"Sandbach Striders 10K"

After an illness affected and therefore low key World Wide Festival of Races where I ran my own six miler along Riverside Park in the spirit of the event it was good to get another competitive race under my belt.

After a further week of coughs and sneezes I was happy just to make the start of Sandbach Striders low key but fabulously organised multi terrain 10k on the heart of the Cheshire Plain. Sandbach, famous for its Saxon Crosses presented us with a perfect early Autumn morning with clear skies and a gentle breeze making for ideal running conditions. A full pre entry meant many macc harriers couldn't score points in the club champs but was great for me to pick up some easy points!.

With a steady off road first 2k I gradually picked up the pace and was running 4.16 for each kilometre until the lack of training and chest cold finally caught up with me at around 7K. I did finish strongly (which included climbing the steps of a railway bridge at 9k!) however, with a 44.17 (for 35th position out of 180 finishers) which I was more than happy with given the circumstances.

Weekly mileage 27. Annual mileage 1044.

"Back over the Country"

After a week with a sore throat and chesty cough I was unsure whether to compete in the first cross country of the season last Saturday. Despite my better judgement I went for the "kill or cure" approach and joined the rest of the team.

Having made my excuses on the start line, for once I didn't take the usual approach recommended by my coach, that of off hard then relaxing into the race, as instead I relaxed from the start! Immediately I dropped off the pace of my key rivals but over the firm ground of Knight's Grange for once this really paid off ( a four lap 10k). I slowly started to pick off runners and with a strong last lap ended up over a minute ahead of a couple of my team mates at the finish (49.12). Maybe this is the best way to race cross country but it just isn't in my nature to hold back at the start!

The course whilst being predominantly flat had a couple of sharp climbs and luckily the photographer chose to capture us on the way downhill! I will let you guess which laps they were taken on!!

Weekly mileage 25. Annual mileage 992



































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"Nine Mile Track"

Its been a reasonably good last two weeks with short runs, a couple of trips out on the bike and also a couple of tremendous track sessions,including last Tuesday's which added up to nine miles and me finishing long after it had got dark!

The time between the end of the track season and the start of the cross country season is always an interesting one, do you stick with speed on the track or start to introduce some more endurance work? The answer from the coach last Tuesday was the latter! With a large bunch of athletes to work with, including two who have recently won international vests on the fells it was always going to be a hard and competitive session. After a two mile warm up and a couple of miles including drills and fartlek it was down to the main effortbased around 6 x 400 (with 30 secs recover) then 800m, with two minutes between sets. I was going well over the early 400s but the session really began to string out as time went on, including a couple of athletes who dropped out. I dug in, stuck to the recoveries and held on to the finish and cooled down over two miles, went home, put my feet up and promptly crashed out to find the rest of the family had gone to bed several hours before!

The track season is also over when you hear the club champs results and unfortunately I dropped from first to third in the vets ranks. I can't be disappointed as I missed a couple of keys meetings, not to mention quite a few weeks of training due to work. However I intend to have a good winter season and see if I can take the title back next year.

Next week it's the start of the cross country season and no doubt a long hard winter of training and racing, The following week it's the fantastic "World Wide Festival of Races" which I hope to compete in by entering the Congleton Half Marathon.

Weekly mileage 20. Annual mileage 967.

"Last days of Summer"

I always think that the end of the summer running season is marked by the last track and field meet. As always this was a Cheshire League fixture and is one where it is "all hands to the pump" to score as many points as possible to keep the club in the top three in the table. Held again this year at the windy and exposed Ellesmere Port track, home of West Cheshire AC I ended up running every one of the four senior mens races, the 3k, the 200m, the 1500m and finishing up in the last event of the season the 4x1oom relay! Amazingly given the wind conditions I ran season's bests in both the 3k (11.58) and 200m (27.5 from Lane 1, not easy when you are six foot plus! ) but the best that can be said of the relay is that at least we got the baton round!

This has been the first week in several months that I have managed to take on a full track session and survive alongside the faster "money men" in the squad (those that win prize money in local races). Consisting of 5 x 1200m (800 fast/30 secs recovery/400 fast/ 2 mins recovery) I really held it together and am once again looking forward to getting in these regular sessions as preparation for the forthcoming cross country season.

I have also started to get in some regular longer runs, including over two hours yesterday over the Gritstone Trail including a tough ascent of Saddlers Way at around ten miles (an ancient bridleway with some great views if you stop!)

Weekly mileage 28. Annual mileage 921.

"Great Warford 10"

Two weeks ago and straight after coming back from holiday I decided to run this popular local race. It's a fast, flat course and is superbly organised by Wilmslow Running Club. Not being really "race ready" for a ten miler on a hot Sunday morning (24c) I decided just to use it as a training run and as such was neither racing or taking it easy. In this heat this was a big mistake as mentally I wasn't prepared to really perform at all. Lesson being, either race or don't enter! I got round in a steady 79. 09 but I made it much harder than it needed to be.

The last few weeks have been a mixture of trying to catch up at work, getting the offspring ready for the new term, including starting high school for Sarah, and easy maintenance running including sessions in the Lake District over the Bank Holiday weekend. Next week is the last track meet of the season and the official end of summer. It will be an all out attempt by the club to secure its position in the county league so no doubt it will mean me running everything everything from 100 metres to 3K and all distances in between. Roll on cross country!

"Kerridge to Catalonia"

It's been a mixed month of running and life since my last post.

The middle of the month saw a return to my most local and shortest fell race of the year the thirteen minutes that is the Kerridge Climb. Run from the annual Rainow village fete I have competed in this race most years since the late 1970's and although being very short, straight up to the summit of Kerridge Ridge along the top and straight back down, it is certainly a real test (of how long you can survive before walking hands on knees .... answer not long!). Being a local race with around fifty entries you might think there is a chance to place well up the field. Think again. When the holder of one of the Lakeland Peaks toughest records can only manage third you realise that you are in serious company! As usual I started out at a gallop, bouyed up by running through the cheering throngs at the fete! However as always gravity got its revenge and at the summit of the ridge I was definitely suffering from a lack of oxygen. A rapid descent (not helped by not being able to focus or think straight) I ended up with a good strong finish on the uphill field back into the fete. For the whole week before the race I had been struggling with a stiff kneck but still I managed 13.03 (my PB is 12.48 from the mid 80's) not bad all things considered for twentieth place, but well behind the sub eleven minutes of the winner.

The last two weeks of July were mainly maintenance weeks with a mixture of steady and longer runs, but worringly (due mainly to work and family commitmets) I have now missed a whole month of those vital coached track sessions for which I will no doubt pay the price at the last track meet of the season in a few weeks time.

The last week and a half has seen us all off for a family break in northern Spain. With the extreme heat (35 degrees on the days we visited Barcelona) I tried to get out a few times very early in the morning. One run turned out to be the scariest and most surreal ever. We were a few miles out from the resort of Salou that has quite a reputation for enjoyment late into the night. Imagine my surprise that my 6.30am run took in a variety of "arresting" situations as police fought with over fuelled revellers from the night/morning before (there was only ever going to be one result for them ..... a trip into the back of the police van!). Subsequent runs took in the quieter back roads of Catalonia! Running on holiday can be a great experience but its sometimes good to get back to the quiet of the Peak District hills!

Annual mileage 791 (week 31)

"The Wizard 5"

Another great week of running, the weather was hot and the racing hard work!

After an easy couple of runs early in the week including getting completely lost on the Cheshire Plain with a five miler ending up twice as long on Monday lunchtime (see the fantastic church I found photo below), I turned up for the second running of the Wizard 5 on the Thursday evening absolutely raring to go.

Organised by Wilmslow Running Club this race takes you over, around, down and up Alderley Edge, made famous by Alan Garner in "The Weirdstone of Brasingamen", and on a warm and muggy night has all the ingredients for what you want from a short, local, friendly but competitive mid week race. Superbly organised and attracting some top class racers it has it all - a fast start, plenty of twisting woodland tracks (past the pictured 19th century Druids Circle), a descent off the edge round Cheshire's country lanes followed by the intimidating and punishing last mile climb back up to the finish at the Wizard restaurant on the Edge.


I started off really well but the descent and miles 3-4 really started to take their toll with the thoughts of the last mile being, "what goes down must have to go back up!". I really had to dig in hard to keep the climb going but finished mid field in a creditable 38.28, not bad considering the multi terrain nature of the course but a long way back off the winner coming in sub 30 minutes. This was one of those races that makes you realise why you enjoy running so much, or at least when the pain stops!

Next week its back on the hills again for the very short and even more painful Kerridge Climb!

Weekly Mileage 24. Annual mileage 728 (week 27)