The Tony Mackness web pages

Centurion Grand Prix Series

2017 / 2018

5 Miles

Full results HERE

Organised by Centurion Running Club, consisting of 6 races over a 5 mile traffic free course round
parkland in Chelmsley Wood. One small loop and two larger loops..

January
A cold frosty morning so I did wonder if the race would go ahead.
Parts of the course were a bit slippy but thanks to Ed, who had been round and spray painted the dodgy bits the race was on. I lost my footing once, on the last lap but thankfully managed to stay upright.Slightly slower time than last month, but I put that down to the conditions.

February
A lovely day for running, 8 degrees and still.
Unfortunately and without any prior warning my left calf had tightened up after only a mile the previous week, and I had to walk back home. No running, and plenty of RICE and heat over the interveening 10 days and it felt OK to run on, albeit I was going to approach this one with caution. I wouldn't be racing, and any
indication of pain I would pull out.
A few times I felt a slight twinge, which only lasted for seconds and then it was gone.
Sticking to my pre "race" strategy I took it easy and got round in 39.41
Hopefully I will be in better shape for the March race.

March
The UK had been in the grips of "The Beast From The East" since Thursday, bringing in heavy snowfall and Siberian winds, so it was no surprise when this month race was cancelled.
Two weeks after last months race my calf let me down again, and not having run for 18 days I wasnt sure if I should chance running the March race or not, so thankfully the decision was taken out of my hands.

April
I was unable to take part in Aprils event, as I was in Florida, celebrating my Son's 30th Birthday.
We did get a couple of short runs in together, which was really nice, and I did Cleremont parkrun.

Click here to go to the Centurion Grand Prix 2017 / 2018 results
and here to go to my Centurion Grand Prix 2017 race reports

Click HERE to view the CGP archive which has results going back to the 2001/2002 series
See how many names you recognise !

	Race Number	Overall Position	Age Position	Time
Sunday 5th November	92	56 / 149	4 /5	37.44
Sunday 3rd December	95	47 / 117	2 / 2	37.52
Sunday 7th January	178	42 / 111	4 / 4	37.54
Sunday 4th February	308	77/136	5 /9	39.41
Sunday 5th March	MARCH EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS
Sunday 8th April	NO RUN THIS MONTH

Massey Ferguson

"Tractor 10k"

1st April 2018

And

Clermont Parkrun Florida

7th April 2018

This was a new event on the race calendar in 2017, organised by Massey Ferguson Running Club, Coventry.

Prior to 2017 Massey's had organised a 5 mile Easter run at Coventry War Memorial Park, but this race has replaced it, and is held at the National Agricultural & Exhibition Centre (NAEC) Stoneleigh.

It is the first event in the Warwickshire Road Race League which consists of 11 races over varying
distances, from 5k to half marathon, all of which are organised by local running clubs.

Unfortunately I was unable to take part in this race.
My calf had not recovered sufficiently, and ducking out was the right thing to do.

The decision was made easier as on the following Thursday I was flying out to Florida for a weeks holiday, and had plans to do Clermont Parkrun on the 7th April.
I really wanted to do the parkrun and didn't want to jepordise my chances by running the
Massey's 10k and making it worse.

On the Friday I ran a couple of miles and the calf held up so at 5.45am on Saturday morning I was up and ready for the 35 miles journey from Kissimmee to Clermont, which, because of the heat starts at 7.30am.
All went well until 2.12 miles into the race when I felt my calf tighten up, and I was forced to slow down and just get round. It was very dissapointing as I felt good until that point, but there was no way I was not going to finish.
My first parkrun as an international tourist ended with a time of 25.24 and 30th position..

Spa Striders

Ryton Pools

5mile

Thursday 24th May 2018

Race Number 62

Finishing Time 39.44

Full results HERE

Another race I missed out on last year.
After returning from Florida I decided to take (yet another) break from running.. so for two weeks I did only stretching and weights. I then started back with a ten minute run and ran every other day progressing by only a few minutes each run. Prior to this on the three occasions I took a break I started back with a parkrun, which was probably not the best way to ease back in gently !

Two weeks before the race I completed 4.5 miles without any discomfort whilst running or afterwards, so my change of tact certainly worked. I did 5.25 the Sunday before race day so was confident of getting round without any problems.

With the recent dry spell the course kicked up lots of dust at the start, which was not very pleasant for those of us who started mid pack. It was never going to be a race for me, it would be a 5 mile run but running with 350 other runners was something i had been missing out on for far too long.

I would have been pleased to get round in 38 minutes, but on a warm a muggy night my 39.44 was the best I could do.

This race was the third in the WRRL (Warwickshire Road Race Series), and next up is the Two Castles 10k on
Sunday 10th June.

	Race Number	Overall Position	Age Position	Time
Sunday 4th November	421	47 / 117	1 / 4	37.38
Sunday 2nd December	139	37 / 106	2 / 7	37.57