I drifted through school sports days without a care in the world until my final year in 1985. After being inspired by my good school friend Chris Pilkington who was like lightening over one hundred metres and two hundred metres and easily won the sprint competitions every year. I wanted some of the action so i decided to actually try for once. I just needed a suitable event, so the 1500 metres it was to be. I won the 1500 metres on that final school sports day and for an added bonus i won the high jump as well. Job done as far as i was concerned.
Not long after leaving school i found myself in the army careers office asking what trades they could offer me, before i knew it I was on my way to Sutton Coldfield for a weekend of testing to join the armed forces. One of the tests being a mile run. I got some training in for the test by going for a two mile run a few days before and this was more than adequate i thought. The evening before the running test i sat with a load of army barmy infantry and para wanna-be's, myself i was happy just to become a fitter. I listened to all the bragging of all the training they had done, quietly i sat there thinking oops, maybe i should of done more, but deep down i knew i would do well as i never went anywhere slowly by myself when i was young. On the bike or walking home it always turned into a fast paced effort. The big test came and it consisted of two large laps of a square. By the end of the first lap i was in third place behind a para wanna-be from the night before and some other lad. I felt the pace was way to easy and attacked the last 800 metres to the finish leaving the other two for dead. As i passed the finish line i was cheered on by an officer from the parachute battalion. "Well done son, joining the para's are you boy" he shouted in his posh tone. "No! i'm going to be a fitter i replied proudly".
September 1985 i joined the army as an apprentice fitter at Chepstow college. I drifted back to my old lazy ways until the day of the college sports day. I took the easy option and entered the high jump, low and behold the little fellow came up trumps and became the Chepstow College High jump champion in the summer of 1986. By achieving this i was to represent the Army college in the Triangular games against the Police Training college and some other college. As far as i was concerned i was taken away from my friends at a weekend and spent a lonely Friday night waiting for my competition on the Saturday, in the mean time all my friends would be having a laugh with a few beers. On the Saturday i sat waiting until mid afternoon waiting for my event, totally bored i had made my mind up never to come to one of these championships again. I waited until the bar was in equal height to myself and then lined up to take my first jump. The high jump judge took my name and remarked "your a bit short for high jump aren't you" , i replied "Yeah! but watch this then". I ran straight at the bar head on and cleared it feet first and landed standing up. "bloody hell! how high can you jump", " you'll never find out that's it for me". At that i walked off. The truth being i could only go another inch or so, even by doing the frosby flop , plus i had realised i would not have a chance against some of the competition on that day. Yet again my athletic ambition had faded away even before it had chance to begin. Once every few months we would do the army basic fitness test of one and half miles as fast as you could in boots, i regularly finished in the first five but only trained when the army made me. On one occasion of doing the test we joined up with another platoon who had one of the top runners at the College, I would see what he's made of i thought. As the timer shouted go i set off at full speed and as usual i blasted my way through the first three quarters of a mile knowing it would then be a case of hanging in there the best i could in shear pain until the Finnish. On this occasion i was leading up to the three quarter mile point not surprising with how fast i was going, but the rival was right behind me, i started to fade quickly as my rival gained ground on me. Then another runner came past me but i was sure i was catching my target back up and i was not seeing things i eventually caught and passed the College runner. I finished with my best time to that date in 9 minutes and 4 seconds. As i was getting changed, up strolled the angered College runner ranting on how i had ruined his test by setting off way too fast because he was going for the College record or something. I looked at him in total dismay, what you telling me for, i didn't ask you to keep up with me at the start. I can't remember who won but they where certainly bragging about there victory over the college runner and rightly so. A lesson learnt, run your own race, just to be clear i don't always practice what i preach. But i never blame anyone else for my mistakes.
It was 1987 and my second year at Chepstow College and it was sports day once again. This time i needed a new plan. The pole vault it was to be. I won the company pole vault competition and i took my place in the College pole vault competition. I cleared all the early rounds and finally there was three of us left in the competition. The problem i had was the pole i was using was just a lump of aluminium tube with no flex and i had reached the end of it. As i could go no higher the other competitor offered me there proper pole. Surely i cant become college pole vault champion i thought as i sprinted down the track. Bang ! i planted the pole straight into the hole, the pole started to bend, very unlike my pole, the pole was almost bent double before it launched me back down the track where i had just come from. How the hell i didn't break my back i'll never know. After that i just lost my bottle and retired from pole vaulting for good. It hurt then but i find it funny now.
Autumn 1987 and i turned up for my 12 weeks of hell at the Combat Engineering School where all Royal Engineers have to pass through. I had spent the summer drinking heavily and eating heavily on holiday with my army mates. I was over weight and late, and within minutes of arriving i had to do a Basic Fitness Test which i passed but it was by far the worst time i had ever run for the one and half miles. The instructor was non to pleased with my performance and took an instant dislike to me. Revenge sprung to mind. After 12 weeks learning and training i was back in form. On the early morning run we took out the 4 foot lump of telegraph pole with us which was passed around from one to another on the run. I grabbed the log mid way round as the instructor looked to be struggling getting himself round never mind having a turn on the log, i started to get in front of him as he tried his best to keep up, that was it, i knew he would crack and off i went sprinting with the log and leaving him well and truly behind, i had not finished with this cocky bully that had humiliated me them first few weeks. But as that has nothing to do with my journey to running i will leave out the rest.
I got posted to Ripon in November 1987 and after being there only a short period of time the unit became part of a quick reaction force, which in turn meant we had to go on an extra long march every Friday with back packs. At the time i remember absolutely hating every minute of every yomp around the countryside. Now i would pay good money to do such a thing. All that yomping around and plenty of physical training kept me in reasonably good shape.
January 1990 and i was on my advanced fitters course in kent. Nothing running wise happened here only a bleep test. But the bleep test is worth mentioning for one reason. The British heavyweight boxer Gary Mason had decided to train with the British army. Luckily he was to do the bleep test the same day as me and my fellow fitters. Now don't forget we were fitters and not some exercise junkies. Some of the fitters being quite over weight and very unfit but non the less had there own special qualities. The bleep test started and not long after it had begun out went the boxer, and i thought these guys were supposed to be supper fit. What a laugh, even the slowest of our fitters could now brag he had beaten Gary Mason.
Latter in 1990 i was in the Gulf and had been sent to an American Army base to help out with Guarding the place. After a couple of days with the American Marines i had very little respect, especially when i had seen how professional the British infantry units where in comparison. They where arguing how they where like our Royal Marines but American. I don't think so i argued, they are special forces not like your tin pot outfit. This didn't go down to well with them for some reason. Funny that. Like one of my quotes "i often regret i have spoken never that i remained silent". Anyway they had decided to teach me a lesson at the following days physical training session. The session started with circuit type training as they shouted to do Jumping Jacks whilst prancing about like some lady at a keep fit class, i replied i would do Star jumps and carried out the exercise like something out of a world war two training program. The rest of the circuit exercises continued in the same fashion with me modifying them to annoy them even more. Finally we had to run 10 laps round an athletics track. Great. By the end of four laps i had lapped them all and by the Finnish god knows how many times i had passed them. The American Corporal came over totally knackered and i explained if they couldn't keep up with a British Army plant fitter how the hell could they expect to keep up with the Royal Marines.
I returned back to Ripon to find out i had to go to South Georgia in Antarctica to run the power station. For some strange reason i actually kept myself quite fit without anybody making me do any training. I often ran up to the damn to check the water was flowing down to the base ok and often visited the gym. It was only last year when my wife was clearing out some old photos when she came across a medal. Bloody hell ! I had totally forgot about that. I had run the South Georgia Half Marathon and had received my finishing medal, this had totally gone from my memory until i glimpsed at that medal. Memories came flooding back of a very good friend that had made me run that day, L/Cpl Saddler M.B.E., was the reply when anybody in the Army asked who he was. One officer was more than impressed with how he got his medal then turned to me and asked who i was. Sapper Dunn OBM. O.B.M he replied what is that. Out Board Motors sir came the reply. Strange thing was the officer shrugged his shoulders and walked off. But left us chuckling away.
I left the Army in 1992 and once again drifted back to that demon drink and laziness. Then the big turning point came. I needed something to do, a hobby. I asked the wife, should i get a computer or a bike. Don't be so stupid and get a bike. So off i went with two hundred quid to get myself a top of the range cycle.
Little did i know. You couldn't get a decent pair of wheels for two hundred quid let alone a full road race bike. I ended up using my two hundred quid as a deposit and getting the rest on credit, along with the pedals, shoes, helmet etc,etc. I'll never forget that first ten mile bike ride i went on, I was bloody knackered and i never remembered my backside aching like that before. I was almost tempted to give it all up but seeing as i had paid all that money i thought i had better give it another go. Every time i went on those ten mile rides i would time myself and as you would expect i soon got quicker and quicker. My rides started to creep up to twenty miles and i thought i would be ready to race, until the lads at the club asked me to join them one Sunday for a fifty mile ride. What ! in one day, are you lot crazy. Anyway off i went and enjoyed the ride even though i was totally exhausted for a few days afterwards. Little did i know then, but this was my first step into training long and hard. I continued with the fifty mile Sunday rides and twenty five mile rides the other days in the hills. After a year i was really keen to race, i felt i was ready and i wanted to take the next step forward. Back then it was like trying to get into the secret service getting to know how to enter a bike race. It finally took another six months before i had my road race license. All winter i had trained, an hour a day Monday to Saturday and up to six hours on a Sunday in all weathers and still i wasn't doing anywhere near enough. I would then race every weekend from the begining of March right upto August with midweek races thrown-in in summer time. What i found most disheartening was that i couldn't do as much training as others so i would be at a disadvantage. One of my best achievements on the bike was in the National 100 mile individual time trial, i passed the 75 mile mark in 3 hours and 2 minutes, just under 25 mph for 3 hours before i blew up and finished the 100 miles in 33rd place in 4 hours and 14 minutes. On the bike i always felt something was not quite right, i enjoyed the racing and training but the feeling of ease i got from running never came about.
After four years of biking i had become a bit stale and was in a stage of being totaly fed up with biking. My good biking buddy Darren Gladwin who i had suffered thousand of winter miles with had done a duathlon, run-bike-run. He talked me into entering a duathlon race by how much he enjoyed doing something different for a change. I started my first ever Duathlon race in York, the White Rose Duathlon. I had been advised by a runner that a 40 minute 10km time was a good time for a 10km race. The first running leg was 10km and i was drifting back through the field after a good start, but i was thinking, just wait until i get on that bike. I came in off the run in 32nd place in 38 minutes and 35 seconds. Now let the race begin flashed through my mind as i set off on my time trial bike. (Having recently done 100 mile time trials a mere 25 miler would be a sprint i had convinced myself). The run had done something very strange to my legs because at three miles my legs were cramping up and locking out at the knees, just what i didn't need with a big climb coming up. Luckily as i started to climb the cramping vanished and i then blasted round the rest of the course and moved into 6th place. It was just a case of parking the bike up and going for a 5km run to finish the race. With the bike parked up and trainers on, off i went to start the run. Oh no ! I remember standing there and not moving with the wife shouting what are you doing. My legs had locked solid as i tried to run and had gone into an excruciating spasm of cramp. I slowly plodded in pain for 3km before actually being able to jog the last 2km. I finished in 17th place overall with a time of 23 minutes for 5km. 53rd fastest for the last 5k. Within 3 months i was back at another duathlon but this time i had manged to get some running training in. All the excitement and thrill of the first duathlon vanished this time with athletes cheating on the bike section by drafting. You might as well be allowed to hold onto a runners vest in front of you if you allow drafting. For me my transition from cyclist to duathlete had been ruined by the sport itself. I needed a fair crack at the whip, as with cycling, very often the strongest athlete fails to win. But as there was no where to go from here i would try one more duathlon in the hope it would be a fair contest. The very first step to improve your performance is to train your weaknesses. I looked for the nearest running club and i didn't need to look far. Right on my door step in fact. Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers.
I turned up at the Harriers and was instantly welcomed, very unlike the secret world of cycling. Nobody ever trains in cycling , so they tell you. But here at the running club everyone gave advice and tips to no end. I quickly realised i had a good engine but the running transmission needed alot of work, i was still suffering after three miles hard or six miles easy but this time i was keen as hell to stick with it. I entered my first running race which was the Tholthorpe 10k road race in the September of 2003. My new team mate Cameron Choules was there and he was asking how i thought i would do, i played the bluff card and said i would be happy to get under 39 minutes, seeing as i had run 38 minutes and 30 seconds without any running training i was confident i would beat that time. Cameron said he was in about the same shape and would also be hoping to get round in the same time. I'll show him i thought. The race was going well and then suddenly at around 5 and half miles that Cameron Choules came passed me and as we went up the last climb before the finish he stormed away and by the finish he had beaten me for 20 seconds. I ran my first 10k in 36 minutes and 56 seconds that cheeky double bluffing Cameron finished in 36 minutes and 37 seconds. Two lessons learnt here. 1- Never believe what anyone tells you before a race. 2 - That hill at Tholthorpe just before the finish, if you go hard up that climb you can gain some time. But what impressed me most that day was another team mate Richard Hall who placed 10th in 35 minutes and 23 seconds. Now i was learning and now i had a target, i needed to be as good as that Richard Hall. Even as i gained ground on Richard over the months afterwards he still gladly gave me advice and tips on the up and coming races as i was turning up at races without a bleeding clue.
That winter in 2003 i set about my winter training and i decided to train as my cycling plan had been but i would convert it into running terms. I clearly remember going out one Sunday for my first long run, i set off at 7.30am and by 10.30am i was back home and totaly knackered, the wife couldn't believe it and asked what was wrong, why had i come back so early. After being used to me vanishing on Sunday mornings for up to six hours and not getting back until gone 1.00pm this new sport seemed to fit in with married life alot better.
2004 came and i spent all year racing anything that i could find, cross country, fell, road racing and trail races. My idea was that by doing the events i wasn't very good at i would quickly get better by training my weaknesses. My weakest event seemed to be cross country. I had finished 29th at the Whitby cross country in January and by March i had managed to finish in the top twenty. Spring 2005 I was talked into running some of the Harrogate League midweek events which are around 5 to 6 miles. I was not really that keen on the idea of racing myself into the ground for a low profile midweek race, but i took the good advice from my fellow club runners and turned up for my first Harrogate League Race. Bloody fantastic ! Some good hard racing followed by a fantastic friendly atmosphere afterwards, as far as midweek racing went surely nothing could match this set up. I tried to keep up with the leader for a short while before he stormed off into the distance, Ian Fisher of Otley. I had found my new target but i knew i would have to work hard and really hard to get anywhere near that Ian Fisher bloke. But first i had to get to work on my nearest rival, in my first race i was about two miles from the finish when Richard Johnson from Swaledale came gliding past me, the next race i almost got to the final mile before he came gliding past. The third time i set off i didn't bother with trying to go with Ian Fisher as i had given up altogether of having any chance of beating him and all i was doing was burning myself out in the first mile chasing him. So in that third race i eventually beat Richard Johnson and yet again realised my best races always came from a controlled start. (This bad habit of starting way to fast for my ability against better runners is still with me today, it always ends in failure and it is very rarely i manage to control it, my best ten races are all where i have set off at the right speed and yet i still listen to that little devil on my shoulder). I continued to race in all types of running races until August time. As with biking i took time off from racing in August as i was just about mentally burnt out by then, and it was a good time to get some long easy miles back in the bank ready for the harder long runs come September. My training was going well and i managed to stay healthy and didn't pick up to many colds. As it was my first serious year getting some good winter miles done it seemed really enjoyable, wind, rain ,snow i would be out there no matter what and enjoying every minute of it. If only i could just get back that enthusiasm i had that winter, every winter now just seems to be more of a task each year rather than total enjoyment. But in December 2004 i managed to get into the top 10 of a cross country race, i don't know why but i gauged how my following season would be by my results in the cross country races. As i had moved into the top five in the following cross country races i was very keen to get started on my new season, one of my first races was the White Horse Wander Fell Race where the route was the very same tracks and trails i had trained on all winter so i totaly convinced myself that i would win my first race. It turned out to be a really tough race with a constant battle with Chris Miller from Harrogate Harriers and it took until the last mile before i eventually broke away from him to take my first win. In this race Miller seemed to be stonger than me on the uphill sections so for the next three weeks i trained hard on my climbing ability, the following races i copied the same routine, i observed where the person in front of me seemed to be stronger than i would go and train like hell on that aspect of running. Now i have adapted the same technique on runners i'm in close battle with, if for instance i attack going downhill and don't manage to get away but then attack on the flat and suceed in getting away i will then assume i must be weaker on my downhill ability and go and work on that area of running. It's more than likely that i have found my oppositions stronger ability than my own weakness, but hopefully i will be more prepared the next time we meet. On went the 2005 season and i would say even upto the present year 2005 overall was my most enjoyable.
I had managed to get my 10k time below 33 minutes and had run the Thirsk 10 mile in far quicker time than i thought i was capable of doing in 53 minutes 25 seconds. It's absolutely fantastic when every couple of months you keep breaking all your personal best times and at the time you never even imagine that one day it's going to take months of hard training and planning to get somewhere near your best times never mind beating one of them. Long runs, speed sessions, hill sprints, weight training, loosing weight, cross training the list for that extra few seconds becomes longer and longer and then you look at your training plan and think bloody hell what can i do to improve on that next year. But at the end of the day it's supposed to be all about enjoyment, i just hope all the training in the desire for winning doesn't end my enthusiasm for running. Winter 2005 and it was time for the cross country season yet again, i was finnishing in the top five and i felt that with every cross country race i was improving and as each cross country race came around i was now really feeling more at home rather than a giraffe on ice as i used to feel.
In the winter of 2005 come 2006 i ventured down to the local gym to start on some weight training, i wasn't a believer in all this heavy weight lifting idea and thought the time spent running would be more beneficial, but seeing as all the top cyclists and runners did weights then it must help me somehow i thought. At first my muscles ached liked hell for the first three days afterwards but before long i could complete my routine and feel quite good the next day. I knew to stay motivated i had to write down what i was lifting and how many reps i could do but as usuall this turned into a self competition and each time i went i felt i had to at least beat one of my lifting personal bests. Funny thing was, by the end of winter i would walk into the gym and people would look and think here's that skinny running bloke we see running everywhere, then i would get on the sitting down overhead arm press machine and put all the weights on and do three lots of ten repititions, then some big muscley bloke would go over and take a load of weight off. So i eneded up that winter one hell of a lot stronger but hadn't grown in muscle bulk size which i was afraid of happening.
January 2006 and i decided to have another go at the half marathon. Brass Monkey at York looked perfect for me after all the midweek winter miles around the streets of Thirsk and not a hill in sight the flat course of the Brass Monkey seemed perfect. I managed to set off at my own pace ignoring the favourites of Ian Fisher, Darran Bilton and Dave Watson and at around 5 mile i managed to catch upto Bilton, i stayed with Bilton until eight miles where i couldn't handle the pain anymore i finished fourth and was chuffed to bits with a sub 70 minute performance. You see the more i control that steady start the better the performance, if only ! Ian Fisher won the race in 66 minutes 09 seconds for a course record, i will need one hell of a winter to get anywhere near that never mind beat it. But i will be trying. Yet again it took about two weeks to get over the muscle soreness and that to me was another two weeks of training down the pan.
The more i looked at my results the better i performed over the longer distances but the time to recover detered me from doing many long races as i just loved racing, the quicker i could recover the quicker i could get back to racing. I returned for more punishment at the cross country racing and i wasn't let down. I finished the race at Stockton and imediately after crossing the line i almost collapsed with severe stomach pains and cramps. I had suffered before, even when biking but never to this extent. It took until late that night that the pain subsided and the next day i took a rare visit to the doctors. Luckily through work i was in BUPA and got booked in for an internal examination. I was now on the verge of giving up racing as the pain was far too bad. The Hospital was just down the road from where the cross country race had been where i was ill, i had not raced for a month but i was already thinking i might just risk another race. At the reception i was told the specialist had just broken his wrist before setting off that morning so i would have to wait while they found a stand in specialist. I eventually recieved my appointment and after a short discussion an internal examination was advised and booked. I turned up, got booked in and sat in my boring room waiting, then a nurse came in to take my blood pressure, i was trying to see what my reading was when she said what do you do for a living, a maintenace fitter i replied without thinking, that must be a physical job your heart rate is 38 beats per minute, i never even realised she was taking my pulse rate and i never even bothered to mention that i did a fair amount of running to keep fit. They drugged me up and i tried to watch the video screen of what was happening and in no time i was back in my room getting dressed. Looking at the clock over an hour had vanished, i must of been as high as a kite on that stuff they gave me. Beans on toast and i was ready to get out of there, all i needed was to see the specialist as he said he would give me a quick idea of how things went before the next meeting. He's gone i was told, feeling a bit let down i returned back to my room to gather my belongings and not forgetting the Athletics weekly, there it sat, a small note saying everything was fine and he would see me soon. Bloody hell ! drugged up and i didn't even have chance to enjoy it. After the final meeting the specialist said everything was ok and the problems was just me. No advice, nothing but a clean bill of health. I know how lucky i was to be healthy but i wanted to race. I read everything i could find and come race day i would not go anywhere near caffeine, bread, dairy products, chocolate, ketchup and ibuprofen. This seemed to work quite well but i still had bad days. Upto 2008 i have found Asprin to be the biggest offender and so i keep away from all other medications as well. Good old paracetamol is ok i have found out. Oh ! Not forgetting before every race i must take imodium. A must, more important than putting your left race sock on first. Who said runnings good for you, have they tried it, damn fools.
I may of missed some racing for a five or six weeks but i certainly didn't stop training. If anything it turned out to be good as i returned back for my next race fully fresh and very keen to get racing. I managed to win a handful of races and placed in the top three in most races. But as usual come the end of July i was fully burnt out. I was absolutely fed up of running by this point and found training to be very boring and tiring, as the Darlington 10k was in my club championship i found myself on the start line and for once not really looking forward to it. As soon as the race started i was way off my usual speed and every mile seemed never ending. I finished third but had made my condition with being fed up with running even worse. I ended hard training and only did easy runs, plus at the weekends i would only do the routes i had really enjoyed in the past. Eventually by the start of October 2006 my enthusiasm had returned and it was back to hard training and enjoying it. In future come the end of July i would stop racing at least until September, it would of been October but them race organisers spoilt that plan by putting races on in September which i really like.
In the Winter of 2006 i returned for the heavy weight sessions at the gym, i lost weight, i managed to do at least 20 minutes a day stretching and managed most importantly to stay fit and healthy with no colds. Them cross country races i find are the hardest of all the races i do. The speed and terrain plus the competition makes for one hell of a days racing.
The 2007 season started and i felt really good, i had smashed all my previous training bests to pieces and i was keen, very keen. Brass Monkey Half Marathon at York took the main priority for racing as i would have plenty of time afterwards to recover. The race started and once again i set off too fast in the pursuit of Darran Bilton, i quickly gone on his shoulder and stayed there for six miles suffering like hell, i had it in my mind that if i could last until eight miles with Bilton which is where he managed to get away from me the year before i should do quite well. As the eight mile marker appeared i remember thinking that i felt really strong and that the pace being set was now well in my capabilites. Bilton tried a few surges to get rid of me but i responded each time, we passed through the 10 mile point in a few seconds over 52 minutes so a good time for me was looking good. As we approached a small incline over a railway bridge i attacked to the top as to prevent the press from reporting Bilton had led from start to finish. As i came over the top and slowed for Bilton to catch me back up i was quite shocked how out of breath he seemed, on the next climb over the flyover almost in the last mile i attacked once again to check how Bilton would respond, the same happened again and then i knew i could win, i left it until the last mile and attacked to the finish line, winning in 68 minutes and 49 seconds. Absolutely over the moon and to of beaten Bilton made it even more satisfiying. I don't think Darran Bilton was to pleased and even had the cheek to say it was a good race in the start of his build up to the London Marathon. I didn't recover to quickly from racing the half marathon distance and Dewsbury 10k was next on my list of races. I felt i would be capable of running 30 minutes and 50 seconds and so i was really looking forward to the race. As i had no chance of winning the race i felt no pressure what so ever. As soon as the race started my legs didn't feel fresh and i soon had company from some of my rivals, P. Green from Sheffield/Sale and Jamil Parapia from Otley. It came down to a sprint finish and i out sprinted the runners in my group to take 6th and the Bronze medal for the Yorkshire 10k championships. As i crossed the finish line i stopped and then began to walk, there was another timing chip mat and P.Green Jogged past me and went over the mat before me. So on gun time and offical i was 6th but by chip time Green was sixth, so at the presentation P.Green nicked my medal and i have not seen him since. I want my medal, and i'll hunt him down at a race very soon no doubt. My time was 31 minutes 25 seconds a P.B by along way but i was gutted i hadn't run what i felt i was capable of running. Ian Fisher from Otley ran 30.49 so that would of been a good day to come in along side Ian, in front or a second behind i would of taken either. If there was ever a chance of beating Ian fairly then this was a chance well missed. I have raced Ian many times since and as hard as i keep trying i have not managed to get the better of him. I did beat him once but Ian was on the return from injury so that doesn't count even though i was tempted to tick him off on my hit list.Feb 2007 I arrived at the Snake Lane 10 miler which i had enterd for the last two years but had never managed to make it through injury or other commitments. I set off in my usual blast off way and i still didn't get past Ste Hepples from Loftus who after only half a mile was pulling well clear. The two mile mark came up and Andy Hilton from York came past me , i got tucked-in behind him for the next six miles and then we turned into a gusty head wind , Hilton waved me through for a turn on the front into the wind but i rejected the offer, he rightly zig-zaged to persuade me to come through and yet again i refused , i was hanging on for grim death as it was. Not long after he attacked and pulled away. Andy finished second and i finished third in 51 mins 42 secs. another P.B. and ver happy. Andy came over for a word about the Zig-Zagging but i had nothing but admiration for a fellow racer with a good racing brain. The cross country league continued and i managed to get my first win at Richmond, i worked really hard for the win and relaxed in delight for many days afterwwards. That was the last race in the 2006/2007 cross country league championship and i am pleased to say i had won it overall. I wouldn't say i was a good cross country at all, but i had learned to enjoy all the hard work, pain and slipping all over the place. People say "a good cross season equlas a good road season" and for me they are spot on. One of my favourite fell races is the Carlton Challange starting from Carlton Bank on the North Yorkshire Moors. This was one of the first fell races i ever did and i'm forever trying to do more of the N.Y.M. AC's fell races as i think they are all fantasic, i've not managed to do many of the races but i have trained on quite a few. I try to squeeze some of the fell races in each season but they always seem to clash with some important road or cross country fixture. I feel you need to train and race specificly for fell racing especially on the more severe courses where road runners soon feel the pain on the steep climbs. That's why i stick to more of the courses without masses of steep climbs, where a road runner can get by. I have read Feet in the Clouds and many other books on fell runners and i've got nothing but respect for these tough cookies. You can't really try and compare how good you are against these guys unless you and go and take them on a real fell course which i'm am pleased to say i tried even though i was hammered into the ground. Anyway back to April 2007 and the Carlton Challenge Fell Race. I had trained and checked the route a few times over the weeks before the race and felt the course record was within sight. The race started and Andy Hilton who was winning most of the series fell races was hot on my heels, my plan was to go hard, suffer, suffer more up the steep climb and then throw myself off the top of the last climb to the finish. Along the rolling sheep trod i was at full speed and unable to shake Hilton off, i couldn't see where my feet were landing with the heather and vegitation covering the path an incident at this speed was bound to happen and i was running at my 10k speed when my foot dropped into a hole and i went flying into a boulder, i got my chin out of the way just in time and bounced round the boulder to the ground. I was up in an instant and still in the lead with Hilton hot on my heels, we dropped through some woods before you take a route which looks easy but is really tough going for some strange reason. I had dropped Hilton by about 10 metres through the woods and i was hoping he would put an effort in to catch me on this decieving bit of ground before the big climb, which he must of done because on the climb which is not my best ability he started to fall back. I eased back on the climb to preserve my leg strength and soon as i hit the top i was off again. Once you have a good lead that extra power becomes available and i took full advantage of this and powered my way to the finish. One second off the record, one bloody measly second. If only ??? Hilton was second and revenge from the Snake Lane 10 mile was greatly recieved.
July 2007 and it was James Herriot Trail Race time. This is one of my favorite races of the year over nine miles of the Wensleydale terrain. This place in summer time looks and feels fantastic.
I lined up in my away kit, not the usual Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers bright yellow vest but a black vest in the hope that any rivals that didn't know me to well wouldn't realise who i was if i tagged onto the back of them. The plan was to take it steady at the start which soon leads you up a climb well over a mile long, i know to look after them road running legs on climbs like that. Andy Hilton took the lead and half way up the climb was well over 10 metres ahead but i remained calm and continued with Terry Wall from Morpeth up the climb. As soon as i reached the summit i took off in the chase for Hilton and soon caught up with him, Hilton probably was getting his breath back from the climb as i felt the pace he was setting was quite easy. Wall caught us just as we turned to descend so i attacked to get rid of him, i blasted down that mountain all the way to the bottom where i turned to inform Hilton that we needed to get rid of Wall as he is more of a road runner the problem was Hilton wasn't there he must of been over twenty seconds back so i continued the attack all the way to the next steep climb. Another steady climb and then it was a cruise to the finish. I beat the course record, the conditions where good and the competition was good so i felt my time would take some beating, for myself as a P.B. time.
It was midway through 2007 and i couldn't of asked for more, all my personal goals were just about achieved and if not they were that close i ticked them off anyway. I defended my Blacksheep Championship Series for the third year with a good final run at Wetherby 10k. The race had a bonus of £100 for getting under the set time. Sub 32 min 30 secs was the mark and on a windy afternoon in September after a short rest period through August i set off to get that bonus. For the time of year it was a perfect challenge for me and i knew it would be close, i finished in 32.14 and took home the winners prize plus the bonus, its not just about the money the race in itself is fantastic, before, during and after. But i mention the money due to the following year when i return for another challenge.
The 2007/2008 cross country season began and i was absolutely flying. Peaked to early i hear you say. And your exactly right. But when things were going that well i couldn't hold back. I won at Hartlepool easily and the win Barnard Castle was probably more impressive. I was starting to get colds which i put down to the time of year and next on my list was the Thirsk and Sowerby Christmas bash and presentations. I returned home from work feeling a bit ill so i went for a run to get rid of it, this never worked but i got bathed and changed and to the Thirsk and Sowerby Bash we went. I got my first drink, had a sip, sat down and felt absolutely sick as hell. I said i was off for some fresh air but never made it. I was out cold in the lobby and came round with sick all over me. I tried to explain i was just having a little nap when some dirty sod must of chucked up all over me. After seeing the medics i went home had another bath and change of clothes and returned for round two. The starter came which i managed to eat, then it happened again, i was almost passing out this time i had to leave but not before my mate Darren Gladwin wrestled the free drink vouchers out of my pocket. Two days later i had sort of recovered but it takes at least a week for my digestive system to get back to normal. Another cold and then the post viral fatigue started. The constant feeling of being totally tired even though you have just had ten hours of sleep. I have suffered before with this and at times for no reason. The year after the Gulf war i really suffered for about 6 weeks and two years after that i suffered really bad. This time i was calling it post viral fatigue, plenty of rest was all that was needed. Easy. So i went and did a 10k race on Boxing day. Well ! That truly finished me off. Nearly Forty when will i ever learn ?
2008 and training had been almost non-existent with all the colds, sickness, post viral fatigue and more colds. Mid February came and the Long runs started. Every weekend i was doing 20 mile plus and at a good hard tempo at that. Five weeks passed or there abouts and nothing was improving that much, i continued with the long hard runs. I managed to get myself to a Cross Country Race at Richmond on the old race course. A great cross country course if i ever did see one. First race back was the "pipe cleaner" clean out them old pipes to the lungs ready to race. My enthusiasm had returned and i just needed races to get me fit. Usually 4 or 5 does the trick. I won the cross country race which did wonders for my morale.
To be continued. Soon.
