The Helen Windsor 10k

Wednesday 7th July

A breezy night in Stainland saw the turnout of 8 Senior members of Spenborough for the Helen Windsor 10k.

An impressive 200 local runners lined up, also having to juggle between the cycle race flying round at what seemed 40mph.

Kevin "the race machine" Ogden flying the flag for Spenborough at what seemed 41mph finished in a very respectable 3rd place (35 mins) having to compete with a host of top runners that turned up, including the likes of Pierson, Crowther and Whitworth!

Gerrad Skippins was second home in an excellent 14th postition in 38 mins 56 secs. Gerrad is going from strength to strength right now. Keep it up!

Oliver Carter 49th back, third home in 44.20, but refused all samples of a drugs test after this impressive time and knocking 6 1/2 mins from last year. Keep off the ale.

Vet 60 Graham Walsh in 60th place was next for Spen in 45.44.

Mick Howard 69th in 46.26.

Emma Maguire - first female vet 40 back in a smashing time of 47.33 coming home in 77th.

Jackie Carter 50.59, nearly 3 mins slower than last year in 109th, followed by Liz Bottomley in 54.27 which she is she is slight dissapointed with but has had back problems, or so she says ;)

Taking in to account this isn't a PB course and it was a little breezy we can all knock 4 mins off our times.

Joe Percy 10k results

You need windows 2007 to be able to view these results. It won't let me copy and paste them into this :-( and I can't work out how to put an attachment into this blog! So here's spen results typed in manually:-

2nd place - Kev - 34.24
8th place - Tony Bradford - 36.17
21st place - Tony Bradford again! could this be Gerard? 37.33?
27th place - Dan Stuart - 38.36
102nd place - Richard Lee - 43.58
117th place - Mick Howard - 45.21
143rd place - Graham Walsh - 47.06
149th place - Emma Maguire - 47.29
156th place - Alan Whittaker - 48.04
184th place - Donna Winterbottom - 50.14
193rd place - Jackie Carter - 51.22
210th place - Hazel Pike - 53.12
215th place - Elizabeth Bottomley - 53.26
218th place - Suzanne Plimley - 53.46
257th place - Amanda Pearson - 61.27

269 ran the race in total

The Joe Percy 10k

What a fantastic turn out at the Joe Percy tonight Fifteen seniors made the effort and I would like to thank everyone for turning out for me,
The weather was kind to us ,Dry with a little wind .
Kevin race machine Ogden had a brill run just being piped to second by 6 seconds young Ben from Halifax harriers was first, another good run for Anthony Bradford chasing in in 8Th position.
Our first lady in was Emma M Gui re who had a good run closely followed in by Donna Winterbottom, both managed fab times on very little training,
A big well done to Hazel and Elizabeth because the three of us had very sore legs from boot camps strength training , it felt like I was trying to run through treacle at times, I would also like to thank Ian Ogden who just turned up to watch but got the job of writing our positions down as we finished, so thanks Ian,
Team photo & results will be on soon .

The Joe Percy 10k

Joe Percy 10k is coming up 14Th June who's up for doing this race this year lets get a team entered .

Netherthong 10K

I did this race back in 2004, about a year after I‘d started running. I’d previously done the Abbey Dash and Wakefield 10K, both fairly flat, and finished them in around 46 minutes. Netherthong however is quite a hilly course, and I ended up recording my Personal Worst of 52:53.

So I thought it was about time I gave it another shot. The only other Spen runner that I could see was Dan Stewart, who finished last years race in an impressive 4th place, although due to some injury concerns he was not expecting to improve on that this year. My main aim was to stay under 50 minutes but was hoping for around 47 or 48.

The race starts with a fairly steady climb. I went through the first mile in 8:11 which was a bit worrying as I knew the worst bit of this hill was still to come, however I was hopeful that if I could keep a decent pace on the downhills I could make it up.

My recollection of the course was that there was a long climb at the start, followed by a long down hill section, then a steep climb in the last mile to the finish. Unfortunately the middle section was a bit more ‘undulating’ than I’d remembered.

As we went through the 5 mile marker I could hear people finishing being announced over the tannoy. Then we started the final climb which became quite steep as we approached the village.

I finished around 48:25 by my watch which I was quite happy with, and Dan was equally pleased to finish unscathed about a minute down on last years time.

Overall I’d say this is good, well organized race in a really pleasant location. Well worth doing if you fancy a challenging run out, but not one for chasing a PB.

Yorkshire six stage road relay championship

For the first time in a few years the Spenborough men manage to turn out a team for the annual Don Valley event.

Looking at the entry list it was disappointing to see so few teams entered (18) and we knew it was going to be a long hard afternoon as only the top teams were there.

Dave Lane got us off to a decent start coming in at around 14th (23:54).

Ryan Dransfield followed on the second leg on his first outing for the senior team (24:11) only slipping a couple of place.

Next Dan Stewart a last minute repacement (thanks again Dan) ran an excellent leg on return from injury (24:01)

Chris Jones put in a strong performance running at a pace well above expected finishing in 26:12.
Unfortunately as the afternoon wore on we appeared to be slipping backwards as incomplete teams dropped out.

Gareth Patchett took up the challenge on the penultimate leg scything through the field (well passing one person!) and running a fantastic time of 24:55. Well beyond expectations, especially after a heavy night on the beer.

I finished off on the last leg with one of my worst recent performances - outside 28 min but managed to hold position so we finished one place from the back. Probably about 14th.

Overall a positive performance and nice to see Spen start turning teams out again. Especially as so many other races were on the same day.

Thanks also to Kevin Ogden for coming down and supporting after competing in the Spen 10k that morning.

The saddleworth 6

After a phone call from James asking if I was doing the race(which I had forgotten about) and wondered if I should or should not, due to the fact I had done a track session of 5x1500 the previous night and the fact that I have an head injury. Well it was either a 10 mile run or a 6 mile race. So I found myself on the start line. This race is two laps with a hilly section between 1-2miles and 3-4 other than that it felt flat and fast. The conditions were warm and humid. I set off at a steady pace or so I thought but got off to the first mile in 7.10 minutes with my legs feeling like two led weights and wondering what I was doing struggling up the hill. Though its not what I call a proper, when it's just a pull really, I missed the second mile marker, got to mile 3 in 22.50 so I was quite pleased and now I was starting to feel better and I actually felt better on the hill the second lap and caught up and passed four runners that had passed me on the hill the first lap. Fourth mile is just around the bend at the top and that was 30.32 felling ok and encouraging Mel Sykes to stick with me and to work together to try and catch Geoff Taylor, although we had picked up the pace I was not impressed to see 38 and a half minuets on my watch at five mile, and then I realised that last years time 44.47 wasn't achievable. But with Geoff getting closer and Mel right behind me I kept trying, that last mile always seems a long one, didn't pass Geoff but finished right behind him in 45.58. On reflection, poor time. But half a stone heavier and a track session...I think I did well. After a couple of days rest I'll be ready for the 22 mile planned for Sunday. Jackie Carter P.S. Is the hard work paying off? I'm not sure yet but I will keep you updated on that after the marathon. The lucazade caffeine boost drink I took an hour before the race does work as I was still up at two am, and I felt I could have gone for a run then so maybe I should have drank it at lunchtime. P.P.S. Oh a nice surprise was that I've got 2nd v45 prize.

Hyde Park 5K #2 2009

After a bit of gentle persuasion from Tim (or it may have been me persuading Tim?), decided to have a go at the 2nd Hyde Park 5K. My training seemed to have stagnated a bit so I thought this might be a bit of a test to tell me how well my recovery was going. The weather was nigh on perfect - warm, humid and still. As I arrived I met up with the ex Spen stalwart Steve Carter and we warmed up together. He's recently had a minor operation and wasn't sure what sort of shape he was in but there were several of his new colleagues from Keighley & Craven running. They were using the race as a time trial for selections for the Yorkshire Vets relay in September so he was obviously hoping for the best.

The first 1K is mostly down hill and I got off to a good start clocking 3-33. Not sure if its just me but when I do this the cup always looks half full. Rather than think I might have gone off too quick I thought that I must be feeling good and on for a good time. I've run this race quite a few times and I always play this silly game with myself. Its a 3 lap course and I always tell myself its only 2. Don't ask me why, but I always do it. By the end of the second lap I was flagging but consistently running 4 minute Ks. The 3rd lap was a real struggle and I had to work really hard to keep going. It did cross my mind to walk for a bit which I know is ridiculous but these were the negative thoughts I was fighting. I persevered and eventually got onto the flat run in for the last few hundred yards to the finish. One of the marshalls then shouted "come on Spen, they are all catching you" but I had nothing left for the "sprint" finish. 5 yards from the line someone overtook me and I was bit dismayed to see it was Steve Carter. From all his time at Spen, one of the many virtues Steve may of had, you would not have put sprint finishing amongst them!

Well done Steve, must be all that altitude training at Keighley paying off.

I finished in 19-34 which is ~15 seconds slower than my best Esholt time this year. Everyone is quick to tell me how much harder the Hyde Parks are vs Esholt so I'm prepared to believe this and convince myself I'm making progress.


PS I can't fault the new sponsors of this race, its not every race you get a bottle of beer for finishing.

PPS I haven't seen the results yet but I don't think any juniors beat me.

Pudsey 10k

Not one for a PB

After success at Ingleborough, my colleagues at work persuaded me to do this one. Never done it before so hey, why not?

I know the course well due to early years of horses, then MTB combined with training over this area with the great Jamie Warburton. Therefore I knew what to expect. I was surprised that I was the only spen runner at the start (where were the ever present race machines??).

Anyway I did OK with 43.53 which got me 41st out of 400 and only a minute or so behind Karen Pickles.

The results are here

http://www.ukresults.net/2009/pudsey10k.html


Oh and I got stung by a wasp in the face. My face is now numb down one half and apparently I can do a really good Geoff Boycott impression!

Spen Road Records - Draft #10

Just a couple of updates, which are verifications of Graham Walsh's V50 10K and 10M records. This means if we can get verification of Graham's 20M records (which is somewhat embarrassingly the Spen 20) then apart from the 5K record which belongs to Steven Moss, Graham will have a clean sweep of the entire distances in the V50 category. So pound for pound (or year for year) it could be argued that he is our best ever road runner!

Spen Road Records Draft 10

Joe Percy 10k

Monday nights race was the Joe Percy 10k.

A team of 10 Spen runners braved warm but damp conditions to do this hilly 10k. The race was run from a small cricket club in the village of Farnley Tyas. We only just managed to get the 10 runners needed to qualify for a team. At £3.00 entry fee one cannot grumble in these 'credit crunch times'

I really enjoyed the run as the last few weeks have been pretty laid back training wise. Even some top runners turned up on the night -namely Andrew Pearson(Longwood) and Matthew Pierson(Holmfirth). It was another case of man versus machine(kevin), and I lost out to the 'machine' once again. I did feel the strength returning and I was closing the gap on the second lap

I didn't stay to find out the results, but will probably find out in due course. My time was 36-06.

Thanks to those that helped - Jackie and others.

The Joe Percy 10k

The last time I ran this race was 2006 and my time was 51.25, this is a closed race which means clubs are invited to enter a team, this being a local race for us I felt we should support it and you know what I'm like (spen vests out in force) ,

I actually managed to get a team of ten together of which I'm chuffed about driving across we had some torrential rain and we were all thinking what on earth are we doing but fortunately it stopped before we set off and stayed dry for us.
You not only have competition from the other athletes, also there is competition from your other team mates even at my level its quite fierce.

Being team manager, it was my responsibility to enter everyone in duplicate (which somewhat stressed me out). Come the start of the race, I was wound up like a coiled spring. Edward, Karl, Emma and myself set off together. For the first 3k we managed to stay together.Edward and Emma started to pull away from us i got to the 5k mark in just outside 24mins at this point i saw James (my son) with words of encouragement and jogging along side me part way on the second lap i managed to gain a few places and leave Karl (i did encourage him to stay with me) playing cat and mouse with Geoff T(Meltham) and Geoff D(Penistone) i was determined they would not catch me as we got up the last climb Geoff D was not far behind me which made me dig deep and at this point i was on a roll i ran that fast down towards the finish i thought that i was going to fall over myself my time was a respectable 48.16 nearly 3minutes quicker , overall a good even paced run and the team finished 9Th place out of 14 thanks to to the team all had a good run maybe next year we will have two teams.

Greenway 10k 2009

I thought about calling this blog "chasing the elusive sub-40 10k" but I think someone has copyrighted that one!

After doing the 3 Esholt 5ks I decided to have another go at the Greenway 10k. I ran 19-30 in the last Esholt and had a further couple of weeks of good training so wondered if I could break 40 mins. A bit of a tall order but you've got to have a goal.

Heavy rain was forecast but it was reasonably fine. Chris Drake gave the pre-race talk and 2 points stick in my mind:
1) Its downhill all the way back so you should manage the 2nd half a minute faster than the 1st.
2) A heavy downpour is forecast for 8-00 hrs so if you want to stay dry you need to run 30 mins.

The whistle went for the start (have start guns been banned?) and I managed the first k in 3-52 and was still on target at 2k. I try not to spend too much time looking at my watch but at halfway I was 20 seconds down at 20-20. Chris's words were ringing in my ears - I was on target for 39-40! There was a lady runner from Stainlands 10 yards in front. Took me 1.5k to catch her. The next target was an old guy who looked like he was in my age category - 30 yards in front. Could I catch him? At the bridge over the motorway I didn't seem to be making much progress but he kept looking nervously over his shoulder - surely a good sign he was struggling?

The problem was my splits so far were consistently about 4 mins. I still worked hard and at 9k was 10 yards off him but I had to run 3-40 to go under 40 mins. I caught him with 300 m to go and pushed on with some else breathing down my neck. I finished in 40-10.

So I only managed the second half 30 seconds quicker than the first. I overtook 2 runners on the second half so feel I paced it OK. The heavy rain didn't start until 8-15 hrs so Chris got that wrong as well!

All in all a race. I worked hard, thought I ran to my potential, met a few old mates from Spen and didn't get too wet.

Just another point, I was allocated race number 1 by Chris. Is it a bit sad but this made me feel a bit special? It brought a smile and an extra cheer from some of the younger spectators which gave me a bit of a lift. Thanks Chris.

Halifax 5K & Fun Run Photos

Photos by (c) 2009 - Dave Woodhead
Click the photos for a bigger picture

The full bronte 5mile road race

This race also incorporates the Yorkshire vet's 5mile champs. It is a two lap, undulating course around Penistone hill country park at Haworth. It is a race I like to do but hate it, if that makes any sense. The last twice I've been 2nd vet back in my age group for Yorkshire, but after seeing the list of pre-entries I was not hopeful of even being in the first four, or beating last years time of 37: 36.

The first mile is fairly flat and slightly up hill, and having set off too fast I was in oxygen debt already. The first mile marker was further on the road than last year, it was on the hilly road up to the car park , 8:12 I thought no way! I'd done a faster mile time. It was nice to see Steve Carter marshaling there giving encouragement. I knew Hazel was not far behind me (I could see her) and thought she was looking pretty good. The second mile is just as bad, up and down, 16:50 at mile two, and at this point I realised a 38min was out of the question unless I pulled my finger out. With a nice bit of down hill between two and three I picked up pace (or so I thought) 23:56 at mile three. As I turned the corner again feeling knackered I asked Steve if he could see Hazel, and he said no she wasn't in sight so what did I do? - stop and walk! until I heard him cheering her on that is. Mile four I clocked 33:02 and decided to leg it and set my sights on the Keighley & Craven lady just about 100mtrs ahead of me. I nearly had her too! I finished in 39:51. I was pleased with the run as the weather was cold and windy.

Halifax Town Centre 5K

Before the race we agreed that Matthew would do the write up for this one as it was his first proper road race. However, it's fallen to me as will become clear towards the end.

Having spent the last few days ill since going down with some virus on Wednesday night, I was not all sure about running this one, but there were a few things that twisted my arm

1. I'd already paid (hey, I'm a Yorkshire man!)
   
2. I had to take Matthew in any case
   
3. It would be my first ever 5k race
   

Actually, running when you are still sick is just plain stupid really! I don't advise it.

It was a glorious day, and there was a good Spen turnout, with runners in the 1k fun run and the main race. The race started on commercial street, heading out to the bus depot, before turning left down the hill towards the railway station, then back up Horton Street, to repeat part of the same loop, then on the 2nd loop, continuing on past the station before heading back up towards the town centre, and taking a left to come into the side gate of the Piece Hall. A nice route, with plenty of undulations.

The section towards the bus depot is pan flat, so the start was pretty quick. I managed to keep Keith somewhere in sight for about 2km before I lost him (or he lost me) entirely. The last 2km was when the 3 days of sickenss took it's toll for me and I faded badly. Although finished with 20:07 by my watch, which was ok under the circumstances.

At the finish, I was somewhat surprised to see Matthew already there, since I past him in the first km and didn't remember him coming back past me. He hadn't passed me, he'd dropped out complaining of stomach pain.

Keith was first Spen runner home, followed by me, Tim, Jackie and Amanda.

This is definitely a race I'd do again (hopefully when fit though). Good organisation, good route, and a great finish area in the Piece Hall. The weather this year obviously helped, as it was blazing sunshine, but I'd recommend the race to anyone. It's not a PB course, too much up and down for that, just a cracking race.

Spen Results
9   Keith McGhie   M45 17:50
35  Chris Jones    M45 20:07
59  Tim Wragg      M40 21:18
93  Jackie Carter  F45 23:25
172 Amanda Pearson F40 30:29

234 finishers

Keith and Jackie each won their age categories!
Full Results Here

Mo Farah breaks 25 year old British road 10k record

Gareth and me were only saying at the weekend that many of the British records for distance events were set back in the 80's and are still standing, then Mo Farah goes and breaks the British Road 10K record.

Read about it here http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/8066984.stm

Esholt 5k Race 3

Fastest Yet

The final race arrived. Plenty of pressure with John Henry making things interesting in our own little battle last week, added to the desire to continue to improve. I thought (hoped) John wasn't there as we warmed up but come the start line there he was, beaming brightly. My confidence was boosted when John kindly poined out that as I had beated him by some 10s in race 1 and he beat by just 1s in race2, that I was ahead on aggregate.

On the off I went quite fast and this time didn't see John in front of me. Was faster at 2k (7min 4s) but started to feel it as we approached the turn. Its funny that in a race series like this you see the same people and use them as benchmarks. Elation at passing someone who beat you last week is soon dashed when the man with the wooden leg (who you beat convincingly in race one) breezes past.

At 4k I new I was looking good as I had 4mins to get to the end. The final burst never came, but I clocked 18.39 (although the official got 18.40). Thats a 15s improvement from race 2 and 25s from race 1.

Its a long way from by PB on this course (16.10) but would like to see sub 18min again one day. Bring on the Hyde Park series.

Gareth

PS Thanks for the competition John

The John Carr (Esholt 5k) series race 3

Having done the previous two I was not looking forward to tonight,

1. feeling very tired, noisy neighbours having a heated debate in the middle of the night
2. I lost my number,
3. queueing traffic.

Normally I get faster at each race, but tonight I wasn't so optimistic but two friends from Pudsey Pacer's made me think otherwise. Gunning for me, they were along-side from the start. Not liking this, I put in a burst and was at the first k in 3.40 nearly half a minute up on last week, though between 3 and 4 k I found I was slowing down (not by choice). As we turned the bend at the top it was rather nice to have some encouragement from the crowd watching, thanks to all for that because I passed three ladies, all this to beat last week by one second, ah well the mars bar was good. The bag ! I've now got five of these, and no the Pudsey girls didn't catch me, this time.

Spen Results
17  Kevin Ogden          M35 16.34
21  Antony Bradford      M40 16:42
74  Gareth Patchett      M45 18.40
87  John Henry           M50 19.15
93  Victor Kolodziejczyk M50 19.31
155 Emma Maguire         F40 21.47
177 Jackie Carter        F45 22.57
207 Les Fenton           M55 24.15
275 Amanda Pearson       F40 29.36

Selected Others
39  Karen Pickles  Pudsey Pacers      F35 17.45

Full Results

Askern 10K - chasing the elusive sub-40

It would be nice to be sitting here writing about how I'd smashed my 10k PB and finally achieved a sub-40, but it was not to be. As a runner, you've got to accept that not everything always works out as you want it to, and it would be quite boring if it did. Goals that are too easily achieved are not worth much.

It's been 3 years since I last ran a 10k. It was 2006, and Askern was my last real effort at chasing a sub-40 time. 3 weeks after I narrowly missed out with a 40:05 at Rothwell, so whilst my form was good, I had another go. However, it didn't work out, and I missed by some margin with 41:01.

But now it's 2009, and I'm 3 years older which can't help, but on the flip-side, I've been running well all year, setting course PB's at a number of fell races, and a few people helped convince me to give a road 10k another shot. I've done very little road training, and only got back into track training at the start of the year after a long layoff. I confess, I had doubts about my ability to achieve the sustained pace I would need to break the 40 minute barrier.

The weather was better than in 2006 when it was pouring rain, tonight it was cool and overcast, but I soon worked up a sweat. I clocked my km splits (then stupidly erased them later) 3;33, 4:09, 3:55, 4:07 - all over the place! I think it was dodgy markers, as I can't have been that wildly out. At 5km I was probably under 20 minutes, although not enough. 5-6km comes the hill, and I clocked 4:27 for that one, wiping out the seconds I had in the bag from the first km. 6-7 should have been fast, but I only clocked 4:00 dead, I needed to get some back there. After that I pretty much ignored my watch and just concentrated on giving it my best effort. In the last km I was tiring, and finally crossed the line in 40:42 (unofficial).

So what can I learn? A lot I think! I've come back from a 3 year road running layoff, and with no specific training, run my 3rd fastest 10km ever, plus I beat my previous best for this course by almost 20 seconds. I think it shows me I'm in pretty good shape, and convinced me that I can break the 40-min barrier.

After the race, I rushed back to Spen and just made it in time for my 1500 debut at the track, but that's another story.

Spen Results
108 Chris Jones M45 40:41

512 runners

click here for full results