Official Running Thread

[Bry Nylon]

I was an occasional contributor to this thread back in the first lockdown when I substituted my nightly gym visits (as the gym was shut) with running 5km each evening on local lanes until inevitably failure to take rest days and poor technique resulted in injury...

But I also used to post on this thread to share what a positive thing Junior ParkRun is, in providing kids with a weekly, organised opportunity to run and track their performance on the website - all for free. My children (10 and 12) have now clocked up 80+ JPRs each and never miss a Sunday event, even though it means getting up at 7am. They are always generally competing at the front of the field - but yesterday it was great to see them finish 1st and 2nd. I was massively proud of them both, which just goes to prove running is good for the soul - even if you are just watching.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I was an occasional contributor to this thread back in the first lockdown when I substituted my nightly gym visits (as the gym was shut) with running 5km each evening on local lanes until inevitably failure to take rest days and poor technique resulted in injury...

But I also used to post on this thread to share what a positive thing Junior ParkRun is, in providing kids with a weekly, organised opportunity to run and track their performance on the website - all for free. My children (10 and 12) have now clocked up 80+ JPRs each and never miss a Sunday event, even though it means getting up at 7am. They are always generally competing at the front of the field - but yesterday it was great to see them finish 1st and 2nd. I was massively proud of them both, which just goes to prove running can be good for the soul - even if you are just watching.

Fantastic! Well done to the BN Jnrs. I've said this before, but parkrun is still THE best thing about running for me. I've never been to a Junior parkrun, but if they are half as good as the Saturday ones, then they must be great...

 

[Si Gull]

Anyone on here get headaches after running? I used to get them occasionally after longer (10k+) runs but now seem to get one even after a moderate paced 5k. They tend to start a few hours after the run and gradually worsen. I'm thinking postural but could be anything. Really affecting my running now as I avoid going out if I have important stuff to do later in the day, a real pain. Be interesting to hear if anyone has experienced a similar problem. Cheers!

 

[Bry Nylon]

Fantastic! Well done to the BN Jnrs. I've said this before, but parkrun is still THE best thing about running for me. I've never been to a Junior parkrun, but if they are half as good as the Saturday ones, then they must be great...

JPR is fantastic and the volunteers who give up their Sunday mornings to marshall the events are unsung heroes. (Many of them are Saturday parkrunners).

You get everything from 4 year olds walking / running round with their parents to very high standard 14 year old club runners and everything inbetween. Always a great atmosphere with an emphasis on fun but with strong sense of competition at the front end of the field for those that want it. (Try telling the kids busting a gut to get a new PB or improve on their age grading or get their highest overall placing that it's a run not a race!).

It also helps develop 'race craft' and pacing, for those that want this. My kids are both good middle-distance / cross-country runners, but doing JPR every week has taken them to a whole new level by enabling them to compete each week and learn how to run a race rather than just run a distance. My daughter won her school x-country event recently and as a result qualified to represent her school in a District x-country event. I've no doubt that the tactics and race craft she's learnt through 80+ JPRs played a massive role in helping her to manage her race.

 

[Simgull]

Talking with one of my colleagues this morning who marshaled the MP10 yesterday, and was one of the organizers. He was saying he will report back about the jams at Saltdean football club to see if there is a way around it for next years race. I was up at the club for my lads football match and the finish of that game / the start of 2 others, coincided with a lot of runners reaching the club (about 11.30-45). It wasn't the safest area for anyone as loads of cars were trying to get in and out - along what is a very narrow pot holed lane - which meant a few of the runners were dodging in and around vehicles, or having to stop completely. Luckily you can only drive slowly along there, but I had to keep my wits about me as I was trying to avoid the big holes, and also keep an eye open on either side for runners zooming past me!

Looked a great event though, and one of my other colleagues finished in a very respectable time on his first attempt at running it.

Ah yes - I'd forgotten about that! Thanks for driving carefully with us runners all around you!

Its never happened in previous years, and the good thing is I think both drivers and runners seemed to just behave sensibly and respect each other yesterday. Agree though would be better avoided in the future. For what its worth I turned my ankle badly in one of those pot holes one year and that was without any cars being about!

 

[Bozza]

JPR is fantastic and the volunteers who give up their Sunday mornings to marshall the events are unsung heroes. (Many of them are Saturday parkrunners).

You get everything from 4 year olds walking / running round with their parents to very high standard 14 year old club runners and everything inbetween. Always a great atmosphere with an emphasis on fun but with strong sense of competition at the front end of the field for those that want it. (Try telling the kids busting a gut to get a new PB or improve on their age grading or get their highest overall placing that it's a run not a race!).

In Worthing, we used to have a similar thing, Kids Run Free (now: Marathon Kids - https://www.marathonkids.co.uk ), on Saturday mornings and I was a volunteer there, which meant my son was a 100% attendee - he'd slog it out in all weathers!

It was slightly different to JPR in that it wasn't a set distance, it was a case of "run as much as you want". We'd record laps completed so the kids would try and beat their previous record of laps.

I know Worthing has a JPR so I may take him along to that, although I think I'm more inclined to just take him out with me now - something we did a fair bit during lockdowns, but has fallen by the wayside now.. I'm now on something like day 675 of my RunStreak and approaching 3,000 miles of running this year. I've never been to a Park Run nor to any kind of race - I'm happy just running because I enjoy it.

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

I've been to cheer on my granddaughter at the Worthing JPR a few times. Can't say anything but positive things about it, especially the volunteers. One particularly good feature is that the youngsters are awarded wristbands when they have done enough runs to be equivalent to a half marathon and a marathon. Great idea! (BTW, I've seen some excellent runners who have clocked around 7.30 for the 2km.)

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Ah yes - I'd forgotten about that! Thanks for driving carefully with us runners all around you!

Its never happened in previous years, and the good thing is I think both drivers and runners seemed to just behave sensibly and respect each other yesterday. Agree though would be better avoided in the future. For what its worth I turned my ankle badly in one of those pot holes one year and that was without any cars being about!

I guess its very hit & miss with fixtures - just unfortunate that there were 3 matches on at the same time this year. With regards to the lane & potholes, I used to be a manager at SUFC about 10 years ago and there were plans to have it resurfaced properly even then - so dont hold your breath for it to be done any time soon! Just seems to be patched up every few years by Bodge-it & Co....Ankles beware!!

 

[knocky1]

Good to see you, albeit briefly this morning. Lovely event as always. I really struggled and probably shouldn’t have run it, as my Achilles is still a bit problematic, and it kicked in big time on that annoying incline around 10km in, in the middle of Saltdean. It meant I wasn’t able to benefit properly from the gentle downhill with the wind behind in the last few km, and after the finish I was struggling to walk properly. Great atmosphere though, and followed with a convivial Sunday lunch at the Smugglers with a large group of other runners, so overall a positive day. Back to the physio next week ….

Ouch! Well done for finishing. Sad I missed it but your report makes me realise I made the right choice,that could have been me. I realise I need to work on the rehab and come back slowly. Great time of year for that!
My physio sorted the problem but it took 4 weeks for it to come back to normal. Good luck and don’t run with pain.

Excellent run [MENTION=18183]big nuts[/MENTION] maybe I’m wrong on the plateau, as strong as ever. Great effort from [MENTION=26634]Simgull[/MENTION] too I’m not up for a Bedgebury rematch for a good 6 months.

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Perfect conditions at Worthing and an SB 20.38 and all time best AG of 82.07%. I'd be obliged if you could amend the table accordingly, Gaffer.

 

[knocky1]

Perfect conditions at Worthing and an SB 20.38 and all time best AG of 82.07%. I'd be obliged if you could amend the table accordingly, Gaffer.

Excellent work!
You know how you feel when Australia win the Ashes 5-0? Well I feel twice as gutted as that.

 

[Artie Fufkin]

Perfect conditions at Worthing and an SB 20.38 and all time best AG of 82.07%. I'd be obliged if you could amend the table accordingly, Gaffer.

Heading to the end of the year on a high GNT! Great running!

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Thanks for the kind words, Artie and Gaffer. I should point out that 2 old gits beat me, one (65-69) registering 19 something. Probably an Aussie.

 

[knocky1]

Thanks for the kind words, Artie and Gaffer. I should point out that 2 old gits beat me, one (65-69) registering 19 something. Probably an Aussie.

Cheered me up. Has Australia ever had a good runner? NO.

I’ve gone into take another month easy mode. Walked 40 miles in 3 days round my old manor in SE1 this week. 1/10 pain in the mornings makes me realise I need to continue the boring calf raise routine. #lazyf*€¥€{

 

[Notters]

Anyone got any tips on going beyond 10 miles / half marathon please as my legs seem to fall apart at that point? Admittedly I'm doing pretty technical, hilly, rocky and muddy trails... and not really eating or drinking anything which probably doesn't help?

I have basically decided road running isn't for me, except when I have to

 

[Artie Fufkin]

Anyone got any tips on going beyond 10 miles / half marathon please as my legs seem to fall apart at that point? Admittedly I'm doing pretty technical, hilly, rocky and muddy trails... and not really eating or drinking anything which probably doesn't help?

I have basically decided road running isn't for me, except when I have to

The more experienced trail runners among us might be able to give specific advice for that terrain (all I know from experience is that the effort is A LOT harder than on the road) and a 10+ mile trail run is really good going!

But on a general distance running tip I'd probably look to see what kind of running frequency and volume you're doing at the moment, rather than look at the single run in isolation.

Our long run (once a week is great) should ideally be around 20% / probably no more than 30% of our weekly mileage. So if we're able to get in some consistent weeks of running say 50 miles a week, our weekly 10-15 mile long run over time will start to feel a lot more comfortable than if we're running 25 miles a week. We're improving our aerobic endurance the more we run and the more long runs we do over time, the more conditioned we get to running them.

So I'd say keep at it, and have a look at how these runs are part of your overall running frequency and volume. Outside of running, some little focus on strength and conditioning has real benefits and your legs will certainly be getting a lot stronger than my road legs when you're hitting the trails.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Anyone got any tips on going beyond 10 miles / half marathon please as my legs seem to fall apart at that point? Admittedly I'm doing pretty technical, hilly, rocky and muddy trails... and not really eating or drinking anything which probably doesn't help?

I have basically decided road running isn't for me, except when I have to

Sounds like you're doing some challenging routes - anywhere flat you could plod along to get up to HM distance? Even if it's laps?

I've never done it myself, but if you start from more than 10 miles away from your end point (get there by bus/taxi/lift/other), then that's an incentive to keep going.

Also running with someone else or other people helps keeps you going, because it takes your mind of what you're doing and you all motivate each other.

Food-wise, I'd probably be tempted to take something like flapjack/soreen (maybe a banana?) because food definitely gives you a boost – and we all know that a decent trail run is NOTHING without an aid station/food stop! Likewise, water will help a lot.

 

[Notters]

[MENTION=11816]Artie Fufkin[/MENTION] 50 miles a week with two young kids? I'll let you broach that one with my wife. 15-20 is probably the absolute limit. I guess that's the problem.

 

[knocky1]

[MENTION=11816]Artie Fufkin[/MENTION] 50 miles a week with two young kids? I'll let you broach that one with my wife. 15-20 is probably the absolute limit. I guess that's the problem.

In all fairness [MENTION=11816]Artie Fufkin[/MENTION] would probably run 50 miles quicker than most of us run 15-20 miles.

 

[knocky1]

The great run by @GNT has led to a return of an Age Graded table.

NAME	5K SB	5K PB	SB AG	10K	10M	HM	M
GNT	20:38	20:20	82.07%	40:31	1:19:12	1:31:18	4:19:55
Artie Fufkin	17.58	16:55	81.54%	35:47		1:15:58	2:42:07
Knocky	20:56	17:45	77.31%	39:52		1:34:00	3:50:49
Big Nuts	18:00	18:00	76.97%	38:10	1:05:38	1:24:23	3:15:59
HerrTubthumper	19:44	19:03	76.6%			1:36:10	3:05:34
CoolTed	23:55	17:18	75.5%	36:10	59:55	1:20:39	3:01:52
Simgull	20:56	20:21	73:41%	42:45	1:11:46	1:38:14	3:44:28
Badger	19:01	18:05	72.18%	37:41		1:22:57	2:56:33
Soistes	23:37	21:51	71.7%	46:14		1:43:12	3:51:33
St Leonard's	19.13	19.13	71.6%			1:34:35
Curious Orange	19.57 [/td] [td]18:36	71.6%	37:59		1:24:23.9	3:29:23
Bad Ash	19:18	19:18	71.24%	43:27		1:35:00	3:39:23
Blue&WhiteSea	18:54	17:05	71.16%	36:53	1:00:09	1:22:39
snowflake			70:48%	44:16	1:14:03
Anchorman	23:13	21:34	69.71%	46.25		1:41:38	3:55:00
Ben Eltons Bro	20:33	20:33	67.40%	43:03		1:32:31	3:28:03
Bob!	24:34	22:41	66.45%	45.39	1:16:42	1:44:21	3:53:35
Greg Bobkin	22:18	20:54	62.63%	46:57	1:18:01	1:39:00	3:57:37
Guinness Boy	27.09	22:04	53.9%	46:50	01:21:06	1:45.30	4:00:06
ForestRow						1:30:24
Ninja Elephant		17:37	%	37:33	1:07:57	1:27:43	3:10:49
Fitzcarraldo		19:33	%
Mr Banana		19:28	%
P's Harmonica		20:10	%	43:03		1:33:56	3:27:19
Left Back		21:02	%	45:47		1:42:01
Mr Blobby		23:05	%	48:54	1:20:05	1:47:44	4:13:22
Notters		23:55	%
CompleteBadger		19:37	%	41:25	1:17:11	1:30:58	3:29:52
chaileyjem		24:45	%	54:47		1:54:30
DFreemansPerm		28:46
Biffy Boy		19.55	%	41:31		1:33:17	3:18:39
Dazzer		19.57	%			1:36	3:43:
jimmygull		20:50		49:19			4:04:32
seagull-si		21.29	%			1:43:42
lostinlondon		22:00	%	44.13
Nathan		22:36	%	46:58		1:44:54	4:06:25
sjamesb3466		22:58	%	47:14	1:21:12	1:48:49
JoePrecious		19:44		46:19	1:24:08	1:38:13	4:04:30
Jonny Rainbow				41:43	1:12:40		3:24:38
Shippers						1:43:42