Here come the races

The season is upon us, and as usual, my spring race calendar has morphed from a carefully-designed schedule of well-placed races into a multi-faceted beast of confusion. Here goes:

Next weekend I am taking my first stab at the Tunbridge Wells half marathon. Local to my parents and the town I grew up in, this race is the stage for an almighty smackdown of old schoolfriends. Five of us are training for two different marathons and we are all using the TW half as a tune-up event – and probably a vehicle for extensive side bets. It’s an oldie but a goodie – this is the 30th running – and has an impressive pedigree, associated with Dame Kelly Holmes and this year started by Richard Whitehead. Apparently there are a couple of tricky hills but otherwise an enjoyable course.

Then in April, two days after I get back from a family holiday necessitating long-haul travel, my jetlagged and rum-soaked brain and I will be running the Edinburgh Rock n Roll half marathon – as I understand it a new and improved version of last year’s race.  As with all local races I’ll be out to recce the course beforehand and get a feel for what the event will be like – but I have suspicions that the Rock n Roll brand will make for  a good day out... One of my Wall Run teammates will be joining me too, so there will be a decision-making point probably about 200 yards from the finish line as to whether or not we are racing each other…

Not sure if I’ve mentioned, but I’ve only gone and got a place in the VLM. It’s the week after the Rock n Roll half, which should be fine. Should be. Fine.

A few weeks later it’s back to hillrunning, and I am planning on a first crack at the Dumyat Hill Race in May. Based on a historic bet and starting 30 yards from my office, it would seem ridiculous and foolish to pass up the opportunity to run thousands of feet up a large hill/small mountain and back down again in the space of five miles. I have two goals: 1, don’t break an ankle and 2, finish. I’m less bothered about 2.

The Wall Run. I’ve definitely mentioned this before. It’s in June and it’s really far and you should sponsor me.

As usual, I entered the ballot for the Great North Run this year, but most unusually I actually got  a place! OK, with it being in September I am rather stretching the spring season, but after The Wall it’s the only thing in my calendar at all. This year I think I’m going to wear shoes, and might actually try to run it for a time rather than just plod along soaking up the atmosphere…

Are you racing this year? Have I missed anything that I should really have a crack at ASAP? I am open to suggestions...

Happy racing

Dave

2013 to date: miles run - 141.38, parkruns: 1, miles biked: 3

History Stands

Two or three years ago, some paper-pusher in the Department for Education or some other such administrative body in charge of exams decided that it was time for another rule change. Successive UK governments like to fiddle with our exam structures every now and then to put their stamp on education, and usually I couldn’t care less. But this one was different.

In summer 2005 I collected my A-level certificates, ridiculously satisfied to have achieved the highest possible set of results: four As. My school could offer a maximum of four A-levels per student, so I chose four subjects I enjoyed and was good at, worked hard at those four and got good grades in all of them. My CV would forever proclaim this clean sweep of school-age academic testing. I may not have collected any shiny plastic trophies, but academically I was top dog.

Until that paper-pusher moved the goalposts and added an A* grade to the A-level scoring system.

Now my CV looks good, but not great. I ‘only’ got As. Hypothetically, when the current cohorts of A-level students filter into the job market, their performances could be unfairly measured against mine. I did the best I could within the rules I was given, but now the rules have changed I’m retrospectively disadvantaged. How is this fair?

It isn’t. But it doesn’t matter. I have an MA now, so my A-levels are pretty irrelevant. Hopefully anyone looking critically at my CV would have some awareness of the rule change, if they were to care at all.  But imagine if a comparable scenario was played out on an international scale, affecting achievements which are recorded in history books and have huge sums of money associated to them. Imagine the greatest athletes in history being downgraded by retrospective rule changes. Sadly, right now, we don’t have to imagine.

The IAAF, athletics’ governing body, recently changed the rules for female distance records. Essentially, world records will only be certified in women-only races, on the basis that mixed races or races with male pacemakers offer some sort of ill-defined advantage, loosely generalising that women run faster in the presence of men. Aside from the fact that this is pretty sexist and to my mind based on flawed logic, there’s an even greater injustice afoot.

Outrageously, the rule is being applied retrospectively, disqualifying Paula Radcliffe’s phenomenal marathon world record of 2:15:25, achieved in London in 2003, and establishing her merely amazing 2:17:42 in London in 2005 as the official world record. Paula ran the 2003 race with pacemakers (whom she hadn’t asked for), although consciously not running behind them (which might have been considered drafting, entirely legal but not Paula’s style), at the pace she wanted to achieve (without giving the pacemakers any instructions).

Paula ran 2:15 with her own legs, in her own way, in a world-beating and record-shattering time. She strived and sweated and worked harder than anyone else on the planet to do it. The IAAF, on the other hand, whom I imagine to be cooped up in some gleaming corporate headquarters, have ruled that her time wasn’t achieved according to some new standards they invented eight years later, and so are quite happy to wipe it from the record books, belittling the months and years of work it represents. It’s worth noting, of course, that Paula is still the world record holder, in fact she has run the three fastest female marathon times ever, including the disqualified 2:15.

Check out the 'News' section of www.paularadcliffe.com

Looking forward, this is bad news for women’s marathoning. Relatively few women-only races or women-only starts exist, limiting the potential for faster times. Berlin is a prime example – the men’s world record has repeatedly been broken there, but it doesn’t have a women-only start. There will never be a female world record achieved on what is possibly the fastest marathon course in the world. This will create a messy two-tier system of ‘world best’ and ‘world record’ times, possibly subdivided again to exclude courses like Boston which don’t meet IAAF qualifying standards of elevation and layout. A cynic might say that this is a ploy to push up the standards of IAAF championships and the Olympics - races which are usually run for podium places, not necessarily for fast times...

Paula and Nike are mounting a campaign against this decision, with a massive groundswell of public support from the running community and beyond. I have no hesitation in adding my voice to it. 

Do you think I could convince them to have a go at the A-level thing too?

History stands.

Dave

2011 to date: miles: 1023.17, parkruns: 6, races: 6, miles biked: 155, metres swum: 1225

Marathon Madness

The weekend just passed saw records tumble at two of the World Marathon Majors; London and Boston, with tens of thousands of finishers between them demonstrating that marathon running is alive, well, and awesome.  Rather than rehash what better men and women have written about the two events, I thought I would highlight a few of my favourite stories from the two races and point you to others’ work on the topics:

Epic.

Men’s course record smashed at London – Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya won the London Marathon for the men in a new personal best and course record of 2:04:40.  Mutai has been the perennial runner-up, having recorded numerous finishes just off the top spot at major races. London 2011 was his day to break out of that routine and step up to the world stage. He even adopted my Alloa tactic and chundered all over the finish line. Nice one, Emmanuel.

Martin Lel ran the most exciting second-placed race ever – Lel was only added to the London field a few weeks ago after Sammy Wainjiru dropped out with an injury, but pulled off an amazing performance to steal second place from Patrick Makau with just yards to go. Both recorded a time of 2:05:45. If you believe in such things, this was a clear example of Lel deciding to come second and Makau deciding to finish third. Lel has won in London three times already.

Mutai, Lel and Makau completed a Kenyan one-two-three, the first clean sweep by any nation since Great Britain did it in 1985.

British women are really rather good in London – top quality debut performances from Jo Pavey (2:28) and Louise Damen (2:29), though Liz Yelling had a more difficult day (finishing in 2:41, 13 minutes off her PB). Louise and Jo have both qualified for the world championships in South Korea this summer and next year’s Olympics. Mara Yamauchi was out with injury and Paul Radcliffe will be making a return to marathoning in the autumn, probably at Chicago or Berlin.

British men are only quite good in London – Scotland’s Andrew Lemoncello (born in Japan, has an American father, lives and trains in Arizona, but is half Scottish and grew up in St Andrews so represents GB, good times) faded and ran a painful race to finish in 2:15, missing his 2:12 target to meet the Olympic qualifying ‘A’ standard, and finishing 15^th compared to 8^th last year.  Guernsey’s Lee Merrien busted out a personal best of 2:14 to finish as first Briton and is on track to improve further. Both met the ‘B’ standard for the world championships and the London Olympics, which means they have qualified for the team events but not the individual competition. Sad times.

Two fairly ordinary blokes ran the Paris marathon, then ran to London, then ran the London marathon. Legends. Their website features a great and very detailed blog, as well as photos and maps and the like. I quite fancy this challenge for a future year, anybody else keen? Not sure I could step up to the gruelling pace these guys set, but who knows?

The usual round-up of ridiculous Guinness World Record attempts this year included a bloke in a gas mask, several fairies, a marching band, a married couple, an astronaut, several fruits and a Viking, among others. The most impressive is the fastest, David Stone's superhero record of 2:42:46 dressed as Superman. This isn't just the usual - where you find a record no-one has attempted and trot off a leisurely time - this is tackling an already-fast mark (3:01, Batman at London 2010), and smashing it. A cracking effort.

Two fairly ordinary people ran the London marathon, then hopped on a plane to the US, then ran the Boston Marathon the following day. Now that is amazing. Which brings me neatly on to:

Boom.

Fastest marathon ever is run at Boston 2011, in an outrageous 2:03:02 by Geoffrey Mutai. Second place is Moses Mosop, finishing his first ever marathon in 2:03:06! Haile Gebresalassie’s world record of 2:03:59 (Berlin 2008) is safe, however, as Boston has too great a net downhill and the 20mph tailwind will have had an unduly generous effect, so this time doesn’t qualify. But absolutely amazing nonetheless. The dream of a sub-2 hour marathon is still alive, no doubt about it.

Ryan Hall breaks the American record at Boston with 2:04:58, and actually is probably responsible for Mutai’s amazing time as he pushed the pace for the entire race. American running is back on track, and Hall is probably the only man in the world right now who can step up next to the East Africans. Nice one, Ryan.

Speaking of East Africans, London and Boston's men's and women's races were all won by Kenyans. In the men's races, the two podiums were claimed by five Kenyans...and an Ethiopian. Amazing stuff.

In less world-shaking news, I've had a fairly turbulent running week, which I'll write up in the next few days. Stay tuned.

Happy running

Dave

2011 to date - miles: 362.1, parkruns: 4, races: 2, miles biked: 12.85