Sprint through time with me as we lace up for an epic jog down memory lane – three decades of marathon running condensed into a heart-pounding narrative of personal milestones, communal spirit, and the relentless pursuit of that ever-elusive personal best. From the trials of overcoming injuries and the triumph of crossing finish lines, this episode is a testament to the runner's journey and the sheer grit it takes to keep pushing forward. Feel the pulse of the parkrun community, and join me in the shared thrill of race day strategies that carry us over the finish line.
Navigating the muddied trails of the Beaconsfield Five Mile Run is no small feat, and I take you through the paces of my latest foray into this challenging course. Discover how camaraderie and tactical insights fuel not just the body, but the spirit, as we gear up amidst unpredictable UK weather, the discipline of staying race-ready, and the serendipity of pre-race connections. It's not just about the individual run, but the web of experiences that each of us weaves into the vast tapestry of the running community.
As we cool down from the rush of the Beckonsfield Trail Run, I reflect on the contrasts of cross-country and road races, and the bittersweet nature of sold-out events and coveted medals. The support of the community, the cheers of marshals, and the celebrations post-race are all part of the marathon experience. We might cross the finish line solo, but it's the collective energy of fellow runners, the shared stories, and the mutual understanding of the demand on our bodies that resonate long after the race is done. Grab your earbuds, stretch out those calves, and join me for a run through the rich landscape of marathon running.
Thanks for listening. Keep on running.
Sprint through time with me as we lace up for an epic jog down memory lane – three decades of marathon running condensed into a heart-pounding narrative of personal milestones, communal spirit, and the relentless pursuit of that ever-elusive personal best. From the trials of overcoming injuries and the triumph of crossing finish lines, this episode is a testament to the runner's journey and the sheer grit it takes to keep pushing forward. Feel the pulse of the parkrun community, and join me in the shared thrill of race day strategies that carry us over the finish line.
Navigating the muddied trails of the Beaconsfield Five Mile Run is no small feat, and I take you through the paces of my latest foray into this challenging course. Discover how camaraderie and tactical insights fuel not just the body, but the spirit, as we gear up amidst unpredictable UK weather, the discipline of staying race-ready, and the serendipity of pre-race connections. It's not just about the individual run, but the web of experiences that each of us weaves into the vast tapestry of the running community.
As we cool down from the rush of the Beckonsfield Trail Run, I reflect on the contrasts of cross-country and road races, and the bittersweet nature of sold-out events and coveted medals. The support of the community, the cheers of marshals, and the celebrations post-race are all part of the marathon experience. We might cross the finish line solo, but it's the collective energy of fellow runners, the shared stories, and the mutual understanding of the demand on our bodies that resonate long after the race is done. Grab your earbuds, stretch out those calves, and join me for a run through the rich landscape of marathon running.
Thanks for listening. Keep on running.
The race is on. The race is on, so let's get straight into this episode of 30 years of running marathons. Okay, so Easter has just gone. I hope you all had a good Easter. I had a really spectacular Easter and some really good news to tell you.
Speaker 1:Actually, I spent most of my Easter running, which for me has been a first, because over the last few months I've been injured and not been able to train much. This week I was due to run the Brighton Marathon down on the south coast, but unfortunately, because I've been injured I've had shin splints, I've had gout attacks I've just not been able to get the required training in. And you know I've run loads of marathons over my time. I am so experienced, as you know 30 years of running marathons but even I wouldn't attempt to run a marathon without the proper training. I've learned from previous experience. So I've been coming back gradually and over the past week, let's say just before Easter, I went back to one of my favourite training places to train and that's a hill close to me, jarraharrus Cross Hill, and it goes up a third of a mile and when I was really in peak form, I mean, I was going up there like 10 times. Anyway, it takes me about four miles to get there along a fairly quiet road. I mean most of it's all uphill to the four miles till I get to this main hill, which I say just just. I mean it's steep to start with. It goes up a third of a mile, just keeps turning round and round and I can run up the side of the road. It's a bit like a sort of like a trail path at the side of this. I'm going to call it a main road but I can get quite busy, but not too busy the sort of time I go in the morning, anyway, not too busy the sort of time I go in the morning. Anyway, it's 4.4 miles to get there and then that's the top of the hill and then I'll run back down again. And I was looking at my previous training stats on Strava and because what I'm hoping to do is and this is one of my, my main objectives I haven't run a marathon or even a half marathon yet this year and that I say it's been due to injuries at the Wokenham half marathon I normally year and that I say it's been due to injuries the Wokenham half marathon I normally run in February.
Speaker 1:A lot of my friends run it, but I couldn't run it so and, as I say, I've just had to pull out of the Bryson marathon this coming week. But the following week there's a race which, if you listen to my previous episode, you'll know that I've run it before, and that's the Redden Half Marathon. It's a really nice, fast, flat road marathon and it goes around the city of Redden and so it's a fairly flat course. I've run it many times over the years and the good thing about it is it's one of my favourite finishes because you finish in the Reading Football Club stadium and this stadium holds about 20,000 people I mean, obviously you're not going to get this on the day but friends and family who are there. I mean it's like an amphitheatre of sound. That's what it feels like to me anyway. It feels like I'm running the Olympics and it's such a glorious finish. The actual road leading down to it is pretty desolate. I mean it's just one main road, one main dual carriageway and it's not that exciting. But once you turn the corner and come down and you come into this stadium, you run around the track and it's just one of the most spectacular finishes and of all the races I've done. It is probably one of the best finishes, and that includes london and dub Dublin as well. It's, it's, I absolutely love it.
Speaker 1:So I say only a half marathon. You know, a half marathon um is a big goal to achieve. Um, in past episodes I have mentioned that. When I was younger I did. You know, my first race was the London marathon. Then I came down to the half marathon. Oh, you know, family and friends were saying, well, you know, it's only half, the distance could be easy, but it's not easy. You still got to do more or less about the same amount of training. Okay, you can get away with a little bit less training, um, but you've got to be prepared for it. And I like to run more or less full distance before I actually go to the race. So I'm looking at running 13 miles, maybe 14 miles, where, when you know, when I'm preparing for a marathon, I'm not going to run the full 26 miles, I might 21, might be my max you can get away with like 18 miles, um. So, yeah, I like to run to like 13 14 miles and I had this plan the other day because I knew it was coming up and obviously I don't want to do it too near to the actual, I say, in a week's time.
Speaker 1:I you know I want to be fresh for it, but I've been working up gradually. So I've been. I've been to park runs which are three miles, five miles, six miles, eight miles. I got to the, the, the, the real goal for me I work in miles and real goal for me was to get to that double figure and that was 10 miles. And once I got to 10 miles I'm thinking okay, that's just another three miles in the day. You know, with the crowds and you're going to get a lot of crowds at Reading there's good support because you say you run through the city centre, there's great crowd support all round the actual roads that you run round Reading. I mean it's very much a city race, so you're going to get crowd support. It's a bit like London.
Speaker 1:So I knew that those last three miles I'm sure I was going to be able to complete them. I wanted to get to at least 10 miles and OK, it wasn't my fastest pace, but just to get to 10 miles. When considering the beginning this year, I struggled just to even walk at all, let alone run. So to get to 10 miles Anyway, I did a lovely 10 miles. It was along my normal route and out in the countryside a bit hilly, and that was great.
Speaker 1:But I still hadn't got back, as I say, to this Gerrard's Cross Hill and I knew if I went to this Gerrard's Cross Hill I could really push myself. And I set myself this goal of, as I looked at my previous Strava records to see how many times up that hill I would have to go to get to the 13 mile mark, because I know that Redden is a fast, flat course. You're not going to get a big hill like this. It goes a third of a mile up like this and is so steep and I mean you can hardly. It starts off steep so you're really struggling to get up it and you've only just started and already you're struggling. I mean it almost brings you to stand still, so it's that tough. So I looked at how many times I'd have to go up this hill and it was seven times. So quite, quite a lot.
Speaker 1:But my mindset was no, just if you get to the hill and do it once, that's 4.4 miles, and back, you know that's 8.4. I can make me, make it up to 10 and with that hill. You know that's the extra work that's, you know you've you've done even better than what you expected. So you, it's almost a normal half marathon distance. So that was my plan and you know the four miles to it were fairly good. There's a bit of a down slope before you get to this hill. And then I was like, okay, this is the first time, let's give it my maximum effort. So I gave my maximum effort but obviously, after having run four miles, which are my sort of my usual mileage runs lately, um, I was feeling it and I was really tiring and then my mind was saying I'm not going to make seven. Seven is completely out the window, just get up this hill once. If you get up this hill once, that's fine, and in fact I was.
Speaker 1:I was struggling to get the top of this hill and the runner was coming the other way and you know this runner isn't he's, he's not mad like me, he's not gonna, you know, suddenly come back down and run it up and down several times like I was. No, um, I, I struggled to the top of the hill and I sort of followed him down and it was such a relief just to let myself go down this hill and just try and get my breath back. And then I was saying to myself, okay, maybe I can do one more, not even thinking about doing the seven, I'll just do one more. And I was looking to heavens and praying. I'm thinking, please, god, just let me do one more, just one more, that's all I ask. And this other runner had gone in the distance. I know he wasn't coming back and it was nice just to be on my own.
Speaker 1:I felt really at peace on this hill, a bit sadistic, but I absolutely. You know, after a while I really get warmed up and love that. I love the struggle. So I get down to the, to the bottom of the hill, and always have this marker there's a bus stop, there's a marker for the bus stop, a post, and I go just pass that post and go back up again. And there's a few cars that come in by up and down now and sometimes I run on the road, just give myself a bit of an extra push, so I'll start off running the road, see a car move back onto the pavement and then, and then I really struggle because it's all like turns the corner right, and then you turn left and you go up and I say, on this path you go up through trees. I mean, it's, it's really beautiful this time of year, springtime. And funnily enough, when I was going up the second time because there's a small little house at the side of the road there and the lady looked at me and she must have thought I was crazy. You know what's he doing. And in fact when she saw me come back down again she was like you know what's he doing? You know who'd be crazy enough to go up and down this hill all the time.
Speaker 1:So the second one was even more of a struggle. And all my plans I mean I was looking at my watch all my plans of trying to do a fast time, you know my minutes per mile were getting slower and slower. But you know you have to allow for this. I mean, you know, as they say I think the the saying goes you ought to sweat in peace. So when it comes to war, you know you don't have to work, maybe quite as hard. It's something to that effect the saying goes. So I know the more effort that I put in. You know I'm not going to get these big hills when I'm running any sort of half marathons, I'm going that extra mile literally. So when I'm in the race it's going to feel a lot easier. So I come. So as I'm coming down the second time, I'm like second time, you know, and the miles are building up now. So I'm looking at my watch, you know six miles and and all I'm doing is I'm working out. It's 4.4 miles to get back home. So, whatever miles I've done, now I add on 4.4 miles and in fact I can add on 4. In fact I could probably add on 5.
Speaker 1:If I take a little detour to the house where I used to live, I pass it on the road that I run down to my house, to my new place. I'm in, but I can actually turn left and go up to the driveway and that's about 0.3 there, 0.3. It's about 0.6 of a mile. So 4.5,. I can get up to like five miles, but I don't really want to do that Because I literally, after I've been struggling on this hill, I just want to get straight back home, and to get back to my old place is a little bit of an incline, it's a bit of a struggle, and sometimes what I do is I think oh well, I'll just have a little stop there.
Speaker 1:There's a little donkey in the field, I say hello to that if it's around and that. And you know I just take a look at surroundings, you know a bit of peace and quiet, and just think about things. But then I know if I stay there too long, my legs are just going to seize up. But then I know if I stay there too long, my legs are just going to seize up. So I tend to do that only when I'm really really struggling. But then I've still got one and a half miles to get home.
Speaker 1:Sorry, 1.3 miles, about approximately 1.3, 1.5 miles from there, which doesn't seem a lot, but it's a real struggle once you stop. If you stop for 10 minutes, your legs start seizing up and it's like no, I can't be doing this, so yeah. And it's like, no, I can't be doing this, so yeah. So I come down the second one and then I try and go back up for three. My next target is now maybe getting to four, and every time I go up the top of the hill I'm just praying. You know, god, please just give me one more and I come down. But I'm feeling better as I go along because I just get that sense of adrenaline. You know you're beating each target and if you take it in steps of ones, it's a lot easier. So my next target was five. Five is a nice number and I'm thinking, ok, just do one more. Six, I can add on maybe any bit of extra mileage if I go back to my old house. But then when I get to six I'm thinking come on, jase, it's just one more. So I do the.
Speaker 1:I managed to do the seventh and as I get up up to the seventh, what I tend to do is just increase the distance a bit. There's some traffic lights in the distance, so it just gives me a chance to get back into my running rhythm along the flat before I turn around these traffic lights and come back and I'm just cruising down the hill and I'm looking at the positive benefits. Now I haven't got to stop off at my old house because I've done the mileage. I'm looking the. You know the mileage on my phone, so I think it's sorry, on my watch. So it's 9.6. So it's 10.6, 11.6, 12.6.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so it's approximately nine miles, something like that. Yeah, nine, seven, I think, isn't it? 11.7, 12.7, 13.7, 14. No, I think isn't it Eleven, seven, twelve, seven, thirteen, seven, forty, no, it's anyway. I've got approximately the mileage on my watch and I've got mileage points as I go back as well. So I know roughly. There's a one of the crematoriums at the top there. I know something at three point six miles from there. So I've got all these different mile markers in my head. But I know that you know I've done the seven, so I know I'm going to be doing. It's going to be 13 miles, or just over 13.1 miles, which I wanted to do for the, for the half marathon distance, and it's fine because I'm cruising back down this hill.
Speaker 1:But then as I come down I go up another hill which isn't as tough, and you know it was nice coming down before I started doing my hill work. But obviously you know when you've done about what are we three? Three it's about 10, 10 miles, now probably nine, 10 miles. You're really struggling after you've done all that, all that hill work, and now I'm almost am stopping and I could quite literally stop, but I'm thinking, no, just if you once stop, you'll never get going again. So I'm really struggling now and it's getting busy on the roads and cars coming by. I'm getting really frustrated with myself, but I managed to struggle to keep going.
Speaker 1:I know once I get up the top there gets fairly flat and, to be honest, the the rest of the route two, two miles back home, three miles back home it's all fairly flat. In fact, it goes downhill towards the end. So the last three miles you're going downhill. I'm like time's always faster down there. But yeah, it was. I sort of, I was really feeling it towards the end and my mile marks weren't as um, weren't as quick um as they usually are, and I just I just wanted to get home, um, and yes, it took a. I mean, it was over. What was it? It was well, over two hours. I think it was two hours 10 to us, two hours, 15, which, considering the hills, and that was really good um, and I was just just pleased to complete it, and injury free of course as well, which was the main thing um, so that was great. And then that set me up for, as I say, I did a lot of running over eastern the um.
Speaker 1:I did a, a park run on easter saturday, which a park run for anybody who doesn't know, but they're pretty popular um all over the world now, but started here in the uk it's literally a 5k, three mile run, uh, but you, you know you could. You can run it or walk it. It's not technically, it's not a race. I mean it's free to enter. You just sign up, uh, for the park run and you can get a.
Speaker 1:You get your number, you can get a, like a wristband to wear and you just I say that around at nine o'clock every morning on a saturday, so every saturday morning nine o'clock every morning on a Saturday, so every Saturday morning nine o'clock, you turn up and the particular park run that I go to is quite a few people. Actually it's like 600 runners, but I mean you can walk. It's some people finishing over an hour. You can take dogs with you. You don't wear a number or anything. You just as long as you've got your number with you. So when you finish you get a token. You queue up, you get a token, they scan the token, scan your number and then you can check on the website.
Speaker 1:Later they normally send you a text message to say what your time was, how many park runs you've done, your position within the field, your grade, age, rating and all the details and you keep a record of it and, and you know, it gets very addictive. I mean, some people have done, like you know, 100, 500 of these park runs and I started. I started a few years ago. Uh, let's mention one of my previous episodes.
Speaker 1:A friend introduced me to it and I was like no, no, I don't want to do a park run. And this seems really arrogant because I used to say, well, it's only three miles, uh, or 5k if you work in k, but I work in mars, so it's only three miles. Um, I don't want to do it. It's, it's to me it wasn't worth doing it, but it wasn't the case not worth doing it. I mean, a lot of times on the Saturday I'd be doing my long run anyway. So I felt it was more beneficial to me when I was training for marathons.
Speaker 1:But then when I started doing these park runs, I learned they were very beneficial, because I say only three miles, I mean three miles to me at the moment is quite a distance. You know, when you've been injured, it's all all comparative. But yeah, yeah, three miles, it really improves your speed work. I mean, even for the marathon, which is like 26 miles, you think, well, it's only three miles, how can I improve your speed work over 26 miles or even over 13 miles, but it does. And because I haven't been doing any speed work, I've not been doing any running at all. I mean, I now I'm started doing hill work, which is which is good, to build your speed up. It's really good.
Speaker 1:But more importantly, that it's the social side of it. All my runs, all the runs I do, are on my own, which is what I like. It gives me a chance to de-stress. You know, it's great for my mental health and I really love running on my own. You know I have friends who say well, you know, come out with me. I have one one particular, uh, friend hilton. He runs for burnham joggers and he's like always saying to me you know, you can come out for a run with me. In fact I I did a run the other day and I was, I ran part of his route. She saw my strava and he said, well, if I hadn't gone too early, I think, because I went something like crazy, like half five in the morning, he would come out with me. Um, and that's great.
Speaker 1:But you know, generally most of the time you know it's it's, as they say, the loneliness of the long distance runner and I enjoy that. You know, I've never I've never joined a club because I am very competitive and I think if I joined a club I'd get very frustrated if I wasn't. You know as best as everyone else. And of course, you know, in a club there's always going to be people, people faster than you and people slower than you and to me it would seem more like I guess it would seem more like hard work. So I just like the relaxation of just. You know my friend's joke. You know I would just go out for a three hour run anytime and that's just me, I just.
Speaker 1:You know, running is one of the simplest activities, sporting events you can do, because all you are literally, uh, you know your shirt, your shorts, pair of trainers and off you go. You don't need any facilities like a swimming pool or anything like that. It's entirely up to you to get out the door and do it anyway. Back to the park run. So these park runs have become really popular and sometimes I see a friend of mine and I did. I did see ciggy the other day and he's very much into triathlon, so a bit slow at the running, but yeah, he's, I sometimes see him down there. But you know, even if I don't see him, I meet other runners and you just get chatting. But yeah, so I mean I used to, I used to run there. I guess I got a bit lazy now. Now I take the car but I park up, literally do a bit of a warm up, go to the toilet, toilets there and that, and you're just waiting around with everybody and then you walk down to start line.
Speaker 1:And my particular park run is Black Park Park Run and I've done a few park runs and it's probably one of the most scenic in the country. Black Park is an ancient woodland and they film many films there. So they film Harry Potter In fact the Forbidden Forest is set actually in Black Park and they film Casino Royale, lara Croft, because it's proximity, it's just down the road from Pine Ridge, judas, where they film all the James Bond films. So a lot of time and sometimes when we run in the park runs they have volunteers, marshals, that will tell you you know they're doing filming on this section of the park, so be careful. I mean it really is beautiful.
Speaker 1:As I've done other park runs, we're literally running around a sports field. But no, this is completely different Really shaded, ancient woodland and basically it's a loop. So so you go around in the loop and, um, yes, you move down to start line. You've got. The marshals were all volunteers, um, and it was looking for volunteers, and that's something really I should, I should really give something back because it is a great event and say it's all free and what they provide for you you know about texting your results and keeping it on the, on the system for you and everything, everything, and that it's really good because it's all free and long mates stay free. So really I should give back and do some volunteering and yeah, and then you just line up wherever you know, wherever you you know you think you're going to start.
Speaker 1:If you're with dog, normally you stay at the back, I mean as as parents would push chairs and that start at the back, and then Uta goes at nine and off you go and, as I say, it's um, it's, it's uh, the Black Park, it's all like a figure of eight. It sort of goes out, comes back and they, they have um kilometer markers. I mean, I, I still work in in Mars, so I have it on my on my watch and I record it on my watch, which downloads to Strava and gives me a record of my runs, and uh, yeah, I mean, as I say, I'm very competitive. I get a bit frustrated when people are passing me because it's it's obviously a very quick pace that you're moving at and um, and, and the first, the first mile is just uh, just just a long, long straight. I think you turn a corner just just before it, but uh, yeah, it's pretty um, but, but generally, I mean it's sort of as you get towards the first mile it goes downhill a bit, um, and then yeah, and then you, you come to, like the, the main road at the far corner of the park and then you come back around.
Speaker 1:I think it's the last kilometer, because I always see the last kilometer mark. It's really, really hilly, it goes uphill and I really struggle with that. So my last mile because I work in miles is always the slowest and I've been averaging just over nine minute mile a pace and um. So the one I did on on Easter Saturday I think my pace was something, it was something like eight, eight minutes, 25, and I did it in total was 26 minutes 45. It's about a minute quicker than my previous one this year. So I was really happy with that and I felt good actually, and I think every single mile was under the nine minute mile which which I hadn't cracked.
Speaker 1:Um, obviously, if I compare it to to a few years ago, I think my fastest time is about 23 minutes, but you can never compare. You know you should never compare to what you've done, like years ago. I think my fast time is about 23 minutes, but you can never compare. You know you should never compare to what you've done, like years ago. You know, as I'm just grateful to be running again and to to run this, I mean that time and to felt good it's, it's given me a lot of confidence for the red half marathon. Um, so, yeah, I've got a wristband which I, which I I did buy, so all my barcodes on there and that so, so they scan the token, scan the barcode, and then they literally email you and text you. You know your position and that and I've actually done the magic mark of 50 parkruns.
Speaker 1:Once you've done 50 parkruns, you can then purchase a 50 mile marker shirt Sorry, not mile marker 50. Basically a. It's a red shirt on it and on it it's got, um, 50 park runs. So you get these different milestones for running park runs. So I think it's, uh, 25, 50, 100, I think it's 250, 500. I haven't been able to wear it as yet because of the. The weather here in the uk has been a bit cold, a bit cold, a bit wet, but come the summer I'll wear that with pride. Because I say a few years ago I said to my friends I'm never going to run a park run. You know, it's just not for me. I really adapted to it really well and it gets addictive. You can see why people have done like you know 250, 500, 100.
Speaker 1:And the one where I did my personal best for this year on Saturday, it was the Magic 55. So, yeah, I was really pleased with that, and then I always run down to the end. I got this little cafe there, had a coffee and just sit and chat with runners. Siggy wasn't here on this particular day. However, it's always good to start talking to runners and you tend to eavesdrop um, and there's, there's loads of dogs around. You know people with dogs and it's just a friendly, convenient.
Speaker 1:But all runners, they're all talking about different events and some I've done these events. You know events coming up because obviously we're getting into marathon season now. We've got I think it's london marathon is in approximately a couple of weeks time. Yeah, that's one of, or the biggest. I'd like to think it's the biggest marathon in the world. I'm based in uk and probably along with new york, um, it's probably the the flagship marathon, you know. I mean for me, I've only ever run it once and that was when I started all those 30 years ago. But, um, that's how popular it is. Everybody loves to run the london marathon. It's not my favorite marathon now particularly uh, if you listen to my previous episodes you know it's dublin but it's still an iconic marathon and everybody should, if you can, at least run it once, a bit like new york and boston and paris and berlin. They're all iconic marathons.
Speaker 1:Anyway. Back to my coffee. After my park run I was, you know, I splashed out, got the largest coffee I could and I was sitting there. I was just eavesdropping. There was some people said can we sit at your table? A couple of ladies and a guy and I overheard them talking about on bank holiday monday that there was going to be, and in fact they were talking about the beckonsfield five mile trail run and from what I could tell they were actually marshalling it and they belonged to and they belonged to Burnham Joggers, which is Hilton, who's tried to get me to join before, is also a member and Burnham Joggers were organised in this Beaconsfield five-mile trail run, which I ran, oh, six years ago, it was what 2018. I think I mentioned it in my previous episodes.
Speaker 1:Actually, I hadn't got trail shoes at the time and I didn't think anything of it, and it was like what we've had recently in this country a lot of rain. So the the ground was sodden, it was swamps. In fact, I think the lady who won it she ran it finished it with just the one shoe on. That's how bad it was, and I was slipping all over the place on ice. You know, it's like bambi on ice, literally it was. It was terrible and I'd already had a torn meniscus in my knee, so I didn't. You know, it wasn't the best thing to do and I had the.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it was the Manchester Marathon the week after and this was just like a little warm-up and it wasn't ideal, and I finished the race but my legs started getting painful. Cut a long story short, I had a big cyst on my back of my knee and that was really painful. So I guess I'd unfinished business with the race and, as it's five miles, I was getting up back up to speed. Now I decided to enter it, but this time I wasn't taking any chances. I've invested in some new trail shoes. So I'd done the park run on Saturday PB for the year and I was feeling good and I was just hoping the rain would hold off, because we've had a lot of rain here in the UK and I knew the ground was going to be bad. And I kept looking at my app and one minute I said it was going to be raining the other day. Next minute said it wasn't. So one minute it was one, it wasn't. I had to get myself a new uh running jacket because I was worried my old one was broken. I was thinking I'm gonna need a new one because it looks like it could be rainy, but I had unfinished business. I was determined to do it anyway.
Speaker 1:These marshals I said to them I said, oh, you're, you're marshalling the Bensfield five mile trail run and they said yeah, yeah. And I told them all about my story, about my injuries and that, and I had to laugh when I mentioned about my because I've had a torn meniscus in my knee. And the lady said, oh, haven't we all? So I didn't feel quite so bad, but yeah, they were marshalling it. And one particular lady, she said, she said, yeah, I'm going to be on the first corner, I'm going to be here, and then, of course, you know, I got the info that I could about car parking if I wanted to go, and that, and it was great because I thought, well, this makes it a bit more familiar. I know some people now and I said to myself, do you know hilton? And they said, yeah, yeah, we know hilton. So they knew my friend who was in the club as well, and it was great.
Speaker 1:So then normally after the park run, I go straight home and get a late breakfast, because I just go out in the morning at nine o'clock for this race and don't bother to eat before, because if I eat too soon before, even though it's only three miles, it's going to make me sick. So yeah, that was on the Easter Saturday. I had a lovely Easter Sunday but obviously there was no Easter lamb for me, or even I did have an Easter egg, but that was going to wait until after the race. You know, no drinking, no Easter eggs, no, nothing had to be very good, just to make sure I was ready for the race, and it didn't start till 10 o'clock, so I think I got there just after eight to make sure I got a good car park in place, parked up, and it was being held at Burnham sorry, not Burnham Beaconsfield which is close to Burnham Beaconsfield rugby club, and the clubhouse is going to be like HQ. And then, from what I remember is, you walk across the road and it's literally run around a country state. So I park up and then I walk to the clubhouse, the Bexfield Rugby Club, and as I get into the car park there there's one of the marshals.
Speaker 1:And I'm wearing this because I was pretty sure it was going to rain. Luckily, the rain had stayed off, and it did stay off, actually, which was lucky. I mean, the course was still very wet, but the rain stayed off and I was wearing this, uh, bright yellow rain jacket which is, in fact, the colours of Burnham joggers. So all these marshals were wearing the bright yellow jackets and that. And she said, oh, hello, jason. And I said oh, hello. And she said, oh, it's good that you're wearing that colour. I mean it just happened to be coincidence and also I had like yellow shorts on as well, all the colours of the club. So I think that endeared me to them.
Speaker 1:And you know, we got chatting and they wished me a good race and yeah, it was great, I mean I was one of the early ones there. And then I got chatting to another runner, done all these different runs and challenges and as you do because that's what us runners are like we just start chatting to each other. Normally we talk about races and that. But I was just happy to be there early and they had a bag drop so I could literally uh, well, it wasn't so much a bag drop, I mean literally it's done on trust. So you change into, into your gear and then you you put it all in your bag and normally have a very official bag drop where they you hand it over to someone and they put it for secure. But I just went into the clubhouse and people just drop, dropping their bags anywhere at the side of the room. So that's literally just what I did.
Speaker 1:But my next thing was, you know what to wear, because it was still quite cold, but the sun was coming out and I was thinking about, oh well, I'll wear my leggings. But now I was thinking, no, I can probably get away with shorts, it's not that cold. I was even thinking about wearing a T-shirt, but I was thinking, no, no, it's not. And you had various different runs where we're wearing different stuff. Some were in vests and shorts, some were with the full leggings and everything. So I sort of met halfway. I didn't want to get too hot, but I still didn't want to get cold on the start line. So I went with the t-shirt and the lovely uh shorts and my new new uh trail running shoes. Um, so I looked, you know, very, very color coordinated um, in in blue and yellow, um, similar to the, the ukraine flag colors. It was um, and obviously the, the yellow there as well. So I looked pretty smart, I felt good and I walked with the others across to the uh the start line.
Speaker 1:And the start line was very much like the park run. You just lined up wherever you thought you know, you, you, you would finish. I mean, there wasn't a lot of us runners, probably only a few hundred, so I didn't want to start too near the front. I didn't want to start too near the front. I didn't want to start too near the back either, because as soon as the clock, the hooter goes when you start, that's when your time is. Obviously you get two times you get your gun time when they start the race and then your chip time, so you have a chip on your number. It's when you actually cross the line. So I think it only took me nine seconds to get across the line. I wasn't right near the back and I looked at the back and there's quite a few people behind me, which is you know what I was happy with.
Speaker 1:And the first bits actually run on road, which which was lovely, um, but maybe not so much for my trail shoes. My trail shoes were actually very good on the trails, but on the road I don't know, it's because of the grip they were a little bit slippery, so I could feel myself slipping a bit. So I was was a little bit worried, but it was all downhill on this road and I thought, well, this is a good start and my time? I think I was averaging under eight minutes a mile, which was crazy, and I thought how long is this going to stay up for? But of course, then you get down to the bottom of this pathway and then you turn right and then you've got to come up this literally grass field, long grass, muddy, they put cones out. You go around the cones and you're literally going up and already you're starting uphill and you know, we hadn't even got to a mile and I heard other runners saying this is a long mile, and it did feel a long mile, from going from under eight minute mile pace. Um, I started going over to nine minute mile pace and, yeah, this was this.
Speaker 1:This was tough and I was starting to feel it and I hadn't even got to the first mile yet and they hadn't. They had mile markers because this literally was a five mile trail race. So, because it was a five mile trail race, had in mile markers rather than kilometers markers, which was great because that's what I worked in. But you know, I had it on my watch anyway, so I knew roughly the, the pace and and what I'd done. But I kept looking at my watch and this is it. We've only just done a mile and we just we just went up and so far it wasn't too bad because it was just running on the grass.
Speaker 1:I mean, it was great it was when we got to the wooded bits, when we got to the sheltered bits, there were some massive puddles I mean they were more like lakes and the mud and some of us just couldn't care less. They were literally just going through these massive puddles. They said what the heck? Whereas other runners were like me, were trying to be a little bit more careful and go to the side, whereas other runners were like me, were trying to be a little bit more careful and go to the side.
Speaker 1:Firstly, I didn't want to. I mean, my trail shoe started off nice and bright, shiny, blue and clean, which I knew it wouldn't stay like that for long, um, and I knew I couldn't avoid that. You know getting them dirty, but I didn't want to go through this massive puddle because your feet are going to get soaked and they're just going to weigh you down and you can feel like you're getting trench foot. So I just didn't want to go through these massive puddles and get soaked. And I watched other people go through and I thought, no, I'll go to the side as much as I can, but sometimes it's just avoidable, because if you just avoided the main big puddle and then you come to the side and then you've got the, you know little puddles and that are at the side of of this, of this main puddle, so you can't avoid getting your feet wet. But I mean, boy, does it slow you down? I mean it's just, you know your, your feet feel like they're in wet clay. You just literally can't move.
Speaker 1:And any downhill sections. You were just happy for um, but yeah it, and I was very, I mean, the trail shoes were working fine, I wasn't sliding about like Bambi this time I was struggling, I was, I was out of breath, it was, you know, I was. I sort of stopped looking at my watch. You know my, my first target was to keep it under nine minutes. Then it was going under, trying to keep it under 9.5 minutes per mile and then trying to keep it under 10 minute mile and I'm thinking, if I can keep it under 10 minute mile, that was good. But actually as the course went on 2 miles, 3 miles the time started to sort of flatten out a bit. So I was getting closer to that 9.5 minute mile pace and it was sort of settling at 9, nine, 31 minute mile.
Speaker 1:Um, and and the the the last mile, okay, the last mile was uphill. Uh, as you're coming towards, you know you're coming into the last mile, you know, you, you, you can see, you can see the road cause you, you come back onto where you had first started, which, okay, it was downhill and you'd be going back uphill, but at least I was back on the road and my only concern now was obviously the trail shoes wouldn't start, having been in the mud and that, and maybe you've got mud on the bottom and they would start slipping on this tarmac road. That was my only concern and obviously it felt tough because, from going downhill at the beginning, we were now going back up this road. And you know I had several thoughts going through my mind. Firstly, I mean, my main objective for this race was literally just to be safe, you know, just to get through injury free, because for me, it gave me some closure on the fact that, you know, I'd conquered it this time injury free. I sort of got back on the horse, so to speak. You know it'd take me five years to do, but I got back on the horse and I conquered it with these brand new pair of trail shoes and I'd learned my lesson. But I'd gone back there and I'd done it. Okay, it wasn't gonna be as fast as time as back then, but remember, you know we're six years on now and I just hadn't done the training this year, so just to finish it was good.
Speaker 1:So I was struggling up this hill and I could see runners in in front of me and runners at the side of me and that I always, always like to put on a sprint finish. I'm very competitive and it sort of turned around the corner for the final straight and I remember just taking off past these guys and that and I was going for it and in fact I've got some lovely photographs to give you free photographs, and luckily there were a few few ones of me they caught and you can see my flying feet as I'm coming around the corner. I'm overtaking all these runners because when, as soon as I see the finish line, no one's going to beat me on a sprint to the finish line. I'll out sprint anybody. And you know I soon find the energy from somewhere. And I was sprinting to the line and I always, always run through the line, never run to the line, run through the line.
Speaker 1:I remember on the park run on the Saturday when I got my PB, there was a couple of guys just in front of me and one was very frustrating. In fact, I think he was the first runner with a dog home. But you know, you feel a bit sort of sad when you you get a guy who's been running with the dog and he's in front of you and you anyway, it was him and another guy and because they, they, they thought literally they're at the finish. Now that was it. They sort of backed off and I just sprinted straight through, straight past him and nearly bumped into the other person in the queue at the back of the finish there. But you know that's, you know I'd given him all and I was absolutely knackered. But I think that's how you should always run through the line.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and this is why exactly what I did here, I ran through the line and I passed so many people on the final straight there and I was so happy to look to my watch and it was. It was 9, 31 pace, um, I was out of breath, but it didn't take me too long to recover. More importantly, the fact was that my, you know I'm injury free at the moment. Touch wood here. I'm injury free, um, and you know this, this weekend I'll do a fairly, uh, a good long run and then, you know, try not to do too too many heavy miles next week during the week because then obviously, uh, the virgin half marathon's coming up. But this is good preparation for it.
Speaker 1:And, looking back, that speed isn't too good. You know, 9, 9, 31, I was in the top half of all runners, um, okay, it was, I think it was approximately 46 minutes, whereas when I'd run it, like six years ago, like 41 minutes. But as I say, you know, six years, a lot happens in six years. Um, maybe if I had more of the training hand be injured, I could have got close to that time. I still think I can. But looking on where I've come from, this year I've only done like a handful of runs. I've started doing the longer runs now and this was a real cross-country course, a bit like what used to run back at school. It was never my favorite type of running, um, but it what it does do is it prepares you, because I know in a week's time I'm going to the smooth, flat roads of red and half marathon and even though it's 13 miles, not five, it's not going to be anywhere near as hard as this.
Speaker 1:I'm going to get the crowd support. There was no crowd support on here because you're running around a country state. I mean, the marshals were great. I have to say all full credit to the marshals who who volunteered to do this. Their club were organizing it and they volunteered to do this and because I'd met these marshals at the park on Saturday, they were cheering me on. I got to the first corner and the lady who said she'd be on the first corner because I told her my name, she said come on, jason, come on. And it was great. And I jokingly said well, look at this, you know you've given me a boost now and I literally it did literally give me a boost. I was literally sprinting past her as soon as she mentioned my name. And that was the same with all the marshals they all recognised me. Go there, he is there, he is. Well done, jason. Yeah, and it's great to get that support.
Speaker 1:I mean, a lot of times you'll have a number sorry, your name written on your number anyway, but on this particular occasion it was a smaller race. They literally just give you pick your number up at the clubhouse before you start and it's literally a number. So the marshals, can't you know, they don't know your name. Uh, it was a lot of time, especially in in the bigger race like red and half. You'll have your name and you know marshals and crowd support they can, you know, shout out your name. But here it's completely different. You just have literally have a number. And it was great for these the marshals I'd only met on saturday and they've remembered me and they'll give me all this support and I I felt the love and support. It really gives you a boost, especially when you're struggling, and that was great. It was, um. You know, I was so glad that I'd gone to the park on saturday and met them, so I was really pleased. I picked up my water afterwards and the free, uh, chocolate bar I think it was a chocolate but not chocolate bar, it was like a protein bar that gave out at the end.
Speaker 1:And obviously, more importantly, the medal and in fact there's, this medal forms part of three in a series. So we've got the, the clifton park run, which I think is run in the evening, and that's a. I think it might already be booked out, but that's a real hilly course around clifton estate and that's been going for years. And then, of course, my, my favorite, uh, burning beaches half marathon, which is local to me, which if you listen to my other episodes you know I've run it since I was a kid and very emotional race for me as well, because one of the races got me back into running and just before my nan died. So and what you do is, if you run all three, all three of the medals joined together to form one big medal. So I don't think I'll be getting all three.
Speaker 1:I think I think I tried to book Clifton and the last count. I think it was sold out. Evening time is not particularly good time for me, anyway for running. I think it's run at seven o'clock in the evening, but it's it's. You know, it'd be something new, but I think it is sold out at the moment. But definitely burn them half. So I'll get two of the of the series. So that rounded off a really good easter for me.
Speaker 1:I, I, I came back home and had a nice, nice lunch, um, and of course I scoffed all my easter egg because I was so hungry I thought I earned it. I could get away with the amount of calories I used running the beckonsfield trail run. I could easily, you know, eat your easter egg, no problem. So it was all guilt free for me for the rest of the day, but come the evening I was really tired. I think I went to bed really early.
Speaker 1:It taken more out of me than I have to say in some of the longer races and even the next day my legs were really feeling it. It's taking me a good few days to recover and it's not a half marathon or a marathon, you know it's. It's five miles, it's not even a 10k, 10k, six miles, but it's just the conditions it was in. It's it's not flat. And it reminded me when I did if you listen to my previous episodes when I did Race to the Stones, and that was really, really hilly and that was, you know, like a double marathon ran in a day. So, you know, and that that was, that was really hilly too, you know, and that was really hilly too, and this is what it reminded me of.
Speaker 1:It was, you know, time to go out the window, because you're just, you're competing with the elements and you can't say, oh, I got a personal best or this is the target I'm aiming for, because, even though I got 41 minutes six years ago, you know, conditions are different. Having said that, they weren't much different. They were as bad as they were six years ago, but this time I was well prepared. And my advice to you to any of you, if you're going to be doing any sort of trail running, make sure you get trail shoes, because I learned my lesson and luckily touch wood, I'm still running, but it could have been a lot worse. So, yeah, always invest in some good quality trail shoes.
Speaker 1:Now I've got my running shoes for the road race, for the Redden Half Marathon, which I say is in a week's time, and I think probably I don't know it'll probably be the episode after next that I'll probably let you know how I did in that particular race, because I think my next episode it will probably be on the Saturday, the day before the race. So I'll let you know how I'm feeling on my and how my preparations are going for it. But I'll certainly, on one of the other later podcast episodes, I will let you know how I did at the Redden Half Marathon. It's going to be the highlight of the year for me. I haven't got any sort of real long races planned in after that. I have. I think I've got a 10k, beat the boat, which, for regular listeners who've listened before will know that I've done that before a few times. So there's a beat the the boat, a 10k race, obviously.
Speaker 1:Uh, in august I'll be doing bernard beach's half marathon again and my nan's race the winds are half around in september. I haven't actually got any, uh, because normally I'd be. I'd say I'll be running a marathon this time of year, but I haven't done the training and normally an ultra or two in the summer. But, um, stay tuned, because I am looking to do a marathon. I'm looking to do a marathon, um, at the end of the year. I can't get into dublin, uh, unfortunately.
Speaker 1:Dublin, my favorite marathon, it's a lottery lottery system now and that's all been sold out as far as I'm aware. Uh, there are other marathons, but they do get filled up quite quickly. So there's amden marathon, where I got my pb all those years ago, and there's a. You know, there's quite a few winter, winter marathons, because after you get through the, the spring marathon season, which is like april, may, and then you get a few in the summer, then you go to the autumn, uh, which is when the the rest of the marathons come up. So, you know, there is an opportunity for me to run a few marathons this year.
Speaker 1:Um, the next step is obviously for me to do this red and half marathon. If I can get like a really good time, if I can come through that injury field, give me the confidence to do a lot of summer training, uh, to then, you know, book in a winter or an autumn, should I say, marathon. So we'll see. I'll have a look at my diary and see what marathons are going on. Um, my main objective is obviously the red half marathon. See what time I can do for that. I'm looking to get under, uh, two hours 15 minutes.
Speaker 1:Um, if you're looking at when I did the 13 miles a half marathon, when I was uh with all those hills, um, when I was doing that hill training, I think I think I'd, I think I did about two hours 20. So when I'm running something like red in half with the crowds and the flat course, I'm hoping to beat two hours 15 minutes. In fact, a friend of mine, gary he's actually he actually notified me and said he's going to be the two hour five minute pacer if I wanted pacing and I think I've actually put down. I'm hoping to break two hours 20. Because what you do is you put down your estimated finishing time and then they give you a color number based on what time you're going to finish and then you have to line up in the pen that you're going to be, uh, that your, that your color number represents your finishing. So you can't move forward to a faster finishing time. So I don't think I'd be able to move forward anyway to where gary is with the two hour five.
Speaker 1:But that doesn't mean I can't aim for two hour five. It's obviously, you know, just from my starting pen I'd have to, and yet again it goes from the chip time that you wear on your, your number. So it's a possibility I could still do two hours. But but I did tell him I said two hour five at the moment is a bit quick for me. I mean, you know, because I've run one hour 45 in the past, one hour 31, but as you know, that's a few years ago.
Speaker 1:You've got to work on what you've got at the current stage and for me at the moment, you know, under two hours 15 will be great. Obviously, as you can tell, I'm very competitive. So I'd like to do a two hours five, I'd like to break the magic two hours. That might be pushing a little bit, but you know, first objective is get around injury free, always, always, always, complete the race first of all. Then look at your times. So I'm looking at realistic times. I think I can beat two hours 20, definitely, well, definitely, beat two hours 20. I think I can get under two hours 15. Anything faster than that will be a bonus. Um, and two hour five would be great. I mean, under two hours be a miracle, but you've always got to have hope. So anyway, we'll see how it goes and I'll let you know how it goes in a later episode. Okay, thanks so much. I'll see you next time on 30 years of running marathons. Thank you.