Ok, its about races but races always form an important part of my Marathon training. Parkruns not included but I usually race them, and I have done 4 so far this year.
First up we had the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships on 8 January. Very muddy underfoot, rained hard all day, ended up taking a tumble. Not a very good run if I am honest. Ended up running 7:51 pace. Its not the best preperation to stand around for 4 hours in the rain giving out race numbers to our runners. Doncaster AC were represented in most races.
Next up was the Frickley Frollick trail race on 23 January 2022.
A new off road race to the North of Doncaster. The lovely people at It’s Grim Up North running had various run options for us to pick from – 5 miles, 10 miles, 15 miles, 20 miles, Marathon and Ultra Marathon. We had runners do the 5, 10 and 20 mile options. It was a multitap course, 1 lap being around 5 miles.
The race shared some of the Frickley Parkrun course so check that out if you have not been to this park before.
I decided to do the 20 mile option to get one of my long runs out of the way. I faided towards the end but it was fairly tough going, I finished in 1st place and ran an averate pace of 7:57 minute miles.
The start was on the restored Frickley pit tip, this was on good undulating trail paths, then you ran along Doncaster Road for a couple of hundred meters, took a sharp left and ran along a disused railway line. This ended and after running down a steep embankment we wan along a farm track, after couple of right turns the route ran through waterlogged fields, then along a railway line for while before re-joining Frickley pit tip and its lovely hills, then through a car park and back to the start / finish area.
The weather was good and other than the waterlogged fields, road shoes were fine.
On to the Northern Counties Championships on 29 January 2022. A much better race of 13.5km. I managed to run at 7 minute miles 🙂 The wind was mad, gale force for hours. It settled down a bit for the mens race thankfully. Another day of arriving at 9am and giving out race numbers until it was time for my race at 3pm.
The course was quite runable and undulating, my sort of cross country racing.
On to the roads for a bit… The Scunthorpe Run Your Heart Out Valentines 10K on 13 February 2022.
Really wanted to break 40 minutes to get a benchmark of my fitness for Manchester Marathon. I know this is key to breaking 3 hours. Get the long steady runs in but race some races to help the speed endurance.
Conditions were ok other than the wind, although this was more of a cross wind for most of the race. Still slows you down a bit.
Mile splits were:
So just under 39 minutes at the finish.
And finally for now, the Norton 9 Mile road race. Best conditions for years, dry, no ice, no wind other than a breeze. As with all these races its great to see my team mates and training partners from Doncaster AC as will as other clubs.
Set out to try to run 6:30’s. Should this have failed, my second target was to run at my target marathon pace 6:50’s.
First 2 miles were quick, thats not unusual with fresh legs. Miles 3 and 4 were a bit of a drag. Had a drink at around mile 4 and hit the hill in mile 5 quite hard, felt ok. Come mile 6 I was starting to feel strong and I powered up the second hill. Faided a bit in mile 9, which was down hill but this was still my fastest mile in the race.
Delighted to finish with 6:29 min miles and a time of 58:34.
