100 Marathon Club Handicap Marathon, Bromley: 8
January 2012: With only 2 months before I was due to move into the 60-64
age group the year started off well for me and I finished in 3:59:56. These
days I am grateful for every time I can complete a marathon in less than 4
hours. The days of getting under 3:15 are long gone.
Gran Canaria Marathon: 22 January 2012:
Given how hot it was at the start of this race I suspect that I started off too
fast. The race comprises 2 laps and the course is flat so this was entirely my
own fault. By half way I felt that I had very little energy left and I was just
happy to finish in 4:15:48. Still, it was nice to have some sunny weather
before returning to the UK.
Miracle Match Marathon, Waco, Texas: 29
January 2012: I was expecting Texas to be warm, but I had to keep my gloves
on for the whole of this race. The first half of the race was slightly
undulating, but on the second half we were faced with hill after hill after
hill and whimsical signs along the lines of 'Last hill! Sorry just kidding!'
and 'Really the last hill! Sorry, just kidding again!' I ran with the 3:56 pace
group for the first half and then went slightly ahead of them in the second
half, finishing in 3:55:54. This was a good enough time to place me first out
of 30 in my age group. Given how tough the course was I was more than happy
with this result.
Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon, Texas: 5
February 2012: I knew that there were no hills in Galveston and was hoping
that this would mean that fast times could be achieved on this 2 lap course.
However, driving to the race start we were faced with torrential rain and
howling wind. The rain died down substantially before the race start, but the
wind was unrelenting. Hoping to emulate the previous weekend’s performance I
decided to set off with the 3:50 pace group, but at 12 miles I felt that if I
was to finish in one piece I needed to drop back slightly. The main reason for
this was that I knew that a 5-mile stretch was coming just after 16 miles when
we would be running directly into a headwind along the sea front. This was
tough enough on the first lap and I was not looking forward to facing it a 2nd
time. I went through 23 miles in around 3:33 and from then on my principal aim
was to get under 4 hours. My legs were screaming at me by the end, but I
crossed the line in 3:59:50, which was good enough to get me 3rd
place in my age group. I’d been hoping for two easy marathons on this Texas trip.
Maybe I should have done a bit more research before booking these particular
races.
Enigma Leap Year Trail Marathon, Milton Keynes: 29 February 2012: Running over 17 laps round Furzton Lake on a Wednesday
morning is not everybody’s idea of fun. At least the weather was kind to us. My
time was 4:09:33.
Fairlands Valley Spring Challenge Trail Marathon,
Stevenage: 3 March 2012: On my 50th birthday I ran
the Wendover Gap Trail Marathon. For my 60th birthday I joined about
50 others for the winter version of the Fairlands Valley Challenge. My legs
were suffering after Wednesday’s race, but once again we managed to avoid the
forecast rain and I finished in 5:07:15.
Blackpool Marathon: 11 March 2012:
Having forgotten to start my stop-watch at the start of the race I decided to
just run as I felt without looking at my watch. Consequently, I was surprised
at the finish to discover that my time was 3:48:05, which was well under the 4
hours that I had been anticipating.
Dizzy Daze Trail Marathon, Seattle, USA: 24
March 2012: This was a small marathon comprising just over 8 laps on a
mainly dirt track around Green Lake in Seattle. The only obstacles around the
course were tree roots and a few roadside kerbs. Amazed to find somewhere flat
in Seattle I enjoyed the race and was pleased with my time of 3:50:22.
Yakima River Canyon Marathon, Washington State, USA: 31
March 2012: I have run this marathon twice before and on both occasions
have had to walk on the 1.5 mile long hill, which commences at the 21.5 mile
point. A friend of mine, 82 year old Bob Dolphin, is the race director and was
due to complete his 500th marathon at Yakima so it was a race that I
could not miss. We started off in snow, but this eased off after about 20
minutes and the running conditions were actually quite good. For the first time
I managed to conquer the big hill and finished in 3:56:01 (3rd male
60-64).
No comments:
Post a Comment