Run Daddy Run

Updating, sulking but on the way back

2016-06-10T15:48:00.001-07:00

It been a while since my last proper blog and in that time a lot has happened, almost too much to catch up on, which has contributed to the lack of blog. How can I fit everything in a blog without it being a 10000 word essay that just goes on and on and not getting to a point. So I have decided that to quickly catch you up I'm just going to use bullet points and if you would like a bit more detail just ask and then I can get on to what brought me back to my blog.

So since my last blog I have

Held a very successful Windmill 6 and raised £550 for my son's School

Won the competition that my wife and I entered to win a trip to the Kangaroo marathon in Austrailia

Completed the world half marathon in Cardiff in 1hr30m23s which is a 3s PB

Finished the Wakefield 10k in 39.26m plus SJ ran it too as her first 10k and smashed it (very proud)

Had an amazing trip with the boys and SJ to Alton towers (the boys first visit)

Started and held the first School mob run at junior parkrun (It went well)

Been asked to help organise the Poppy Dash 5k which will be rememberence Sunday

Become an Event Adjudicator for UK athletics

I'm now also a Grade 2 registered course measurer (Measured my local parkrun for fun and practice)

Applied to be on Ninja Warrior UK 3

Witnessed a few of my running group runners complete races they wouldn't have even thought about and done amazingly well too (really proud)

I have taken the next step in becoming a running coach

Most recently I have also got a job albeit a temporary one, but who knows what will happen.

And now to why I have be away until now......

I have done all of the above while being injured, I have been struggling with a knee injury that I think started at the Huddersfield 10k. What brought it to the surface or tipped it over the edge was the 21 mile buggy run I did in prep for the Manchester marathon. I had to think of the long term effect and drop out of the marathon because of it but from the bad stories I heard about it this year and the incorrect distance of the past few years I may have made a good decision. If it sorts itself out I may give it a go in the future but not for now, I will have to find another flat marathon to attempt my good for age time.

So once I had decided to listen to my injury I dropped down from running 7 days a week to just 2, parkrun and my beginners group, which was ok for a while but it wasn't helping. I then did what I should have done a while back and listened to my body and my wife and went to see my GP, who suggested complete rest for a while. It was the best thing to do but as any runner will agree injuries suck, I sat and sulked, imagined, and wished I could be out there as friends and others ran all the races I was suppose to run or wished I could run (London marathon for example). I also ate like I was running and as a result I have put on a stone and lost some fitness. I did nothing for 3 weeks (GP said a month, sorry Neil) then I ran at Preston parkrun on my return. It was a lovely parkrun but it was really hard and even though I took it easy on my first run back I don't think I had much more to give. I was 4 minutes off my usual pace which was a little disheartening but it was a target, a challenge, a goal to aim for on my comeback. A couple of weeks later and it still wasn't right but I tried a longer run to see if I could attempt the School run (2nd race in the SHTAR (South Huudersfield Trail and Road) series) and after 5 miles, a few stops and some burning lungs I stopped and realised I needed a new approach. Luckily it come in an unexpected but very much appreciated form of Mr Simon Courtney (fellow Stadium runner and personal trainer) who gave me some body weight exercises and foam roller exercises to do. He said that my injury is mainly due to a tight IT band which is pulling at the ligaments and muscles around my knee.

So this past Saturday I ran parkrun and ran it at pace and to my surprise I managed it without too much pain and that was from just one session with Simon. I wasn't completely fixed but I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, I just needed to regain my fitness. So it was on to the School Run and it wasn't for me no it was for SJ, when I said I couldn't do it she said well maybe I should. I was ever so proud of her, she even ran parkrun with the boys before hand as well. She finished parkrun and an hour later was running up some silly hills around Digley reservoir, I couldn't have been more proud of her.

Yesterday (Thursday) I went for my first run other than parkrun for a while and a run with Steve which also was a first for a while. We went for a 5 mile run up hills and on trail and my knee felt really good, I went round about 95% pain free with only the odd twinge so I arrived back home with renewed optimism about the road back to fitness. The 5 mile run was still hard but on a hot and humid night and on the terrain we ran it was a huge step in the right direction. So a big thank you to Simon for taking it upon himself to set me on the road to recovery.

The time has now come for me to get back running properly and that also means I can start to think about entering races again. My main thoughts though are the Shepley 10k which as you regular readers know is my race I organise, which this year should be amazing for so many reasons. Firstly this year will be it's 4th and biggest to date with my fellow Stadium runners making an appearance as its on the clubs championship calendar. Plus it's the 4th race on the SHTAR series which is turning out to be a better series than we thought it would be. As I have become a course measurer I might be able to get the Shepley 10k a UK athletics licenced event which means it will count towards the power of 10 leaderboards and should attract a lot more athletes. But the main reason I'm looking forward to this years Shepley 10k is because this year there will be so many of my friends at the event that I have met over the last 4 years and that was the main reason for starting the event. I wanted to put on the race to start with to run a route I enjoyed a lot with all of my friends and share the beautiful views and surrounding areas with them. The friends and friendships you make on your journey is what keep most people coming back to races and runs and has been a major part of my running this past 4 years. In that 4 years I've also set up various races or runs and met lots of new friends because of it and I hope that I will continue to make friends and create new events and races for people to come and run with me.

Oh it's good to be back

Keep running everyone

OMG WE ONLY WENT AND BLOODY WON

2016-03-25T16:05:00.001-07:00

In my last post I mentioned the #myrunningmate competition that the Kangaroo island marathon were holding with a couple of entries to the marathon and travel and accommodation up for grabs. Well we only went and won it!!!!!! OMG!!! SJ and I are truly amazed and so very humbled by the help, votes, shares, and general loveliness shown by our friends and total strangers towards us for this comp. We are so excited now and can't wait to find out the details etc. about the comp and share them with you.

February update and a bit of March including Dewsbury 10k and theWindmill 6

2016-03-08T11:33:00.001-08:00

February started where January left of with lots of running, well what did you expect and the start of another month or so of PB's yet again. At some point all the PB's will stop I'm sure but for now I'm just happy to keep pushing and getting better and faster.

Early February is Dewsbury 10k time and this year was my first attempt at it, with a flat out and back route it was popular for getting PB's, people compare it to the Leeds Abbey Dash. I hoped not as I was looking forward to it and to possibly getting that elusive sub 40 time, I had tried and failed at the Abbey Dash so this was my next opportunity. It was also on the Stadium Runners race calendar so I had to give it the best I could so I could pick up as many points as possible. I got a lift over there with Steve and on the drive over we discussed our tactics and Steve was happy to pace me to a sub 40 which I was happy with. If I could stick with Steve as long as possible I should be able to hit my target, so at the start line we made are way as close to the front as we dared and at 9am we were off. About 1km I passed Steve feeling great and just planned to stay in front of him as long as possible because I know Steve would hang behind and then just breeze past at the end. At the turn around I took a gel even though I felt ok still but knew I might need it in the closing minutes. By 8km Steve still hadn't passed me and I was still keeping my focus and posture to try and keep it that way. It was also at this point that the route turned a corner and we had a fairly strong head wind for the last mile. So normally when you want to push that little extra to get the best finish you can you can't because of the wind. I had to just dig deep and push even if I didn't get that little extra push at least I wasn't slowing down. As I got within 200m of the finish I put in a little extra for the sprint finish and to make sure I gave Steve a run for his money. I crossed the finish line and and turned around to congratulate Steve but he wasn't there, so I looked at my watch and to my amazement I had finished in 38.14mins. I had beaten my 10k PB by over 2 mins, I was gobsmacked but absolutely over the moon. Steve came across the line a few seconds later in 38.30 beating his PB too and he said he tried to stay with me but couldn't which made me smile as that was only the 2nd time I had beaten Steve at a race and I thought the first would be the only time that would happen. We hung around to cheer and meet up with all the other Stadium runners and it turned out to be a great day for PB's as at least 75% of us had beaten our PB's. Well done everyone....

The high of the Dewsbury 10k was still helping when It came to parkrun the following Saturday where is also took a few seconds off my 5k PB too as I crossed the line in 18.40m this running thing is highly addictive when you keep PBing. That same day I handed out some flyers for the South Hudderfield trail and road series with Jon as there was only a few weeks until the first race, The Windmill 6 which was my race that was raising money for Shepley First School. There was a bumper crowd of nearly 600 at parkrun that day so we were hopeful of a few entries from our flyers.

The next few weeks consisted of lots of emailing and posting on social media trying to sort out and drum up some more attention for the Windmill 6, although that didn't stop me running. I was still run streaking and was closing in on the 100 day mark at the end of February with the 100 day coming the Friday before the Windmill 6. Would I stop at 100, well anyone that knows me would quite quickly say no and they would be right. Especially as the following day is parkrun and then the Windmill 6 the day after that. Before all of that happened it was the last Sunday in February and that is Huddersfield 10k day, which for all of you with a good memory or if you've been running with the past couple of weeks you would have heard me rattle on about it. The Huddersfield 10k was my first official 10k now an amazing 3 years ago, with all the running I have done it seems longer ago than that. I had actually questioned whether or not I was going to enter it this year, but for sentimental reasons I did, and I the form I was in I was hoping for another PB albeit a course PB. There was no way I was doing it in 38 mins but I was going to aim for a 42 at least. The night before the race however I had gone out for a small school reunion and as these things do, it went on longer than I had planned and as usual I decided to run home too. I had already run nine miles that day and with the added seven running home (in none running shoes!)I had ruined my legs and made my feet quite sore. So race day my feet were in bits and my calves were very tight, but I pushed on not complaining too much as it was self-inflicted. I push as hard as my calves would let on the uphills and let myself go as fast as my feet would allow on the descents, but it took its toll and I couldn't force myself to finish strong. That being said I did cross the line in 42.37 which was a minute quicker than last year, but I knew I could have done so much better, a lot closer to 40mins based on how I felt and my performance on the day. Still it was a course PB so in the grand scale of things a great result and could have been so much worse given what I had done the day before.

February also saw me enter a competition for SJ and myself to win a trip to Australia to take part in the Kangaroo Island marathon. We had seen a Facebook friend enter and just thought why not give it a try and see what happens, so I posted a photo of me and SJ with the boys and posted it. The idea is that people vote on your photo and the photo with the most vote wins the competition, when we entered the leading 2 had about 800 and 720 votes so we felt like we had no chance. We started to share the post on Facebook and thanks to friend and family sharing it we quickly rose to about 420 votes which was amazing. Then suddenly overnight we had only 250 votes and the leading 2 had gone down to 200 which had put us in the lead, we weren't sure what was going on or whether this was for real or not. After a little investigation from SJ apparently the organisers had taken the votes off people because of people cheating and figuring out how to vote more than once, so they reset everyone votes to a certain date and then voting was open again but with a more strict voting system. So it was real we were in the lead and we had a chance of winning so we didn't let the opportunity slip away. We posted and share our link all over facebook with friends and family sharing it too, plus we added it to groups we are in and we soon were up to 600 votes and counting. There was a couple of American ladies in 2nd who were sticking with us in the votes but we had the slight advantage. It became clear that it was looking like it was going to be between us and the American ladies and after a bit of back and forth with local plugs we have started to pull away. We had our story in our local paper and they did in theirs too as well as being on their local radio station too, but we have still managed to stay ahead of them and as of today with 8 full days left in the comp we have 1281 votes to their 932. It's getting very tense yet exciting and I'm sure come next week we will be a nervous wreck.

The Windmill 6 was an amazing success with over 90 people entering it and 73 running it on the day, we did have a slight panic as it snowed the couple of days before it and lightly the morning of the race, but luckily on the day the roads were clear and the sun came out making it, to quote a runner "the most picturesque race" he'd been in. Everyone had a great time and I got some great feedback from everyone. The only issue we did have was the windmill nursery and cafe got very grumpy about the runners wanting to use the toilets before the race. Complaining they weren't paying customers, even though I had asked permission beforehand and warned them they were coming and most of them will stop after for a coffee and or bacon butty. So there was a few annoyed runners but luckily not at me, and because the cafe were being silly a lot of the runners decided not to stick around because the cafe owners were very rude to them. It's a small cafe in the middle of nowhere so you would think they would take all the customers they could but because they were quite so rude they lost out on what could have been a really profitable morning for them. Oh well we had a successful run and we raised a good amount of money for the school. It was a great start to the series too and a few people have signed up to the series since and because of the Windmill 6. So on to the next one which is the School Run from Holme school and a trail run up and over the Digley reservoir, it should be a great race, you can find info on the series here.

That's it for now but I'm sure I'll do an update for the close of the comp.

Keep running everyone

January 2016 and what a start to the year PB's, interviews and new stuff

2016-01-27T09:39:00.000-08:00

In my last blog I talked about trying to make sure I topped a great 2015 with an excellent 2016, well so far its mission accomplished. Last year I started with the goal of cracking a sub 20 at parkrun by the end of the year but did it within weeks of the year starting. Well the same happened this year too, my goal was to get a sub 19 by the end of the year but just as last year I did it within a couple of weeks. I put a lot of it down to the run streaking I have done for the past couple of years around this time of year but also a bit of it is down to new shoes.

The confidence and buzz a new pair of shoes gives you is great, going round corners is easier and in slightly damp condition you still push hard knowing that you're not going to slip in the slightest. This resulted in a parkrun PB of 18.47, which when I crossed the line and saw my time on my watch made me uncharacteristicly shout and yell really quite loudly and with such joy that it made my friend Steve get goose bumps, as he was really delighted for me.

The next day I then went to the first race of Team OA's 4 seasons 10k trail race to test out the new trail shoes. A few friends were doing the same race so I turned up and paid on the day (first time I've done that and it felt weird) and lined up on the front of the startline next to Tom Whitworth and his dad. Tom is a great runner and has just turned 15 so his dad was running with him so he could enter the race. Tom parkrun PB is a mid 18min so I knew if I kept with him I'd would know I was doing well. We stuck together all the way round and in the end we both left his dad behind on the final descent and Tom passed me with 200m to go and we crossed the line, get this, Tom 3rd and me 4th how amazing is that.... I was on cloud 9, finishing 4th was awesome and on such a muddy and hilly course I was even more amazed that I did it in 46 mins too.

During the following week I had a job interview, something that I haven't had for nearly 7 years and for a job I knew I could do but hadn't done anything like it before. The interview went well but there was a definite sense that they wanted someone with experience but at least I could come away with a bit of experience and happy that I put myself across to them properly and without saying something silly or getting too nervous to answer the questions properly. Now I know this blog is mainly about my running but I put this in because of all I have done over the past three and a half year has helped me in more than just in a race or run. For example being involved in parkrun and mainly Junior parkrun has helped me immensely in organisation speaking in front of people and believing in myself and what I can bring to others. Even if it's just how I appear to others that gives them the confidence to try something new or follow in my foot steps, it's how I've have gained a lot of my skills and knowledge. A week later and it was confirmed that I didn't get the job but I was ok with it as I had done something that I have done for a while and came out of it with a great self confidence and more experience.

They say when one door closes another one opens and a few day later that was proven true as I received an email about something I had expressed interest in back in December. I was chosen to be 1 of a 100 testers of a new running watch from Epson the new runsense SF-810. I have to review the watch through a regular Vlog that I will post on YouTube and on a Epson website too and if I do this up to March 20th I get to keep the watch and all free of charge. I'm so excited about this opportunity, I like new things and having the chance to test it out before many others is just so cool. It arrived a few days ago and I've been playing with it and checking out its feature everyday since, discovering which are cool and useful and which are just unnecessary. You can see my terrible attempt at my first Vlog by clicking here hopefully I will get better at them as this product test continues.

The watch boasts a 99% accurate heart rate monitor and a smart GPS feature which should reduce the loss of data from such things as tunnels and dense over hanging trees that play havoc with the signal on most running watches. So far I have had very few problems with the watch just setup issues, like understand and getting familiar with the buttons and what they do. The main setup issue has been adjusting the display setting, you can choose which type of measurement you want on your display i.e. heart rate, distance, lap time, and time. However when I added time to it, it wasn't time as in duration, no it was time as in clock time, this puzzled me as I looked up and down the list over and over again. If Time was a clock what on earth was duration time under, they can't possibly have forgotten to put a stop watch on a running watch, could they? Well as it turns out after SJ looking at the list, that it was classed as split time, which I thought would be something similar to lap time. SJ said it was a slightly old fashioned (apologies if that is a bit offensive or ageist)way of saying time/duration. Once you have your display set up the way you like it you have to save it and then, this is a silly bit but make sure you write the data to the watch otherwise it won't register it and revert back to the way it was before.

On a normal day to day and run to run basis it has been brilliant, it's light which always helps, some watches can be quite heavy which you notice on a long run, so any extra weight you don't have to carry with you the better. The strap has lots of holes making sure you can get a great fit on you wrist and avoid any unwanted movement. On a run it's been really good and the GPS has so far been spot on give or take 5/10 metres at the Km splits. The smart GPS is supposed to learn your stride pattern so that if you go through a tunnel or lose signal briefly it can still work out your pace and location. I haven't needed it yet so can't comment whether or not it works but I'm sure I will need it at some point. However I have had some loss of heart rate data where it thinks I have a heart rate of 100 for a good couple of km's, now I don't know if it is because I'm wearing the watch too tight or too loose or if it was too cold for it but something wasn't quite right. I will keep an eye on that and see if it sorts itself out or not.

The battery life on the watch is really good, it boasts 30hrs of GPS tracking but I thought I would just see how long the watch lasts if I just use it like a watch. So I wore it all the time, like a normal watch and then on my runs too, to see how long it would last before it needed charging and I was pleasantly surprised. It lasted four full days and four 10k runs before I put it on charge overnight which means you could use like a watch and wear it all the time just charge it every few days whilst you sleep. It also has a power save mode which is cool, when I took it off to get in the shower/bath or to do the washing up and put it on the side, after a couple of minutes it turned itself off. Then when I pick it back up to put back on it recognises that and turns back on, saving on your battery life again. so far I'm very impressed with the watch, let's just hope it continues that way as the test progresses.

There has also been other great things happening in January like, my running group on a Wednesday has grown to around 12/13 people and nearly 30 since I started back in May and even Dexter has started to join me on a Wednesday which makes me ever so proud of him. It's great to see lots of new faces join me for my beginner runners group and so far they have all done amazingly well. January has also seen another interview for something I'm very familiar with but as yet I don't know the outcome so I won't go into too much detail other than to say if I get it I will be so proud and excited. Clark has achieved and received his 10 t-shirt and even smashed his junior parkrun and Saturday parkrun PB's, he is turning into a brilliant little runner.

SJ has set her sights on completing her first 10k by June and I've signed her up to take part in the Wakefield Hospice 10k in April. It's amazing that she has decided to do it and it makes me so proud of her, plus she is doing really well at Judo too, she's well on her way to get a green belt soon.

In December last year I was approached by a friend at parkrun to see if I could come into the school he works at to do a talk about junior parkrun as the have a small running club and would like bring them to junior parkrun and maybe attract a few more to their running club. Well yesterday we finally found a time to suit us both and I went down to stand in front of 200 kids and talk to them about junior parkrun and parkrun in general. I gave them the run down on what happens on a Sunday and a few stats about parkrun then I asked them if they had any questions. Immediately there were loads of hands from enthusiastic kids which was great to see and I did my best to answer them all. There was questions like "do we get a trophy?" and "do we have to run with our parents?" so I think they all got what I had been saying and when they were asked who wanted to try it almost all of them put their hands up which was amazing. It wasn't until after the assembly that I had anytime time to breathe and reflect on what I had just done. I would not have been able to do that three years ago without feeling terrified and really nervous and probably done anything to get out of doing it. Another thing that I feel I have parkrun to thank for as it has given me a whole new level of confidence when it comes to talk to people and talking in front of large group of people all with their eyes firmly focused on me.

So January has been an awesome month so far and lets hope that the rest of the year continues in the same way.

Keep running everyone

2015 review and plans for 2016

2015-12-30T15:43:00.001-08:00

Over the last 12 months I have surpassed my goals that I set myself this time last year, and this has made 2015 a totally amazing year, one that will be tough to top. There is one thing for sure about 2016 and those who know me won't be surprised I will try my hardest to make this one even better..

At the beginning of the year I had set my sights on the half marathons I was doing and my first ever marathon as well as beating my parkrun PB, what I didn't expect is how well things would go. As 2015 started I was already a third of the way through my 100 days of running challenge. I was expecting a few injuries after running every day for 100 days but all I got from it was one sore ankle that needed a little bit of rest. That wasn't surprising as I finished off the challenge with an unofficial marathon route around Huddersfield. After resting a couple of days I was back on it getting ready for the Liverpool half where I would smash my half marathon PB with a time of 1h30m26s. It was then on to the Huddersfield, Yorkshire and Leeds half marathons which all went really well.

I then created the June 10k challenge which 8 others and I completed smashing PB's along the way. It was a tough but great challenge and it kept me motivated until my marathon training was due to start. We all did it for different reasons but we all finished it with a great sense of accomplishment. I think I will do it again in 2016 and see how many more people will join me this time.

During the rest of the summer I tried to keep up with my training runs but I could have done better, the south of France is a bit of a distraction but a great one. Then there was another successful Shepley 10k and another great run for me and Jessie's debut at my event.

As Autumn hit so did the serious training and the long runs, when I could. There was a failure on my first long run when I failed to plan properly and fuel myself for the long run. This resulted in 2/3 miles of walking and my kidneys screaming for water and my body going into shock when I got home. I learnt from it and my next and final three long runs went well and I felt ready but slightly nervous for my marathon.

I was nervous for about 15 mins on the day until excitement took over, and in the end the day went amazingly. I finished my first official marathon in a time of 3h19m55s which considering I was hoping for 3h30m was awesome and got me all emotional at the finish. I finished it with a slight bit of cramp and that was it so I wondered if I could have pushed it that little bit harder.

I finished my first full year at Stadium Runners which meant I had entered enough of the club calendar race to qualify for the championship and I finished 6th clinching it on the final race of the season at the Guy Fawkes 10 mile race at Ripley castle. Then we had a great awards night celebrating 10 years of Stadium Runners in one of the fantastic event suites at the John Smiths Stadium.

Which then leads me on to December where once again I took part in the Marcothon challenge, completing it with a run with some other Marcothon runners from Acre street runners on New Year's Eve with a 12km run. I have tried to up the training for this years Marcothon by doing buggy runs and even double runs just to see if I can push that little extra for next year.

Last year I ran 2600km or 1615m which is nearly 1600km or 1000m more than last year, It has paid off as my PB's have dropped a lot as a result.

5k PB has gone from 20.47 to 19.04

10k PB has gone from 43.05 to 40.20

Half marathon PB 2h02m to 1h30m although there was a huge difference in the courses from very hilly to flat.

My plans for 2016 are fairly simple when put into words but to actually put them into miles on the roads etc will be a different matter. I have entered the Manchester Marathon and have plans for a couple of half marathons in the springtime but other than that I haven't set anything in stone yet. I do however want to take part in my first ultra this year and I'm probably going to target the White rose ultra as the one I take part in. 2016 also see the start of the new road and trail series I am part of and my 2 races (the Windmill 6 and Shepley 10k) will make up 2 of the 5 races in the series, it's a very exciting time. I will update you all on this as we get closer to the first race which is the Windmill 6 on March 6th.

My 2016 has already got off to a great start with Steve and I doing the New Year's Day parkrun double and running in between them as well. We started with Dewsbury parkrun with lots of our friends from Hudds parkrun.

We started steady finishing it in 21 mins which then left us 1hr and 5m to run the 8.5 miles to Greenhead park, Huddersfield and then run Huddersfield parkrun. Steve managed a good run round Greenhead park to finish and I got to run with my family for their first run of 2016 it was a great day. That was then topped off by the following day being my birthday and another parkrun where I managed to run round just 2 seconds off my PB, which after running 15 miles the day before was absolutely brilliant, let's hope that the rest of 2016 continues like it has started.

My beginners group has already had an awesome start to 2016 as well with 6 new faces yesterday one of which was Dexter and he did amazingly too. It was a great start to the year for the beginners group and I can see a lot of potential in them all too, I'm really looking forward to the next session and also the intermediate group this evening.

To finish I'll add afraid my favourite photos from the year.

Let's keep it up everyone and keep running

The Marcothon challenge is upon us again, how will this years challenge go?

2015-11-27T04:33:00.001-08:00

My blog posts these days are very sporadic and when I do post it seems to be just race write ups, and when I do have something other than races to write about I don't seem to find time to blog. The other reason I don't blog as much as I used to is a little 2 year old called Flynn! Yeah he's 2 now and very bossy too. He has discovered words and a few sentences so I get told to get him things a lot or take him places he can't quite reach yet, like cupboards, shelves and mainly the fridge because he wants everything now and won't wait till Lunch or Tea. The main reason I don't blog as much is my best ideas come when I'm out running and by the time I'm home it's gone, memory like a sieve some times!

A Flynn selfie

So what have I been up to recently? Well since the marathon I've taken it a little easier dropping the distances on my runs to no more than about 10 miles and I've been happy to now and again say to myself, I don't have to run today so I won't. That's not because I've lost the love of running or the inspiration to get out there and pound the streets, no. The thing with marathon or longer training is the amount of time you're away from family, and it's especially unfair on SJ as my runs we're mainly when she gets home from work. So she would come home we would have a little time together then I would be out running for a couple of hours, come home jump in the shower and then she would be out doing her things (Judo, Pub Quiz and Beavers). So it's been nice to be able to sit down with her and just do nothing, watch a bit of TV and just enjoy being in the same house together.

A photo of SJ and I at the recent Stadium Runners 10th anniversery awards night and a rare night out for us, it was a great night.

I have done a couple of races since the marathon, the Guy Fawkes 10 over at Ripley castle which was a tough hilly 10 miler, but I finished in a very pleasing time and comfortably too. Then there was the Leeds Abbey Dash which I entered for one reason only, to go for a sub 40 time as I had been so close to it at the York 10k a few months back. Things didn't go to plan and I finished it in 41.04 which is my second fastest 10k time and a nearly 5 minute course PB, which I had to remind myself about as I was a little annoyed that I couldn't break the 40 minute mark. I know it will come but I had set my sights on it and was feeling great leading up to it, plus it's probably the first race that I've done where I haven't hit my target or surprised myself at how well I had done. I've stopped being so hard on myself and just got on with my usual weekly runs but as always my thoughts have moved on to the next challenge or figuring out what the next challenge is.

As it is nearly December it would be a shame not to do Marcothon again as it had such an impact on my running last year. For those of you who aren't familiar with Marcothon it's a challenge that someone started a few years ago that has increased in popularity over the last couple of years. Basically you have to run everyday throughout December for a minimum of 5k or 25 mins that includes Christmas Day as well. Last year I started it with a 21.28 5k PB and a 45.33 10k PB and ended the challenge with a 20.52m 5k PB and a 43.14min 10k PB. I did go on to smash those PB a month later but it was the Marcothon challenge that started the transformation in my running.

This year however I am going to try to run each weekday with Flynn in the buggy unless the weather is bad as it would be just too cruel to take him out in it. That at least will be a little tougher than usual and could just be what I need through December to give me a good start to the new year and hopefully kick start my next set of races in 2016.

When I started running, now 3 and a half years ago, I just wanted to be able to drop the boys off at school without breaking into a sweat (check, done, unless we run up because we are late) but as I got fitter and could run further I wanted to keep going to see how far I could run. At the time I was thinking 10k, 10 miles, half marathon possibly, but I didn't think about marathons until I had been running about a year, that was just silly to think I could run that far. That seems to be the case with a lot of people who are new to running they build and build and test themselves and push boundaries and limits, but most people will get to a point and then discover their favourite distance. Even if they have run further before they find a distance which challenges them enough without it turning into pain and that feeling of why on earth am I doing this.

Now I have done a marathon I can say with almost 100% certainty that I still have further to go, the fact I went 26.2 miles for the first official time and only got a tiny bit of cramp at the finish line has made me question just how far could I go again. I am really looking forward to finding out too but like I said earlier it does take up a lot of time away from the family, so this is going to have to be planned very carefully as I love my family to bits and I don't want my hobby (if I can call it that), to take over their lives too much, it's just not fair. Now don't get me wrong it's not like they hate running they quite enjoy it taking part at parkrun each Saturday and junior parkrun on a Sunday too, there are more things in our lives other than running. SJ, Dexter and Clark have taken up Judo and really enjoy it, so much so that all of their faces light up when they talk about it, just like I'm sure mine does when I talk about running.

So 2016 is going to be the year of Judo Mons, Judo belts and running miles (or Km if you're like me) let's just hope we can all progress together

Keep running everyone

2015 Yorkshire Marathon race review and my first of many????

2015-10-12T06:04:00.001-07:00

All the miles, the sweat, the blisters, the mistakes, and the time away from the family, led me to this, the 2015 Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon.

I hadn't followed a proper training plan leading up to the marathon unlike many of my running friends but I knew what I needed to do and I was determined to get the miles under my belt. I knew I was fit and my legs could take the miles but I just had to do the long runs to prove it to myself mentally before the day so I could just turn up on the day and enjoy the experience. The only thing that could have thrown me mentally was the fact that on my long runs I had only managed to keep to my hopeful marathon pace for the first 13-15 miles then I had slowed down. Now granted there was things called hills that got in the way or failed fuelling runs but it was a negative on the training. Luckily I have some amazing people around me that can't fail to inspire me, keep me positive and just make me happy. Negative, what Negative?! I am normally a very chilled and relax person and take things in my stride good or bad but when it comes to running I'm very positive and very positive with other peoples running too. So when I woke up on Sunday morning at 5.20am feeling nervous I was a little anxious, luckily the walk up to Shelley to meet up with Steven Taylor who was driving Steve, Dan and me over to York gave me time to collect some thoughts. So by the time we were on the M1 I was excited again and I just couldn't wait to get there.

Arriving at Elvington Airfield for the park and run bus service we parked up and jumped straight on a bus heading for the university campus, it was really smoothly done, great organisation. It wasn't long before we pulled into the campus and we were off looking for toilets as you do, and then we hung around the event village and got changed and ready in our outfits, got our gels ready and then dropped off our bags before once again going to the toilets.

It was getting close to the start of the race so we went to find our assembly zones Steven was in zone 1, Steve and Dan were in zone 2 and I was in zone 3 because I signed up before my running had improved so I was down as an estimated time of over 4 hours. As my running has come on leaps and bounds since the start of the year and my training has been going well, I was aiming for a time somewhere between 3h30 and 3h20 so to be back in zone 3 was confusing whether or not it was a good place for me to be. As I tend to set off a bit too fast was it better that I would have so many people in front of me to hold me up but at the same time they could hold me up too much. They could also help mentally as I will hopefully be overtaking lots of people and the more positive thoughts I can get as I run round the better but I could also fall into a slower pace by following the wrong person, so it was a strange and hard to predict what would happen.So I made sure I was right at the front of the zone to give me the best chance ofnot being held up, but it still seemed really far back from where my friends were and I could see the 4 hour pacer in zone 2 and the 3h30 pacer in zone 1. Plus in between zone 2 and 3 was the corporate relay runners but at least they should be faster in theory as they were only running 5km each before handing over to another runner. Just before the start there was a minutes applause for a fellow runner who was due to run the race but sadly died before he could test himself on the streets of York. It was a great show of respect and a reminder that it doesn't matter that much if you reach your goal or fail just as long as you try. It was that moment that I just focused and said to myself just stick to my target pace as much as you can and if I needed to slow down it doesn't matter just enjoy the occasion. If this was going to be my only marathon because I just couldn't do and it was just a bit too far for me at least I could enjoy the atmosphere and remember the day for that and not the failure.

There was a countdown and the 2015 Yorkshire marathon was underway but it was a further 3 minutes before I was crossing the start line and off running through the centre of York. The crowds did help me not shoot off trying to catch the guys, they kept me honest and settled my adrenaline boost until I was running nice and steady at a good pace just overtaking a few people at a time. I found my target pace of 4.45m/km and kept my focus on the route and the surroundings rather than the other runners, just so I didn't start picking someone out and trying to chase them down. There were exceptions to that and they were people that I knew or had met on the day, for instance Steven Taylor's friends that run lots of marathons with him. There was a guy dressed in a full clown costume, I forgot his name but you don't forget a clown costume, another guy with a red top on that I briefly saw before we started and Mike Wells who wore a halo and wings but I knew I would be any near him as he's a phenomenal runner on a run streak of 1500+ days which is just incredible in itself nevermind the distances he puts in. So when I could see the clown in the distance I felt myself pick up the pace a little and as I passed him I got a psycological boost and then kept to my plan and pace. I was soon closing in on the guy with the red top and again I picked up the pace until I was passed him. I was just hitting the first 10k check point at this point and was bang on track, it seemed to fly by the first 10k which was a great feeling.

It wasn't long before I was catching another stadium runner in Andy Pigg who was aiming for sub 3h30 and I could see the 3h30 pacer not far in front of him so I thought he was doing well. I slowed a little to chat to him to see how he was doing and feeling but he was a bit down beat as things weren't going to plan and he could feel a couple of niggles. I tried to keep him positive and gave him a wish of good luck as I picked up my pace again and set my sights on the 3h30 pacer. This however was the first real time I was held up since the start as we hit a narrow country road section of the route. The swarm of runners that surrounded the pacer was so big that for runners like me that we're trying to slowly make our way past were having trouble and had to be very patient so as not to trip anyone up whilst we made our way through the pack. I even had to wait until wider parts of the road or grassy verges so I could go round people safely, I didn't want to affect other people runs just because I was a little inpatient. Eventually just after the 10 mile mark I was clear of the pack again and the difference in the size of the field was amazing, I had plenty space to pick up my pace again and get back on track with my plan. It was long before the halfway point was in sight, some timing strips and a clock, I hit the timing strip at half marathon distance in a time of 1h40m44s which was pleasing I just had to hope that I can keep my pace up and that the second half wasn't too much slower than that. I expected that from that time I would end up crossing the finish around about 3h25m which was still under my target so a great confidence boost. SJ was at home keeping an eye on my progress via the Yorkshire marathon app and this is what she got at this point.

From my memory of the course route I knew there was an out and back section coming up and it was long before I could hear it too so as I reached a road junction I could see runners going in both directions so I knew where I was and this was a chance to see my friends going the other way and to see if I was catching them at all. I saw Steven Taylor and gave him a big clap and cheer and then a bit further back I saw Dan and gave him a big cheer as he was doing really well and was looking strong, he was also doing his first marathon and was in an excellent position at mile 14. After I hit the switch back point I started to keep an eye out for the runners I knew, to see how they were doing, I saw Andy Pigg and gave him a big cheer. Once again I was upping my pace as I was closing in on Dan and after a little chat with him was passing him and on my way up a very slight incline towards mile 16 and the start/finish of the second out and back section. I hadn't paid enough attention to the route as this section seemed to go on forever, luckily there was a couple of spectator points here with quite a large crowd of people at each point cheering everyone on, it was great and kept my spirits high. Not that they had dropped or anything as still at mile 17 I felt amazing and was have a great time. I saw Steve for the first time at this section and he looked like he was flying, I gave him a cheer and carried on to the switch back point where just before it I saw Steven Taylor and he just said this is where it's all in your head. Which was a great reminder and bit of advice because I said to myself, you're feeling good and all you have to do now is run 13km which you do pretty much every other day at home it's nothing. So with a long steady climb back up to the end of the out and back section I took all the excitement and positive feelings I had and put my foot down so to speak. Reaching the top of the incline and the end of the out and back section I still felt amazing and passing the 20 mile marker I just said to myself only a 10k left. This is where at the start of the race I was afraid I might fall apart as I hadn't had the best long runs in training past this distance, but I saw Steven Taylor a couple of hundred metres away and used him as a target like with the others. As he got closer I thought if I just stay with him I know I should be on for a great time, but as I drew alongside him and had a little chat with him I knew I had more in the tank. So when he said kick on I didn't hesitate at all, and before I knew it we were down to the final 7km, not that 7km to go is a distinctive point in a marathon but it just stood out to me. I found myself counting them down now and as I did that my pace started to slow so I had to focus and remember to lift my knees more and to keep swinging my arms otherwise my posture would slump and I would start to drag my feet rather than thrusting my knees forward. I could feel the muscles in my upper legs becoming slightly painful from about 4km to go and I knew that if I was to slow now or speed up too much I could quite easily get cramp, so I really had to maintain my pace more than ever.

Turning the corner at the 40km mark a very helpful man was shouting not long to go now just a mile, normally that would be really hard to find exciting but after 25 of them the last one sounds brilliant. It was also at this point that the quiet( village roads started turning into more busy city roads full of sounds from the spectators shouting their words of encouragement and taking photos. Then as I reached University road I knew I was almost there, all I had to do is push myself up this final hill which was steeper than I remember when running down it at the start. I did it though and I was on the final 500m stretch where Kath Pinnington captured this photo.

I was now running down the hill to where I started round the little round-about and then down to the finish where Mr Simon "the bunny" Brass was marshalling and shouting. I was so happy to see him and hear him it was one of my favourite moments of the race and if I hadn't been trying to hit my target I would have stopped for a big bunny hug. So a high five was it for now although I did start to cramp up as I passed him so I ended up crossing the line a little tenderly, I had done it, I had run a marathon. It didn't hit a first as a just walked on like I had crossed the line at parkrun and done it a hundred times before even stopping to say hello to Tom Williams (parkrun uk Manager) and have a brief little chat although because of the slight cramp I had to keep moving.

SJ then got this message on her app.

On to the T-Shirt and medal area I went where I met Steve where I also remembered to look at my watch for the first time. I had completed my first marathon in 3h19m57s which was better than I had expected, I was gob smacked and even more so when Steve showed me his time of 3h19m24s which meant I was within 30ish of him. He's such a good runner that if I can get close to him I know I've done really well. Then as Steven T crossed the line and in a time of 3h24m10s it hit me that I had finished my marathon with a negative split, I was speechless for a little bit and didn't know what to do with myself briefly. Then Dan came across the line finishing his first marathon in a time of 3h27m44s which was brilliant and a sub 3h30 which he had planned and trained for, well done Dan. We headed off towards the event village to pick up our bags and meet family etc. and when we got there we went straight over to get our medals engraved with our times on. It was whilst in the queue and checking phones that the emotions hit me and at one point I was very close to bursting into tears. It was so overwhelming and a little surprising that I felt that emotional but at the same time I was thinking damn right look what you've just done, well done you.

After we had all got our medals engraved we went for a well deserved beer and sit down. We all went through our phones tagging photos and responding to all the message and comments on Facebook and Twitter etc. and after that it wasn't long before we were talking about which marathon to do next. It was a truly amazing experience that how couldn't you talk about another one, even if it did hurt a bit, it was worth it. All the emotions that came with the race and day made up for most of the pain and all the comments from friends and family at home gave me such a great buzz that I will never forget the day I completed my first marathon. According to my chip time result I came 324 out of 3951 which puts me in the top 10% (8.2% to be prescise!) and that is just fantastic. We finished our drinks and headed back to the buses and to the airfield to pick up Steven T's car so then we could get off home and into a well deserved bath.

Now that the marathon is out of the way the rest of the year seems a doddle up next is the Guy Fawkes 10 mile race and then the Abbey Dash to try and get my Sub 40 10k. If I can get my sub 40 before the end of the year I will be one happy boy. Other than entering races I also have another race to organise this time it's the Windmill 6 on the tops above Birdsedge and Ingbirchworth resivoir, keep your eyes out for that one, it should be a cracking race.

So until then, keep running everyone.

Shepley 10k 2015 - New course record and lots of amazing times

2015-09-28T14:42:00.001-07:00

The Shepley 10k returned again a couple of Sunday's ago, (Sept 13th) for its 3rd year and again we had an amazing day and turnout.

This year we were again graciously hosted by the Cricket Club and they were once again having their family fun day with stalls and games to play, along with a BBQ and some music. The local Beaver scout group also had some activities going on as well as crafts and glitter tattoos, the kids really enjoy it. The cricket club hosted the kids fun run again this year and were amazed by the turnout, so much so that they introduced age categories..

On the morning of the race I was up early to send the boys and SJ off to Huddersfield junior parkrun whilst I went to set up the course with Km markers, arrows and other signage. The weather was glorious and a complete change from the day before where it decided to rain pretty much all day, there was now barely a cloud in the sky and no hint of wind which is unusual for Shepley. I finished off the course and ended up back at the Cricket Club to make sure things at the start were in order. I organised the back of my car so I could use it as a registration base made sure I had all the goody bags, t-shirts and water. I had everything but a course map and as people started to arrive it was clear I really needed one, luckily SJ had arrived which gave me the opportunity to pop home and print one off and as I returned things were starting to build up nicely. My volunteers were arriving and quite a few on the day entrants had also turned up easing my nerves about breaking even on the costs.

As the start time was approaching I was getting more excited, more excited than last year and most other events I'd been to. I wonder if this will happen every year, whether it will get more exciting each year or not, I hope so. Next year there is the possibility of the Shepley 10k being on the Stadium runners championship calendar which would mean more runners, more excitement and more money for the Cricket Club. I don't want to think too far ahead but the Shepley 10k could be a really good event and I can't wait to see how it develops.

We all gathered at the start line and I gave a brief safety announcement and then left the countdown to SJ, 3,2,1 and we were off, I still didn't know at what pace I was going to run, fast, slow to watch people go by or with Jessie. Like last year it wasn't until I hit the road outside the club that I made up my mind, and as last year and pretty much most races I went for it, I enjoy going fast just too much. I headed down Marsh lane towards the co-op and made a left on to station road and then again on to Jos lane where I made up a few places on the long flat section of the course. The race director in me was still worrying whether the people in front of me were going the right way but as I went past marshals they reassured my fears as they all seemed happy that every was going the right way. This meant that I could just enjoy the race, the hills and the picturesque scenery on this glorious day.

The hills as big as they are flew by and I was soon up at Snowgate and heading out towards the main road and the final small climb before the long fast finish down Marsh Ln back to the Cricket Club and the finish. I crossed the line in 6th place knocking 8 seconds of my PB which is awesome considering some of the times that people managed on the day. There was some amazing times across the board and even our last place finisher did the route in a brilliant time considering the hills and his return from a slight injury. 1st place was taken in a new record time of 36m10s knocking 4 minutes of last years record, he ran round the course that fast that our announcer missed him crossing the line. Well done Tom and I hope you return next year to defend your title....

Whilst the race was happening the cricket club was organizing the fun run for the kids and they did a great job, the numbers were great too. They had about 40 juniors on the day, so many that they separated them into age categories which made it a lot more fun for the smaller ones as it gave them a chance to win a medal. There was 3 different age groups and it worked really well and the kids all got a sweetie goody bag at the end, I think sweets at the end would've been enough for all of them anyway, so the medals for the top 3 was a nice bonus.

The family fun day was great again with BBQ, bouncy castle, stalls and music. With the sun shining everyone had a amazing time and the kids were running between stalls and activities making sure they got as many goes as possible. It was a great event for the Cricket Club but it could be better and hopefully next year with the race growing in popularity and it being added to the Stadium Runners club calendar it will bring extra people to the club. In all honesty the race could have been better too, as I think both Cricket Club and myself could have advertised the day a lot better and should have spread the word a lot more too. So considering we hadn't done the best we could the outcome we got was truly awesome and so encouraging.

I might have some other news about the Shepley 10k and my new race The Windmill 6 coming soon so keep reading and keep running everyone.

Quick update of the last 4 months and the completion of the June 10k challenge

2015-06-10T13:46:00.001-07:00

The past four months as I try to remember now are a bit blurred but I know I have done loads and started lots of new adventures. So I will try to unravel my brain as I write this blog, so things may end up a bit higgledy piggledy.

May started with a hard slog of a race with the lovely sounding name 'the Bluebell 10 mile trail' which because of overnight bad weather turned into an 11.3 mile trail run and even though we were warned, it was mentally very hard.

That race was followed by the first session of the beginners running group I had started as part of the Jog Kirklees course I had previously been on. For the first session 3 amazing people turned up and allowed me to push them further than they had run in a long time. They did amazingly and have returned most weeks to push themselves even further and enjoyed doing it at the same time. I've really enjoyed it and I'm really proud of how well they've all done. They have now managed to complete a 5k run each week with me and sometimes even a bit further.

After that there was the Leeds half marathon and the final half marathon of my challenge to raise money for Dexters school. It went really well even though at the time I may have whinged and moaned about my time and performance, and Jennifer who was also running for the school had a great time and got an amazing result.

After that the rest of May seemed a bit tepid, or bland, like it was missing something, and it was. The excitement and determination to get out and run had disappeared slightly and I found myself saying oh well I will run tomorrow and justifying it too. So I needed something to pick me up and get me out there ready for the marathon training which was going to start in July. So that is when I came up with the idea of the June 10k challenge, based on the Marcothon challenge in December. For which I gave great credit to for getting my parkrun times down to what they are now. So simply(and I use that in terms of the idea not doing it) all I had to do was run a minimum of 10k everyday in June, to help build my fitness and keep my mind active in preparation for marathon training. I was going to do it all by myself but decide to make a Facebook event and invite others to join me in this crazy challenge. I didn't expect many if anyone to join me but as June approached a few people started to talk about possibly trying it.

As June started and the first few days went by the 10k's were nice and steady. I didn't want to burn myself out too early, and neither did the 9 or so other people that started the challenge with me. To be honest 9 people joining me on this silly challenge was incredible and 9 more than I expected. There was even a friend of a friend who was taking part in Spain with the Spanish temperatures too, truly amazing. One of the challengers Victoria did drop out after a few days but as she had only be running a couple of months. I thought she was awesome for even starting it with us. She had recently joined us at Huddersfield parkrun the month before and was chipping away at her PB each week. That in itself was incredible, she was pushing herself each week and was challenging herself to go further too.

The remaining challengers were continuing each day to be awesome and keep up with the 10k's and when we could meet up (mainly after parkrun or at junior parkrun) we would heap praise on each other. Or at least they did with each other, I got a lot of abuse mainly in jest for making them do this challenge and for coming up with the idea. As soon as I would see Frances or Chris at parkrun it would be "I hate you" or "I'm not talking to you today" which did make me chuckle a lot mainly because I am a little evil but mostly because I knew they only half meant it. Maybe some days about 75% meant it other days 100%. We chatted to each other on the event page on Facebook helping each other out and sharing our stories which was really nice too. As the month began to come to and end SJ had some mugs made up to give to the everyone that completed the June 10k challenge, they went down really well and I thought it was a great way to well done. As all 9 of us had done amazing it really was great to present them all with their mugs and see their smiles at the end of the month having done 300+ km's. There were 10k PB's during June from most of us and even some 5k PB's too. Awesome job everyone and please don't kill me if I come round next year suggesting it again.

There was one thing I hadn't taken into account when I planned the June 10k challenge and that was the Stadium runners club championship race "The Helen Windsor 10k" on July 1st that I had entered prior to the June challenge, Do'h. Plus it was on one of the hottest and muggiest days of the year, so to come home in 43m45s I was very happy, considering the conditions and the 300+ km's in the month leading up to it.

Early July was a nice and steady month with not a lot on the cards but I was keeping myself ticking over. I even managed to knock a few seconds off my parkrun PB down to 19.09, that put a smile on my face for quite a while that day. The second half of July and I was really trying to extend my runs and clock up the miles as a start of my marathon training and what better way to do that than 14 miles at the Northumberland coastal run, yeah? Wrong it was hard work, I completed it and even came in as 3rd stadium runner male but damn it was hard to keep it going at the end of that race. Gorgeous race and lovely atmosphere just completely unprepared for the sand, sand dunes, coastal paths and road on the route. The change in terrain was the hardest thing, I had no idea it would zap the energy in your legs and mind as much as it did. Glad I did it though. SJ and the boys came up with me and we camped (when I say camped we were in a camper van which was a bit easier) overnight the night before the race which was fun and the boys first camping trip with SJ and I.

July has also seen me take up the task of training to be a UKA grade 2 course measurer, which I had stumbled upon when investigating getting the Shepley 10k officially measured and licensed by UK Athletics. I've been completing some online theory lessons in my spare time and I'm pleased to say I've passed and I'm now waiting to complete my practical seminar which is in October. Once I have completed it I shall be an official course measurer and could be responsible for marking out a race near you soon. It's been really enjoyable and having to use some of my brain for a change has been brilliant and a real confidence booster. I had lost a lot of confidence in my brain actually working when I have spent the last 7 years at at home with small people, I wouldn't have changed the last 7 years for anything but I need to keep the old noggin ticking away now and again.

August has been chilled with school holidays and our family holiday it's been great to get out on the bikes with the boys and do things as a family whilst still getting my runs in. August has also seen the best non stag do stag do ever which ended up with the stag up on stage singing with THE Sugarhill gang, I mean it can't get better than that can it? That night I also decided to run home afterwards at about 2.30am I set off running home drunk, not the best of ideas but I seemed to get faster and faster as I went along and even managed a PR on a Strava segment too! This was created to memorialise the night.

Then a week later the awesome stag and his also awesome fiancée got married and a few days later we had an amazing time at their wedding party. It was a great night and great to see two of the nicest people we know so happy. There was lots of talk of Sugarhill Gang on the night as well as drunken runs home luckily there weren't any that night.

September is creeping up on us and that means one thing, Clark will start School! He's been ready for school for a while now but now it's a few weeks away it seems weird and I can't believe that he's that old already. Flynn could even start pre-school soon with his 2nd birthday on the 11th, that is far to soon but could mean I could go running in the morning whilst he's at pre-school.

Well I think that's everything caught up but if not I can add it to the next one which hopefully won't be in another 4 months. The Shepley 10k is soon so I'm sure that will get a blog all of its own or at least with some marathon training thrown in too.

Well until then,

Keep running everyone

Half marathon No2 for Dexter's School and what a Beast the Huddersfield Half is!

2015-04-22T06:23:00.001-07:00

Just a week after the Yorkshire Half marathon and it was time for Half Marathon No2 and this was the big one, the Huddersfield Half/Full Marathon arguably the toughest road half/full marathon in the UK. This was the 2nd half that I was doing for Dexter's School and it was the chosen half for 5 other parents too, Emma, Lisa, Andy, Philip, and Mike. They were very brave to take up this challenge but after I did it last year I would say it is one race that you have to tick off your bucket list as a runner. It's challenging, but the route is in some stunning scenery and all organised very well since its return from a 20 year absence.

The day started with Huddersfield junior parkrun with the SJ and the boys which is always a great start to any Sunday.

As soon as the last junior crossed the line I rushed away upto the Huddersfield YMCA and registration for the Huddersfield half marathon. It was a completely different feel for me this year compared with last year, I was a lot more confident and knew a lot more people, so rather than the usual nerves and butterflies I was really calm but excited. I met up with the other parents minus Mike who unfortunatly couldn't make it, and we all discussed our various targets and hopes (mainly sarcastic hopes of finishing it) before we gathered for a Pre run photo.

Left to right, Me, Andy, Philip, Emma and Lisa.

There was a group warm up before they sent us to the starting pen and we wished each other good luck. As my running has gone from strength to strength I have become more confident, I hope it does not come across as cocky but I am enjoying my progression. This confidence was on show when I made my way to the front of the pen and almost stood on the front row as I wanted to get the best start I could.

Matthew Kelly gave a run brief making sure we all went left out of the drive unlike last year when we turned right by mistake, then the lady from the Pulse gave us a 10 second countdown before we were let loose on this monstrous course. Having run the course before I felt like I could let loose a bit to start with as I knew there was an easyish start, before the first climb at least. As I reached Lindley moor I was feeling comfortable and headed downhill feeling ready for the first climb, and as I rembered it was basically up hill for the next 3km/2miles. Halfway up the climb I was snapped by a couple of photographers and from the photos you can see how much I was still enjoying myself.

When I reached the peak of the first climb I had completed the first 5km in 21 mins and ahead of target which was great, especially as it was now downhill for a while. This downhill wasn't easy as it is so steep in places you really burn your quads slowing yourself down so you don't just tumble down the hill. At this point I took a moment to look around taking in the views and was shocked at just what was about to happen. The next hill was the biggest on the route but I had forgotten just how big, as I was running down to Steele Lane the hill just seemed to grow and grow. It seemed to loom over you like a laughing giant just before he stood on you and crushed you with ease, and reaching the bottom of Steele Lane just made it harder as you can't see the top. Last year I think I made it up the hill about 300 metres, this year I just wanted to go beyond that but to my surprise I just kept going and going. Matthew Kelly drove past me near the top on his course checking duties and I even managed a little chat with him still running of course. Grabbing a drink at the top I caught my breath and carried on at a great pace, heading towards the halfway point at Scammonden Dam and the M62. A couple of runner friends Jo and Neil were manning the water and feed station here, as well as taking some photos, (great multitasking guys well done). It's always nice to see friendly faces on runs or in races it does help you push that little bit extra or just keeps you smiling.

This was just what I needed as my ankle/Achilles/calf not sure which, was really starting to hurt, I think it was a leftover injury from the Yorkshire half and a run with stadium runners the following day. Whichever it was, it was starting to slow me down and as I crossed the dam along side the M62 I was happy that I was halfway now and could start to count down again. The next few miles were mainly keeping my focus and trying to keep my pace at a decent level over the next hill and across the tops until the long downhill section from Scapegoat Hill down to Longwood. This section was great to help me maintain my pace whilst catching my breath, until I reached the bottom where the start of the final climb is. It's just a shame that it is a long steady up hill that drains all your remaining energy. It also has a sting in its tail at the end with a steep section and a tight right turn in it to test your resolve and grit before the final 400 metres. My pace had dropped at this point but as I exited the underpass and ran up onto New Hay Rd with the finish turning in sight I dug deep and bolted for the finish. Turning into the YMCA for the last 100m I was greeted by Mark and Eli cheering me on.

Then turning the final corner my boys, SJ, my Dad and Liam and Izzie were cheering my final few steps. I felt amazing and forgetting my ankle crossed the line to finish in 1hr42m and 19 mins quicker than last year and in 14th place too.

After collecting my t-shirt and medal I got my high 5's from the boys and SJ then waited around for the others to complete their runs. Next through for the parents was Emma in 1hr54m and 5th lady overall, which was a fabulous result and well and truly deserved.

It wasn't long before Andy came round the final bend and finished in 1hr57m. Well done Andy you did amazingly.

Philip had stuck with Andy until about halfway then dropped off the pace a little but still finished in an awesome time of 2hr07m, however he did describe the race as the worst thing he had ever done. I'm sure he is feeling a bit different about it now, or I hope so as he did brilliantly.

Lisa was the final parent from our group to complete the half marathon in a time of 2hr23m, she did amazingly as she was aiming at 2hr30m at the start, and came in under that so well done Lisa.

We all gathered for one final photo and that was it we had all done it, we had all accomplished great times and our friends and family were ever so proud of us.

Well that's 2 out of the 3 half marathons done now and with my sore ankle I'm glad that the Leeds Half marathon is 3 weeks away. It should be enough time to rest it as long as I can keep myself from going out for a run in the mean time, which is difficult as I am really enjoying running even with the aches and pains.

Oh well let's see how it goes.

Next up it's the Shepley Juniors turn anyway as they run at Huddersfield Juniors parkrun for the school, it will be awesome I'm sure as it always is.

Keep running everyone

Yorkshire (Sheffield) Half Marathon great event even with the windy ascent!!

2015-04-13T14:30:00.001-07:00

It was now time to start my Half Marathon challenges to raise money for Dexter's school (Shepley First School) and first up was the Yorkshire Half Marathon. There were three of us from the school taking on this half marathon and I don't think any of us were quite ready for the challenge that unfolded, but each one us completed it with satisfying times and/or performances.

The day started bright and early with a stop over at Skelmanthorpe to pick up my friend Steve before picking up a couple of other parents from the School. Emma and Andy were also raising money for the School by running the Yorkshire Half Marathon with me. They had chosen the Yorkshire half over the Huddersfield and Leeds halves for different reasons but all 3 of us were still a little apprehensive about what was only an hour away. As we arrived at the edge of the city we all suddenly felt the nerves kick in and the excitement start to build. So when we finally parked up we were just itching to get up to our assembly points and soak up the atmosphere. We arranged a meet up point for afterwards, wished each other good luck and joined our different starting points, things were now getting serious. Steve joined the blue group, Emma and Andy in the green group with myself in the red group, or at least I was suppose to. Whilst I was walking down the road to find the start of the red group I noticed a pacer with a 1hr45 banner amongst the blue group so I just jumped in there. Even then I thought I was still to far back, so when I saw another friend and fellow stadium runner Steve Taylor we moved further up the group together. I was now just behind the 1hr35 pacer and it felt about right, there was still a lot of people in front of me which just showed how popular the event was. There was music blaring and as the mass warm up started it got louder and almost everyone started jumping up and down whether they wanted to or not, the atmosphere just got to them. After the warm up there was a couple of interviews at the start line, Kell Brook the world champion boxer followed by Harry Gration the legendary News reporter. There was a short delay whilst they closed off the roads and then they set us off and the Yorkshire Half Marathon was under way.

As always there was the runners false start (when runners start running too soon and the runners in front of them haven't so there is an abrupt stop followed by a woohhoo) which always makes me chuckle. We did manage to get going the second time and as the roads widened I could start to get up to pace and weave my way through all the slower runners that had wrongly positioned themselves at the start (always happens too). There was great support roadside from hundreds if not thousands of people who came to cheer and clap the runners along and it really helped and was a big difference from the rain hit Liverpool half a couple of weeks ago. There didn't seem to be a gap in the crowds for at least a couple of miles and even then it was because of road junctions etc. This was also the first year with the new course and after last years water fiasco I think a lot of people had just come to see that things went OK this year.

After leaving the music of the start area behind you could hear the cheers from the crowd a lot more as you made your way towards what we all knew was coming. After the first mile the route then took an uphill direction, and for the next 4 miles as well, which was ok being from Yorkshire I'm use to it. However there was a strong wind on the day and it was only going to get stronger as we climbed the hill straight into it. This section was made a little easier by the fantastic people of Sheffield, everyone was waving their plastic batons, smashing them together or ringing cow bells. I was really taken aback by the music coming from shops, people's houses and the various groups on the street, there was at least two brass bands some bagpipers and a choir. They were all at different points on the climb so each of them had its own effect on me, helping me keep a positive attitude and keeping my pace up all the way to the top. At mile 4 there was a King of the Hill timed section over the next mile and it was also where the wind felt at its strongest. It was rather funny to watch all the runners strewn across the road start to tuck in behind each other to shelter from the wind hoping that they could draft off the person in front. If the race hadn't of been so large it could have quite easily been single file up that final climb. At the top was a water and jelly baby feed station and greatly appreciated too before the route took a left on to a much flatter part of the course. Mile 6 came quite quickly and so did the downhill it started steady at first past some photographers and then after a left turn the downhill got steeper and the wind was now behind me. I was able to try and gain back some of the time the uphill had stolen, I also saw a familiar face, I had managed to close up on my friend Steve and was gaining pretty quickly too. I think I should now tell you that prior to the race I had put out a post on Facebook asking for sponsors and I had a couple which was great, but then Steve said put him down for £10. I said thanks Steve that's great to which he replied and I'll double it if you beat me on the Yorkshire Half. Now he usually is faster than me by a couple of minutes so the chances of me beating him was slim, but Steve was struggling with an ankle injury so wasn't as fast as usual. So this was my only chance of actually finishing before him and as I came shoulder to shoulder with him I asked how he was doing, before sailing past him still increasing the speed. It was a good feeling even if he wasn't 100%, a less than 100% Steve is still a very fast Steve, so I kept my speed up and tried to focus to keep attention on the race and not Steve trying to keep up with me. At this point there was another timed section, this one was the final 10k section and just before it started there was another water station with more Jelly babies too great for that extra bit of energy. As I reached a little village on the way back down to the city centre the route levelled out for a bit and the crowds grew again helping me to keep pushing. I was also running with a guy who was trying to rev up the crowds by waving in a Mexican wave type of way, it worked and the crowds got louder as we came through, it was awesome, hair standing on end and things like that. It really made me feel a bit special until I turned a corner and was faced with a little uphill out of nowhere. It was only small but it took a lot out of me as I tried to keep my pace going at the same as I was on the downhill, silly I know but I'd just been pumped up by the crowds and felt full of adrenalin. Luckily it was only small and I was soon facing another downhill and flat section, before I rejoined the main road we had used to go up the first hill. The crowds were still there cheering every single person on, which was even neccessary at this point as the legs were starting to get heavy and I was finding it harder to keep my pace up. Even counting down the Km and Mile markers wasn't helping keep my mind focused, so the cheers and shouts of come on Matt meant so much. The downhill finished with about a mile and a half to go and it was now all down to grit and determination to finish strong, plus the crowds were thinning and there was even an empty part of the course as they were all gathering at the finish. I kept it together and pushed for the final mile with help from some excellent marshals cheering me on up a final hill before turning down towards to the finish and huge crowds 5/6 deep lining the final 100m sprint. I crossed the line in a time of 1hr34m10s and considering the hills and wind I was really pleased with the time, but I was more pleased with the fact that I finished just behind Kell Brook.

I hadn't realised he was running too and from behind I hadn't realised it was him at all until the media pulled him to one side to interview him. So I must have walked past him being interviewed looking rather gormless until it clicked who it was and then a look of realisation replaced the gormless look. That must have been great TV having my silly mug in the background, still I finished just behind a world class professional sportsman. More importantly I finished in front of Steve and an extra £10 for the School, I waited for Steve just after getting my goody bag, t-shirt and Medal and he was only a couple of mins behind me at the end.

His ankle was clearly hurting him as he hobbled towards me and we congratulated each other on our performances, 1hr36m with a dodgy ankle was brilliant so Steve was happy. We weren't quite sure when Emma and Andy would finish so we decided to go back to the car and get some stuff before returning to our meeting place. When we returned Emma and Andy were there waiting with Andy's wife Penny and their kids Ellie and Ethan. They looked happy as we approached, I was hoping they would be and not ready to lynch me for convincing them to take part in such a horrible race. They were very happy and pleased they had done it, Emma had completed it in a Superb 1hr48m which she was very happy with and Andy finished it in an Amazing 1hr43m which seemed to be a complete surprise to him. They did excellent especially as they were joking before the race about just finishing just under 2hrs, they did themselves proud and they've raised money the School in the process. Let's just hope they remember the good feelings when I come calling on them to run for the school next year too. We had a quick chat about how good the race and atmosphere was before we headed back to car and home to have a well deserved bath and some food.

Next up is the Huddersfield Half Marathon this weekend and another set of brave and awesome parents from the school. The Huddersfield half/full marathon is one of if not the hardest road marathon in the UK so anyone who completes this race is worthy of a massive pat on the back and great praise. So no pressure, Lisa Parry, Emma Jagger, Andy Munro, Mike Makinson, Philip Thwaite and myself, let's just hope the winds aren't as strong as they were at the Yorkshire Half.

Good luck to everyone running the Huddersfield Half or Full Marathon this weekend

Keep running everyone

From Strava Art to the Chocathlon, muddy hills and Chocolate of course.

2015-04-04T16:10:00.001-07:00

A month or so back the guys at Team OA posted a photo on Facebook of someone's Strava Art (using the gps line of a run or bike ride to create a picture) of a Giraffe. Along with the picture they posted a challenge, if anyone could create a Strava Art bunny they would win entry to this years Chocathlon. They also challenged anyone to create the Team OA logo and if they could do that they would win lifetime entry to the Chocathlon. So what do you think I did a couple of days later......yep that's right...

And yes I won lifetime entry, LIFETIME, I can't help but keep saying it, LIFETIME, how cool is that? A big thank you to the guys at Team OA for such a cool prize, I hope that I'll be running/walking the Chocathlon for many years as it is such a cool idea and run. For those of you that are wondering what the hell is a Chocathlon it is a 9km run around the hills of Marsden with 2 chocolate stations along the way. Like your normal water stations but these have chocolate treats for you to eat, chocolate biscuits and water as well so that you can manage the hills and trails of Marsden. Well that was a month or so ago and this past Easter weekend I actually got to use my prize.

This Easter Saturday it was Huddersfield parkrun's 4th birthday and their carrot relay after the run, plus after that it was the Chocathlon. So right from the off I knew this day was going to be exhausting, even if I took it easy at parkrun. I was running with Dexter and Flynn this week, Flynn even got dressed up for the celebrations.

With the beautiful weather conditions we cruised to a 2015 PB for Dexter of 30.14mins then we hung around to take part in the carrot relay. The carrot relay is a race around the small loop (cafe part) of the parkrun course for teams of 3 people, which for #TeamPattison was SJ, Dexter and I. This year the was about 17 teams about double the number of teams from last year, which added a bit more competitiveness to the fun atmosphere. Everyone was eyeing up the competition but with great fun and friendliness that comes with any parkrun family. Dexter was running the first leg for #TeamPattison and on his own this year, followed by SJ and then myself on the final leg. Last year Dexter started crying because he was passed by too many people and thought he wouldn't win, but this year he understood that he would be passed and was determined to complete the lap without crying. This year unfortunately he cried again but this time it was because I distracted him cheering him on and he slipped in the mud and face planted on the floor, hurting his hand slightly in the process. I picked him up and carried him for a bit then he walked the final 100 metres until we handed the carrot off to SJ. She ran round with the possibility of a wardrobe malfunction, managing 3/4 of the way round before her trousers threatend to fall down, so she cut a corner and handed me the carrot before things got a bit x-rated! We were in second to last place and had no chance of gaining anything from this blantant bit of cheating and as I set off we had a huge gap to make up any way. I busted a gut to catch up but with no success as I finished just behind Team Brook still in second to last place. This wasn't a problem at all as like any parkrun event everyone was very supportive wherever you finished and we all clapped and cheered John Cottam as he crossed the line to finish the relay. Dexter was still a little upset at this point but a chocolate teacake from Simon Edwards at least silenced the cries and stopped the tears. Plus one of the guys from the winning team gave Dexter his Easter egg he got as part of his prize, which was really nice of him. So from here it was off to Grandmas for some breakfast and a rest before the Chocathlon and the Marsden hills.

As we arrived at the race HQ we were greeted by Simon Brass in his full bunny onesie and a big smile on his face, the boys really love Simon he makes them laugh so much, it's brilliant to see. Simon wasn't the only familiar face there, there was lots from parkrun or Stadium runners and other races too.

Parking up we unloaded the boys and as I was get the buggy out I managed to scrape my leg on a large bramble and this was before I had even started the race, what was going to happen then?

Once we were unloaded we gathered at the start and chatted with all our running friends and a few others too. We had selfies taken by the Pulse radio crew that was there and then we lined up at the start ready for the off.

We were set off by Ally Young and a starting pistol, it always adds a little extra race feel when your set off by a proper starters pistol, maybe it's the hidden athlete in us or does it just scare the crap out of us. Either way we were heading down the canal and at a fairly quick pace, but it wasn't long before the earlier runs were taking their toll and my legs were already feeling a little heavy. By the time we arrived at chocolate station 1 I couldn't face any chocolate so I just took a drink of water especially as all I could see from there onwards was a huge hill. There was two stages to this hill which weaved it's way upwards like an S and as we were going at a full on pace I ended up walking about half way up. Not for long though as I dug deep and yelled at myself to get my arse moving, and I ran the rest of the hill that just got steeper as you went. Luckily there were some friends (Mr and Mrs Edwards) at the top cheering us on, taking photos and just keeping our spirits up even if it was early in the race.

I was still blowing a bit as the roads levelled out and was heading towards the trail route part of the course. So much so I scared a pony that was being led up the road with a little girl on. A quick apology to her Dad and I descended down a trail path to a little wooden bridge and on with the race. It didn't take long on the trail part to realise that my choice of trail shoes over road shoes was a good decision as some bits were very muddy and slippy. The views were stunning but as the terrain was constantly changing I couldn't enjoy them as much as I wanted to, I needed to keep my focus on the route as I didn't want to misjudge something and go over on an ankle or worse. The course kept changing from trail to road as it traversed the hills above Marsden but eventually it headed back down and I was back on the streets of Marsden once more. Running parallel to the start line I could pick up the pace again until I came to the end of the street and station number 2 and more chocolate before heading back onto trail paths again. I came to a very thin and slippy set of steps down to a road and everyone had to slow down unless you wanted to fall on your backside. At the bottom of these steps I was overtaken by a lady dressed as a bee but I was determined not to lose her and I stuck with as we turned on to the canal and the final 2km of the run. At last I was on the flat and I headed back to the finish, but I forgot that at the locks there are small uphills that zap your stamina. I picked up the pace anyway and took back my place from the bee and as I did she congratulated me. It is always nice to hear encouragement from people but someone you're passing is awesome. You won't find that sort of sportsmanship in other sports like you do in running, and it's one of the reason why I love running so much at the moment. At this point I was also catching my friend Steve and if I pushed hard now I could of passed him, although the competitiveness in him wouldn't have liked that and I knew he would come back at me and push us both to the finish which probably would have killed us both. (I may be being slightly melodramatic here!!) That desire to push it and catch him was wiped out by the final muddy hill off the canal and back on to the roads of Marsden. I turned one final corner and I was on the finish straight and the final 100 metres, crossing the line just behind Steve was a great feeling and seeing him drop straight to the floor with exhaustion was evidence of how hard we pushed on the final section.

It wasn't long before we realised we had finish in 3rd and 4th which was amazing but at the same time we started to wonder what had happend to Jonny Cartwright( last years reigning champion) who was leading the last time we saw him. He wasn't at the finish and no one knew where he was, it turned out that someone had turned round a sign on the course sending us in different directions. Jonny knew the route and went the right way, where as the rest of us went the the way the signs suggested which turned out to be a few hundred metres shorter. Still though Jonny didn't turn up until 8th place and about 10 mins behind us, so somewhere he had gone wrong too because of the signs. He ended up doing an extra mile and a bit on us some how, he seemed to be the only one that took that route. It was a shame as he would have won it again this year if everyone had all gone the right way, and someone hadn't messed with the signs on the course. We all had a great time anyway and there was lots of chocolate biscuits to eat at the finish too.

Here's a link to a short video of the start of the Chocathlon....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=NqNH2UNExoQ

We hung around and cheered on a lot of the runners before we had to go and get ready for cousin Liam's 7th birthday party and probably more chocolate. All the chocolate did end up being a bit too much for Dexter and he threw up at Liam's party due to chocolate overload!!

It was a fantastic day and great fun and I can't wait to use my lifetime entry to the Chocathlon again next year. Thank you to Team OA for putting on another great event as always, the next one is the Huddersfield half/full marathon which is a beast and probably one of the toughest road marathons in the UK. You have to do it just to say you've done it, plus it is one of the most scenic runs around too.

Keep running everyone

2015 Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon race review with a cheeky PB

2015-04-01T08:00:00.001-07:00

The final couple of hundred metres were filled with the sound of the Tribal drums, BOOM, BOOM BOOM.... BOOM, BOOM BOOM, which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

This Sunday the 29th of March 2015 I took part in my first Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon, along with 5100 others who braved the rain to take on a PB friendly course.

I headed over the night before thanks to my wonderful little sister who lives in Liverpool not far from the start. She picked me up from home and we drove over arriving around 8pm, so we went straight out to get a take away, the perfect race supper yeah? Then on the way back we stopped off to get some Irn-Bru and creme eggs just to finish off the race prep. To be honest I felt rather sick by the end of it all but I was too excited about the race in the morning to care. Jessie and her boyfriend Matty were great hosts and after a couple of hours discussing running, triathlons and Iron man races we all went to bed. It was really strange being away from SJ and the boys and my body clock was still on alert in case of a crying Flynn so the early morning seagulls woke me a few times. Luckily I still got a good nights sleep and was up and ready by about 7.15am and eating breakfast by 7.30am.

We all headed down to the docks as I wasn't sure where I was going but it wasn't long before we started seeing other runners and It was fairly obvious which way to go and soon we could hear all the commotion. Arriving at the starting area we had a little walk round to see what was going on and where I would pick up my t-shirt, medal and goodie bag etc. Then I said goodbye to Jessie and Matty and got in my position on the start line, I was hoping to finish around 1hr30m so I weaved my way past all the 1hr40 runners and stood looking slightly cold and nervous just behind the 1hr30 mark. There was a slight delay in starting as the police hadn't closed off the roads in time but luckily we were only stood for a few minutes, then finally we were off.

The big rush and stop happend as it always does at big races as people think they are going and suddenly have to stop again as the people in front off them haven't moved as much as they had thought they were going to. It always makes me giggle a bit, we're off yeah, oh no were not and now I can see the hairs on the back of that mans neck I'm so close. We did eventually get going, scrambling across roads and curbs looking for the best position it wasn't until the end of the first mile that we all settled down to our rhythms. Now at this point you turn onto parliament street which according to the route guide goes from a slight incline over the first mile to a sharp incline for the next 400yds. So not being from Liverpool I was quite worried about this sharp incline but when we got to the infamous section I just giggled and powered up the hill and carried on. I giggled because being from Yorkshire the sharp incline was more like a slip way at the beach, it was nothing to worry about and It barely affected my pace time too. From this point on it was pretty much flat or slightly undulating apart from a dip and climb at the bottom of Princes park at the mile 3 marker. At this point you start to take on the more scenic part of the route taking in parts of Sefton Park and Otterspool Park before hitting the promenade at mile 9 and heading back towards Albert Docks. During this section there were some really good groups of spectators who braved the rain to come cheer everyone on, which was awesome and gave you a real boost. Plus the man who slipped on his bike in the mud near the promenade did give us a giggle (he was ok by the way just muddy).

Once on the promenade we all started getting excited about the finish and there was a lot of jostling for position and people adjusting their pace to achieve their target times, which I was one of. As we hit mile 10 I knew if I wanted to creep just under 1hr30 I would have to complete a sub 20 5k so I picked up the pace or more specifically I kept it going rather than slowing in the final 3 miles like I did at the Brass Monkey back in January. With the weather being dull and rainy it made the final 3 miles down the Mersey quite dull, but if the weather had been sunny it would have been spectacular. As we got closer to the Albert Docks the rain got heavier and it became harder to mentally keep it going and the mile 12 marker felt like it was in the wrong place as the last mile seemed like a mile and a half. Finally we got within range of the tribal drums again and the beat still had that adrenaline pumping effect and it felt like they were playing the beat inline with my pace and they pushed me over the line. Big kudos to the drummers and the crowds at the finish they were brilliant and were a huge part in my finishing time of 1hr30m38s. I didn't manage to squeeze under the 1hr30 bar but I was absolutely buzzing at the time and more at my pacing, I managed to stay at a 4m18s/km or a 6.55m/mile give or take a second or two all the way round. I kept moving down the finish funnel until I received my finishers medal, goodie bag and t-shirt and then I went to try and find SJ, Jessie, Matty and the boys who had all come to see me finish.

I eventually found them or more likely they found me and we made our way back to Jessie's place to warm up, dry off and grab a snack to eat before we had to make our way back over to Huddersfield so Dexter could go to a birthday party. We had a great time at Jessie's even if it was brief and It was a lovely flat too, and I'm sure we will be back again soon, hopefully in some better weather.

I really enjoyed the course and it is definitely a PB friendly and enjoyable course, unlike some out and back courses that can be very mentally fatiguing and dull. I hope I can come back next year and improve on my PB hopefully under 1hr30m. A big thank you to Jessie for having me over the weekend and Matty for listening to my ramblings about my running. Plus a big thank you to SJ and the boys for coming over in the rain to see me cross the line and to walk back to Jessie's in the rain.

Love you guys loads.

Keep running everyone.

100 days of running what started as a challenge ended more like aroutine

2015-03-12T05:24:00.002-07:00

The 100 days of running challenge is now complete and even now after all those runs I'm unsurprisingly missing going out for a run today. Unsurprisingly? Yep!

The 100 day challenge started out just as it says a challenge but within 2/3 weeks it already becomes more of a routine. Doing it through the winter months probably helps to keep it more of a challenge, plus when the snow and hail come at you with force you have to be mentally ready for it.

So don't try to stick to a set goal when it does, be flexible and have a reasonable minimum distance for a run. If I can pass on a bit of advice to anyone thinking of doing the 100 day challenge or any run streak, it would be variaty mixed with a few regular runs or distances. I did this by having a regular Monday and Saturday but then the rest of the week I mixed my distances, routes, times and pace. Well I say pace but most of the time I just went for it, I really enjoy running and if the conditions were right I would just go for it. Having said that I really would suggest varying your pace even if it's just slightly.

My regular runs or days consisted of a Monday run down at Stadium runners, a running club I joined a couple of months before my challenge started. Then on the Saturday, I would as I have done for nearly 2 years now, taken part at my local parkrun, Huddersfield parkrun.

Stadium runners has been such an important part of the challenge, the runs would always be about the same distance each week but the routes would change. Mixing up the routes keeps your runs a bit more interesting, there nothing more monotonous than doing the same route day after day. Plus the people I have met and run with at the club have been so friendly, helpful, encouraging and inspiring. It has been a pleasure getting to know them over the past 5 months and they've helped push me and improve my running tremendously. I've beaten PB's and increased the distances I can run all whilst running with friendly runners either training for runs or just striving to stay fit and healthy.

My other regular run is parkrun, which I can't advocate enough, it truly is the one thing that has had the biggest impact on my running. There are 2 sides to parkrun the running side where you can test yourself week in week out trying to improve your time. Then there is the social side where you can meet other runners, swap stories and talk about other runs/races they've entered. It's always good to have races as targets to train for as it gives you motivation and something to look forward to.

Throughout the challenge I had a goal race that I had planned to enter, which was the Huddersfield half marathon. I had done it last year and my plan was to go back this year to try and beat my 2hr PB. I had also entered a few races that were during my challenge, these were good for tracking or testing my progress through the 100 days. parkrun is also a good event to track your fitness, I have beaten my parkrun PB about 4 times since day 1 and I feel like I have more in me too. Other PBs came and went as Stadium runners held a couple of 10k time trials and I even got a PB at the Brass Monkey half marathon over in York.

Here are my PB stats from my runs over the last 100 days.

parkrun before 21m02s, December 20m47s, January 19m56s, Febuary 19m28s

10k PB before, 45m03s December 43m05s, Febuary 41m05s, plus a hilly Huddersfield 10k PB of 43m40s

Brass Monkey Half marathon PB 1h37m14s

And those are just the official ones, I have manage to improve my times and increase my fitness over lots of distances, I was really surprised at how my legs kept responding as I kept pushing.

The past 3 weeks down at Stadium runners I have done the No Pain No Gain (NPNG) track session. With it being flat and on an athletics track I was able to push myself even further and have even managed an unofficial 5k PB 3 weeks running. A 19m24s, then a 18m43s and just this week on day 99 an amazing 17m56s which even though its unofficial it give you an amazing confidence boost.

So all that led me to day 100 and I was determined to finish it off with a bang, so I prepared a route and just went for it. So this is where my first ever marathon began, yep I wanted to go all out and push myself that little bit further. The furthest I'd run prior to this was 16 miles, so this was a huge jump in distance. The main worry I had was managing my pace, I knew I had to slow down to maintain my legs but would I be able to do it?

I set off from my mums house in Marsh as she was looking after Flynn and Clark whilst I tackled this final hurdle. The plan was to do a circuit of Huddersfield round to our house in Shepley then continuing round to be back at my mums ready to pick up the boys and then head back to pick up Dexter from School. So unlike a normal marathon I had a 4hr time limit otherwise there would be no one to pick up Dexter, motivation if ever I needed it. So off I went up through Marsh and Birchencliffe to Ainley top where I would run over the top and drop down through Fixby and Bradley completing the first 10k. It was now when the hills started with a big climb up to Kirkheaton and then down again to Waterloo. I was still feeling good and my pace was great, a little faster than I wanted to but I felt comfortable. From Waterloo I would then take the long drag of a hill up past Lepton towards Grange moor which seemed to go on forever, but on the plus side I gained a KOM Strava segment for my efforts. At the top of the final hill I turned off and headed for the Emley moor mast, but not before stopping to take a photo or 2 of the views.

This was the worst thing I could have done, as my phone which I was using Strava on decide to crash. So after a couple of failed attempts to turn my phone back on I carried on hoping it might work in a bit. About a mile later down the road it decided to wake up which was a relief as I wouldn't like to carry on blind so to speak. Once I was at the mast the downhills returned and with that the sight of home and a long awaited drink. Silly I know not to have had a drink upto now but I kept telling myself it was that far to my house. I was just past the 3 acres pub when I had a loss of motivation and questioned myself, whether I was actually going to be able to do this. I started to walk for a bit just to catch my breath and find my mojo again, which soon returned and I powered through until I reach Shelley and my mates house. I stopped to knock on his door for a drink of water a little chat as you do, then I was on my way to my house feeling refreshed and on it again. As I reached home I popped in to get another drink, a few haribos and my Garmin. I had to stop my phone and switch to my Garmin as I had about 20% battery left and it wouldn't last the last 10 miles.

Setting off again I felt good climbing Marsh lane out of Shepley heading for New Mill, I was slower but it was to be expected and I was still within my time limit. Passing through New Mill and Brockholes was a breeze but as I hit Honley I stopped for a drink from the garage and this I where my struggles started. With only 5 miles to go it was a mixture of mentally pushing myself and ignoring the small pains in my leg muscles and hips. I got to Lockwood before I needed another little walk but I was soon going again and with the finish just a few corners away I motivated myself for the last couple of miles. I reached the bottom of Paddock and Gledholt bank and the cramp in my calves was starting to win and I walked up the final hill until I reach the bottom of my mums road. I gave it one last push but then cramp in my quad cut me short by a couple of hundred metres. Walking the rest of the way I could regain my breath and my senses. So when I reached my mums house again I could revel in what I had just accomplished, what I had just push myself to do. There was no doubt I was knackered but I was pleasantly surprised at how unscathed I was. I couldn't quite musta it but I was smiling ear to ear on the inside, I had completed my first ever marathon in a time of 3h42m. I didn't have long to recover as I had to then go pick up Dexter from School still dressed in my sweaty running clothes, but like I said I was smiling ear to ear on the inside so I didn't care one bit.

That was it I had completed 100 days of running and finished it with a marathon, how cool is that? I'm now taking a well earned rest or at least for a couple of days whilst the stiff legs recover but I'll be out there again soon. It has been such a cool past few months and I can't thank everyone that's helped me enough, be it running with me, helping with looking after the boys whilst I run or just giving me encouragement along the way.

Let's just hope I can keep this level of fitness up and smash some more PB's especially my Huddersfield half marathon PB in April.

Keep running everyone.

Huddersfield 10k third time's a charm plus 100 days of running update.

2015-02-22T12:29:00.004-08:00

This past Sunday was the Huddersfield 10k and it was the 3rd time I had run this event. It was also the first 10k race I ever entered so it has all sorts of nostalgia embedded into it. The first year I did it I had no idea what I was in for and just gunned it. So when I came across an almighty hill I ran up it far to quick for my fitness and ended up throwing my guts up at the top of it. Which gave me a debut time of 58 mins which at the time I was delighted by. Last year I went into the race with a different mentality and just planning to get round without throwing up and hopefully no walking. However I got to the 2nd hill where the year previous I had thrown up at the top and I mentally psyched myself out. I ran up the hill at a steady pace and just got slower and slower until I gave up and walked the last 10/15 metres. At the top this time there was no surprise appearances from my breakfast and I was soon running again and on to the next hill. I crossed the finish line this time in 51mins knocking 7mins off my PB. I was over the moon with the time and my performance, I also felt a lot more comfortable the 2nd time as I knew a few more people and faces. The first time I took part I was like a lost deer just cautiously trotting about not knowing what to do.

This years Huddersfield 10k was completely different, so much has changed and happened in the last 12 months. Well mainly in the last 3/4 months if I'm honest due to me taking my running a little bit more seriously and personal challenges I've set myself. Plus with SJ and I being heavily involved in parkrun and junior parkrun we have become friends with lots of other parkrunners. Also I recognise lots more faces from other runs/races throughout the year. This made the race feel a lot more comfortable from the start, but the overwhelming factor that made this years race more exciting than the previous one was the fact that I'm now a member of Stadium runners, and was running in club colours.

With my running going from strength to strength recently I was expecting a new PB but wasn't quite sure what it would be on such a tough course. I hadn't even set a goal time until Simon Brass inadvertently set me a challenge by telling me his PB from the previous year when he was in great shape. So I was hoping to be near Simon's PB of 45 mins, which seemed to be the common target of other runners as we congregated in the starting pen. Whilst we were still chatting away with each other the starting horn went and we were off and charging up the drive to the main road. As always the first 3km is a long hard stretch that gets progressively steeper until you reach Netherton where a huge crowd gathers to cheer everyone on. I'm sure the crowds get bigger every year and this year it helped push me that extra little bit up to the top of the climb. There was so many people there that I knew and they were great shouting me and others up the last few hundred metres of the hill before we headed off back down the other side. It's always a welcomed sight after such a long climb and it gives you a chance to catch your breath and pick up the pace again before the next climb. On the run down to the next hill you turn off the main road on to a side road and it was nice to see the Olives corner sign from parkrun so after a quick thank you Olive I was off the main road and preparing myself for the 2nd Hill. As I neared the bottom of the hill Jo King (A guy who lives near me and does training runs on the same hills as me, and I am always trying but failing to beat his Strava segments) past me and gave me a quick "well done Matthew" as he went past. It was great to know that I was running at the same pace as him, as he is fast, so it gave me a boost. So on the next hill I managed to pass him and got to the top of it without walking and without throwing up, which was a big mental achievement. Once at the top I was greeted by yet more friendly and familiar people who cheered me on again. I kicked on and it wasn't long before I was at the 3rd and last climb back up to Netherton. It was another long and steady uphill but this year I was ready for it and even managed to pass Matthew Kelly (a parkrunner who is faster than me and maybe my next target to aim for at parkrun) just as I reached the top. Here you are greeted again by the warm applause and loud cheering from people at Netherton, plus a few photographers.

Jo King was now passing me on the final hill section showing just why he has so many CR Strava segments around the Shelley/Shepley area. But that was the 3 major hills done and it was mainly down hill from here including a downhill that you have to hold yourself back on. It's that steep you could quite easily fall if you just let gravity do the work, so you have to ease off a little. By now a lot of people are starting to slow down as the hills have zapped their energy but this year I was still full of gusto and ready for the last quick section.

After a little climb from Armitage Bridge up to the main road at Berry Brow it was now time to extend the legs again with only 2km to go. I tried to gradually pick up the pace so that by the finish straight I should be able to give it a sprint finish. I managed the last bit really well and as I reached the driveway to the Rugby ground and finish Mark Nicholson (parkrun ED) was there cheering me on which helped me find a little bit extra as well. I could hear a couple of guys behind me chasing me down so I said to myself 'not today fellas!' and gunned it to the line. I hadn't looked at my watch at all over the last 5km so I had no real idea what time I had got, so when I crossed the line and stopped my Garmin I was surprised at what I had just done. On my 3rd attempt I managed a 43.39min knocking nearly 8 minutes off my previous best, I was over the moon and the little kid in me just wanted to giggle for a while.

I came in 70th place and the 14th Stadium runner which was absolutely brilliant.

My recent training and my challenge of running a 100 days in a row has definitely worked a treat as I just seem to be improving all the time. There was evidence of this just yesterday when I went down to Stadium Runners and took part in the No Pain No Gain (NPNG) track session, where we did speed work and gradually increased the work effort. Starting with a few laps of steady work, a ladder system, then finished off with a fast couple of 500m. After completing 13 400 metre laps which included 4 rest/recovery laps I managed a 5k PB of 19.24min. Plus after uploading my data at home I found out I had done a few other PBs, my 1 mile time, 2 mile time and a 400m time that could have rivalled my High school PB time.

So after a short run this morning I'm now 86 days into my 100 days of running challenge and only have 2 weeks left to go. I'm still really enjoying it and I'm going to miss it, I am really hoping I can keep my times up when I drop a couple of days from my training. I'm really proud of the times I am producing at the moment. Once the challenge has ended my races will have started so I'm sure that I will be trying to improve especially with all my half marathons this Easter. There is the marathon training that will start in June leading up to the Yorkshire marathon in October.

So after a great weekend all I can say is thank you, thank you to everyone who cheered me and the rest of the runners up those hills on the Huddersfield 10k. Plus a thank you to Stadium runners you have certainly help me improve since joining you in November.

Keep running everyone

100 days of running updated and PBs galore!!!!

2015-02-08T16:13:00.001-08:00

Since completing the #marcothon challenge in December I've carried on running every day and have now completed the second 3rd of #100daysofrunning currently I am on day 73. Since the start of the year I've tried to take it easy on my legs and set a minimum run distance of 2km. This is for a few reasons, it's an easy distance for those days after long runs or if I'm struggling for time. Or if I really want an easy run I could run with Clark and Dexter at junior parkrun. Clark has been running at juniors now he's turned 4 and he loves it and he runs with Dexter, high 5-ing all the marshals as he goes round.

This challenge has completely taken me by surprise and continues to everyday. Before starting the challenge I was worried how it was going to effect my legs and weather I could find time to run. So far my legs have felt great and my family have been brilliant and helped me make time to run by watching the boys a few times. Plus SJ has been very supportive letting me go for runs almost whenever I have wanted to, she's amazing like that.

As the days have gone on, the times of my runs have slowly come down and I've felt incredible at times. I've consistently managed to break my PB's and not just my times, I've pushed myself to run further too. Just this past Sunday I completed 16 miles which is the furthest I've ever run and whilst doing the distance I had my first proper run at a set pace for marathon training etc. I completed 13 miles at a pace of 9 minute miles and then for the last 3 miles/5 Km I just went for it at my own pace. I finished off the 16 miles with a 22 min 5k which shocked me considering that the last 5km of the brass monkey half marathon was a real struggle only 3 weeks ago. My parkrun times so far this year have just got better and better too with a couple of amazing runs where I managed to knock off a serious amount of time off my PB. My first fast run of the new year saw me smash my PB by 53s and taking me below 20mins for the first time ever, I thought this was going to be an impossible target 2 months ago. But here I was and the smile I had from that didn't shift for a while. Then this past Saturday I only went and knocked another 28s off that time, setting my 5km PB at 19.28. It's now 4 days later and I still can't believe it, I still smile when I think about it.

So this weekend has been superb, a parkrun PB Saturday, a 16 mile distance PB on Sunday, I couldn't have had a better weekend really. I was really expecting a big crash at some point, were my legs going to finally start to protest, or wake up with really sore feet and blisters? So when I woke up on Monday morning and all they were was a little stiff I was surprised. So at that point my head was already think about my next run, would I be up for the Stadium Runners 10k time trial or not. I decided to go and just see how the legs responded to the warm up, then I would know whether or not to go for it or just have steady run. As soon as I arrived I was already queuing for my number, I think the excitement of topping my weekend off with another PB was overriding my sensibleness. We headed up to the start for the warm up and after a couple of laps of the car park my legs where ready to go. As soon as the horn went for the start of the race I knew this was going to be tough. Although once I hit that first km mark and my time was sub 4 mins I was pumped and it gave me a helping burst as I started my assent up to the Fixby round-about. The training was paying off completely and it wasn't long before I was at the top of Bradley road and on my decent again towards Leeds Rd. Once I was on Leeds Rd I knew my time was good as long as I could keep my pace up on the last 3.5km. I dug deep and kept going, soon I turned on to the finish straight and I kept an eye on my Garmin as I crossed the line. Now when I did this run last time it was on day 1 of this challenge and that time I got a PB of 43.05mins for the 10k, 70 days later and I had smashed my PB by 2 minutes and 1 second. 41.04 was my officially recorded time and I was buzzing, my hands where shaking slightly I was that happy at what I had just done, or the adrenaline was still pumping. I was even more shocked because of the weekend I had put myself through too, with a PB at parkrun then 16 miles on Sunday to then smash a 10k was incredible.

I have now set myself a few targets for the rest of my challenge which I hope will help me when It comes to the 7 weeks of half marathons I have signed up for. Which start just under 3 weeks after the 100 day challenge finishes, hopefully I will have a few rest days in that period. Although I am becoming very used to going out for a run everyday it will feel strange when I don't have to worry whether I will be able to make time for a run or not.

At the moment a lot of my running friends are either way into their marathon training plans or just starting them. So I would just like to say that you are all very inspirational and you are keeping me going through this challenge and easing my fears of starting my own training plan for my first marathon in October. Thank you to everyone who has helped me so far and it will soon be over and the Facebook posts will stop or at least for a while.

Keep running everyone

My December and 2014 review plus 2015 challenges

2014-12-31T15:27:00.001-08:00

I've racked my brain on ways to start this blog post but it all keeps coming out like dribble and babble, so let's break this month down a bit.

All month I have been taking part in the Marcothon challenge which involves running at least 5k every day in December. Which is fairly simple to start with but becomes more difficult as the month progresses, however by the end of the month you're not sure what you're going to do when the challenge ends. The challenge couldn't have got off to a better start as I smashed my 10k PB at the stadium runners 10k time trial. The first week of the challenge flew by and I found running everyday really exciting and slightly naughty like I was doing something wrong. My 5k target on the first Sunday was split across several runs as it was the Huddersfield Santa dash, which is set over 1 mile. I completed the Santa dash in 5m30s and crossing the line as first finisher, which makes me the fastest Santa in Huddersfield in 2014. The field of runners isn't the same as a parkrun or a 10k but I will take the small victories whenever I can.

As the days rolled on I found extra pace creeping into my training runs and when I ran an unofficial parkrun PB during the week I was amazed. This Marcothon challenge was really helping me and at the Xmas themed parkrun I managed to smash my parkrun PB by 15s and could now officially say I had a sub 21min PB. Yet there was still room for improvement as I was running in a Santa suit and there was a nasty headwind on the uphills. As I got closer to the end of the challenge I found that I was mixing the runs up a lot more to make sure things didn't get boring. I was trying a spot of pacing on some runs and on others I was starting slow and building my speed. Now that I am at the end of my Marcothon challenge, me and all the other people taking the challenge are all left with the feeling of what now, do we rest or do we carry on.

For me it's the later as I had, at the start of December, decided to do 100 days of running. I just started it with the Marcothon. So this December has been filled with running, but also with statistics and I loved watching and tracking them as I ran. For instance I ran a total of 135 miles this month and for the whole year I clocked up 643 miles. So I ran a fifth of my annual mileage in the last month of the year, it didn't feel like it though in fact the main thing I will take from the Marcothon is that as long as you don't go all out on each run and look after your legs you can easily run everyday.

My running wasn't the only thing that has made December a month to remember, although it is running based. Huddersfield juniors parkrun which has been a huge part of our family life along with all the juniors, volunteers and the rest of our juniors team it has been an amazing year. Sadly Simon our event director has decided to step down as ED due to work commitments, marathon training and missing races which is the one thing all runners look forward to. He won't be disappearing, he will still be helping and volunteering whenever he can, he just can't give it the focus that it needs. We always knew he was going to do this but just not so soon. So from today (1/1/15) I can say proudly that I am the Event Director for Huddersfield Junior parkrun. Simon has left a great team and I am really excited to see what 2015 holds for the junior event.

In 2014 I have had the privilege of meeting and becoming friends with so many amazing people and I've also been witness to some brilliant moments. I've seen countless juniors smash their PBs, future parkrunning babies brought into the world and been witness to an awesome little girl complete a junior parkrun who couldn't walk 6 months previously. I've shed tears with fellow parkrunners over the loss of an amazing and spirited lady and I've made others weep just by highlighting how awesome they are and have others agree, 2014 has truly been one of those years that I won't forget in a hurry.

2015 is already looking like it will be an amazing year with a new PB yes another one, I knocked 5s off my PB at Pontefract parkrun. We were there as part of our New Year's Day parkrun double starting at Ponty then moving on to Nostell Priory. The whole of team Pattison was at Nostell Priory along with a lot of the friends we have made over the last year, the best thing about the day wasn't all the familiar faces and friends all running together.

No it was the enthusiasm for parkrun that I saw in Clark and the excitement about finally being able to take part in parkrun for the first time in 10 days time. He definitely has developed his own friendships within parkrun already, which will help when he's running around the park on a weekend.

2015 will also be a big year for me I terms of challenges with 4 half marathons and my first marathon already signed up to, and many more to come I'm sure. Then there is all the 10k's and other runs I will enter, not to mention that hopefully Dexter, SJ and I will all enter the 100 club at some point this year. Plus the Shepley 10k I will soon have to start planning and organising as well as the anniversary of our fabulous junior event.

So thank you to everyone who has been a part of my 2014 and let's make sure that 2015 is just as good if not better

Keep running everyone

5 years ago my life changed for the better!

2014-11-26T07:05:00.001-08:00

Today is a very special day in my life, it was the day that changed my life for the good, because 5 years ago today I quit smoking. I quit for lots of reasons like the smell, the cost, the health issues and the standing outside in the cold on your own. But the main reason I quit was for my family, Dexter was about 18 months and running around all over the place and I was constantly out of breath or outside having a cig. So as a promise and a birthday present to my lovely wife I agreed to quit on her birthday, now her birthday is tomorrow...so what happened? Well what happen the day before her birthday is probably the most contributing factor to why I managed to quit for good. I had planned my cigarettes so that I had enough to take me through to SJ's birthday but about halfway through the day Dexter, being the inquisitive little boy that he was, got hold of my cigs. He then did what later turned out be the best thing for me but at the time was devastating, to me anyway. He ripped up every last cig I had and not just a little, he totally obliterated them, on seeing the mess and panicking how I was going to manage the rest of the day, I cried a little. It was one of those life changing moments as after a minute or two I thought to myself, why am I crying about cigarettes? How pathetic was I?

So I just STOPPED. Stopped worrying about them, stopped feeling silly and stopped smoking, just like that. Well almost the next day I booked an appointment with the nurse at the doctors and got some patches. I wore them for a week then from then on just went cold turkey and haven't had one regret since. For the first week or two it was lots of first, like first solo trip to the shops without thinking about them, first night without wanting to pop outside and other little firsts. It wasn't until about a month in that I managed to go out for a drink to the pub without worrying about temptation. All these, let's call them events were massive at the time but as soon as you manage to do one you instantly question why it was so difficult and why I had worried in the first place. Soon the months were turning into 6 months and years, and the events were less and less, and the times I even thought of a cig were down to about once a year, around this time of year. The final event came about a month ago when I realised the anniversary was coming but couldn't remember how many years it had been, I think it's safe to say I've QUIT.

For those of you that are wondering but this is a running blog what's this all about? Well this past fortnight has been my best couple of weekends runningwise since I started running 2 and a bit years ago. I've been feeling great about my running lately and 10 days ago at parkrun I smashed my PB by nearly 30 seconds then this past weekend at the Barnsley 10k I again smashed my PB by nearly 30 seconds, more on that in a bit. I can't believe how well I'm feeling at the moment and I wouldn't like to think where I would be now if I hadn't quit smoking when I did. It's been the best thing I've done healthwise and if it wasn't for my fantastic family and friends supporting me I probably would have slipped and started smoking again, so thank you everyone. I am now fitter, healthier and happier than ever and the running is just the icing on the cake.

So this Sunday I headed over to Roysten to do the Barnsley 10k for the first time, I had heard good things about it and was in great spirits when I arrived at 9am to collect my number. Then on my way to the start line I saw a few familiar faces, some I expected to see and some I didn't, which was nice. I went for a warm up jog round the park and ended up marshalling/cheering on the junior race, which was ace as I was missing huddersfield juniors parkrun to be at Barnsley. Watching the junior race there was a familiar feel to it as there was a wide range of abilities very similar to junior parkrun, complete with parents not being able to keep up with their awesome juniors. Once that was over the seniors started to gather and the Stadium runners started to arrive running the Barnsley 10k in memory of Olive, who died a couple of months ago. This was her favourite race and even signed up this year before her illness became terminal, I have recently signed up with them but was torn whether or not to run with them for Olive, I hadn't done it before and after getting my 5k PB the week before was feeling up for it this week. So I decide that even though paying tribute to Olive was high on my mind I thought that even though I didn't know her very well I know she would want be to go out there and give it my best. So that is what I was going to do, and I lined up at the start all ready to smash it. Whilst waiting I saw another 4/5 people that I knew but didn't expect to see them running, so I said hello and then set up my Strava ready to go. It was fairly busy at the start and we were all expecting a run brief but all of a sudden there was an air horn and we were off.

It was a slow start because of the congestion but once we got out onto the open road it soon spread out. As I hadn't done this run before I didn't know what to expect so when we completed the first Km and were then confronted by a monster of a first climb I thought we were in for a tough run. Still feeling good I pushed up the hill overtaking a few people and reaching the top in no time. Then after a steady climb we started to flatten out a bit and at the next turning the course seemed to take a slight downward tilt and it meant I could catch my breath whilst picking up the pace again. About 2 and a half miles in I passed Simon E our event director at Hudds juniors, after a quick chat he told me to push on and go smash it, so I did. I pushed hard for the next 3 miles and even after about 4 small hills I was still in good spirits and was feeling great.

With only about a mile to go I was ready to push for the finish but was taken by surprise at the last hill that seemed to come out of nowhere and it took every little bit energy I had left. Luckily it was only a few hundred metres to the finish now and I mustered up a sprint finish to cross the line in 45.33 knocking nearly 30 seconds of my PB and on a tough route too. Once I had gone and got my finishers t-shirt I went to congratulate all my friends I had seen along the way.

Then I took up a place on the finish funnel ready to cheer the Stadium Runners across the line after their tribute run for Olive. As they appeared in the distance everyone started clapping and Olives Daughter and Grandson who were running just in front of them looked very emotional, understandably of course. They crossed the lined then the Stadium runners came into the funnel and most of them couldn't look at anyone as they were very emotional and knew that if they caught your eye that would set the tears flowing. Olive would have been very proud of all of them and it was a lovely tribute to her and her favourite race.

So in the words of Olive 'keep going love'

Olives parkrun

2014-09-13T06:49:00.001-07:00

I haven't written a blog for a while and I thought that my run report of the Shepley 10k would be my latest but something happen during the week that has completely thrown everyone out of sync. So this is my tribute to an amazing lady who gave her heart and time to everyone at Huddersfield parkrun and the running community, this is Olives parkrun.

The news broke during the week that Olive Brearey had passed away after a battle with Cancer and from that point on the tributes began to pour in. Big, small, long, short or just a simple thank you Olive, each and every message was a testament to how much of an impact just one person can have on a community when they give up a small amount of time to support and cheer people on. There were tributes from close friends that were heartfelt, and also messages of thanks from people who only knew her as the lady on the second to last corner cheering 'keep going, keep going'. It didn't seem to matter who the messages were from or how well they knew Olive, they all had had something in common and that was how much those few words she spoke each week helped them and stuck with them. I never had the pleasure of speaking to Olive properly but every time I passed her she always gave me or my son and I, if I was running with him, great encouragement which always helped you and picked you up for the final sprint to the finish.

So on parkrunday when Simon Brass approach the skate park to address the gathering parkrun crowd as he usually would, there was a look on everyone's face of 'urgggmmm this is going to be emotionally hard'. You could see how hard it already was on Simon just from his walk up the skateboard ramp, and then he reach the top and said his hello and welcome to Huddersfield parkrun as usual. It was at this point that Simon did something that made the nearly 600 runners stood at the start line completely quiet and got their complete attention. He reach up and took off his Bunny ears.......which if you know Simon you know that those bunny ears are a part of him on parkrun weekend without fail. It was that one gesture and offer of respect which silenced nearly 600 runners. On a normal parkrunday there are still a few people that talk over the run brief as it difficult to hold everyone's attention but today everyone knew what he was about to do. It wasn't about who you were today, or which part of town you came from, how many runs you've done, no we were all here to remember a truly amazing lady and pay tribute to everything she has done for parkrun, for running in the community and for all the people that she had help or encouraged. I don't think she will have realised how many people she had touched, but I hope she does now. Simon kept it together long enough to give his own brilliant tribute, we all gave a moment of applause, and he asked people to join him and the volunteers after we had finished our runs on Olives corner to clap and cheer the remaining runners through to the finish. He then he set us going on our parkruns with Olive in our thoughts.

As people were running I could see they were all very determine to do well for Olive just as she would have wanted us to. This was always going to be an emotional parkrun but the feelings and thought you got when reaching Olives corner for the first time was a little surprising and overwhelming, Olives sign was placed on the corner and there was a gathering of flowers left by people before the run. Everyone who ran by paid their own tribute or respects to Olive if it was a clap, a touch of the sign or a 'Thank you Olive'.

By the time I was approaching Olives corner for the second and final time there were a few runners starting to line the corner with Simon and the cheers and claps I got really pushed me to finish hard and on a sprint. So after I had my barcode scanned I went and joined the at this point 20 people on Olives corner clapping and cheering. It was very emotional and as more and more runners finished and joined us the more intense it got, but it also got louder and at its peak you could apparently hear us from the bottom of the park. I think no one went round that corner today and didn't give their all, because of all the support that was given and no one wanted to let Olive down. As the tail runner came round for the final time there was at least 300 people lining the corner clapping, and as the clapping disapated there was a few tears and lots of emotional hugs and handshakes, never has 'our parkrun family' been so apt.

There is talk of raising money for a plaque in rememberence of Olive and after today I think they will have no problem in raising the funds. There is also a group of people that are going to the Barnsley 10k and running together in rememberence of Olive, as she loved the Barnsley 10k and had optimistically entered it this year. I'm sure Olive will be remembered for many years to come and with the possible plaque maybe for generations to come too.

So as a final word I will just say Keep going, Keep going

RIP Olive

Huddersfield bunnies on tour at Cheadle Hulme parkrun

2014-07-12T14:52:00.001-07:00

OH NO HUDDERSFIELD PARKRUN WAS CANCELLED WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO????

Tourism that's what!!!!

There were discussions during the week as to which parkrun we're going to visit or should I say descend on, there was talk of Barnsley but that was very quickly stopped because of the hillyness. Concord was mentioned because Dexter thought it meant we flew round on Concorde, Sheffield Hallam was having a birthday party but we end up deciding on Cheadle Hulme parkrun as it was fairly new and it had a cafe right at the finish. So we organised our car arrangements and meeting points and times and waited for parkrunday to arrive.

SJ and I had arranged for Flynn and Clark to stay at my mums the night before so we didn't have to make a detour via my mum's house at silly o'clock in the morning to drop them off. We now could get up at a reasonable time and drive over the tops to Manchester and Stockport and on to Cheadle Hulme.

On arriving at Cheadle Hulme we all met up and had a pre parkrun chat and wished Tony Pinnington a Happy Birthday, then we all gathered for a pre run photo. There were 27 of us that had made the trip over but only 26 of us that made it in time for the photo as Mr Simon Brass Bunny had been delayed by a tyre blow out on the motorway. We rang him to see what was going on and whether he would make it for the Start and he said he would just start late if he was late.

After a great run brief where we were introduced to everyone and we were part huge number of first timers to Cheadle Hulme parkrun, 3/4 of the field were first timers. We then moseyed round the cricket pitch to the start line where we all sorted our watches, apps, etc. for the start. Then we all took part in a start line selfie for ED Sam and a last minute stretch ready for the RD Paul to set us off.

Just as he was about to let us go we could see what can only be described as Japanesse movie style giant man/bunny charging across the pitch and bunny ears flapping in the wind. It was Mr Simon Brass Bunny fresh from his tyre changing adventure, bounding across the pitch and even the cricket wicket nothing was getting in the way of him starting at the same time as the rest of us. He had to be reminded to take his rucksack off his back he was that focused on being on time, just.

Finally we could start Cheadle Hulme event number 3 and in scorchio sunshine, the weather fairies were being extra awesome this morning.

We were off and running round the cricket pitch for the first time before we were ushered through a gate to the rugby pitches where we navigated the outskirts of 3 rugby pitches and back towards the club house and the cricket pitch and the end of lap 1 of 3. The course was laid out really well by ropes all the way round the rugby pitches and markers round the cricket pitch. I even considered counting them on the 3 lap just to take my mind off the heat and my burning lungs, because I was going at a fab pace and from my split time I was on for a good time. I was finding the flat course really good and even when some people were finding the couple of patches of sand hard I was just flying. I was helped a lot by the really nice voluncheerers at the small bridge connecting the rugby pitches. There was a group of about 6 of them, some lovely little girls with rattles and bells cheering you on and a few adults guiding you in the right direction round the pitches. It was an awesome section of the run and almost a little reminiscent of the Tour de France where the spectators cheer on the riders with large cow bells and lots of cheers. It definitely helped everyone round even Dexter, he ran his first parkrun where he didn't stop for a walk or rest, he didn't want to look silly in front of the little girls at the bridge he told us afterwards. He's so cute sometimes.

On finishing the 3 laps in the searing heat the welcoming sight of the clubhouse and some shade was great and getting our barcode and tokens scanned just in the doorway was brilliant. It was easier to then go back outside to cheer everyone else across the line and then join SJ and Dexter on their final lap.

With Cheadle Hulme being a smaller parkrun it had a very relaxed and friendly where you felt like you could go round and talk to all the runners and see how their runs went. Something that is difficult to do at Huddersfield and it's 600+ runners. Plus with a smaller crowd it meant that the queues for the post parkrun bacon butties etc. were smaller and you could fill your face with food quicker. We all sat outside in the glorious sunshine to have our post parkrun chats and chin wags and shared stories and played games with the smaller parkrunners that came along. We talked with the event team and shared thoughts and stories from our bunny adventures before we all had to make the trip back over the Pennines home again.

We had an awesome time at Cheadle Hulme parkrun and we will visit again I'm sure probably in the winter months when it could be a muddy affair. Great team, great volunteers I'd highly recommend it.

It wasn't until I was browsing the results after returning home that I noticed that Cheadle Hulme was graced by a soon to be the parkrun show legend Paul (chauffeur) Freyne. Who is so close to making it 200 different events and all within 250 parkruns. I wonder where his 200th event will be and where his 250th run will be, will he go run with his homies for the 250 at bushy. It would have been nice to have met him but I'm sure our paths will cross again soon.

My 1st parkrunniversary what a different a year makes.....

2014-06-14T14:45:00.001-07:00

The second Saturday in June 2013 will forever more be a special day in my mind for many reasons although it does feel like it has been about two years rather than one! This past year has been so full of excitement, fun, friends, family, challenges, new friends, new experiences, new roles and so much happiness and it's all down to that second Saturday in June when I turned up to my first ever parkrun at Greenhead park.

I've been running now for nearly 2 years but I think if I hadn't have turned up at Greenhead park that Saturday I don't think I would be half as fit as I am now and would definitely not have done as much as I have over the last 12 months.

Over the last 52 weeks I have run countless training runs with a smile on my face each time, and most of the time, with great friends tagging along too. I've smashed PB's and shaved seconds off them now and again too, from 25min 5k's down to 21min 5k's, a 45 min 10k PB along with a 2hr half marathon time, on a truly monsterous route.

I've run :-

5k runs

10k runs

10 milers

Muddy obstacle runs

Half marathons

And a triathlon!

After every event I've felt exhausted but happy with a huge smile on my face everytime and no regrets at all. I've met so many new friends since last June and encouraged them as they've either passed me or I've overtaken them. We've celebrated runs together and helped each other if we've tripped or fallen, we've pushed each other to new challenges and helped everyone that has needed a little push to reach the next level. All this has only been possible because of parkrun and the community that you become part of when you make that first leap of faith and turn up to your first parkrun. Here are some photos of the friends we have made over the last year and it's not only me that has changed too.

And in the year I've had I've gone from background hair line to full family close up.

My previous year, before parkrun, was not nearly as full and at times getting out on a training run was a drag. I entered two organised events and organised one event myself, but if I hadn't registered and printed off my barcode I think my love for running might have waned and I could have found myself sat on that couch again thinking, I'll go for a run tomorrow....I promise.

Thankfully I did print off my barcode and I did take that 20min car journey across Huddersfield to stand on the start line to be among the 436 other athletes that morning. The thing that makes me the happiest about that day is all the friends and family that have joined me on that start line since and how happy they have been since doing their first parkrun too. My son Dexter joined me the week after and a few months later, 10 days after giving birth to our 3rd child, my wife also joined in and hasn't looked back since.

I am immensely proud of SJ and Dexter and I think if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be on as many parkruns as I am. To date I have now run 48 and soon will be celebrating my 50th hopefully with a lot of my family too. It hasn't just stopped at SJ and Dexter I have encouraged almost all of my family to join in and take part regularly in parkrun, from Jessie to Jodie and even Nana completed the 5k a year after being diagnosed with and beating cancer. Many friends have also tagged along with us like, Steve, Rob, Paul, Becky, Luke and many more, I even arranged for the school fun run to take place alongside parkrun. So far I think I've encouraged around 50 or more people to lace up those running shoes and pound the paths of Greenhead park. I still try to encourage as many people as I can to try it, whenever someone on Facebook is talking about going running for the first time I inform them about parkrun and tell them they won't regret it and not to be scared about making that first step.

It's not just running at parkrun that gets you involved but volunteering too can help you become part of the community and give a little back, and best of all it's free. Free to run, free to volunteer, free to make friends, and free to give your all, every single time. SJ and I have also been privileged enough to join the team that organises and creates awesomeness every Sunday in the form of the Huddersfield junior parkrun. Still in its early stages but the junior parkrun is something amazing and special already, and has brought so many people from the community down so their juniors can run around the gorgeous Greenhead park, with many parents volunteering whilst their juniors run.

It's safe to say this past year has been AWESOME and I hope the weeks, months and years to follow are just as good.

Keep running everyone......

A weekend full of first's and an amazing weekend at that. Part 2 Sunday

2014-06-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

'Sundays until recently were normally a day of rest and a catch up on TV programmes maybe a run now and again, but 4 weeks ago that changed and after this weekend I hope they never change again.

This Sunday was and will be for the foreseeable future Junior parkrunday and I sometimes look forward to it more than running on a normal parkrunday. It's pure fun in a disguised as a mass gathering of chaos, so many smiley faces before and even afterwards. It was SJ's turn as Run Director and she did a brilliant job we had volunteers coming out of our ears and 175 fabulous juniors giving it their all round our exciting course. Louise did the warm up again and she does it really well with music blaring and juniors jumping and waving. Then SJ did a great run brief and set the juniors off around Greenhead park in the glorious sunshine a complete opposite from the rain the day before. We are starting to get a nice regular team of volunteers and are starting to become more familiar with the juniors and their names. There is one thing that you don't take in to account when becoming an event director or run director is the amount of people who know you but you don't know them in return. As time goes by I'm sure we will get to know more and more and gain lots of friends in the process.

We had a lot of great performances again this week and we are always surprised by the number of fast juniors that return week on week to try and better their times or finishing positions. Matthew Burke decided to give his usual Saturday parkrun a miss this week to save his energy for the junior parkrun. This was so he could try and give it his all and improve his PB and beat it he did, so well done Matthew. Even among the juniors there is competitiveness between each other but more importantly they're always trying to better themselves. Yet it is all done with complete honesty and friendliness, even helping each other too. Some with younger siblings will run back to find them and help them to complete the rest of the run together.

We did have some slight issues but luckily none of the little problems affected the juniors runs or times. We had lots of PB's again and a few of them were helped by our first ever pacer Matthew Jack Potter who dressed up as a bunny and ran as a 10 min pacer. We had a couple of comments from parents that he helped their junior to a PB which was great to hear and will probably mean we have a pacer more often.

So with Junior parkrun done it was now time to head off home and prepare for the rest of the day, as I wasn't finished just yet. I had to be ready for 11.30 to meet up with my good friend Luke as we were taking part in our first Triathlon down at Scissett. It was a 400m Swim, followed by a 15km bike ride and then finished off with a 5km run. We were both really excited but Luke was more nervous than I was probably down to the fact I had been in more race/run events than Luke and was used to those pre-event butterflies.

We arrived at 11.45 with plenty of time until our start times, Luke had put down a silly time for his swim so was setting off a whole hour before me so I was in for a wait. I also knew a few other people who were taking part in the triathlon all mainly from parkrun. Mr Ian Rutson of the parkrun show fame and Pontefract parkrun event director, and Rich Mcloed a fellow Huddersfield parkrun member and an amazing all round athlete.

Luke and I arrived and propped our bikes up and whilst Luke went to register and hear the event brief I said hello to Ian. He seemed really relaxed about the event but was a little confused about the layout of the transition area, he said it was a bit more complicated compared to last years. Ian was the first of us to start at 12.45 with Luke going at 13.00, me at 14.00 and Rich going off at 14.30. As this was Luke's and my first triathlon we had no real idea about what to do but we seemed to fit in pretty quickly with the set up. Luke parked his bike in the transition area and then I went to register whilst he got change into his triathlon suit then once I had parked my bike I did the same. It wasn't long before Luke was due in the pool so waited in the reception area and I took the opportunity to go upstairs and see Ian doing his swim. He looked like he was going well and was soon off out of the pool and on to his bike, which meant it was Luke's turn in the pool.

After Luke had done his swim and was off on his bike I was left with an long wait till it was my turn but as it was such a lovely day I just hung about outside watching the triathletes on their bikes and catching some rays. Just before Luke was due back from his bike ride section SJ and the boys turned up to support us and it was nice to see them before I had to get in the pool. I missed Luke's transition as I was pool side ready to start my swim, I was in lane 2 with just one other guy which was nice not to have too much pressure from other swimmers as some lanes had 4/5. Whilst waiting to go I could hear the boys and SJ on the balcony above me cheering which was an awesome feeling.

The whistle went and I was off swimming front crawl at a nice steady pace but before long I had to change to breast stroke as I just couldn't comfortably get a good breathing rhythm. Luckily my pace didn't slow too much and after 10 mins I was off towards transition and my bike.

Once on my bike and on the main road I put my foot down and was soon at the first corner and on my way up the hill towards Emley and the Emley mast. There are 2 steep sections of the 6km climb and on the flatter sections I tried to push it as much as I could. I did get overtaken by about 6 riders on proper road bikes and a couple on olympic style time trial bikes funnily enough they were part of the GB triathlon team, so didn't mind getting overtaken by them. Once at the top I pushed once again and even managed to overtake someone who had passed me earlier, that was a nice feeling. From here it was pretty much all downhill to the end and I tried to push hard to the transition area. About halfway down there was a photographer and he took a photo of me looking like I was on a gentle bike ride and all I was missing was my shopping basket on the front but I promise you I was going fast.

Once I was back at the swimming baths I quickly put my bike back and got on my way round the 5k run

I took me about 500m to get my calfs working properly after the bike ride but once they were going again I found the run ok. It was another uphill route all the way to Skelmanthorpe and then a nice steady downhill all the way to the finish. You finished the run on the same roads as the bike so I passed the same photographer as before so this time I tried to give a pose but looked more like I was dying rather than having fun

Once I was back down on the flat on the final stretch to the finish I dug in deep and keep going all the way to the line and where the final chip mat is. The final mat was rather thin so when the guy behind me tried to do a sprint finish to beat me on the line he missed the mats and had to double back to stop the time on his chip. A bit of a fail on his part but I liked his determination to get to me before the line, maybe next time. Well that was it I had finished my first triathlon and I was so pumped that it kind of felt like it wasn't long enough and I was up for going round again, I had a really amazing time and experience and I was really pleased with my time. I finished my first triathlon in 1hr14m25s and I know I could do better too, maybe next year.

The set up of the event was great and rather than a race it felt more like a competitive time trial, there was always someone to chase and someone chasing you which kept you pushing all the way.

For all of you who are wondering how Luke, Ian and Rich did, well they all did pretty amazingly.

Ian knocked 3 mins off his time from last year completing it this year in 1hr18min12s

Luke finished his first Triathlon in a fabulous time of 1hr12min16s

I finished in 1hr14min25s as you know

And Rich did it in an amazing 1hr02min41s

Well done everyone who took part and usually at this point I say keep running everyone but this time I will say

Keep swimming, biking, and running everyone.

A weekend full of first's and an amazing weekend at that. Part 1 Watergrove parkrun Rochdale

2014-06-08T11:46:00.001-07:00

This weekend despite the varied weather was truly awesome and full of first attempts, first visits and first experiences and after all of it, I've been left feeling humbled and smiling from ear to ear......

The view down the hills from Watergrove reservoir

The weekend started with a worrying look at the weather to judge when not if the rain was going to effect us this Saturday. I was heading over to the inaugural Watergrove parkrun at Rochdale, whilst SJ and Dexter were staying at Huddersfield parkrun as they were heading off to the Brahman horse trials straight after. Which ever parkrun we were at it was going to be a wet one, but just how wet was the question.

I set off early to Rochdale to at least get there before the rain started, I jumped in the car and it was lovely and sunny even a little warm. As I got close to Rochdale I could feel the temperature dropping and as I pulled into the car park at Watergrove parkrun the clouds were building very quickly. I met up with Simon Edwards and Tony Pinnington at the start who had also made the trip over the Pennines to try out this new parkrun. After a chat with the guys Barbara the Event Director gave a speech and run brief and when warning people about not having their barcodes she was echo by an enormous rumble of thunder which would have scared anyone into bringing their barcodes. She then sent the field of 89 runners to the start ready for the countdown to the first Watergrove parkrun, and as we crossed the cattle grid you could help but notice that about 75% of the runners had a parkrun T-Shirt on either a 50 or 100 tee. Just as we set off the rain started and apparently it did the same at Huddersfield too, but as your running it doesn't worry you at all unless like me your wearing your glasses.

The run was brilliant nevertheless and the course was beautiful even in the rain just imagine what it would be like in blue skies. You run round the reservoir until there is a cobbled road leading up on to the moors where the path splits off in 2 directions like a Y. You take the left route and head downhill until you reach 2 bridges of which you take the left hand one as the other is for the return journey on this out and back section. Once over the first bridge it's up a small incline and onto a path that leads to a gate with a wet but still smiley marshal and this is where you double back and over the second bridge. You're about half way now and starting to get into a flow but then you are faced by what I would like to christen the Mischievous hill you ran down about a Km ago. It's not until you run back up it that you realise how steep it was when you ran down it, but with a deep breath and a dig you can make it without too much pain. Then as you reach the top you now take the other part of the Y route and again this is uphill, not as steep as the last hill but it certainly tests you legs. You hit a cone and then double back again but this time your on the final stretch home and it's all downhill to the reservoir and a fast flat finish. You do have to be a little cautious as you run down the cobbled road to the reservoir because the rain had made them a little slippery but not too much that it was dangerous it just made you think. After the flat finish I crossed the line and picked up token 28 which I was happy about, and in a time of 24.44. The time was about 2 or 3 mins off my regular times but it seemed that was the case all round there was no one under 20 mins which is unusual. I guess the weather was a helping factor but I think the course is just a tough one and will be a challenge to anyone.

As always we hung about to talk about our runs, as did lots of others but after a loud rumble of thunder the heavens open with a burst of rain twice as heavy as before which sent lots of finishers running for their cars. This sadly put and end to the Watergrove inaugural a little earlier than they had hoped, but with such a stunning parkrun and lovely volunteers I'm sure they will have lots of returning runners and I'm sure I will be one of them at some point.

That was my first inaugural run and it certainly has something a little special to it and there is no wonder that there is a growing group of parkrun tourist that will travel all over the country to them.

When we all arrived home I was told about the rain at Huddersfield and the amazing turnout of 570 runners even in the rain and with 2 inaugurals nearby, it just show how people feel about parkruns that they will turn up whatever the weather or time of year. SJ told me that Dexter ran well but complained a little but when I say complained, his complaint was, "mummy will you please turn off the rain now". Love my amazing family.

Keep running everyone.

Huddersfield juniors parkrun event #3 in brilliant sunshine

2014-06-01T15:42:00.002-07:00

Just 3 events in and we are starting to get some stand out performances from our juniors with new course records set from both the boys and the girls this week.

It was my (Matthew Pattison's) turn as RD at this weeks Huddersfield juniors parkrun and with a full volunteer roster and the weather fairies working their magic it was all set up to be a fantastic junior parkrun morning.

The pre-event setup is becoming a favourite of the juniors team's children as they like to draw the start and finish lines and add pictures, arrows and messages. This also makes them feel more a part of the event and even helps them make friends with the other juniors.

I am assured that this is a rocket a firework rocket drawn by my son Dexter (6) and his brother Clark (3) helped him with the finish line.

The run as a whole is becoming a very slick and well oiled machine but the behind the scenes action is still being fine tuned and altered slightly by each of the team as they take their turn as RD. Plus we are there backing each other up as we go and make sure that we make a junior parkrun that the juniors can enjoy and be proud of.

As the junior, parents and marshals started to stream through the park gates there was a buzz in the air and the smiles on the juniors faces was amazing and the sun just topped it off.

After the run brief we attempted a Marshal Mexican wave to make sure they can see each other, we know they can see each other but this week it failed. Maybe we will try it again next week as it's a great way to get the juniors involved at the start, with the juniors starting the Mexican wave down towards marshal 1.

The juniors were all set off safely and before we could blink we had some of them completing lap 1 which still catches us of guard at how quick they are. The funnel was set out and we clapped the remaining junior on to their 2nd laps and again we were almost caught off guard as our first finisher crossed the line in a course record time and our first sub 7 minute time. 3 events in and we've already broken the 7 minute barrier, where will our course record time settle at in a few weeks time, it keeps getting broken, but that wasn't it. The time he finished in was also an age grade record for the course. plus not settling for that, our first girl across the line also broke the girls course record and completing the trifecta of course records.

This weeks run finished with a lot of happy juniors, with 56 first timers and 35 new PB's out of the field of 155 runners. Following on from Leeds parkruns trip to the moon (see their Facebook page if confused) so far our juniors have run from Greenhead park to the outskirts of Berlin and by this time next week we will have visited Zary parkrun in Poland. (http://www.parkrun.pl/zary/)

I wonder how far our juniors will travel over then next year or is that thinking too far ahead too soon.

Keep running everyone

Huddersfield juniors parkrun event #1

2014-05-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

After 2 years of behind the scenes hard work the first Huddersfield juniors parkrun was here and what an impressive turnout we had.

With excitement in the air all our team arrived early to make sure that everything was set up nicely and early so we could concentrate on assigning marshals to their positions, timekeepers their stop watches, scanners to the correct people and explaining to the funnel managers the plan of action.

We were lucky to have Tom Williams from parkrun visiting to oversee the event and check that our event ran smoothly, and share some constructive criticism if necessary. It was great to finally meet him after running at a few events at the same time but never managing to talk to him. With the number of people at parkrun events sometimes it is difficult to talk to and catch up with everyone you want to in time you are there. So after I had been introduced to him and a quick chat I went back to the community room to help with the last few volunteers and to make sure Simon didn't want me to do anything else before things got under way. It was nearly time for the warm up with Louise and as I left the community room I was amazed at the number of juniors and parents that had gathered at the start and like the senior parkrun they were still streaming in at the gates with 5 mins to go.

The excitement of the juniors was evident as they were encroaching on the start line and beyond as 9am got closer and closer, we had to move them back about 10ft by the time Simon came down to give the run brief.

This was it, it was time to get the inaugural Huddersfield juniors under way, but we had to give everyone a quick brief on how the barcodes and tokens work, because as we found in our test last week there were a few that weren't sure. Once that was done we had to clear out of the way so that when we set the juniors off we didn't get trampled in the stampede. Then after avery anticipated countdown they were off and with a few screams of excitement all the juniors were safely off and running. There was a couple of falls at the start but all juniors got under way without any injuries or tears, a huge relief to all the team.

We moved down to the finish and set out the funnel where they would all be sent to collect their tokens and then be shown where to get them scanned to register their run and time. It wasn't long before we had our lead junior Sam Robinson finishing lap 1 and in a fantastic time too, there was a huge amount of marshals and other volunteers at the finish area. So the cheering and clapping for each of the juniors as they ran past must have been amazing from their perspective because there was not one unhappy face as they passed through to start lap 2. The steady stream of juniors was still In full flow as Sam came round to finish his run and he had to do a bit of zig zagging round some of the smaller juniors on his way to the finish line, and crossing the line in a superb time of 7m31s.

He was closely followed by Matthew Burke (7m48s) who was fastest at last weeks test event. Having Sam in front of him might of helped as it gave him someone to chase as he crossed the line this time 8 seconds faster than last week.

This also gave him the highest age grade percentage of all our juniors, an impressive 76.74%. Our fastest female was Lucy Margetson in an excellent time of 8m34s with an age grade of 70.33%, but all our juniors deserve a massive well done. It's not all about who's fastest or has the highest percentage, it's all about keeping fit and healthy and having fun in the process.

We had to be alert on timers as more and more juniors were crossing the line some sprinting and some strolling across with enormous smiles across their faces. Plus I could barely take my eye off the finish line and straight to see how the funnel system was doing, but when I did get a chance everyone seemed to be getting their tokens and making their way to the scanners.

It almost seemed endless as more and more juniors kept crossing the finish line but after 23 mins Sanchia Edwards, our tail runner, crossed the line and brought to an end the first Huddersfield junior parkrun. It really took us all by surprise how many had turned up and had fun and run with smiles on their faces. 192 juniors completed the 2k making a warm and sunny day even more fantastic than we could have wished for. I had guessed at 100 during the week and the lead up to the day but to get nearly double that was purely outstanding.

The response we got from the juniors and the parents was amazing and we were surprised at how many children were already thinking towards next weeks event. With the weather being as good as it was there was already a large amount of non runners at the park with family members who were asking how they get involved for next week. Once all the runners had crossed the line we all congratulated each other on a great inaugural event that went off without a hitch. We managed to attract 192 juniors to our first event which was beyond all our expectations, we knew we would get about a hundred just from talk at the senior event. We didn't expect so many juniors that have had no contact with any parkrun event, not even their parents had been to an event before, a complete parkrun debut. Our attendance was the second biggest in the country and the largest weekly junior event and from our first event aswell! What will the next couple of weeks have in store for us and will we continue to grow or will our attendances dip? We are all excited to find out and the next few weeks will be awesome. I can already see that we will have a lot of wristbands to hand out soon to all our happy juniors, and we are looking forward to handing them out to them.

We hung about for a while talking parkrun with Tom, Helen and even Rosie before we started to tidy away all the cones, tape and signs ready for next week. Simon was doing the results from home so all we had to do was put things away in the community room and go home still on a parkrun high, which will easily last until next week when it starts again. #lovejnrparkrun

Below is a list of all the junior events in the UK with their record attendances and the attendance figures from their first event. Just like its not about who wins it's also not about who can attract the most juniors and have the biggest attendances. As most parkrunners know just because you have the big attendances does not mean you have the best parkrun, its all about the community spirit and the feel of a parkrun that stands out more. I have added this list as more of an example of how parkrun juniors is growing and how it began.

Bushy - Highest 432 - First event 9

Huddersfield - Highest 192 - First event 192 (new this week)

Woodley - Highest 145 - First event 44

Savill gardens - Highest 134 - First event 43

Roundhay - Highest 131 - First event 66

Newport - Highest 126 - First event 110

Rushcliffe - Highest 124 - First event 118

Helix - Highest 123 - First event 87

Marple - Highest 118 - First event 118

Southampton - Highest 112 - First event 68

Chelmsford - Highest 88 - First event 88

Brockwell - Highest 88 - First event 88 (new this week)

Winbledon park - Highest 85 - First event 68

Forest of Dean - Highest 77 - First event 34

Harrow lodge - Highest 34 - First event 22

Mile end - Highest 21 - First event 21 (new this week)

Barking and dagenham - Highest 19 - First event 7

Keep running everyone