In the spotlight today we have Richard Derrick. Richard joined striders about 30 years ago and is still going strong.
Richard Derrick
Age
64
Occupation
I retired
3 years ago after 30 years in international pharmaceutical information and
consultancy. I now mentor undergraduates
at my old university (Bath) and sports clubs through the charity Sported.
Reason
you started running?
I started
cross country running at Grammar School in the Under 13’s. I gave it up when I went to Bath Uni as I was
playing cricket and football there for the Uni and I did need to do some
Economics.
I returned to running in my early 30’s when I was travelling a lot for work and
needed something to do whilst staying in hotels particularly in the US, Australia
and Asia Pacific when I was waking up at all sorts of strange times.
I joined
St Albans Striders about 30 years ago but for about 20 years was never home
early enough to be able to do the Tuesday and Thursday night sessions so I actually
met very few Striders.
Favourite
Race Distance?
Half
marathon, for the challenge. The Watford and Berko halfs are a good challenging
start to my year and show me whether I have done much x country over the
previous few months.
In terms
of distance, 10ks are a close second.
Favourite
Race and Route?
In terms
of cross country - Orion 15 through Epping Forest, a traditional x country
race/run with great views cannot be beaten.
Amanda’s grandfather was a founder member of Orion Harriers who organise the race and my brother in law is usually marshalling.
Another
favourite is the St Levan 10k which is run on a Friday night in August which starts
about 3 miles from Land’s End. Runners come from all over Cornwall as it is part
of the Cornwall Grand Prix series. You
run an undulating course usually into the sun towards Sennen Cove which is
where we stay.
Parliament
Hills cross country - I do every year for the challenge and has to be done as a rite
of passage for every runner I think!!. It was bit strange running over that
hill and not seeing mud when I led that leg of one of our relays to the Olympic
Park.
Running
Goals?
To simply
keep running as long as I can.
How
often do you train?
I train
twice a week usually; I do not follow any particular training plan but ‘listen’
to my body.
What
motivates you?
Initially
after stopping playing cricket and football in my mid 30’s I missed the dressing
room banter that you get from a team sport which was one of the main motivations
for playing them.
I run for
the different views that you get from the various courses and that sense of
achievement and a bit of post run banter.
I am
fascinated by the fact that there are some days at the start you do not feel
great and ask yourself why am I doing this but after a few minutes of running ‘the
world changes’ and it all feels great and you are ‘floating’.
Of
course unfortunately it also works the other way round and it goes downhill
(not physically) and that it is not a great feeling at mile 8 of a half
marathon but then it becomes a challenge to dig down and count off the miles.
At the
moment I am highly motivated to stay under that 2 hour figure in half marathons
as long as I can. The Power of Ten database is really good for tracking my
times over the years.
Most
memorable run/race?
I
enjoyed both relays that Striders did down to the Olympic park as in both of
them I ran one more leg than I planned/expected to do but the buzz was good.
I really enjoyed doing a half marathon in Maui. Hawaii a few years back which started at 5 in
the morning, within 30 mins my running shirt was dripping in sweat but the views
and community spirit at that time in the morning was amazing.
Injuries?
I spent
about 18 months getting over sciatica in my 30’s. I try
to avoid injury by never running two days in succession and going for a sports
massage every 3 months.
Other
hobbies?
I cycle a
lot and ride two or three 100-mile
sportive's a year and multi day rides for charity such as the annual Prostate
Cancer London to Amsterdam and the Rennie Grove St Albans to Isle of Man bike ride which
has been delayed from this year
I met
Amanda skiing and we still ski in the Winter.
I am a sports nut and watch a lot of cricket.
Guilty
pleasures?
No comments:
Post a Comment