Sunday 30 October 2011

The Skeleton Run - Nordic Walking

Here is a race report from Catherine Hughes of British Nordic Walking Ltd about a fantastic event called the Skeleton Run.  Enjoy.
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What a fun Friday night out! I hope you enjoyed Nordic Walking up and down Beacon Hill - the Skeleton race always delivers a challenging workout with a most entertaining atmosphere provided by participants and marshals in their fancy dress outfits.

Congratulations to Matt for being the first Nordic Walker to complete the Beacon Hill route in under and hour - he smashed the previous best time of 1hr16secs finishing in 57:43. He's also raised lots of money for Rutland School for parents too - well done! Provisional results are now here

Alison successful poled her way to a PB looking stylish in her Devil outfit - photos from the event are on facebook - (including a shot of the impressive ghostbusters team). In the dark, Martin was more than 3 minutes faster than his time in the summer race - steaming into the finish at high speed then dashing off to dinner. Good to see Barry posting on twitter that he will be back next year to improve on this year's PB.

I certainly enjoyed the evening. It was good to bump into Steve again and talk about Nordic Walking parkrun. I'm also very pleased that after about four previous attempts I managed to break the one hour barrier too - I think my heart rate trace (below) shows Nordic Walking can be a strenuous workout - as we all know!

I look forward to seeing you at the next race - what will that be? parkrun? or do you know of any others??

Best wishes

Catherine

Director
British Nordic Walking Ltd
www.britishnordicwalking.org.uk



Injury Prevention evening with Smart Fitness

On thursday night we had our in the Gosforth store an Injury Prevention evening with Nick Grantham from Smart Fitness. We had names of about 10 people down on a list before the night and giving how bad the weather was during the day we weren't too hopeful of getting everyone of those in. Come 6pm we had over 20 customers who turned up for the talk, with some even riding their bikes in through the rain to make it!

As we hadn't planned on so many turning up it was a bit of a squeeze in the shop with those who weren't quick enough to grab a seat having to stand around the outsides to hear what info and advice Nick had to give out. The talk was extremely useful with some complex ideas broken down so everyone could understand and I think everyone agreed that they had came away with something useful to help make them a faster/stronger and less injury prone runner. We got some great feedback and there were many people who had never been in to see the store were pretty impressed with the look/vibe of the store and our stock.

We had 20% off in store on the evening and free gait analysis which many people took advantage of. We are looking at doing some more events like this with Nick, he is really keen on doing some more talks on different topics and to keep pushing the envelope to see what other services we can put together. If you want more info on when the next event may take place call the Gosforth store on 0191 213 5619.




5k bunny run report

The 3-race 5k series were called '5k bunny runs' as opposed to races so as to attract more beginner and fun runners to give it a go (which definately worked as we often stood around marshalling for 40minutes waiting for the last runner in!). They were ran over a decidely 'lumpy' course to add to the challenge, making sure a strong effort would be required from all.  In total £300 of proceeds went to a cause where £300 could make a genuine difference- Wateraid http://www.wateraid.org/uk/

So some good money to charity, some new converts to running, some new friends of the store and plans to go bigger next year- happy days!




Tuesday 11 October 2011

Chester Marathon race report

Sunday Ooctober 9th saw myself competing at the Chester marathon. After abit of experimentation with my training I was interested to see what results I could produce from my 2.43 at London in April. The course description of "flat , fast course, ideal for pb's" was clearly aimed at mountain goats and people with two wheels but other than that it was a loverley scenic course , abit blustery but most importantly fantastic support from the crowd and organisers and a great amostsphere at the finnish area with the Chester racecourse.
Having previously run marathons in London , Berlin and New York , it was great fun to do a lower key marathon (4000 runners as opposed to 40,000). I set off at a fairly comfortable pace and gradually reeled in the runners ahead of me. Training must of paid off as I did not struggle much till around 23 miles. I managed to ramp up my pace a tad in the last 1.5 miles finishing in 2.42.11 and clinching 6th place. Slightly slower than I wanted but considering the weather and course profile , a very pleasing performance. I now am gifted with the talent of walking like Douglas Baader for the next 48 hours.

NEXT STOP - VIRGIN LONDON MARATHON 2012!!!

report by Richard Lowson Manager at the UP AND RUNNING, YORK STORE

Salomon Trail Team News

Salomon Trail Team News - Salomon athlete Lightfoot makes a welcome return to form

After a difficult 2011, Salomon International Team runner Ricky Lightfoot turned in one of the performances of his career to win the Salomon Kielder Marathon in Northumberland, UK on Sunday. 

In a year which has seen Ricky struggle with injury, the 27-year old's season highlights had been a third place finish in the Olympus Marathon and a recent third position overall with partner Tom Owens at the Trans Rockies Race. They say that form is temporary and class is permanent however, and this was perfectly illustrated as he romped to a 10 minute win over GB international ultra runner Marcus Scotney. 

Ricky's winning time of 2:35:16 for the full marathon distance can be put into perspective when compared to the course record of 2.29.10 held by Zak Kihara from Kenya - who himself is a 2.12 'city marathon' runner.

Following his imperious performance Ricky commented:

"That was a lot tougher than I expected. Looking at the course profile beforehand I expected it to be rolling, but there we climbs where I really had to dig in. It's true that I am used to a lot more ascent and descent in races, and I am used to the technical aspects, but this was my first 'marathon' so it was unknown territory for me really."

Speaking about his front-running tactics, he said:

"The course was really enjoyable, and even though it was a bit wet out there it wasn't cold, so I could really get into my running early. I wanted to get a good strong pace going from the off and after about 50 metres realised that no one was really going to come with me, so it was head down and see what happens from there on!" 

Head down it certainly was for the Cumbrian firefighter, as he simply ran away from the field. Going through halfway in 1.15.05 Ricky then settled in the tougher second half of the course and even had time to enjoy the beauty of his surroundings, concluding:

"It was misty and damp, but I still had time to enjoy the course. I am sure that on a dry and clear day this must be one of the most beautiful marathons anywhere in the world, and even though it was wet out there the support was great out on the course, especially in the Dam area, where you really needed it in the last third of the race".

Full results for the 2011 Salomon Kielder Marathon can be found at the Winning Time website.

After a short break Ricky now heads to Malaysia for the Skyrunner Super Cup 2011 and the Kinabalu Climbathon race, one of the most difficult events of the season, on the 23rd of October.

Follow Ricky's and all of the Salomon Team's progress at www.salomonrunning.com/uk and the Trail Team blog at www.salomontrailteam.com.









Thanks to Matt Ward PR manager for the Salomon Trail Team for providing the update

Sunday 2 October 2011

DECCA Nations International

England versus France, South Africa, China, USA, Poland, Germany, Spain, Russia - DECCA Nations International - Venue - Nice , France Date - 18th September Event - Mens 1500m Relay.

England Call-up for Andrew Wiles, New Marske Harriers and Up&Running Super-Hero! Andrew was teamed with Richard Weir {leg-1}, Steve Fennell {Leg-2} Andrew {leg-3} , Ben Harding{Leg-4} against the above teams, with France attempting a new World Lead for the 1500m x 4 relay event. With an aggressive start by the French, and with Poland and Germany battling for 2nd and 3rd, Andrew was given the baton in 4th position, France were out of sight but Andrew was determined to pull back lost ground, which he did, sitting in on the Polish and German athletes for 3 laps, with 400m to go Andrew made a decisive move and over-took with a killer kick to drop the German and Polish athletes, taking England from 4th position to 2nd and leaving the opposition in his wake and handing over to Ben with a 10 meter advantage over Poland and then Germany - Ben held 2nd place until the last lap but couldnt hold off a strong charge from the Polish athlete and was just beaten at the line, giving England and the guys a well deserved bronze medal. Speaking afterwards with Andrew, he commented that he was very happy to have represented his country for the first time, and over-joyed that he helped bring back a bronze medal. Andrew has just started his winter training proper and is looking forward to the up coming Cross Country season and Team Road Relay's. We wish Andrew a injury free winter!

Mic Doughty Manager, Up&Running, Darlington

Milton Keynes Social run

Social run No 6 How time flies. Six months since we opened and we had a great turn-out considering the race calendar meant we were competing with the Oxford Half Marathon, Run to the Beat in London and the Ashridge 5K. Ideal running conditions with overcast sky and a light breeze and whilst no new course times were set, the group finished the course in the quickest time to date. We still continue to attract new runners to the group including 2 dogs and one baby - don't worry, the baby was in a running buggy! This group is becoming a real family occasion. All runners have been entered into our national prize draw to win £100.00 of Sub4 clothing. Our next run in October, on the last Sunday of the month will be on a new course, so watch this space for details.