SLGR 34 by So Let's Go Running

The monthly magazine, written by runners for runners. Issue Thirty-four – November 2014

Sponsored by T. Miller Roofing…

£2.00 Gina Little, Les Witton 10, Sher Meekings, Jaz Sandalli…

Contents of this month’s

include… Cover picture: Gina Little (Photo supplied by Jodi Hanagan Photography)

Pages 4-6: A Little Goes A Long Way… Featuring Gina Little * * * * * * * * * * * * * Pages 7-9: Mile End Junior parkrun… featuring Matilda Stockwell Pages 10-14: Les Witton 10-miler… by Steve Stockwell Pages 15-16: The ’Les Witton 10’… by Richey Estcourt Page 17: A Weekend in the Life of a Sweatshop Store Manager – Laura Arnone Pages 18-19: Older Runners Train Smarter… by Sher Meekings Pages 20-21: Sweet Charity… by Jasmine Sandalli Pages 22-24: The Benefits of Yoga for Runners… by Emma Turner Page 25: Track Night… by Donna Carroll

Page 45: Forthcoming Events November Events – sponsored by Nice Work

Pages 26-27: A Great Start… by Steve Burgess Pages 28-31: Salisbury 54321... by Jaz Sandalli Pages 32-33: Dartford Bridge 10k… by Richey Estcourt

Page 34: National Lottery Newham 10k Anniversary Run… by Marion Browne Pages 35-36: Arundel 10k… by David Cooper Pages 37-38: Estelle Ma Belle…featuring Estell Wiltshire Page 39-44: Together We Are One… by Tony Giles Pages 46-48: Review: Diamond Sprint Triathlon… by Jessica Howitt

Performance Physiotherapy – 01634 817116 2

Editor’s Letter… Issue 34 – November 2014

Hi Runners, What's the saying "there may be snow on the roof but there's still fire in the grate"? There really are no age barriers when it comes to running and I'm sure Gina Little would totally agree. Who wouldn't be impressed by her? 500 marathons under her belt at 69 and absolutely no sign of wanting to hang up her trainers. Also featured in this issue is Sher Meekings, who is keen to point out that as we get older we train smarter. Well that's encouraging because from what I've seen of runners they are certainly not any less hard on themselves as they get to retirement age! Of course they have more time to dedicate to their running passion and even when the body is sixty the mind is often about half that age. On the opposite end of the age range we have Matilda Stockwell who has completed her first parkrun, and how it lifts the heart to see her. We could all learn so much from watching children run. They do it for pure pleasure, no ego, no worry of past and future runs, just thoroughly enjoying the moment. Do you remember running as fast as your little legs could carry you, smiling and without a worry in the world? What! You were like that on last night’s run? Great! Long may it continue! Let's aim to get that feeling back on a regular basis. Well there are plenty of races out there to keep you motivated and as usual we have a collection of great reviews of all distances including the Les Witton 10-miler. Unfortunately it was the final Les Witton for Dartford Road Runners who have organised this for the last few years. It's been a fantastic event and so well organised despite the worst of Britain's weather. So don't let the dark nights and cold weather put you off there is bound to be a PB just around the corner. Cast aside the shorts and squeeze into the running tights, grab your headlamp, clip on your flashing light and zip up the hi-viz. Double check someone at home knows where you are going and when you are due back. If you are running a marathon next year you can take the pressure off your time and just get some long relaxed runs under your belt. There's only a few weeks left until the end of 2014, so let's finish it feeling accomplished. BOOM!

Dawn

The editors of

are Dawn Annett (dawnannett@hotmail.co.uk) and Brian Page (brian@slgr.co.uk) and we are now also on slgr@hotmail.co.uk and @soletsgorunning on Twitter

A Little Goes a Long Way… featuring Gina Little It seemed like this meeting was never going to happen, so after a missed alarm (and coach) and too many hours at work, I managed to escape to catch up with record-breaking Gina Little over a mug of tea and a Cheese and Tomato Ciabatta one wet Friday afternoon in Bexleyheath after an idyllic soggy autumnal lunchtime run in Danson Park. For the few of you that aren’t aware of Plumstead Runner Gina Little; she has recently completed her 500th marathon at the tender age of 69, which has taken her over 13,000 miles, so effectively over half way around the world. Over the years, Gina’s travels have taken her from New Zealand and Japan in the ‘East’ to Hawaii in the ‘West’, covering just two of the five continents that she has graced with her running exploits in the last 31 years. Although not in her plans, the only continents missing out a visit from this iconic runner are Antarctica and South America. Starting running in 1982 after seeing the first two London Marathons pass the top of her road, Gina’s maiden marathon outing at the age of 39 was the 1983 Gillette London Marathon, which saw Grete Waitz lead the ladies home in world record time of 2:25:29. It was Gina’s first, and one of the original five World Marathon Majors. There are now six with Tokyo on board, and Gina has completed five, with only Chicago having escaped her, due to one of her very few injuries in her four decades of marathon running. Remembering the pre-online registration days, originally marathon places went to the first come, first served runners after a night of queuing outside designated Post Offices in November, so no wait of five or six months, just a few cold, damp hours and the loss of a night’s sleep. Over the thirty-four London Marathons to date, Gina has literally only missed a handful, achieving automatic ‘good for age’ entries annually for many a year, recording a PB of 3:26:15 at the age of 49 and a 3:31 in Berlin. Not content with running 26.2 miles, Gina’s count of five hundred includes countless off-road marathons and ‘ultras’, with the longest being the 80-mile World Trail Running Championship on the South Downs Way, which she ran four times, recording a best time of 15:56:28 in June 1996, being fifth lady home and 1st lady home in the Women’s 50-54 category, around the time she joined Local club Plumstead Runners. In 1999, Gina notched up the first of her five centuries down on the Kent Coast in the appropriately named Kent Coastal Marathon, earning her a place in the coveted ‘100 Marathon Club’, in which she now looks after only 400 members as the Membership Secretary. Now Gina had the running bug; after taking 16 years to run the first 100 marathons, the next 400 were done in just 15 years, an average of 26 a year, or one every two weeks, with 2009, 2010 and 2100 seeing 41, 42 and 38 respectively, some 121 marathons in three years! Maybe the most intense spell was in May 2008, where Gina at the

tender age of 63 recorded six marathon in six days in Northern Ireland – Belfast (in Co. Antrim), Downpatrick (in Co. Down), Armagh (in Co. Armargh), Enniskillen (in Co. Fermanagh), Omagh (in Co. Tyrone) and Limavady (in Co. Londonderry), so almost 160 miles in just under a week… During the last 31 years, landmarks have obviously been the five World Marathon Majors, being London (1983), New York (1987), Berlin (1988), the 100th Boston Marathon amongst 40,000 runners (1996) and Tokyo (2010). Obviously Gina takes the rough with the smooth, and her favourite definitely has to be the Berlin Marathon (another of the World Marathon Majors), where she has her own number (F135) and has been on the start-line no less than 25 times, but rock bottom of the list must be the Vanguard Way trail marathon from East Croydon in Surrey to Newhaven on the south coast of England (some 66 miles), where directions being less than desired, left our heroine lost without her bearings. So how does Gina spend her week? Relaxing? Hardly – a typical week would see Bums & Tums and Yoga on a Monday, a five-mile run on a Tuesday, a seven-mile club run on a Wednesday, Bootcamp and Yoga on a Thursday, Pilates and maybe a three-mile run on a Friday and a parkrun on a Saturday… unless there is a marathon on a Sunday of course. I think the above shows how this amazing lady stays fit and injury-free, apart from the odd bout of the dreaded Plantar Fasciitis and a foot operation ten years ago. If and when the marathons slowly start decreasing in numbers, maybe Gina will work her way through a collection of parkrun t-shirts for 50, 100 and maybe 250 runs. She currently has a modest thirty under her belt, so we might see the first of these some time in 2015? There isn’t much of a subsidence much though, as Gina points out that she already has twelve booked up already, with six of them being over six successive weekends, so with York, Chelmsford, Leicester, Cannes, Stevenage and the A20 Path ‘n’ Downs being completed by the end of November, there are Malaga and Portsmouth lined up in December, Las Palmas in January 2015, Malta in February, London in April and ‘The Potteries’ in July to fit in before her 26th Berlin Marathon next September. Berlin seems to be a favourite place of Gina’s as she has ran around 80 miles of the Berlin Wall to help with a group of Down Syndrome runners from Germany in 2010. The Down Syndrome runners where running in relay, and where various ages and sex's. They have a huge club in Germany called 21 Laufclub. Twice, Gina has been with other members of 100 Marathon Club to Furth near Nuremburg to help organise runs for Down Syndrome runners of all ages on the Saturday before the marathon on the Sunday. To date Gina has never turned her hand to coaching, but with the schedule of events over the last 31 years where she has raised over £25,000 for St. Christopher’s Hospice along with Breast Cancer and Heart charities, it’s hardly surprising. Maybe that is a trick that she’s holding up her sleeve?

Maybe there aren’t enough days in the week for Gina, who also organises the twinning between the ‘Plums’ and Pegasos Runners from Berlin. The Plums run in Berlin and Pegasos run in London as part of the twinning. And Gina has also met the Pegasos running around the world when they have arranged to meet at different marathons. I do know there are no plans for Gina to stop marathons for a year or two yet, and although there are no plans to reach now, like an unprecedented 600th marathon, I can’t see that Gina will avoid doing the Chicago Marathon before she hangs up her trusty Nike Pegasus running shoes. The role of honour would have to include the following century milestones, featuring 29 London Marathons and 25 Berlin Marathons, which has seen Gina running in 40 countries and 58 counties, where she has notched up no less than 258 road marathons, 197 trail marathons and 47 ultra marathons. The famous five… 100th 200th 300th 400th 500th

Sept 1999 Mar 2006 Jan 2009 Jun 2011 Sept 2014

Thanet Coastal Daffodil Dawdle 100 marathon AGM handicap at Bromley Herts Hobble Kent Coastal

Mile End Junior parkrun (#15)â&#x20AC;Ś by Steve Stockwell It wasn't long ago that the junior parkrun series only consisted of about three or so venues. However, the junior series has grown quite significantly during the last year, and we decided to visit Mile End Junior parkrun for Matilda's very first official parkrun.

Above: briefing and warm-up session with Kelly Sotherton [photo: 7t]

The Mile End Junior parkrun takes place in Mile End Park, in East London, on part of the original 5k Mile End parkrun course. I visited the full 5k event back in September 2013 and as I was back in the park, I decided to squeeze in my Sunday running by completing two freedom runs - one on the 5k course and another on the 2k course. With those done, it was time to hang out at the start area and wait for the run to begin. Now, by complete coincidence we had turned up on the same day as the Join in crew, who had brought with them Great Britain athlete (with an Olympic bronze to her name) Kelly Sotherton and a film crew from ITV news. I offered my services as a volunteer but they had all roles covered, so I was free to wander the course with the legendary Craigie-Lee Paterson offering encouragement to the 13 junior runners. Above: And they're off... [photo: dani]

As far as facilities go, there are toilets, showers and changing rooms right next to the start. You can park for free on Copperfield Road. Mile End tube station is adjacent to the park and gives easy access to anyone travelling from a little further than the immediate local area.

Above: Mile End juniors event 15 [photo: dani]

Above left: almost at halfway [photo: dani]

Above right: I ran the last bit with Matilda

Before the run started, the children were treated to a fab pre-run talk from Kelly Sotherton who then went on to lead them through a brilliant warm up session. She also presented some of the regular runners with their junior parkrun wristbands. I had never seen Matilda so excited about, well, anything - she had been asking to run with the children for ages and had woken up at about 6am that morning really excited and bouncing around the house, eager to get to the 'baba race' as she calls it! The run starts at the same place as its 5k sibling and heads off in a northerly direction following the left side of the double paths. The course consists of two laps of a 1k out and back route which takes place on the park's double paths. The runners head out on the left hand path and has some really nice sweeping curves and even a little hump (which must seem like a proper hill to those tiny legs) for the juniors to tackle.

So after weaving around to the far end of the course, the runners perform a 180 degree turn and head back along the other side of the double path. There are marshals positioned roughly every 100 metres or so and they are absolutely wonderful - encouraging the kids and offering hi-fives all the way around. Matilda was joined by her cousins Holly and Luke for today's run - they had both previously run at Bushy Junior parkrun on a few occasions so it was good to see the three of them out there together enjoying the course. Once the run had finished and barcodes had been scanned all three of the Stockwell juniors were interviewed by the ITV film crew, which was totally unexpected and really exciting for them. Left: Matilda about to finish her first parkrun Below right: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget your barcode Below left: Stars of the small screen

The results were online a short while after and Matilda had managed to open her junior parkrun account at the age of 4 years and 5 days old with a time of 19:44 and scored a 40.54% age grading. It is a great little course and I am pretty confident in saying that we'll be back here in the future.

Les Witton Dartford 10-mile Race 2014… by Steve Stockwell Sunday 21st September 2014 The Les Witton Dartford 10 mile road race is hosted by Dartford Road Runners (they also host the brilliant summer Joydens Wood 5k series) and has been part of the race calendar for at least 12 years (that's as far back as the runners world reviews go). The 2014 race was originally scheduled to take place on 19 January, but due to flooding around the start/finish area had to be postponed at the very last minute. However, this wasn't the first time it had run into trouble; the last few years had all suffered from one thing or another. Left: the Les Witton ‘Dartford 10’ Race Director hi-viz (now a collector's item) [photo:7t] I had heard a rumour that the race would be rescheduled for September, so I kept the month free of any other race bookings. The winter and spring passed and nothing official had been communicated. But during the summer, a date for the rescheduled event was announced. Sadly, along with the announcement came the news that this would be the last ever Les Witton Dartford 10-mile race. It's not often a race takes place within walking distance of home, so when it does, I like to enjoy the fact that I don't have to drive. On the morning of the race, I jogged the 2.5km from home to the race HQ, which was within the grounds of Dartford Football Club, and collected my race number (349) with integrated timing chip. Since moving to Dartford I feel like I have become part of the local running community and it was no surprise to see many familiar faces, including a good turnout from my running club ‘So Let’s Go Running’ (SLGR). The race start time had been set for 8.30am, and at about 8.15am the 394 runners started to congregate near the start. I didn’t want to get caught too far back in the pack so I started just a few rows from the front, which worked out well. The race took place on undulating, and at times hilly, tarmac roads and pavements to the south of Dartford town centre and took in Darenth and South Darenth before heading back towards Dartford via Green Street Green. At 8.30am on the dot, the race was started. The opening section was slightly downhill and featured a few speed bumps – there were plenty of marshals warning the runners about these to ensure that nobody tripped. This lead into the steepest downhill section of the course which then levelled at the lowest point of the course (eight metres elevation) and eventually delivered the runners onto the A225 (Hawley Road), which had briefly been closed to the traffic heading south in order to allow the runners a safe passage.

Above: #TeamSLGR [photo: from Jo Conway's camera] Below left: Runners assembling at the start [photo: 7t]

Above right: About 2.5k into the race on Hawley Road [photo: Hayley Miller]

The first challenging hill came at the 3.5km point where we reached Darenth Hill, and just as you think you’ve reached the top, the course turned onto Roman Villa Road where the incline continued briefly. It is at this point where one of the finest views of the day was seen – Looking to the right the runners were able to see across the fields and back down into the Darenth Valley. The summit of this hill quickly lead into the second steep descent of the day where I spotted our SLGR club chairman out with his camera. The marshals were fantastic and I heard a lot of shouts of 'go Steve!' - they could of course have been for another Steve close-by, but I'll take what I can get! I had set myself the target of trying to reach the 15km point in under an hour. To do this I would need to run an average pace of just a smidgen under four minutes per kilometre. Once I had passed the 3 mile marker I kept glancing down at my Garmin until it showed five kilometres, which I reached in 19.45 – A few seconds ahead of target, which was good as I had got Darenth Hill out of the way and still stayed within the time goal.

Above left: Roman Villa Road [photo: Brian Page]

Above right: The race route and traffic diversions

There were two water stations out on the course and the first one appeared around about here â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I took some water at this point. After this, the race entered a longer uphill drag with the runners tackling Holmesdown Hill before turning onto Gillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Road and continuing the undulating climb up to the highest point (84 metres elevation) of the course at just after five miles (8.6 kilometres). Again there were nice views across the Kent countryside. I've forgotten my exact halfway time, but I'm pretty sure that my Garmin time had a 33 at the beginning. Left: The first water station [photo:Debbie Sawyer]

The section between 9km and 15km is mostly flat or downhill. It started with me missing my 10k split but my GPS data suggests that it was just a smidgen under 40 minutes. A few metres after passing the 10k point, the route turned off of the quiet, closed country lanes and the runners now had to run on the pavement adjacent to Green Street Green. The pavement was a little uneven in places and it was along this stretch that I felt like I was having trouble maintaining my pace, but this was not the case as each time I checked my Garmin, the split remained fairly even at a pace either just below or bang on four minutes per kilometre.

Above: The hill profile from my Strava GPS data (Strava made the course long, but it wasn’t)

As I approached the 15 kilometre point, I knew that the final section would be tough. Awaiting the runners was Trolling Down Hill, which isn't that steep but at the end of a 10-mile race it isn't a welcome sight! During the hill climb I heard my Garmin beep at me to notify me that I had hit the 15-kilometre point, and glancing down I saw that my time was 59:50. I was pleased to have achieved my goal of hitting 15km in under the hour, but at that exact point the hill felt steeper, a headwind blew and again I felt like I was losing pace. Once at the top of the incline, the course went past my running club’s Tuesday evening meeting point at Leigh Technology College/Goals Football Centre, and then after turning left onto Princes Road (still on the pavement) the runners were directed through the Princes Road entrance to Dartford Football Club where the finish line, very nice bespoke medal, a banana and water awaited. After a brief recovery, I headed back over to the finish line to see if I could spot any familiar faces as they finished. Left: Green Street Green ([photo: Brian Page] Below: Dartford Football Club [photo: 7t]

The official results were published online later that day. I finished in 33rd position in a time of 1:04.49, which was only 19 seconds off my 10-mile personal best that I had set earlier in 2014 at the ‘Hildenborough 10’. So considering this is definitely not a PB course, I was really pleased with my overall performance. I did unfortunately aggravate an old injury during the race and it looks like I'll have to make a few adjustments to my training for a bit; I have been neglecting the cycling lately and it's a good reason to get some decent mileage on the bike instead.

Above: #TeamSLGR post-run [photo: from Richey Escourtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s camera]

Thanks to all of the marshals and supporters out on the course. I've used quite a selection of your photos here so thank you for sharing them (it's quite possible that I didn't ask if I could use them; I hope you don't mind). During the course of the morning I recognised so many faces from running clubs and of course from Dartford parkrun. Talking of parkrun, I counted three parkrun event directors taking part in the race - one of them even won a prize.

Left: 10 miles done; I looking pleased with myself [Photo: Debbie Sawyer] Above right: The final Les Witton 10 medal [photo:7t]

Overall a very enjoyable 10 mile race around the quiet country lanes. It's a shame that just as I have arrived in Dartford the race is disappearing from the local race calendar. The good news, however, is that while this particular race has been consigned to the history books, Dartford Road Runners have hinted that something else will take its place but as of yet the details are unknown. One thing I do know is that with DRR behind it it's bound to be a great event.

The Final â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Les Witton 10â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;Ś by Richey Estcourt Sunday 21st September 2014 Understandably, there was a lot of sadness around this race, as it was the last staging of the Les Witton 10-miler. The Dartford Road Runners have, I imagine, gone through a lot of stress, frustration and disappointment this year, having cancelled the event twice due to terrible weather and floods in January and March, and ongoing difficulties in obtaining road closures. With all those problems behind us for 2014, there was nothing but smiling faces and warm hospitality from the Roadrunners at Princes Park on the morning of the race. There were no queues for registration and bag drops, and outside the stadium, the weather was very clear and calm. The race got underway and Grassbanks was soon busy with several hundred runners proceeding down the access road towards Darenth Road, before the route entered Powder Mill Lane and a sharp downhill before levelling out and joining Hawley Road. From this point on, the route had many similarities to the Dartford Half-Marathon the long, flat stretch heading south through Hawley, during which I was remembering the lessons I'd learned back at the HM in July - Don't take this road too fast, and don't stop concentrating on pace. It's a long, straight road without too many features, although there were a lot of familiar faces from the Dartford running scene lining the route and cheering us on, which was nice. After about 2.5 miles, it was a left turn into Parsonage Lane and Darenth Hill. Last time I ran up this hill was the HM in July, and whilst it's not the steepest hill in the area, I was stupid enough to switch my brain off and take it too quickly, which made for a fairly gloomy ten minutes afterwards. I didn't make that mistake again. Next came the right turn into Roman Villa Road, and the long, narrow country lane with banks and hedges that obscure the landscape in places. It's a gentle downhill, but then at the end of this comes the next uphill challenge at Holmesdale Hill. After the initial climb, I settled into a fairly consistent pace around 5:19/km that I managed to hold for pretty much the rest of the race. I even held this pace approaching the highest point of the course at the junction of Rabbits Road and Canada Farm road, so I was able to enjoy some views of the landscape whilst making decent time, which was good. Before long, it was time to turn left towards home, and start the long journey north along Green Street Green Road. The final stretch of this course is a reasonably flat 3.75 miles back to the Princes Road interchange, and somewhere round about Lords Wood, I noticed the pack dividing between runners who had reserved a bit of strength for the run home, and those who were beginning to tire. At this point, I came across an older runner from Swanley & District Athletic Club who was beginning to tire and complain, so I decided to pace him for a while. It wasn't an entirely unselfish decision - I didn't fancy making a

dash for it too early, so holding a consistent and steady pace for a while did us both a favour. I knew that Trolling Down Hill would be waiting for us after about nine miles, and I had no intention of going up that without a bit in reserve. As it happens, I got up the hill without losing much pace at all (and my new mate from SDAC was still with me), so once the hill was done, I picked the pace up slowly until we approached the familiar sight of Goals, then made a dash for it. In hindsight, I waited too long. I was pretty conservative for a few miles, and I could have done the 9th and 10th miles a bit quicker than I did. It was a small mistake, and it didn't bother me too much. 10 miles is a pretty unfamiliar racing distance for me, and my last long race was the Kent Coastal Half Marathon two weeks previously, which I found extremely uncomfortable, and I got a PW for the distance. This time round, I got 266th place in 1:28:13. Sure, I could possibly have snipped a few minutes off the overall time, but there'll be other 10-mile races in future. This was a great event. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m glad to have been part of it, and I sincerely hope that Dartford Road Runners can put this difficult year behind them and host more races in future.

A Weekend in the Life of a Sweatshop Manager… by Laura Arnone It’s Friday morning (26th September). Normally a Friday is just the start of a long weekend, however this week there is a little twist… I’ve been asked to work at the Nottingham (Robin Hood) Marathon this weekend. Now for anyone that has met me, working away is something that I love doing, especially at races. I get to meet and work with colleagues that I have never met before, but most of all I love to meet all of the runners, and get a buzz off their excitement towards their race. The morning period is always really manic as there is so much to do even before the store is open. Today there were nearly 50 bags of delivery, which is great as it means customers will be spoilt for choice… In the mean time it just looks like a health and safety hazard, so there’s a lot of pressure to get it put away. As I am rushing in and out of the stock room, I can here a sheepish “Hello” coming from the door…. It’s now 9:58; I best get this shop open! The first customer of the day asks for a full gait analysis. This consists of a custom-made inner-sole to help with posture and additional cushioning, so straight onto the treadmill to assess their running and ankle movements and finally recommending firstly shoes that will be good for the running style, and secondly be appropriate for the level of support they may or may not need. It sounds pretty straight forward; however it is a 30-minute process, and a lot of foot handling first thing in the morning. Thankfully the day passes without issues; all of my customers have been pleasant, which has left me in a great mood, and energised for the long evening ahead.

Older Runners Train Smarter… by Sher Meekings “So firstly about me, well my name is Sher Meekings and I am approaching my 60’s and I run. I run a lot. I compete locally and regionally and whereas in my younger days I used to get a thrill from beating my time I now get a thrill from just finishing the course be it a 10k, half marathon or a fell race!” There are four main areas of difference in my own training now I’m not so young… They are to rest, to stretch, to hydrate and to train smarter, not longer.

Rest… It is essential to high-level performance to get enough rest. I need more rest now than a younger competitor. That’s the reality. So before writing up my training programme I put in two full days of rest, to recover from the previous few days of strenuous activity. As we get older we produce less growth hormone so any muscle damage takes longer to repair. Rest days also allow depleted energy stores to be restored, and fluid loss to be reabsorbed. As well as taking care of your physical self, sufficient rest will prevent mental burnout and will reduce fatigue. It is important to make sure you are getting enough sleep too as sleep deprivation can lead to changes in hormone levels associated with an increase in stress and a decrease in tissue repair. Stretch… Another area that is neglected by runners of all ages is stretching! Yet stretching is a fundamental component of your health and fitness regimen, and it is vitally important that older runners stretch out their muscles. Remember:     

Don’t stretch cold muscles. It’s far better to stretch after a run than before. Ease into each stretch, don’t bounce or force it. Do stretch lightly before speed work, after a 10-minute warm-up jog. Before speed work, hold each stretch for 10-15 seconds. After a run, hold each stretch for 30 seconds, repeat once or twice on each leg.

Focus on stretching the muscles you use most, and don’t skimp on it. It doesn’t take long, but it makes a big difference. Hydrate… Staying hydrated is critical to your running performance and, more importantly, for preventing heat-related illnesses. Take in plenty of water in the days leading up to a long run, and up to an hour before. You should also be prepared to take in small amounts of water every 20 minutes during a run and, during longer runs, sports drinks allow you to replenish lost minerals, including sodium. When I exercise I really do feel I need more water than other athletes, so even for a 10k race I need to wear a hydration belt and drink on the run! This may amuse other athletes but I have found it works for me. Dehydration in athletes may lead to fatigue, headaches and muscle cramping. Having said that, we have also seen cases of athletes collapsing due to over-hydration in competitive running, so work out what suits you and make sure you keep sufficiently hydrated. Train Smarter… Along with a well-constructed training schedule, all of the above combine to help you train ‘smarter’. It is counterproductive to train longer and harder as you will, in time, simply over train and your performance will suffer. So, plan your training. Run, rest, repeat. Keep hydrated and don’t forget to stretch. This will all help you train smarter and achieve your goals. Go for it! It’s now or never!

Sweet charity… by Jaz Sandalli It’s that time of year, if you were one of the people who applied for a London Marathon ballot place back in April, when you find out if your 12 to 1 shot was successful. Which means odds are you got home this week to find a copy of Marathon News with “Sorry!” splashed cheerfully across the front cover. You might have had a particularly stressful couple of weeks: an overwhelming workload or bad news from your family or disquiet in your social group or another abject loss for your football team. You might have run home from work that day, hoping to shake out your worries, been just about approaching normality again, then seen the parcel on your doormat and your heart might have sunk once again. Maybe that’s just me. Alright; I am over-dramatising the situation somewhat. Not getting into London for the third time in a row is a bit disappointing, but if I’m going to hang my chances of happiness on something, a 12 to 1 shot is a poor choice. In any case I have my health, and plenty more going for me besides. Compare that with the thousands of families affected by cancer or heart disease; or the children born deaf or blind or both; or those afflicted both by mental illness and the stigma attached to it; and my disappointment at not getting through a marathon ballot is pretty pitiful. That said, I could do something about my disappointment AND help the less fortunate by taking up a charity place. Or could I? My reasons for wanting to run the London Marathon – and I only really want to run it once – are entirely personal: because it’s my hometown event and because it’s an experience like no other. I want to tick off another classic race on my list, not to test myself or to break a new boundary. But if my only chance of doing it is by asking my friends for sponsorship again then I’m effectively asking them to subsidise my hobby. I don’t feel right about doing that. Many of the charities offering places for 2015 require a minimum donation target of £1,800-£2,000 per person. This is for very good reason – the event represents a huge opportunity for income (not to mention publicity) for these charities, and the London Marathon has a strong tradition of fundraising, fundamental to the ethos of the event ever since its inception in 1981. Not everyone can finish a marathon, and let’s be honest, sponsorship isn’t just for the 26.2 miles at the end but the six months of training leading up to it. It’s a no brainer really. But – and I’m going to sound awfully arrogant here – what if finishing a marathon isn’t that much of a challenge to you? Obviously it’s a challenge to any human being, but surely more so to a first timer or someone not obviously athletic than to a regular long distance runner. It can of course be a challenge for other reasons; more and more now we see people running dressed in outrageous and bulky outfits, or while knitting at the same time, or carrying an actual fridge on their backs. But if I just want to run a marathon, is London the event for me?

My first marathon, as I’ve mentioned here before, was Edinburgh in 2013. I had set myself a challenge to raise money for a charity – specifically, Macmillan – to repay the wonderful work they did caring for a friend of mine who had died of cancer a few years before. Mum and I had applied to the ballot for London and failed, were afraid of not being able to reach £4,000 in sponsorship between us, and so decided to do Edinburgh instead. Even though our minimum target was a much more achievable £750 each, we got pretty close to the £4k between us anyway. It was easy because I was passionate about the cause, and because I was passionate about the cause I could drag myself out of bed and onto dark streets to train even when I wanted to be curled up in bed with a packet of ginger nuts. The next year we failed to get into London again, so we signed up for Brighton which runs the week before. This time I was raising money for the other charity who had nursed my friend through his final months, CLIC Sargent. I felt as strongly about this cause as I had Macmillan and I had always intended to do two marathons so both charities would benefit, but this time I struggled even to make my £400 minimum. Was it because it was so close to London, and everyone who was going to sponsor someone had given all their money to the higher profile challenge? Was it because I was running alone this time with mum pulling out injured, and missing out on support from her friends and family? Or was it simply harder to persuade people to sponsor me to do something they already knew I could do? The thing is, despite the reasons for doing Edinburgh the first time round I now run long distances for me. I run them because I love them, because they give me freedom, because they give me the headspace that is so rare in this 24-hour constantly-connected age. That’s what they mean to me. That’s what I mean when I say it’s not that much of a challenge; not that it’s not difficult, but that there’s no hardship involved for me. By the same token, there are some for whom the challenge of finishing a 5k is the equivalent of climbing Everest. My finishing a marathon today doesn’t deserve anywhere near as much recognition as that. Of course charities don’t see it that way, and likely as not neither do my friends – they’re a pretty generous bunch – so I realise this is basically my capacity for over-analysis exceeding itself once again. I could suck it up and do it for a charity anyway, put that extra bit of hard work into the fundraising effort and make a crucial few hundred quid for someone who needs it, because at the end of the day it’s not about me. Following that logic, I probably don’t deserve a ballot place anyway. London is all about community and inclusivity and bringing the sport to more and more people each year, which is precisely why the applications outweigh the available places by larger and larger margins each year. Soon enough, even the charity route will become a lottery in itself, so oversubscribed the event has become. This is a brilliant thing. There SHOULD be thousands of people clamouring to raise £2k each for charities who rely on the spare change in our pockets. There are plenty of other marathons out there that don’t require runners to fundraise. And anyway, aren’t I always going on about big city marathons not really being my thing? I just can’t let London go though. However selfish or facile my reasons for wanting to do it, the only person I need to justify them to is me… So, I’ve decided not to enter via a charity again this year; I can’t run with a fridge on my back and I’m not sociable enough to organise coffee mornings or raffles. Those places really should go to those who will make the best use of them. I will however do the one thing I can do, which is offer my services as a marshal or bag handler. If one day I am lucky enough to get through the ballot, well, I’ll run my bloody heart out. But for now I’ve got five other marathons lined up to prepare for. I’m pretty lucky even to be able to say that.

The Benefits of Yoga for Runners… by Emma Turner When Brian Page asked me if I would set up a couple of yoga “taster” sessions for his So Let’s Go Running group I jumped at the opportunity. As a yoga teacher and lifelong yoga practitioner and enthusiast I am never one to pass up a chance to introduce yoga to as many people as possible and I was particularly excited to teach his group of runners both because I love to run myself whenever I get a chance and also because I know how beneficial yoga can be for runners.

Corrects muscular imbalances… You only have to think about which parts of the body are used in running to know that it can create muscular imbalances. This is compounded by the fact that as a particularly repetitive sport – in terms of the physical movement involved - running uses the same groups of muscles (e.g. hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors and calves) time and time again. Thus certain muscles, primarily from the hips down, get stronger while others remain underused and weaker as a result. This basic fact shows how muscular imbalances can be created which if not corrected can ultimately lead to pain and injury. Yoga seeks to rectify this imbalance by restoring the body to balance and symmetry. It uses every single muscle in the body even down to the small muscles in the hands and toes and practicing yoga will immediately reveal where the imbalances lie within the body and will seek to correct these. With its focus on flexibility, yoga will begin to stretch out tight muscles and strengthen weak ones leading the body back to balance.

Reduces running-related injuries… The high risk of injury with running is due to its repetitive nature, with the overuse of some muscles and the underuse of others as previously mentioned. When muscles are used repeatedly the muscle fibres shorten and if they are not given an opportunity to lengthen they will remain in a shortened state. Shortened muscles are tight muscles and without being stretched they will continue to get shorter and tighter which has the knock-on effect of reducing the range of motion in the joints concerned. This reduced range of motion then creates misalignment in the body and together with an accumulation of physical stresses (as brought about by the weight-bearing impact of running) may make one prone to injury. Yoga helps to rectify this scenario by lengthening tight muscles, building strength where needed and helping to restore correct alignment in the body all of which are crucial factors in injury prevention.

Enhances breathing efficiency… The breathing techniques explored in yoga, called pranayama, help runners to learn to breathe deeply and mindfully. The often explored full yogic breath teaches practitioners to breathe fully into the abdomen which uses both the lower and upper parts of the lungs as well as the diaphragm thus increasing lung efficiency. This is compared to the shorter shallower chest breathing that most people adopt – particularly when running - which can also create tension in the upper body, neck, jaw and face. Greater lung efficiency and greater awareness of the breath in general also have the pleasant side effect of improving endurance and overall athletic performance.

Improves posture… If you improve your posture you improve your running form which in turn creates a more efficient running stride. Yoga undoubtedly improves posture as it works to lengthen, strengthen and realign the spine and generally places

a lot of focus on correct standing and alignment. It also focuses on core strength through postures such as Chaturanga Dandasana (plank pose), Vasisthasana (side plank) and Navasana (boat pose) which in turn help to support the trunk and promote good posture. Runners can often be seen to start slouching as tiredness sets in as a run progresses and as the upper body is such an integral part of the stride it is so important to have a strong core and upper body to help maintain postural alignment and form as well as being key to moving efficiently and safely.

Increases flexibility… Yoga works to stretch all the muscles in the body through a combination of postures combined to make a wellrounded whole-body practice. While running only moves the body through a sagittal plane (forward and backward motion) a well-balanced yoga practice will take the body, and spine in particular, through sagittal, frontal (side to side motion) and transverse (rotational) planes which ensures that the spine is kept healthy, strong and flexible. Stretching already tight muscles or simply stretching muscles to prevent tightness is a major factor in preventing injury. Taking the hamstrings as an example, tight hamstrings can cause all number of issues in the body including causing back pain, altering hip balance, knee stability and spinal alignment. If you lengthen and thus create flexibility in the hamstrings through specific yoga postures this contributes towards lengthening running stride as well as alleviating the aforementioned issues. Another area of the body that can benefit from increased flexibility in terms of running is the hips. Tight hips directly affect a runner’s stride as they limit hip extension and the forward motion of the legs. If you focus on opening through the hips this can create more fluidity in your running stride. A consistent yoga practice will undoubtedly improve flexibility and therefore range of motion through your joints. However, this process is not one that can be rushed nor miraculous results gained overnight but even just including a number of yoga stretches before and/or after your run will certainly go some way towards restoring this balance.

Focussed mind… The final aspect of yoga which I wanted to mention that can be of benefit to runners is meditation. Taking meditation in its simplest form as slowing down, quietening the mind and connecting with the body can be extremely beneficial. Think about how your mind is working while you are running, perhaps you are constantly motivating yourself to keep going or on the other hand perhaps you are working against yourself saying “I’ll never make it”, “I’m too tired”, etc. Training the mind is a discipline that is worked on in a yoga practice and the ability to concentrate is honed. Transfer this to a marathon run, keeping your mind positive and focussed and this becomes an invaluable tool. Many books have been written on how yoga can benefit runners so it is impossible to mention everything in a couple of pages. I do hope, however, that for those of you who may be a little curious about yoga that perhaps this article has stimulated a little interest and given you the push to get yourself either to a yoga class or to buy a DVD to practice at home. There are definitely many benefits within yoga for runners and equally many benefits that extend far beyond those gained in relation to running. Incorporating yoga into your weekly exercise schedule will undoubtedly bring you great rewards and I promise you won’t regret it! Left: Eka Pada Rajakapotasana - Pigeon Pose Great for opening up tight glutes and hips. Stretches external rotators, particularly the piriformis. Tip: If you find the hip of the leg in front is off the floor place a folded blanket underneath to support you.

Above Left: Parsvottanasana - Intense Side Stretch Fantastic stretch for the hamstrings, calves and Achilles tendon, also lengthens the spinal and back muscles and strengthens the legs. With hands in prayer position behind the back (as shown in the photo) this also opens the chest and works the shoulders. Tip: Try to keep the hips squared in this posture to get the best possible stretch. Above Right: Trikonasana - Triangle Pose Effective stretch for the hamstrings, adductors and calves, strengthens thighs, knees and ankles and also stretches shoulders, chest and spine. Tip: Try to rotate the upper body up towards the sky, rather than collapsing forward, and keep the shoulders stacked. If neck is weak just keep the gaze forwards or even down to the floor.

Above left: Virabhadrasana I - Warrior I Deeply stretches hip flexors, calves, Achilles tendon, inner thighs and glutes at the same time as strengthening the legs, gluteus medius and gluteus maximus. Tip: Do not allow the knee of the front leg to overshoot the ankle in this posture. Hips are squared. Above right: Virabhadrasana II - Warrior II A strong posture that stretches the hips, legs, ankles, groin, adductors and shoulders as well as strengthening the legs, ankles and arms. Tip: Try to go as deep as possible into this posture. Do not allow the knee to overshoot the ankle in the front leg, however, but work towards bringing the front thigh parallel to the ground by widening the stance.

Track Session! And It Was Fun! – by Donna ‘Moosh’ Carroll The last time I did track sessions was when I was training for the marathon, panicking slightly, apprehensive and all other emotions that go with training for your first ever marathon. I saw the track sessions as a necessary evil! But today, it was different, today I had no agenda but to enjoy running with some running buddies and meeting some more members of #TeamSLGR (‘So Lets Go Running…’), the new running group Brian Page and Dawn Annett had started over in Dartford. PhysioMike had his session planned, a timing session. It involved running for 90 seconds, then walking or slow jog (or even crashing out on the grass he said) for so many seconds (I have a lousy memory!) and then do that again for another three times! But the slow jog part, the recovery (or crashing out on the grass) will be less each time! It's just as well he had his whistle because I could never have remembered to look at my watch, calculate when I should slow down, and all that maths stuff! I guess that's why having a great coach with a whistle and stop watch helps! There seemed an awful lot of people there, some in the popular black and orange of #TeamSLGR and the rest in array of colours, with at least one PWR at least in the club colours! I shall remember to wear mine next #TeamSLGR meet up! I was running behind the masses and another young lady, who was with the other team, was just behind me. On the first lap PhysioMike was there calling out numbers. The numbers related to the speed we were doing in relation to a park run, if we kept up the pace that is. You will never guess what mine was?! 31 minutes! He called out on the first lap, but still, I was pretty impressed with my self! It's a pity I can't keep that up for a whole 5k! Maybe after all the track sessions then my time will improve, of course I am not going to obsess about it, (but being a runner it is always in the back of my mind! Always!) It was on the second lap that me and the young lady behind me started chatting. I found out that she has been accepted into the London Marathon this year! Exciting stuff. The whistle blows but the young lady just carries on plodding away. I was walking and chatting to her. She said that she just sticks to one pace only and it gets her through. So for the next 20 minutes or so me and OnePaceKat (Kat McVicar) just kept together jogging along. But while she kept on jogging along I took full advantage of the permission to slow down! Then there was a four minute rest! Perfect timing as I finished the first set right at the starting line. I chatted to Brian, founder member of SLGR and Editor of ‘So Let’s Go Running…’ community running magazine! He introduced me to a couple of the members and to Dawn as well. The four minutes were soon finished and we did the whole thing again! A great session, with the warm-up drills in the beginning and the warm down stretches to finish! I really enjoyed track session! I mean, last time it really did feel as if I needed to be there for the full support of PWR's to help get me through the marathon, this time I was do track session for the sake of doing track session! It's sometimes good to do things just for the sake of it! I think I could do a few track sessions this winter! I had fun, fun... even sprinting away from Mr 'monkey feet' S himself, mind you, I will admit he had his loafers on, and it looked like he was leaning on a walking stick, it suited him (It was a spike in the ground holding tape up!) Here's to next track session.

A Great Start, with a Little Help from Hastings, Parkrun and SLGR… by Stephen Burgess Having such a keen interest in running was the last thing on my mind, working Monday to Friday, a little swimming during the week, socialising and spending precious time with my daughters kept me happy and quite busy. One evening while out with old school friends, my friend Scott mentioned he had entered the Hastings Half Marathon. I was curious and asked more. What a great thing to do I thought. Soon the conversation went to old school days and as always the evening was rounded off with plenty of laughter. A few weeks passed and we all met up again. I was interested to find out how Scott's training was going. Sadly it hadn't gone very well and Scott was no longer going to enter. The idea of running a half marathon would be something I would really like to do. I loved running when I was younger and while in the Army Cadets I won a few cross country medals, but that was a long time ago. Still I thought about the idea and the more I thought about it, the more determined I was to enter. During a conversation at White Oak Leisure Centre, a lifeguard called Kat suggested joining parkrun. I found it interesting listening to Kat's past and future events and her determination was something to be admired. Parkrun sounded interesting too. I needed some quick training, so I jumped at the chance. I joined up with Orpington parkrun, printed the barcode and turned up on the Saturday morning feeling nervous. Parkrun… I parked the car and followed a gentle stream of people walking towards a pavilion in Goddington Park. I wasn't sure exactly where the start was so I decided to find a space where everyone was. I pretended I knew a few warm-up exercises, unaware I must have looked inexperienced as I almost fell over trying to lift my leg for another stretch. It was at this point that I started to talk another runner called John O’Connor. Soon it was time to go to the start line. After listening to the marshal talk for a while, then a little clapping, it was time to start. I set off with a quick pace; soon I was out of breath and in pain. I had forgotten I was now 41. I had also been a smoker until February 2012, having smoked for 15 years. Now my lungs were having a major shake-up and I was now trying to discretely head back to my car puffing and panting uncontrollably. I was almost at the car park and thought, I only have to complete one more lap. I gained controlled of my breathing and with my best foot forward I joined in again but much slower this time. I managed to complete one more lap only to find I had half a lap to do and so completing the half lap, I struggled to the finish line. My time was 29:26. I had finished my first 5k. I had an incredible buzz from the run and wanted more. But the realisation had set in; how was I going to finish thirteen and a half miles when I had so much trouble finishing three? With the parkrun under my belt, I started to run for ten, twenty, thirty minutes. Even this was hard work but I was determined. Then I did it... I entered. Now it was official and I was committed. It was exciting and stupid at the same time. That day was March 13th 2014 and the Hastings Half Marathon was March 23rd 2014. I only had ten days until race day and I had done very little training. Training for the half marathon… As I trained more, the distance increased. Co-ordinating my breathing with my foot strikes and keeping a constant pace was difficult to get right as a new runner. I decided that six miles would be my longest run and determination would get me through the rest on the day. Injury hampered a large part of my training with pain in my right knee becoming an issue, although buying a knee support helped. I was still inexperienced and didn't know which warm up exercises to do. The trainers I trained in were not adequate for the distance and with careful consideration; I bought a decent pair of running shoes.

The big day… I woke up at 5am. I was really excited and after getting everything ready, I began my journey to Hastings. I turned up at the designated school car park. No one was there. I checked the race details. Had I got the day wrong? The day was correct and the location. My family had been quick to organise a supporting party so the wrong details would have been a disaster. I waited and to my relief the gate to the school car park opened. I parked the car and realising I was very early decided to find the start. While looking around the start area, a gentleman at the MacMillan tent mentioned that when I finished the half marathon I should return and buy a cake and a cup of tea. Good advice I thought. Time was ticking away and more people were gathering at the start line. Soon people were starting to look at their watches, then positioning themselves for the race and finally waiting for the start signal. Its was the strangest feeling as the start signal was given. It took a little while to get moving and we were moving very slowly, then we would stop and then go again, a little faster each time until we were on our way. Thousands of us. Under my breath I thanked Scott and although he was not here, it felt like I was doing the race on his behalf. We went up and up for miles all closely together. So many runners progressing up the climbing road, some quietly talking to each other while others focused on the challenge ahead. People of all ages. I thought the climb would never end until we levelled and before long I could see people on the other side of the road making their way down to Hastings town. The whole atmosphere was unbelievable, an experience I will never forget. There were people standing outside their houses shouting words of encouragement, some offering jelly babies, others waving banners and cheering. Through the beautiful back streets of Hastings where history had stood still and along the sea front, which felt like a lifetime running, and then to the finish line. I had done it. I had finished. I made my way to the MacMillan tent and shakily asked for a cup of tea and a cake. Not only had I finished the race but I had also raised £110 for charity. Above: Completing the Hastings Half Marathon in 2 hours 17 minutes. From that moment I was hooked. I really looked forward to the Parkruns and every time I attended, I looked out for John for a chat. Throughout the year John became a great friend and a training buddy; both of us becoming dedicated and improved runners. My daughters (Bethany age 11 and Elouise age 8) also became involved and completed the BUPA Westminster 1 mile. They absolutely loved it. I had trouble keeping up with them as they rushed to get their well deserved goody bag. The best goody bag so far, thanks Bupa. SLGR… It was during the 2014 Dartford Half Marathon that I recognised an old work colleague, Brian Page. I had the pleasure of working with him about 12 years ago. Through Facebook, Brian invited me along to Goals on a Tuesday evening. It was brilliant to see such a large group of runners. It was also a nice surprise to see Kat from White Oak Leisure Centre (the one and only Kat McVicar). Through continued training my parkrun 5k time continues to get quicker from 29:26 to 22:48. An improvement I find hard to believe. I never realised running could be so enjoyable and being a proud member of SLGR team has given me focus and improved my running with special thanks to Brian and Dawn. Thank you SLGR. Some say... “The friendliest running community in the world...”

Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 50k… by Jaz Sandalli A day after completing 39 miles of the 50-Mile Challenge, I was straight back on my laptop looking up trail marathons and ultras that fit around the QPR fixture list. Like a kid in a sweet shop, I wanted one of everything and like a kid my eyes are usually bigger than my belly. And then my eyes landed on the Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1, and I knew I’d found the sweet for me. So named because the route covers five rivers, four hills, three country estates, two castles and one cathedral, runners can choose from 10k, half marathon, 30k, marathon and 50k distances, all taking in the beautiful scenery of Salisbury and a perfect balance of mixed terrain. Salisbury isn’t exactly local to me, but luckily it IS local to Andy’s dad and step-mum that kindly put me up for the night before, provided an amazing pasta dinner (and two glasses of champagne – hic) and a roast turkey sandwich after the race, not to mention lifts here there and everywhere. Very favourable reviews expected on Tripadvisor. The start and finish is at the fire station on Ashley Road, where runners and walkers can pick up their race numbers, drop off bags, buy t-shirts and queue for portaloos while hiding from the rain. That’s right; rain, in the middle of a heat-wave. The forecast for the week was sun-sun-sun-APOCALYPTIC RAIN-sun again. Ah well; it’s not a trail race unless you get good and muddy. Thanks to the staggered starts, the fact that there were large numbers of participants all doing different races didn’t affect the morning running smoothly, crammed as everyone was in the small footprint of the station while avoiding the rain in the forecourt. Certainly when I was waiting for my 9am start the queue for the portaloos was nothing like your usual M25 style tailbacks, and I had my number in my hand and my bag stowed away within about three minutes. For the first time I was trying out Event Clips rather than safety pins, in an effort to save the fabric of my clothes. They are incredibly fiddly, and you do have to punch holes through the Tyvek number otherwise they don’t work, so I’m not sure they served the purpose I bought them for, which was to make it easier to swap my number between t-shirts when I got too wet. Luckily though, I came across a much more brilliant solution that I can’t believe I’ve never employed before – fixing my number to my shorts instead, so that it wouldn’t matter what top I was wearing or even if I had my jacket on. Once again, the simplest solution turned out to be the best. And I lost one of the clips on the way round anyway. While trying for the first time ever to take a pre-race selfie (I am SO 21st century) I bumped into a lady who thought I was a race photographer – what a poor lookout for the art of photography that would be – and who turned out to be from Witney Road Runners (although originally Holland). Aukje was doing her first ultra to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust as her own 16 year old daughter is currently fighting the disease. Remarkably, her training for this event had all taken place on a treadmill at home because she was unable to leave her daughter to go on long runs, which puts into perspective every time I’ve chickened out of a training run because of three drops of rain or there’s a ‘y’ in the day. She and I took each other’s photos by the starting clock and jiggled about nervously waiting for the off. I couldn’t keep up with her and lost her before the first corner, but I emailed her after the race and of course, she nailed it. Even though I never run for charity now, it reminded me

of why I decided to do my first marathon last year; to raise money for two cancer charities who had helped a friend of mine and to repay their kindness. That race feels like so long ago now. The extra distance making up the 50k route is actually a northbound loop tacked onto the beginning of the marathon route, joining up again at Old Sarum – after that the two groups stayed together the whole way round. Psychologically this was really helpful, as long as you knew that you were actually ahead of the mile markers (marked for the marathon route) and not making up the distance at the end. Plus, the 50k runners got to run through something the marathoners wouldn’t – a gorgeous farm with cows, sheep, donkeys and a camel. An actual live camel. I tried to get a photo but he wasn’t having any of it. The donkeys meanwhile were amusing themselves by running alongside us, getting to the end of their enclosure, trotting back and doing it all over again with the next set of runners. You don’t get that on city marathons. The trails just before and after Old Sarum were very narrow – literally wide enough for one foot in front of the other, which made for a comedy bit of mincing – as well as rough underfoot and cambered, so it was important to concentrate. Picking my way between rocks and hidden trenches I was still feeling pretty strong at that point, and I tried also to remain aware of my posture, keep my shoulders down and my core strong. It’s moments like this that I find yoga practice has been particularly useful for, maintaining balance and developing a good economic running form. And what’s more, it meant that I wasn’t hunched over by the time I got to the top of the hill like I used to be, and I got to see some breathtaking views. There is one slight drawback to the staggered starts, although I can’t see how you’d get around it or if it really makes that much difference; because the marathon runners start half an hour after the 50k runners, there are some slightly hairy overtaking moments just after Old Sarum while the faster runners in the second group try to get past the slowest ones in the first (i.e. me) on the narrow twisty trails. That being said it was all terribly polite – “Excuse me, pardon me, could I get by please?” – and soon enough I was able to recognise the sound of much faster feet about to crash into me with enough time to dive into the bushes. To be fair it’s not a PB course, as if that weren’t blindingly obvious. After the next aid station and on the way up another grassy hill I fell in step with another runner and we began chatting away. Although originally from Salisbury, Claire turned out to be representing Ealing Eagles RC who organise my favourite half marathon, the Ealing Half, which we’d both be running for the third time in a month or so. We shared stories about previous races – remembering that in the first year the goody bag included a can of London Pride, probably the best thing I’ve got from a race other than a medal – and for the second time in two races I found myself thoroughly enjoying the social aspect of long distance running, debunking the myth that it’s a lonely sport. It’s certainly peaceful, meditative and quiet if you want it to be, but I’ve learned more chatting with fellow runners at organised events than I ever have from magazines or social media. I found the variation between road and trails just right – as soon as I found myself tiring of the uneven terrain, a paved section popped up and usually took us to a beautiful stately home or picturesque village; before the flat ground threatened to become boring we were back in the woods or tiptoeing around bulls in a field. I didn’t even put my iPad shuffle on until somewhere around mile 17, and nor did I miss it until then. With my Garmin running out of battery around mile 19, the major technological break rough for me turned out to be investment in a pair of gaiters – I had gambled on my road shoes, having ended up with blisters from the trail ones last time out, but bought a pair of Inov8 gaiters to go over the top and keep out stones and crud as well as wick away moisture, and they worked an absolute treat.

The eerily lit but picturesque Great Yews Wood was a highlight – I entered it just in time for the sun to come out and dry up the latest downpour, which shone through the thick canopy and made the wood glow green. I felt like a character in Wind of the Willows – probably more Mr Toad than Ratty, but hey – and was having so much fun I very nearly missed the timing mat at the 32k split point. One thing I definitely didn’t miss though was the homemade flapjack being handed out just afterwards. If the race is this well catered every year I’m never bothering with a backpack again. After leaving the wood we turned north again, towards the next checkpoint at Coombe Bissett (or as Andy’s niece and nephew like to call it, Coombe Biscuit). By this time I was beginning to tire – not helped by wading through newly softened ground and trudging up some fairly relentless hills – and had to walk a fair bit of this section. Unlike previous long runs though I knew it was just my body complaining – mentally I was still feeling fresh and enjoying the day. So I took stock, recognised that I was hitting my wall and allowed myself to walk for a bit. The thing about the wall, I’ve learned, is that once you get over it there’s usually more road on the other side. I think it’s one of the reasons I prefer above marathon length distances. Think about it – in marathons, I usually hit the wall around 20 miles so by the time I cross the finishing line I’m still recovering and probably a little demoralised for ending on a low note. As long as I was stopping at 26 miles I never got the exhilarating feeling of coming out the other side, and so I never knew there was one. For me, fatigue isn’t a linear progression – i.e. the longer you run the more tired you get. It’s more like a sine wave with peaks and troughs. Yeah, this bit feels horrible, but be patient; eventually your muscles will loosen up again and you’ll get your next wind. Three years on from my first jog to the end of the road I don’t know that my body has got stronger, but I know that my mind has, all thanks to this simple truth. Back onto roads temporarily, I trotted up to the Fox and Goose checkpoint to take advantage of the jelly babies and an opportunity to stretch. There was an uplifting hubbub and lots of friendly chatter between runners, marshals and pub-goers, bringing us back to society temporarily after a long stretch through fields and woods. It started to spit so I got my waterproof out, only for it to ease up within minutes of leaving the pub, forcing me to pause and pack it away in my backpack again – I ended up doing this five or six times and I don’t think it helped my momentum. I’m still trying out options to find the race kit that suits me best, and on this day I was wearing a hydration backpack with enough room to carry my spare top and socks, waterproof jacket and food – unfortunately it meant stopping to unclip the pack, take it off and rummage around every time I needed something. Of course what I really want is one of the super awesome Ultimate Direction race vests with everything to hand, but since I don’t swim in gold coins like Scrooge McDuck I think I’ll make do with my belt pouch and water bottle next time. I continued to struggle for the next couple of miles, up to and through the racecourse, and stuck with my program of walking when I needed to and trotting when I could bear it. The iPod came in very handy here, taking my mind off the pain – I’ve discovered that podcasts are absolutely perfect for long runs, not having a beat to throw off your rhythm and providing just enough distraction. I had downloaded a handful of Freakonomics podcasts which are both fascinating and thought provoking – I figured I’m doing nothing else with my brain for a few hours, so I might as well learn something. Fuelled by more orange squash and homemade baked goodies – amazingly juicy bread and butter pudding this time

- I started to loosen up again and by the time we reached Wilton and turned east for the final stretch I was almost feeling strong again. The sun was drying up the last of the rain showers, and since the rain had washed the salt from my face and my muscles were feeling refreshed I could have believed that I was back at the beginning of the race, not twenty odd miles into it. I became aware of the mechanics of my body again; the rotation of my hips, the power in my thighs, the balls of my feet pushing off the ground. I was over the wall. Without my Garmin to tell me how fast I was going I relied on how I was feeling to gauge pace. I came across the 22 mile marker, meaning presumably that I was four miles from the end, but by this stage I was reluctant to believe the markers. This was at 2.55pm – so I didn’t think I could be far off my target of seven hours even if there were more than four miles left. It gave me the drive I needed to push on. Despite a couple of wobbly moments where the arrows seemed to be for marathoners rather than 50k runners – further fuelling my distrust of them – I kept up a comfortable but race worthy speed. Turning into a park I passed one other 50k runner who asked me how far away I thought we were. For some reason I still had four miles in my mind, whereas he was expecting the answer to be nearer one, so we went our own ways having thoroughly confused each other. I hadn’t seen any mile markers since the one at 22 (26?) and I didn’t see any more before the finishing line. I just gently ramped up my pace. Coming through Salisbury Town Centre I knew we couldn’t be far from the end, although for some reason I’d forgotten than we’d end up where we started and that I should have been looking for the fire station. I was flying now, darting between pedestrians and skipping over the many little bridges, somehow managing to overtake about 5 or 6 runners on the way. Every time I overtook someone I felt a rush of adrenalin, followed by a pang of fear that I’d get lost now I didn’t have anyone to follow. My podcast playlist looped back to the beginning and I just ignored it, chanting “I must be at the end now, I must be at the end now” over and over. I didn’t know what pace I was going but I knew there was air turbulence cooling my face even though there was no wind, so I must have been under nine-minute miles albeit briefly. Finally the fire station appeared on the left and with it the finishing clock. I sprinted to the timing mat, watching the clock hit 15:36 just before I crossed it. Six hours and thirty six minutes. Not bad for a slow runner. It took me a good week to work out that I’d done the last four miles in forty minutes including stopping to ask for directions and then doubling back twice (unnecessarily). Considering I was struggling to walk not a few miles earlier, a 10 minute mile average at the end of a 50k was almost as much of an achievement to me as the whole race. Yet again I’d proved that I could recover, and yet again I’d finished on a high. Another return for next year’s calendar, I suspect…

Dartford Bridge 10kâ&#x20AC;Ś by Richey Estcourt My job as a Project Manager is very much like being a runner. Planning and preparation are key to performance. Failing to plan is planning to fail.... and so on. So I approached to the Dartford Bridge with an eye on my PB over 10k - currently 47:23. I reckoned that late September could nice and cool, so with an early night and plenty of fluids, that PB was going in the bin. Sadly, the planning got put to one side, and I let three things happen on the day before the race which meant that my 10k PB gets a new lease of life...! I wasn't going to take part in parkrun. I really wasn't. I was going to give the legs a rest, and watch parkrun from the sidelines with a camera and a can of coke. But... 9am came, there were loads of my mates around (as there always are in Central Park on a Saturday morning), and it was pretty clear from the conditions that a lot of parkrun PBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s were going to get trashed. So at 9am, I hoofed off from the start line with 88 others and 23 minutes and 14 seconds later, there I was with a new parkrun PB, and rather tired legs. The Saturday afternoon didn't go according to plan, either, A quick business meeting in the Malt Shovel turned into four hours being plied with Kronenburg, and with the tiniest amount of persuasion, my evening meal was provided courtesy of TGF Pizza on The Brent. There's my athletic dedication, right there! Sunday morning started well. North Dartford was under a cloud of mist at 8am, and I decided on a leisurely walk from home to The Bridge development. It was nice and cool, so despite the poor preparation, I still fancied a new PB. The Bridge 10k is what I'd call a fairly 'intimate' event. Only a couple of hundred runners, and as it's not currently the most scenic or challenging race, very few runners travel to far to get there. It was also on the same day as the Tonbridge Half Marathon, which drew a few of the local runners away. Consequently, I felt like I knew everyone at the Bridge 10k, which was nice, as I'd left myself an hour to spare before the race started. The Dartford Bridge 10k takes in two laps of an area on The Bridge Development, sandwiched between Bob Dunn Way and the Littlebrook Power Station. At the moment, it's not a very detailed area - lots of new houses and some business parks, but currently, there's not much to look at aside from a few odd sculptures and plenty of Canada Geese. I daresay there'll be more in a few years time when the development is complete.

My only slight criticism of the event is that it could have started an hour earlier. Most of the runners were local, and by the 10am start, the temperature was rising. The race got underway bang on time, and we head off on our first lap of the north lake. The route was a three-quarter anti-clockwise lap of the lake, with a returning loop, so it wasn't long before the lead runners were heading back towards me, and it was two-way traffic for this section of the course. I was feeling pretty comfortable over the first 3km, although I decided in the heat not to worry too much about pace, and revert to a strategy of 'run as fast as I can under the conditions'. The route then circumvented the south lake before returning to the start line at the 5k mark. At the half-way point, I was feeling OK. Going at a reasonable pace, but nothing special. The temperature by this time (about 10:28) was frankly, boiling. I don't usually take water on during a 10k run, but there was a halfway water-stop, so i took advantage. Then, somewhat predictably, for a man who spent the previous day refuelling in a pub, and hasn't put many 10k training runs in recently, I slowed down. I felt it happen, and wondered if it was just tiredness, but my Nike+ app later confirmed that I dropped off during the 6th, 7th and 8th km. The PB obviously wasn't going anywhere, so I just enjoyed the run, and held my head up. In hindsight, I wish I'd taken some headphones and a few tunes out with me, but the last 3km were an exercise in getting home as quickly as possible, getting watered, and stretching properly. For the last km, I pushed myself a bit harder. I had a heavy breather on my tail, which wasn't helping. Obviously, we all breathe differently, and I'm sure I've done my share of puffing and panting, but for some reason, this was really distracting me today. So I got my head down, picked off a couple of runners ahead of me, and sped up gradually to a fast (I couldn't possibly use the word 'sprint') finish. For a late September morning, these were very hot conditions, and I didn't do myself any favours the previous day. I enjoyed the race, but I was very glad when the time came to guzzle some water and wait for the other SLGR runners to get back. I didn't have a great race myself, but it was pretty clear that SLGR is doing wonders for people. Some of the runners who started at the club at the beginning of the year having never run very far before, were coming back from a 10k race in some very respectable times, which was brilliant to see. I'll be doing this race next year (as it's practically on my doorstep), and I imagine there'll be another year's improvement in the other SLGR runners, and we'll be a pretty strong running team by then. Well done to all my SLGR buddies for today, and thanks to the organisers and marshals. It was a very well organised event, and a good day for the club.

National Lottery Newham 10k London Anniversary Run… by Marion Browne In 2011 Mark and I ran the first ever Newham 10k race which had the honour of being the first race to take place on the 2012 Olympic Games site. The race started in a park a short distance away, ran along the roads of Newham and briefly looped inside the gate of the, not yet finished, site. In 2012 I entered us both in the ballot for the chance to be one of the first 5,000 runners take part in a run completely on Olympic soil and finish in the stadium, crossing the finish line ahead of Mo Farah, Usain Bolt and co. Mark got a place, I missed out. In 2013, the first Anniversary race took place while we were away on holiday. In 2014, I finally made it. I had a place, I’m going to cross that line… except that, due to the work being done on the stadium to add a roof in time for the rugby world cup, we wouldn’t actually be finishing inside the stadium this year. Ahhhhhh ! Once my disappointment had subsided and we had been told that we would have priority entry for next year, I was quite looking forward to it. It was a five mile race around London’s newest park and very nice it is too. The race was very well organised, clear sign posting, lots of marshals, a clear tannoy system and plenty of water at the start which was good as it was going to be another warm day. As always, there are never enough loos but we seemed to beat the worst of the queue and got to the start in plenty of time for the warm up. The start went off in four waves, we were in the second one and it all went very smoothly. There were over 3000 runners but no bottle necks and a good, clear course with plenty of room for all. The start line was beside the main stadium and the Orbit, the course then headed along the South Plaza beside the River Lea, there was music out around the course, the first of which was a drum duo who were fantastic, really got us going. We then crossed over the river and ran through the new housing which used to be the athlete’s village. A little further North we did a loop around the Lea Valley Velo Park past the second of the “Bands on the Run” then back across the river to the two mile mark before a bit of a double back to more music to run past the Copper Box, the sprinklers were spraying the grass alongside it and quite a few of us took advantage of the cool spray as it was by now getting very warm. Just around the corner was the three mile marker, water station and half a mile later more music and the official sprinklers, all very welcome sights and sounds. Mile three to four takes you around the back of the main stadium, back across the River Lea at the four mile marker then down one side of the Aquatic centre, past another brilliant drum band, along the road a bit before turning for the final half mile back along the river, past the other side of the Aquatic Centre to the sounds of Chariots of Fire, if that doesn’t inspire a sprint finish, nothing will. Then it’s across the bridge before a final turn to the finish. You got a medal and a very nice re-useable goody bag with water, a sports drink, cereal bars etc. We chilled out in the park for a bit and watched the mini race, lots of very enthusiastic kids & some not so enthusiastic parents, before we headed home for a much needed shower. My time wasn’t fantastic at just over 50 minutes but it was incredibly hot so I’ll take that, Mark managed a more impressive 43 minutes but was still disappointed, room for improvement for both of us next year then.

Arundel 10kâ&#x20AC;Ś by David Cooper (#TeamSLGR) Sunday 24th August 2014 I know a couple of people who have run this race in the past and that it has a great atmosphere, ok so far but I know the geography of the area and knew it would not be a flat run ! My son Jonathan suggested that we did a race on this date as his fiancĂŠe and my wife were going wedding dress shopping, so us men were surplus to requirements, this meant a bit of Father Son bonding was the order of the day. I sent my cheque off a couple of weeks before the race but after the on-line closing date, and was pleasantly surprised when the race number and timing chip arrived in the post about a week before the race, meaning we didn't have to get to Arundel ages before the start time of 9.30, but as it turned out we did get there earlier than we thought! We were staying with Jonathan and Lindsay in Farnham the night before so it was about an hours drive on the morning of the race, we parked up in the main town car park which had

plenty of space at that time and joined the usual queue for the toilets, no doubt the council thought they would have a bumper money contribution from the toilets as they were 20p a go, but runners being such polite people held the door for the next competitor. The weather was dry and warm, probably not ideal conditions but given the terrain it was better than damp. It was now time to head towards the start area and a gentle warm up jog and stretch then it was off. The first part of the race was through the streets at the bottom of Arundel then towards the castle and what was a long, long climb up a gravel path, this part was made more interesting due to the various attractions being set up for the forthcoming fair, I don't know who was more surprised the birds of prey or runners, at the top of the hill the track turned into a grassy path, then across a field which was the pinnacle of the climb. It was then down a narrow grass and chalk path that wasn't that easy to run on but at least it was downhill, unfortunately this only lasted till about half way down and then it was up again, this time through a wooded area which gave a nice piece of shade and a nicer running surface, as you exited the wooded area it was another up hill section, then across the field to the gravel section again and thankfully downhill through the castle grounds to the road

and a short uphill to the finish in Arundel town centre where the medals were presented and a very welcome table with orange and water readily available. The Arundel scouts organised the whole event really well with plenty of water stations around the course and encouraging marshals as well as the aforementioned drinks at the end. The course was mainly off road but as there was a festival in the town the start and finish were on roads closed to traffic.

Jonathan had finished in a time of 40:56 and cheered me over the line in a time of 1:02:56, we then got changed and headed into the town for a well deserved breakfast and a wander round the sights and sounds of the town festival which had plenty to offer from a choral performance, live bands, open houses and gardens with a few "antique" places. On the way back to Farnham we stopped off at a pub for a meal and watched the Sunderland v Manchester United match which given the result was not a good end to what overall was a great day and a race I can recommend if you like hills! And who in #TeamSLGR doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t?

Estelle Ma Belleâ&#x20AC;Ś Estelle Wiltshire â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Interviewed by Dawn Annett I never had any worries about my size when I was a child. I was skinny and active and danced four or five times a week. In fact I was a size 8 until I was 19 years old and it was only when I had a serious boyfriend when those pounds started creeping on; I was putting on weight quickly as we would have takeaway Chinese at home and sweets were always on offer. I was with him for two years but sadly he wanted to split up was because of my weight as I had gone from a size 8 to a size 14. From that point until I was thirty years old, I was stuck in a constant cycle of losing and gaining weight from a size 18 at my biggest, to a size 14. I would lose it but then get bored of denying myself and gain it again. I was determined however that I would be a size 12 for my thirtieth birthday. I did manage it and I felt like a million dollars even though the dress did have some S-T-R-E-T-C-H; it was a Karen Millen, which are not known for generous sizing! The weight started creeping on again but I was fit walking the dogs and horse-riding, which is my passion. I met Paul at 36 and over the three years together my weight ballooned to my biggest ever and a size 20. I proposed to him and he accepted, but the engagement was a plaster for a relationship that just wasn't right. Things were spiralling out of control. Paul was saying quite mean things and disguising it for humour and it made me feel low so I would eat even more. We regularly went away in our motor-home where I would have three bacon sandwiches and he would tell me that was why I was a "porker". Our relationship was breaking down and we parted. I bought a little house and moved out. I felt like I was eating myself to death. I was dreadfully unhappy that it hadn't worked out and I was on my own. Don't get me wrong my friends were amazing but their idea of cheering me up was taking me to the pub or for a meal and wine and that was something I didn't need! Then came the clincher; I had to accept that for two years I had been too heavy to ride my own horse. I entered a 10km race to motivate myself in July of last year. I knew I needed to do this for myself! On the day of the race I hadn't done any training and I was about 17 stone. At 5k I was almost crying I wanted to duck under the rope and join the spectators, but I wouldn't allow myself to cheat. I wasn't enjoying it at all and it the medal I received was the one I have been least proud of! It took me 1 hour and 34 minutes of torture to finish. I knew that running was going to be the thing to help me though and I needed a new challenge, so I entered another race determined to run the whole thing in July 2013 despite dreadful shin splints so training stopped. In October I was in Morocco and on a trip I was supposed to ride a donkey up the mountains. There was no way I was going to do that to the poor donkey, so I ended up trying to keep a brave face as I struggled up and it was so hot I really was worried that no one had my Mum's number and I was going to die on the mountain.

During my trip to Morocco in October I knew I had to make changes. The heart burn every night was appalling and no clothes fitted me or looked nice. The only thing that fit me was a pair of size 20 trousers and they were tight! I wanted to run but knew I needed to lose weight first. I have watched various programmes with interest including Obese: A Year to Save My Life with Jessie Pavelka. I was interested in exercise programmes for the morbidly obese who were losing six stones plus and completing a 10k race running all the way. I was thinking “Surely if these people can do it then so can I! I joined slimming world and lost weight every single week for four solid months. It was no easy feat as Christmas and New Year were included in that! I was on a roll (excuse the pun)! On the 2nd January I started the ‘Couch to 5k’. I would run in the dark so that no one could see me. I got fitter and fitter. In fact I got so fit my poor dog just couldn't cope with ‘walkies’ with me anymore because it was now a run. I booked a 5k in April - Eton Dorney, which I knew was a flat course. I completed in 31 minutes and immediately booked another. I wanted to do BUPA again (this time running it all no walking or crying!); I trained with my friend who is a marathon runner and it was really hard, but she was fantastic. I was so chuffed that I managed 1 hour and 2 minutes even though of course I then wished I had got under the hour! My brother waited for me just as I waited for him when he completed his marathon. He knew how important this 10k had been for me and how emotional I would feel about it! To date I have lost 4st 7lbs (63lbs). I have shed 58 inches of fat, and from January 1st 2014, I have been running, have been ‘Slimmer of the week’ then ‘Slimmer of the month’ and finally ‘Slimmer of the year’. By the time I was forty I was a size 14 and I was so proud because I knew there was no going back! Even better it was so exciting when I started riding my dear horse again! No my trousers are a size 12 not 20! I came across ‘So Let's Go Running…’ on the web and on the first session I loved the fact people clapped me in at the end. I had a challenge on 31st August in West Sussex when I completed a triathlon; especially as I only bought the bike a few weeks ago and I can only do breast stroke! But I completed it all and felt elated after. I can now run eight miles and I am upping that every week. I am so happy and proud of myself and if I was to hear anyone saying "I would love to run but I can't", I would say "Of course you can, you just need to find a way to do it!"

“Together, we are one!” Run report by Tony Giles, pictures by Kerry Drew and Paul Johnston “THANK YOU! Two little words that are used a lot, but it sums up our sentiments at the end of a fantastic day at the Great Lines Heritage Park on Saturday.” This is how we started the run report for our very first parkrun back in September 2013. Sometimes it’s apt to look back on a momentous day and try and remember the notable parts of the day, because days like Saturday can be a bit of a blur. So if I miss something from Saturday’s run it’s because I’ve forgotten to write it down, not because it’s being ignored! All of the preceding week, the team were engaged in forward planning for Saturday’s run. Messages were exchanged like “Have you remembered this, you haven’t forgotten that, what if this happens…” You get the gist. The team even had to arrange for the possibility of not having enough tokens if we exceeded 300 runners. In the end, plan B was not required but an amazing 296 of you joined in at Great Lines Heritage Park to celebrate the first anniversary run! What a sight it was! If you were an alien from another planet, it would take all your powers of deduction to ascertain whether it was a run in fancy dress or a fancy dress party with an optional run! I’m not even going to attempt to list those of you who ran and the characters you became. Suffice to say, here’s just a small sample of some of the fantastic photographs taken by our volunteer photographers and we are all looking forward to Friday’s Medway Messenger! And the cakes were amazing! A huge thank you to all of you who participated in the “Great Lines parkrun bake off”. Special mention to Nina from Sugar ‘N’ Ice, who made a cake that was almost as big as the Great Lines itself, and Kirsty Winwood’s “half and half” cake. My personal favourite was the gypsy tarts. That took me back 40 years! Again, thanks must go to Tracy Rodwell for the wonderful organisation and to all of you for your contribution to the party. For all the mayhem and frivolity, the run was still the reason we were there and despite amazing costumes and unrecognisable regulars, all the credit has to be assigned to our amazing volunteers who stayed focused on the task and as ever produced an impeccable parkrun.

All of the statistics for yet another record breaking run can be found below, but we always recognise those of you who achieved a personal best. Some of you must have acquired superpowers to match the superheroes costumes as a total of 69 bests were recorded. If you made the list, “Congratulations!” Adam BIRD Adam CHILDS Adam FISSENDEN Adam TOMLINSON Adam WOOD Alexandria BAKER-JONES Andee PRICE Andy BRIGGS Andy HOLMES Anthony George ANSELL Bohdan RAINCZUK Cameron PAYAS Chris LAMBOURN Christine GROOM Claire OLD Colin CARPENTER Daniel MASON Dean GRADNER Donna TWORT Elizabeth ELLIS Eric DUURENJARGAL Franco DELLA MURA Gareth WILLIAMS

George COLLINS Graham SMITH Helen HARMAN Helen MOERS Hopi FERNANDES Ian WEST James JOHNSON Jim MURRAY Jonathan BRIND Jonathan LOCK June PASK Karen TURNER Linda GROOM Linda HAYSMAN Lisa RUSHTON Lorna TRIGGS Louie BANCE Lyndsey JOHN Martin TAYLOR Maxwell PHILLIPS Megan VOKE Miriam SIMMONS Mohan THAPA

Oliver CURD Pamela FINCHER Penny CADMAN Rebecca BRADD Richard TOMLINSON Robert WATSON Royanna ROGERS Ruth LAMBOURN Sally TAYLOR Samuel DOUBLEDAY Sarah KENYON Sarah PALMER Sarah SMITH Sarah THOMPSON Simon ANDERSON Simon PANTENY Stephanie PARRICK Terrie DICKSON Thomas GRAVES Tia HUNT Tim ERSKINE Tom COLLINS Zeb VOKE

Certainly the run was fully loaded. No fewer than 18 runners broke the 20 minute barrier, including Tom COLLINS who shaved another 6 seconds off his course records as an anniversary present to you all! You welcomed three new members to parkrun clubs, Alexander DONELLY qualified for his parkrun10 club T-shirt, whilst Peter BARRETT and Kirsty WINWOOD can now claim the coveted parkrun50 T-shirts. More trips in the near future to the parcel office look likely for your Event Director! Thanks to all our volunteers, especially Kerry DREW, Bill WAKEMAN and Paul JOHNSTON for the photos. As Chris Rowlands mentioned in last week’s run report, the points competition concluded on the previous Saturday and it was time to recognise the top three in each gender competition for both the seniors and juniors. The purpose of the points competition is to recognise commitment, perseverance and achievement and when you look at the “names in the frame” it’s clear that those who come week in, week out are those who have collected the awards The top 10 in each category were as follows:

Male points competition… Position Runner

Runs

Volunteer

Run Points

Volunteer Points

Total Points

1 2 3

Phil CAREY Peter CONN Philip WALLACE

40 35 32

8 4 0

3585 3186 2759

300 300 0

3654 3352 2759

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Anthony WICKER Glyn PALLISTER Geoff BLACKMAN Shaun COLLINS Clayton BARRETT Chris VALDUS Adam VOKE

33 28 32 25 23 23 36

3 6 2 0 0 0 2

2566 2149 2160 2291 2276 2271 2097

300 300 200 0 0 0 200

2742 2379 2360 2291 2276 2271 2242

Female points competition… Position

Runner

Runs

Volunteer

Run Points

Volunteer Points

Total Points

1 2 3

Terrie DICKSON Emma HAWKINS Kirsty WINWOOD

47 36 44

2 2 3

3865 3445 3110

200 200 300

4065 3577 3410

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Michaela JAMES Tracy Ellen RODWELL Hayley TAYLOR Sarah BEKAR Ida BRADFORD Natalie WATSON Shona PALLISTER

30 44 33 30 26 29 31

29 5 3 0 3 15 2

2793 2911 2824 2782 2334 2317 2374

300 300 300 0 300 300 200

3093 3078 3042 2782 2634 2617 2574

Junior male points competition… Position

Runner

Runs

Volunteer

12 14 31 53 56 63 74 76 85 87

Ollie RODWELL [Jnr] Callun CROLLA [Jnr] Conor VASSELL [Jnr] Hopi FERNANDES [Jnr] David MILLAR [Jnr] Jess BRADFORD [Jnr] Owen PALLISTER [Jnr] Jamie STEWART [Jnr] Andrew FRANCE [Jnr] Tyler FAIRBAIRN [Jnr]

39 22 30 17 17 23 18 9 9 18

8 0 5 0 12 2 0 0 0 0

Run Points 1942 1995 1110 1062 746 784 874 871 797 778

Volunteer Points 300 0 300 0 300 200 0 0 0 0

Total Points 2157 1995 1390 1062 1046 984 874 871 797 778

Junior female points competition…

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 0

Run Points 2175 1604 1319 889 828 721 712 349 649

Volunteer Points 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 300 0

Total Points 2175 1604 1319 889 828 721 712 649 649

607

Position

Runner

Runs

Volunteer

15 31 38 70 75 85 87 96 97

Selina GHEBREMESKEL [Jnr] Ruta GHEBREMESKEL [Jnr] Azaa DUURENJARGAL [Jnr] Katie PAINTER [Jnr] Jade YAMOAH [Jnr] Rhianna YAMOAH [Jnr] Emily MAXWELL [Jnr] Lucy GILES [Jnr] Sophie PAINTER [Jnr]

30 27 24 9 14 15 21 9 7

102

Abigail ROYDEN [Jnr]

There are however, also the people who make parkrun happen. Recognition was given to both Debbie WATTS and “Barefoot” Ricardo D‘ASH, who volunteered on 39 and 42 occasions respectively. That’s around 80% of the runs! There were also two awards for “Special Contribution”. These were awards that recognised those volunteers that run, but are prepared to contribute in other ways to Great Lines parkrun beyond the run itself. For 2014, these were awarded to Paul JOHNSTON and Michaela JAMES. In addition to running, Paul has always been willing to sacrifice his run if volunteers were in short supply. During the winter month he was invariably in the park before sunrise, doing the “litter pick” around the start/finish area and ready to help with the setup of the course. He provides the gazebo that is erected to keep our delicate technology dry in inclement weather and is also an occasional photographer. Having run, he quietly disappears and collects the signs and cones from the lower field to return them to the finish area. Michaela has provided valuable support to me as the Event Director, particularly in the last 5 months. It was always important that Great Lines parkrun does not become a “one man band” and when I asked for assistance, she came forward and has assisted as the volunteer coordinator, as well as assuming some of the administration responsibility that happens on the other 6 days of the week. She has often declined to run to ensure that the full complement of volunteers are on hand to stage the run.

So, back to one year ago. A field of runners and volunteers assembled on the Great Lines to run in a completely new event. How many of those that either ran or volunteered that day were here on Saturday? It took a little bit of detective work, but here is the list. The magnificent 37! Adam VOKE Adam WOOD Allen JONES Anthony Francis Patrick GILES Ben SOWDEN Celia POKE Daniel MASON Darrell HARMAN Elizabeth ELLIS Elizabeth VASSELL Franco DELLA MURA Gordon WATSON Hannah PICKERING

Ian PULLEN Ian WEST Jayne FLANNERY June PASK Katy PIPER Kirsty WINWOOD Michael ANTILL Michaela JAMES Mike REES Miriam SIMMONS Ollie RODWELL Paul HEYWOOD Paul JOHNSTON

Peter CONN Phil CAREY Phil OBRAY Sarah BEKAR Sarah DAND Sarah MENDOZA Simon ELLWOOD Steve RODWELL Terrie DICKSON Tracy Ellen RODWELL Tricia CLIFFE

So at the end of Saturday’s parkrun, what did we know?     

Great Lines parkrun started on 28th September 2013. Since then 1,559 different runners, including participants from 86 athletics clubs have run. You have completed 8,047 runs covering a total distance of 40,235 km (that’s the equivalent of running once around the equator and a little bit more!) There have been 2,520 new Personal Bests in total, an average rate of 31.3%. Your volunteers have performed a volunteering role on 899 occasions.

However, the most important statistic is how many friends we have made and the amount of fun that has been had as the community has grown.

With my Event Director’s hat on, I would like to thank the following once again:   



 

Everyone who has volunteered. Without you parkrun would not happen If you’ve volunteered in any capacity, huge thanks to you. Everyone who runs. Without you the volunteers would be sitting in the café. Everyone involved in the run groups and clubs. All of you spread the word about parkrun and I hope it’s growing your groups and clubs. I once thought Medway was a running backwater. You’ve proved everyone wrong! All our colleagues at parkrun HQ. We call them the parkrun elves. Once we submit the results, it’s their hard work that makes the magic happen. They provide the infrastructure that creates the results and sends out the texts and the weekly newsletters and provide the ongoing support that makes Great Lines and almost 500 other events happen each week. Your wonderful parkrun sponsors Sweatshop, adidas and Pru Health Vitality All of my fellow Event Directors in Kent. Great Lines parkrun was the sixth parkrun to be set up in Kent. There are now twelve with more exciting developments to be announced in the next few weeks. We all work together closely to grow and promote parkrun as whole in the county. Serkan and the staff in the Falcon café. His ‘tolerance’ of us as we process the results and as we possibly overstay our welcome is much appreciated! Medway Council. Medway is privileged to have a proactive and progressive Sports Development Team and events such as the Medway 10K, the Medway Sporting Legacy 5K Series and the amazing Medway Mile are just examples of what can be achieved. They have shown an active interest in what has happened here, provided ongoing support and provides the necessary permissions to run in this wonderful park.

On a personal level, I must also thank you all your kind words and for the wonderful mementos that you gave me after the awards on Saturday. It has been a real privilege to be involved in this event over the last 12 months and I was truly humbled at the efforts that you made to make it a personal memory for me. The important thing that should now be recognised is that this is your event and how it develops from here will be determined by your support and commitment to it. I somehow think that it’s in good hands.

Forthcoming Events… The ‘Forthcoming Events’ page is sponsored by Nice Work, a long established family business – started in 1989 - that has grown to become one of the country’s leading race management companies, whose race portfolio now features in excess of 140 races nationwide. Forthcoming Nice Work events for November 2014 include… The 10th Anniversary Beckley 10k Location: Beckley Village Centre, Main Street, Beckley Nr Rye, East Sussex Date: Sunday 2nd November 2014 Time: 11.00 am The Chasers 10k Winter Series Location: The Hub, Regents Park, London NW1 4RU (nearest entrance Monkey Gate) Date: Sunday 2nd November 2014 Time: 9.15 am The Gravesend Floodlit 5K and 10k Series Location: Cyclopark, The Tollgate, Wrotham Road, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 7NP Date: Thursday 13th November 2014 Time: From 7.00 pm The After Adoption Regent's Park 10k Location: Regents Park, London Date: Sunday 16th November 2014 Time: 10.00 am Capital Runners Bushy Park 10k Location: Bushy Park, London KT8 9BZ Date: Sunday 23rd November 2014 Time: 10.00 am The Gravesend Floodlit 5k and 10k Series Location: Cyclopark, The Tollgate, Wrotham Road, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 7NP Date: Thursday 11th December 2014 Time: From 7.00 pm

The 10th Anniversary Beckley 10k

All of the above events can be entered online…

Come along and help us celebrate the 10th running of this popular village race. A challenging run along the lanes around this pretty East Sussex village. Hilly in parts, the home stretch, though, is straight and largely downhill-ish, so a fast finish is guaranteed. Runners of all standards welcome. All race profits to Beckley Village Centre. Special 10th anniversary commemorative medals plus free beer and home made cakes to all finishers Includes Children's Race Enter the above events online or visit www.nice-work.org.uk for more details… For further details http://www.nice-work.org.uk/

Race Review: Diamond Tri Sprint Triathlon… by Jessica Howitt Sept 7th September 2014 WOOHOO, I did it! I’m officially a Triathlete and can’t stop smiling! Today I took part in the Diamond Tri Sprint Triathlon at Eaton Dorney Lake, an event put on by Human Race. I’m so happy I took part and will be definitely be going back next year. I had my super cheering squad, Bex and Cristiano with me, who as usual did a fantastic job of cheering me on, thanks guys! Here’s my race review, I’ll try and keep it brief (ish): Preparation: We arrived in plenty of time which allowed me to get more and more nervous. I think people in wetsuits automatically look professional, and as I watched some of the early competitors coming out of the water into their first transition, I had a serious “What on earth am I doing here moment.”

After plenty of whimpering from the sidelines I went to set up my kit. My hands were actually shaking as I fastened my number to my T-shirt which is ridiculous! I was actually more nervous than before a marathon! Luckily there were some lovely ladies next to me who were happy to give me advice, such as to put plastic bags on your hands and feet when putting on your wetsuit to help it slide on more easily, and how to lay out my kit to make my transition more efficient. These ladies really eased my nerves and when it was time to get into the water I felt a little calmer. Swim- 16.46 I felt well prepared for the swim after practicing my open water swimming in the Lakes and swimming once or twice a week for the last few months. I was nervous about all the argy- bargy I’d heard about, but because it was a women’s only start I rightly assumed it would be a little better. Before I knew it the horn was blown and we were off. It was a

little busy at the beginning but people soon spaced out and I got into a good rhythm. I felt strong throughout and didn’t have any panic moments. I finished the 750m swim in 16.46, which was slightly quicker than I expected and a good start to the race. T1- 2.53 I was worried I’d be wriggling around on the floor trying to get my wetsuit off, but luckily the ‘bodyglide’ did the trick and it came off easily. I fumbled around a little but there were no disasters. Bike- 55.27 The bike was the section I was utterly dreading. Bex had lent me her road bike, and I’d only had a chance to ride it once around the block to learn how to use the gears. Even though it was pancake flat, I felt physically sick at the idea of it. All I wanted to do was finish without falling off my bike or causing a collision. Cri and Bex happily told me I was the slowest cyclist there and I did seem to get overtaken by pretty much everyone. Luckily my expectations were so low, I really didn’t mind. I was happy when it was over, even though I got one of the slowest times.

T2- 1.01 This transition was easy as I just had to dump my bike and start running- easy! Run- 24.12 Hello jelly legs!! I knew my legs would feel weird but they actually felt like they weren’t attached to my body, very strange indeed. It was hard to judge my pace when my legs felt so weird so I just kept running. My rubbish cycle

had obviously put me at the back of the pack, which meant when it got the run, I seemed to be overtaking pretty much everyone. This hasn’t happened in a race before and it was a real morale booster- the intervals had obviously paid off! I finished in quite a respectable time considering what I’d done beforehand so was pretty pleased. Finish time: 1:40:19 I was really chuffed with my time. I really didn’t have a clue how I would do or what a good time would be, but had 1:45 at the back of my mind. I’m pleased how strong my swim and run were, and am excited to see how I could if I actually learn to ride a bike. It was a great event which was really well organised with friendly staff and a good atmosphere. What more can you ask for?

So, thanks Human, Race, I’ll definitely be back next year, perhaps with some clip on shoes. Oh, and obviously it goes without saying that we celebrated with food and wine! Have you done your first triathlon this Summer, or are you a veteran? Can you recommend any good triathlons? Were you ever as terrible as me on the bike?

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Coming next monthâ&#x20AC;Ś

Have you a business or a hobby to advertise? Or something to sell or a holiday cottage to hire out? If so, please contact Brian on slgr@hotmail.co.uk regarding advertising in future issues… Very competitive rates!

Coming next month in Issue 35… Petts Wood 10k… Jaz Sandalli’s Ealing Half Marathon… Nice Work’s ‘Forthcoming Events’ for December 2014… JAW Automotive Highway 10k… A Day in the Life of…Duathlete Beatrice Schaer… Plus lots, lots more…

- is produced by Dawn Annett and Brian Page - is sponsored by T. Miller Roofing - is printed at Marstan Press, Bexleyheath, Kent