Amsterdam Marathon 2012 - The End of Season and Coming of Age

So here I am, one week (well it's now two weeks) after Amsterdam marathon how things have changed. Last week I saw myself as a supremely trained athlete, but now I'm just a drunken slob. I've had more hangovers in the last week than I have in the past year. It's acted as a nice reminder as to why I don't drink that often...

Amsterdam marathon served as the end of the season for me. Whilst the year has gone reasonably well with good improvements over the shorter distances, ultimately a disappointing result at Biel 100km left me needing a good performance to see the year go off with a bang.

As ever with the marathon the great debate over what pace to run the event was present during the build up. I ended up deciding I would go for a more conservative approach and aim to break the 2h40 marker and shock horror I would try and run an even race...It ended up that I would run a 3m45 per km pace, just because this was a nice round number and meant I could run through the maths a little easier in my small brain. I tend not to use auto-lap on the Garmin for races. It has a habit of getting out of sync with the markers, whilst I appreciate these are not always accurate themselves, it still annoys me when the Garmin beeps can get over 1 minute before or after the marker.

Anyway... the race, taking from Thomas Loehndorf's recent blog post I've give a 5km split account of the race.

The first 5km started with a little trepidation, however I was very happy to get going. I had been at the start for a while and I was starting to get pretty cold. The wind was a little cutting but once we got moving the temparature was spot on. Lots of swapping of position whilst the excited runners quickly realised that they had started a little aggressively.
0 - 5km : 18m50

The first 5km is on a loop that takes you back towards the start so it quite well supported. Got a nice cheers from the Wife and Mrs. A which was nice.

In the next 5km I had established my place in a group of around 4 runners, this group was to grow over the next few kms. Given the wind on the course, which wasn't really strong but could still have been significant having a group to work with would be useful.

I took first gel (of 4) at 8km, and would continue to take at 8km intervals. Aid stations were getting beasted, getting isotonic, water and sponges (to wash isotonic out of my eyes) at each station.
5 - 10km : 18m41

In the next section I was becoming conscious that the 3m45 per km was not feeling as easy as I would like. Breathing was fine but it wasn't ticking over quite as easy as I would like. I was also conscious that I was sitting in a group and not really doing any of the work. I don't believe that running at the front was physically that much harder, even though there was some wind. It is more that it is mentally much more easy to sit and follow someone oppose to set the pace (which was some reason felt a real responsibility).

In this section there was a 180 degree turn which meant we turned to face the wind. Here I decided I would take a turn to lead the group. I continued to lead us out of the city and down the river Amstel. This was an exposed piece of the course with a tail and cross wind. We discussed in the group that we should try and stick together. We would turn around and run back up the river and therefore into a head wind in a few kilometers and so having a group would make life easier for all.
10 - 15km : 18m42

I wish these guys had kept up...

As a group we continued to run down the river. Was certainly feeling a bit difficult and even though I pushed harder we were only just managed to maintain the pace. I took the lead of the group again and we managed to maintain the pace. The runners kept asking "still 3m45 pace?", the answer was unfortunately yes. I guess they were starting to struggle a little bit too. I led the group all the way down to the bridge, where we crossed the river and turn backed into the headwind. Over the bridge I dropped the whole group, without even trying. I looked back and I had put 5 meters into them just going up a small ramp and going 50 meters or so. This wasn't good. I really had to think about what to do here. Do I slow down, merge back into the group and work our way up the river with protection from the wind. Or do I go it alone, take a bit of a risk and accept that the clowns behind me were just not cut out for the sub 2h40 pace we were running.

Having towed them from the past 2km or so I decided it was time to go alone, whilst I really wanted to work with a group, I felt that these runners were probably going to hinder me more than help me.
15 - 20km : 18m54

This was hard work running up the river on my own. I concentrated on a few of the runners ahead of me, which I seemed to take past with relative ease. It seems that already some runners were starting to struggle with the early pace that had been set.

I had spent the whole of this section concentrating on getting off of the river and back into the relative shelter of the buildings in the city. At around 25km the river was over and we passed under a tunnel which had lots of supporters. A bit of posing for the crowd really lifted my spirits. Apologies to the wife and Mrs. A who I totally missed here...they had apparently walked a full 4km to get there :-)
20 - 25km : 18m48

I spent this section trying to reel in a couple of runners who were running together and seemed to be working well. It was a real push to catch them, but catch them I did.

I love running...

I also saw my friend Donnino out on the course, he ran along with me for 200m, we had a bit of a laugh, I was telling him how good looking he was and that he aroused me...the crowd thought this was very funny and gave me another energy boost.
25 - 30km : 18m39

Having caught the two runners ahead I had to spend 2-3 minutes composing myself. I wanted to work with the 2 runners but I had expelled a lot of energy getting to this point.

Once recovered I moved to the front. At this point I realised that the group of two had not been working together at all, in fact one runner had been towing the other and now that I joined the group the second runner was dropped pretty quickly.

So we were back down to two and we were running strongly together. My Garmin watch had decided to freeze on the battery life screen so I no longer had any feedback on the pace. I knew we were running strongly.
30 - 35km : 18m44

I had to resist the desire to push on during the last 5km, I felt strong but it was still too early to do anything silly.

We got to 37km and the wheels were still rolling. I said to the other runner "we've done it, we've made it to the end". Whilst this was maybe quite premature, but with a little over 3 miles to go I knew even if it unravelled from here we were on for a good time.

He responded "I'll race you over the last 5km". When we promptly sped up.
35 - 40km : 18m23

No, I really love running...it's so much fun

All a bit of a blur, I knew I was passing runners. I knew my back and lungs were tightening up and that I was starting to feel a little like vomiting. But I passed the 40km marker in under 2h30. Too tired to work out the maths at this point, but I certainly wasn't content with "just" a sub 2h40 and I knew if I finished strong I would break by some margin.

Kept on pushing through "the zombie zone", lots of runners falling apart and for a change I wasn't one of them!

Before I knew it I was in the track in the Olympic stadium, I felt at home back on the track where I had done so much of my training in the build up.

Never had I felt like that at the end of a marathon still pushing hard all the way to the finish line.
40 - Finish : 8m06
Result : 2h37m47

Some interesting facts about this run.

1) My Dad predicted my race result as 2h37m48, 1 second over my actual time...he of little faith.

2) When you put 2h37m47 into the Macmillian pace calculator it suggests you should be able to run a 16m12 5km (which is incidentially my current PB)

3) I ran a negative split, Kevin ran a negative. We got quite drunk after the race.

4) Emily and Mrs A must've walked at least 8km whilst spectating...

Massive congratulations to the Armstrong brothers on fantastic performances and to the wives for coming and spectating. An endurance sport in its own right.

Everyone loves finishing in an empty stadium...it makes you realise truly how rubbish you are.

Biel 100km - Race Report

A few weeks have passed since I ran in the 'Night of Nights'. Biel 100km is one of the world's classic ultramarathons and I was privileged to be on the start line.

I traveled to Switzerland for this race on Wednesday. The race started on Friday night at 10pm, so this gave me a little time to settle in, but not too much time I was twiddling my thumbs. I was lucky to stay with a Swiss friend which really made for a relaxing build up. No worrying about eating out, staying in a hotel. It was all very relaxed.

I spent Thursday wandering around Zurich. This is my fifth visit to the city and I still love this place. Swiss life really does have an appeal in my opinion. I wandered down to the lake, seen of three Ironman attempts (2 finishes and one spectacular bike crash). This bought back some special memories and I was somewhat sad that on this occasion my family were not with me. Going into a 100km race maybe this was not the time to be getting all sentimental.

Carbo-loading in central Zurich.

As part of this race I had been on a caffeine ban which meant I was using more than my fair share of decaf Nespresso pods at the apartment I was staying in, so I headed to the Nespresso store to re-stock. Even with the shocking exchange rate these came out at a similar price to back home which suprised me...yes I was pretty bored on the Thursday, this was maybe the most exciting to have happened to me.

Friday was a particularly a challenging day. Usually race day comes, you eat some breakfast, drink a coffee and get ready to go. When the race starts at 10pm...race day really really drags on. You wake up...have some breakfast...think about the race....wait...have some lunch....wait...think about the race...well you get the idea. Myself and Donnino (Alain's flat mate and fellow competitor) went for coffee on Friday afternoon at Canal Grande. We met an "interesting" gentleman, Tian Harlan. Tian Harlan was the creator of the Chromachron Colortime watch. A 70s sensation, that I'm sure made him a lot of money. He seemed a very down to earth guy and it was interesting speaking to him about his history in the watch business. Just check out this watch, how the times have changed. Well it would seem Mr Harlan is trying to keep up with the times...Colortime now available on iPhone!

The Chromachron watch, so seventies!

We took the train to Biel from Zurich at around 5pm. Still a whole 5 hours until the race. After a week of eating almost solely pasta we decided to eat something a little different. A yummy portion of plain rice. I was looking forward to my first proper meal after the race.

Arriving in Biel the race started to become real. This was different to any other ultra I had competed in. This event had that 'big event' feel. With other 1,000 competitors I guess it is a pretty big event. We found the food tent and settled their. I had travelled down with Donnino and Joachim. Joachim was Donnino's bike support. At the 22km point in this event each competitor can pick up a bike support who will to guide the runner, feed them and massage them through the event. The bike supporters or the "Coach" as they are known in Biel leave their runners temporarily at 56km before meeting back up the runners at 67km and then see them through to the end. I was aware this was going to be a long night for both the runners and riders! Alain was my bike support, but he was joining us later as he had a busy day at work to contend with. Sitting in the food tent we could all feel the atmosphere growing. I was started to use the loo more frequently than required. This was all getting very real.

Alain arrived and we discussed tactics and prepared nutrition. It was quite amusing to see his bike. A serious triathlete his usual bike really is a nice piece of kit. His bike for tonight however was a totally different piece of kit. The sort of bike you see an old lady riding along on. We had attached a basket to the back in A-team fashion with a couple of shoelaces and added bottle holders with gaffer tape. However the holders were too big for my Powerade bottles, so we beefed up the Powerade bottles by taping cardboard to them. We were a team to be reckoned with!

Mean machine!

Before we knew it Alain and Joachim were heading off to the 22km point. All the "Coaches" headed off en masse. We wish each other luck. I really hoped Joachim was going to have a good night with Donnino. I knew it would be challenging at times for the Coaches. Donnino and I were left to have a couple more toilet stops and we headed off to the start. The anticipation was incredible. I was interviewed live on radio on the start line. Typically British it went something like this "sorry, what, do you speak English?". I don't know exactly what I said, something along the lines of being excited and how happy I was to be here racing in Switzerland. On the start line were some members of the Polish ultrarunning team.

After a countdown from 10, the loudest start gun ever and a front line charge from some American football players we were off. The Polish went straight to the front with their flag. This was great to see and even from behind you could see the smiles on their faces. The start was crazy quick and I quickly slipped into 40th odd place. Very easy to see how this was done, a day's worth of anticipation had been released and the crowds of spectators pretty large. I was running 7m10 per mile pace and getting my arse kicked. Surely this couldn't continue?

I settled quite nicely into the 7m10 pace, didn't feel amazing but I figured I would need an hour to get into it. I was advised for the first section up to 22km I wouldn't need a head torch as it was well lit...hhmmmm...I don't think so. There were some sections where it was really dark and I had to speed up to catch someone and run with them. I was very relaxed about this and I thought we would have a laugh about it at the end. At around 6km into the race we have a fairly steep climb of roughly 2.5km (100m climbing) so I drop in a slow mile split, followed by a fairly tasty one for an ultra.

Conditions on the night are fantastic, cool with no breeze. It could of been worse, we had a lot of rain during the week and during the day. It seemed to clear up in time for the start which was great. I understand this is a stark contrast to last year's deluge!

This first part of the race took us through Aarberg. This part of the race was very special, with lots of support especially as you pass over the bridge in this village. The picture below kind of says it all.

Crossing the bridge at Aarberg. Sorry no picture of me here.

I made it to 22km feeling reasonably comfortable. This is where I met Alain and at this stage we were pretty jovial. However this didn't last long. At about 30km...things started getting a little tricky...my legs started to fade me and I had to start working hard for the pace I was running. Myself and Alain had been talking a bit, but I asked if we could have a little "quiet time". I'm not exactly sure what Alain thought at this point, but I expect it was something like "oh shit". I wanted to just concentrate regain my composure, but it really wasn't going well. I didn't feel awful, but I didn't feel awfully good. I was feeling quite negative but also fairly logical. I believed I would not be finishing tonight. However, the only place to get a bus back to the start was at 56km. So I figured, I would just keep plodding on as this was the quickest way to get there and then pull out and accept it wasn't my day.


The reason I was struggling so much was my nutrition strategy. I was taking a gel every 20 minutes, a strategy I had tried in training with good success. However, I had not tried the strategy when running late in the evening with a full three meals in my body from the day. I think because of this my body couldn't take them down quite so quickly and they sat on my stomach a little. Alain was an amazing help here. I really didn't want to put anything in my mouth but he forced me to keep taking fluids. Somewhere close to the 56km point I started coming back alive. The gels had been diluted by the fluids, and my legs started to respond.

Cool race numbers in Biel.

We stopped at 56km. We hadn't been stopping at any of the aid stations, which I was more than happy with. However, from 56km to 67km runners took runners off-road along the Emmendam. Bike support was not allowed here, so we had to stop and sort ourselves out. Get the head torch and get my gel pack and get going! This is where the race starting getting really exciting for me. I took a caffeine gel, the first of many for me. It seemed to almost instantly have an impact. I clocked a 7m30 mile including the stop (which to be fair was no more than 20 seconds).


The Emmendam trail really was quite tricky in places. Lots of large round stones covered by grass and dew. This made the stones hard to see and with my legs not feeling quite as agile as I would have liked I knew I had to concentrate hard through this section. So that is what I did. I started reeling people in at this point and this was lots of fun. Running along you were guide by some dim lanterns that were left out. These really helped make navigation a non-issue for this event. Once in a while you would see a different sort of light ahead, different from the lanterns and that's when you knew you were closing in on another competitor. This happened a lot on the trail and really helped me concentrate my effort. On this 11km section I overtook 6 runners whilst running and another handful through by getting through the aid station so quickly.



Having spent 30km-56km being overtaken this really lifted my spirits. I was now running quite well. Not fast, but I was holding a solid pace. We found out that fellow competitor Donnino had dropped out at 56km. He passed me during my bad spell. This was possibly the worst point in the race for me. I had been very confident in the build up to the race and to be fair to Donnino (who was aiming for sub 8) he was probably not expecting to overtake me, at least not this early on. So now it was clear not only to me that I was suffering but also to others, this makes the suffering somewhat more real. I did however smile and put on a good show as they went past. I wonder what they thought. Gutted for Donnino, but 100km is a long way to run and it just sometimes doesn't go how you want. He will be back for certain!


Coming out of the trail Alain was waiting. I think he was suprised to see me quite so soon. He figured I was in 12th place, but had it confirmed as 11th place when we hit the next aid station.

Hard to get lost in Biel

I kept churning out the miles coming out of the trail section. From mile 44-50 there was a gradual climb, which finishes with quite a steep climb. These miles did eventually slow me down and wear me down. However, I was still taking past people very comfortably. Although I was not running as quickly as I had hoped I was really pleased with my endurance, I was at least still "running". The steep climb I decided to walk, with the approval of Alain of course. Throughout this period he had been fantastic, responding to my increasingly moody demands. All at the same time as keeping a live web update on Facebook. Getting out this climb meant no more climbs for the rest of the race. The course isn't particularly hilly but you can see from the course profile that there are three fairly significant climbs to conquer. The best bit about this section was seeing the red lights. White lights represented course markers, red lights represented bike lights. This meant I was catching someone. I loved hunting them down, running past and saying in my worst German "wie gehts gut?". I took a lot of energy from this, although I expect my fellow competitors didn't!


Coming down the hill and for the next few miles I clock a few more 7m4x miles. Now I was quite close to the finish, but I was tired. The sun was coming up and I was slowing down. I had stopped overtaking people, not just because I was slowing down, but also because I had worked myself into the top 10 so there were not many left to overtake. The path on this final section was following the river. It really annoyed me as it was a little stoney. Not too bad but I just wanted a flat road, and I was tired and even the smallest thing can get to you. I caught a glimpse of someone in the distance but I just couldn't reel them in. I started feeling a bit sorry for myself. Here I hit a few 8 minute plus miles. My worst section in the race for a while. With 5 miles to go I made a conscious decision to up the pace and catch the man in front. I said to Alain "let's do this" or something to this tune. I thought back to some of my training runs, in particular a 5 hour run where I finished the last 5 miles at 7m10 and also my run at the Thames Trot back in February where I finished the last 13 miles in around 7m15. I knew I could handle the pace until the finish. So I proceeded to churn out some 7m30 miles, I overtook the runner in front and made sure I did it very strongly. 


In some respects this was a really good point of the race for me, finishing strong after 50 odd miles is pretty satisfying. On the other hand I do wonder if I could have picked it back up earlier. This doesn't come down to me being "soft" or not pushing it, I think this comes down to concentration. When you are running for such a long time you have to keep your concentration levels high. I wonder my concentration levels slipped towards the end. I thought seeing the sun come up would give me some more energy, but it didn't. With the sun coming up I started to have some visual stimulus after so long running in the dark. This may have distracted me from the task in hand and affected my concentration levels.


The finish had a few too many twists and turns and you couldn't even see the finish until about 200m to go (something I understand the race organisers will be addressing next year). For this reason I had to keep pushing because I could not believe it was true until I actually saw the finish line. Then it came. Alain got my Union Jack flag ready (this was about as much of a Jubilee celebration that I had). This was quite funny though as the flag got caught in the rear cassette of the bike. He managed to rip it out, without crashing and I ran down the finisher's chute with an oil stained torn flag. Lots of arm pumping and chest thumping and also for some reason a moonwalk over the line (not quite sure what possessed me to do that!). I went straight to Alain and gave him a massive huge. I was quite emotional at the end of the race and did well up a little. That was a really long night, something that tested me more than before. It really was the "Night of Nights". Finished 7th overall in a little over 8 hours.

At the finish with 6th placed Roman Gehrig and my oily, ripped flag

I hung about at the end and watched the award presentations. I received prizes for being 7th Male overall and 2nd in the under 30 age group. Really great prizes, a Swiss Army Knife (Victorinox) and a Swatch watch (unfortunately no Chromachrom for me!). After a week of loading up of pasta I was so excited about my next meal...for some reason though I chose to have pasta for breakfast! I must've been tired.

Well I think that is about it for my Biel race report. I hope to post shortly on some of the things I've learnt from this experience, but from reading the post you probably have a few ideas already.

Having read the report back I think I should add how amazing the support is out on the course. As you passed through the villages there were a number of people out throughout the night to cheer you on. As the night got later the numbers reduced, but they made up for it by being more drunk! This race comes highly recommended from me. I appreciate that travelling to Switzerland is not too cheap with the exchange rate, but certainly one to consider. Besides if you fly out on the Friday and return home on the Saturday you don't even need to pay for accommodation.

Take care guys.
Happy Running.

Biel / Bienne 100km - Race Preview

So the time has come again. I will be racing another road ultra. I am very excited. The Biel 100km race in Switzerland. After the disappointment of having to drop out of the Barry 40 miler, it is great to have made (or almost made) the start-line with no niggles or injuries. Ready to rock!

The Race


I first heard about this event over 6 years ago, when a Swiss friend recommended I run the event. The seed had been planted all those years ago and at long last I am getting round to running the damn thing.

The event itself brings a few new experiences for me. Firstly the event is a night run. It starts at 10pm on Friday (8th June) and competitors run through the night until they finish (or they finish themselves off!). Secondly I have never participated in an Ultramarathon with such a large field. At present it stands at 1065 competitors. This makes it one of the biggest Ultramarathons in Europe and probably the biggest road event in Europe. The event will also be the Swiss Athletics 100km championships, okay, so I'm not Swiss, but it means the standard of the field will be strong. Below are the winning times for the past 5 years and the number of runners under 8 hours in each of those years for an indication of the race standard.

2011: 7h11m55 - Winning Time :: 4 runners under 8 hours
2010: 7h31m01 - Winning Time :: 6 runners under 8 hours
2009: 6h59m14 - Winning Time :: 6 runners under 8 hours
2008: 6h49m44 - Winning Time :: 15 runners under 8 hours
2007: 7h26m10 - Winning Time :: 14 runners under 8 hours

So what this shows is that I probably will be in the mixer at the sharp end of the race, but I'm not going to win it!

Another great thing about this race is that this year will be the 54th edition. This really is a Grandaddy of a race.

I will be staying in Switzerland with the same Swiss friend who introduced me to the race. He will be pacing me around the course on his bike which is going to be great for nutrition strategy and also receiving abuse (encouragement?) in my weakest hours! One of his friend's will also be running and gunning for sub 8 hours. I really hope for a good night for all of us.

Predicted time and pace strategy


Coming into an event of this magnitude any runner wants to put in their best possible performance. Due to the nature of the event finding that limit of peak performance is a fairly tricky science. Running 1-2% too hard early doors means you can lose a lot of time at the back end of the race. Hitting "the wall" in a marathon might lose you 5-6 minutes, but doing this in 100km might mean 20-30mins...which is massive. No  one wants to be out there for 30 minutes longer than they should be.

It is a funny thing trying to plan the pace strategy for this event. I am now at the stage with the marathon distance that whatever happens I am confident of finishing. Not the case with this event. One day I feel confident with my target time, other days I worry about finishing if I go off at that pace. However, one thing I can draw on is that I have suffered a lot in my races, almost always hit "the wall" and have never DNF'd. Not that DNFing is a bad thing to do, there certainly are times when it is sensible and necessary.

So my only previous attempt at 100km on the road was at the Anglo Celtic Plate in 2011, where I recorded a 7h51m21. I will be aiming for around 7h30 this time around. 

I have spent a bit of time trying to quantify that mere 21 minutes improvement. I think I am just about there. The key reasons why I should be confident about going for the 7h30 target are below:

1) Last year's race nutrition was poor. Too much caffeine and too little calories.

2) Last year's pacing was poor. I ran a 7h20 pace and I wasn't quite there endurance wise. This year I will probably run a 7h25 pace until I start to fade (sorry that should be if I start to fade. I need to remember I am supremely confident...)

3) I have another year of training in the legs. I'm getting older and I have more wrinkles. A sure sign I am a stronger ultra runner.

4) Although the mileage in the 6 months leading up to Biel have been lower than the previous attempt, I have run a higher number of long and super long-runs. The lead up to the Anglo Celtic Plate had only 2 x 50km. This time round I have an 80km, 60km, 2 x 50km and a few marathons too.

Overall I don't think I'm in greatly better shape than last year, but I think I've got a 10 minute improvement through race experience and another 10 minute improvement from improved fitness and endurance.

The rest of the week


Well, tomorrow I travel out to Switzerland. I will be mainly eating, sleeping and relaxing. Life will be good. One of the main things I need to get sorted is my nutrition plan for Friday. The event starts at 10pm, which poses a new challenge for me. I will have a chat with a few friends and get some advice from them on this, unless anyone else has some ideas? Currently thinking a large late breakfast and a large early dinner.

Anyway, best get off to pack my bags. I'm almost certain I will be taking too much kit!

North Dorset Village Marathon - Race Report

Hello all,

So this post serves as a race report for the recently run North Dorset Village Marathon and also as a bit of a catch up with my general life and running.

I have not posted on here for a long while. Life has been busy as you will see. I had a great preparation for the Barry 40 Mile track race back in March and felt I was going to have a great run there. However I was unfortunate to pick up a knee injury which put me out of action. I lost a good month of training, but was happy with how I managed the injury as I expect I could have had a longer period out if I had not been as sensible as I had been (I basically just didn't run...not good).

Often an injury comes out of general fatigue and the body just being not as strong as it should be. During my injury period I had a good amount of time to reflect on my life (yep it got pretty deep) and why I was fatigued. It would appear there were a number of factors. My wife and I have been in the process of moving house for a very long while. The stress that this had bought probably part of the reason of the injury. The house move was designed to reduce the commute to work, to save time for the important stuff like running. During the injury period I also reflected on my current employment status. I have been working in a consultancy environment, which often is very challenging and requires a large time commitment. I could change my line of work (without a large impact on my career progression) to give myself again more time. On top of that I am studying for my Actuarial exams. So I have been balancing a number of challenges and really not excelling in any of them. Something I found very difficult to accept. So over the last few months I have been implementing some changes. Now I have a new job, a new house, a new car, a new running club and have mildly avoided a breakdown. A lot of stress but I feel it has put me in a much better position to enjoy and live life! So I hope you understand why there have been non posts recently.

So running-wise, what have I been up to? Well since the injury, I've slowly been getting back into the swing of things. I had a good race at the Maidenhead 10, running a 56m31. The Maidenhead 10 will be in it's 60th year next year. It's a fantastic race and one I hope to continue running in over the years. We were living in Maidenhead until the very recent house move so it might mean I can't run it quite so regularly. 4 years on the bounce makes this the most regularly attended event I have ever participated in.

Then a few days ago I ran the North Dorset Village Marathon. Which I report on now. I wasn't greatly prepared for it and just wanted a nice hard run. I didn't taper, I just had an easy week. In the back of my mind I thought I might be able to get a PB, so decided to run a 1h21 first half and see where the rest would take me. Well we set off at the start, I pretty quickly settled into 4th, in front were 2 relay runners and another marathoner (he was shifting it). I lost the 2 relay runners, but slowly reeled them in and worked with one of them to the first relay changeover point. The relay changeover points were really great parts of the course, lots of runner all giving a nice big cheer as you enter the changeover area and then continued on through. I thanked the guys I had been running with and he wished me well.



The relay runner was a great pace maker early doors.

So onto mile 8 and a pretty steep climb, which saw me drop the two relay runners and also saw me breathing a little too heavily. At this point I then picked up the lead bike. Shit, I was winning...pressure!! I was already breathing a little too heavy and now I had the added pressure of being the lead male. So the guy who went off at the start was actually a relay runner. Cool. I wanted to re-gain a little composure but the course and the fact I was winning made it difficult.

So I spent the next 10 miles staring at the cyclist's arse, trying to get my breathing under control. It was very hard on this course. There would be a nice little climb where I couldn't get the breathing under control. This would be followed by a descent but I didn't want to waste the hard work I'd put in going up the hill, so I never really recovered my breathing.

Around mile 17 I started to fade, I had been counting down the miles from the half way point. My team of supportors (wife, in-laws, brother-in-law and hisnwife) saw me here and I tried to make a joke. I think they thought I looked pretty good at that stage. However, it's all relative. I hit a left hand turn and was faced with a bit of a headwind and a nice lengthy climb (not steep, but steady), I felt the legs wobble. I wasn't too worried, I came here for a hard run, and it was about to get hard!

Two relays runners came past, and the lead bike went with them. I was trying to work this out, why the lead bike went with the relay runners and not me. Quite obvious now. The lead bike was always for the relay runners and was never meant for me!! But I still didn't realise I was second until people started saying things like the leader is "only" 5 minutes ahead!! haha

So I was still on the count down on the mileage, and they were still ticking away quite nicely, lots of 6m25-35s which meant I was slowing but not dying. Something that I found interesting (well painful) were the climbs. Every climb after about mile 18 my legs just felt very fatigued. But I was still moving very well on the flats. I figure I just do not have the musclar endurance on the climbs because I train almost religiously on the flat.

Mile 22 was great, I saw wife, in-laws and Grandpa-in-law. The route runs straight past his cottage, and at 98 he was probably the oldest spectator on the course. Unfortunately his cottage is on a piece of the course which is uphill, so I went past them very slowly...and forced the best smile I could. About 400metres after this I bumped into Steve Way, which was a bit bizarre. I had given him a big cheer at London a few weeks back (he doesn't know me), and there he was in the middle of the road taking a photo of me. We exchanged a few words, I was moving past him so slowly we actually had a conversation without me stopping!



Having a chat with Steve Way...both feet still off the ground, maybe I wasn't going that slow.

Then the rest was a trundle to the finish. The last mile was all uphill on a stoney path. This hurt my feet and made me feel less happy. But I finished, in 2h47m02. Couldn't really judge the finish line, so a little bit of a shame I not to hit a 2h46, but not too worried. This was a great workout, and I have to say I was very impressed with the event. If anyone is looking for a less low key marathon then this comes recommended. I expect it was worth 2-4minutes from a flat course and that if I was a bit more sensible with pacing I could have run faster...ifs and buts though.



At the finish with the winner. Certainly needed that coke!

Interesting a guy called Ian Graham ran a 3h05 maraton to hit the top of the v65 rankings for the marathon this year at the North Dorset Marathon which is pretty cool. People were talking about him in the pub afterwards, getting much deserved kudos. Also when in the pub at the end (about 3 hours after finishing) a runner came in, in full attire and race number...needing the loo. I joked that he might still be out of the course running, unfortunately he was!!!

Won't bore you with a full split analysis (partly because I don't have it), but ran 1h21m18 and 1h25m44 so reasonable...

Collecting my prize. I have now shaved off the disgusting facial hair.

The Thames Trot 2012 - Race Report

Well what a fantastic day for running! 2012 saw my return to the Thames Trot, the race I won back in 2010 (my first and only ultra victory).

Arriving at the start, the Prince of Wales pub in Iffley I felt somewhat excited and also a little nervous. I was running this event for training with my friend Alain Helfenstein, but still 50 miles is 50 miles and is a very long way to run. As usual I looked around for familiar faces at the start of the race, I bumped into Graham Bootey who I first met 4 years ago at the Thames Path Ultra, a nice chap called Paul Bennett who ran with Alain last year but not too many other faces I recognised.

We may look it, but we weren't happy...too bloody cold, let's get running!

We were aiming for a sub 7 hour finish and we had a lot going in our favour. Firstly the conditions were great. After a discussion about whether road shoes or trail shoes would be most suitable, we opted for road shoes. This proved to be the right choice as the paths were frozen solid for all but the last 6 miles or so, which also has a good mix of road and paved paths.

The start was leisurely and we tried to be as disciplined as possible. Sticking to a rigid 8 minute mile pace would give up a bit of time in the bank for the aid stations and a slight deteroiation in pace towards the back end...if only it was this easy....

The first checkpoint went by quite nicely, we chatted a lot and felt really relaxed. The scenery was great with everything we could see covered in a white frost. One runner joined me and Alain for a while, but he was breathing very heavily, which was a little annoying. He turned off in the wrong direction and we did try and call him back but his music was clearly too loud and he didn't hear us...we were kind of happy though (is that bad?). We both wondered how he would fair up over the course of the run, he was running at what seemed too high an intensity. He caught up and passed us a few miles later and we thought we would see him again at some point. We hit the first checkpoint averaging bang on 8 minute miles, and leave with an average pace of 8m05 per mile. My Mum and Step-Dad were on hand to help at the checkpoints and did a great job throughout the day, with the exception of this checkpoint where we were greeted only with our trail running shoes and no food. We laughed and it was okay really, we both still had plenty of food in our packs but I left them with clear instructions for the next checkpoint! Hopefully a good dress rehearsal for the Barry track race.

Alain fed up with gels already

Between the first and second checkpoint we met a chap called Leo. Running his first ultra he was aiming for sub 7 and therefore we formed a good group. He was clearly in good shape, and we all had a bit of common ground having all completed Ironman Zurich so this helped pass the time for a while as we chatted about the usual stuff. I did have to stress I was a retired triathlete though. Leo was running strong and shortly before the third checkpoint, I encouraged him to push on. We were hit with a little bit of wind and Alain was slowing a little and so I didn't want to hold Leo back. By checkpoint 3 we have slowed to an average of 8m17 per mile. Still happy with this and felt we were still on for the sub 7 at this point.

Between the third and fourth checkpoint things started to get very wobbly, Alain started to fade majorly. This is a very difficult point in the race as we have now got some serious distance in the legs and we hit the only hills in the course and it is difficult to keep the legs going. We were not helped by the sight of Sandra Bowers powering up the hills with a smile on her face. I had not met Sandra before and we ran together for a while. I was amazed by her positivity and at this point was almost certain she would finish first lady (which she did).

At this stage in the event, I had to make a call of what to do. I could have continued to run with Alain, but felt that it was more beneficial for both of us if I continued to run on my own. If I ran with him it would put too much pressure on him to run at a pace he could not sustain and that would have been unfair and unhelpful. At the end of the race Alain said he recovered really well after I left him, which made me realise I made the right decision.

I reached checkpoint 4 and purposefully stripped down a layer, probably too cold to do this, but it was a statement of intent. I decided I wanted to push on from here and see what kind of strength I had in the legs. This meant pushing on and running through the 40 mile marker. With the Barry 40 mile track race being a priority race for me I thought this would be an interesting experiment. Plus, the sub 7 hour run was still on the cards so I decided to push. It took me a few miles to get the legs open but I settled quite nicely into a 7m30 pace which given the me great confidence for Barry. This was mentally quite challenging. When I started pushing on I overtook a few people, Graham Bootey who looked a little worse for wear but he is a strong character and I knew he would finish ok, Leo who was plodding on and looking close to sub 7 and also Paul. I then didn't see anyone for 4 miles...this was tough I was expecting at the pace I was going I would be pulling in a number of casualties.



Chowing down at checkpoint 5

Checkpoint 5 arrived and I was starting to weaken, I had probably put 4 minutes into those behind me so no reason to worry about losing places (to be honest, this was training so it's a wonder that I really cared at all). I did however put my jacket back in my pack. Because Alain and I had split there was a chance that Mum and Step-Dad wouldn't be there when I finished and I was concerned that I was running hard and was still feeling the cold a little! A mouthful so jelly beans and I then made the conscious decision to keep on running hard, which I did. In the last leg, I took 4 more runners and was full of running into the finishing chute!



All smiles at the end

Then the fun bit started, seeing all the runners at the finish and the people I met along the way start to finish. The Go Beyond team did a fantastic job yet again. My thanks go to all the volunteers, they were out in the freezing cold for much longer than I was and appeared to be happy all day. I love the 'village' feel of this event and the friendly personalities you get to meet along the way. It was certainly more enjoyable than 2010 where I ran a 50 mile time trial!

The heavy breather at the start of the race, finished well.  I had chatted to him for a few minutes before checkpoint 4 and tried to give him some encouragement and words of advise as it was his first ultra. Unfortunately I do not remember his name, but a fantastic effort. Leo, was very unlucky to just miss out on the sub 7 (by less than a minute) and Graham, well Graham has had better days but he has big challenges coming up this year. Alain, finished well and positive, showing great mental fortitude in the face of adversity.

Alain and I enjoyed our Dominos pizza at the end and a beer. Both feeling a little worse for wear today, but pleased to have finished before the snow came in. I take a lot from this race, confidence for Barry and also signs my endurance is coming on well. Might mean I can run a little faster over the 100km event. Here's hoping.

Next up a half marathon in a few weeks will act as a reminder that I am still primarly a road runner and then Barry will be not too far away. Eek!

Thames Trot 2012 - Race Preview

So not long now until the 'Trot'

I have run the Thames Trot or derivatives of this 50 mile River Thames route a number of times over the year, with 2011 being the first time I've not run the whole thing. Last year I paced / muled my Swiss friend over the back end of the route. I was on the recovery from racing 50km a few weeks earlier (excuses, excuses). Needless to say Swiss suffered a great deal more than me!

My Swiss friend Alain is back again this year, but the difference is we will both be running the full distance. No being a pussy for me this year. I will be using this a supremely long training run for my preparations for the Barry 40 Mile Track Race in March.

The Thames Trot is a fantastic race, and the Go Beyond Ultra team do a really good job of organising this event. This is a point to point race, starting just outside of Oxford and running, walking, crawling all the way to Henley-on-Thames. My Garmin output from the 2010 race is below. The route this year will be slightly different with a couple of diversions due to repair work on the Thames Path. However, the route below gives you a good idea of what's going, start it Oxford and run down the river...stop when you reach Henley! Easy

2010 was a great race for me. If you click through the link above you will see my split times, I didn't necessarily race it the most sensibly...but the time on the day was fast enough to gain me my first (and only) victory over an ultra distance race. Many more to come this year I hope.

Thames Trot Winner 2010 - Happy Days!

My plan for the race is to run to achieve a time of around 6h30m as in 2010, however I am hoping to pace this more evenly. This plan is subject to discussion with Alain. I have not had time to discuss with him as we are both on busy work and training schedules. This means formal plans will be put in place the day before the race when Alain arrives from Switzerland. Alain's hopes and aspirations for the race will be overiding (unless of course he wants sub 6h30...I might have something to say about that) and I will be happy to go at any pace.


The course is very dependent on the weather. Not necessarily the weather on the day, but more the weather in the preceeding weeks. If there is a lot of rain in the two weeks before the race parts of the course can get very bogged down and very very muddy...this will effect our ability to make good progress so the finish time will very much depend on this. Last year for example the going was pretty good, at least the 25 miles I saw of it were...they were a bit better than in 2010 which is why some of the times produced were so fast (it had nothing to do with the standard of runner that turned up!!). I won't be planning on any aggressive tactics for this race as I need to conserve my energy for the Barry 40. Seems a strange thing to say, 'conserving energy' and 'running 50 miles'

With thoughts of energy conservation on my mind I better sign off.