Well, that seemed to fly by, though I have to admit, I’m glad to see the back of 2018. It’s been one of those years where things just didn’t fall in place and I think the only PB I could claim would be getting ill the most frequently in a calendar year!

There’s been some good results and training at times went really well, especially in the first half of the year. This past month has been very frustrating; I got off to a solid start with 31:15 (a seasons best out of a bad bunch) at Percy Pud 10k, a cracking race on the outskirts of Sheffield, quite a fast course despite being undulating. A few days later I got ill and it wiped me out for the best part of a week, perhaps in rushing to try and get back some form for Ribble Valley 10k, I ended up getting ill again and I decided to withdraw from the race, drawing a thick black line under 2018 – time to move on!

It was a pity, the conditions were excellent and both the men and women produced some incredible times, with both course records going. It was depressing watching the race, I hate not running and being a spectator, but I have to say, it was inspiring watching so many runners produce excellent times and personal bests.

I’m already looking beyond January towards Barcelona half marathon, I have six weeks, so it’s pretty much a case of sh*t or bust. I still think it leaves me enough time to get some form together. After that it’s speed, speed, speed! No spring marathon and I want to have a right good go at the track season, I regret not doing more of those this year.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s had a year of performances that have fallen below expectations; if I can offer any advice it would be that it’s all part of what running is about, it’s not supposed to be easy is it?

Work hard every year and make plans, it won’t always work out, but more often than not it will. When it doesn’t work out, you can put it down to experience and treat it as a toughening up experience that will make you stronger for bigger challenges ahead.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed sharing my story with you all on the class of 2018 blog, I hope some of you might have learned one or two things, or even if you learned nothing and just enjoyed a good read.

So, 2018 is a year I’ll put down to experience (one of many at my age!) and it will toughen me up for better races ahead in 2019! All the best for the New Year and I hope it’s one that brings more great memories and happy results!

Ben Fish features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can read Ben’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post The importance of putting it down to experience and looking ahead appeared first on Fast Running.

Off the back of a decent September, where I had some solid results and decent training of around 400 miles tucked away, I was expecting to do much better recently; especially at Manchester Half.

The national road relays went quite well, I had quite a decent run and we managed a very credible 30th, which is another step forwards in what’s been a great year for the club.

I’m enjoying my time as a Blackburn Harrier more than ever; we’ve been at nearly all of the big competitions this year, whether it be the national cross country champs or relays, we also got promoted back to the Northern Division 1 Athletics League at the end of the season.

Manchester Half Marathon

My own running seems to have gone the other way, I was aiming for at least a seasons best, so anything on the wrong side of 67 minutes at the Manchester Half Marathon would have to be classed as failing.

I spent the Saturday in Manchester with the On Running ambassadors and staff. It was great to catch up with everyone and compare notes on how the year has gone, as most of us hadn’t seen each other since London marathon back in April. The mood was positive and I was confident of having a good race the next day.

It was a stacked field, I knew the front five guys would be in a different league and I expected there to be a pack of runners behind running 65-66 minutes. Conditions weren’t too bad, I don’t mind rain, but it was pretty wet, even by Manchester’s standards!

The race soon sorted itself out, with a lead pack headed by Andy Vernon and Luke Traynor, the two favourites. I was in the next pack with familiar foes such as Gavin Hill, Stuart Hawkes, Callum Rowlinson and fellow On Team-mate Russell Bentley. Tom Cornthwaite and Richard Weir were running together 200 yards ahead of us.

At this stage, I was happy with how I felt, but after a few miles I could sense all wasn’t well. I had intended to push the pace at the front of our group and get closer to Weir and Cornthwaite, but I was struggling to just to stay in the mix, which after a modest 16-minute 5km split should have been easy.

By the eight mile mark, I was hanging off slightly at the back with Russell Bentley; who’s been in incredible form, after bouncing back from a disappointing run at Berlin, he won Abersoch half marathon, ran in the road relays for his club, then finished second at Chester marathon a week before this race, injuring his foot in the process.

As for me? I had no excuse, I was getting my ass kicked! I was feeling angry and frustrated to be finding this so hard, I’ve done 10 mile tempo runs in around 52 minutes and here I am in an important race, flogging myself to a similar time!

I managed to claw my way into the top 10 from 10-11 miles, running hard trying to give chase to the group that got away from myself and Russell, but the gap never closed and I crossed the line in a barely deserved 10th in 68:09.

Russell was 20 seconds further back, he later went on to win the Snowdon Marathon two weeks later, that’s some serious racing for September and October! At the serious end, it was a fine win by Andy Vernon against defending champion, Traynor in a new course record of 63:39.

I had a marathon of my own planned, which was going to be Abingdon Marathon on October 21st, as my use of the word “was” indicates, it didn’t happen.

I was starting to wonder whether it was worth doing, would I even be able to run 2hr 25? After picking up a cold on the Thursday, it wasn’t worth finding out. It sums up a patchy year, there have been some good results, such as the National XC, London Marathon and the road relays, but as far as achieving decent times or even getting close to any PBs, it’s been a bit poor really.

Accrington 10k

After recovering, I wanted to throw myself into another race, which was the Accrington 10k on the 28th. I had no idea on what time or position I’d manage, so I decided to keep it very simple; go out hard and see if I didn’t blow up.

At the five-minute mile, I was nearly 30 seconds faster than last year and I felt good on the next two uphill miles. By this point, I had built up a decent lead and felt sharp on the downhill part of the course to the finish surprised myself to win with 31:32.

It was over a minute faster than my previous time there, where was that form when I was at Manchester? That’s running, sometimes it doesn’t make any bloody sense at all!

It was a brilliant turn out from the club, we whitewashed the top five, with Jack Hindle, Ben Costello, Karl Billington and Josh Holgate. Chris Davies, Calum James and Paul Brindle also finished high up (7th, 8th & 12th) making it a very dominant performance by the lads.

My focus now will be just to get back to basics, lots of races and hard running and see if I can achieve a decent 10k time before the end of the year, the last aim for 2018 is a sub 30 minute 10k, so I’ve got two months to sort that out.

Ben Fish features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can read Ben’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post ‘That’s running, sometimes it doesn’t make any bloody sense at all!’ appeared first on Fast Running.

Training was nice and steady in September and it was also a busy spell of racing after a quiet end to the summer.

On the 9th it was Lake Vyrnwy half in Wales, a very underrated half marathon that’s really well organised, run on a fast and scenic course. I stopped doing the Great North Run quite a few years ago and much prefer this one instead; it’s a proper runners race in my view.

I was up against a familiar foe in Stuart Hawkes, who’s been steadily getting better each time we’ve crossed paths. We had quite a close battle at Alderley Edge 10k in the summer and I knew it would be another tough one here.

We were off at 1pm and immediately it was myself, Hawkes and Callum Rowlinson leading it out; I tried forcing the pace but was struggling to hit five-minute miling and it wasn’t enough to establish any sort of command in the race. By six miles, it was still the three of us battling it out, though Rowlinson, who was running 10k PB pace, eventually dropped off shortly afterwards.

I think 10 miles was reached in around 51:30, which was over a minute slower than what I reached last year, it also wasn’t enough to shake off Hawkes, who was starting to look the stronger out of us two. The race was decided in the final mile, which is mainly downhill. I was unable to match Hawkes’ speed and he went on to win by nearly 20 seconds in a fine 66:44, knocking nearly two minutes off his PB.

I was slightly disappointed to fall on the wrong side of 67 minutes (67:03) in second. Rowlinson ran superbly and also knocked a huge chunk off his PB in third, just over a minute further back.

Reigate half marathon

The following week, I ran in the Reigate half marathon, near Gatwick, where I would represent the On-Running team. It turned out to be quite a dire performance from myself, right from the start I didn’t feel anywhere near as good as I did at Lake Vyrnwy.

I was also up against an in-form Kevin Quinn, who was just too good for me on the day, I let him go at five miles and by the seventh mile Andy Coley-Maud went past. I managed to hang on a bit, but I was really struggling, ten miles was reached in 52:40.

I lost ground on Andy in the last three miles and barely broke 70 mins in 69:38. Perhaps I’d just over-egged the training a bit that week, but I was still shocked at just how bad I was!

I made sure I backed off a bit going into the Northern six-stage relays, as I didn’t want to let the club down with a crap run.

Northern Road Relays

Blackburn Harriers had a strong team for the Northern six-stage relays, perhaps missing a couple of runners, but compared to other clubs, we seemed to be close to full-strength.

I know it’s had some criticism for being a bit dull, but I’ve grown to like the Sportcity venue in Manchester, I like the start and finish on the track and there’s good support out there on the course, which makes up for the monotony of it.

Besides, we’re there to race, not enjoy the scenery! Tim Raynes got us off to a great start with 20:34 on the 6.8km leg, Rob Warner backed this up with a similar time of 20:38, keeping us in the mix.

New recruit Mark Hartley put in a great shift on his leg 21:51, followed by Ben Costello in 21:47, who’s getting back to his best form. Chris Davies nabbed a place back right on the line with 21:42 before handing on to myself.

I felt good going into this one and made up a couple of seconds to catch up with Sale’s Gavin Hill as we left the track. I tried to pull away, but it was clear this was going to be a battle all the way.

We passed a few clubs, but they turned out to be ones that were already lapped, in the last section before finishing on the track, Hill made a move and I had to really dig deep to keep with him.

I could also see a Hallamshire vest just ahead, but he responded and held on to his place, it was a dash to the line between myself and Gavin Hill, I wasn’t sure who managed to nick the position. Initially, Blackburn were given 12th, then we were given 11th.

Either way, it was a tad frustrating to miss out on the top 10, but it just shows how strong the other teams are getting. My time was 19:50, which was 13th fastest of the event, not quite as well as I did last year, but considering my run at Reigate, it’s big progress.

The womens’ team out-performed us with a fine result to finish ninth place, with the quartet of Carmen Byrne, Maddie Elliott, Victoria Mousley and Jess Judd, who also ran the fastest leg of the event by about 30 seconds!

Next month will be busy again with racing, but I’m hoping to at least manage a season’s best (if not PB) at Manchester Half Marathon on the 14th October.

Ben Fish features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can read Ben’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Ben Fish recaps on busy month of racing appeared first on Fast Running.

This is a topic that I’ve wondered about for a number of years and as an ‘apparent’ veteran at 36 years old, I’m even more convinced that the categorisation shouldn’t begin until one reaches 40.

Traditionally, it used to be 40 and only in recent years, perhaps for gender equality, the men’s veteran category in many cases falls in line with the women’s at 35. It’s certainly a bit of a grey area (in more ways than one for most of us!).

Now, I certainly agree that both genders should have equal age categories in rankings and races, as with prizes in races. But wouldn’t it have been more obvious to bring the women’s category up to 40 years old?

If anything, there are more women competing at the top level over 35 than men, which certainly makes a mockery out of those races that recognise women as veterans at 35 and men at 40, not to mention the inequality of that situation.

On thinking about this, and just to make sure I was not talking complete nonsense, I decided to look at the top 20 UK rankings at 10k, half marathon and marathon to see how men and women compared.

Here’s what I found:

2018 (men/women aged 35 and over)
10k: Men: 1, Women: 2
Half Marathon: Men: 3, Women: 5
Marathon: Men: Men: 11, Women: 10

2017 (men/women aged 35 and over)
10k: Men: 1, Women: 5
Half Marathon: Men: 1, Women: 7
Marathon: Men: 6, Women: 7

There’s a slight exception with the marathon so far this year, but clearly, the top 20 is well represented with over 35’s, especially among women. That’s why I believe the men’s category should have remained at 40 and the women’s age category brought in line with that, also at 40.

One final discussion on this topic, which refers to races and that’s the awarding of prizes. I don’t understand the structure some races use, for example, if someone wins third in the V40 category, but was beaten by a V45, then surely that should go to the V45 runner, as they were the third fastest over 40, unless somehow, being over 45 is younger than 40!

The point of veteran running is about being competitive in older age, so if you lose to someone older than you, then surely you can have no complaints.

My August racing update

This month has proven to be much less productive than I had hoped. I made good progress through July, but then hit a dead end due to illness for a week at the beginning of the month.

This put pay to any plans of running in the English 10,000m championships and effectively brought my timid track season to a premature end. I recovered in time to compete at the Northern League promotion match in Doncaster on the 18th August and I ran a reasonable 15:08 to finish second to Ollie Lockley, who stormed away in the last lap or so to win in 14:55.

Still, it wasn’t a pleasing run on my part and not breaking 15 minutes this year simply isn’t good enough. More satisfying was Blackburn Harriers finishing second, which has secured promotion to Northern League 1.

Since then, training has gone well with I have hit weekly mileage of 100, then 89 this past couple of weeks, with good quality speed sessions and hard runs.

My focus will be to hit more miles and increase my volume of the sessions throughout September and I want to be hitting my best form for the road relays and also the Manchester Half Marathon, which is my main target in October.

It’s been a frustrating year with the half marathon, missing cancelled and postponed races and getting ill at the wrong time. I’m hoping these next few months will be more fruitful.

RELATED: The challenge of avoiding illness and injury

Ben Fish features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can read Ben’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post When should life as a veteran runner begin? appeared first on Fast Running.

It’s a shame that so many great races have fallen by the wayside, whether it be through lack of sponsorship, support from local authorities, or even shifts in trends – by which I mean less interest in imperial distances, such as four miles, five miles and even 10 miles, as the 5k and 10k popularity is at an all-time high.

I’m sure we all have races we could put on a list, so, by all means, add yours in the comments. Here’s mine anyway:

Chorley 4 – This was a terrific local race that I often did along with the Horwich Jubilee Series, it was put on the Wednesday prior, so that it wouldn’t clash and encouraged local runners to do both, along with the Haigh Hall series in Wigan (which is still in existence).

It was a two-lap course that was quite flat. All the top runners in the area turned out and you often needed to run at least 19:30 to win, I ran my PB here in 2006 with 18:57. I think the race folded in 2008 due to issues and costs with having to close a busy A-road. I’ve often thought there would be enough demand to bring this race back, albeit with higher entry fee and perhaps just hosting one race in the summer.

Sale 10 – This was held at Wythenshawe and was a four-lap circuit around the outside of the park, not as dull as it sounds and the quality of runners more than made up for it.

It was pan flat and some of the fastest 10-mile times in the country were set on this course. Sub 49 minutes was the norm to win this race, I think the last race was 2011. Unlike Chorley, I wouldn’t have thought a road closure would be necessary?

Manchester to Blackpool Road Relay – I only did this event once, back in 2000, which I think was the last one, what an event! I think it’s pretty obvious that to bring this back would take some serious undertaking, but wouldn’t it be great if this could act as a Northern Relay event one day? We can but dream!

There are also races that I would have loved to have competed in:

London Polytechnic Marathon – For me, this is the real London Marathon and was one of the major marathons on the world scene from the 1940s – 1970s. It’s popularity faded through the 1980s and eventually ceased in the mid 1990s.

Some of the greatest marathoners of all time graced this course; Jim Peters, Buddy Edelen, Ron Hill, Jim Alder etc… too many to mention.

London to Brighton Road Race – I know there’s a trail version still in existence, but in its heyday, the road version was a premier ultra race – ‘almost’ as prestigious as the famous Comrades race. Where as South Africa are proud of their heritage with their event, we’ve just let ours slide by the wayside.

Since its demise over a decade ago, there have been some attempts to revive it. I really think of all races to bring back in this country, this one should be top priority, such a waste of a prestigious event.

Morpeth to Newcastle – Another classic and one of the earliest annual road races in England, dating way back to the early 1900’s. It was an unusual distance, that was originally 13 ¾ miles and had some alterations over the years.

I suppose the rise in half marathons marked the beginning of the end for this race which was last held in the mid 2000s. The event made a return a couple of years ago, but as a marathon event, so I’m not sure that counts. In my view, it would need to retain its quirky distance and with such a proud heritage, why shouldn’t it?

My racing in July

July has been a fairly quiet month on the racing front and started off with a solid run at the Alderley Edge Bypass 10k. It was a close battle against Stuart Hawkes, who’s been in fine form recently. We both reached halfway in around 15:45 and in the second half I managed to pull away to win by about 30 seconds in 31:49.

It’s a really well organised event, the course is a little undulating, but in cooler conditions, it’s conducive for fast times. Fellow On-Running athlete, Kirsty Longley posted a fine win in the women’s race and fellow Blackburn Harrier, Ben Costello finished well up in fourth place.

I’ve started to feel like I’m getting that sharpness back in my training, recent track sessions such as 12x 500m (1 min rec) averaging 83’s and 2x 10x 300m with (1 min rec) averaging 47/48’s, indicate that I’m going well by my own humble standards – though I don’t think it will have middle distance runners quaking in their boots!

On the 18th July, I competed in the Horwich Jubilee 5 miler at Rivington. This was the first road race I won 17 years ago and one I’ve run on a regular basis since 1999, it’s safe to say it’s one of my favourites! Though I did slightly prefer the older version of the course, which was four-mile and finished on a tough drag up to Rivington Barn.

It was quite a humid evening, but cool in contrast to recent weather. I felt good and knew I’d have to be on my mettle as club-mate, Tim Raynes was also running. I decided to run without a watch and just focus on running hard from the start and see how it would go.

It soon developed into a two horse race between myself and Tim, with club-mate Jack Hindle a little further back in third. The course consists of two laps, both of which have a substantial hill; after the first climb, I edged ahead of Tim, increasing my lead on the second lap. I knew I was going well as I tackled the second climb without too much distress and I hammered it on the downhill towards the finish.

I crossed the line in 25:18, which took another 10 seconds off my old record which I set last year. Tim also broke 26 minutes with Jack finishing well clear in third. It was a good outing for our club, with seven of us finishing in the top 10 and Ben Costello winning the series, after managing two wins and sixth place in the final race. It also marks the 22nd time I have won this race, hopefully there’s a few more left in me yet!

I had planned to race at the Trafford Open 3000m on the 24th, but I was unable to get away from work in time for the 6:30pm start. It’s a shame, as I felt I had a sub 8:30 in me, but I’ll have one more opportunity at the end of August.

After last year’s progress on the track, it’s a little frustrating that the season has got away from me this year. I might decide to skip a spring marathon and really get stuck into next season from the end of April in 2019.

Ben Fish features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can read Ben’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patreon. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Classic races that have fallen by the wayside appeared first on Fast Running.

The weekend’s road racing action kicked off on Friday with the Serpentine’s Last Friday of the Month 5k. Thames Valley Harriers’ Sarah Johnson was a runaway winner when she won the latest edition of this monthly race through Hyde Park by more than 90 seconds.

Her time in victory was 18:11, ahead of South London’s V50 Susan McDonald and Highgate Harriers’ Lisa Wenninger, who ran 19:43 and 20:09 respectively.

Ealing, Southall & Middlesex provided the winner of the men’s race, with Jamie Taylor-Caldwell just heading off Serpentine’s V35 Andy Greenleaf in 15:27 to Greenleaf’s 15:30. Jackson Alves was third in 15:48.

Larne Coastal Marathon, Saturday (June 30)

Ben Morrow from Ballymena Runners was convincing in victory at this stunning event, which takes place along the Antrim coast road from Cushendall to Larne. The V35 won with a time of 2:43:55, well ahead of Mallusk Harriers’ V45 Mark Smith’s 2:50:26, while V40 Chris Denton from Springwell took third place in 2:53:25.

Denton’s club mate Karen McLaughlin fared better when she won the women’s race in 3:18:01, which was also a PB for the V45 athlete. McLaughlin’s fellow V40, Patricia Blair, wasn’t far behind when she finished second lady for Larne in 3:20:13. Linda McDougall was third in 3:28:51.

Alderley Edge 10k, Sunday (July 1)

Ben Fish, who features on Fast Running as part of the Fast 10: class of 2018, was the winner at this popular Cheshire event, with the Blackburn Harrier crossing the line well clear in 31:49.

It was a competitive affair, with Tipton Harriers’ Stuart Hawkes – on a roll with recent wins at the Brighton marathon and the Market Drayton 10k as well as PBs over 3000m, 5000m, 5k, 10k and the marathon – also contesting the title. On this occasion he had to settle for second place in 32:20, but he too was well clear of Chris Williams, who ran 32:58 for third.

Another athlete excelling this year is Liverpool Pembroke Sefton’s Kirsty Longley, and the V40 added the title here to her growing list of victories in 2018.

Happy for Ben Fish and I to come 1st in the Alderley Edge 10k. Both running comfortably for the win and being sensible in the heat.ON Running Ambassadors wearing our amazing Cloud Flash @on_runningUK @on_running @runABCnorth @runnorthwest @FastRunning_ pic.twitter.com/3MbBrNqlJu

— Kirsty Longley (@LONGKIRS) July 1, 2018

She has scored PBs at 3000m, 5000m, 5k, 5M and the half marathon, and although her winning time of 36:18 was short of her 35:32 best, it still represented a good performance in the conditions. Sale Harriers’ Katherine Wood took the second prize in 37:50, just ahead of Vale Royal AC’s Sarah Murphy, who ran 37:56 for third.

Lincoln 10k, Sunday (July 1)

Although this race is now organised by Run For All, the ‘home’ club Lincoln Wellington utterly dominated proceedings on one of the hottest days of the year so far. The event had had to be cancelled then rearranged from it’s original March fixture due to heavy snow, so it was ironic that it was intense heat that greeted runners as they arrived to the cathedral city on Sunday morning.

Joe Wilkinson took the win in 30:39 ahead of his three Lincoln team mates, with Lucian Allison and Will Strangeway finishing second and third in 30:41 and 31:40 respectively, while Ryan Page was fourth in 31:48.

Photo: Run For All

Lincoln’s Abbie Donnelly defied the heat to post a PB of 35:01 to comfortably see off competition from second placed Cloe Hubbard from Newark AC, who ran 37:36, and her club mate Rebecca Gallop’s 37:42 for third.

Run Through Richmond half marathon, Sunday (July 1)

No clubs were given in the results for this event but it’s fair to say every athlete gave their all in the searing temperatures in Richmond to post times which reflected the London heat.

Stephen Iwanek was the overall winner in 84:32, with Juan Casasbuenas’s 86:58 good enough for second. Christian Folliot just held off competition from Glen Lewis to cross the line third in 87:37 to Lewis’ 87:52.

Alex Kimmins won the women’s race in 1:45:34 ahead of Laura Whitehead, who ran 1:49:17 for second place. Sophia Katerinis was third in 1:50:55.

Compton Verney half marathon, Sunday (July 1)

Trismart’s Julian Ayres was victorious at this Warwickshire half marathon when he crossed the line first in 81:29, just under a minute ahead of his nearest rival, Keith Burden, who ran 82:18 for second. Banbury Harriers’ David Hollidge was some way back in third with 86:02, but was second veteran to finish behind Burden.

Katy Young won the first women’s prize with a 97:30 performance, while Kenilworth Runners’ V45 Louise Andrews ran 99:50 to finish second. V45 Lynne Hinson’s 1:44:12 was a worthy third place for the Stratford AC athlete.

European Mountain Running Championships, Macedonia

Making her senior British debut Emma Gould won an impressive individual bronze medal at the European Mountain Running Championships.

The Birchfield athlete also lead the GB team to bronze, with Bronwen Jenkinson in 12th, Katie Walshaw 24th and Heidi Davies 35th.

Awesome bronze medal for Emma Gould at @EuroAthletics mountain champs @BritAthletics pic.twitter.com/eicd3EUx3x

— mountainrunninguk (@mountainrunuk) July 1, 2018

Andrew Douglas finished fifth in the senior men’s race as the men won superb team silver.

Chris Arthur was 11th, Max Nicholls 12th and Nick Swinburn placed 17th.

Anna McFadyen and Scarlet Dale claiming silver and bronze in the junior women’s race, with the team winning silver too, while Joe Dugdale won a silver medal in the junior men’s competition, with the junior men winning a fantastic gold.

Hamburg half marathon, Sunday (July 1)

Lily Patridge was set to continue her European Marathon build-up in the German city on Sunday, but a non-serious ankle injury halted her progress mid-race after coming through 10km in 33:50.

Partridge who became the British marathon champion at the London Marathon in April just completed a period of altitude training, and the injury first flared up a few days before the race.

Patridge expects to be back running normally soon, saying on Instagram: “Tough day today in Hamburg! My ankle locked up a bit on Thursday whilst still in Font after a session on Wednesday and I thought with the small taper into this race it would settle but with the travelling the past few days it just meant it didn’t get the offloading necessary.

RELATED: How I train: Lily Partridge

“I strapped it before the race to give it some additional support but made a decision after going through 10km in 33.50 to stop as the pain was getting worse and needed to prevent any further damage. Thanks to Volare Sports for allowing me quick access to their physio! He has given the all clear and told me to have a few days easy and should be good to go again. The fitness is there but need to take a few days to reset and let it settle now before I go again.”

parkrun, Saturday (June 30)

Jack Gray and Charlotte Taylor-Green ran the fastest times this weekend at parkruns across the UK. Gray of Cambridge & Coleridge ran a nippy 15:03 at the Cannon Hill event in Birmingham, while Bristol & West’s Taylor-Green took the women’s top spot with a 16:59 performance in Cardiff.

The top 10 runs from parkrun can be found here.

It’s not a race… but that didn’t stop the men this weekend, with the top 10 performances coming from just five parkruns across the UK.

Here are today's fastest #parkrun times https://t.co/NnbiVQomrphttps://t.co/gCxxeXmS6U

— Fast Running (@FastRunning_) June 30, 2018

The post Ben Fish and Kirsty Longley among hot winners – weekend round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

I still seem to be struggling to hit my best form since London Marathon; though I am confident that some decent results are around the corner, as I’ve been regularly hitting the times in speed sessions.

I ended up running two half marathons this month, which is quite unusual for me. I decided quite late on to have a go at the Potters Arf in Stoke, a race I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Having done the Potteries marathon a few years ago, I knew it would be hilly, but there was certainly one or two tougher climbs in it that I wasn’t expecting.

I was also up against formidable opposition in Matt Clowes, and his achievements speak for themselves. Matt’s quite a chirpy character, but I knew he was serious when talking about breaking Andi Jones’ long-standing course record, which would be beyond my capabilities.

The first mile of the race is downhill and I found myself in the lead with Matt, after that he was forcing the pace and I hung on for a few miles. I got dropped on quite a big climb around the fifth mile, which we reached in about 25:30 or thereabouts. From that point I was out on my own, as my rival steamed ahead to victory and a new course record.

My pace was still solid up to ten miles (51:36), but a mile or so further on there was a sign for ‘Heartbreak Hill’ – the only hill that warranted a name of the course – and I knew this one was going to be a bugger. It certainly lived up to its name! After that it was a downhill final mile, before crossing the finish line in a rather unspectacular 69:18.

Clowes took over 40 seconds off the record with a phenomenal 66:53, which must surely be worth a faster time than his current PB (64:30-ish). It wasn’t the only phenomenal run of the day, however; Paul Swan won his age category (V55) on his first return to this race since suffering a heart attack last year. He was even back running three weeks after the incident and competed in the London Marathon earlier this year, which really is quite remarkable and it’s great to see him back on form. His story is certainly worth a whole article in itself.

Next up

The following week would be a return to Freckleton Half Marathon, after missing last years’ race due to injury. Having won the race nine times in a row from 2007-2015, it was a great disappointment to have performed so badly in 2016 and miss the following year. So this year I was determined to put in a good performance.

As the oldest half marathon in the UK (world perhaps as well?), it’s quite a prestigious race and none other than Ron Hill holds the course record, which is around 50 years old! It certainly had the potential to be one of the most competitive races in recent history; current champion Dave Rigby was there, as was Canadian international John Mason, who has come close to winning it a few times, then there was me.

It was perhaps just missing one other regular who would challenge at the front end, Rob Danson, who was still out with injury. The conditions were also very good, relatively cool and cloudy, meaning that there could be fast times as well, the 2pm start really can have an impact on a hot day! My fastest time at Freckleton is 67:38 and my plan was quite simple; to beat that time. Of course, I hoped it would bag me win number ten as well!

Rigby set off in front and had the lead in the first half-mile, I felt good and decided to take it on. At this stage, Mason held back, which he hadn’t normally done before. After four miles I started putting a gap on Rigby and I hit five miles on target in 25:24.

I could sense I was increasing the gap, I didn’t hear anyone behind me after seven-eight miles and pushed on a bit more. I hit ten miles at 51:25, which was around what I did at my fastest in 2012, but I could sense I was now being caught. At first, I thought it might have been Rigby, who has often finished races strongly, but it turned out to be John Mason.

He came past me at 11.5 miles, and it was as if I was stood still! He must have been knocking out sub five-minute miles to catch me, My only hope was that he would blow up from such an effort, but that proved to be wishful thinking as I struggled towards the finish in his wake.

In fairness, he’s been unlucky not to have won in the past and he was a well-deserved winner, running the fastest time on the course since 2001 in 67:19. My own time of 67:57 wasn’t far off what I wanted and was the second fastest I’d run here. Rigby was also under 70 minutes in 69:19 making it the fastest contested Freckleton for many years.

On reflection

I’m not sure I could have changed the outcome with different tactics, perhaps I could have resisted the urge to run some hard miles in the middle part of the race, but I still would have needed to run the last five miles in 25 minutes, which still would have taken some doing. I fully intend to return next year and I think it will be an even faster race, especially if all the usual suspects turn up and are in good form.

I’m hoping that I can sharpen up a bit more and nail some better times on the track and over 10k in the next couple of months. I feel like the marathon hangover has lasted a bit longer than usual and I’m still unsure about doing one in the autumn.

I made some good progress last year and really benefitted from not running marathons, so I might take a similar approach in the second half of this year and try chasing one or two elusive PBs.

Ben Fish features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and will share his running journey throughout the year. You can read Ben’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

The post Getting over my London Marathon hangover appeared first on Fast Running.

I’ve kept my training logs for about 20 years, starting off from just having times and mileage scribbled down on six-week plans in A4, to more detailed logging in the past 10-15 years, where I write down my training and races in quite a lot of detail using hardback journals.

Even now, with the ability to upload training just by holding your GPS watch next to your phone, I think it’s still incredibly important to be connected with what you’re doing. Putting pen to paper really makes you think more about what you’re doing, rather than just a load of incomprehensible stats recorded by technology.

When I look back on my training, I can pinpoint mistakes where I might have gone wrong more easily (there’s also more swear words and exclamation marks!). By writing down how you felt after training you can often spot a potential demise before the splits or times start showing it. You should always be in-tune with how you feel in your training, as well as being connected to what the purpose of your training is.

As with most technology, it’s ever changing. I would have lost all my logged training from the Garmin Trainer Centre (the days of Forerunner 201’s if you’ve been running less than 10 years) when it changed to Garmin Connect and there’s no guarantee that Strava will be here forever.

Still, if I want to look back at any period of my training, I don’t need to worry about that, all I do is walk over to the bookshelf and “voila,” there it is!

There’s something very unemotional about logging training online that I’ve never been fond of. I feel far more connected thoughtfully and emotionally with what I’m doing when I write it down. It brings a personality and an individuality to your training, rather than some generic format on the internet.

Statistics don’t always tell you the full story, only the written word can.

Now to my recent running

This past month has been about getting that sharpness back following the London Marathon. I didn’t recover quite as well as I expected and had a few days were I felt a bit groggy, but at least the legs felt fine. By the time I did the 5000m for Blackburn Harriers in the Northern League two weeks later, I felt pretty much 100%, though I hadn’t done much in the way of speed-work.

I was up against Karl Darcy, who’s been in fine form recently, so I knew it would be a stern test. I took the lead and felt surprisingly comfortable, rattling off 72 second laps. By about halfway I started to open up a gap on Karl and I pushed hard to really turn the screw and put myself out of reach. I started to feel it a bit in the last few laps, it was very hot out there and the lack of speed was catching up with me, but still, I managed to win by around 100m in 15:18.

After that, it was a well overdue holiday with Hannah, and we spent a week in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was nice to spend some time together, relax and enjoy a change of scenery. I didn’t fret about mileage, but I ran on most mornings and nailed a couple of good speed sessions (6 x 6 mins with 2 min rec and 12x 300m hills).

The next race was the Wesham Summer 10k, which is a new addition to the long established winter one in November. The no-nonsense approach of no medal, t-shirt or presentation with £6 entry, proved very popular and the race sold out very quickly.

RELATED: Do we want fast times? Then let’s get back to basics…

The start list also boasted some of the fastest runners in the area, though, sadly there were a few missing due to injuries or illness. The most notable absence was Wesham’s protege, Rob Danson, who would have been the race favourite. As it was, the heavy burden of race favourite seemed to fall on my shoulders, though having seen how well my clubmate Tim Raynes has been running, I wasn’t so sure.

I certainly didn’t make things easy for myself, on checking the race location, which wasn’t actually in Wesham as such, and mapping my route, it was likely to take 45-50 minutes to travel over there on my motorbike.  The route ‘seemed’ simple enough, but after passing by Longridge, it started proving to be anything but.

All the winding country lanes made navigating very difficult and I soon learnt there are a lot more small villages between Preston and Wesham than I realised. Time was starting to run out and I was beginning to panic, the race was at 7:15pm and I was expecting to get there for 6:30pm after work. After having to keep pulling over and checking the map on my phone I finally got there with 20 minutes to spare!

The race started off as expected, with myself and Tim battling it out, but I was feeling far from comfortable in the first 2km. I seemed to be running more smoothly after that and just before halfway I started to put a gap on Tim. I passed 5km in 15:19 and there was a chance I might threaten Jonathan Prowse’s record of 30:56, which has stood for a number of years.

However, I could sense my pace was starting to slow in the last 3km and on checking my watch at 9km (28:08) I knew the record was well out of reach. I finished in 31:23, followed by Tim In 32:01 and the evergreen Rob Affleck in 33:03. It was a great day for the club with Ben Costello bagging fifth place ahead of Chris Davies in seventh and Josh Holgate in eighth place. We also had Victoria Mousley finish third in the ladies race and Joanne Nelson in seventh.

Looking ahead I will have one or two half marathons in June, then I’ll switch my attention to racing shorter distances and will do more on the track, with the hope of improving my 3000m time at the Stretford Open races.

The post Technology’s fine but write down your training too appeared first on Fast Running.

In the few weeks before London, my training had gone as well as I hoped and I was also satisfied with my run at the National 12-Stage Road Relays on the April 14.

It was three years since Blackburn Harriers last fielded a team and we put up a decent effort to finish 29th, some eight places better than 2015. I ran the fifth leg and clocked 26:53, which again compared favourably against my effort on the previous occasion (27:44).

It rounded off a good winter and spring for our club and without trying to sound biased, I don’t think any other Lancashire club has been as prolific or successful within that period.

A week later would come the big test; my first marathon in 18 months and a return to the UK capital marathon for the first time since my dismal outings in 2010 & 2011 (2hr 33 & a DNF).

Since the wobble in March I have done everything feasible to get myself on the start line in the best possible shape, rattling off some good hard runs, sessions and mileage. I probably covered close to 380 miles in the last four weeks.

Making my way to London

I arrived in London on the Friday and got a lift down with my club-mate Allan Hartley and after picking up our numbers we parted ways, as I had a hotel booked in Lewisham, not far from the start, instead of being closer to the Expo.

I met up with the On Running Team the following day and took part in the “run to the Swiss Embassy” near Camden. It was a pleasant 5km run, where I got to meet fellow On athletes and staff, there was also a talk from Tim Don about his 2hr 49 marathon at Boston, only a few months after breaking his neck. If ever there was a message for not having excuses, then that would be it!

. @on_running ambassador @RunFish82 has his number & is ready for @LondonMarathon! #Onit get your free photo & print at the On Stand at London marathon expo#LondonMarathon #onrunning #runonclouds #BeOn pic.twitter.com/vpPx6ZxI4L

— On UK (@on_runningUK) April 20, 2018

As expected, the weather was very hot on the day of the race; I suppose it stands to reason that after running throughout sub-zero conditions in March and early April, we’d be treated to the hottest ever London Marathon.

Still, it’s the same for everyone and we all prepared for it as best we could. I decided I’d wear a visor, something I’d never done before, I also toyed with the idea of wearing a neckerchief, but apparently they’re coming back in fashion, so I wasn’t prepared to splash out a load of dosh on a designer one.

The race itself

In my view, London has quite a late start with 10am and as I made the short mile and a half walk to the start at 8:30am, it already started to feel a tad uncomfortable. I still believed I could run a personal best, so I had roughly planned to run 5km splits of around 16:30. I set off tentatively, but was bang on reaching the first 5km in 16:28, I then hit 10km in around 33:15-ish, but I knew by this point I was going to be in for a tough race.

Shortly afterwards I passed fellow On team-mate Russell Bentley, who like myself, was running on his own, as the race was already spread-eagled at this stage. I checked the clock at 10 miles, 53:42, I was already starting to slow, which coincidently was the same stage of the race I struggled in 2010 & 2011. I reached halfway in just under 71 minutes and I was getting passed by a couple of runners, this was where the race got a bit depressing. I decided to focus on effort rather than time and I wouldn’t look at the clock until I hit 20 miles, so I took a gel, ditched the belt and just put my head down, “let’s get it over with!”

Fellow On runner, Kojo Kyreme cruised past me early in the second half, I noticed he perforated his club vest with a hole puncher and I was thinking what a great idea that was, I was also thinking that there was no way I could match his pace. After I uttered a brief word of encouragement I watched him disappear further up the road.

The next three miles to the 18 mark was thoroughly miserable, but I stuck to the task and though I was running on my own, it at least meant that no one was passing me, which was giving me some semblance of hope.

I was taking the race at one water station at a time, miles and splits now didn’t mean anything, just keeping cool and ploughing on was all that mattered. I was also noticing other runners suffering, Matt Clowes was in a bad way when I passed him before the 20-mile mark, a runner who I have no doubt will soon post a sub 2hr 16.

I came up to the 20-mile mark hoping to be around 1hr 50-51, so it was satisfying to at least have held it together enough to manage it in 1hr 50:10. It wasn’t long before I passed another runner, Ethiopia’s Guye Adola.

I was actually feeling better in the latter stages of the race; I ditched the visor at 23 miles and focused on catching another runner further ahead. It turned out to be Kojo, who still seemed to be moving well, but had slowed a little.

There was just a couple of miles left and I knew I was at least going to achieve a respectable time, which was more than I could have hoped for ten miles earlier. The atmosphere was incredible all the way through the race, especially in the last mile which always helps to galvanise runners, especially the one who flew past me in the last 600 metres! I crossed the line in 2hr 26:55, a good eight minutes slower than I’d have liked.

My finishing position was 27th (including elite) and the eighth British man, which in fairness would usually require a sub 2hr 20 to manage in good conditions, so on reflection, my performance was better than I initially thought.

Overall thoughts

Although I haven’t posted a marathon best since 2012 at Rotterdam, I have been happy with how well I’ve finished in my recent ones (with the exception of Nottingham in 2015).

I’ve settled on only doing a minor taper in the final week (25% reduction) and a carbohydrate depletion on Wednesday & Thursday, followed by resuming normal eating habits in the final two days. Andrew Hobdell has also been really helpful at suggesting some different sessions to have a go at.

Here’s how the last few weeks training went:

Sun 25th March – 8am: 7.5 miles easy to Longridge. 2pm: Northern 12-stage Road Relays. 5th leg, 8.5km (short) 23:37. Team 8th. 7.5 miles.
Mon – 8:15am:9.5 miles to work around 6:40 pace. 5:45pm:9.5 miles home at 7:02 pace.
Tue – 8:20am:9 miles to work at 6:58 pace. 6pm:3 miles easy.
Wed – 8:15am:9.5 miles to work at 6:45 pace. Stiffness in legs gone.
Thur – 8:15am: 9 miles to work, 4 miles easy, 5 miles in 25:56. 6:45pm:3 miles with run group.
Fri – 11am:SESSION: 10x 1 mile (2 min rec) on undulating route. 4:45, 5:12, 4:53, 5:11, 5:20, 5:04, 5:04, 5:07, 5:01, 5:10. 15.5 miles.
Sat – 8:15am:9.5 miles to work at 6:59 pace. 5:45pm:9.5 miles home at 6:45 pace.

TOTAL: 102

Sun 1st April – 10am:Long progression run; 1 mile easy, 20 miles in 1hr 52:11, 2 miles easy. 23 miles. Pace started at roughly 5:45-6 working up to sub marathon pace.
Mon – 8:15am:9 miles to work at 7:25 pace, very stiff! 5:45pm:9.5 miles home at 7:12 pace.
Tue – 9am:3 miles easy in Clitheroe. 6pm:TRACK: 8x 3 min reps (2 min rec). 1km’s in: 2:57, 2:59, 2:58, 3:00, 2:58, 2:59, 2:58, 2:56. Hard work, but went ok. 8 miles.
Wed – 8pm:3.5 miles easy in 23:01. Easy day.
Thur – 8:15am:9 miles to work at 6:49 pace. 5:45pm:10.5 miles home at 6:52 pace.
Fri – 3pm:SESSION: 6x 2 mile reps (1/2 mile rec at 6:30 pace). 1019, 10:21, 10:30, 10:22, 10:42, 10:41. 15.5 miles total in 1hr 26.
Sat – 8:15am:9.5 miles to work at 7:01 pace. Felt a bit slow.

TOTAL: 100.5

Sun 8th April – 9:15am:9 miles to work at 6:42 pace. 6:15pm:14 miles at marathon effort in 75:14.
Mon – 8:15am:9.5 miles to work at around 6:58 pace, forgot to start watch until two miles into the run. 6pm:3 miles easy around Clitheroe.
Tue – 8:15am:9.5 miles to work at 7:01 pace. 6pm:TRACK: 16x 400m (1 min rec). Started off on 68’s then got down to 66/67’s. 8.5 miles.
Wed – 5:45pm:9.5 miles home at 6:47 pace.
Thur – 6:45pm: 5 miles with run group. 8pm:9 miles home at 6:55 pace.
Fri – 8:15am:9.5 miles to work at 6:56 pace. 4:30pm: 5.5 miles around Waddington at 7:01 pace.
Sat – 12pm:National 12-stage Road Relays. Leg 5 (5.5 miles) 26:53. Team came 29th. 10 miles total.

TOTAL: 102

Sun 15th April- 9:15am: 9.5 miles to work at 6:46 pace. 5:30pm: 4 miles with Hannah.
Mon – 8:15am: 9 miles to work at 7:06 pace. 5:45pm: 9 miles home at 7:20 pace.
Tue – 8:15am: 9 miles to work at 6:56 pace. 6pm:3 miles easy around Clitheroe.
Wed -9:15am: SESSION: 4x 6 min reps (2 min rec). Paces; 5:21, 5:00, 5:09, 5:13. Done on way to work. 9.5 miles. 7pm:3 miles home from Chipping in 21:24.
Thur – 8:15am: 9 miles to work at 6:40 pace. Felt good, tried cap on in hot weather.
Fri- 7:45pm: 3 miles around Lewisham at 7:15 pace.
Sat- 9:20am: 3.5 miles “On Running to Swiss Embassy Event”.

TOTAL: 71.5

Sun 22nd April- 10am: London Marathon, 27 in 2hr 26:55.

Ben Fish features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and will share his running journey every month. You can read Ben’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

The post Ben Fish reflects on his 2:26 marathon in London appeared first on Fast Running.

To say that March has been a let down would be a bit of an understatement.

After the National Cross Country Championships, training continued to go very well, nailing key sessions such as 30x 400m in 73’s (30 sec rec) and 6×6 min reps (2 min rec) at half marathon race pace, all combined with good hard runs and 100+ mile weeks.

My first snag was just plain bad luck, which most of us have had to deal with, as the weather conditions forced Bath Half Marathon to be cancelled.

This put to bed the pipe dream of qualifying for the World Half Marathon Championships. Still, I was determined to run a PB at Wilmslow on the 18th, only to go down with a fever and diarrhoea the week before it.

Thankfully, luck went in my favour this time, when it was cancelled and rescheduled for late June.

The illness had me floored for a good ten days and it was hard to manage anything more than a steady plod of a few miles here and there.

It’s always difficult when you’re pushing yourself in training; you’re pushing your body to the limit and there’s always an illness or an injury lurking.

In the 20+ marathons I’ve done over the years, I’d have to admit I’ve become a cropper in the build-up in almost half of them. The key is not to panic, as a rule, if I get ill or injured within two weeks of a marathon, I pull out and have had to do this on a couple of occasions; Berlin 2013 & Manchester 2014.

I once went ahead and raced when not feeling 100%, which was at Eindhoven nearly ten years ago; I failed to finish at 35k and it took me months to recover. I vowed never to make that mistake again.

Testing my fitness ahead of London

With this hiccup coming six weeks out and now leaving me with just four weeks of decent training after recovering, I was concerned about losing my fitness and the best way to find out would be competing in the Northern Road Relays.

Blackburn Harriers have been going from strength to strength in the past few years and we went into the competition with our strongest team yet and was also able to field a solid B team.

Though we’ve still got some way to go to be medal contenders, I was hopeful we might challenge the top five. We didn’t quite manage that, but we equalled our position of eighth from last year and was a mere 10 seconds away from seventh, so we’re certainly creeping up.

I decided not to time my run and just aimed to go as hard as I could and see where I ended up. I didn’t feel good and felt as though I laboured my way around, but I managed to make up a few places.

I later discovered that I ran quite a good time, so that’s certainly very encouraging after the two weeks I’ve had. I was only slightly slower than Tim Raynes, who’s been in fine form for our club and clinched the 10th fastest long leg of the day.

The commitment from the lads has been brilliant, with guys missing road races to turn out, or travelling 100’s of miles to be there, even after a big race, as was the case with Rob Warner. The relays are always a great day out and I’m looking forward to the Nationals in three weeks time, where hopefully I can do a bit more for the team by then.

Even though my road to London Marathon has resembled the M6 at rush hour, I still think I can achieve a decent time.

I’ve had some advice from Andrew Hobdell, who’s coaching/mentoring the On Running team and he’s been really helpful during this period, especially when the self-doubt can creep in when things aren’t going to plan. So it’s very much a case of “Keep Calm and Carry On!”

Ben Fish is part of the ‘class of 2018’ and this year will share his running journey every month. You can read Ben’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

The post The challenge of avoiding illness and injury appeared first on Fast Running.