Centurion Grand Prix 2023 / 2024 5 Miles | Full results HERE Race organised by Centurion Running Club. My first CGP was in 2013 January Today started badly when I left home to drive over to Chelmsley Wood, when I found my car had a flat tyre. Rather that mess about I took Ellens car. Despite not feeling "up for it" the race went well, for the first 4.5 miles. Nothing special, but steady running. I was passing a few runners, when I felt a slight pull in my right hamstring. I slowed down and tried to carry on, but I knew it wasn't right. I stopped to stretch against a tree, and the runners I had passed all went passed me. After stretching, I attempted to carry on, but was unable to "run", so it was a mixture of shuffling and walking. The last mile took me 9 minutes and 40 seconds. I returned home straight after the race and got an ice pack on my hamstring, and then put on a support bandage. for the rest of the day it remained sore, but thankfully in the morning it had improved. I have my regular physio session booked for Wednesday, so hoping that will give an indication on the severiry of the injury. A dissapointing run, but when I look back over the last 12 months I have ran injury free, and i'm so thankful that this did not happen in 2023 when i was chasing my parkrun 50 challenge. UPDATE: The physio confirmed that I had not torn my hamstring, and may have been a spasm. I took a week off running, and the following Saturday I attempted parkrun. As usual I did plenty of stretching and a short run just prior to the run starting. All was going well, until about a mile and I could feel discomfort in my hamstring. I stopped and walked a while, but as I hadn't got to half way I decidd to be sensible and drop out. The following week I just walked, and iced, and on Saturday morning I walked, mixed with a little bit of jogging at Holbrooks parkrun. That went well, so I will continue withthe walking and icing this week. February My hamstring injury continues to improve. Over the last six days I did a couple of runs, 20 mins on Monday and 28 minutes on Wednesday, both very steady, and then a parkrun yesterday of 26 minutes. Being sensible I had decided not to run the CGP race today, instead focussing on building up the miles slowly and allowing more recovery time before returning to "racing". Hopefully I shall be back for March's race. March (1) The first of two CGP races in March, with the cancelled December 2023 is recheduled for March 24th There was a frost on the ground early morning, but by the time I was preparing to race, the sun was out and it was a perfect day for running. I guess thats one advantage of a 12:15 start, but I cannot think of any others. A nice steady run today as I did parkrun on Saturday. Very apprehensive as I passed the 4.5 mile point, bearing in mind what happened in January ! Glad to say everything was fine. March (2) The second race in March was held on a lovely sunny morning, with a cool breeze blowing. Numbers significantly down, which could have been due to the Sutton Park road relays yesterday. I, as normal, did a park run yesterday, chosing to run at Aston Hall. I felt good at the start, putting in a 8:06 minute mile, followed by 3 miles at a consistent pace of 8:14, 8:15 and 8:17 and a final mile of 8:08, giving a total time of 40:02, my best of the series, by 1minute and 8 seconds.. Back again in two weeks for the season finale. April Storm Kathleen arrived overnight, bringing heavy rain to the UK, disrupting flights and travel. It was pretty windy at Babbs Mill Park, for the final event in the CGP 2023/2024, and at times I felt like I was being pushed back by the wind. The sun made a welcome appearance after rain had cleared, making it a pleasant run. Numbers down again, possibly because of two local events. The Coventry Way 40 mile race and the Leamington Regency 10k. Pleased with my time, albeit slower than last month, but I put that down to the conditions Over the whole series competitor numbers have been down. This may be because of the later start time of 12:15. against the 11:00 start time in previous years. I find the later start time a pain. Click HERE to view the CGP archive which has results going back to the 2001/2002 series See how many names you recognise ! |
Coventry Half Marathon 28th April 2024 13.1 Miles Race Number 1233 Finishing Time 1:53:48 Finishing Position 487 / 1211 Age Position 16 / 46 | Full results HERE I entered this race a few weeks prior to race day, but hadn't had a sustained period of training. Back in January I had to take three weeks out due to a hamstring problem, which meant It was mid February before I could run 5 miles and start to build up my training. By mid March I was up to 8 miles for my longest run, and in April I managed to do longest runs of 8, 10 and 12 miles. Phycologically I needed to do the 12 so I knew I would be able to get round. In the days leading up to race day the weather forecast wasn't very good. firsy t was for heavy showers, then light showers, but two days before race day it had reverted to heavy showers. This turned out to be very accurate. When I got up at 6.30am it was pouring down. but there is nothing you can do about it ! I changed my mind about kit, changing from a short sleeved tee under my vest to a long sleeved tee. I had intended to wear gloves, as not only was it wet, but also cold. Gloves would get soaking wet, but I was able to wrap my long sleeves round my hands. Although this would be my 10th Coventry Half, and my first since 2010, the route was a completely new one to previous routes I had done, but I have run all of it at some time or another when training with Northbrook AC. Didn't go in with much of a race strategy. I was hoping to get between 1.45 and 1.50, but if anything to beat my Benidorm 2024 half marathon time. As we started at 10am the rain was coming down hard, and throughout the race it didn't give up completely, but at least it did become lighter as the race progressed. Despite the weather, I did enjoy it. Didn't hit my hoped for time, and with the course measuring 13.22 miles, I did come in 12 seconds faster than Benidorm time. Now thinking of doing Kenilworth Half in September, my half PB course, but there's no threat of beating that ! |
Ryton Pools 5 15th May 2024 5 Miles WITHDRAWN | On a run 8 days before the Ryton 5 my right hamstring tightened up after 4 miles. It wasn't a bad as when it happened in January, but I was concious of it. I did a parkrun on Saturday, and I could feel it to start with, but It did ease off as the run progressed. I decided not to do the Ryton 5 and take a week off running, but walked three times during the week, to keep mobile. I had signed up to a fitness class on the Tuesday, and went ahead with that. Somehow this seemed to help with the hamstring as after the class I couldn't feel anything ! I did do another steady parkrun on May 18th and got run without any issues. so hopefully I can move on and do a couple of 4 mile runs in the coming week. |
Sphinx Summer 5 5th June 2024 5 Miles Race Number 286 Finishing Time 40.07 Finishing Position 269 Age Position 7 / 20 | Always a good race, with cakes and a medal at the end. This years medal takes its design from the War Memorial Structure found in the park. A nice touch. This is race two in the Warwickshire Road Race League (WRRL) Turned out to be excellent running conditions. A fantastic turn out of 102 runners from Northbrook AC took part. Always a fast downhill start for this race, and due to the width of the path its very congested for the first 200 yards. My splits were fairly consistent 7.44 8.10 7.56 8.02 7.57, with an additional 23 seconds at the end as the course measured long at 5.05 miles. Rather dissapointing as at 5 miles my time was 39.49 ! As a sign of old age, instead of joining other runners at the pub after the race I opted to go straight home and had a cup of Bovril instead. Race three in the WRRL is on Sunday, so not much time for recovery ! |
Two Castles 10k 9th June 2024 10k Race Number 229 WITHDRAWN | This years event is the 40th year of the Two Castles Race, my first was in 1995, and this year would have been my 12th time of running the 2C. Unfortunately, on Saturday afternoon my right knee started to give me some pain. No real reason why this was, and the only thing I can think of, was an innocuous stumble doing parkrun in the morning, maybe caught my foot on something which just broke my stride but nothing more than that, I did not fall over. I iced it a few times on Saturday, and went to bed thinking It unlikely that I would be on the starting line at Warwick Castle in the morning. When I got up to go to the toilet at 5am, I knew that my race day was a non starter. Very dissapointed. As I sit here writing this, the results are in and I feel down that i'm not incuded. However my mindset is now focussed on recovery. A few days of rest and some walking instead of running will hopefully be all it needs. The good thing is there are still 5 months before Benidorm 10k ! |
Benidorm 10k 23rd November 2024 Race Number 4033 Finishing Time 55.49 Chip Time 55.17 Finishing Position 974 / 2930 Age Position 16 / 63  | I will be returning to Benidorn again this year, but this time it would be the10k and NOT the half marathon. The half was not a particularly pleasant route with all the switchbacks. My choice turned out to be a good one, as the last few months have not been good for running. After returning from Kos, I went out on a short run, but only got to about a mile and a half before my hamstring tightened up and I was forced to walk back home. In a way It was a good time for this to happen, as the following day I was having the first of my cataract surgeries, so I wouldn't be able to run after that for a couple of weeks anyway, but I did walk regularly. Once I felt ready to run I started back, steadily.. and built up to 6.5 miles, which I was very pleased to do. On the 1st November I was back for my second cataract surgery, so a further running lay off was enforced. Again I started back steadily with some walking and then a slow parkrun, followed by a 4 and a 4.75. With a week to go I have done another parkrun, and target to do a 5 and 5.5 mile run this week before heading off to Benidorm. Parts of Spain have been hit by floods recently, where in Valencia, 224 people lost their lives and over 20 people were still reported as missing weeks afterwards. There was also flooding in Barcelona, but not on the same scale. Fortunately the forecast for Benidorm whilst I will be there is sunshine and high of 21°C. no mention of rain. Race Day Race day started with rain, but fortunately it wasn't heavy and it had dried up by midday. After getting my kit laid out on the bed, I walked into the Old Town, and picked up a baguette for lunch, and stopped off at Starbucks when the rain started to fall again. Leicester City were kicking off at 1.30 Spanish time so I found a bar showing the game, and settled down with a Fanta orange. The game proved to be dissapointing, but seeing the English weather cheered me up. They were suffering with torrential rain and high winds, (something that would exact it's revenge on me when I returned home due to train cancellations and delays !) I then went back to the hotel and got ready. There were 35 Northbrook runners taking part. 4 were doing the half marathon, the rest the 10k. My pre race target was to finish in between 50 and 55 minutes, which I thought reflected my current state of fitness. This year there were 6,500 runners over the two distances, and almost 50% were from the UK. The race starts at 5.30pm in daylight, but that soon fades and within 25 minutes its dark. There are so many at the start you don't get off too quickly, and it remains fairly congested until the 10k splits from the half marathon, at about 5 miles. I was pretty happy with how things were progresssing and coming out of the old Town, I took an energy gel in the hope it may give me a buzz ! Once we split from the half I knew we were on the homeward leg, and I picked up the pace. I crossed the line in 55.17, just over my "target" time, but the course was long by .1 of a mile, so not bad !. On Sunday morning we walked up to the "La Cruz de Benidorm", a cross ontop of the hill overlooking the City. Its a long climb but the views from the top are stunning. In the afternoon I caught the local bus to Altea, fare €1.60. A small resort, frequented by older tourists and Spaniards. The promanade is lined with cafes and restaurants, but nothing like the rowdy pubs full of British tourists in Benidorm. After a delicious goat's cheese salad and a large glass of Spanish red wine, I walked round the Old Town of Altea for an hour before heading back to Benidorm for a final night out. I had started coughing on Sunday, which got progressivley worse. By Wednesday It was clear it was more than a cold, so I went to the doctors. I had a chest infection, and was put on a course of Antibiotics. As it turned out quite a few of us had returned home unwell. Having now ran in Benidorm twice, thats it for me. Perhaps next year it will be somewhere different for some winter sunshine. There is a marathon / half marathon / 10k in Palma, Majorca in October 2025........ |
