Like I said on my previous blog post, I race often and I am getting the results I want. I am currently averaging 37 miles a week, trying to do more but its a fine line between work / family / running and exhaustion. My average over the last 12 months is 31.5 miles).
Earlier in the week I did the 3000m (1.86 miles) on the indoor running track at Sheffield (EIS). 5 days later I was hitting the streets of Stamford for the 30000m (30km / 18.6 miles). Two totally different races and the pace was 5:21 v 6:10 minute miles). Both tough but the 3000m was probably the toughest of the two.
My times at this race over the years (I thought I had run it 4 times but can only find 3 times) and half marathon times around the race given at the end to kind of see some coloration:
In 2000 I finished the race in 2:07:17 / 1:24:39
In 2016 I finished the race in 2:04:44 / 1:21:14
In 2017 I finished the race in 1:55:05 / 1:16:30
I ran the entire race at my around Target Marathon pace of 6:11 minute miles (I averaged 6:10 minute miles). This is a tough hilly race, the last 5 miles are particularly tough. The last 800m were like running around Doncaster Parkrun on a muddy grass 
field (so good job I have had lots of practice lol).
I set off a couple of rows back and spotted Richard Hayes and Simon Newton. I ran and chatted with Simon for a few miles and then I pulled away and ran with a chap called Marc Thorpe, we took it in turns trying to break the other and he did a very strong last 3 miles which I could not match (but he kept me going for a while near the end). I was being chased by Simon who ran a very strong last 4 miles and he caught me with about a mile to go, we hit the grass field together and I had a bit more grip on my shoes. Another chap, Matt Lauch started attacking hard on the field and I ended up running a sprint finish to maintain my position of 9th.
Taken as an average pace over the entire race, I run each of the 3, 10km’s in 38:20, or each of the 6, 5km’s in 19:10.
I felt quite good at the end and this gave me a lot of confidence building up to London. I was second MV40 to finish.
My runbritain rankings continue to climb slowly, I like this system because it allows me to compare myself over time and with others.
Mile Splits etc:
| Splits | Time | Cumulative Time | Elev Gain | Elev Loss | Avg HR | Avg Run Cadence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6:05.6 | 6:05.6 | 13 | 9 | 146 | 172 |
| 2 | 6:01.4 | 12:07 | 6 | 27 | 153 | 170 |
| 3 | 6:07.3 | 18:14 | 23 | 17 | 157 | 170 |
| 4 | 6:03.6 | 24:18 | 14 | 20 | 160 | 169 |
| 5 | 6:04.4 | 30:22 | 26 | 22 | 162 | 170 |
| 6 | 6:06.2 | 36:29 | 26 | 27 | 161 | 169 |
| 7 | 6:08.5 | 42:37 | 11 | 13 | 160 | 169 |
| 8 | 6:20.9 | 48:58 | 39 | 5 | 162 | 169 |
| 9 | 6:08.7 | 55:07 | 22 | 32 | 160 | 169 |
| 10 | 6:15.0 | 1:01:22 | 17 | 1 | 162 | 168 |
| 11 | 6:15.0 | 1:07:37 | 21 | 11 | 159 | 169 |
| 12 | 6:08.6 | 1:13:45 | 21 | 25 | 160 | 169 |
| 13 | 6:02.3 | 1:19:48 | 9 | 24 | 159 | 169 |
| 14 | 6:04.5 | 1:25:52 | 10 | 26 | 159 | 169 |
| 15 | 6:21.0 | 1:32:13 | 17 | 11 | 162 | 169 |
| 16 | 6:14.5 | 1:38:28 | 17 | 30 | 159 | 168 |
| 17 | 6:27.5 | 1:44:55 | 25 | 7 | 161 | 168 |
| 18 | 6:17.0 | 1:51:12 | 14 | 8 | 162 | 168 |
| 19 | 3:57.4 | 1:55:09 | 3 | 13 | 166 | 173 |
I am off for a easy recovery run now, it will be slower than 8 minute miles!
The Club Report
The 90 minute drive down to Stamford was cold and wet with the occasional flurry of snow. We collected our race t-shirts which were given out before the race and almost drove home. Then we remembered we had our Doncaster Athletic Club vests on and got on with a bit of a warm up and a fantastic race.
Martin James ran a 9:48 PB on the tough course, using the race to try out running at Target Marathon Pace. Last year Martin finished in 43rd place and this year 9th place. Darren Wood has been coming back from injury and off very little training he was delighted to complete this race, Darren is training for the Edinburgh Marathon and this will give a good boost to his confidence. Rose James ran a PB of 7:43, she set a target of 2:35 so paced it to perfection building up to Edinburgh Marathon. Janet Kerry had a great race, working with Rose to about 15 miles, in 2016 Janet did not finish so we are delighted to see her running so well and things
are looking good for London. Michelle Ward has really picked up her training over the last few months targeting Dusseldorf Marathon and we all know she will smash it. Sharon Maughan was guided by Marie-Louise Taylor, Sharon recently broke her toe but does not let things like that slow her down, great teamwork followed by a great meal after the race.
| POS | NAME | CAT | CLUB | CHIP TIME | FINISH TIME | ↓ SHARE! | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FINISHED (589 IN TOTAL) | |||||||||||
| 9 |  |
Martin JAMES | M | 9 | V40 | 2 | Doncaster AC | 01:55:05 | 01:55:08 |  |
– |
| 85 | |
DARREN WOOD | M | 73 | V45 | 10 | Doncaster AC | 02:11:11 | 02:11:20 | |
+00:16:12 |
| 264 | |
Rose JAMES | F | 60 | V35 | 11 | Doncaster AC | 02:34:57 | 02:35:06 | |
+00:39:58 |
| 298 | |
Janet KERRY | F | 72 | V40 | 12 | Doncaster AC | 02:38:47 | 02:38:57 | |
+00:43:49 |
| 349 | |
Michelle WARD | F | 97 | V35 | 18 | Doncaster AC | 02:43:39 | 02:44:26 | |
+00:49:18 |
| 412 | |
Sharon MAUGHAN and Marie-Louise Taylor | F | 136 | V45 | 26 | Doncaster AC | 02:52:48 | 02:53:37 | |
+00:58:29 |