Sphinx AC Summer 5 Road Race 2012

This year's Sphinx AC Summer 5 Mile Road Race takes place on Wednesday 13 June at 7.45pm at the War Memorial Park.

 

The race is sponsored by Coventry Runner and, as well as being part of the Warwickshire Road Race League, this year the race is also the Warwickshire County 5 Mile Championship. The race starts from the Tennis Pavilion and there will be cash prizes for category winners and a medal and a cake for every finisher.

 

Prior to the main race there will be a 2km fun run at 7pm. The fun run is open to all ages although under 8s need to be accompanied by an adult.

Further details and entry at http://www.sphinx.org.uk/

Entry forms are also available from the notice board at Coventry Runner

 

29 Guinness World Records at London Marathon

There were 29 new world records set at last weeks Virgin London Marathon and although all should be congratulated some are perhaps worthy of particular highlight.
How about running 2.51 dressed as a nurse, 2.49 as a fairy or 2.57 as a roman soldier. The full list of records can be found at http://lrn.london-marathon.com/dracula-monks-and-pantomime-horse-29-guinness-worl/

Kenilworth Festival 10km, Schools Challenge and Fun Run - 19th May 2012

The Kenilworth Festival 10km is a tough 10km race around Kenilworth's picturesque Abbey Fields.

As part of the 10km race, there will also be a 3x 3.3km relay option. In the relay each team member must run or walk 1 lap of the course before handing over to a team mate.

The event also once again incorporate a School's Challenge for Years 5 & 6 and a Family Fun Run for everyone else. Both of theses races are approximately 1 mile.
As last year, the start times will be:

10:00 - 10km and 10km relay
12:00 - Fun Run
12:30 - Schools Challenge

Full details and entry are at: http://www.kenilworthrunners.co.uk/races/kenilworth-festival-races.html

Virgin London Marathon - Some Interesting Facts

With the big race just days away have a read of these background facts:

The race is now established among the major events in the sporting calendar, the London Marathon is shown on television in more than 150 countries around the world each year.

A total of 817,890 runners have completed the London Marathon since it started. A record 36,550 people finished in 2010, while 34,705 finished in 2011. 

Research by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University found that in 2010 the London Marathon generated £110.1 million of economic activity in the UK while spending in the capital by marathon runners, spectators, organisers and visitors was worth £31.7m. The figures represent a 60 per cent increase in the event’s economic importance to the UK economy since it was last measured 10 years earlier. 

Interesting Facts

·         Finishers’ medals – main race 37,500

·         Finishers’ medals - mini marathon 2,500

·         Finishers’ bags for runners – main race 37,500

·         Finishers’ bags for runners –mini marathon 2,500

·         Goody bag items 600,000

·         Pink Lady apples 40,000 (in finishers’ bags)

·         Zero-emission vehicles 100

·         TNT lorries transporting runners’ kit 40

·         Renault Espace cars carrying media, VIPs and staff 16

·         Portable toilets (incl. start, course, mini marathon and finish) 1,250

·         Urinal bays at start 400

·         Blue line paint marking the course 300 litres – 3-stripe line

·         Barriers in metres 28,000 metres

·         Barrier Tape 100 kilometres

·         Roadside signs 200

·         Ball bearings in finish cones 3.2 million

·         Marshals at the start 1,100

·         Marshals at the finish 2,500

·         Marshals on the course 1,300

·         Marshals at drinks stations 2,500

·         St John Ambulance volunteers 1,500 (including 20 cycle response specialists)

·         Ambulances 50

·         First aid stations 47

·         First aid kits 100

·         Stretchers 500

·         Petroleum jelly 250 tubs; 100lbs

·         Baby oil 200 bottles

·         Plasters 2,000

·         Treatment centres 59

·         Foil blankets 40,000

·         Water stations 23, one every mile from three miles

·         Special drink stations 8 - for the elite runners where their chosen drinks are placed if required

·         Lucozade Sport stations 5 - isotonic energy drink is available to runners at 5, 10, 15, 19 and 23 miles;

·         149,100 100% recyclable 330ml bottles

·         Lucozade Sport (isotonic energy drink) 36,000 bottles of isotonic drink are distributed at the start and 36,000

·         in finishers’ bags. Cherry flavoured.

·         Lucozade Sport Carbo Gels 60,000 at miles 14 and 21

·         Tables at drink stations 650

·         Bottles of Nestlé Pure Life Around 750,000 bottles in total are distributed at the start, on the course and at the finish

·         Pubs on the course 80

·         Pubs hosting charities 50

·         Rubbish bags filled after the race 3,450

·         Runners’ blogs 7,200 – about 20 per cent of runners write a blog

·         Eighteen of the many thousands of people who have run the London Marathon over the years have finished every race from the very first in 1981 to the 31st on the 17 April last year. They are known as the ‘Ever Presents’. 

The London Marathon is a Guinness World Record breaker in its own right as the largest annual fundraising event in the world. In 2011 runners raised £51.8 million for charities meaning that a total of more than £550 million has been raised by London Marathon runners since the race started in 1981.

Virgin London Marathon - Top Britons to Look Out For

With days to go to the Virgin London Marathon, one of the most intriguing sub-plots of this year’s Virgin London Marathon will be the battle for British Olympic places as some of the country’s leading runners seek selection for Team GB’s London 2012 marathon squad. After Scott Overall, Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi were named by UK selectors in December, there are just two slots available in the men’s squad and one in the women’s.

Overall’s selection came after his memorable debut in Berlin last September when the former UK 5000m champion, and part-time salesman in a Clapham Sweatshop, finished fifth behind Patrick Makau’s rampaging world record in 2 hours 10 minutes 55 seconds, faster than any Briton for almost four years. Overall was aiming for 2:12:00, the Olympic A qualifying standard, and that remains the target for his compatriots on 22 April when he will run as a pacemaker for the leading British men.

Among the main hopefuls will be Lee Merrien, who ranked second in the UK in 2011thanks his best ever performance at last year’s London Marathon. Merrien was the first Briton across the line in 2011, finishing 14th in 2:14:27, a lifetime best by more than two minutes. Merrien went on to finish 22nd at the IAAF World Championships last summer after acclimatising for the punishing Daegu conditions by running on a treadmill in a greenhouse.

Alongside him will be Benedict Whitby, a City of London police officer who regularly spends lunchtimes and evenings running along stretches of the marathon route. Whitby trained with Overall before the Berlin Marathon last September and the pair hoped to go through half way together in pursuit of the qualifier. But they lost touch early on and Whitby trailed in four and half minutes behind his friend in 2:16:27. It was a disappointing result for the former mountain biker. A national steeplechase champion back in 2001, the south Londoner needs to take three minutes from his PB on 22 April, but he’s been preparing hard at the London Marathon high altitude camp in Kenya with the likes of Mo Farah.

Also in the hunt will be Andi Jones, a veteran of five London Marathons who finished 10th in London in 2007 and in 2010, and Phil Wicks, an international over 10,000m, cross country and half marathon.

Local interest will focus on former Leamington man James Walsh and Rugby's Steve Fahey. Both are making their debuts and are reported to be in good shape.

The women’s fight is set to be even fiercer with only one place available and three Olympic hopefuls who have already achieved the qualifying time of 2:31:00 – Jo Pavey, Claire Hallissey and Louise Damen.

Pavey is not running in London this year after her impressive debut in 2011 when she ran 2:28:24, but Hallissey and Damen both have reason to feel confident.  The US-based Hallissey ranked fourth in the UK last year thanks to her first sub-2:30 marathon in Chicago last October. The 29-year-old finished sixth in the ‘windy city’ in 2:29:27, taking a massive seven minutes from her previous best to beat the Olympic qualifier by more than 90 seconds. Damen, meanwhile, made a triumphant marathon debut in London as she strode home second Briton in 2:30:00, a minute inside the qualifier. A Hampshire-based teacher and self-coached athlete, Damen showed her maturity by correcting an overspeedy start and guiding herself through the rest of the race. 

Alongside them will be the Leeds-based Scot Susan Partridge, an experienced international who was third Briton home last year in 2:34:13, a personal best by more than 90 seconds, and Liz Yelling, the 37-year-old former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist who has two Olympic marathons behind her and boasts the quickest PB of the lot.

Freya Murray shouldn’t be discounted either. The Scot will make her first foray over26.2 miles after setting a half marathon PB in New York this March.

Leading British Men

Bib Name Club PB

22 Lee Merrien Newham & Essex Beagles 2:14:27

23 Benedict Whitby WSE & Hounslow 2:15:09

24 Andi Jones Trafford / Salford Harriers 2:15:20

25 Phil Wicks Belgrave Harriers 2:15:38

28 Ben Moreau Aldershot, Farnham & District 2:16:46

29 Antony Ford Sale Harriers Manchester 2:17:16

30 Martin Williams Tipton Harriers 2:17:36

34 John Beattie Newham & Essex Beagles 2:23:43

35 James Walsh Leeds City Debut

36 Alex Hains Cardiff Debut

Leading British Women

Bib Name Club PB

120 Liz Yelling Bedford & County 2:28:33

121 Claire Hallissey Bristol 2:29:27

122 Louise Damen Winchester 2:30:00

123 Susan Partridge Leeds City 2:34:13

125 Alyson Dixon Chester-le-Street 2:34:50

126 Amy Whitehead Sale Harriers Manchester 2:35:39

127 Helen Decker Ipswich Jaffa 2:35:43

128 Michelle Ross-Cope City of Stoke 2:36:02

130 Freya Murray Chester-le-Street Debut

131 Sonia Samuels Sale Harriers Manchester Debut

Coventry Sprint Triathlon - Sunday 3rd June 2012

Entries are now open for the Coventry Sprint Triathlon, which takes place on Sunday 3rd June.

Promoted by Coventry Triathletes the triathlon will take place at the Excel Centre in Coventry and consists of a 400m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. The clock will begin when the competitor commences their swim (at a predetermined start time) and stops upon crossing the finish line at the end of the run.
The swim takes place in a 25 metre indoor pool at the Xcel centre, the bike is on public roads and the run is mainly on pathway with a small section of grass.
Further details and entry is at: http://www.covtri.co.uk/index.php

Train Hard and Smart

The following is a link to an excellent article focusing on an amateur cyclist's six week, focused build up to an attempt at his best ever time trial. Although the goal is a cycle time trial, the principles could easily be applied to running.
The article is in three parts and there are links to parts two and three at the end of part one.
http://www.bikeradar.com/blog/article/six-weeks-to-your-best-ever-time-trial-29701/