February 2008
The first event to count towards this years Championship has now taken place, the Garstang 10K a look at the chart shows the early leaders to be Sue Park and Pam Leverton in the ladies and Chris Howie and Pete Davison in the Men’s.
Chris Howie managed the Lancaster X Country on the Saturday, and then did 37.13 at Garstang on Sunday; he is certainly running well at the moment. I did the X country and as usual it was knee deep in mud, I was stiff as a board on Sunday.
Looking back at the X country at Lancaster we managed to field a Ladies and Men’s team which was amazing as a lot of the regular runners were either ill, injured, or unavailable. We also had a newcomer to the mud non other than Lynn Howie, well done; if you can do Lancaster and enjoy it you can do anything. Next race is at Hyndburn on the 9th February. If anyone is interested in having a go contact Jeff Chadwick or Penny Moreton for more details.
The start of January has proved to be very wet and we all must be mad to be turning out Mondays and Thursdays still smiling (Sometimes). Thursday’s training is becoming very popular with some good turnouts regardless of the weather. The first 5K time trial of the year took place on the last day of January when about a dozen or so nutters, sorry seasoned runners ran head first into the strongest gales ever witnessed on Morecambe Road, the only consolation being you could run flat out on the way back. (Why do we do it?). Still it gives you a start point to measure any improvement from.
Finally I have to mention an episode that happened on one of the wettest Monday nights just after Christmas.
Sharon has now officially run 7 miles and swam 15 feet when she stumbled in the floods around the Alpine route and actually went head first under the water. She went an absolute cropper and I did think she would need help to carry on, but she was ok, only a sprained ankle, swollen, knee, sore hand, bashed elbow, lungs full of water etc. It is funny now, but the message is be careful when running in floods, you can’t see the potholes.
Finally a thank you to Penny Moreton for sending me this contribution, she would like it dedicating 'To those who are currently injured or recuperating'
A View from the other side of the road……
From the end of last year and through to the end of March I suffered a severe debilitating illness, although not life threatening it certainly mimicked very well something much more severe. Whilst away from my love of the open spaces it many times gave me times to reflect and think about things from the other side of the road.
As a frequent road racer one of the saddest moments I’ve ever seen is when someone finishes a race and immediately begins to criticise themselves and complain about their time or about how the race was organised. Unfortunately I have witnessed it within our club too. Exploding as they go through the finish chute they start screaming at the top of their lungs about how awful their race was, how terrible the run went. Maybe if they knew how silly they looked they wouldn’t do it, but I doubt it.
Somehow it has escaped those runners that we are all, from the first to the least, very lucky to have health and opportunity to get out and run at all. Those complainers have totally missed the point that at any distance, at any pace, at any age, we – the active adults – are among a very select minority of the population. And dare I say it; even the modestly talented ones like me are elites when it comes to the average man or women in the street. We should congratulate ourselves for our accomplishments, where ever they fall on the continuum of fast or slow.
We should give thanks for our continued ability to train our fragile bodies, to clear our cloudy minds, and to reach for, find, and exceed our limits. We should never, not for one minute of one run, take for granted the privilege we have been granted. We should never come to believe that we are somehow entitled to run fast or far. We are not. Every run, every step is a gift.
So after regaining some semblance of stability before I attempted to retrain my tired body I went to watch the event most dear to my heart the marathon. First I went to London, having coached a friend already with tremendous natural ability to her first start in this prestigious event. Understandably nervous, she had six months earlier qualified for an elite start, I was almost running the race with her as my heart and emotions raced through me. I saw her off and then frantically caught the train and to the 24 mile mark on the Embankment. Some 3 hours later I was again awash with excitement as I saw her giving her all as she passed me on her way to the finish. As my heart pounded, I felt very emotional, it’s a totally surreal experience to watching the event when normally you are wrapped up in it. Would she hang on to sub 3.15? Would she falter – the answer was no. I stayed to watch my other friends run their destinies, some of them looking better than others as it was a desperately hot day. James was the last one I spotted.
A month later again I was road side, this time at 23 miles on the outskirts of Windermere. Again a hot day but with a refreshing breeze, probably more evident to me kerbside. Many more friends running this tough marathon, many more virgins finding their strengths and weaknesses. Everyone though up for the challenge and giving their all.
Now I am back in training slowly rebuilding, gradually laying foundations for future dreams, who knows whether I shall run as well as previously, who knows what’s round the next corner. All I can say is I am really grateful to have been given a second chance at this wonderful game. The strength is returning and although I have often chased times and parameters in the past I am really grateful that I have like minded friends to just joggle along with for the pure joy of the open spaces, the fresh air, the wildlife encountered. Thanks for everything let’s remember never take this wonderful sport for granted, it’s there to be savoured.
Penny.
Other news, If you look on the runners world website there has been active discussion about our Christmas Pudding 6.5 mile race. I have had a look on the forums and people have posted various comments about it. If you want to have a look, you will have to do a bit of searching, I did not readily find the topics, but got there in the end.
Graham