The week before the big event comes with a variety of emotions from excitement to a bit of anxiety. On the one hand the week cannot go quickly enough as you just want to go out there and get it done, yet equally, it is nice to not have to worry about 5am wake ups to get your long run before work in the week because you’re racing on the weekend. Every little ache and pain is magnified by a zillion percent or so it seems, and you’re desperately willing yourself to stay healthy and not pick up a bug, cough or cold. Getting the logistical side of the operation together is a welcome distraction, although I do seem to possess the ability to travel exceedingly light these days to races! London will incur an overnight stay prior. My only concern is that I have not booked anywhere for dinner on Saturday evening but I was assured by the bloke at Premier Inn, New Southgate that we would be able to get food without the need to book at their restaurant. Hopefully he was true to his word. I’m not having a bloody McDonalds the night before – I’ve avoided the place for years and I’m not breaking my streak now!
My original plan was to work progressively harder until two weeks out but an excruciatingly sore verruca and general fatigue forced me to ease off with three weeks to go rather than two. Unfortunately we had a seven mile league race to contend with exactly a week before which was less than ideal but unavoidable nonetheless. Leesa Dennis, fellow Badger and excellent local chiropodist managed to apply a foot dressing to relieve my discomfort. The big upside to racing is that while you are running, so many body parts hurt that you forget about the thing that was hurting the most before you set off! Obviously this is not a healthy long term approach to pain relief but my immediate goal is to get through to the marathon and re-assess the situation afterwards.
The Stilton 7 is a no frills two lapper just outside of Melton Mowbray, home of pork pies and Stilton cheese. I was hoping for a good performance to prove that my Kibworth 6 result was no fluke, although I’m not sure this is a sport that you can “fluke”. I had a plan in my head pre-race but it went by the wayside within the first few hundred metres, but that wasn’t a massive problem. I was more aggressive at the start than I wanted to be and found myself keeping up with Danny Warren. I didn’t think it would last for long and I was right but only because I pulled away from him rather than the opposite which I expected to happen. In fairness, he’s just become a dad again and in the process of moving house so he was understandably somewhat weary and sleep deprived compared to when he was blitzing most of the field during the cross-country season.
The Stilton 7 is a race I usually run well, I enjoyed my highest ever LRRL finish here in 2019 when I was 4th male overall. The goal today was to run at least 42:22 (for a standard time) and beat as many people as possible including those I beat at Kibworth. This would represent improvement on my part. At the half way point, I felt good and had caught up with Neil Russell and Bilal Farah from OWLS which again surprised me. Neil has been in great form of late but was on the way back from being ill between races. Bilal is extremely capable, with a deceivingly awkward looking running style. I was getting a nosebleed but enjoying the experience nonetheless!
There was a point in the race where I was worried my club record would go. I ran the numbers, badly as it turned out, and envisaged a situation where I ran a PB but Neil was still ahead of me taking the spoils. I would not begrudge him that success, he’s a top guy, but there was definitely a point where it was a possibility. The last mile is always slow as there’s a big climb in it so I need not have worried. We were all three quarters of a minute off. Genial John Savin-Baden was on hand to support down in the village and helpfully called out the positions. I was 15th on lap one when Scott Green from OWLS had a little walk on Asfordby Hill but I lost the gained place two miles later as Stuart Neyton of Poplar RC stormed past me. He soon closed the gap on Neil and Bilal who had moved away from me didn’t or couldn’t overtake them, therefore they ran as a pack of three until the second ascent of the hill when he got dropped.
I was probably 30 metres behind at this point but I knew from experience that the run in after the hill from the corner of the Primary School was over 200 metres long, so a sustained effort on the flat could result in gaining a fair bit of time but you had to start quickly. As I turned the corner, I put my foot down and like the old banger that I invariably now am, spluttered into action slowly but ultimately surely. A spectator remarked on what a good sprint finish it was, even though I had only just commenced, but halfway to the line, I reeled in my man and sped by him with no response that I picked up on other than a congratulatory “well done” which was nice on every conceivable count!
I crossed the line in 40:57 which was a little bit quicker than 2023. More importantly, I had closed the gap to Neil ahead of me, albeit with him not being 100% and beaten some of my old rivals by significantly bigger margins than at Kibworth. Rich Wayman from OWLS won the V45 category last year. He’s a top quality athlete and the closest I got to him was around six seconds I think at Swithland, for the rest of last season he was out of reach and was a worthy age group winner. I used to beat Scott Green regularly, albeit not by much, but in recent years he’s been well ahead of me. I cannot remember the last time I beat him before this season, so it was a big deal for me to turn the tables for two races on the bounce. And the improving Jamie Strange has had a habit of cruising past me in the final mile or two of these LRRL races in recent times but again, I managed to stay in front of him. Lots of positives to come from my 14th place finish.
With my foot still being sore, particularly in the mornings but less so at night, I’ll most likely attend the Badgers social run on Thursday and no nothing more than my usual cycle commute/school run. I may try and incorporate a bit of yoga, which I do find very beneficial but struggle to motivate myself to practice. With yoga, it’s better in the mornings for me but I always seem to find other things to waste time on instead if not running! I’d love to qualify for 2025 (3:05 is the standard although not guaranteed). I’d love to go under three hours, the weather looks favourable but you just never know on the day. If I can qualify, that negates the need for me to try again in September on a different course. The ultimate goal (if not to PB) is to run a sub-3 marathon in my 50’s which will be me in a few months and I like doing London so it would be the ideal combination.
Above is my Strava graph showing post injury weekly run mileage. The first “week” was actually only one run of 10K done on the very last day of that week, Sunday. The line would be more linear but for the Easter weekend messing things up with long running to fit around days off work, childcare and general family life!
Chris Hortons Marathon Journey 