some of our proud spen vets team full results - pudsey … · some of our proud spen vets team –...
TRANSCRIPT
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Thanks go to all for photos, etc
Please send all articles, race reports, photos, etc to News Editor -
Some of our proud Spen Vets Team – full results
below
Well Done Caroline! Top 10 in The English Fell Champs (FV55)
Proud to be a Pacer
News Reports
Run England
‘Beginners’
Tour of Pendle
WYWL Cross
Country Season
Trimechanics
Big Eric
Snowdonia
Marathon
London Marathon
draw
Sherry Stumble
Dates for your
Diary
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Fell captain, Graeme Tiffany, comments: "A few years ago, Jim Wheldon (previously of Pudsey
Pacers) recorded a top 10 in his category in the Fell Runners Association (FRA) English Fell Running Championships. Those who know Jim will be mindful of his pedigree as a doughty and
wily competitor (words worth looking up if you're not sure what they mean). His achievement
generated great interest and worthy acclaim. So it is no mean feat to have accomplished
something similar. Caroline Clarke's top 10 in FV55 pitted her against legends like Wendy Dodds
and Nicola Davies. She set out her stall, committed to the race series and ran well. She is a great role model to all in Pudsey Pacers and especially our women's section. I hope more women
follow her onto the fells this season to share the joys of the hills and maybe even the
championships where competing against the best in the country is possible for all. Her
contribution to putting PPRC on the map of fell running clubs cannot be understated. Well done."
Some of the Abbey Dash team at the 2014 race. Fantastic efforts
from all and great support on the course – thanks! Full results below
News reports
Keep Sarah Turner, our news reporter, updated with your latest race news so you are not missed from the results
(and if you get a personal best [PB] please do let her know).
Email [email protected]
3 November 2014
Staying local on Sunday 26 October a number of Pacers participated in the Bradford City Runs.
In the 5K run Paul Mortimer finished in 29:48, Alison Mortimer 31:20 and Karen Fawcett 34:53. Taking on the 10k were David Byrom 49:32, Melanie Cairns 59:26 and Katie Allan (in her first
10k) 1:03:15. Finally participating in the half marathon were Anna Keys 1:42:33, David
Semmence 2:05:24 and Ralph McDermott 2:14:33.
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A number of pacers were away this weekend running solo marathons. Tackling the tough
Snowdonia marathon, Simon Beverley got in just under 4 hours in 3:59:55 (see full report below). Al Chapman headed to Leicester and completed the marathon in 3:09:08. Overseas in
Ireland Paul Kaye ran the Dublin Marathon, on a slightly altered course this year in 4:59:31.
At the Bronte Way fell race – 8 miles and 1150ft climb – Karen Pickles was 1st female in 1:05:42
and Neil Wallace (knocking a chunk off last year’s time) finished in 1:14:44.
Mark Smith ran the Accrington 10k in 46:59.
On Saturday 1 November a number of members took part in the Shepherds Skyline fell race
(10k with 350m ascent). According to the website “a fast muddy course with a steep descent off
Stoodley Pike for the kamikaze descenders, immediately followed by a stiff climb back up the hill for the stout legged amongst you”. Karen Pickles was 1st F40 in 55:37, followed by Dave Cooper
56:35, Tony Mawson 63:16, Andrew Byrom 72:28, Jenny Cooper 73:59 and David Byrom 76:50.
Also on Saturday 1 November there was mud galore at the Pain Barrier at Tong. Lynne Barrett
finished the course in 1 hour 40mins and Andy Barrett reports "Roger Barton, one of the founder
members of the Pacers in 1991, now 73 years old and competing in suit, tie and top hat, finished in 2 hours 17 mins, the oldest competitor in the event."
At the Guy Fawkes 10 mile (hilly) road race Adam Graves finished in 1:09:16, Michelle
Tenwick (3rd female), Neil Wallace 1:17:39, Rhea Sutcliffe 1:21:17, William Overton 1:22:00,
Mark Smith 1:25:18, Neil Berry 1:28:13, Roy Bamford 1:32:22, Nicky Anness 1:33:26, John
Woodhead 1:36:10, Leigh Gill 1:36:30, Anjuli Parmar 1:39:30, Sarah Dutson 1:41:40, Helen
Davies 1:46:33, Dilip Parmar 1:48:41 and Carol Parkinson 1:50:31.
11 November 2014
The race of the weekend this week was the last race in the Yorkshire Veterans series. An
excellent day for the Pacer Veterans as the overall results of the season show men retaining
the silverware finishing 1st in the "4 to count" and runners up in the "All to count".
The women held off strong competition and beat Kirkstall by a narrow margin of 8 points to
take third place in the "4 to count".
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In individual categories congratulations to Paul Gaile finishing 1st Male 45 overall, Nigel
Armitage 3rd M40, Dave Burdon 3rd M55, Lucy Armstrong 2nd Female 35 and Sue Ransome 3 rd Female 55.
Irrespective of category Nigel Armitage and Paul Gaile finished the season in 3rd and 5th
place respectively.
Results on the day were for the women, Anna Keys 39:23 (guest), Lucy Armstrong 39:52 (2nd
F35), Sue Ransome 43:01 (1st F55), Jenny Cooper 45:05, Lynne Barrett 47:17, Nicky Anness
48:07, Leigh Gill 48:18, Sarah Booth 48:27, Carol Parkinson 58:41. In the men’s competition
Paul Gaile 32:35 (1st M45), James Clark 33:22 (3rd M35), Robert Samuels 34:04 (3rd M50),
Richard Allen 34:08, Rob Dixon 36:45, Sam Hurrell 36:53 (guest), David Cooper 37:44, Dave Burdon 37:56, Dave Butler 37:58, Steve Boom 38:03, Richard Backhouse 38:39, Andy Barrett
39:05, Mark Pawson 39:14, Neil Wallace 39:30, Andy Brownell-Judd 40:29, Stephen Pattison
40:49, Mark Smith 40:52, Chris Smith 42:27, William Overton 42:33, Garry Leedham 42:40, Tim
Ayres 47:58 and John Woodhead 48:39.
Also running this weekend was Luke McQuade tackling the Wadsworth Half Trog – 9.25 miles
with 1427m of climb. According to the website “A local classic taking in all the best terrain of
the full Trog, without the full distance. Plenty of varied tough terrain. And perhaps a bit of mud!!!!” Luke completed the race in 1:22:32.
From the Derwentwater 10 Rodney Tordoff reports “the DerwentWater Ten is a ten mile road
race in the beautiful Lake District. Although the course around Derwent Water is described as
undulating, there is a most serious climb at Catbells from six to seven miles. After this I was sure
that my legs belonged to someone else and I crawled to the finish at Keswick in 1.31.39.”
Over at the Hardmoors Goathland full and half trail marathons, Sarah Booth and Andy Norman
completed the full marathon (27 miles 4300 climb) in 6:00:38, and Paul McHale finished the half
in 2:21:40.
Result missed from last week, Martin Scott completed the Pain Barrier in Tong in 1:17.
17 November 2014
On Sunday 17 November over 60 Pudsey Pacers joined 9,500 other runners and hit the streets of Leeds and pounded along Kirkstall Road out and back to the abbey in the Abbey Dash 10k.
This year the race was part of the English Championship 10k and the combined forces 10K
championship, resulting in a very high quality field of athletes.
First home was James Clark 36:29, followed by Sam Cook 38:52, John Marshall 39:35, Robert
Dixon 40:16, Michelle Tenwick 40:44, Anthony Riley 41:05, Morven Wallace 41:16, Mark
Pawson 42:52, Andrew Hardaker 43:16, Martin Booth 43:54, Mark Smith 44:14, Andrew
Brownell-Judd 44:27, Rhea Sutcliffe 44:45, Karen Ratcliffe 45:05, William Overton 45:57, Garry
Leedham 46:53, Tim Barton 47:05, Claire Bray 47:18 (PB), Olivia Lynan 47:33, David Nunn 48:11, Natalie Tordoff 48:44, Sandra Foster 48:53, Brad Strutt 49:12, David Semmence 49:14,
Nicky Anness 51:13, Paul Hansom 52:07, Rodney Tordoff 52:11, John Woodhead 53:10, Anna
Kirby 53:25, Caroline Parish 54:49, Dominic Hill 54:51, David Elliot 55:33, Kirsty Boyle 55:34,
Dawn Taylor 55:37, Andrew Smithurst 56:20, David Harrison 56:43, Nicola Cartwright 56:48,
Samantha Stewart 57:08, Don Stead 57:11, Judith Marshall 57:12(PB) , Jessica Emery 57:13,
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Fiona Parish 57:15, Joy Good 57:23, Mary Liversidge 57:35, Michael Liversidge 57:35, Ralph
McDermott 58:22, Sarah Chapman 58:38, Carol Parkinson 58:58, Melissa Stead 59:12, Howard Stead 59:53, Katie Allan 1:02:11, Paul Mortimer 1:02:15, Joanne Smith 1:02:59, Allison Mortimer
1:03:44, Philip Bruce 1:05:33, Jackie Baldwin 01:06:19, Karen Fawcett 1:07:29, Fiona Harrison
1:08:58, Ruth Duffy 1:10:57, Suzanne Scott 1:10:59, Dawn Hutchinson 1:11:23 and Leonie
Giddings 1:11:37.
Well done to all runners, particularly those who achieved new PB’s and to those running their
very first 10K. See below for Karen Fawcett’s report on our Run England ‘beginners’.
Run England Adult Beginners Course – Sept-Nov 2014 The latest 10 week course has recently ended and here are some of the ‘certificated’ Group
after completing a 5 mile run
Followed by the Lister Park park run on 15/11/14:
Well done to all! Arthur, Karen and Joy, with help from David and Ralph, are very proud of the
group and their hard work and dedication as follows:
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Run England – Abbey Dashers – by Karen Fawcett Reflecting over the last 12 months Joy, Arthur, our helpers and I were delighted and so proud to see so many of our Run England attendees achieve fantastic results in the Abbey Dash.
These are all runners who came to us with the view they couldn’t run and were so
brave to put themselves out of their comfort zones. With the foundation work delivered in our Run England Course and the ongoing training by Coaches/LIRFS
within Pudsey Pacers, they have developed into incredible runners.
Names and Abbey Dash chip times are as follows: Looking back at November 2013 we have:
David Harrison 0.56 Fiona Harrison 1.08
March 2014 we have:
Joanne Smith 1.02 Katie Allan 1.02
Ruth Duffy 1.10 July 2014 we have:
Claire Feltham 1.02 Dawn Taylor 0.55
Jackie Baldwin 1.06 Kirsty Boyle 0.55
Leonie Giddings 1.11
We have just finished our most recent Run England and the runners below came to us as non-runners just ten weeks ago – amazing: Ashlee Graham 1.05
Ashleigh Gardner 1.00 Chris Bell 0.56
Clare Goaten 1.27 Danielle Poutch 1.06
Donna Bryne 1.07 Michaela Ajayi 1.07
Pauline Binnie 1.27 Peter Binnie 0.59 Sarah Whittaker 1.12
Proud of each and every one of them and delighted that we had the pleasure of being
part of their running ‘journey’.
The next adult beginners course commences on Sunday 11 January 2015, costs £15 and pre-
registration is required via: [email protected]
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Clag, cramp and cowbells – a wild fell and fallen day out o’er the Dark side – Neil Wallace Saturday 15th 2014, Barley village, Lancashire The Tour of Pendle is legendary. The route isn’t easy to describe and sometimes
harder to navigate - at just shy of 17 miles and 5000 feet of ascent, it basically covers overlapping butterfly wings, with the bit in the middle covered twice: the first
wing is largely runable, while the second is shear torture. The terrain and gradient constantly change:
grassy hillsides lead into rocky paths that are followed by boggy trods,
access tracks, bracken cliffs, beck crossings and more of the same, in
varying order. The route doesn’t allow any rhythm and gradually
breaks you down: both physically and mentally. It’s not for the faint-hearted. Indeed, wise silver beards
say it’s ‘like ‘Nam, only worse’. Others suggest it’s harder than the
Three Peaks and much like doing Ben Nevis followed promptly by a tough 10k. The downs are equally complex as the ups.
Many agree it’s one race to try at least once… and that might just be enough!
Clag covered hill tops greeted the runners on the first ascent from Barley village up Ogden Hill, towards Pendle Hill. The first mile was fairly easy, if not undulating with a slight ascent but on newly surfaced tarmac - quite a pleasant introduction, I thought.
Things then changed - upwards. I managed a steady shuffle-walk-shuffle and felt pretty good once on the grass and rocky hillside: breathing was fine, although leg
muscles were burning from the first climb. A brisk, cool breeze whipped over the top, ruffling race numbers and chinking plastic checkpoint tokens, clipped to most waist
packs. CP1 was out there, somewhere.
Checkpoints (CPs) and navigation are golden – no marshals or tape to guide and comfort the weary runner. Each runner is given twelve tokens, numbered and corresponding to the individual’s race number. There are twelve CPs. The tokens are
placed into designated CP buckets. Immediate assessment can determine that all participants are present and correct, and that they have broadly followed the correct
route – some runners may slightly vary between CP due to local knowledge, or from getting lost!
A faint ringing of cowbells signaled the approach of spectators at Pendle Hill’s summit
cairn. Runners shuffled past like zombies. I followed others through the mist. Boggy marsh soon swallowed lower legs and cascaded brown mud pellets across colourful vests and pale legs. The three-mile section CP1-2 is largely a net loss in elevation
but there was little opportunity to raise the head; grass lumps and mud hollows took
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a few who gazed a bit too long I did briefly notice a clearing in the clag and the Darwen valley opened out to the south-west. Soon, a gravel access track skirted
Churn Clough Reservoir and a line of runners filed skywards beyond CP3 on a dark brown path between copper bracken. The gradient was steep and those all around
me adopted a steady fell-shuffle, some with annoying grunts and wheezes, perhaps to scare away the witches? The summit plateau was again in clag and the path
diverted several times across a slippery, broken stone wall. Runners suddenly broke into three separate, forward directions. I remembered advice to keep right on the top. This was the favoured route, allegedly. Not that it made much difference….this
was Geronimo - the only way was down. And down fast.
Grass tufts, bracken and rock quickly passed my feet. Yelps, cheers and applause could be heard in the mist below. Then there were warning shouts of ROCK or
BELOW (usually followed by an expletive). I did witness a dinner plate size stone bouncing down the
hillside. The challenge wasn’t so much to descend safely, but more maintaining a controllable speed, careful to securely place feet; some choose to go
down on their backsides! Smiling is not normal. The ‘fun’ was all over quickly, maybe too quickly – legs
bit wobbly splashing through the beck at the hill foot then a glance up to the crowd of spectators. A
quick comforting reassurance with support crew, gulp of water and an energy gel, then I waddled
away up a muddy path back into the mist. A careless fall followed by a loud, ground-striking
thud didn’t derail my enthusiasm; it did leave me with a very sore index finger, which made sorties
into my waist pack and fastening shoe laces problematic. A long one-mile descent west to CP5
exposed the pending doom of the reverse climb back up Mearley Moor – this would be the first of three
killer climbs, each getting steeper and tougher in succession. The race was more about the matter between the ears than the muscles down into shoes. Steady, small steps counting in blocks of twenty. Keep going, no stops. I did however turn to see a
long snake of runners stretching back almost a mile to the previous CP. Another token was soon dispatched and again the route fell away into the gloom of the clag.
Quads were stretched as runners tried to control the speed of descent on the steep, grassy slopes. A fast-flowing beck and rising bank provided a barrier to CP7.
Upwards again, the legs creaking and starting to ache; long gaps appeared between
me and other runners ahead and behind. Everyone was enduring similar pain, maybe even the same nightmare thoughts. Beyond the cairn at CP8 the clag was very dense. I had nobody to follow and had to lift out my route map. I soon passed
participants walking through ankle deep foul smelling bog. I then dropped in elevation and continued across the side of the hill in a north-easterly direction.
Again, there was nobody around; only the eerie and distant sound of voices - maybe witches - high above in the mist? I fell for the second time, although this one was
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into soft ground and created an impressive squelch and mud-splash. But alas, there were no spectators. CP9 shortly came into view as the visibility improved lower
down. Then the last climb; a right bugger!
Cramp bolted into the quads above my knees. Other runners higher up the steep slopes swore, motivated others and simply did whatever it took. This was not easy -
the body screaming to stop and go back, but willpower driving on and upwards. False summits in the mist came and went. I can’t really remember who I passed, or those that passed me. One runner had taken ill, though – disorientated, likely through
dehydration and depleted glycogen. Soon, faces appeared before the stone wall, including my support crew offering water and wisdom – must’ve been cold to remain
static in the misty clag, waiting for us muddy zombies to appear. I was so thankful for the needed support.
Heading back over Pendle Hill the sun briefly appeared through the clag then
promptly disappeared - much like my ability to navigate. I went temporarily wrong here and should’ve got the compass out; momentarily lost with a runner from Lostock. Huh, the irony! A loud shriek from a couple of women several hundred
metres to my left brought us correct, and soon we were descending over boggy terrain, with the full wall of Geronimo facing us to the south. A steep, sticky path
through bracken led us to CP11 and the applause of walkers. A brief return on an undulating path brought us out on the tarmac track and the final (and seemingly
much longer) mile to the finish.
In summary: this is much like doing a marathon, maybe not the distance, same pacing or overall time. But the amount of effort is comparable, especially when coupled with a need to focus, place feet and avoid hazards. A gnarly runner at the
finish said the conditions were worth 15 minutes; I’ll be back to reduce my 3.42 in 2015 and try for sub 3.30.
The winner completed in 2.21 and first woman 2.49.
West Yorkshire Winter League – Cross Country Season 2014-15
The first race is on Sunday 7th December at Dewsbury 10am start New this year - all races will be timed.
Race Schedule:
Dewsbury 7th December 10am start Stainland 4th January 10am start
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Craven 25th January 10am start Leeds Bradford Triathlon 8th February 10am start
Baildon 1st March 2pm start
A final race on 15th March will see our League take on rival local league PECO. Further details will follow.
Presentation night on Friday 20th March 2015 - hosted by Pudsey Pacers.
**Advance Notice** Northern Counties Cross Country Championships on 24th January 2015 at Pontefract Park Racecourse. Senior Women’s 8k race at 2.15pm, Senior Men’s 12k race at 3.05 pm.
Talk by Dr Tom Hughes from Tri-mechanics When: 8.45pm on Tues 16th December (after training)
Where: Royal Hotel, Carlisle Road (upstairs)
Who: Tri-mechanics is a new venture based in Leeds, UK. Their aim is to improve
running by the use of studio based running analysis combined with providing relevant information on a range of topics related to running. They have already presented to
other Leeds’ based clubs and have successfully attracted many new clients – a few Pacers have also used the services.
The talk? Tom will deliver a 30mins brief overview of Tri-mechanics services then answer specific questions from attendees. The duration will be around 60mins.
The Tri-mechanics website says ‘We will offer running analysis and highly tailored
technique advice/coaching. We will NOT be telling you how to run. This will not help and is something that can be found abundantly throughout the internet. What we will
be doing is helping you learn how you can teach your body to run. The difference may be subtle, but the results will not be. Each person learns in a different way, some learn by reading and memory, some
need sensory input such as touch and sound. We aim to find out how you learn so we can give you the tools to improve yourself.
You will leave the studio with two things, you will leave with an understanding of how
YOU run and what areas of weakness YOU have in both your running and your functional body strength. And you will leave with a way of fixing these weaknesses
on your own.’
Interested? More info can be accessed at: www.trimechanics.co.uk/ *** Subject to adequate interest, Tom has kindly agreed to enter all attendees into a raffle to win a 60min analysis with an option to upgrade if preferred ***
Please email me to register a free place – seats will be limited. Thanks, Neil - [email protected]
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More from Big Eric I am getting worried about our Tommy, he has moved on
to Mongolia and shows no desire to come back home,
cousin Norman has gone out there to find him and make
sure he comes back.
As you may know our Tommy is a left-handed Ukulele
restorer pre-1834 models, the ones with mother of pearl inlaid and mahogany round
the edges, and he will lose his job, and he knows nothing else. He sent me these
verses and wants to know if I can get them published:
I`ve got a dog as thin as a rail,
He`s got fleas all over his tail;
Every time his tail goes flop,
The fleas on the bottom all hop to the top.
Not sure he will earn much money if that’s all he can produce after 12 weeks in Tibet.
I just hope he does not get involved in Viagra smuggling and becomes a hardened
criminal.
Here is some proper poetry to get your teeth into wot I wrote this morning:
This may seem a funny question
And I hope you will not laugh,
But what method is it that you use
when your soap`s lost in the bath?
Do you move your hands like paddles
To make the currents flow, and then scan
The surface, hoping the errant bar will show?
Or do you lie there like a statue and
stare at your plastic ducks,
And hope that in among them
You will spot your bar of Lux
Do you thrash your limbs round
Wildly like a baby with the colic
In hope that all the movement
Will reveal your lost carbolic.
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I`ve tried each and all these methods
And had some quite close shaves,
But each time my Pears transparent
Remained beneath the waves.
Anyway, the matter is not over,
For I have been given hope;
I`m told that at the chemists,
I can buy soap on a rope.
Snowdonia Marathon 2014
Race Report
Simon Beverley I’ve done loads of off road marathons and
marathon type events and I always said there was no way I would run a road
marathon. Road running is for people who can’t cope with mud, rain and hills and
anyway, road runners are always injured!
At the beginning of January I got a phone call from my Welsh mate Gary:
‘Snowdonia Marathon entries are open mate. I’ve signed up but you need to be quick, places go really fast’.
‘I’m not doing a road marathon pal, and besides, it’s the same weekend as the
OMM’. ‘You said you would do it with me’
‘I bloody didn’t. I would never agree to running a road marathon!’
‘You bloody did, it was at the end of the night after your Dad’s funeral. We were really drunk and we shook hands. You can’t go back on a drunken, emotional handshake’
‘BLOODY HELL, YOU’VE BLOODY GOT ME YOU BLOODY GIT’!!!
So I entered.
I started training earlier in the year. I’ve not really put enough effort in since having our little boy in 2012 so this was a good chance to get some weight off. I can’t face
dieting and I’m not giving up beer so the only way is to run more miles and be more structured. I had a bit of a plan but to be honest I rarely stick rigidly to them anyway. You have to fit training in where you can and not beat yourself up if you
miss a run or have to do your long runs on a Wednesday.
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I only managed to do two 20 mile+ long runs but having done a few 20 mile+ races this year I wasn’t too concerned. I worked hard at getting faster and doing some
tempo runs and hoped that would be enough. My mate on the other hand had never run a marathon before and he did eight x 22 mile training runs. Snowdonia is known
to be the hardest road marathon in the UK and possibly Europe (What a race for Gary to undertake as his first marathon)! I started to think maybe I hadn’t trained
enough! On Friday 24th October I drove down to Wrexham and jumped in my mate’s car for
the onward journey to LLanberis. We got to registration at 10pm, picked up our T shirt and then went to find our hotel for the night. We ditched our bags and just
made it into the bar for a couple of pints to help us sleep then hit the hay.
We were up at 7am and went down for breakfast. There were plenty of other runners in the breakfast area trying to force porridge down whilst family members munched
on full fried breakfasts. Plenty of water and toast then back in the car to drive to the start. At this point we discussed our plan for the race. We had never really said whether we would run together but decided we would set off together and see how it
went. I had it in my mind that I could do 4 hours but I thought it would probably be nearer 4 ½ hours. Gary just wanted to complete his first marathon.
We found a parking spot then made our way to the start. We were quite a way back
in the field on the start line and it took us about 1 ½ minutes to cross the line when the gun went off at 10.30am. 2500 had entered the race but only 2000 or so had
turned up at the start. The weather was great for marathon running, just a bit of drizzle on the way to the start but that cleared up and we hoped it would stay that way for a few hours more.
My plan was to start slow and run an even race even though it involved 2200ft of
climbing. We set off at what felt a very slow pace and let others around us do their own thing. We pootled along for a couple of miles or so before the climbing started.
Sticking to the plan we climbed steadily for approx. 800ft not really moving up the field but holding our position. I wanted to be able to put a bit of time in the bank on
the descents and flat as we had more hills to come. We crested the hill at about 4 miles and started downhill, then along the valley with the road undulating. We continued to fill the tank to the halfway point and went through 13.1 miles at 1h
55mins. A fella next to us said jokingly ‘let’s see if we can do the second half split at the same rate’. Well I thought, that’s exactly what I’m aiming to do!
13 miles to 16 is another climb of approx. 500ft. We had some time in reserve so
had a steady climb. We were making sure to take on water and food at all the water stations as I didn’t want to bonk at 22 miles with a big climb to come. I started to
notice that although we were maintaining a similar pace we were passing more and more people. It was clear that some people had really put in a lot of effort getting to the halfway point and were staring to fade. At this point we were 844th. We were
still both feeling strong. From 17 miles onwards we were passing people for fun and between half way and the end I gained 264 places.
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16 to 21 miles was undulating. I was a bit wobbly for a few miles and I felt like I was hanging on to Gary but I told him to keep his pace going and I would make sure I
kept up. We couldn’t afford to drop any time and I would just have to ‘man up’! We were not really putting much in the reserve tank for the climb but we were not losing
anything either. Plenty of people were walking at this point and I knew we still had the big climb.
At 21 miles we started to climb again. We knew this was a long one and dug in for the slog. By the 22 mile point the big climb started and I had adjusted my goal to a
sub 4 hours finish. I knew to get under 4 hours I couldn’t afford to walk at all even though people were walking everywhere. I told Gary we were on for sub 4 but he
just wanted to concentrate on getting to the finish. I pushed on and didn’t take my foot off the gas. I was hurting but it wasn’t for much longer and kept telling myself
the pain was temporary and there are people in a lot more pain than me that would love to be doing what I’m doing.
There were a few false summits and as I looked back I saw I was leaving Gary behind. I felt bad. He had helped me so much in getting to this point but I got
selfish and wanted the sub 4h. I heard a girl near the top of the climb say the 4hour was off and said ‘not if we really give it some all the way to the end’ but she’d given
in.
I left her behind and started what can only be described as an off road fell descent. It’s the only real section of off road but it was slippy and muddy and we only had road
shoes on. I pushed hard and my quads were screaming but I still thought it was possible. The track turned back into road and I knew we were close as I could hear the crowds. I was positively sprinting now as I ran through the streets. I saw the
finish. The clock had already passed 4h but my watch hadn’t. I was cheered up the home straight as I sprinted (people probably wondering why as the 4h had passed,
but I knew better) and I crossed the line almost crying.
I stopped my watch. I couldn’t look in case I hadn’t done it. I switched mode to see my result. 3h, 59mins and 56 seconds. Get in!!!! Gary was only a few minutes
behind at 4h 04mins and 30 seconds. I apologised for leaving him but he was fine about it and understood.
I said I would never do it but I have to admit I loved it. I loved the training on road mixed up with off road, I loved the race which was so well organised and supported
and I might actually throw in a few road races to mix it up a bit and build my speed.
And for anybody looking for their first marathon or anyone who isn’t looking for a PB course but it has to be a road I couldn’t recommend it more highly. If it wasn’t the
same weekend as the OMM I’d be back again next year
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London Marathon Draw The draw for the London Marathon Club places took place at November’s social at the Royal. This followed an excellent
club run arranged by Graeme Tiffany. Thanks to Graeme as well as to Dave B for a tough quiz and to John M for the raffle
and for sorting food.
The lucky marathoners for 2015 are:
Ed Batty Catherine Smithurst Hilary Taylor
Mel Cairns
Reserves are: Paul Kaye
Debbie Tomlinson
Good luck to all!
Thursday December 18 – PPPPPPRRRCCC’’’sss Very Merry Sherry
Stumble
It’s that time of year again for donning the Santa suit and dashing round the streets of Pudsey full of sherry and mince pies! Well someone has to
do it! Thank you to Team Dixson for organizing and sorting. We look forward to seeing
you.
Club run for all abilities, two laps, no watches, guess your time and ENJOY!
To all PPPudsey PPPacers: Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year
And: Deck the Halls with boughs of holly
Fa la la la la la la la la Tis the season to be jolly
Fa la la la la la la la la
Don we now our gay apparel Fa la la la la la la la la
Troll the ancient Yule tide carol Fa la la la la la la la la
16
See the blazing Yule before us Fa la la la la la la la la
Strike the harp and join the chorus Fa la la la la la la la la
Follow me in merry measure
Fa la la la la la la la la While I tell of Yule tide treasure
Fa la la la la la la la la
Fast away the old year passes
Fa la la la la la la la la Hail the new, ye lads and lasses
Fa la la la la la la la la
Sing we joyous, all together Fa la la la la la la la la
Heedless of the wind and weather
Fa la la la la la la la la
17
Dates for your diary
Good luck and safe running to all our Pacer Racers
Dec 7
West Yorkshire Winter League Cross Country 1st race at
Dewsbury
RNLI Reindeer Run, 10k, at Bramham Park, Wetherby
Dec 12 PPPPPPRRRCCC Xmas Party at Café Lux
Dec 18 PPPPPPRRRCCC Sherry Stumble
Dec 21 Travellers 6m at Denby Dale
Dec 26 Chevin Chase 7 ml at Guiseley
Dec 28 Jolly Holly Jog 10k at Ripon
Jan 4
West Yorkshire Winter League Cross Country 2nd race at
Stainland
Country Trail race 1, Meanwood Resolution Rush at the Bay Horse
Pub, LS6 4NB
Jan 11 Run England Adult Beginners 10 week course commences
Jan 18 Brass Monkey Half Marathon, York
Jan 25
West Yorkshire Winter League Cross Country 3rd race at
Craven
Meltham 10k, Huddersfield
Feb 1 Dewsbury 10k