Run Glasson Run

Photos from HH adventure race

richard — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:24:19 +0000

You'll have to turn your computer sideways to see this one - the technology defeated me.

Tired, muddy, happy and still together!

The final reckoning

richard — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:41:38 +0000

So as I draw runglassonrun to a close, I am delighted that over the course of the last 5 months the total raised for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of my mum is over UKP16,000, with a few quid still to come in. When Gift Aid is added on, it comes to over UKP19,000. That is way ahead of my original target, and I’m truly grateful for the real generosity of so many people. I’ll be emailing everyone individually to say thank you – but you know who you are. It was a great relief to get over the finish line – I always knew that all things being equal my pig-headedness would get me through the events, but was always worried that an injury might knock me off my stride. Thankfully I stayed fit throughout, and can now concentrate on abusing my body in the run up to Christmas. There’s no doubt too, though, that I’ll miss the whole experience, which has been enjoyable, painful, exhilarating, draining, relentless and inspiring in equal measure. I thoroughly recommend every single one of the events. But if you don’t fancy any of these, then why not join me in the next big challenge. The Great British Bike Relay in May 2010. Tempted? Go to www.greatbritishbikerelay.com and sign up. See you in Glasgow!!

Done!

richard — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:33:07 +0000

After literally thousands of miles of cycling, hundreds of miles of running and the absolute bare minimum of swimming, the runglassonrun challenge is finally complete. Yesterday was the Helly Hansen adventure race, which turned out to be a suitably tough ending to what has been a very demanding few months of training and competing. And it was nice to bring things to a close with a very respectable result. Team Viceroys came 33rd out of 315 teams, and if you exclude the 2 man teams we were in the top 10% of finishers. Not bad for a scratch team who had never even trained together. After about 4 weeks of relentless rain, the course was muddy and wet beyond belief, and the boggy ground sucked the energy out of you. The format turned out to be a 5k run, followed by about 12k mountain biking, an interlude of comic relief trying to wrestle a kayak round the lake, then back on the bike for another very tough 12k, finishing with a very painful final 5k run. It all took just over 3 hours, and we were all fully knackered by the end. Thanks to Pete and Spencer for the moral support!

The finish-line approaches

richard — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:21:35 +0000

Today is my last day of training before my last event of the runglassonrun challenge. I’m doing 50k on my mountain bike along the the towpath and in Richmond Park – in the dark and rain – in a desperate effort to cram a bit of MTB endurance and technique in before it’s too late. A couple of hours in the Surrey Hills last week is the sum total of my mountain bike training for the year. With 3 days until the next race I’m so undercooked that I’m practically raw. The Helly Hansen Adventure Race this Sunday is event number 5 of 5 of what has been a gruelling 6 months. I’m looking forward to the event, but probably I’m looking forward more to being able to get some rest afterwards. The last 5 weeks has been the toughest period of the challenge: NY marathon; 2 week gap; Hellrunner; 3 week gap; HH Adventure Race. It’s been fairly relentless, and cumulative fatigue is beginning to tell. HH race is a team event, which means there’ll be no slacking, but no shortage of moral support (generally in the form of shouted abuse) either. So once more unto the breach, and then let the Christmas parties begin in earnest…

Photos from New York Marathon

richard — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:44:09 +0000

Hellrunner photos

richard — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:38:21 +0000

a very knackered scramble out of the river

not quite sure why I'm smiling...

Not hell at all

richard — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:06:35 +0000

So that was Hellrunner. I wasn’t looking forward to it. Probably the fact that it came just 2 weeks after the NY marathon meant that I was ready for it to be an anticlimax. But it was FANTASTIC. A hugely entertaining event. Physically not in the same league as the other challenges. Starting with l’Etape turned out to be a great policy, as after that nothing feels hard, but to be at the fitness level where I could just go out and enjoy it today was a real pleasure. I should have pushed harder, I should have started further up the field and started faster, but frankly it was all about the experience. And it’s an experience that has drawn me into extreme trail running – I think I’ve found a new sport to get obsessed with. It’s muddy, physical, friendly and funny: all the things that boys like. I’ll be back. The only fly in the ointment was that I took a big tumble on one of the steep downhills and split my leg open after about 20 minutes, so I had to run for the next hour or so with blood pouring down my leg and in a reasonable amount of pain – and so instead of my long bath with a beer afterwards, I had an hour and a half in A&E. But now all repaired and looking forward to the Helly Hansen adventure race in 3 weeks time. Congrats to Spencer, who came home 6 minutes ahead of me – continuing the trend of me being beaten by my racing partners…

No rest for the wicked

richard — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:08:55 +0000

So despite the fact that 2 days after NY I’m still walking like Bambi, I now have to turn my attention to Hellrunner which I’m alarmed to see is only in 12 days time. At the moment climbing stairs is difficult, so exactly how I’m going to slog my way round the nightmare that is the Hellrunner course in under 2 weeks, I’m not quite sure. If you want to see the misery that awaits me, then have a look at Hellrunner: The Movie at www.hellrunner.co.uk, I’ve been using it as a sort of twisted motivation. But I’ve come too far to fail now, so it’s just about digging deep and following the personal motto that everyone I work with gets bored of hearing, and I never get bored of repeating: Never Show Weakness…

Mr Consistency

richard — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:51:53 +0000

Another one bites the dust. I finished the NYC marathon on Sunday in 3hrs 52 mins. I’m nothing if not consistent, it was my 3rd marathon and the previous two were 3 hrs 51 mins and 3hrs 48 mins respectively. I was hoping to set a PB, but actually ended up running my slowest ever marathon – even if only by a minute. But I was pleased with the time: the route was hillier than I realised, and with some strong headwinds it made for a challenging course. But what an event! If you don’t get a buzz running the NYC marathon, then check your pulse, you’re probably dead. Running through the neighbourhoods of Brooklyn, all seemingly intent on outdoing the previous one, was inspirational – but even that was outdone by the noise the whole way up First Avenue, which then faded into nothing compared with the wall of sound as you hit Central Park. It was uplifting beyond belief, and one thing’s for sure: I’ll be back!

Trick or Treat

richard — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:59:28 +0000

Spending an unusual Halloween laying out all my kit before an absurdly early 4.30am start tomorrow for the NYC marathon. Disappointing prospect of 4 hours standing around in the cold (and maybe rain) tomorrow waiting for the off. I suspect most of the time will be spent in absurdly long lines for disgusting toilets. The joys of mass participation races. But the forecast for the actual race is good, and 2m people are expected to line the streets. Expecting a massive atmosphere, and lots of race day adrenaline to make up for a truncated training schedule. Met up with my pal Nick for pre-race lunch today. He beat me on l’Etape, and I’m fully anticipating him wiping the floor with me again tomorrow. So I won’t be running with him, but at least it means I’ll have some company in the loo queue…