I was disapponted to miss the trip to the National in London last weekend but having injured my calf/achilles the wek after the Lancs Champs I knew it was unlikely I could make it.
Although Keith Gerrard was the first IOM runner, pride of place went to Kevin Loundes. To finish in the top 5% after just three years of running was a great achievement. Keith will be disappointed with his run and hopefully he can rectify things quickly in next weekend's Inter Counties/World Cross trial.
The course looked to be very muddy but it was good to see the largest field for around a decade - hopefully this trend will continue. The best way to measure your performance from one National to the next is to take your position as a percentage of the number of finishers - 300th from 1400 is better than 300th from 1000 finishers - so even those whose position is constant are still improving!
Gail Griffiths continued her improvement in the women's race and it would be great to have a women's team at some point in the future.
Next year the event is at Roundhay Park, Leeds so it should be more accessible for many. Indeed it should - just about - be possible to do in a day, weather permitting. It was a common Northern venue for the National in the 1970's, 80' and 90's but has not been used since 1998. I remember running there that year - the course was quite firm but features Hill 60 - a lung bursting 250 hill something like Crellins Hill!
Next weekend we have the Inter Counties/World Cross trial at Nottingham on Saturday and locally the last round of the Manx Gas League at Nobles Park on Sunday. The last round can be a bit of an anti climax as people start to concentrate on their own goals for later in the year i.e. Manx Mountain Marathon, London Marathon, track season etc plus some already have enough races completed to finish the league. Still, Nobles Park is our spiritual home of cross country so it would be good to see a decent turn-out.
I hope to make the start line myself. I managed my longest run for about three months last weekend covering around 11-12 miles. After only managing about 9 runs in each of December and January I have done much better in February. Most of my training is just steady running but I managed some intervals on the cross trainer on Monday. I hope it stays dry over the next 10 days so it is not too muddy!
Next time I will say a bit more on next week's events including my thoughts on Inter Counties selections - suffice to say, I don't think they always give our runners a fair hearing when making selections.
Thursday 26 February 2009
Monday 16 February 2009
Catching up
Apologies for the absence of recent updates - a combination of holiday, working late and laziness!
Since my last update we have had the IOM Cross Country Champs and Merseyside Schools. This coming weekend we have what for many club runners is the highlight of the season - the English National - this year being held in what for many is the spritual home of cross country, Parliament Hill Fields on Hampstead Heath. There will be good local representation through a large Manx Hariers party. This is one race everyone should do at least once in their career.
Since a separate trial for the World Champs was set up around 20 years ago, the National has tended to lose it status and the fields are around half of their 2500 records of the late 1980s. At one time you needed to be a World Class athlete to win the race. These days some will skip it to save thmeselves for the trial. However, it is still the biggest race of the winter in terms of numbers and the winner will follow a great list of previous winners.
It was at Parliament Hill that Keith Gerrard made a big breakthrough in 2003 when he finished 2nd in the Under 17 race. This time he will be in the senior race and, I would think looking for a top 10 placing at least. It is usually muddy so should suit him well. He has raced quite sparingly with just a run out in the Lancs Champs since the Euro Cross in mid December. I will also be interesting to see how recent IOM Champion continues his improvement having been around 130th last year.
A problem with my calf/achilles put paid to my own aspirations of making the trip and as a result things have gone a bit flat. I am easing back into training but need to set a clearer goal to help build some momentum to my training. It would be nice to run in the final round of the Manx Gas at Nobles Park on 8th March - we will see. That will be the last of the local events but there is, of course big events such as the English Schools and World Cross still to come - hopefully we will have local representation in both events.
Since my last update we have had the IOM Cross Country Champs and Merseyside Schools. This coming weekend we have what for many club runners is the highlight of the season - the English National - this year being held in what for many is the spritual home of cross country, Parliament Hill Fields on Hampstead Heath. There will be good local representation through a large Manx Hariers party. This is one race everyone should do at least once in their career.
Since a separate trial for the World Champs was set up around 20 years ago, the National has tended to lose it status and the fields are around half of their 2500 records of the late 1980s. At one time you needed to be a World Class athlete to win the race. These days some will skip it to save thmeselves for the trial. However, it is still the biggest race of the winter in terms of numbers and the winner will follow a great list of previous winners.
It was at Parliament Hill that Keith Gerrard made a big breakthrough in 2003 when he finished 2nd in the Under 17 race. This time he will be in the senior race and, I would think looking for a top 10 placing at least. It is usually muddy so should suit him well. He has raced quite sparingly with just a run out in the Lancs Champs since the Euro Cross in mid December. I will also be interesting to see how recent IOM Champion continues his improvement having been around 130th last year.
A problem with my calf/achilles put paid to my own aspirations of making the trip and as a result things have gone a bit flat. I am easing back into training but need to set a clearer goal to help build some momentum to my training. It would be nice to run in the final round of the Manx Gas at Nobles Park on 8th March - we will see. That will be the last of the local events but there is, of course big events such as the English Schools and World Cross still to come - hopefully we will have local representation in both events.
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