The 2019 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon, which features a new flatter and faster route, officially launched at Stormont Cottages, Belfast on Wednesday (September 12).

Northern Ireland’s leading 26.2 mile event will also take place on a Sunday (May 5) for the first time as it celebrates its 38th year. The winners of the last race on a May Bank Holiday Monday were Kenyan duo Eric Koech and Caroline Jepchirchir.

As well as a brand new, flatter and faster route for marathon participants, there will be a new start location on the grounds of the iconic Stormont Estate.

There will be a full line up of events to suit all levels of fitness including the marathon and wheelchair race, the team relay, 8 mile walk and fun run, all with brand new improved routes. All events will start at Stormont except for the fun run which will start and finish at Ormeau Park.

“Few of us involved in the inaugural event in 1982 could have imagined that the Belfast City Marathon would still be in existence some 37 years later, albeit in a slightly different and more inclusive format,” said David Seaton MBE, Chairman of the Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon.

“May 2019 will see us break with tradition as we unveil and explore a fresh 26 miles 385 yards route in and around Belfast and deliver the competition on a Sunday.

“These are two major changes which we hope will result in greater participation numbers and add to the enjoyment of the athletes and spectators alike.”

Entries are now open at www.belfastcitymarathon.com via the brand new MyTicket App. An early rate will apply until October 31.

RELATED: Belfast Marathon to be held on Sunday for first time ever

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The post Flatter and faster Belfast Marathon launches appeared first on Fast Running.

New Zealander Robertson crossed the line in third to finish in just over 2:08 with Japan-based Kenyan Macharia Ndirangu winning the IAAF Gold Label road race in 2:07:53.

It’s been a long time coming with Rod Dixon’s previous New Zealand record of 2:08:59 standing for 34 years.

With temperatures hot and as a strong international line-up and also plenty of domestic Japanese talent on show Robertson should take credit with his first venture over the historic distance.

The 28-year-old is well known in the distance running world as one of Robertson twins, Jake and Zane that uprooted from their home as teenagers and moved to lofty heights of Iten, Kenya to live and train with a dream to become the best runners they can possibly be.

Ten years on, the hard work paid off and Robertson has recorded a 60:01 half marathon personal best at the Lisbon Half Marathon in 2017, before winning the renowned Houston Half Marathon in the exact same time earlier this year. While brother Zane holds the New Zealand record over the half marathon and 10,000m.

Plans were in place to run the Fukuoka Marathon last year, but he had to withdraw just weeks before the race.

Thankfully Robertson made the start line this time in Japan and now marathon fans have some data beyond 13.1 miles to study.

The race

Robertson was in the lead pack, often at the front, until very late in the race. With about 5km to run the lead two of Ndirangu and Albert Korir put an effort in to leave the Kiwi behind.

Ndirangu’s lead was unassailable but it looked possible that Robertson might catch Korir in the final stretch, but the 2017 Vienna marathon winner held on for a 2:08:16 finish.

Robertson’s splits

5k: 15:18
10k: 30:22
15k: 45:26
20k: 60:38
Half: 63:57
25k: 75:41
30k: 1:30:50
35k: 1:46:16
40k: 2:01:34
Finish: 2:08:26

The battle of the twins

Robertson wasn’t the only elite distance running twin in the event, with Keita Shitara, brother of Yuta Shitara, the new  Japanese record holder, looking for a PB and Kenta Murayama, brother of Japanese international Kota Murayama in there too.

The post Jake Robertson breaks New Zealand marathon record on debut appeared first on Fast Running.

Paul Pollock says he’s in “great shape and eager to get his racing shoes back on” after missing the World Championships in London due to injury.

The Olympian showed tremendous determination last year to come back after a hip injury derailed his preparations for London 2017. With only seven weeks to go, he crammed in an ambitious training block aiming to get his fitness to a level that would allow him to compete with the best on the streets of the UK capital.

However, within touching distance of the start line, he suffered two metatarsal stress fractures in his foot forcing him to announce his withdrawal only four days before the race.

“It was a big disappointment to not make the World Championships,” says the 2:15:30 marathon runner. “I always knew it would be an uphill struggle to then get fit in time, but we pushed harder than we normally would and that was when the body broke down.

“I found standing watching on the sidelines very tough, it’s something no one wants to do having come so close to competing.”

It wasn’t necessarily back to the drawing board for the man who finished 32nd at the Rio Olympics in 2016, but more about getting over the disappointment and then easing back into training.

“After that second setback last year, I didn’t rush my comeback this time and was sensible,” he explains. “I went away and made sure I took the time to allow the foot to recover properly.

“We have increased the miles slowly and are now training hard with the sessions all coming together. We are in February now and I’ve had a solid five to six months training.

“The body is in one piece which is the main thing and I am in a good place at the minute. I am enjoying my running, training is coming together and I am feeling quite fit. That’s all a good sign and hopefully bodes well for the year ahead.”

A year of possibilities

In between that solid block of training Pollock became the Irish national cross country champion for a second time in November 2017, before competing at the European Cross Country Championships in Samorin. He then ended 2017 with a new 10k road personal best 29:06 in Madrid on New Year’s Eve.

Boxes have been ticked and most importantly injuries are at bay. There is optimism now and a hint of confidence for the year ahead with the World Half Marathon Championships, Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the European Championships in Berlin.

Looking ahead to the Commonwealths, Pollock has the added benefit of training exclusively with a fellow Gold Coast destined athlete – fellow Northern Irish marathoner Kevin Seaward. At their Teddington base in London the pair work under the guidance of Andy Hobdell, a coach to Pollock since 2011.

“With the two of us going to the Commonwealth Games it’s ideal because we are on similar training plans for the next couple of months,” he says. “It’s great having this relationship in training and knowing someone else is on the same program and effectively improving together.

“In terms of the Commonwealth marathon itself, ‘how do I hope to do?’ Every marathon is completely different and with my injury record, all I am concerned with at the minute is getting to the start line healthy and in one piece.

“If I do that up to the night before the race I’ll be happy to have a chat with the coach about what I can do in the race.”

Irish distance running

Irish and Northern Irish distance running had a very positive start to 2018 with Stephen’s Scullion’s 63:16 personal best at the Houston Half Marathon. It was a 90 second PB for the Belfast man and since 2011, only Pollock himself has posted quicker half marathon times.

As Pollock said after Scullion’s performance: “What a run. 2018 marker for Irish athletics distance runners has well and truly been set!”

“It was a great run, I am good friends with Stephen and we are in contact regularly,” he says. “I knew leading into the race he had a good block of training over in the U.S. and if I am honest it was no big surprise he ran as well as he did.

“We always kind of say you if you have one good race and get a solid time and then the next race is where you can come out and run even better. So I am really looking forward to seeing what he does in the next race now he has that confidence.

“Anyone who knows Stephen sees how talented he is and has been, so it great to see him now hitting these times.

“Every runner wants to be pushed to their best and if Stephen pushes me and Irish distance running as a whole on this year, everyone wins. We have the team performance at the World Half’s and then the marathon at the European Championships in August, so hopefully he is a good addition.”

The last Irish marathon man to feature in the top-10 list was Mark Carroll’s 2:10:54 in 2002, almost 16 years ago, and while there have been some cries about the ‘current standard’ Pollock insists Irish distance running is in a good place with a bright future.

“I think compared to where it was five or ten years ago it’s in a much better place,” he explains. “You saw in 2016 Ireland sent a whole men’s team as well as a women’s for the first time to the Olympics.

“In terms of the future, I think we are just waiting for that one person to have that breakthrough and run a few minutes quicker than the 2:15 / 2:16 times where a lot of Irish runners are at this point in time.

“Once one person can do that I am sure three or four will follow after. You just need that one person to bring everyone else on and give them the confidence that they can do it too.

“The athletes in their mid 20’s, without saying names, there is a good core there that you look at and see the talent, it’s just about them putting their mind to it and having the desire to run and perform for Ireland at the world level and achieve some success there.”

Time to race

Pollock has his first road race of 2018 next weekend at the Barcelona Half Marathon before looking ahead to the World Half Marathon Championships on 24th March in Valencia.

“I can’t wait to get out on the road again after this good block of training,” says the 62:09 half marathoner. “Looking at the start list there is quite a few Irish and British athletes taking part in Barcelona, so it should be a good race.

“Once next weekend’s out of the way, my eyes will be firmly fixed on the World Half’s – that’s the big goal for spring before the Commonwealths.

“I am feeling in great shape and definitely think I can run fast this year, so hopefully over the next few months I can get some PBs.”

The post Paul Pollock “eager to get his racing shoes back on” appeared first on Fast Running.

In the years that followed the marathoner achieved unenvisaged personal bests, fulfilled a lifelong dream by becoming an Olympian, as well as a second World Championships at London 2017.

Now almost four years on from Glasgow 2014, Dixon is ready to reopen the chapter titled ‘Commonwealth Games’ and write a happier, more fitting ending on Australia’s Gold Coast this April.

“Last year a lot of people were aiming for the World Championships in London and then retiring, but for me, I have this unfinished business with the Commonwealth Games,” Dixon tells Fast Running. “So I am not looking at retiring just yet. I want to get to Australia and put to bed the ghosts of Glasgow.”

The Sunderland Strollers athlete had billed Glasgow 2014 as her swan song with the marathon. A good performance in the English vest and Dixon would have happily walked away content with all she had achieved in her running career.

“I went into that race in really good shape on the back of really consistent training. I always felt that a medal was within my reach,” she says, looking back. “I was feeling great, but at 10 miles in I felt a twinge, that I thought it was my Achilles.”

By 14 miles, Dixon’s race was over. The pain too much to even take another step. It turned out to be a calf injury that halted her Commonwealth Games abruptly on the streets of Glasgow.

“The race ended with me curled up in a ball on the side of the road crying my eyes out. I felt like the world was tumbling down on me,” she recalls. “You are running for your country, you feel like you have let everyone down, including your family.

“However after a few days, I snapped out of that and realised it was not the end of the world, it was just the initial reaction to everything that was so hard.”

That moment, as painful as it was, turned out to be the career-defining moment for the now 39-year-old.

Blessing in disguise

“Looking back now, the experience of Glasgow 2014 was a blessing in disguise. If the race had gone well, I probably would have looked at as that’s the best I can do and called it a day,” she says. “But because of how bad it went, it’s an added incentive to come back and show everyone just what I am really capable of. I had that hunger again, and I wanted to prove that I was better than stopping at 14 miles.”

In 2014, Dixon’s personal best was a very respectable 2:31:08 – a time most would happily grab with both hands. However, with newfound hunger, the North East native would go on to break her PB, not once, but twice in the years that followed.

Firstly 2:29:30 at the 2015 Berlin Marathon and then again in 2017, running 2:29:06 at the London Marathon. That time in the UK capital saw her ending 2017 ranked as the UK’s number one marathoner.

As good as personal bests are though, there was also higher career achievements that may never have happened if Glasgow had ended with an elated Dixon.

In 2016, representing Great Britain, she competed in her first Olympic Games and finished 28th in Rio. The next year Dixon competed at a second World Championships, this time in London.

“Thankfully the years on from Glasgow have been absolutely amazing and I have achieved so much,” she says. “If I am to compare myself to four years ago, I’m definitely fitter, faster and stronger.

“Also I am not as hung up on putting myself into boxes, I no longer go into a race saying I want to run a certain time or certain splits. I don’t set limits for myself anymore. I am at the stage now where I go into every race not knowing if I will race again, so I just go for it.

“That’s what I was like at the World Championships in London. At one stage I had a massive lead, but I wasn’t thinking about a medal, I was just enjoying the moment knowing I would probably not get that opportunity again.”

Special moments

In this period that included a first Olympic Games and a second World Championships, you would think that one of these two major championships would the most memorable race for an international athlete.

“The Olympic Games were really special, they are every athlete’s dream and it took me 25 years to do it,” she says. “Leading the race at the World Championships – that was a feeling money can’t buy.

“However the one that is really special to me, and a lot of people are surprised when I say this, is a local race called the Blaydon Race. As a 16-year-old, it was one of the very first road races that I ran and it’s got a lot of prestige in the North East.

“It took me 21 years and 17 attempts to eventually win it in 2016, that was really really special.”

There was also another race that meant a lot to Dixon, again at home – running in the Sunderland Half Marathon last year, alongside marathon great Paula Radcliffe. Dixon is pretty much self-coached and writes her own training, but Radcliffe and her husband Gary will review the sessions are always there willing to help.

“Just getting the chance to run around my hometown with Paula Radcliffe was something special,” she joyfully says. “It wasn’t a proper race but it was special. Paula’s helped me so much with my training over the last three years and I will never be able to repay her for everything she has done.”

Gold Coast 2018

Back to the task at hand, and Dixon is currently at the ‘home of champions’ in the lofty heights of Iten, Keyna. Firmly focused on her Commonwealth “unfinished business”, she is going through the familiar motions at altitude, before coming back to the UK to continue her preparations.

“I have the bad experience at the back of mind and when I get home I will use it to push me that bit more during the cold, dark and wet laps on the track,” she says determinately. “I need to put that to bed and do justice to the Commonwealth Games.”

The Big Half in March in London is the main race ahead of Gold Coast 2018. Depending on how that goes, a decision will then be made on the World Half Marathon Championships. Aside from those half marathons, racing will be limited to a two-mile relay Dixon always competes in with her local club.

“Come April I am going to be competitive and finish as high up as I can. I don’t want to be an ‘also ran’. It would be great if I could run fast and finish in the top three or five,” Dixon adds. “but I’ll judge the race and hopefully make my presence felt.

“I still think I can run faster and I have no plans on hanging up the racing flats just yet.” And as Dixon puts it so well herself: “marathon running: it’s not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle.”

The post Aly Dixon has an “unfinished” chapter in her marathon story appeared first on Fast Running.

It’s now almost two years since I left the comfort, easy life of collegiate athletics as a Grad student in America. A life where, after getting up each day, I was told what do, when to do it, and exactly where I would race, in which state and on which date.

Attending around four classes a week, and spending the rest of the time either training, receiving treatment, or recovering in the form of napping. Life was easy back then, or was it easy to be a lazy robotic athlete? I’m not entirely sure.

However, what I do know, is that the real adult world is far from similar. In September, after completing my PGCE last year, I started my first full-time job, as a teacher. Many people, especially my family, repeatedly highlighted that I was “finally entering the real adult world” and that I was finally “an adult”.

This was something which I often laughed off, wondering how my life could be harder than the previous six years at university. I thought that workload was enough and resembled all my full-time working friends.

“How could starting work change my passion for my sport?”

“How could it possibly be that difficult to keep up the same workload as I did at university?”

“Surely I’ll have mornings and all evenings to train?”

It was this naivety that resulted in a huge shock once I began working.

I started work in September, but by the beginning of October, I began to question why I was getting up at 5 am to get to work early enough to complete my run – then get ready – and then eat, whilst also not waiting for up to two hours in traffic on the M60 (my newest found hatred).

A growing divide

Over the coming weeks, I found myself more and more distant from the sport I loved, every mile I ran felt like a chore, rather than a passion.

With the lonely dark mornings and evening, and also the inability to make training due to work commitments and my new friend, the M60, I began to lose interest.

I had no aims, no goals, nothing that made each and every dark lonely morning worth it. Since starting work I became overly focussed on firstly doing that right, that was the priority and I pretty much forgot about running and other aspects of life.

There was one week in September, where I went to work every day, woke up at 5 am, ran, completed my day at work, got home, ate and went to bed. I didn’t see a single soul outside of work.

It was this point when I realised I needed to do something. I needed to add something to my life, something to aim for or just something else to do. I decided there and then I was going to do two things.

1) Start playing rugby again
This was something that soon realised I had been missed a lot, and it took playing again to realise that. It gave me a more relaxed element to my forever hectic lifestyle.

2) Run a marathon in under three hours
This was my second goal, and alongside rugby, I had two things which I believed would help to give me a more balanced lifestyle. One which would hopefully mean less time listening to the sound of my own voice, something which most people have usually had enough of after a week with me!

Setting goals

I’ve recently been teaching about setting goals and making them both realistic and achievable. It’s important to ensure that each goal can actually be achieved, as without this motivation will dwindle.

On the other side though, when you have been in sport for so long, it’s important to challenge yourself too. Set something which may not actually be that achievable, in order to give you that drive and that motivation to actually keep going, and sustain that enjoyment.

Setting goals that are challenging and provide ongoing feedback, will contribute to higher levels of performance, as some dude in the 1960’s once said – but I won’t bore you with that whole story.

However, challenging yourself, and setting yourself goals can help you sustain that desire to run, which thankfully, I now have back. Whilst away in the Lake District this week, having very little sleep, I didn’t even question whether I would get up, put my head torch on and plod down the dark, snow-filled roads of Windermere. That was until I got going and felt like I might end up as part of the ‘Cabin by the Lake’ sequel, but at least the motivation was there.

The marathon goal

Right now, I have to ask if running a marathon in under three hours achievable while playing 80 minutes of contact rugby each week and aiming to run 90 miles per week? Maybe not, but do I believe I can do it. Aiming for the goal has given me a drive, and enjoyment back into the sport which I once loved, yes!

In other news… last weekend I spontaneously ran my first half marathon, after an already big mileage week. I decided Saturday evening, why not, as I had literally zero plans for my Sunday. Was it pretty? No. But was it enjoyable? YES!

You could say that marathon training is going well… however, the thought of turning around at the finishing line, and running back the exact same way as I did in the half, is laughable. But that could have been the lack of feeling in my legs due to the sub-zero temperatures and snow.

Until next time.

Laura Riches is part of the ‘fast runners: class of 2018’ and will share her running journey every month throughout 2018. More information can be found here.

The post The importance of setting goals… which we all forget appeared first on Fast Running.

The Northern Irishman’s time of 63:16 was a 90-second improvement on his 2013 PB and one of the quickest by an Irish athlete in recent years. It’s well inside the qualification mark for the World Half Marathon Championships and Scullion will now target Valencia in March.

So why did Houston go so well and what has made the difference the 29-year-old Belfast native?

From speaking to Scullion, who ran 2:17:59 at the London Marathon last year, it’s clear that training stateside in Flagstaff, Arizona, high up at altitude, has been key.

“Flagstaff is like a second home to me since coming out here with Scott Overall last March it’s been a whole new level,” explains Scullion. “The level is the US right now is so high, my 63:16 wouldn’t even register on the national scale here, I was 29th at Houston, but for an Irish runner it’s a great run.

“The post-collegiate groups allow runners to train to their potential and they’re just more relaxed about it all.

“It’s not even runners going out smashing every run or working really hard until they’re sick in their workouts, but a relaxed attitude to consistent 100-mile weeks, up at 7,000ft, with good sessions mixed in.”

It was training with runners like miler Ben Blankenship that has raised Scullion’s perceptions of what can be done. “Ben’s a great runner, but he was running better tempo runs than me and I’m a distance man, it showed me that I could be training better”.

The US collegiate system is churning out quality athletes, milers, middle distance and marathon guys that would be top notch in the UK and Ireland, but barely make the grade in the US. Being around athletes of this level is great for any runner and Scullion is no different.

New temptations

While every man or woman forges there own path in life, those around you can also have a big impact. Scullion who been known to enjoy the party lifestyle when in London or Belfast is all too aware of this.

“All my friends, going out on a Friday or Saturday night is just what you do to socialise and it is something that I enjoy,” he says. “One of Flagstaff’s benefits is that it removes that temptation, the distraction of a few beers or a night in a club.”

After working extremely hard is 2017 to regain fitness and get into marathon shape he was somewhat disappointed with his showing at the Dublin Marathon in October and old habits reappeared.

“I spent a couple of weeks going out partying, but still ran 70-80 miles a week and thought I could do well at the Irish National Cross Country Championships four weeks after Dublin,” says Scullion, who ran 2:19.44 that day in Dublin.

“It was a wake-up call. I knew I was fit, but I also knew I hadn’t done the hard work that everyone else had done. It doesn’t feel right to get to the start line without the sacrifice beforehand, but a bad performance can be a big motivator too.”

So later that month, Scullion packed his bags for the US, and with support from friends was able to spend Christmas and New Year laying down 100-mile weeks at 7,000ft and “start 2018 in the fittest shape of his life” chasing a new temptation.

New Year, new me

“Everyone waits until 1st January for the New Year, new me approach, but I wanted to be ahead of that, I wanted to hit 2018 running,” he says. “It was the little things that I was getting right in Flagstaff this time, getting my naps in, using the Normatec for recovery, eating well, self-massage and just doing the hard work.”

Inspiration has come from groups like the Bowerman Track Club, who spend eight months or more at altitude and in training camps. Scullion is a big fan of training camps and getting in the right environment to produce the results.

It was in Portugal at the beginning of 2017 that this writer met Scullion on one such training camp, an amicable chap who didn’t look quite as fast as he said he was until he got onto the track. My session was something like 10 x 400 and his was 8 x 1k at a not too dissimilar pace. He had big plans for London, not that far away.

“I knew I could get in shape for London,” he explains, after coming back from an eight-month hiatus – one of Scullion’s several retirements. “Because I’ve done it before, my body can take the jump back up to mileage and physiologically I know I have the ability.”

So what is it that makes this Northern Irishman so fast, even with a career interrupted by partying, retirements and even a smoking hobby in 2016? One of the most overlooked differences between elite, sub-elite and recreational runners is running economy and Scullion has it by the bucket load.

“We had tests down at St. Mary’s physiology lab and it was one of the lowest running economies they had tested,” he proudly says. “They’ve tested some fantastic athletes at St. Mary’s and still mine was right at the top end.”

Love of running

With a career of highs and lows, what keeps Scullion coming back to running is a love for the sport.

“I start to miss it, I love to train. Also, I feel a responsibility to show that Irish athletes can run fast times” he says. “I have so much respect for Paul Pollock, he trains hard and is an aggressive, yet smart racer and we need more Irish athletes believing that can do great things.”

When Scullion starts to talk about his real ambitions being two or three, even four years into the future you feel he’s grasping, yet enjoying, the hard work, dedication and patience that comes into being a great 26.2 miler.

“I spoke to Dewi [Griffiths] after the Great North Run – and two years ago he was an equal peer when it came to running 10k, but hard work and consistency has got him that fantastic time in Frankfurt [Marathon, this year]. So that proves that you’ve just got to stick at it,” he says, referring to the 2:09 marathon debutant.

“Anyone can nail a tempo run, but you’ve not earned anything at the end of one hard session. People are too quick to reward themselves for working hard one day and forget that it’s a sum of all the parts, that produce great performances on race day”.

So with the World Half Marathon Champs in Valencia, can Scullion go faster?

“I think I can run 62 minutes something soon, I felt so in control in Houston [dipping under four-minute miling to finish is certainly in control] and it wasn’t just my fitness that has improved,” he says. “I’ve learnt from little things like travelling too late to races.

“This time in the build-up I set my alarm 30 minutes earlier each day of the week before so the early start in Houston wasn’t a shock to the system.”

It’s refreshing to chat with an athlete who was almost forgotten, made a return and after a glimpse of success wants to get the absolute best from himself.

Scullion knows there is a lot of work ahead and he relishes the thought of it, but also understands there is immense satisfaction in working towards a long-term goal and inspiring others along the way.

If you want to see the hard work in action, check on Stephen on Strava, but remember, that’s only part of the picture.

The post Stephen Scullion hopes to “show that Irish athletes can run fast times” appeared first on Fast Running.

The 2:10 barrier would be the target and there were questions raised as to whether this was an achievable target for the world’s best mountain runner or just plain unrealistic.

Now, Jornet’s complete dislike of all things tarmac aside and the fact you couldn’t see him doing a training run on the road, let alone a whole marathon, could 2:10 be achievable? Let’s play a little game and see if could hypothetically do it.

2:10 is a fantastic result in a marathon, but still well short of the Denis Kimetto’s best mark, Sondre Nordstad Moen’s European Record and even Julio Rey’s Spanish National Record of 2:06:52. What I mean is that 2:10 is a great time, but not so far out of the realms of possibility to dismiss it out of hand for a mountain runner.

Now, what about the marathon running pedigree of mountain runners in general? Is there a precedent for coming out of the hills onto the roads and setting the world alight? You don’t have to look far to see the marathon PBs of runners like Kenny Stuart (2:11:36) to see that Jornet would not be the first to descend from the slopes and run a great marathon – Salomon’s road shoes could probably use the publicity.

RELATED: Kilian Jornet wins Hardrock 100 with dislocated shoulder

What about recent examples?

The British team for the 2017 World Championships was made up runners who have spent time on the mountains, with Josh Griffiths and Andrew Davies having represented their nation at Mountain Running Championships. Yet the runner who qualified, but didn’t make the start line in London, Robbie Simpson, is one of the best athletes to compare, given his past ability of pushing Jornet at races like Sierre Zinal in Switzerland.

Simpson was able to post a fine 2:15:04 at the 2017 London Marathon, 12 months after his equally impressive marathon debut of 2:15:38, but was plagued by injuries between the London Marathon and the London World Championships that seemingly weren’t even affecting his phenomenal uphill mountain running. Could Jornet’s body also be affected by the road mileage required to go five minutes quicker than Simpson?

RELATED: Robbie Simpson: Mountains, roads and vegetables

What about the marathon pedigree of other competitors?

Some would say that Jornet is dominant over the mountains because the level isn’t as high as road running, there’s isn’t a huge east African contingent in mountain racing but there are some. Eritrean Petru Mamu, a disgraced World Mountain Running Champ who was caught for doping violations in 2017, is one athlete that has beaten Jornet in recent years – he has run 2:15:16 for the marathon, but still 12 seconds slower than Scottish runner Simpson.

Some athletes come into mountain running after successful road and track careers, such as one of the greatest of all time Jono Wyatt, now a Head at WMRA. Wyatt represented New Zealand at 5,000m (13:46) & 10,000m (28:08), half marathon (62:37) and ran a marathon PB of 2:13 in Hamburg in 2003, in the middle of his mountain running career and the same year he set the Sierre Zinal record that Jornet has not beaten.

So if we say the Catalan runner is the better descender of the two then you have a possible upper limit for the uphill and flat speed of Jornet with Wyatt’s times. Even with a focus on the flat, you cannot see Jornet going beyond Wyatts times.

Now you could also argue that Jornet is a tactical racer so goes for the win, rather than the record, in races like Sierre Zinal, but we do know the likes of Robbie Simpson pushed him hard for the win this year and in the past. Max King, third place in 2017, has a marathon PB of 2:14:36, quicker than Simpson’s in second, so we know it’s not all about the marathon PB in the mountains.

The longer and more technical the race, the less we can correlate the performance with a marathon time, for example the heavily billed race between Jornet, Francois d’Haene and Jim Walmsley, who has a 29:08 10km PB and 2:14:05 Marathon PR, at the Ultra Tour de Mont Blanc (UTMB) was not won by pure physical parameters, with descending ability, pacing, eating, drinking and just plain ability to suffer coming into play. D’Haene, a French Winemaker, has run 2:34:42 at the Marathon Internationnal du Beaujolais, which is on trail and a little hilly. It’s not 2:10 though.

Least we forget the physiological nature of the man we’re discussing. VO2 Max testing back in 2012 gave a score usually reserved for cross country skiers. 89.5, ml.kg.min-1. is nearly as high as any testing seen and a lot higher than plenty sub 2:10 marathoners, but we know that VO2 Max isn’t the only factor in road running, with running economy on the flat, not up and down mountains, a key element too.

Probably the athlete with the biggest similarity to Jornet in terms of performances and range of distances is American Matt Carpenter, who had a VO2 Max recorded at 90.2, set records at short and ultra distance mountain races and had a marathon PB of 2:19. Carpenter was a little lighter than Jornet when racing, (55/56kg compared to 59/59kg) so you might expect Jornet to be a little faster on that flat for equivalent uphill performances.

So the final estimate, could Jornet break the 2:10 barrier if he were to line up at the London Marathon? Just how much road training could his body take in the build-up and could it be found.

Living in Norway during the winter months doesn’t make a flat and fast long run easily accessible and the ever more enjoyable mountains are right on your doorstep. Maybe Berlin would be a better choice later in the year?

Doubting the man who has set ridiculous speed records up and down the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc is not a wise thing and you get the impression that if he put his mind to it, great things could be achieved in any sporting sphere, but could he put his heart into it? The hypothetical nature of this discussion will most likely always remain as such, for this is a true mountain man we are talking about.

For what it’s worth if you’d have said 2:14 was the target, there’s a possibility, but 2:10 might be a road too far. I’ll take a gamble on 2:13:23, although that’ll likely never get proved or disproved, so it’s just for fun anyway. I wonder what the man himself thinks he could run?

The post Could Kilian Jornet run a 2:10 marathon? appeared first on Fast Running.

Are we all masochists who just love to suffer? Thanks to new research by a team headed by Przemysław Babel at the Jagiellonian University’s Pain Research Group we now have some answers. The team looked into whether marathon runners could recall the levels of pain they endured during a race at a later date.

Titled “Pain begets pain. When marathon runners are not in pain anymore, they underestimate their memory of marathon pain”, the study asked 127 marathon runners from the 2016 Cracovia Marathon in Krakow to rate the intensity of the pain from their race upon completion and then again – either a week or a month later.

From their results, Babel and his team point out that “suffering in a situation that is perceived as positive and desirable may be remembered differently than the pain associated with traumatic and poorly controllable events such as illness, injury or surgery.”

One would then expect that the pain of a marathon to be underestimated, such as you might with a tattoo or any other painful experience that elicits a positive outcome. So what happens if you have a bad race, does this pain get overestimated?

None of the runners in the study suffered an injury in the marathon as it was the act of running a marathon alone that the researchers wanted to investigate. The study also was 85% male, reflective of the 83% of runners at the marathon being male, but it would be interesting to see if future research could look at a separate study of males or females.

The main conclusion of the study was that time was a determinant in how much pain recall a runner had, with runners differing in their pain recall if asked after one week or one month later. What was clear was the level of pain reflected was still relevant to how much they endured during the race, but lowered over time.

So why does the happen? What could be factors that influence the results and how can this be of use to runners?

Firstly, as Babel mentioned, it would be worthwhile to look at levels of experience, marathons run, weekly mileage, gender and how well the marathon went, for example, if a 2:20 marathoner ran a 2:30 marathon, but set off at 2:15 pace for the first half.

How far from each runner’s PB could affect the amount of pain felt, but also whether or not they related that pain to a positive or negative experience, as mentioned in the study as a major factor in pain recall. If you post a huge PB do you forget the pain even more than a bad race?

Also given that all the subjects of the study were Polish runners, one does wonder if socio-cultural factors might come into play too. Would there be different results for Japanese runners who pride themselves on enduring great pain or Kenyan runners who culturally avoid showing discomfort?

Would there be a difference between areas of the British Isles? Would a South East Londoner like myself score differently to somebody born and raised in the Highlands of Scotland? 

Short and long-term memory

It has been mentioned to the author before that painful experiences can be stored in short and long-term memory, with the likelihood of a painful experience going into short-term memory and the positive experience, say that of crossing the finish line, goes into long-term memory.

This could be a coping mechanism for the mind with painful experiences so that we forget the pain and only remember the good times.

It’s also likely this is what keeps the marathon and ultra marathon industries growing as they are. As an experienced ultra runner, the ratio of good to bad experiences is not what keeps me going back for more, but the pain and suffering pales in comparison to the good times, that’s for sure.

Remember the words of the great big cheater that is Lance Armstrong: “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

What Lance forgot to add is that if you cheat and you mask the pain with heavy-duty painkillers and then get found out – that also lasts forever. Lance may or may not have been talking about the subsidence of pain after an event and how we can use this to work through pain within our events or our training.

Pain is part of the game

Pain is a part of running if we want to get the best out of ourselves. You don’t need to hurt yourself, but sometimes you need to be uncomfortable, but we can train ourselves and our minds to deal better with pain. It’s a skill that you can work on in training and races.

Even the rest period in an interval session, for example, 5 x 1 mile with 90-second rests, is enough to start forgetting. The last 30 seconds of the 3rd mile may feel like hell on earth, but just before you start the next interval it never feels that bad. You can’t even remember the pain properly from two minutes ago, especially if you don’t want to.

Now think back to your first race, your first marathon, your first ultra and what can you remember? Is it the pain? The suffering? Or the elation of finishing and doing something others didn’t think possible, achieving your best or starting on a journey that would last for years.

Interestingly the only thing I can remember about my first marathon is feeling brilliant and not to eat Kendal Mint Cake when dehydrated, but the first ultra, a slightly more painful experience, has a long-lasting memory of a tiny stone, that became embedded in the heel.

Both were brilliant experiences, but only the tiny pain remains in memory. Everything else feels great, with a little time. Now, which race can I sign up to next?

The post Marathon pain lessens over times, study says appeared first on Fast Running.

When travelling overseas, regardless of your experience and whether it’s a track race or marathon, there’s more than just the flight to consider. How you cope with a different culture, environment, location and time zone can all play a vital role in ensuring you arrive on the start line ready for the race. Below we will discuss how to plan for and how to adapt to any issues arising on your overseas adventure.

Flying High
Unless you’re like Dennis Bergkamp and insist on going everywhere by land and sea, an overseas race (and even one in the same country) can involve a flight, and you want to make sure this has as little impact as possible on your race.

It all starts when you book it initially and the time and day you pick to travel. If there is acclimation for altitude and heat to contend with in your race location then there need to be other considerations made, but ideally arrive a couple of days before your event so if there are delays or your bag is lost, you have time to resolve the issues and stress levels are kept to a minimum so it does not affect performance.

We all think early morning flights are a good idea, giving you the rest of the day to relax at your location, but the biggest issue is the interruption to sleep and that can take days to recover from.

Time and time again the 6 am or 7:30 am flight seems ideal. But then we think about logistics on the day and you’re up at 3am to get to the airport and up late the night before packing bags, checking you have all the right gels and generally faffing about. A night of just three hours sleep can ruin any chances of a PB even before you’ve stepped on that flight.

The night of missed sleep, along with the heightened risk of just being a highly trained athlete, also leaves you more vulnerable to picking up colds and viruses on the petri dish that is an international flight, which again may cause you issues on race day.

Hotels
Most of the time it’s just the best value hotel we can find near the race start, but considering all the time and effort, as well as considerable financial investment, you put into your running and training, it’s worth considering spending a few extra quid on the right pre-race location to get it right.

Check out those reviews and particularly look for noise complaints. Budget hotels also seem to attract big stag and hen groups and with races mostly on weekends, you don’t want a party in the room next door at 2 am before you toe the line.

Also look at the local travel infrastructure such as motorways or train lines on the map. It takes two seconds to look on the map for the hotel and just see if anything like that, or the best nightclub in town, is nearby. The nightclub might be useful for celebrating afterwards, but not best for your prep.

Try to take into account your logistics for race day and how you can make it the start. Seven bus journeys to get to the starting area could be an issue. Personally, I’m not too fussed about the journey back afterwards, it’s not going to affect how you run on the day, although, it may be when you need to be within crawling distance.

Food
As with any race, it’s good to have a routine that you’re used to and not have the body doing anything new on the big day. If you have a set meal or any dietary requirements then do some research beforehand. If you’re vegetarian, gluten-free, or only eat bananas, then a little research before the trip can help avoid an hour of wandering around looking for somewhere to eat, or a supermarket with a bunch of athletes hungry, grouchy and somewhere new. We’ve all done it.

Don’t start trying all the local delicacies and treats before your race afterwards. Every time I’ve raced in Turkey the temptation of Turkish delight is hard to fight, but save it as a reward for after you have finished as 2kg of Bratwurst on a Friday night might not be the best way to ace Frankfurt marathon, however much you love them.

When it comes to race food too, either bring it all from home and pack it accordingly (remember that gels have to be in your hold baggage or in your little plastic bag for liquids) and don’t rely on finding them in a local sports store upon arrival. Manage as many variables as you can before travelling. Even researching the local checkpoint food and drinks and trying them in training before race day.

Check the weather report
Now, this sounds like simple advice, but when all you’ve packed is a vest and a light coat, finding snow upon arrival can be a bit of an issue. Generally, have an idea of what to expect but freak unexpected weather happens everywhere and short of packing everything you own, taking five minutes to check the internet and pack accordingly, could save a lot of hassle.

The most versatile piece of kit I can recommend packing for races are arm warmers because they can turn any outfit into weatherproof and be also rolled down if it gets too hot. They’re not really suitable for walking around town before the race though, except in Italy, where anything goes fashion-wise.

Anti-Doping Considerations
One more consideration for anyone with the possibility of anti-doping controls, consider what you’re taking on board and whether it abides with WADA guidelines, rather than just grabbing the first protein bar you see that is covered in foreign words.

It takes a few seconds to check online for any medication too, so don’t be that athlete that takes something in a foreign country without checking. Many pharmacists will provide you with the best quality medication for solving your ailment without considering anti-doping rules, so take the time or ask someone in the know (as a UKAD anti-doping Advisor happy for you to send an email over).

Bring home with you
Final extra tip, that you can thank Renee McGregor for, is to take a little bit of home with you, something as simple as your usual pillowcase could be all the difference in making you feel comfortable the night before and getting a good night sleep. If it has to be your favourite teddy bear, like Fast Running’s Ben Riddell, then so be it. Make yourself feel at home.

Racing overseas can be exciting and adventurous, but if you’re there for a PB then remember that is the focus. Sightseeing and holidaying can be done after the race, hobbling around with friends also celebrating new PBs and brilliant memories. Don’t ruin your chances before you get to the start line.

The post Running abroad: what you need to consider appeared first on Fast Running.

“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” T. E. Lawrence.

The British marathon record stands at 2:07:13 and was set all the way back in 1985 by Steve Jones, over a year before this writer was even born. 32 years on 20th October and still no one has really got close.

And it’s a similar story for our neighbours, with no Irish marathon runners able to join John Tracey in the sub 2:10:00 club.

The facts and figures are there and have been gone through in numerous articles but a good look shows eight sub 2:10 marathoners in the 1980s and the decades after all max out at two runners breaking 2:10:00. Even in the 1970s, we had two runners go under 2:10 with Ron Hill doing it as early as 23rd July 1970.

From 2010, we have only seen one runner break 2:10, the world-class Mo Farah, whilst Callum Hawkins has broken 2:11 twice and his fine showing at the World Champs this Summer show that we’re expecting a sub 2:10 from that man in the near future. That’s as good as two runners who this decade too.

It was acceptable in the 80’s

If you ever fancy some fun just get onto the Facebook Group “I was or am a Runner” and pose the question “Why were we faster in the 80’s?” and sit back and watch the carnage unfold.

In between outcries of “they only raced 25 mile marathons” and “all times were taken by sundial” you’ll also get solid advice and insight into what the runners in those days put themselves through with 6 minute miles just seeming to be the “go-to pace” for every run and big gangs of runners running fast across the board. 

Which brings us onto the first focus of this theme, the importance of role models within the sport, with more insight to come in future weeks with reflection and interviews with past greats.

Role Models

Two books that provide interesting insight into elite progression are David Epstein’s “Sports Gene” and Matthew Syed’s “Bounce”. They come from different ends of the nature vs. nurture debate and it makes for fascinating reading. Which do you believe in?

For the example of British male marathoners, it is difficult to blame nature for the drop in performances. Whilst Epstein will have us believe that we are disadvantaged to the runners of the Rift Valley for reasons such as limb to body ratio, ankle width and other genetic factors, we’re not going to be that far different from British runners two to three decades before us, even the great Ron Hill is apparently merely a human himself.

Epstein also looks at nurture, the Kenyans running barefoot miles to school day in day out and racing cross country from a young age and we start to get to something that makes sense. Syed looks a lot into the situational factors that produce great athletes, such as facilities, competition and then something we’re missing, role models.

Not just your world beaters

Back in the 1980s, not only were the marathoners public figures and runners like Cram, Ovett and Coe national news, every club had a bundle of brilliant runners to train with. Watching Eluid Kipchoge run a 2:03:32 marathon last weekend may not inspire young British runners of a future in marathon running but nearly every child in Kenya can relate and dream their own future of marathon victories.

British running lacks role models at a club level. We still have world-class performers, both male and female in distance running, but these athletes seem a far cry from the runners meeting up at a lamppost in an industrial town to go for their weekly club run and a pint of bitter afterwards.

Read Adharanand Finn’s “Running with the Kenyans” and one of the things you notice is that the big names like Wilson Kipsang & Patrick Makau turned up for group runs back in Iten. They raced local XC races and trained on the track where everyone could see. Every aspiring runner in that town could see the work being done and believe it possible of themselves.

Now, how often do you see a world-class performer turn up at their club?

In recent times seeing Callum Hawkins and Andy Butchart at cross country meets and running in Scotland has been big news in athletics, but you have to believe it will make a big difference beyond just that cross country meet.

In days when the elite runners seem a world apart with altitude training tents, supplements galore and cryotherapy chambers, there isn’t the visible pathway for others to follow like there was back in the 80’s.

There may have been some exaggerated mileage and pace in training when measuring it with a map and a piece of string, but week in, week out club level runners could train with better runners, see what they needed to be doing.

Even having Callum Hawkins on Strava, as eye-watering as this is, will help others believe. He’s just a Scottish Athlete working his socks off and competing with the best in the World.

Who are your role models?

Look anywhere that has great distance runners and you will see the role models. Even the US imported International runners on Scholarships in the 1980s to be those role models in the college system and look at the depth in their marathoning now.

So if you dream of being an elite runner, look for the role models, find them nearby and believe.

If you are an elite runner, then take responsibility for the future of British distance running and let others know you’re only human, that you work hard, and fair, to be the best you can.

Trust me, if this writer can be a Team GB ultra marathon runner, plenty of people who put their mind and effort to it can get there too. It’s not easy but the first step is believing you can do it.

RELATED: Chasing sub 2:30 – Robbie Britton’s blog keeping him accountable

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The post British men were better marathon runners in the 1980s appeared first on Fast Running.