Ten years running experience no doubt helped me avoid a post marathon hangover. I was still buzzing a week after finishing Manchester but still sore also. I should have booked a massage but as I wasn’t running, didn’t see the point. The week after the race, we enjoyed a weekend away for Louise’s (belated) 40th birthday, a lovely trip well worth the wait as the weather and dark nights would have made it a less enjoyable proposition in December. While away, I attempted one run but still felt sore. Even a bit of swimming with my little lad was hard on my ankles strangely so I opted for more rest. My next race wasn’t until May 1st anyway so I had time. Unfortunately, Covid visited our house mid month and while I was thankfully able to avoid it, I had my work cut out being a solo parent and carer. Opportunities to run were virtually nil. It was the only time I’ve wanted a treadmill.
As well as running for Badgers, I joined nearby Tamworth AC as a second claim athlete. They compete in different leagues to Badgers so I could avoid a clash and hopefully be part of another winning side. The LRRL season in 2022 was reduced to just six races so the chance of testing myself in the Burton District Summer League as part of a team that already included a number of my mates seemed pretty appealing for the relatively small cost incurred. There were eight races in the BDSL of which I would be unavailable for two and running for Badgers on another date. That still left five races plus the chance to do some track events in the Midlands Veterans Track League, another exciting prospect. The first race would be the Uttoxeter Half Marathon on May 1st. I’d done (and won) the 10K at the same festival and would have done so again had I entered it! At mile twelve in the half marathon, I really wished I had as well!
Prior to this, the track season commenced with a meet at Burton. I was selected to run the mile race as a V40 and had no idea what to expect. I turned up fearing the worst and hoping for the best but confident in that I didn’t have to continue with the format if it didn’t suit. That said, I was also excited by the prospect. I grew up watching Steve Cram, Seb Coe and Peter Elliott back in the 1980’s, a golden age of British middle distance running and never lost my enthusiasm for it on the television. I had a few goes at school on grass tracks, graduating to a cinder track at the Pingles in Nuneaton before qualifying for the 100m, 1500m and triple jump at the Edmondscote Stadium in Leamington with its tartan track. My three events all followed one another here in the county championships and at 16 years of age, my athletics career came to an abrupt stop as I concentrated on rugby for eight months of the year and cricket (in the summer). I didn’t cover myself in glory at Leamington back then. It was all a bit odd. I didn’t really know anybody or what the set up was. It seemed a little clicky. Running a 1500m race immediately after the 100m didn’t help my performance in any way, not that I was good enough to win or anything. I just remember thinking it was a bit of a waste of time as I hadn’t even got my breath back. How could I be expected to perform at my best? It was nonsensical to me. When I started playing rugby at age 15, me and my mate Andy Dickie didn’t know anyone when we joined Nuneaton but we were made to feel incredibly welcome by players and coaching staff, our talents were developed and nurtured and we spent several very happy years playing the game, to a reasonable level too. I played out of my age group and had the opportunity to play at some of the top grounds in the country, usually on the receiving end of a good hiding I must add, but a great privilege nonetheless.
Anyway, I turned up at Burton in my trainers and a hoodie. It was freezing cold and breezy too. The atmosphere was good, fairly relaxed as you’d expect from a load of veterans who statistically should be past their best and with nothing to prove to speak. I saw a few familiar faces and lined up with Barry Lloyd (Sutton) who I know from parkrun and beyond plus my new team mate Ben Evans, a real top athlete and another 2:35 marathoner. I knew two of the field and they were both quicker than me! A great start! The gun went and I figured I’d take a good time if I wasn’t likely to win so I set off aggressively to make the race fast. The V35 race ran concurrently and one of these guys shot off the front after 200 metres soon to be out of sight. I didn’t realise he was a V35 runner at this stage but carried on hard. If I played it cagily, I wouldn’t get a decent time so I had to push. I’d run 4:52 on the road so I had high hopes on the track! Ben grafted his way past me after the first lap and I could hear runners right behind me. I was in a race but felt happy enough sitting behind him, confident that he would drag me towards a decent time. My lap splits were getting slower and with 500 metres to go, I felt strong enough to take it on and wind it up.
Hearing the bell is a nice feeling. As a runner, you know there’s not long left and as a spectator, it also gets the adrenaline going in front of the telly. I resisted the temptation to look round. There was no point, I knew exactly what everyone else was trying to do! I just had to get to the line first. And I did! I was second over the line but being as the other chap was in a different age category and the two races ran side by side, I didn’t realise I had won until a few days afterwards. What an anticlimax! At least my time would be good I thought as I crossed the line. I looked down at my watch. 5:02! A big disappointment. I took heart from the fact that I had finished ahead of two guys I have always looked up to in Midlands running and hoped that the poor weather conditions contributed to what I felt was, for me, a below par time. I was probably right on reflection. I gave it 100% but it wasn’t perfect conditions for fast running.
I enjoyed the occasion overall. With better weather, it would be more enjoyable still. The drawback is that it’s a lot of travel time compared to actual running time but I’ll give it another go for sure.
Four days later it was the Uttoxeter half. The fixture clashed with the high profile Birmingham half resulting in us (Tamworth) only getting five runners out, one short of a full team which was a massive disappointment. That said, the five that ran all did really well in their own way which made the loss of that sixth member all the more painful. I warmed up with Ash Baldwin, formerly of Peel Road Runners and a team mate from our 24 hour races at Endure 24. It was good to see him back after a fresh and far more favourable injury diagnosis. We both had similar hopes pre-race. Neither of us were certain how things would pan out, me after my marathon and elongated recovery period, he after his injury lay-off. We aimed to run 6 minute miles. With the hills, it was hard to be consistent with the splits but we were metronomically consistent with efforts. We ran together to around seven miles when he began to open a little gap which he carried to the line.
The top three were in a different league but Ash ran a low 78 for 4th overall and I ran a high 78 in 6th. I thought we’d finish consecutively but a mile from the finish I was caught by a speeding Congleton athlete. Knowing Ash ahead of me was under 40 years of age, I was on for the vets prize but I took a look at this guy and couldn’t decide if he was over 40 or not. Without shame, I asked him and he told me he was but also wasn’t bothered about the V40 prize. My instant reaction was to tell him to slow down in that case but that wasn’t going to happen. I had to try and beat him but he was traveling well and I was knackered. The final mile is a fast downhill so I tried to break him. With half a mile to go, I had established a lead of around ten to fifteen metres but I was gone and I’d failed to break his spirit. The last 800 metres levels off and he came straight back at me. I had nothing left to give and he beat me by around fifteen seconds which I was glad about in so much as I could have few regrets about my strategy. A narrower defeat would have left me with all kinds of what ifs! My time was 78:55, the second fastest half I’d ever done on the toughest course too. I’ve done a fair few half marathons but not very many courses. I seem to run the same events repeatedly over that distance. We won a box of chocolates each too as the best men’s team in the race.
Either way, I considered it a success and looked forward to the next race which turned out to be the Silverstone 10K. I’d not planned to do this race but a week out, saw the opportunity to give it another go having tried it back in 2016 with Dave, Glyn and Tonksy. I ran 36:53 then and remember it being a nice event, a good standard, flat, fast but a tad long distance-wise. Others said the same. It might only be 120 metres and it’s the same for everyone but when you’re after a time it can add 20/30 seconds on for you.
I had high expectations prior. I wanted to run a sub 35 minute time. I felt it was possible although it would mean knocking 33 seconds off my PB. In truth, it was more like 43 seconds as my PB (set at Draycote Water back in 2017) was generous to the tune of 10-12 seconds versus my own recorded watch time. I ran a great race back then, having a proper ding-dong with Worcester’s Robbie Campbell but the time was incorrect so I wanted to put the record straight, as I did with my Long Eaton parkrun. However, it was a windy old night in Northamptonshire and this didn’t bode well. I saw Simon Mayes from the LRRL, running for his second claim club, Wellingborough. I always seem to run well when he is racing with me. The race is two laps of the race track. The first lap was a little cagey with nobody really taking it on at first but that changed halfway round. I got stuck in a group that was going at a decent rattle, probably top 10, 15 position wise and using one another as shields from the wind which was stiff and problematic on the way out but would be beneficial on the run in to the line.
My 5K split was 17:12. Obviously keeping that going would get me well inside 35 minutes and therefore able to match snooker ace Ronnie O’Sullivan’s best ever 10K time. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold that pace but I was in a good place at half way. I just had to stay interested and try and get into a race but the wind splintered the group into several fragments and I found myself working hard to sit in behind Kenilworth’s Andrew Siggers and Stephen Marks from Rugby. As the race wore on, they began to draw away from me but the PB was still a possibility. There was no room to manuoevure. Any easing up would be punished. With a mile to go, I realised that any hope of a sub 35 had gone but there was still a PB to play for. The finish line seemed destined never to appear. My Garmin indicated the end was nigh but looking up the track ahead, there was still no sign of the big illuminated finish clock with bright red numbers. When it did finally come into view, I was at full tilt, no doubt a most ungainly looking attempt at a sprint on exhausted legs but necessary to get every second possible off my time. I’d hate to have missed out by one second so I gave it everything I had. 35:26 was my reward, a new best. While still 26 seconds off my ideal goal, which may turn out to be a pipe dream, I went away with a mixture of delight (with the PB) and disappointment (in that it was far short of the time I hoped for. I bumped into Neil Sheward of Kenilworth post race. I first met him at Kingsbury parkrun back in the early days. He’s 56 now but still PB’ing which gives me hope for the future. He too was a late starter.
Speaking to others after the race, it seemed everyone got a longer race than 10K. I had 100m excess according to my watch, which I accept is not the perfect measuring tool, but when everyone else you speak to concurs, there does seem to be a link. Allowing for better weather and a perfectly measured course, I reckon the sub 35 could be possible. I’ll just have to stay fit and wait for later in the season to try again.
Chris Hortons Marathon Journey 