Thursday 30 June 2011

Sunderland City 10k, 26th June 2011

Photos are courtesy of http://www.marathon-photos.com/.


When the Bupa Great North 10k was switched to Gateshead this year, Sunderland City Council moved quickly to establish a race in its place. Therefore, the inaugural Sunderland City 10k was born. I have family who stay in Durham and, having not seen them for a little while, decided that entering this race represented a good excuse to pay a little visit. I therefore let the train take the strain on Saturday morning and stayed with my aunt and uncle in the nearby village of Brancepeth. It's a pleasant train journey, taking in some scenic coastline. Saturday afternoon and evening was spent relaxing catching up with my aforementioned aunt and uncle and various cousins. I also sponsored one of my younger cousins who was due to run a 5k in July. I passed on some advice about not starting too quickly which, as you will see, I failed to heed of the next day. Plans were made to get to Sunderland for the 10.30am start and, after a steak and a couple of glasses of red wine for dinner, I turned in at 11pm.

My uncle drove me through to Sunderland FC's Stadium of Light for the race while my aunt attended mass at Brancepeth's St Brandon's Church to round up more 5k sponsors. The heat struck me quite early on. The mercury was easily over 20 degrees. I still felt reasonably confident of running well. The weekend before, I had run two personal bests in 3 days on the track over 3000m (8:41.27) and 5000m (14:57.30). I took great delight from the latter since it was my first clocking under 15 minutes on a track for 5000m.

We headed out away from the Stadium turning right onto the Monkwearmouth Bridge. A leading group had quickly formed, one of whom was local athlete Ian Hudspith who ran 29:42 at the Great Manchester 10k in May. I didn't know this stat at the time and was trying to keep up. The pace as we approached 1km wasn't far away from what I did at Bristol. However, it was a lot hotter than it had been that day and it wasn't long before I started struggling.


Above: the short lived leading group on the Monkwearmouth Bridge. Ian Hudspith is in the blue vest.

As we got to 2km, I was blowing apart spectacularly. Hudspith slowly started moving away from me. Since I was already clear of the rest of the field, I faced a long solo 8km to the finish. There was a downhill stretch to the waterfront. I checked my watch for the first time at 5km as I headed out to the Marina. 15:31, not the worst, but I was hot, sweating and had a pair of heavy legs. Unusually for a race this length, I was (gratefully) taking fluid at the water stations, pouring most of it over my head. What goes down of course has to go back up and 6km saw a long drag from the Marina into Roker Park.

I had no idea, and couldn't care less, about my pace now. A circuit around Roker Park was followed by a descent back onto the Marina then the inevitable climb back out then a route back towards the stadium, crossing the Monkwearmouth Bridge again. I was a grateful man to see the Stadium of Light again. I managed to raise a smile to acknowledge the spectators as I hobbled across the finish line a knackered, dehydrated runner up in a time of 32:35.
Above: approaching the finish.



I had taken a painful 17:04 to run the second 5km but I stubbornly stuck to one of my golden rules of racing- never drop out no matter how bad it gets. I've had more than a few mediocre results over the years due to this but I'd rather that than have DNF (Did Not Finish) next to my name. Ian Hudspith had clearly suffered too if his winning time of 31:15 is anything to go by. The finishing funnel took me through the bus entrance to pitchside to collect my medal, t shirt and "goody bag" and generally tell anyone who would both listen and could understand my accent how warm it was.

I reconvened with my uncle who was thoroughly enjoying his morning and mightily impressed with my second place finish. I had a presentation to hang around for which took place in one of the stadium lounges. We wandered in to see Steve Cram of all people would be doing the honours. I got talking to another Scottish athlete, Rosie Smith, who had finished 2nd woman and 9th overall in a time of 36:42 running for Durham City Harriers. We had made acquaintance previously at the Home Countries Cross Country in Antrim.

I was duly presented with a £100 shoe voucher and helped myself to some pasta at a buffet in the room, whether I was meant to or not (well I walked up with a plate and the lady said "what would you like?"). I then headed back to Brancepeth where I went out a 10 minute jog to at least ease the stifness in my legs. After more relaxation and a spot of dinner, I said my goodbyes and got the 17.18 train from Durham to Glasgow. I got the bonus today of some prize money- £100.

This race has great potential to grow and I hope it does. Flatten the hills and turn the temperature down though.

Result

Men
1. Ian Hudspith, Morpeth Harriers, 31:15; 2. Stuart Gibson, Ronhill Cambuslang, 32:35; 3. Liam Taylor, Sunderland Strollers, 34:59

Women
1. Sonia Samuels, 34:33 (3rd overall), 2.Rosie Smith, Durham City Harriers, 36:42 (9th overall); 3. Michelle Holt, Sunderland Harriers & Athletics Club, 39:47 (25th overall)

The Road to Cambuslang Part 2- Scottish Senior Championships

Suitably wounded, at least physically, I devised a training and racing schedule to get me in shape for the Scottish 5000m on 31st August 2008. I also recovered sufficiently to start my new job as a solicitor with Macallans 4 days after the Arran title defence. I built up a head of steam and enjoyed some encouraging race results which suggested I would at least not be embarrassed when I got to the championships.

July

13th: Scottish Mens League Division 1- 800m, 2:06.46; 3000m steeplechase, 10:33.79; 5000m, 16:34.87
21st: Saltcoats Round The Houses Road Race (4.5 miles approx)- 3rd in 23:50
27th: Aberdour Donkey Brae Race (7 miles, undulating)- 3rd in 42:11 (photo below courtesy of http://www.roadrunpics.com/)

30th: Linwood Open Graded Meeting- 800m, 2:04.58, personal best

August

6th: Dundonald 10k (approx) Road Race- 2nd in 34:07
10th: Central and South of Scotland League Division 1- 3000m, 4th in 9:25
20th: Marymass 10k Road Race, Irvine- 3rd in 33:45 (slightly short of 10k sadly)

On Sunday 31st August 2008, I tentatively made the one hour drive through to Pitreavie in Fife and joined 12 other athletes for the Scottish 5000m. Outwardly, I looked cool, calm and collected. Inside, I was a nervous wreck. As we were led onto the track following the women's 1500m, I had a primary target to break 16 minutes and a back up plan of a new personal best.

After we set off, UK international Andrew Lemoncello quickly asserted himself at the front of the pack while the yellow and black Calderglen Harriers vest took up position at the rear. Not that I wanted to. I was running at my limit to cling onto the coatails of the others. I went through a mile in 4:48 which meant I had at least one personal best in the bag for the day. I got to 2000m (5 laps) at this pace before the wheels started loosening. An athlete called Adam Elliott from Sale Harriers in Manchester had resisted the temptation to follow the pack and moved past me on his way to a time of 15:16.19. I was paying for my early efforts as runners moved further away from me. For about 3 laps, I slowed to around 16:40 pace. It was hurting and I was in trouble. No-one else overtook me so I took it I was the back marker.

At a mile (4 laps) to go, I saw the clock. The sub 16 minute target had gone but a mile in under 5:20 would give me a chance of achieving the secondary one. Surely I could do that? Around this point, I was lapped by Andrew Lemoncello, i.e. he was a lap (400m) ahead of me, with Shettleston's Eritrean duo Tsegezab Woldemichael and Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab in close pursuit. Shortly after, Pitreavie's John Newsom also lapped me. I held things together enough to run a mile in 5:10-5:15 and finish in 16:13.87. This was a new personal best by 6 seconds and, if you noticed my results earlier in this post, 21 seconds quicker than I ran at the Mens League 7 weeks earlier. I was exhausted. I had no more to give. I safely secured second last position with Aberdeen's Ross Fulton coming through 11 seconds later. The race was won by Andrew Lemoncello in 14:11.04 followed by Tsegezab Woldemichael (14:15.70) and Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab (14:28.09).

While being reasonably happy with this, I felt in reflective mood as I left the Kingdom of Fife. Surely I could achieve slightly more? What could I do? What did I need to do? That is to come in part 3.

Result- 2008 Scottish Senior Championships 5000m (courtesy of http://www.thepowerof10.info/)

114:11.04Andrew LemoncelloSENM2512.10.82Fife14:0213:33.01
214:15.70Tsegezab WoldemichaelPBSENMShettleston/Eritrea14:15.7014:15.70
314:28.09Tewoldeberhan MengisteabPBU23MShettleston/Eritrea14:28.0914:20.7
414:35.44John NewsomSBSENM2320.10.84Pitreavie/Stirling Uni14:35.4414:31.62
514:44.39Scott FraserPBU23M2225.03.86Lothian/Edinburgh Uni14:44.3914:44.39
614:49.34Derek HawkinsPBU20M1929.04.89Lawrie SpenceKilbarchan14:49.3414:25.25
714:57.17Craig RuddyPBU23M2010.04.88Lawrie SpenceInverclyde/Central14:57.1714:43.91
815:01.94Scott McDonaldPBU20M1828.05.90Derek EastonCentral/Forth Valley15:01.9414:50.75
915:08.60Michael GillespiePBU20M1926.04.89Amanda GillespieCentral/Edinburgh Uni15:08.6015:08.60
1015:13.67Martin GrahamSENM2725.04.81Shettleston14:46.714:46.7
1115:16.19Adam ElliottSENM2223.12.85Sale Harriers Manchester/Loughborough Uni15:15.514:53.76
1216:13.87Stuart GibsonPBSENM2415.09.83Calderglen/Whitemoss16:13.8714:57.30
1316:24.89Ross FultonPBU20M1727.03.91Ken HoggAberdeen

Sunday 12 June 2011

The Road to Cambuslang Part 1- Isle of Arran Half Marathon 2008

This is the first of a 4 part feature which does exactly as it says in the title. I begin with the Isle of Arran Half Marathon on 29th June 2008.

"Unsuccessful title defence. Steady in 5th for 7 miles, blew a gasket, dropped 2 places. Need to get into much better shape than now."


That, word for word, is the entry in my training diary following this race. After finishing my legal traineeship in mid June, I immediately went off on holiday with my brother to Torremolinos in the Costa del Sol for 10 days. I returned on a Friday night in time to defend my title in the Isle of Arran Half Marathon 2 days later. The year before, I won the race in 1:15:49 to record my first ever road race victory. I had the trophy to return and it was a nice excuse for a day out.

Above: the start of the 2009 race leaving Blackwaterfoot. I fared a little better that year, finishing runner up.
The Half Marathon is effectively a one man operation, organised by Whiting Bay resident Paul Emsley who enlists the help of locals for marshaling duty. Entry gets you a seat on the bus from the ferry terminal at Brodick to the race start in Blackwaterfoot, use of the showers and swimming pool in the Kinloch Hotel after the race, food and drink at the prize giving and a bus back to Brodick. All this for £6. Oh yes, and the race.

While not expecting to win again, I had done a wee bit of jogging under the Spanish sun to break up the long hard days sunbathing and evenings sipping pints in bars watching the Spanish football side reach the final of Euro 2008. Surely that would be enough? Warm weather training albeit with copious amounts of alcohol consumed and no early nights.

Paul Emsley duly set us on our way out of Blackwaterfoot onto the B roads leading us to the small hamlets of Shiskine and Machrie. I settled myself into 4th place at a pace I felt I could maintain. The first test came at 3 miles with a climb up Machrie Moor. I was a little breathless at the top but I had a fast, flat section leading down to the coast to get a breather. I dropped down to 5th which didn't concern me too much because I was keeping my pace up. The leaders were long gone.

At around 6 miles, the course turns inland up a steady climb then, at 8 miles, joins the ring road connecting Brodick and Blackwaterfoot. From there, you essentially follow the bus route back to Blackwaterfoot. My Spanish training camp had not encompassed any hill reps and I was really starting to feel it in my legs. I was barely halfway. I gratefully took water from a nice local lady manning a water station near her cottage and battled on. My legs were like lead. I had another problem. A blister was developing on the sole of one of my feet.

On the ring road, I sensed I was going to start getting caught. Sure enough, Toni McIntosh of Ayr Seaforth and Irvine's Brian Craig bounded past me. I held on to them...for around 30m. More ailments were developing. My blister got a companion on the sole of my other foot where the skin was starting to split. My shorts were also starting to rub my thighs, developing a rash on each. I battled on gamely keeping a running action going counting down the miles. Like an oasis in the desert, the sign "Welcome to Blackwaterfoot" manifested itself. My Dad gave me a polite applause as I hobbled across the finish line 7th in 1:22:24. From 9 miles or so I had been down to 1:30-1:35 pace. Quite a spectacular title defence! I made use of the swimming pool where my whole body hurt and the rashes on my thighs nipped in the chlorine.

I wasn't worried about this result and had enjoyed a pleasant day (well, pre and post race) in one of Scotland's many beauty spots. I was also glad to have 3 days recovery time before starting my new job. However, as I sipped an "Arran Blonde" beer on the ferry back to the mainland, I gave myself a target to get into shape for- the 5000m at the Scottish Senior Track and Field Championships on 31st August. That's the subject of part 2.

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Amazing Who You Meet 4

In November 2008, my life was slowly changing. While still competing for Calderglen Harriers, I was 5 weeks into weekly track sessions with Cambuslang Harriers which eventually saw me joining the club in March 2009. I had also been in my first, and current, qualified solicitor post with Macallans Solicitors (the site is a wee bit out of date. I don't feature on it) for 4 months.

During the winter, endurance sessions are arranged in various parks in the Glasgow area on Saturday mornings. One such session took place at Tolcross Park on 22nd November 2008 where someone called Paula Radcliffe would be present. Being a sucker for celeb spotting, I went along.

Sure enough, there was one of the UK's finest female distance runners limbering up for a training session. I pretended not to notice, completed my warm up and went to the start line to hear the lead coach's instructions. 4 minute efforts, minimum of 4, maximum of 10. I became aware of someone in a white top and pink shorts jogging on the spot beside me. It was Ms Radcliffe. I still pretended not to notice. We were then told to follow the course marked out by cones. Radcliffe turned in my direction and said "I don't see any markers." There was no-one beside me so she had definitely addressed me. I replied to the effect of just follow whoever is front of you which actually got a laugh from her.


Above: setting off on a 4 minute effort. Photo courtesy of http://www.snspix.com/


Joking aside, it was amazing how someone so prominent and who had won the New York Marathon days before could simply merge into a training session with a dozen or so other athletes with no-one really batting an eyelid. We are all athletes at the end of the day. My fitness had a fair bit to go at this point and I had blown a gasket after 6 efforts. Radcliffe and others carried on for another 4.

The purpose of Paula's visit was to be Guest of Honour at the Scottish Athletics Awards Dinner that evening. As luck would have it, I had a ticket since I was still Whitemoss Athletics Club treasurer. We arrived early. Paula had too and, before too long, an impromptu autograph and photograph session started. I hung back to the end of the queue, secured my autograph and had the pleasure of a chat for several minutes. After talking about that morning's session and her New York Marathon victory, the subject turned to asthma. Both of us are sufferers of exercise induced asthma and I was interested to know how she coped with it. She had wondered who was coughing a bit that morning. That would have been me!

Out of the few famous people I've met, Paula Radcliffe has easily been the most pleasant and approachable. She had time for everyone that weekend.


Above: the Whitemoss delegation meet Paula Radcliffe.

CSSAL Division 2 Match 2, Linwood, 5th June 2011

I had a varied afternoon lined up at Linwood. The main event was 1500m though I had long jump and a leg in the 4 x 100m relay on either side. I didn't ease down for this, doing a full training week leading up to it. Indeed, the day before, I did a heavy track session at the same Linwood track with Inverclyde pair Chris Mackay (runner up in this year's Scottish National Cross Country) and Mark Pollard (former Scottish Cross Country Champion). It was a rather brutal workout in a gusty wind of 2km, 1km, 2km, 1km. My times were 5:58, 2:58, 6:14 and 3:00. Theirs were a little quicker! Total distance was 7.5-8 miles including warm up and warm down.

Like the Mens League, the Central and South of Scotland League permits two athletes per event, "A string" and "B string." I was assigned the B number in the long jump where I shocked myself with a leap of 4.82m. One of my old Whitemoss friends, Lorraine Boyd, certainly did an alright job marking my run up accurately for me. This was 7cm away from my personal best which I set in September 1998. It won me the B string. So far so good.

I lined up on a crowded 1500m start line with Andrew Coulter on Cambuslang duty with me. I battled through the log jam to move into the lead after 200m and went through 400m in 67 seconds. I sensed an athlete on my shoulder. Deja vu from when Robert Russell did the same in the Mens League 5000m. In a bid to keep the pace up and drop whoever it was, I kept the pace as constant as possible. It certainly didn't slow since I completed 1200m in 3:21. I lifted the pace as much as I could muster. Coming into the final 100m, the mystery athlete, Paul Leck of Kilbarchan, came past me to win. I finished a frustrated 2nd place in a time of 4:10.5. I kicked fresh air in disgust, not with Paul (we shook hands and chatted after the finish) but with myself for allowing myself to be outdone in 2 consecutive races, doing all the work then losing out. A harsh tactical lesson.

Since I was the only one of the quartet who could perform an adequate crouch start, I took first leg in the 4 x 100m relay. I handed over to a Cambuslang parent, Cliff (forgotten his second name) then Colin Stephen and finally Andrew Coulter. Between us, we secured a convincing second last place.

In all honesty, with 10km races on offer at Rouken Glen and Carluke, I would rather have done one of them. Maybe for the final league meeting on 3rd July, I will get time off for good behaviour.

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Scottish Mens League Division 2 Match 2, 22nd May 2011

It was back to Grangemouth for the second of this year's four meetings. Whitemoss were the early pacesetters in Division 2 but I was struggling a bit for numbers this time. School and university exams and the British Masters Relay Championships in Birmingham put paid to a number of my hopefuls. I had 8 athletes, including myself, and the required 3 officials. One of those athletes, sprinter Zach Bryson, twinged a hamstring in the long jump leading to an early managerial reshuffle. At least it kept me occupied until the 5000m, my only race of the day. One of my throwers, Michael Brennan, was absent due to his wedding. I got an able replacement in East Kilbride's Keith Garrow to partner my star signing from last year, Ian Smith, a former American footballer with East Kilbride Pirates.

With Cambuslang's coaches watching my training and racing like hawks these days (hello guys), I strictly restricted myself to a 5000m. My days of doubling, trebling (or quadrupling) at league meetings are numbered. I'd had a so-so training week, dominated by post Bristol fatigue, comprising:-

Monday 16th: 7-7.5 miles easy (46:38)- very little energy, night after Bristol 10k.
Tuesday: Club, 6.5-7 miles easy (45:42)- feeling better but kept it gentle as a precaution.
Wednesday: Longer run, 15 mins easy then 5 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, 4 mins, 5 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, all with 5 mins easy between reps, 11.2 miles (1:08:18)-  better on a cold, windy night.
Thursday: Rest- at a seminar after work.
Friday: Reps, 2 mins, 3 mins, 2 mins, 3 mins, 2 mins, all with 2 mins jog recoveries, 7.1 miles total including warm up and warm down- lifted this from Charlie Spedding's book, one of his track sessions converted to the road.
Saturday: 6.8 miles easy (42:43)- fairly relaxed, day dreamed a bit and enjoyed the countryside.

The first signs of the galeforce winds which would lash Scotland could be sensed at Grangemouth. One of the sprints had a recorded wind speed of +3.6m/s! It wasn't too bad as I lined up with 21 others for the combined Divisions 1 and 2 5000m.

Pre-race, I harboured notions of breaking 15 minutes and set out with that intention. I moved straight into the lead, burning off everyone except Central's Robert Russell who stuck to me the way I did to Martin Williams 7 days before. With the first mile done in 4:44, I was on course. Front running for so long however, is tough. I lead for more than half of the race before Russell took over. I was slightly relieved because I'd taken the brunt of the wind until then.

Conditions worsened in the later stages and my sub-15 minute hopes slipped away. The race became more about position. Russell's club were Division 1 so I knew hanging on would earn me maximum points in Division 2. I reached  3 miles in around 14:45 and picked things up enough in the final 200m to finish in 15:21.53. Russell clocked 14:53.20. I feel a faster time is there in more favourable weather.

I rounded off by joining Cambuslang club mates Stewart Orr and Andrew Coulter for an easy 2 mile jog. Both had run the 1500m. Stewart finished 2nd in 4:05.62 behind Scottish Cross Country champion Derek Hawkins (4:03.42) while Andrew ran 4:28.61 to continue a comeback from an injury laden spell.

The team finished 4th and lie 3rd, one point off joint leaders Falkirk Victoria and Shettleston. Thank you to Jim Orr for his support and being on hand to assist with team manager duties. See what I mean about them watching me?