Etape Bornholm stage 3 results

The British challenge really got going today led by Ben's stage victory in the 8k forest race. With an undulating course similar to a domestic cross country profile and good underfoot conditions we were able to crank out 5 min miles before the sting in the tail finish, a sharp climb of 300m metres.

With two races in the legs and not getting home until 10pm mornings are focused on recovery with an easy shakeout run, dip in the baltic, a big breakfast to replenish the glycogen stores and some stretching to get loosened up (left, above).

Taking the lead in the first mile Ben steadily built his lead to come home 18 seconds clear of race leader Jussi Utrainen to give himself a fighting chance of catching the race leaders in the final 2 stages.

Martin had a good day consolidating his 4th place overall with 4th on the stage and i had my best run so far finishing 8th and just a few seconds from 5th. I'm still 11th overall but now with three positions within touching distance so plenty to run for on stage 4th.

Our diet of fish and potatoes got some variety today with a trip to a local pizza restaurant where we celebrated Bens win with a glass of local beer and an ice cream on top of our mid-morning Danish pastries (left) which may have been the secret ingredient in Ben's victory.

Thursday the race moves on to our local course in Sandvig. An 8k race on a hilly course with a gut wrenching climb up the cliffs to the lighthouse to finish. Should fun and theres plenty of scope to make up time if rivals crack on the final climb !

Overall results after stage 3

http://results.ultimate.dk/events/2011/run/etapebornholm/front/results.php?stageid=2&category=S|1|M

2011 South of England Cross Country Championship Results

Another fun day at Parliament Hill and my first race for 3 months (left: photos Ken Hoye). All in all it was pretty hard work but an enjoyable one in the Saucony South of England Championships.

Up front Neilson Hall defended his title from last year in a much quicker time if my memory serves me correctly. The course seemed to be the driest I can remember, not that I was any good in the little mud there was ! Runner up was my Wells City Harriers club mate Ben Tickner and third was Jon Pepper with Parliament Hill specialist Chris Smith a close 4th.

A couple of minutes back I finished 29th which constitutes a personal worst for the southern but not unexpected given the lack of consistent training recently. You can only run on former glories (and mileage) for so long ! The lack of miles really told in the mud and up the hills though encouragingly I was able to work up a good head of steam on the flat, dry sections so the engine is in pretty good order. Just need to get some strength back in the leg muscles.

Today was pretty cold and I can't imagine it was much fun for the marshalls who had a long day battling dog walkers and their stray hounds. As has become the norm here the finish system works brilliantly with chip timing allowing results to be available on course a few minutes after the race is over. And this year I was far enough behind the leaders to hear the presentation starting to take place as I crossed the line !

No doubt much discussion will take place about the race starting with what seemed like several hundred people still trying to get through the chip inspection tent. The race started on time but there was a big bottle neck again to get to the start. It would be good to hear the SEAA perspective before passing judgement. On the one hand people knew what the start time was and on the other it did take a long time to get through the tent.

Whatever the rights and wrong of why it happened having a championship race get underway without many competitors on the start line has got to set alarm bells ringing and its something that needs to be fixed for 2012.

Results
Senior Men
1 48:23 Neilson Hall Bedford & County AC
2 48:40 Ben Tickner Wells City Harriers
3 49:00 Jon Pepper Enfield & Haringey AC
4 49:06 Chris Smith Thames Valley Harriers
5 49:06 Gary Thornton Kent AC
6 49:21 Glen Watts Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers
7 49:24 Dean Lacy Cambridge Harriers
8 49:27 Kevin Heywood Bideford AAC
9 49:34 Darren Deed Bedford & County AC
10 49:47 John Gilbert Kent AC
...
29 51.55 Adrian Marriott Wells City Harriers

Full results here

Gwent League return

After a couple months of not knowing if I would stand on the start line again I managed a muddy 10km round Hestercombe Gardens in the Gwent League last weekend. Nothing spectacular, just a brisk start and 3 steady laps on the undulating course before picking it up in the last mile to come home 4th overall and 2nd in the Somerset Championships behind Wells team mate Ben Tickner who is flying at the moment.

In fact the club as a whole had a great day with wins in a number of age categories including Oliver Fox and Laura Parker dominating the u13 boys and u20 women respectively and the men winning the Gwent League combined for the first time I think ?

Hopefully this marks the start of a solid block of training to get me in shape for the bigger XC races after xmas and then enable me to prepare properly for the London Marathon in April. Clearly time is running already and ideally I would like to be in much better 10k shape than i'm in at the moment. But you start where you start and at least in my favour I have years of aerobic training which gives me a good base to build from. Its going to be a fun 20 weeks ...

Scorching times at Victory 5 Miles Road Race

Left: eyeballs out at the finish. Photo courtesy of Sussex Sports Photography. Buy your race photo

While most of the post race talk was of a mishap at the start which meant we ran about 65 metres short of the full 5 miles there was much applaud at this year's Victory 5.

Near perfect conditions, a flat course and a competitive entry list meant that up front there was some hard racing and very fast running and my 23.56 was good enough only for 6th place. By the time we had completed a second lap of the running track instead of the outside cycle track a lead group of 5 had formed with aussie Russel Dessaix-Chin leading the way along with Mark Warmby, my Wells team mate Ben Tickner, Neil Gamester and Mark Draper. Hanging on to them were perennial fast starters Will Levett and Hassan Raidi.

A few meters back I was running with Ben Whitby and Phil Tulba in what could charitably be labelled the 'experienced' group. Before 2 miles we had swept up Will and Hassan while the leaders were starting to fragment. A tricky section through the IBM grounds slowed us a little as the we trod carefully on the icy paths which had yet to thaw out in the winter shadows. Back in the sun by 3 miles Ben and me were clear of our group and in pursuit of Mark Draper who was off the back of the leaders and coming back to us. In the final mile Ben had a change of gear which I was unable to match. But keeping going at a good pace I was able to get past Mark with about 600m to go and take 6th place.

Although the short course may have taken the shine off things for those who were after a PB consider that this was an event where you could enter online, by post or on the day up to the last minute. There are plenty of changing facilities at the HQ at Mountbatten Stadium. And with a slick results operation positions and times are posted on the wall by the time you get back from your warm down. For the speedier runners presentations are efficient and the organisers appreciate the value of an old fashioned 'brown envelope' rather than rubbish trophies ! And all this for under a tenner. If other races got as much right as this event I think most of us would be happy runners.

I was pleased with my run and clearly my fitness has moved on a long way since my last couple of modest cross country races. More on my latest training block to follow in the week ....

Men's Results
1 R Dessaix-Chin (Belgrave) 22:54
2 M Warmby (NEB)23:04
3 B Tickner (Wells City) 23:17
4 N Gamester (Shaftesbury Barnet) 23:18
5 B Whitby (Windsor SE&H) 23:49
6 A Marriott (Wells City) 23:56

Full Results from Portsmouth AC
Race photos by Sussex Sport Photography

National Cross Country Relays

As we all know from Beijing getting the baton round is the primary requirement. Or in the case of a 4 man cross relay having 4 men ! Looking to build on last years tantalising 5th place when we finished just a couple of seconds outside the medals my Wells City Harriers team were quietly optimistic in the build up to this years race. Frank Tickner was returning to fitness after a stress fracture, big brother Ben was in good early season form and Andy Hennessy and myself had miles in the bank from our autumn marathon exploits. So far so good then the jinx struck as Andy's marathon caught up with him and a dose of achilles tendinitis left him on the treatment table and out of action. And with an injury list to our reserves that would have had 'big Phil' tearing his hair out we had to take the start line with just three runners.

And what a day we had. Ben powered round the first leg to put us right in the thick of the action in 3rd place. My job had always been damage limitation and despite having Andi Jones and Dave Norman breeze past me early on I was able to hand over in 5th. Blowing away the cobwebs Frank was clearly not at his best but was still good enough to take us into the lead and cause the commentators to reach for the stat book in search of previous Wells medal winning exploits. Of which there were none of course. A statistic which will have to remain for another year alas. At least the three of us had a good run out to get our cross country seasons underway. The conditions were a bit wetter than previous years and my Shay XCs did a great job. I'm going to enjoy a winter wearing these.

I'm a big fan of the country. Its great for getting used to frequent changes in rythmn and challenges the muscles in a way that road and track can't do. Looking back the mud was where I had my early successes, from winning my first race as a 9 year old through to my breakthrough race in the 1994 British Universities Championships. And this year the 'National' will be back at its spiritual home at Parliament Hill Fields and even in the slightly emasculated 12k form its still a race to send a shiver down the spine. I plan on being there ! But first up is the Gwent League at Bath this weekend and a return to man to man combat after the relay season. Can't wait.