2020 | Brass Monkey Half Marathon | 1:19:59 | 129 | 1481 | Grim (rainy) but speedy conditions; better than I expected, as I'm carrying some Xmas ballast, and actually a couple of minutes faster than last year (but that was windy). £25 cheque for 2nd MV50 -- my first race in that category. | ||
| 05-Jan-2020 | Cambs XC Champs, St Neots (~6.6M) | 43:01 | 36 | 116 | Nice conditions, only one boggy stretch so used knobbly shoes instead of spikes. About the same time as last year, which then I found disappointing, but now just reassuring that I haven't got any worse in this one at least! Apparently my name was called later in the presentations, so should have hung around for the bronze vet team medal. Calves protesting so not much afterwards. | ||
| 14-Dec-2019 | Coldham's Common Parkrun (5K) | 18:50 | 2 | 225 | Bit windy; wet grass, but wearing spikes so traction no issue. Legs a bit reluctant in warm-up but felt OK once racing. | ||
| 07-Dec-2019 | Jingle Mile | 5:30 | 2 | 18 (race 4) | Low-key social occasion. Not very quick, but not quite as bad as I feared after post-York running sabbatical and almost no quality running since resuming. 5:29 by my watch. | ||
| 20-Oct-2019 | Yorkshire Marathon | 2:48:49 | 94 | 4310 | 27 | Oddly relaxed for a good part of it as my legs (or customised shoes?) were doing a bit better than my dismal predictions, so I felt gloriously unpressured, but still 10 mins slower than 3 years ago. Positive split of nearly 2 mins -- decided if my marathon performance days are numbered, I'd rather save it for VLM. Still tough towards the end though. | |
| 10-Aug-2019 | Stour Valley Path 100K (~102 km) | 9:44:35 | 3 | 107 | 8 | A big day out -- I intended to aim for a more even-paced effort than the few occasions I've run this distance before, but flunked it rather, running a bit too fast early, and blowing up horribly later (possibly letting myself get too dried out, improved a bit after the last checkpoint). Moved up from ~10th to 2nd before slipping to 3rd when I got horribly slow. Very well organised and staffed race. Extremely windy, more hilly than I expected, and hard going in places (and lots of gates). Nice long distance path marker post trophy for 3rd overall. | |
| 01-Aug-2019 | Kevin Henry 5K, Kedington | 18:34 | 26 | 349 | Taking advantage of fresher mid-week legs due to taper for 100K race. Quite a big hill in this. | ||
| 30-Jun-2019 | Ramsey (Abbey) 10K | 37:10 | 12 | 395 | Alone into wind quite a lot, and quite a lot of gravel and grass -- so probably a slightly stronger performance than Hatfield Broad Oak a few weeks ago despite the near-identical time. Supposed to be county champs but nobody turned up with the medals, though wouldn't have been in the running probably. | ||
| 22-Jun-2019 | Coldham's Common Parkrun (5K) | 18:27 | 9 | 312 | Not far off my track time last week, on grass here (but dry). Didn't feel quite maxed out until near the end, either. 2M before and 15M after to make 20+M for the morning. | ||
| 15-Jun-2019 | SAL 5000m, Stevenage | 18:11.62 | 6 | 7 | A bit windy, but not major, so disappointed not to manage 17:xx. A rare novelty to do a track race, non-scoring though, here for the Southern Athletics League. | ||
| 02-Jun-2019 | Flaming June Half Marathon | 1:23:47 | 5 | 465 | Easily my worst performance here, but in line with recent form I guess. Pretty warm morning, though that probably worked to my advantage, relatively. Decent even effort judging by HR. "1st" MV40 prize. | ||
| 27-May-2019 | Hatfield Broad Oak 10K | 37:04 | 22 | 1315 | Just over 2 mins slower than my best here in 2016, but given my form recently, and slightly higher weight, I guess this wasn't bad in fact. First try in my customised Nike Vaporfly 4%s, with chopped-down heels -- see this page for details. | ||
| 18-May-2019 | Coldham's Common Parkrun 5K | 18:29 | 14 | 294 | 3 weeks on from VLM; pace still poor for maxed-out HR, but feeling better than last week. 2.5M w/u and good 15M steady afterwards for a 20+M morning. Grass bit wet but not too skiddy. | ||
| 11-May-2019 | Waterbeach 10K | 38:49 | 10 | 193 | Relearning lesson that 2 weeks after VLM is too soon... Like Fen Drayton last year, felt OK for first mile maybe, then legs made it plain it was all a mistake. Chilled out a bit to treat as jjust good tempo training, but rallied a bit late on when there were a couple of people to chase. About the same as MP but high HR. | ||
| 28-Apr-2019 | London Marathon | 2:44:56 | 720 (+ elites) | 42436 (masses) | 26 | Training tests suggested only 2:46:40 but I couldn't bear not trying for 2:45; I let my HR hover ~148 bpm for first ?15M or so, bit higher than normal, but got away with it, and was (unwisely perhaps) on target for maybe 2:43. My R hamstring, troublesome for months, cramped quite sharply at ?20M -- I feared a DNF, eased a bit and fortunately it faded away fairly quickly. But my quads (and calves a bit) were suffering for the last few M. Reached 800m sign with 3 mins left so had to better 6:00/M pace on wrecked legs, v. painful, almost fell over the line but just made it. 10th consecutive sub-2:45 VLM at least. Cool conditions, a bit windy but generally able to shelter behind others where it mattered. | |
| 10-Mar-2019 | Cambridge Boundary Run (Approx marathon, multiterrain) | 3:01:07 | 4 | 399 | 25 | Disappointed to not race Cam HM last week and still 7 weeks to VLM, so I decided to run this a bit harder than usual, but not full on. Mayhem with course marking, definitely one where you want the route preprogrammed to follow on your watch. At least two faster guys finished behind me having gone the wrong way. | |
| 03-Mar-2019 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:37:51 | 1203 | 8356 | With a nasty cold in the head and rain forecast, I decided not to do this, and ran 20 miles the day before. Then on a last-minute whim I decided to jog round anyway, as the start is just half a mile from home and I already had a number. Started about 13 mins late with 3/4 of the field ahead of me, took it steady, and did a little more to make it a round 15 miles of marathon training. Surreal. | ||
| 26-Jan-2019 | SEAA Cross-country championships, Parliament Hill, London (~8.5M) | 1:00:03 | 505 | 1154 | Always worth it for the medieval battle-charge start; maintained high output according to HRM, but finishing 44% back through the field was a bit poor compared with 31% in 2017, though not far off 41% in 2016 when I also wasn't really tapered. Some very boggy bits for sure, but not as bad as some years. 20M total for the day from running to/from stations and a little extra. | ||
| 13-Jan-2019 | Brass Monkey Half Marathon, York | 1:22:10 | 120 | 1540 | My birthday treat (again). Windy this year, though mainly a crosswind, to be fair. Woefully slow compared to last year's miracle result here, but delighted that piriformis niggle wasn't an immediate problem, boding well for spring campaign. Still heavy post-Xmas. | ||
| 06-Jan-2019 | Cambs XC Champs, Priory Park, St Neots (~6.6M) | 42:51 | 52 | 139 | Horribly slow, but good to catch up with team-mates. With 2M warm-up and 11.4M cool-down to get to 20M for the day, out of penance for poor performance! | ||
| 01-Jan-2019 | Bushy Parkrun | 18:13 | 19 | 1156 | A holiday test of the piriformis-related niggle that's been bothering me since St Neots; OK in this, though worse the next day. Time not bad given holiday excesses. | ||
| 18-Nov-2018 | St Neots Half Marathon | 1:21:30 | 39 | 1384 | Pretty slow though conditions good -- in the middle of a deliberate training cut-back between marathon campaigns, so fair enough. Also some jip from R piriformis affecting back of right leg high up. Good to catch up with people though. | ||
| 07-Oct-2018 | Chester Marathon | 2:44:35 | 50 | 2820 | 24 | Oh dear, not good. I was part of the England masters team, but after this I won't qualify to do it again next year at least. From training I knew I was below par, maybe the Camino didn't help -- that 2hr42 even would be tough. Started at that pace in a nice group but faded somewhat from about 16M, legs really suffering by the end though managed to bag one consolation MV45 place in the last mile (but I was only 10th MV45 with all the vets turning out for the England competition and qualification for next time). | |
| 20-Aug-2018 | Camino Via de la Plata ~114km/71M | 13:15:59 | - | - | 7 | Not a race, but a solo adventure -- doing the last 100km+ of the Camino pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela is a known "thing", which naturally lent itself to a one-day ultramarathon challenge. Don't use this route! It was based on outdated GPX files I found online, which intersected a new high-speed rail line and highway... so that added distance and slowed me down. Also nowhere near enough hill training, so my quads were ruined, and some of it was on surprisingly rocky paths. But still -- I can claim to have done The Camino in one day. Full write-up and video here. | |
| 15-Jul-2018 | St Ives 10K | 36:42 | 10 | 403 | Very hot conditions again. I had hopes of bettering my recent Bedford time, but my heart rate was convincingly maxed out at this somewhat disappointing pace. Still, prizes for 1st MV45 and first men's team. | ||
| 01-Jul-2018 | Bassingbourn Half Marathon | 1:20:22 | 4 | 308 | Very hot conditions, but I was still slower than I should have been -- maybe because I was heavier than I have been since 2009, don't know why. "1st" MV40 and team prizes though. | ||
| 17-Jun-2018 | Bedford 10K | 35:32 | 13 | 811 | Hoping for what might be my last sub-35 min 10K given the fast road course, a pace I held for the first 2-3 km. But then I could tell it wasn't happening -- maybe turned out of a helpful breeze -- and lost a fair bit of time in the middle (was a bit of a headwind at times). Tried to up the welly in the latter stages though. 3M before and 12M after (feeling too easy?). 2nd MV40 (no prize). | ||
| 03-Jun-2018 | Flaming June Half Marathon (Histon) | 1:21:00 | 3 | 417 | Pretty warm again and very humid; aimed to hold a sensible even pace having blown up a bit in this last year. Managed that, and pleased to take a couple of places late on as others faded, but time not great. (Multiterrain, a lot of grass and a bit of knobbly mud, but all dry; more than 3 mins slower than 2016.) Painful blisters on outer edges of feet last couple of miles. No prize for 3rd. | ||
| 26-May-2018 | Cambridge Parkrun (5K) | 18:07 | 9 | 515 | Part of a training run with 3M warm-up and 12M afterwards. Generally dry but a few skiddy patches so the time wasn't too bad. | ||
| 12-May-2018 | Waterbeach Running Festival 10K | 36:15 | 1 | 195 | Much better than last week, and very nice to win, though not exactly a stacked field (odd, as it was a good fast course, cycling distance from Cambridge). HR became rather high for pace, but legs happier, still maybe a bit slow from VLM 3 weeks ago. Trophy for 1st. | ||
| 06-May-2018 | Fen Drayton 10K | 37:40 | 3 | 257 | Pretty awful really. After good Wings for Life races 2 weeks after London, I hoped I would surprise myself with a good race here, and felt great for the first mile or two, leading the race for a bit. But the wheels came off quite quickly, and soon found myself with protesting calves, racing heart rate... and not even running at marathon pace. Hot weather (but kept wet OK). | ||
| 22-Apr-2018 | London Marathon | 2:39:22 | 140 + 28 elites | 40158 + 31 elites | 23 | Always the biggest and best race in my calendar. This year was possibly a record high temperature for VLM, up to about 22 degC by the time I finished. I kept myself drenched with water, and had prepared with saunas and overdressed training, and was fine -- I had a ball, feeling pretty strong throughout and actually enjoying the last few miles, which shouldn't be allowed. But many people had a very tough time in the heat, hence my better than usual overall position (and 10th MV45). | |
| 11-Mar-2018 | Cambridge Boundary Run (multiterrain ~marathon) | 3:05:51 | 6 | 291 | 22 | Just ran this as a steady training effort for London in 6 weeks, though pushing a bit harder than I would in normal training in the latter stages for sure, partly because I had to get back promptly for a Mother's Day pub outing. Second half is quite boggy in places, so ~6 min +ve split probably fine for approx "even" pacing. Trail shoes. Official time ~15s longer than my watch time, oddly -- but course a little short probably! | |
| 04-Mar-2018 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:17:21 | 48 | 7025 | Bit disappointed to be almost 2 mins slower than in the Brass Monkey just after Xmas here, don't know why really. Results affected by people running under other's names but looks like I will probably be 1st MV45 though, surprisingly, so should get a trinket for that. | ||
| 18-Feb-2018 | Milton Keynes Winter Half Marathon | 1:19:54 | 13 | 1636 | Even as I started this I hadn't quite decided whether to treat it as a hard tempo training run or to actually race it -- with Cambridge in 2 weeks and 100M training in the week leading up to it, I was neither tapered nor wanted to hurt myself too much. As it turned out my legs were only producing marathon pace for a half marathon heart rate anyway, and then at ~5M I skidded in a corner, sustaining a lot of road rash (and a very scratched watch). Got up again and finished OK, anyway. 4.4M beforehand and 10.1M after for a total of 27.6M for the day. | ||
| 27-Jan-2018 | Peddars Way Ultramarathon (~48 miles) | 6:28:47 | 2 | 110 | 6 | This is almost a straight line from the centre of the East Anglian bulge to its edge near Hunstanton. Some tracts of road but also a lot of muddy track, and in this instance quite a few fallen trees blocking the route, and a flooded bit -- but also a nice tailwind. Held a reasonably steady pace until flagging a bit around 40 miles, but felt a bit stronger again for the last couple. Engraved prize medal for 2nd place. | |
| 14-Jan-2018 | Brass Monkey Half Marathon | 1:15:28 | 34 | 1478 | My birthday treat in York again, not an A-race but I did taper etc. A fast course and decent conditions (slight headwind on the way out but I was sheltered in a group, tailwind on the way back when I wanted to push on and take places anyway). Felt really good focus on the long straights and it only started to hurt when I really did up the effort in the last mile. Delighted to get best HM time since 2013, and highest WAVA ever of 84.86% (chip time). Also £25 for 2nd MV45 prize. | ||
| 30-Dec-2017 | Montsouris (Paris) Parkrun (5km) | 18:03 | 2 | 28 | Legs a bit jaded (though previous day off) and wearing old off-road shoes on holiday, so this was OK. Surprised to find British volunteer crew including director from Solihull and two other C&C runners! 3.7M to get there and 20M afterwards to make ~27M for the day. | ||
| 02-Dec-2017 | Jingle Mile | 5:13 | 2 | 6 / 36 | My second ever track mile, 5 years on from the last go. Good conditions, good company, good fun, but my calves certainly felt it afterwards... not exactly my distance but great to have a chance to try it again. | ||
| 19-Nov-2017 | St Neots Half Marathon | 1:18:19 | 8 | 1169 | Legs felt good, conditions fair, but I was just a couple of minutes slower than I hoped. Oddly heavy on the scales in the morning... I have a whacky theory that the OD of Marmite I had the day before meant I was carrying a lot of watery ballast! | ||
| 08-Oct-2017 | Chester Marathon | 2:38:53 | 18 | 2587 | 21 | My first outing in an England vest, for a big veterans' development match organised by England Athletics; taking up to 5 in each age group from each of 5 selection races (but not London) the England team totalled ~180 with ~20 just in my MV45 group, so I wasn't exactly hand-picked! But it made for a great field. I had a good even-paced race coming 2nd MV45 to a much faster Scot, but first MV45 for England (by a few sec). A few hills but also a lot of flat fast roads in good conditions. Highest WAVA ever (84.16%). | |
| 17-Sep-2017 | Ouse Valley Way Marathon | 3:06:08 | 2 | 102 | 20 | A fun low-key adventure this, some town bits but some muddy paths and knobbly grass -- and an awful lot of gates. Just a steady training run for me (for Chester in 3 weeks). No prizes. | |
| 03-Sep-2017 | Northampton Half Marathon (inc BMAF champs) | 1:16:19 | 5 | 672 | This was the British Masters Athletic Federation championships, which I'd taken the trouble to register for as it was reasonably local. A rival V45 got away from me in a group going a bit too quick for me, but after a lot of twists and turns and a stretch of headwind, I finally caught them on a nice downhill, so 1st V45 BMAF medal and race prize. Pleased with the time as it wasn't the fastest course. | ||
| 16-Jul-2017 | St Ives 10K | 35:56 | 9 | 590 | Kind of OK but not great time-wise; did share work into the wind on the airfield. 1st MV45 prize. | ||
| 24-Jun-2017 | Cambridge Parkrun (5K) | 18:00 | 8 | 537 | First time I've done this one in 5+ years, here as a test to see how unfit I'd got after a bit of easy time following probably too many big races in succession. Much better than I feared really; a minute slower than my best for this course, but that was so long ago that I should expect that anyway age-wise. | ||
| 04-Jun-2017 | Flaming June (Histon) Half Marathon | 1:19:44 | 3 | 503 | A group of 5 or so at the front; I tried to go with leader who broke away at about 7M but couldn't hang on, and that effort left me struggling, to be reeled in by another guy in last mile. HR rather high for pace (though this was multiterrain). Prize for 3rd but I think my legs are due a break from racing! 2 mins and 2 places down on last year. | ||
| 21-May-2017 | Meridian Ultra UK 100km championship | 8:11:34 | 12 | 37 | 5 | An officially certified, flat 100km course in pretty kind conditions -- my first experiment at the distance. I was feeling quite confident after Wings for Life, so I tried to hit the same WAVA% in this. Held a steady 7:30/M for the first 42M or so and it felt great -- but then the wheels fell off badly, and I reverted to survival mode for a rather painful last 20M. 2nd V40, and while I was about 25 mins slower than hoped, I guess it wasn't a bad first crack at it. | |
| 07-May-2017 | Wings for Life (60.58km) | 4:07:44 | 4 | 2842 | 4 | A highly enjoyable race -- I love this one, it's a surprisingly good formula (get chased by a car that sets off 30 mins after the runners, you're out when you're caught, last one still running wins and the results are ranked by distance). Really pleased to pace it well this time, holding a steady 6:35/M and legs were OK at the end. | |
| 23-Apr-2017 | Virgin Money London Marathon | 2:38:54 | 275 | 39349 | 19 | Always my favourite day of the year. Just 2 sec quicker than last year, a bit too quick in the first half (1min22 positive split but including downhill mile 3); paid for it with a rough patch with quads threatening to cramp from 16M, but then improved from about 22M with official splits showing last 2.2km in 5:56/M with a decent final sprint. 11th MV45. Highest WAVA score ever in anything (84.15%). Very happy with all this, and made 3 celebration venues afterwards... | |
| 05-Mar-2017 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:16:26 | 31 | 6887 | A strong SSE wind meant this wouldn't be the good absolute test of fitness I wanted. I sheltered OK behind others going south, but working harder than I felt I should, left quad a bit dicky initially; felt good for a few miles out of the wind, gaining on those ahead; then had a bit of a wobble late on, struggling alone into the wind again. Actually a decent performance in the wind (83.1% WAVA), but I hoped for better after about 8 weeks' marathon training. Made the schoolboy error of underdressing for the conditions and actually got cold, which won't have helped. | ||
| 28-Jan-2017 | Southern XC Championships, Parliament Hill (~9.1M) | 60:07 | 333 | 1068 | Forgot my HRM but pretty happy with how I spent the effort: a big initial push to avoid getting too boxed in after the first climb, then working hard for 2 laps, and taking a lot of places on the final lap. Some boggy bits but much better than last year (though longer from GPS). Lost places on uphills but gained a lot on downhills as usual. Only 7th C&C so didn't score; 31% back in the field, better than last 2 years. | ||
| 15-Jan-2017 | Brass Monkey Half Marathon, York | 1:15:57 | 35 | 1537 | My hopes were low after 3 weeks' lurgy-affected training, carrying a bit of Xmas ballast and a late night on the beers... but actually while my HR was high, my breathing was easy and legs were up for it, the course was flat and the weather was kind -- this was a couple of mins faster than I had dared expect. Pleasing. | ||
| 08-Jan-2017 | Cambs XC Champs, Priory Park St Neots (~6.6M) | 40:23 | 31 | 120 | Still a bit lurgy-afflicted, with a very high HR for the pace. In my better years I've come about 20th here, so not so good this time -- but did get a gold medal for being part of the 1st V40 team. Nice conditions and always a fun meet-up. | ||
| 31-Dec-2016 | Margate Parkrun | 18:13 | 2 | 64 | Been ill with a chesty cough, but thought I might be able to win this as the same guy normally takes it every week in a soft time. Played it well tactically in the wind, but being half my age, unsurprisingly, he outsprinted me easily at the end! From pre-plotting, course looked a touch long, and official clock stopped a couple of sec late too... | ||
| 04-Dec-2016 | Bedford [Wootton] Half Marathon | 1:17:17 | 7 | 978 | Great conditions so I had hopes of 1:15:xx, but I was kidding myself a bit and it was hillier than I realised (550' climb). Got the effort about right though, pushed on in last couple of miles to take a couple of places. Nice bowl for 1st MV45 prize. | ||
| 20-Nov-2016 | St Neots Half Marathon | 1:17:50 | 7 | 1127 | A bit jaded after a late night, started too conservatively with a tailwind, but upped the effort coming back into the wind in the second half to take some places. Too windy to be very quick. V40 prize. | ||
| 06-Nov-2016 | Bonfire Burn 10K | 35:41 | 3 | 920 | Better placed than expected, with a weaker field than last year. Stiff back before and after but was OK during the race. Tailwind on way out, but headwind on the way back, which I had to endure alone. 3rd overall and MV40 prizes. | ||
| 09-Oct-2016 | Yorkshire Marathon | 2:38:30 | 11 | 3831 | 18 | A PB, at my age! Nice conditions; I was huddled in a group of 3 into the slight breeze for the first half, letting myself go a little faster than target pace as my heart rate was low, so a bit of a gamble. I did suffer for it somewhat in the last few miles (approx +44 sec positive split despite more favourable wind in the second half), but not too badly. Cackling inanely pegging it down the (downhill) finish straight when the big clock told me I was definitely on for that PB. 1st MV45 prize. | |
| 18-Sep-2016 | Chariots of Fire Relay (~1.7M) | ~9:03 | 11 | 370 | Last-minute sub for Team Guilio, he of the Cambridge fashion store -- very stylish vest and entry fee all paid for! But with the York marathon in 3 weeks, I *had* to get a long run done, and needing to get back for family stuff most of it had to be before this race. Hence a 14M warm-up... after which ~5:45/M wasn't too bad really. I finished in 11th but the rest of the team pulled us up to 3rd overall and 1st vet team -- two trophies. | ||
| 04-Sep-2016 | Ouse Valley Way Marathon | 3:03:13 | 1 | 110 | 17 | Only intended as a brisk steady training run for York, but I couldn't resist staying in touch with the lead guy, who was also training for something else and eventually drifted back. Probably ran too hard for training but nice to win of course. Lots of kissing gates, knobbly ground, headwind etc, so this was a reasonably hard effort, though I tried to consciously slacken off in the last 3M or so. Not an officially measured course; GPS made it a touch short at 26.0M. | |
| 01-Sep-2016 | Kevin Henry 5K, Cambridge | 17:31 | 26 | ??? | In two minds whether to train through this (for York in 5.5 weeks), but skipped running commutes during the day so I could run it without being too awful. Not bad on marathon training weary legs, and great to meet up with what seemd like the entire club on a nice evening. | ||
| 07-Aug-2016 | Bridge of the Gods Half Marathon | 1:18:38 | 2 | 934 | Near Portland, Oregon, with our friends Ken & Andy. Legs a touch creaky still from mountain walking, and this race had ~1050' climb/descent. In the lead group of 3, there was a marshalling cock-up (we slightly paused to ask the way) and 3rd dropped off, but 1st pulled away when we got to the flight of 30 or so stairs on the route. 4 mins inside previous year's finishing time but 2 mins slower than this year's! Nice ceramic plaque prize. A lot of walkers. | ||
| 17-Jul-2016 | St Ives 10K | 36:09 | 5 | 432 | Bit disappointed with the time here, but then everyone found it slow in strong heat (but I've been training for that) and with a slow windward mile. My plan was to seek shelter going west into the wind, then run clear -- but I could barely hang on into the wind and lost ground to my fellows once we turned around. But team and MV45 prizes, and 2nd overall and MV40 county championship medals, so a great haul. Another 8M cool-down, too. | ||
| 03-Jul-2016 | Bassingbourn Half Marathon | 1:15:51 | 1 | 307 | Woo-hoo, another win! A faster course this time, still a mile of dried mud/grass but then all road. Quite warm so recent heat acclimatisation training probably helped. Broke up the pack with my downhill 'flying' party trick. Also got men's team prize. | ||
| 12-Jun-2016 | Histon Flaming June Half Marathon | 1:17:48 | 1 | 391 | Woo-hoo, a win! Quite a lot of knobbly (but dry) grass tracks so quite pleased with this time. Another 8M cool-down waiting for prizes, so about 22M for the day with a warm-up too. | ||
| 05-Jun-2016 | Bedford 10K | 34:31 | 9 | 751 | An approximate 17:26/17:05 split, so even allowing for first-half headwind I was probably too conservative initially -- on paper this should have been faster than HBO the previous week, but I didn't dare believe it! Great club turn-out, 1st MV40 prize. | ||
| 30-May-2016 | Hatfield Broad Oak 10K | 34:55 | 6 | 1216 | Identical pace to the KH 5K and Birmingham relays -- but over twice the distance, with moderate hills and a stiff wind... go figure. 1st MV40 prize (nice trophy and £20 cash). Very happy with this, feared I'd never get sub-35 again. | ||
| 19-May-2016 | Kevin Henry 5K, Ely | 17:30 | 26 | 329 | Identical pace to the weekend relay -- hoped to be a bit quicker with fresher legs. Not too bad though and very sociable. Farm tracks, bit bumpy in places but not bad. Bit of trouble left quad near end. | ||
| 14-May-2016 | British Masters road relays (MV45-54) (3 miles) | 16:53 | 41 | 206 | 13th team/48 counters. Gained 9 places. 5th/51 in stage 3, but only 41st/206 overall. Never flat but good downhills, uphills didn't seem too bad. Pleased as legs were still cranky the day before after Wings for Life. | ||
| 08-May-2016 | Wings for Life World Race | 55.96 km | 3 | 2002 (UK) | 3 | The whacky format here has a race start but no finish; a gradually-accelerating 'catcher car' pursues the field, and you're out when it gets you. Results are ranked by distance reached not time, last survivor wins, and everything is collated globally across 34 simultaneous races. I was happy with my 34.77M in 3:53:53 though pacing wasn't steady: put on a surge between 27 and 29M to seize 3rd place, but paid for it by blowing up rather from about 31M. 26degC unbroken sunshine but continual bottled water over the head made it bearable. No prize for 3rd, but delighted! 81st overall (of 100K+) and 7th MV45 (of 6K+) globally. | |
| 24-Apr-2016 | Virgin Money London Marathon | 2:38:56 | 256 (+45 elites) | 39057 + 45 | 16 | Delighted with this. Belatedly joined the high-mileage training craze with 4 weeks avg 112 mpw, then 95, taper. I knew my heart rate was very low at MP but didn't know if the low-quality training would leave my muscles unequal to the sustained race speed. Felt ridiculously easy for the first half, but after deliberately exploiting downhill mile 3 (in 5:36) I had a twinge in my R quad so was scared to push on in case it turned into a cramp. Finally did push on from about 24M with the last 2.2km at 5:56/M according to my official splits and the last 7.2km overall at 6m/M. 14th MV45 out of about 3300. Cool weather, bit of a headwind in places but not as bad as I feared. I was never really suffering, and the DOMS wasn't too bad afterwards. Tantalisingly close to PB from 2013 though! My highest age-graded score over any distance ever to date. | |
| 06-Mar-2016 | Cambridge Boundary Run Marathon | 3:08:36 | 9 | 232 | 15 | Low-key, just tootled round as a training session. Remembering I took 3 hr in 2011 I set off at that pace, but the calves felt a bit leaden after a bit (after VO2max on Fri eve), so I backed off to avoid wrecking my legs for my big planned training week. And anyway the 2nd half was a lot harder going with some good cross-country stretches, bit cross with myself for not pacing more evenly though. | |
| 28-Feb-2016 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:18:21 | 48 | 5308 | Not terrible, but not great either; a disappointment, given that this has consistently been one of my best races, and I put in a full taper etc. A quad niggle I thought I'd vanquished troubled me for the first 3-4M, then got better for a while, only to come back again at 9-10M. So I was maybe 2 mins slower than I think I could have managed right now. A great event though, very sociable afterwards! | ||
| 30-Jan-2016 | Southern Counties XC Champs (~8.7M) | 65:20 | 423 | 1026 | I messed up this week by trying to cram marathon miles in before I'd recovered from Folksworth, getting terrible plods. Rested a day or two but still not quite right for this, so made a long run day of it with 6M en route to get there, 5M home to make 20M for the day. I was 41% of the way back in the placings compared to 36% last year so definitely not great -- but an epic event as ever, loved the medieval battle charge start. Very deep mud for quite a lot of it. | ||
| 24-Jan-2016 | Folksworth 15 Mile | 1:32:21 | 12 | 421 | Not on the top of my game, but not too bad either -- reassuring that I've not really sunk into the pits then. 1st MV45 prize (by 10 sec). Quite windy and a few sharp hills, so this pace (6:09/M) might be in the ballpark of MP. | ||
| 03-Jan-2016 | Cambs Cross-Country Championships, St Neots (~6.6M) | 43:53 | 49 | 134 | Full effort but disappointing pace here, even allowing for the boggy conditions and some stiff wind in places. Did earn a county medal for 2nd vet team though. 8.3M afterwards to make 15 for the day. | ||
| 26-Dec-2015 | C&C Boxing Day Race (~4M) | 23:49 | 5 | 46 | Very low key club event giving everyone the opportunity to groan about racing with a bellyful of Christmas turkey. Strong wind on the way out, tailwind of course on the way back; significantly slower than last year though. Good social catch-up. | ||
| 13-Dec-2015 | Huntingdon Frostbite XC (~5M) | 31:51 | 24 | 381 | Cross-country but with one road stretch and some surfaced paths. Not very quick judging by my pace on the road bit and by who finished around me, but first C&C scorer as the club isn't bothering too much with this series now, and it was the morning after the Xmas party. | ||
| 29-Nov-2015 | Belle 10 Miler (Bassingbourn) | 1:00:24 | 5 | 348 | Another very windy one, so I ran unsustainably fast for the first 1.5M to stay sheltered, and put on another surge at about 4M to catch someone up. But other times were underpowered, not wanting to go it alone in the wind. Once more Makka came along so a backwards finish was inevitable -- by both of us this time! Prize for 2nd V40. Legs a bit cranky of late, probably give it a bit of a break before VLM campaign starts. | ||
| 15-Nov-2015 | St Neots Half Marathon | 1:21:14 | 14 | 1321 | I didn't quite give this full beans as my legs have been a bit cranky in training still post-Snowdonia, and could probably do with a break. Hilariously strong wind (gusting to 40 mph) but managed to shelter behind others mostly, and gave it full welly in the last couple of miles. Feeling less than sharp though. Won a team prize shield. | ||
| 24-Oct-2015 | Snowdonia Marathon | 2:54:29 | 12 | 1846 | 14 | An epic race with 2500' of climb and descent, but 95% on road. I'd trained well for the descents especially with a loping, "flying" gait, and that worked well. Had a bit of a niggle from my L hip adductor which slowed me a touch from around 12M and on the final climb. I also doubled back to pick up a cup I dropped, wasting some seconds. Big thing though was that the brief off-road descent off the last hill was fiendishly slippery and I was totally out of control in my road shoes, crashing onto my back twice and losing two places (regained one). Maybe cost me the V45 prize (guy 8 sec ahead of me). Arm needed stitching, but despite all that it was a real adventure and a very friendly race with great support. | |
| 19-Sep-2015 | Round Norfolk Relay stage 9 (~18M) | 1:51:26 | 4 | 54 | Once more the surreal experience of running down A-roads with a starry sky above, mist to the sides... and a van with a flashing orange light supporting me behind (thanks Fergie!). Third race weekend in a row, and trying to squeeze marathon training in mid-week, I feared I'd be embarrassingly slow here; but with Fri and most of Saturday off, my legs had freshened up enough for a respectable if not scintillating performance. | ||
| 13-Sep-2015 | Grunty Fen Half Marathon | 1:17:53 | 12 | 455 | Was hoping for a bit faster than last week (very light winds, flatter course) but maybe expecting a bit much doing 2 weekends in a row, also staying up and eating late at a party the night before. Beaten to V45 prize, but did pick up V40 Cambs County Champs medal at least. 1M before and 9.3M afterwards so 23.4M for the day. | ||
| 06-Sep-2015 | Wissey Half Marathon | 1:17:52 | 12 | 258 | I wasn't sure what to expect being a good 1 kg heavier than ideal after holidays, and my Snowdonia hill training has meant little quality flat speed work. And indeed the time here was a bit meh -- 2 mins slower than Cambridge in March -- there was a slight hill, and a bit of a breeze, but overall it was a quick course. But hey, it was also the British Masters and Eastern Veterans 2015 half marathon championships, so I secured silver and gold medals for the V45 category in those respecively. 1M before and 6M after to make 20M for the day, too. | ||
| 15-Aug-2015 | Keswick Parkrun (5K) | 18:48 | 4 | 140 | Inexplicably over a minute slower than at the end of last year's holiday (when I'd been enjoying very much the same excesses), but great to meet up with a couple of Sub-3 contacts beforehand who I'd normally see only at VLM. | ||
| 01-Aug-2015 | Borrowdale Fell Race (17M approx, 2000m climb/descent) | 4:03:15 | 95 | 266 | About 20 mins better than last year. This time I paced it more conservatively, took more fuel and some liquid, and the weather was kind so the rocks were less slippery. I knew I wouldn't be competitive here, so I made a YouTube video of it for posterity... | ||
| 19-Jul-2015 | St Ives 10K | 36:07 | 6 | 510 | I tapered properly for this to see -- at my age -- what I could really do over 10K now, but actually the wind was too strong (as often here) to be a fair test. A bit disappointed with the time having been caught alone into the headwind for the last 3K, but actually happy with how I raced it. 1st MV45 prize (and just held off the V40s). | ||
| 09-Jul-2015 | Girton 5K | 17:46 | 10 | 198 | A multiterrain village 5K that happened to be on my way back from work. Dry and pretty flat but knobbly, grassy and quite a lot of bends and wiggles, so while this isn't a great time, it was 'worth' more than the 17:32 on the track a few weeks ago. 1st MV45. | ||
| 21-Jun-2015 | Colworth Half Marathon | 1:22:48 | 4 | 221 | Another low-key multiterrain affair. I'd hoped to do better really; this wasn't a great time even allowing for the knobbly terrain (many field margins). For the first time in a race I found myself in some digestive distress for the whole second half, and was in no danger of gaining or losing any places anyway. Prize for first vet ("upgraded" to V35 as there were no faster V45s who hadn't also won a podium prize). Ran an extra 10M waiting for prizes, but still took it before the presentation started! | ||
| 07-Jun-2015 | (Histon) Flaming June Half Marathon | 1:19:45 | 3 | 454 | Low-key multiterrain affair, much of it on tracks (dry and flat but quite bumpy; not a certified distance I think). Led the race for the first mile or two, but two guys were with me and proved stronger. As the race wore on, my heart rate was higher than I'd seen for years, breathing hard too, yet my pace was terrible; could it be that all my blood was under my skin instead, trying to cool me in the strong sunshine, so it was all CV-limited? My legs weren't DOMSd afterwards so they clearly weren't being fully tested. Still, 20M for the day having added 6M waiting for prizes: 3rd overall and 1st V40. | ||
| 23-May-2015 | Cambs County Champs 5000m, Cambridge track | 17:32 | 9 | 12 | (Technically 1st out of 4 in the MV35 race.) Disappointingly slow, though I was reasonably disciplined about pace so I didn't blow up horrifically. County gold medal for 1st vet, though there wasn't much of a turn-out! And a couple of miles each way between home and the track too. | ||
| 17-May-2015 | Stockley Park 10K | 36:27 | 4 | 325 | I thought my legs were over the marathon by this point, but this performance was still rather disappointing. Set out optimistically quick in hindsight on the road bit; most of it was on decent tracks, with a few modest climbs and some loose surfaces. Nice prize medal (and bandana) for 1st V40 (though 1..3 were also V40) and I did get to stand on a podium! | ||
| 10-May-2015 | Dereham 10 Mile Race | 60:06 | 7 | 284 | Only 2 weeks after VLM but I thought my legs were pretty much OK. It felt OK to start with, and some kind wind and slopes helped, but reality then set in pretty badly! Nice trophy for 1st V45 though, and a few extra miles tacked on afterwards. | ||
| 26-Apr-2015 | Virgin Money London Marathon | 2:40:05 | 294 + 40 elites | 37559 + 40 | 13 | Best marathon age-graded score (83.4%) ever, but my long-stated target was for this to be my last sub-2:40 -- which I missed by a tantalising smidgen! Felt so stupidly easy for the first half, as usual, that I allowed myself to creep up to ~2:39 pace, but then the suffering ramped in from about 18M so a +49 sec positive split overall. 19th V45 (but incorrectly listed as V40). Cool conditions so relative placing poor (bigger guys not troubled by heat this time). A big (high mileage) training regime, no injury or illness, good conditions, so I couldn't really have hoped for more. | |
| 29-Mar-2015 | SEAA 12-stage Relays (long leg, 7664m) | 27:38 | 163 | 271 | Hilariously strong wind, and a cloudburst just as I began my leg turning my super-light shoes into what felt like wet clogs. Great team event though, and with a 4M jog from the Travelodge before and 15M total afterwards, a 24M marathon training day overall. | ||
| 08-Mar-2015 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:15:52 | 10 | 3597 | Windy today and with some sharp turns and U-bends -- the price you pay for being able to run through an iconic city centre -- yet for the second time this will be my highest WAVA score to date. Paced it much better than last year, aiming to start at 76 min pace and see how it went; and that proved bang on. Put on a bit of a surge in the last 2M to take a couple of scalps who've bettered me in the past, and felt good at the end. 3rd V40 prize. 2M before and 8M after to make 23M for the day, as marathon training. | ||
| 01-Feb-2015 | Watford Half Marathon | 1:19:37 | 35 | 1821 | A lot of sharp hills and a stiff headwind going out, though I sheltered reasonably behind others. Overcooked the first half a bit so I didn't get the expected negative split on the way back with the tailwind and net altitude drop. No prize; was 5th V40. So-so. Bit of right knee jip of late, noticed again after this. | ||
| 24-Jan-2015 | Southern Counties XC Championsips, Brighton (approx 15 km) | 62:50 | 305 | 857 | Never done one of these big regional champs before. The standard at the front was very high... but then I wasn't too close to the front! A continually hilly course; I was slow on the climbs but good on the descents, so kept trading places. Overall not a brilliant performance I think, but not too bad either. | ||
| 10-Jan-2015 | Essex League XC, Chingford (approx 4.7M) | 34:35 | 64 | 151 | The muddiest bog-fest I've ever run in! Legs pretty wooden from big commutes so I knew I'd be slow, but fancied a pre-birthday adventure. | ||
| 31-Dec-2014 | Ely New Year's Eve 10K | 37:15 | 20 | 590 | Not sure if it was the month's lack of speedwork or giving blood 48hrs beforehand, but this was a pretty rubbish performance for me! Very sociable though, and did extra miles afterwards to make 17M for the day. | ||
| 26-Dec-2014 | C&C Boxing Day 4M race | 22:20 | 4 | 75 | Low-key club jolly, nice to catch up with people. First fast running for 4 weeks since I twanged my thigh vaulting a cattle grid, great relief that it felt completely fine here. Heavy Christmas dinner the night before! | ||
| 16-Nov-2014 | St Neots Half Marathon | 1:16:02 | 5 | 912 | I wasn't intending to take this one too seriously after taking a last-minute number, the morning after a massive college feast -- the worst possible preparation. But actually it went surprisingly well as I gradually reeled in many who'd set off a bit quick early on. £20 for 2nd V40 and two flavours of team trophy won. | ||
| 2-Nov-2014 | Lode Half Marathon (curtailed to ~10.9M) | 1:02:50 | 2 | 198 | Police everywhere when I arrived: an illegal rave was blocking the course, which they hoped to clear in a few hours... but the organisers valiantly re-routed us. With no precise distance or pace to worry about, it was a proper ding-dong race at the front between four and then three of us; at about 9M, I failed to cover a move by KD, yelling "Do or Die" to my companion as I pegged after him. Second prize, anyway, and another 6M while waiting for prizes. | ||
| 26-Oct-2014 | Fenland 10M | 58:08 | 5 | 277 | I thought this was going to be a tactical one, with a strong headwind between 5.3 and 9.3M followed by a mad dash to the finish. So I went a bit faster than I wanted to early, to avoid being alone in the wind later, but we all split up anyway. Pretty happy with the time given the headwind miles. A faster V40 got a podium prize so I picked up £15 as "first" V40 and 3rd senior Cambs County Champs medal. | ||
| 12-Oct-2014 | Perkins Great Eastern Run (half marathon) | 1:15:31 | 36 | 3787 | Great conditions and a fast course but my ambition to bag one last sub-75 min half was just out of reach. I was really suffering for the last 3M, though it was only a +11 sec positive split. Actually my second best age-graded performance ever so it can't have been bad really! And good to catch up with lots of people. 5th V40 (no prize). PS very smart 1st men's team prize trophy recieved 1 month later! | ||
| 05-Oct-2014 | Abington 10K | 35:10 | 7 | 379 | Perfect conditions and a pretty flat course, so I was a bit disappointed not to crack 35 mins (getting too old?!). Trophy for 1st V40 and another 6.5M before presentations in prepartion for GER next week. Actual time more like 35:07, two laptops recording times and my result recorded from 'slower' one! | ||
| 14-Sep-2014 | Grunty Fen Half Marathon | 1:16:29 | 6 | 529 | Pretty pleased with this as I feel I still have a way to go in speed training. However, a distinct positive split, with the last 3M pretty slow. 1st V40 prize and team prize for a total of 65 GBP rare cash winnings; also 3rd senior CCC medal (and the V40 one was mentioned, but they'd run out!). | ||
| 4-Sep-2014 | Kevin Henry 5K, Cambridge | 17:02 | 17 | 333 | A bit miffed not to quite get sub-17 in good conditions. I greedily chose lighter shoes, and regretted it -- developed a nasty large blood-blister which was still with me for Grunty Fen -- and which hobbled me a bit towards the end of this one. | ||
| 16-Aug-2014 | Keswick Parkrun (5 km) | 17:41 | 3 | 119 | Just rounding off the family holiday... | ||
| 02-Aug-2014 | Borrowdale Fell Race (approx 17M and 6500' climb/descent) | 4:24:47 | 116 | 272 | An epic... I trained for this on the Grafton multistorey stairs and Castle Hill. Conditions were testing: driving icy rain on Scafell Pike, and a lot of wet rock. I lost a lot of time gingerly picking my way across the slippery boulders as the local experts streamed past, and was no match for their descent skills either. Took my own route on Glaramara when I should have stayed with the pack. On the ascents, I wasn't so bad, but was bonking by the last climb (Dale Head) as I just hadn't packed enough gels (should have broken into my emergency food). Skidded over a few times but only sustained bloody elbows. Disappointed not to be nearer the front, but a hell of a way to start the family holiday! | ||
| 20-Jul-2014 | St Ives 10k | 35:50.5 | 6 | 520 | Hoped to get sub-35 on this flat course in reasonable conditions (warm and muggy but only a light wind), despite my recent focus on hill/stair training for Borrowdale, so this was a bit disappointing -- even allowing for losing maybe 20 sec embarrassingly falling over off a kerb in the last mile! | ||
| 03-Jul-2014 | Kevin Henry 5k, nr Saffron Walden | 17:57 | 7 | 259 | Quite hilly and rather rough (but dry) paths with some right-angle bends and vegetation, so reasonably respectable if not electrifying performance. | ||
| 21-Jun-2014 | Southern Athletics League 5000m, Cambridge | 17:14.4 | 5 | 10 | I expected to be slow after a week that started with bad DOMS from the Linton hill, and 450m of stair training two days out. And this was about a minute behind PB. But I also got horrible deep blood-blisters in my rarely-worn (but very light) Pirhana SP3 shoes. Hobbled painfully home. | ||
| 15-Jun-2014 | Chilford 10k | 37:06 | 1 | 143 | Nice to get a win after 2 months of mending that post-VLM hamstring. A low-key 10k here with a decent hill -- good training for Borrowdale in 7 weeks, so I did some extra reps of that waiting for prizes. Total 15M for the day including a 3.5M warm-up and 5.5M cool-down. My Garmin made it 6.4M without showing any funnies in the satellite track, so the course may be a little long. | ||
| 13-Apr-2014 | Virgin London Marathon | 2:39:43 | 180 + 32 elites | 35819 + 32 | 12 | A touch slower than last year, but given my advancing years and a slight headwind I wasn't worried about that, and had huge fun (see photo page). Initially thought I could stick with last year's 6:03/M pace but that wasn't quite maintainable, despite a couple of good surges from 13 and then 23M after seeing the family. A sudden twang from my hamstring at 24.6M scared me into easing off the pace a bit, fearing otherwise I'd have a complete disaster, a pity as I was running very strongly just then. | |
| 09-Mar-2014 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:16:15 | 12 | 3316 | A bit slow compared to last year, but I started greedily fast, so I had to endure the pain of a bit of a blow-up in the last few miles; not ideal. Surprised to be placed so high though. 3rd MV40 prize. 1.4M before and 13.3M afterwards to make a big marathon training day. | ||
| 23-Feb-2014 | Action Heart 5M, Dudley | 28:56 | 6 | 440 | Intended to be an absolute fitness check, but crazy winds and significant hills mean the pace was all over the place. Started in 9th, got as high as 4th overall and 1st vet, but lost one, then exchanged places several times and ultimately lost out to the other vet to get 2nd V40 prize. (Two return tickets on the Severn Valley Railway, worth £36, and something we might actually use!) 3M before and 12M after to make 20M for the day. | ||
| 05-Jan-2014 | Cambs Cross-Country Championships, St Neots (~6.7M) | 39:27 | 20 | 117 | A minute faster than last year (when I was maybe a bit ill), but while I was happy with my running form, the actual speed wasn't particularly good (slowed down a bit with time). Two gold medals again for being in the winning senior (just!) and V40 teams. Good to catch up with clubmates. | ||
| 29-Dec-2013 | Buntingford Year End 10 Miler | 58:22 | 4 | 497 | Good to be back racing after a niggle-strewn period. First couple of miles involved tortuous sharp icy corners in housing estates, but it got better out of town (still some ice problems though, and mild hills). Nice 1st V40 trophy (as the faster V40s got 2nd and 3rd). Slow compared to PB, but OK given the course and my current fitness. | ||
| 15-Nov-2013 | Cambridge Fun Run (Science Park Relay), ~1.1M | 5:48 | 3 | 596 | A fun outing with work colleagues. I had the "glory" spot of winning the first leg -- after it all dissolves into a happy mishmash of slow fancy-dress runners on one leg and fast runners on later legs. First leg is also a bit quicker (no handover melee to escape), so I probably don't deserve the 3rd fastest listing in the official results. Calf sore before and after this though, so I binned the St Neots half marathon 2 days afterwards. | ||
| 06-Oct-2013 | Cambridge Town & Gown 10k | 36:01 | 1 | 560 | Nice to win! A £115 shoe voucher and trophy, too. But actually a bit of a disaster. After a fast start I backed off to protect my thigh from a slight niggle, then in the last mile I twanged my calf. Too vain not to continue and take the win, I finished cautiously, but was hobbling afterwards, leaving me almost certainly out of my big target GER race the next week. Looks like a small muscle tear. | ||
| 22-Sep-2013 | Leighton 10 miler | 58:03 | 2 | 203 | A couple of minutes off PB pace, but the course had some sharp hills, and my calves coped much better than Grunty Fen a couple of weeks ago. So I think I'm getting back to business on the speed front, with 3 weeks to sharpen a little more I hope for the GER. £30 voucher for 2nd overall. | ||
| 08-Sep-2013 | Grunty Fen Half Marathon | 1:18:35 | 12 | 575 | Ran conservatively as I'm still rebuilding speed after the summer, with an eye to the GER in 5 weeks, so 4 mins slower than PB. The last few miles were reasonably quick and comfortable though; 5 sec negative split overall. Won a £25 team prize and a county championship V40 medal. | ||
| 05-Sep-2013 | Kevin Henry 5km, Cambridge | 18:41 | 50 | 238 | Just taking it easy, with legs still a bit stiff from training, Grunty Fen in 3 days, and still rebuilding speed after the BGR. Good to see people though. | ||
| 13-Aug-2013 | Bob Graham Round (65.4M) | 23:06:28 | - | - | 2 | Not a race as such, but my own solo, unsupported crack at this famous challenge. Read all about it here. I was plagued with a shin problem before this, hence no other races over the summer, though that meant my BGR training wasn't in conflict with short races. | |
| 05-May-2013 | Suffolk Heritage Coast Marathon | 3:04:52 | 1 | 35 | 11 | A charming race with a tiny field. Nice to win of course, but I actually blew up spectacularly, losing nearly 2 mins/mile in the last couple of miles. Not sure why, either! | |
| 21-Apr-2013 | Virgin London Marathon | 2:38:46 | 147+32 | 34170 | 10 | (Listed as 147th in main results but also beaten by all 32 elites of course.) Very happy indeed with this; almost even splits. First 10M felt dreamily easy; bit of a wobble around 16M before kicking myself back into gear. A bit lumpy after that, but better than my best hopes. I can now die happy :-) Photos and video | |
| 10-Mar-2013 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:14:51 | 10 | 3391 | Very pleased with this, logging a slight negative split and taking about 5 places on lap 2. 2nd MV40 prize. Another 4M at moderate pace afterwards felt fine, though nasty blister afterwards. Gives me a backup VLM champs qualifying time for 2014 & 2015 too. | ||
| 03-Mar-2013 | Huntingdon (Hinchingbrooke) Frostbite (cross-country, ~5M) | 29:11 | 7 | 344 | Wasn't expecting much after my highest mileage week ever (80M), though with a rest day before. Quite pleased with this, and a decent sprint finish. 4M before and 6M after to total 15M. The start of my taper/sharpening week for the Cambridge half. | ||
| 10-Feb-2013 | Folksworth 15 (miles) | 1:29:30 | 6 | 380 | Started a bit conservatively perhaps, knowing my endurance was OK but speed a bit poor still, and to stay in the shelter of a group in the bitter wind; but gave it more welly in the second half with some fun tactical surges to catch and drop a couple of others, so it felt like a proper race. MV40 prize (as the 2 faster V40s took podium prizes). | ||
| 06-Jan-2013 | Cambs Cross-Country Championships, St Neots (~6.7M) | 40:30 | 19 | 121 | Started OK, but faded badly, and felt peculiar running the cool-down. Later realised I'm a bit ill (iffy ankle could do with a rest anyway). Still, two county medals for being part of winning senior and vet men's teams. | ||
| 16-Dec-2012 | Huntingdon Frostbite (cross-country, ~4.6M) | 27:30 | 5 | 373 | Club-only event; a proper traditional mudbath in places, but also some dry tracks. Pretty happy with this, though seem to be developing a tibial leg niggle after a good injury-free period. | ||
| 01-Dec-2012 | Jingle Mile (Cambridge track) | 4:56 | 2 | 8? | Very low-key club event; I'd never raced over a mile before, which is obviously a bit on the short side for me, but was quite happy to get under 5 mins at least. Maybe ~40 runners in all, in 4 batches. | ||
| 18-Nov-2012 | St Neots Half Marathon | 1:16:16 | 7 | 921 | Happy to put in a respectable if not electric performance as I had a calf scare, and wasn't sure I should start at all. Seem to have got away with it, though it is a bit sore now. Men's and "Frostbite" team prizes. | ||
| 04-Nov-2012 | Lode Half Marathon | 1:17:54 | 1 | 152 | Another win! (Albeit in a low-key village race.) Horrible weather; slipstreamed a guy to half-way turnaround, then chased the leader downwind, catching him only at 11M. Local newspaper story here. | ||
| 28-Oct-2012 | Fenland 10 mile, West Walton | 57:42 | 6 | 213 | Started well but the pace became poor as found myself alone with a bit of a headwind. 3rd Cambs County medal though. | ||
| 14-Oct-2012 | Perkins Great Eastern Run (half marathon) | 1:14:33 | 34 | 3431 | Phew! At last a sub-75 min half after all those ~76s. Nice weather and a good group to run with on a flat course. 3rd MV40 prize. Best result so far in WAGA terms (84.04%). Also this turned out to be the UK championship race, and we got hefty bronze medals for being 3rd men's team. | ||
| 07-Oct-2012 | St Neots Frostbite (cross-country, ~5M) | 28:41 | 15 | 389 | Respectable but not scintillating. We (C&C) won as a team, though I was only 4th scorer. | ||
| 09-Sep-2012 | Grunty Fen Half Marathon | 1:20:47.5 | 12 | 572 | First race since resuming training after my calf trouble, so I didn't expect much. Hot weather, and rather stiff legs afterwards despite the slow time, but I did pick up the 2012 V40 Cambs county champs half marathon medal as a bonus. | ||
| 15-Jul-2012 | Fairlands Valley Challenge 50k | DNF | - | ??? | Oh dear. Right calf had been stiff all week after Felsted 10k and BGR stair training. Started race comfortably but calf soon became a serious problem, so I returned to base early covering only 23 miles. | ||
| 08-Jul-2012 | Felsted 10k | 34:23 | 2 | 312 | First half a bit quick (17:02) though slightly downhill. Pleased to find a bit of extra oomph to reclaim 2nd in last half mile (though AM in 3rd would normally beat me easily!). 2nd overall prize. | ||
| 10-Jun-2012 | Bassingbourne Heroes Half Marathon | 1:16:08 | 1 | 412 | Woo-hoo, a win! MV40 trophy and £100 Sweatshop voucher. Nice weather. Started in 5th but gradually reeled in everyone who'd started ambitiously fast, taking the lead only at 8 miles. | ||
| 04-Jun-2012 | Hatfield Broad Oak 10K | 34:43 | 6 | 1106 | Same position and MV40 prize as last year; a little slower, and 30 sec down on PB, but feeling on much better form than 3 weeks ago. Started a little conservatively and then upped the pace. | ||
| 13-May-2012 | Dereham 10 mile | 58:39 | 5 | 180 | Started OK with the wind, but faded rather into the increasing breeze on the return leg; disappointed with the time. Caught by two in the last mile but out-sprinted one for the line. 2nd MV40 prize. | ||
| 10-May-2012 | Kevin Henry 5k (Impington) | 17:34 | 9 | ~167 | Inter-club event. Bit muddy and windy. Went off far too fast and wilted horribly. | ||
| 06-May-2012 | Lode 10k approx (~6 miles) | 34:23 | 2 | 47 | A low-key but very friendly village race. 1st MV31-50 prize. | ||
| 22-Apr-2012 | Virgin London Marathon | 2:42:38 | 260 | 36672 | 9 | My annual big treat. Thought I might have an outside chance of 2:40 but that 2:42 was more realistic, so I hit half way on a 2:41 schedule and then tried to hang on. Slowed a bit from 18, and had a shock slow mile 25, but overall kept my focus and it hurt a lot less than last year. Unbelievably though, I just equalled my PB of last year to the second, gah! Also beaten by 26/27 in the earlier elite women's race. Photos | |
| 11-Mar-2012 | Cambridge Half Marathon | 1:15:45 | 13 | ~2500 | Good even-paced run, new PB; great atmosphere; flat but twisty course. Timing chip problems meant I was missing from the results list initially and many others probably are still. 4th MV40 prize. | ||
| 26-Feb-2012 | Tarpley 10 mile | 57:02 | 2 | 223 | Quite pleased with this as I generally felt reasonably strong, though I was about a minute off my PB from last year. Beautiful weather. 2nd overall and team prizes. | ||
| 18-Feb-2012 | Cambridge Parkrun 5k | 17:24 | 3 | 300 | Not raced for a while due to more injury woes (an arm problem, then back problems), so this was a quick test of how slow I'd become... not as bad as I feared. With 2.5M to get there and 8.5M afterwards, 14M total run. | ||
| 27-Nov-2011 | City of Norwich Half Marathon | 1:20:02 | 22 | 2243 | First race after a couple of months on the injury bench, and a pretty strong wind too, so reasonably happy with this (didn't really earn the race number 7 I was honoured with though!). | ||
| 31-Jul-2011 | Southern Men's League 5000m | 16:24.8 | 4 | 18?? | (Technically 1st out of 3 in the 'B' race.) Pretty warm but only a light breeze; 8s down on PB, but reassuring after lousy 5000m 2 months ago. Paced much better this time. | ||
| 17-Jul-2011 | St Ives 10k | 34:33 | 2 | 460 | 2nd overall and MV40 prizes; would still like to go sub-34, but maybe it's just beyond me. About 20 sec slower than the same race last year, though the wind was probably stronger this time. | ||
| 03-Jul-2011 | Newmarket 10k | 35:02 | 5 | 181 | MV40 prize; felt like a strong run, but slower than I'd like. Reasonable but not super-quick course with signficant hill and an off-road stretch. | ||
| 26-Jun-2011 | Stortford 10M | 62:07 | 4 | 196 | MV40 prize but a disastrous run from 6M, possibly a touch of heatstroke. Some off-road. | ||
| 19-Jun-2011 | Huntingdon 10k | 35:37 | 2 | 386 | 2nd prize; mixture of good surfaces and some knobbly/muddy. | ||
| 05-Jun-2011 | Tilty Hilly 5M | 28:15 | 3 | 129 | 3rd prize; the clue is in the name -- not flat! But technically a PB. | ||
| 30-May-2011 | Hatfield Broad Oak 10k | 34:24 | 6 | 1248 | MV40 prize; undulating, hot weather. | ||
| 14-May-2011 | Cambs Athletic Champs 5000m | 16:51 | 7 | 7 | Last! Felt oddly underpowered and it just got worse. Windy, too. | ||
| 7-May-2011 | Cambridge Parkrun 5k | 17:01 | 1 | 217 | Nice to win, but I was hoping for sub-17... pretty dry course. | ||
| 17-Apr-2011 | Virgin London Marathon | 2:42:38 | 212 | 34804 | 8 | A PB, but my target was sub-2:40; ankle problem affected last month of prep. Became hot. | |
| 27-Feb-2011 | Cambridge Boundary Run Marathon | 2:59:26 | 2 | 144 | 7 | Team prize. Not really racing, just VLM training exercise; whole field did a little extra near Addenbrookes! Quite a lot off-road. | |
| 6-Feb-2011 | Bourne Frostbite (cross-country, ~5M) | 28:31 | 4 | 383 | Team event in nice woods, not too muddy. | ||
| 30-Jan-2011 | Reedham 10M | 55:57 | 3 | 401 | 3rd prize (fun shoe-shaped trophy) and a PB by 1 sec! Proper race amongst the lead group. | ||
| 16-Jan-2011 | Ramsey Frostbite (cross-country, ~5M) | 29:44 | 2 | 389 | Team event, did better than expected. | ||
| 8-Jan-2011 | Cambridge Parkrun 5k | 17:36 | 1 | 154 | An excuse to try out my 'birthday' X-Talon 190 shoes. Nobody challenging so didn't push too hard. | ||
| 21-Nov-2010 | St Neots Half Marathon | 1:15:55 | 4 | 855 | MV40 prize. Not the fastest course, so quite pleased; PB by 10 sec. Would still like to go sub-75 of course. | ||
| 19-Nov-2010 | Cambridge Fun Run (Science Park Relay, ~1.12M) | 5:49 | 5 | 441 | Probably not wise 2 days before St Neots! My watch said 5:45 (5:08/M). | ||
| 17-Oct-2010 | Abingdon Marathon | 2:43:09 | 11 | 707 | 6 | Perfect conditions and the most even-paced, controlled marathon I've yet run. | |
| 18-Sep-2010 | Round Norfolk Relay (Gt Yarmouth to Bungay, 20.06M) | 2:03:17 | 4 | 54 | Surreal 11pm to 1am stage alone along main roads, with long-suffering clubmates tailing me in a car with flashing orange lights. Actually quite pleased with this. | ||
| 12-Sep-2010 | Grunty Fen Half Marathon | 1:16:05 | 5 | 434 | MV40 prize (GBP40? cash) and 3rd Cambs medal (counted higher than V40). Windy (as usual). | ||
| 31-Jul-2010 | Souther Men's League 5000m | 16:16.5 | 4 | 22? | Not brilliant tactically (led a group instead of sheltering) but time pleasing. PB. | ||
| 18-Jul-2010 | St Ives 10k | 34:12 | 2 | 430-ish | 2nd, MV40 and team prizes. Quite windy so pleasantly suprised by time. PB. | ||
| 10-Jul-2010 | Norwich Lord Mayor's 5k | 16:26 | 13 | 81 | Amazing race: huge city-centre crowd waiting for Lord Mayor's parade hoodwinked into supporting a very small number of runners... including a big name or two at the front. PB. | ||
| 4-Jul-2010 | Shifnal Steeplechase Half Marathon | 1:19:47 | 4 | 161 | Done for fun as it was handy for Clare's folks. Slowed right down once I had the MV40 prize safely in the bag to leave my legs fresh for Lord Mayor's 5k the following weekend. | ||
| 13-Jun-2010 | Wymondham Midsummer 10M | 55:58 | 1 | 110 | A proper win! Had a huge ruptured blister in the last mile but couldn't very well stop when I was leading the race. Sped up nicely in 2nd half and only took the lead with a mile or two to go. | ||
| 16-May-2010 | Deepings 10k | 34:47 | 4 | 146 | 2nd MV40 prize. Faded rather in second half. | ||
| 8-May-2010 | Cambridge Parkrun 5k | 17:07 | 1 | 121 | Fairly dry course. On my own. | ||
| 25-Apr-2010 | Virgin London Marathon | 2:44:47 | 306 | 36500-ish | 5 | Wheels came off slightly in last few miles, but just squeaked inside 2:45 qualification for Championship start next year -- phew! Photos | |
| 21-Feb-2010 | Bungay Great East Run 20k | 1:14:13 | 5 | 500-ish | Got somewhat hypothermic in driving sleet. Nice glass trophy for 1st MV40 prize. | ||
| 16-Jan-2010 | Country to Capital (ultramarathon ~43M) | 6:03:15 | 3 | 90 | 1 | Epic event to celebrate 40th birthday; rain, ice, floods, fields, Wendover to London. 3rd prize. Planned and recorded Garmin course files. | |
| 27-Dec-2009 | Shrewsbury Severn Loop 5k | 17:02 | 8 | 151 | Two 180 degree turns but also net downhill. | ||
| 20-Nov-2009 | Cambridge Fun Run (Science Park Relay, ~1.12M) | 5:41 | 4 | 543 | 2nd team prize (medals). | ||
| 18-Oct-2009 | Abingdon Marathon | 2:48:54 | 30 | 406 | 4 | Problem with L shin and R calf but first marathon since I altered my running style to reduce cadence, which worked nicely. | |
| 13-Sep-2009 | Grunty Fen Half Marathon | 1:16:34 | 9 | 500ish | Started way too fast to keep with group providing shelter. Windy (as usual). New running style. | ||
| 19-Jul-2009 | RAF Marham 10M | 57:34 | 5 | 131 | Wind, rain, and a moderate hill up to airfield. | ||
| 12-Jul-2009 | Bushy 10k (Peterborough) | 35:04 | 4 | 405 | Pleased with placing. | ||
| 10-May-2009 | Halstead Marathon | 2:57:35 | 9 | 463 | 3 | Undulating; pretty hot weather. | |
| 22-Feb-2009 | Draycote Water Marathon | 2:59:55 | 1 | 100 | 2 | Unexpected win in debut marathon as adult; very windy, and poorly paced, with agonising last lap of the lake. GBP65 cash winnings. | |
| 21-Dec-2008 | Wolverhampton Turkey Trot 5M | 28:41 | 12 | 250 | Beaten by a guy in a Santa hat, but did get a seasoned turkey breast... | ||
| 28-Sep-2008 | Brompton World Championships, Blenheim Palace | 23:45 | 12 | 364 | OK this was a bike event -- suit jacket mandatory, start included unfolding the bike, then two scarily quick laps. A world ranking at last! :-) | ||
| 21-Sep-2008 | Chariots of Fire relay (Cambridge, ~1.73M) | 8:49 | ? | ??? | A sporting debacle; I ran for Churchill College but the committee decided I wasn't eligible, so our team cup was passed on to Catz! | ||
| 14-Sep-2008 | Grunty Fen Half Marathon | 81:58 | 27 | 500 | Very stiff legs after this and faded badly last 3M. | ||
| 02-Mar-2008 | Lode Muddy Marvel (~5M) | 31:07 | 5 | 159 | Cross-country behind Anglesey Abbey. | ||
| 24-Feb-2008 | Bury Nearly 10 (~9.4M) | 57:04 | 7 | 232 | First race of my modern career. | ||
| 23-Sep-2007 | Chariots of Fire relay leg (~1.6M?) | ??:?? | ?? | ??? | No details but found a medal for it, so I must have been there... | ||
| ??-??-???? | Hinchingbrooke 10k | 35:35 | 10 | 171 | Can't remember much about this but must be old because the results are hand-written! | ||
| 21-Sep-2003 | Chariots of Fire relay (Cambridge) | 9:03 | ? | ??? | Favourite bit is always sprinting through courts and archways of Clare College | ||
| 22-Jul-2001 | London to Cambridge Bike Ride | 2:58:59 | ? | ??? | Hurried back as George had chickenpox, from memory | ||
| ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ||
| Autumn 1994? | Oxford/Cambridge meeting Iffley Road, 3000m | 9:17.3 | 1 | ? | The only race I remember doing over a known distance at the tail end of university (everything else was cross country). After this I got horribly overtrained and so scuppered any chance for a Blue :-( | ||
| 12-Jan-1993 | Cambridge University league XC | 33:48 | 20 | 46 | Can't remember anything else about this | ||
| 05-Feb-1991 | CU Hare & Hounds relay | ??:?? | ?? | ??? | Organised when I was Churchill running captain | ||
| 15-Jan-1991 | CU Inter-college XC league Div 2, Grange Rd | 29:14 | 7 | 40 | ? | ||
| 17-Nov-1990 | CU Cuppers XC | 37:36 | 44 | 125 | ? | ||
| 24-Jun-1990 | Netherne 7 | 39:35 | 13 | 382 | My Mum worked there | ||
| 17-Jan-1990 | CU Inter-college XC league Div 2, Grange Rd | 29:02 | 5 | 31 | ? | ||
| 18-Nov-1989 | CU Cuppers XC | 36:39 | 21 | 105 | Can't remember anything else about this | ||
| 05-Nov-1989 | Ampthill XC (senior men) | 31:57 | 54 | 141 | Can't remember anything else about this | ||
| 25-Nov-1989 | 2nd-5th teams Oxford/Cambridge XC | ??:?? | ?? | ?? | ? | ||
| 25-Oct-1989 | CU Inter-college XC league Div 2, Grange Rd | 28:45 | 6 | 31 | ? | ||
| 16-Mar-1989 | Cambridge boundary run (half marathon option) | 1:32:54 | 4 | 19 | Wow this race has grown a lot since then! | ||
| ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ||
| 1983? | Masters and Maidens Marathon, Guildford | 4:12:?? | ??? | ??? | 1 | Ran aged 13 with my dear departed middle-aged, marathon-mad mum Bunty Wartnaby, along with Stephen Simmons and Mr Mansen the geography teacher... |