NEWS
June 2008
Edinburgh a "personal best"
for Dragons
April 2007 - Ed
"The Seal" Bryant Conquers London
Ed with Mel Blake at the finish
Flora 2007 London Marathon
I was supposed to run (my first) London Marathon on a
Club place last
year, but over enthusiastic training caused an injury
which forced me to
defer to 2007. So this year, after 4 months of
more sensible training following my wife's tried and
tested marathon program, and with my top (but slightly
loopy) training partner - Lucy the dog, I felt I was in
the position of actually being able run it.
However, disaster struck the week leading up to the big
day: on the Monday (16th) I ran/jogged an easy 4/5 mile
warm down, which was fine, but the following day I woke
with pain in the ball of my left foot, this progressed
with the week to the point of finding walking very
difficult and painful and also sleepless nights.
It was the flare up of an old (6 years) injury to the
tendon that runs from the big toe through the ball of
the foot, all I could do was try and rest it and take
lots of ibuprofen. You can only defer your place
once so we decided we were all going to go to the
marathon anyway and if I couldn't run then I'd walk or
cheer from the sidelines with my family.
By Saturday morning it wasn't feeling too bad, so I
foolishly walked
around London for the day, but come Sunday morning I was
cursing myself: the tendon was up again and the opposite
side of my foot was in pain due to overcompensation.
Boll*cks to it I thought and wrapped neoprene around
the affected tendon (aforethought led me to hacking up
some old wetsuit
gloves before the trip just in case), took a dangerous
amount of ibuprofen
(ok, a couple of tablets and some gel around the
affected area, drugs aren't big or clever kids...), had
a big fry-up and set off with Bev, Billy & Lois to the
start.
I had 'tagged' myself with an old seal (as in marine
mammal)
transmitter that I had lying around (as you do) and gave
Billy a radio that he could tune into the 'bleeps'
(signals) with. This meant that he would know when I was
running nearby. I didn't know where the family
would be along the route so I hoped this would help us
see each other.
In general the day was pants from a running point of
view: humid, peak
air temp of 23.5 degrees with the tarmac heating raising
the temp to 27.5
degrees in some parts. The Blue start was crap, I
crossed the line
really fast (3 mins) but then had to wait 3.5 mins for
some incident further on, so first mile was 11.5 mins.
I saw Bev and the kids just before the marker, the tag
was working.
Next 12 were OK but getting hotter, my foot wasn't too
bad and I
managed to average just over 8's I think (I didn't have
any of this new fangled digital watch technology and I
couldn't be arsed working it out at the time). A
psychic moment caused me to ignore my mp3 player and
look up into the crowd, a few seconds later I saw Bev &
the kids jumping up and down and cheering me on, the
tagging plan was obviously working well. After
London Bridge (the first time) I saw the Elite leaders
on their way to the finish, I cheered (but secretly
cursed) them, and then trudged the total sh*t
boredom that is Canary Wharf and the docklands.
By mile 17 my legs decided to give up the ghost and I
was practically
crawling over the bridge there, other runners had also
started slowing
down and were starting to drop like flies (literally), I
think most of my
energy was used up dodging other runners. My
energy had recovered by mile 18 (I think a gel kicked
in) and things seemed better.
At mile 20 my foot was hurting and my back went into
spasm (probably
through trying to compensate) and so I popped some more
ibuprofen, this seemed to do the trick and the remaining
6 miles were the standard telling myself "just another
mile" for each marker that I passed. There were
very few runners passing me now (in fact for the whole
race but more noticeably now) and people really were
struggling to finish. I saw Bev and the Kids again
at 25 miles which gave me a great final boost, also the
crowds were fantastic all the way along embankment and
to the end. Just as we were hitting the final 800m
I saw people collapsed by the side of the road and felt
deeply for them, but at approx 300m (just before the
turn at Buckingham Palace to the finish) a young lady
was really struggling / staggering when another runner
came up behind her to pat her on the back for
encouragement, this resulted in the struggling
individual collapsing totally, face down in the
tarmac!,don't know whether she finished but wouldn't be
surprised if she was one of the hospital cases.
The finish was brilliant, managed to put in a bit more
effort for the
final 200m and crossed the line feeling strong - I had
taken the sensible
precaution of sipping water almost continuously and also
had my own
'Go!' mixture to replace salts. It seemed to work
as I didn't get dehydrated at all. It was very
emotional picking up my medal and strolling through the
other finishers and families, it almost brought a tear
to my eye (I said almost, I'm not a pansy).
In all a top day for me with a good (but painful) run
and managing to
see my family all 3 times along the way (thanks to an
old seal transmitter
and a vigilant son). I got the impression from the
papers etc. that in
general runner's performances (including the winners)
were hindered by the
heat, apparently out of 36,391 runners 5,032 were
treated by St Johns
Ambulance people (though most went on to finish) and 73
of these were taken to hospital 3 of whom are critical,
I truly hope they make a full
recovery.
I'll stop blathering on now, thank you to everybody that
provided me
with support and encouragement.
A brilliant experience that I feel privileged to have
been a part of.
Ed (I'll never do it again until the next time) Bryant
January 2007
- Sue Testo -
Brass Monkey Good Samaritan
Anyone who knows Sue Testo will be very much aware that
during our Winter and sometimes Spring runs she is
always very cold. Prior to any
run she wraps herself in various layers of thermal wear
to keep out the chill. Sunday 21st January 2007 saw the
Start of the Brass Monkey Half
Marathon. The temperature at the start was around 6 deg.
Celsius, but the wind chill made it feel more like 0
deg. So as usual Sue wore her
usual layers of clothing to keep out the cold. Sue and
all the Dragons runners started the race at 10.00. Sue
set off at roughly 8 minute mile pace when at around 4
to 5 miles she came across a lady, injured at the side
of the road.
Surprisingly
all the runners around Sue ignored the plight of the
lady and simply ran past. Not Sue, she stopped and gave
help. The lady told her that she had pulled up 5 minutes
earlier with a calf injury and couldn't walk never mind
run. Sue took of her warm jacket and gave it to her.
This was the ultimate sacrifice for Sue. She then made
sure the lady got medical assistance from the
marshals at the nearby drinks station. Sue then
continued the race minus her jacket which she assumed
she would never see again.
At round 11 miles at the police marshalled cross roads
Sue's attention was attracted by a 4 x 4 driver, who
said 'I think this is yours' ! He was returning her
jacket which she gratefully wore for the last 2 miles.
The lady had sustained a torn calf muscle and was in a
considerable amount of pain, but was now in the warmth
of her husband's 4 x 4. Sue completed the race in 1hr 46
mins. What would have happened if Sue had not stopped
and gave a assistance, would everyone have ignored the
lady, what time would Sue have completed the race in,
but as Sue said she wasn't going for any particular time
anyway!!!!!
Sue, I salute
you, I am very proud, as all Dragons Runners are, to
know you and run with you.
Graham Orbell
24th October
2006 - The Snowdonia Marathon by Mike Askey
The 24th National Trust Snowdonia Marathon was held on
Sunday 29 October 2006.
The inaugural Snowdonia
Marathon was held in 1982, and conceived as a dramatic
alternative to the numerous city and town races becoming
so popular.
The demanding and
spectacular route, encircling Snowdon, Wales' and
England's highest peak, has given the event a unique
place in the annual marathon calendar ever since.
The race starts at Nant
Peris (300ft) on the A4086 and then climbs to the top of
the Llanberis Pass (Pen y Pass 1,100ft).
It follows the A498 to
Beddgelert (200ft) and there continues along the A4085
to Waunfawr. From here it is a rapid climb to about
1,200ft at Bwlch y Groes (a short length is unmetalled)
and then downhill to the finish in Llanberis.
We started the
race together at Nant Peris and ran together for the
first (warm up! ) mile. As the first climb started Jenny
gradually pulled ahead to open up a 200meter lead at the
summit of the Llanberis Pass (Pen y Pass 1,100ft). I
caught her on the descent to Pen-yGwryd (would you
believe she’d found a man to talk to and lost
concentration!) As the pace picked up on the long
descent down BrynGwynant it was head to head until just
before Beddgelert Jenny again began to ease ahead. On
the second major climb out of Beddbelert up to Llyn
Gager Jenny proved her strength and and opened up a
commanding lead which she never relinquished. The final
climb out of Waunfawr (700ft between miles 21 and 23)
was to die for.
Jenny was third in
class….a mega performance by the ‘Flying Granny’.
It was my first marathon
and a very satisfying result
RESULTS
Mike Askey 4:24:27
Jenny Shepherd 4:11:49
......................................................................................................................................................
3rd
September 2006 - Trailplus Training Camp by Garry Cochrane
Some time ago The Guardian ran a
tiny article on a small outfit called Trailplus, they
run adventure races and training camps for marathon (and
would-be) runners. The schedule seemed to concentrate
around the winter months but the last training weekend
of 2006 was September 1-3 and after some trepidation I
decided to give it a go.
The camp itself is set in a
children’s adventure centre (sinks are very low) in the
middle fo the Forest of Dean (Hereford) and is run by
Keith Anderson, a champion fell and marathon runner,
Nick Anderson, coaching new talent for UK Athletics and
Matt (sorry Matt I forgot your surname!). It is basic in
terms of frills but there was little time to worry about
that. The Friday night was all introductions and meeting
the other 30 people there – all of mixed abilities and
with mixed reasons for attending. Several were looking
to refine techniques, others had marathons coming up in
Dublin and Italy and others like myself were looking to
see what it would take to run 26.2miles.
Saturday started with a morning
Recovery run at 7.30am, (60-65% maximum heart rate)
followed by a Threshold Run at 11am (80-85% maximum
Heart Rate), and topped off with ‘Kenyan Hill’ training
(short intense 20 second runs up a steep hill). Three
runs, three showers and all mixed in with discussions on
Nutrition, Stretching and the importance of Endurance
training (Base, Strength, Speed and Race). It was tiring
and educational - oh and it rained all day!
In the evening we had a nice meal
in the dining room, with plenty of wine and some
interesting chat, which was mostly about running,
followed by a trip to the local pub just across the
road.
Sunday started with an early
breakfast (and some bleary eyes) before a discussion on
the Long Run and its importance in marathon training. We
then jogged back into the forest for a run of between 1
hour and 2 hours before making it back to the common
room for final discussions on 12 week marathon-plans and
preparing for the final stages before the big day.
Thirty people, all strangers, came
together with one common interest – to learn how to run
better and longer. It was hard work, extremely good fun
and if the accommodation was a little basic then at
least it helped keep the cost down to an affordable
level (£185 all in). It was designed for any level of
runner but better suited to those who really wanted to
take advantage of the first hand no-nonsense knowledge
of the trainers.
It was extremely motivational and I
would recommend it to anyone who was seriously
considering entering a marathon and wanted convincing
that it was possible! At all times the emphasis was on
enjoying the run, planning, positive mental attitude
towards the task and concentrating on time on your feet
and heart rate (not PBs) as measures of success, but
most of all on getting out there come rain or shine.
If you want to find out more about
Trailplus and what they get up to then have a look at
www.trailplus.com or grab me and I’ll be more than happy
to have a chat.
|
Martin
Holt has wasted no time at all in getting involved with
a running club in Switzerland - The Basel Athletics Club