July 2011 Archives

It's a Sunday, I'm well into my training schedule and I've cleared my diary for the day.

It's time for the "Long Run".

Whether you're training for a 10k, a half marathon or a full marathon the "Long Run" is an integral part of your training schedule.

But it doesn't mean you have to enjoy it - and I certainly don't.

The fast and flat Pitchcroft 10k attracted more than 200 runners with the unattached Richard Hunting winning the race in a time of 32min 42 sec.

Second was Mark Couldwell, of Charnwood AC in 33min 15 sec and third was Mike Wilesmith, of Guernsey, in 34min 23 sec.

The first female was Lynne Cox, of Tipton Harriers, in 37min 33sec, and the second female was Linda Howell, of Bournville Harriers, in 39min 10 seconds.

The last finisher, in a field of 230, completed the three lap race round Worcester Racecourse in 1 hour 7min 40sec.

The winner of the 2.5km fun run was Declan McManus in 9min 35sec.

For me, like many others, the attraction of this race was the potential for a personal best time.

The course was very flat and the overcast, cool, drizzley weather conditions on the day made for the perfect recipe for a fast time.

The only downside was a slight headwind on the back straight of the racecourse.

Three laps of the 2 mile perimeter path isn't the most exciting route you will ever race but with most people running against their watches the scenery was not important.

As ever, many personal battles developed over the 10km and a great atmosphere at the start/finish by the grandstand was a real boost.

But apart from the fast course I have to say I was disappointed by this event.

An £11 entry on the day fee is relatively expensive. Ok, it did have the all important UK Athletics permit.

But I found the organisation to be fairly poor.

I hate to criticise volunteers - after all they are volunteers and work hard to make the race as enjoyable as possible - but this race could have been better.

As people came down the finishing straight there was some confusion with the filtering system with one or two people confused which side of the tape to pass down.

There were no mile or kilometre markers.

There was no goody back at the end - just a medal.

None of my entrance fee was going to charity (as far as I was aware).

Although there was a grandstand for the hundreds of spectators there were no refreshments available at all.

The car park was not marshalled when I arrived (one hour before the start).

On the plus side the results were up on the web by 8pm on the same day as the race.
I don't think there were any official photographers for anyone who wanted a souvenir picture.

I may be being harsh but this is my honest opinion of the event.

Saying all this I would definitely do this race again and I would also recommend it to other runners.

Event rating: Two stars (four stars for the course though)

I race this event in training for the New York Marathon 2011. I am being sponsored by Sports Tours International who organise running holidays around the world (www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk)

This is my sponsorship page http://www.justgiving.com/NewYorkMarathonPaulBradley/

Some of the fastest men in the world will be warming up at the University of Birmingham's track ahead of Sunday's Diamond League meet, at the Alexender stadium (Press release below).

It's just a shame that Usain Bolt won't be among them as he is not competing at this meet.

However, Asafa Powell, who is the fastest man over 100m this year having clocked 9.78secs in Lausanne last week, will be at the track.

Read the press release (below) from the University of Birmingham:

One of the world's fastest men, Asafa Powell, current 4 x 100 world record holders, Nester Carter and Michael Frater, and Olympic Silver Medalist Shericka Williams will be warming up on the University of Birmingham's athletics track ahead of the Diamond League (Aviva Grand Prix) Athletics which takes place at the Alexander Stadium this Sunday.

The visit will take place Saturday 9 July 2011, 13.00 - 14.00 at the Munrow Sports Centre on the University of Birmingham's Edgbaston campus.

Running friends of mine have flagged up the Cannon Hill Park Run a few times in the past and now I'm finally getting round to having a crack at it.

It's a flat 5km course, all off road, around Cannon Hill Park. It happens every Saturday at 9am, it's free, and essentially it's a low key race just for kicks.

Every runner gets timed and runners meet up after the race for a coffee at a near by cafe.

Everything I have heard about the event has been good and I understand it's a very friendly community atmosphere.

A friend of mine ran in it for the first time last week and we're going to race this weekend.

The times vary: Last week the winner ran 17:06 and the last finisher did 35 minutes. The results are posted here.

If all goes well I'm going to build the run into my training for the New York Marathon - hopefully it will help with the speed aspect of my training.

I'll let you all know how I get on next week.