June 2013

7th Round of East Midlands Grand Prix, 25/6/13

June 30, 2013 0

Weedon 10K, NorthantsThe Weedon course is the toughest of the series but finishes in the runner’s favour with a kilometre or so downhill. Both Bruce Lovell and Yasmin Inglis were running the course for the first time but well aware of the hilly profile. The weather conditions were again ideal. Not running myself due to last week’s injury at the Harborough 5 miles, I managed to get some training on the bike and take some photos.The first 4K is relatively flat so runners need to hold back a little before arguably the longest and steepest hill, thereafter undulating until 7K where there is another long climb followed shortly after 8K by the long steep descent. Nearly there, it is a shock to have to climb again.Bruce had informed us that he was suffering from potentially a hairline fracture of a foot so was not giving full effort, especially downhill. Nonetheless, Bruce still did well to finish in 18th place in 36.37. Yasmin took it cautiously on the first hill but managed a creditable time of 55.30 for 74th female.My race was the 8 miles cycling back to Northampton station on the A45 to arrive in time for a train, managing it.Report and Photos by Peter SimpsonTeaming up before the startMoments to go and announcementsOff into the sunset…Bruce approaching the finishYasmin with not far to go

AV-Abendvolkslauf 10K: Uelzen, GER / Lakeside 5k Portsmouth / Lordshill 10k Southampton.

June 30, 2013 0

AV-Abendvolkslauf 10K: Uelzen, GER Friday June 14th. 2 Laps around town centre, the local football team putting down a white line with arrows for the complete route, so no chance of getting lost. Main hazard in the old town centre was the cobblestones. Chip timing involved putting a band on each shoe, not sure why , difference in time between which foot crosses finish line first? A 5K run had started 10 minutes before the 10k so had to run around avoid the slower runners in that event after about 3k. As it was an evening run not too hot. Managed to finish in a time just outside my seasons best and win the age cat. Sidney DeLara Uelzen 10k 41 mins 41secs. 15th/142 runners Vet Male 55 1st. LAKESIDE 5K RACE 3 PORTSMOUTH. Wednesday June 26th Run around grounds of IBM Business Park, which mainly involves running through carparks. Got to 2k in 7 mins 38secs but slowed a bit and started to get a bit shaky and queasy toward 3k, think I got it wrong not eating enough closer to the event so had hunger pangs as well. Crossed finish line to record a time of 19mins 46secs , which is exactly same time as when i last ran the course in April. Sidney DeLara Lakeside 5k Portsmouth 19mins 46secs 59th/156runners Vet Male 55 3rd. LORDSHILL 10k , Southampton Sunday June 30th. Teamed up with Noel Grimley again who is incrementally improving over this distance. Decided to hang on in behind him from the start because it looked good, 2 Vegan Runners in tandem. Noel was going well. Managed to stay with him until just after 2k but then began to suffer and to slow to such an extent that I decided to drop out, not feeling particularly inspired to get around and finish just for the sake of it and record a bad time. Noel continued onward to record a PB again, on what according to the race organisers was the hottest day of the year in Southampton. Reckon he will be breaking the 40 mins barrier soon. That’s Noel in the shades. Noel Grimley Lordshill 10k 41mins 44secs(PB) 58th/358runners Vet Male 40 21st.

Any Prisoners in the Harborough 5 miles, 18/6/13

June 24, 2013 0

Sixth Round of East Midlands Grand Prix Series Report by Peter Simpson After the Rugby 6 miles event, Yasmin Inglis was keen to run more events in the series, eight in total. Living and training in Market Harborough, this was one event not to miss and was joined by Phillippa Bennett, running her first event for VRUK and Peter Simpson. Unfortunately the other member of the local trio, Heather was in Norway for the Midnight Sun Marathon. The event use to be held close to the entrance to Gartree Prison with the venue on some waste land that had to be cleared of a metre or so of grass. The venue has since was moved further away to a more attractive country park location otherwise the course was similar but in reverse. The weather was threatening rain before the start but it cleared and with no wind, conditions were perfect. As usual for the series, the field was almost entirely of club runners wearing their club vests, with members of each club meeting up prior to the start. Yasmin, Phillippa & myself met-up and we went for a warm-up around the off-road track, part of the course and briefly onto the road. For Phillippa the Harborough 5 miles was her first event and will need to run a lot further in training for the Leicester Marathon on 13 October. There were over 300 in the line-up and going round the temporary off-road track was rather disorientating plus the uneven surface. It was a relief to get onto the road but there was one other issue, the higher road camber so it was preferable to attempt to take the middle lane. I appeared to be going well for the first mile of so although it was predominantly a gentle climb followed by a sharp downhill section. I seemed to take off here but suddenly as the route levelled out I felt a sprain above the left ankle and immediately came to a halt. Many other runners enquired to my wellbeing and saw Yasmin and Phillippa pass. Walking slowly back I was given the option of a lift by the sweeper vehicle and accepted it but I did not realise how long I would be inside the vehicle. It would have been faster walking back to the finish except that I may not help the injury. Fortunately it was only a 5-mile event taking the last runner less than an hour but interesting to see the heavy weight runner I’ve previously seen go about completing the course, looking fairly comfortable running most of the course on the left side of the camber with a colleague. Effectively I was the last runner to arrive back and unfortunately could not see Yasmin or Phillippa although still many other runners around. The next day I looked at the results and Yasmin & Phillippa finished quite close with Yasmin overtaking Phillippa around 4 miles. Yasmin finished in 43.25 and Phillippa 43.35. Phillippa felt she ran too fast early in the race especially down that hill after mile 1 and paid for it climbing up to mile 4. My exercise that evening turned out to be on the bike with the relatively short ride back to Market Harborough station and later a 20 miles cycle home from Bedford to Milton Keynes as I had missed the last train. Luckily it was a calm and dry night for the 2 hours journey on the bike. The injury was little affected by the bike ride. Yasmin & Phillippa are looking forward to the next round of the GP series, the Weedon 10k on 25 June in Northamptonshire where the course is quite hilly but finishes in the runner’s favour.

Tough Time in Wales – John Bateson in the Vegan Welsh 3000s, 30miles or so, 15 June 2013

June 23, 2013 0

A classic route over the 3000 foot plus peaks of Wales, raced by folk eating only plants (at least for the day), this was a fantastic event run by a small team with a passion for both hills and animals. They’re pretty good about people too, and a lovely friendly atmosphere prevailed throughout. The food stops were well-stocked with food that hadn’t had anything to do with animals, other than the human one who had cooked it, and I heard the vittles praised by more than one confirmed meat eater. The marshals (and their dogs) managed to keep smiling and encouraging despite being in a gale atop a mountain. Despite all this, a pretty tough time was had… I got lost a few times, fell over many times, and and suffered almost all the time…. The route starts with around a thousand metre climb from the road at Nantgwynantto the top of Snowdon, an ascent that was tough enough to make me wonder if I’d even be able to finish… I climbed decently enough, only losing time to a couple of leaders who were clearly going well, but I then messed about on the rainy, cold and cloud-covered summit climbing on the trig point and trying to find the marshal and the route off. The rain then turned to hail which it so hard that it left welts in my exposed legs. Then my luck changed, and I spied some fellow racers coming out of the mist, and these guys were fully clued-up. (I had a map and compass but I hoped not to get them out, so latching onto a group who knew the route was a job). Keeping pace with the little group over the next peak was easy, and I was very thankful to be following them off the summit. At this point however, with only a couple of miles of the thirty or so behind me, I became reacquainted with my horrendous downhill skills. Unable to keep up, I was on my own again – it was the pattern for the remaining ten hours – the map would have to emerge from my bag after all! I have slowly, painfully got better at managing myself on these longer, harder races, both in the mental game (it’s not that hard, basically coming down to saying to myself ‘just keep going’) and the physical aspects (food, water, vaseline), but I made an error not taking on more food at the first of three food stations. I suppose I hadn’t yet mentally readjusted to quite how long each mile was going to take me over this terrain. I had gels in my pack, which sustain but don’t satisfy, and so at the next food stop, hours later, I ate too much. I even wolfed down two slices of very fine fruit-laden vegan cake. Organizer-in-Chief, Kirsch Bowker, with water and encouragement The drop from Tyrfan – a lovely hill – to the second food station was steep and consequently very tough for me – one fall left me with a bruise on my hip that made sleeping difficult that night, and another fall I feared like I’d really hurt my shoulder muscles. But it passed… I spent some of the descent thinking about what the marshals had told me at the top – the record for the descent is 8 minutes – I didn’t dare count, but I’m guessing I took 45! But if you keep going you keep getting nearer the end. The next big climb, the last serious one of the day it turned out, coincided with some nice weather – so nice in fact that I got carried away and went the wrong side of some rocks whilst admiring the views and ended up doing a bit of climbing – it was good to get my arms and brain doing a little work! The good weather passed once we got near the tops and I didn’t really see any runners. Had some nice chats with walkers and the ever jolly marshals. Somehow I managed to get in sight of some fellow runners in the last five miles but then somehow lost them again. Despite the fact I was going well, II stupidly reasoned that they’d sped up somehow. The correct reasoning, obvious now I’m sitting in the warm with my feet up, was that they’d followed the route and turned off, whereas I’d just jogged on past the turning and heading in the wrong direction. But I was tired, so upon realising the error, I compounded it by trying to cut cross-country rather than retrace my steps. And I went in the wrong direction… This is becoming a habit, and it again cost me a lot of time and few places. The end…. Some things you can’t help – the best training for the hill is in the hills, and I just can’t get to them very often. That said, there’s no shortage of slopes where I live and nothing to stop me running up and down them a lot. Equally, the best prep for a run like this is recce the route, but if you are can’t, closely studying the map is always going to be worthwhile. Not doing these things was dumb. The sun returned for the end, and those already finished were lounging around in the sun. The time didn’t seem to matter much, by this stage (over 11 hours!). I know that two vegans, Simon and Karl finished ahead of me. Karl had done most of the route on a twisted ankle now the size of a grapefruit, but still finished fourth.. The winners in male and female categories weren’t vegan, but they got a copy of Jurek’s Eat and Run in their prize bags, so let’s hope they are converted…. Great event, hope to be back next year.

Monthly Archives: June 2013