Dashing thru the sand in Grand Cayman

Today was the annual dashing thru the sand run on Grand Cayman. I say that like I knew it as a world famous event but I only actually heard of it 3 days ago.

I arrived in Grand Cayman on 22^nd December ready for a sunny Christmas ahead of a friend’s wedding on the 29^th. Picking up the hire czar I was perusing the usual racks of tourist brochures and  came across a “what’s on” guide and gave that a flick. Two things stood out to me:

1) A recipe for Egg Nog

2) An advert for the dashing thru the sand run

In my head I agreed to both. First things first. it was time to make some Egg Nog. I have never made it from scratch before but can tell you now that every festive season from now on it will be as traditional as mince pies, Christmas tunes and Starbucks Eggnog lattes.

I then signed up for the dashing thru the sand event. Only a few hours later I got a personal  email from the organiser to welcome me to the island and to let me know all the final  arrangements for the day. I think he was excited that I had travelled from London….a detail I would realise why later on after the race.

On Christmas morning I had a swim in the sea at sunrise accompanied by some Prosecco on the beach. I then decided to have a short run along the beach in order to prepare for the race the next day. It. Was. Hard. The heat was quite something to contend with (I am certain the lobster we had later on for Christmas dinner could have BBQ’d itself) but the sand was pretty deep and every step was a challenge. It reminded me of when I first started getting into running back in 2010 when I took a trip to Carbis Bay in Cornwall and would run on the beach before breakfast. Again a beautiful beach but harder to train on than the roads of London.

So getting up this morning we made our way down to the start where we met Jerry (the race organiser) to say hello and to pick up our t-shirts. It was a very friendly atmosphere and everyone was still in the Christmas spirit. Some wore Santa hats. Some wore reindeer antlers (moi included.) Some wore halos. Some simply looked like seasoned beach runners with no tops on. They looked good. Those would be the people I needed to chase. I also followed their lead and removed my trainers to run barefoot (also slightly aided by the fact I had just been caught by a rogue wave and was soaking.)

We started at 07:30 so the heat was not so strong. We ran along the beautiful 7 mile beach (not all of it….just 1.5 miles) and the stretch that we took was on less of a camber than my run the day before and on much harder sand. It was really fun. Running barefoot was a real treat and I would say something I would adopt forever but I know that it will only be whenever I have the chance to run on sand. Occasionally the waves came right up onto the beach which was a welcome cool down as well as making me feel like David Hasselhof or was it Pamela Anderson? You decide.

I finished in a healthy 7^th place out of around 200 people I think. Coconut water was in abundance at the end (this is the Caribbean after all) as well as a breakfast buffet at a beach bar. They announced the prizes for the top 4 men and women finishers as well as giving a prize for the person that had travelled the furthest to get to the race. We lost out to some people from France but were then given a special present for making our way from London. A lovely gesture.

A lovely race in a lovely country. I will run on the beach every day until I leave…..

The start area....a lot warmer than waiting for the start of races in winter in the UK:

Headgear at the ready:

Along 7 mile beach we go:

Baywatch envy, Can you spot me?

Finished!

The Liverpool Santa Dash

The Santa Dash in Liverpool is the World's largest Santa run. Last year Liverpool faced up to the challenge from Las Vegas to gain the coveted title and Liverpool won. Hurrah.

So this year the Santas were out in force again and I believe there were over 10,000 of us taking part today. I like to think that after today the city has retained it's crown as the greatest Santa fun run on Earth. I heard a rumour during the race that the city is potentially not gong to do the race next year but I hope this turns out not to be true. I will be devastated if it doesn't go ahead in 2015.

So the format today was the same as last year whereby you could choose to run in either a red or blue Santa suit dependent on whether you are a Liverpool or Everton supporter. I ran with various members of my family with all of us adopting a red suit except for my sister who was in blue. We also had my little niece (just short of her second birthday) to take along the 5km route in her running buggy. She was also very festive and dressed in red.

As a family team we were also carrying the following handicaps:

1 of us had a chest infection and tonsillitis

1 of us had a swollen and painful knee from a fall earlier in the week

1 had a hangover

I was up drinking with the aforementioned person until 3am. (i.e. 6.5 hours prior to the race.) 

A healthy bunch if ever there was one eh?

The atmosphere at the start line was excellent. Despite it being a little breezy down at the docks the mighty setting of the Liver Building and thousands of Santas was enough to get the adrenaline going and stay warm. My trousers were way too big and fell down twice. Dirty old Santa = me. Fortunately we had safety pins to salvage the situation. We started near the back of the crowd since I had the buggy and soon we passed the start line to the sound of Christmas tunes and we were on our way. Marvellous.

I love Christmas and the build up to it so today was a perfect way to get further into the Christmas spirit (if the prosecco and mince pies the night before weren't enough.) I have to say though at the start I felt a little upset as my Mum and Dad would have loved to have been part of this event and what has now become a newly made family tradition. Don't get me wrong; they may not necessarily have been running with us but most certainly would have been watching from the sidelines at the very least. It just made me a little sad that they are not here to share in it.

But on with the show we went. After all; I had a buggy (not an empty one) to push for the next 5km. 

The route went through town and being at the back of the pack meant we had excellent views of the thousands of red (and occasional blue) people ahead of us. It was awesome. The weather was pretty kind to us and my niece didn't moan once during the course. She's a star. 

Despite our ailments we crossed the finish line together under snowfall that the city had kindly arranged for us. It was a shame we had to break it to my cousin that it was indeed fake snow and not real as she first had thought. Still a magical moment though. 

Post run sausages and bacon butties were the order of the day followed by watching Home Alone by the open fire. 

It has been the most simple race to sum up in three words.

A wonderful day.

Number, beard and hat at the ready

Niece ready

A beautiful niece in front of a beautiful building

The docks fill with Santas

The dream team at the ready

Sibling selfie: Red vs. Blue

Almost ready

Let's go!

It's tiring being pushed for 5km

Lovely and festive. Time to get warm post run

Ken Dodd at Liverpool Lime Street. Clearly the make over victim of some runners

A run around NYC

On holiday in NYC for thanksgiving. One of my favourite cities and a great time of year to be here.

The red cups are out in force in Starbucks, the thanksgiving parade was fantastic and I get to channel Carrie Bradshaw for four whole days.

So I have been sale shopping, eaten out in the meat packing district and even managed to be staying in the same hotel as one of the Jonas brothers (whom I don't really know and I only found out as the crowds of people waited outside the lobby for him to go out.)

However; I did break from Carrie's likes yesterday morning and went on a running tour of the city. It was an early start especially after the gallons of vodka I had ingested at NYC's second oldest bar the night before.

It was a beautifully sunny crisp morning (-2 degrees) and would prove to be the best way to blow away the cobwebs. It turned out I was the only person booked onto the tour which was a real treat. My guide was called Stefanie. She was an actress and had lived in NYC for 9 years. Along with us was another trainee guide called Dina who was born and bred in NYC. We started at Chambers street on the edge of the financial district. We began our run and went through the area where the book and film Gangs of New York was set. Historically it was a very dangerous area both in terms of violence and disease to live in but now it boasted some of the oldest impressive buildings in the city as well as a view of the newest and tallest building (One World Trade Center.) I haven't read the book before but have bought it yesterday post run so my knowledge of the area will improve over the coming weeks.

We carried on through Chinatown and then made our way up to Manhattan Bridge to cross the East River. The views across to Brooklyn Bridge as well as the Manhattan skyline was awesome. The subway trains were also running right by us across the bridge which certainly gave our run a truly urban feel.

About a mile later we arrived in Brooklyn. Well specifically we were in DUMBO. despite connections with a certain elephant it actually stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. We only had a few minutes this side of the river before reaching Brooklyn Bridge. It is a fantastic bridge and I never tire of visiting it every time I am in the city. Being early in the morning it was pretty empty. The sky was blue above us and as we crossed back to the city I could see all the iconic buildings in the city. The Chrysler building, Empire State building and the statue of liberty.

I didn't want the run to end but soon we reached the shores of Manhattan and were back where we started.

The 4 miles had gone all too quickly and it was time for me to head home for a shower.

I would recommend the tours to anyone in the city and I look forward to trying them again in another city too. Check them out here:

Check out the site here: http://www.cityrunningtours.com/

And here are my pictures:

Run Britain Grand Prix results

At the start of the year I entered the Reading half marathon as I heard it was a fast course and I wanted to break my PB. I ran and beat it by 1 second. By the skin of my teeth it meant mission accomplished.

I then realised that Reading was the first race in a series of 6 that formed the Run Britain Grand Prix. The competition was as follows:

The 2014 runbritain Grand Prix began with  the Mizuno Reading Half Marathon on 2nd March. The six events in the series are:

• Mizuno Reading Half Marathon on 2nd March
• Bristol 10k on May 11th
• BUPA London 10,000 on 25th May
• BMC 10,000m Track Festival at Trafford on 6th September*
• Cardiff Half Marathon on 5th October
• Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash 10k on 16th November

Points are awarded for the first 250 finishing positions at all six events.  250 points will be awarded for the first British finisher, down to 1 point for the 250th British finisher.

Up to the best four scores from the six available races count at the end of the series. If the athlete scores points in less than four Grand Prix events, their best two, three or single score will count towards the final standings.

After my result in Reading I got a few points and thought I should add the rest of the races to my calendar (bar London as I already had a race in Liverpool lined up.)

From past posts you can see how I did in each one. Before the last one in Leeds I stood at number 30 overall and I wanted to move into the 20s. Sadly Leeds was inundated with elite runners and so I didn't manage this but I am happy with my final placing:

38th out of 1,118 competitors. 

So no money (since that was for the top 12 only) but still a good result I think being in the top 3%?

Would you agree?!

Leeds Abbey Dash 10km

So on to Leeds it was. I was looking forward to going there as I hadn’t been since 2003 for a Uni reunion crazy night out so it would be good to see the city sober.

The train ride up north was loud. A group of lads boarded in London and cracked open the cans of lager before we even left King’s Cross. I love listening to groups like this as there are always endless stories of gossip that they divulge to each other. Much better than the initial conversation of whether the prawn and avocado sandwich was for Mummy or Daddy that I thought I was going to listen to until the lads got on it. As we progressed north the weather turned from an amazing sunny winter’s day in London to a very misty and rather grim looking Yorkshire. One of the lads started to sing “Fog on the Tyne” which amused me for a minute or two as I was catapulted back to my youth and the shame that I actually bought that single by Gazza; however 4 hours later when the song was still going around in my head I longed for a new drunk to start singing anything else to me.

Arriving in Leeds I met some friends I haven’t seen for a long time which was wonderful. I love that my hobby takes me to places where I can meet up with friends and family along the way as well as doing the run.

The race was the final one in the Run Britain Grand Prix and my dream would be to make it into the twenties in terms of ranking….really all that meant was that I would have to go up by only one place. My training had not been massively disciplined the past few weeks so I wasn’t in amazing shape but I was hopeful that I could do it.

Leeds at 5pm on a Saturday was already in full swing….the lads from the train seemed rather tame in comparison. It was like Magaluf on steroids. Everyone was already half cut and it felt like the Friday before Christmas….except that it was only mid-November. Perhaps November 15^th was a new date I should have in the diary to get obliterated from now on? I on the other hand had a quiet evening with room service and Strictly Come Dancing because that’s how I roll the night before a race. 

Getting up in the morning I had my glamorous Oat So Simple and a couple of bananas before heading to the start line. The weather was not nearly as cold as the day before and was perfect running conditions. No need for any Gazza songs today! It was crowded as there were just short of 10,000 people running. As we set off through the city it was very busy and immediately I could tell that there seemed to be a lot of elite runners in the field as the front pack was not thinning out as much as it usually does. The route itself was 5km out to the Abbey and then back the same 5 kilometers. It was pretty flat and had a good amount of supporters on the way to keep us going. Each early KM marker I thought I may have actually been within a shot of my PB which kept me going. At the half way mark I glanced to my left and caught a glimpse of the Abbey which was beautiful. I would have been gutted to have missed it since the race itself was actually called the Abbey Dash. On the second half of the race I still felt pretty strong up until the 7.5km point where I realised I was slowing a little and would need to let go of getting a PB and simply aim for finishing in around 37 minutes. As I went past the 9KM mark I could hear a guy running behind me who was making the loudest grunting noises I have ever heard from a runner. He sounded as though he was about to pass out yet he still overtook me. WTF?! Maybe I should employ that breathing technique in future races and see where it gets me?

I crossed the line pleased to have hit a time of 37 minutes and 25 seconds. Not a bad performance at all and just over a minute outside my PB. It placed me 523^rd out of a total of 9,524 finishers. I think there were a lot of elite runners taking part as usually I would have expected to finisher in a higher position with that time. So I don’t think I did well enough to reach the twenties in the Grand Prix and I may have even gone down a position or two but I will have to wait and see. I will update you when I find out.

Post run I met another few friends for lunch whom again I hadn’t seen for years. A lovely afternoon was had and I could board the train with really happy memories of my 24 hours in Leeds. My only disappointment from the weekend was that we didn’t get a medal for completing the race! That has never happened to me before and I cried a little bit (on the inside) that they didn’t give us one. Oh well….I guess I should just man up eh?!

Cardiff half marathon (it was a while ago!)

Finally a very long overdue blog post about the Cardiff half marathon. The race itself took place on Sunday 5^th October but I am now only just getting around to writing about it.

It was my second time to take part in the race in the Welsh capital and I was really looking forward to it. It is quite renowned as a fast course and the previous year I had been triumphant in breaking my PB so I had been aiming to do the same again this year….despite me being one year older. The PB I had set one year ago I had already broken in March of this year in Reading (albeit by 1 second) and I had recently improved on my 10km time so I thought it wasn’t out of the realms of possibility that I may achieve my goal in Cardiff.

I like Cardiff as a city and hadn’t really planned my visit too well in terms of booking a restaurant for dinner and everywhere seemed full. Clearly there were already many runners in the city carbing up as well as infinite groups of girls and lads on a weekend away lining the stomach for a night in Reflex. Eventually we managed to find a table somewhere and I could rest easy that the carbs were being absorbed as I gorged on the bread basket.

The half marathon formed the 5^th race of the Run Britain Grand Prix which I was currently placed in 35^th position. Money prizes end for those placed outside of the top 12 so it was not realistic for me to start planning retirement but I did want to try and go up a place or two. The course is a really nice and flat one. It starts at the castle in the city centre and then goes past the mighty stadiums and out to Cardiff bay which is stunning….particularly on a day like today.

That said there was a little drizzle of rain as we waited for the start so I waited as long as possible before de-robing into my singlet and shorts. At this point there were a lot of people to benefit from body heat in the start pen although the aroma still is rather a peculiar one. How is it that some manage to smell at the start of the race? Shower before you get ready people! If not to wake you up before your race then at least on the off chance you may be stood next to me at the start line.

We were soon off on our way and the first mile was really crowded. Lots of weaving in and out of others but eventually things thinned out and I seemed to be on track for breaking my record. Since the race was quite a few weeks ago now I cannot remember at what point I realised that I was slowing up but I think it was around the 7 mile mark. I was thoroughly enjoying the race (maybe a little too much) as my pace had slowed.

That said I carried on through the parks on the outskirts of town and soon was on the home stretch. I knew I couldn’t break the PB but pushed as hard as I could to the end. I must admit that aside from my own goal I had another motivation in the form of Jamie Baulch. I had recently connected with the former Olympic sprinter on Twitter and LinkedIn and had also told him about my goal for the day. I had arranged to meet him at the end and if I was way off my record then that would be embarrassing to say to a professional. However; I crossed the line still semi pleased with my result and went to find Mr. Baulch. It was really exciting to meet him and he still congratulated me on my result. A few photos later and I let him get on with his interviewing of the actual winner of the race (a little more important than me) and then went to the massage tent. The two girls who did my massage were really great and avoided my left knee when I said I don’t like people touching it after having dislocated it back in 2005. Assuming it was a sports injury they asked me what happened. I was honest and said it was in a hotel room in Soho when my kneecap popped out. I would tell you about it but I mustn’t digress as surely you are only interested in reading about my running right?

Walking back to the hotel I spotted Colin Jackson who was doing photos with finishers. There was no queue so I had a quick pic with him. A super nice man and again very exciting to meet someone of his level. He said I must have been quick as I was one of the first meeting him for a photo so I told him my time and that I hadn’t beaten my PB. He said that I should come back next year and try again to which I responded that it may be unlikely as I would be one year older. His response has inspired me to go back:

“You’ll be one year fitter”

So my final result was 1 hour 21 minutes 33 seconds which placed me 218th out of around 20,000 I think. Still a good result and meant that I actually went up 5 places in the Grand Prix and now was 30^th. 

One more race left of the competition so the question is whether I can make it into the twenties once I run in Leeds?

The castle:

A crowded pen to stay warm in:

Although remember to shower people:

On our way:

The final straight:

Me & Colin:

Me & Jamie:

Ealing Half Marathon

Today was the third Ealing half marathon.

Being my local run with the start line just around the corner from my house it is a must on my race calendar.

Now from the last two years of racing in the event I knew that it was a hilly course but today has proven to me that pain clearly disappears with time! The morning started very nicely with it being very warm even at 8am.

Arriving at the park I warmed up and took in the atmosphere. We were all given yellow ribbons to wear on our tops to raise awareness of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross who is from the local area which was a touching gesture.

A quick removal of a car from the start line (the owner will clearly now be regretting not taking notice of the signs asking to not park there on race day) and we were ready in the starting pens. A few Mexican waves later and the start gun went. I hadn't been planning on a PB as I knew the course was hard plus I have another half next weekend so was saving myself for that. Just as well given how hard it turned out to be.

The first few miles were fairly flat until the first of the mountains just before mile three. The organisers had even written in chalk on the road that this was "the hill you read about" which slightly filled me with fear. On the summit I was pleased it was over and thought that perhaps that was the worst hill done with. I turned out to be wrong. On the other side of the hill though we descended and went past my sister's house where she was outside with my niece to give me a welcomed high five!

Revived I carried on through the undulating areas of Ealing. As the hills got worse so did my language on the inclines.

One thing I found challenging was that I kept missing the mile markers....I didn't actually see one until mile 9! That's a long way to go without definitely knowing where in the race I was. However; once past 9 miles I knew it was the last part and mostly flat.

I arrived in my area of town and went past Laura a couple of times (managing a wave only the first time as it was a lot of effort in the heat!)

I entered the park for the last round before the finish. I again had missed the 12 and 13 mile marker but did see the 400m and 200m to go ones which were possibly the best signs I have ever seen in my life. I crossed the line after 1 hour 23 minutes 33 seconds placing my 68th out of 4,245 runners. Not my best performance ever but still one to add to the books.

After a little lie down / collapse on the grass I enjoyed a 15 minute sport massage to loosen the calf muscles :-)

I will do the event each year as it's my aim to run every single one since it has started but I will definitely not be planning any PBs on the course....especially on a sunny day like today! Although as I said...perhaps in a year's time I will have forgotten the pain of the hills? Maybe? Maybe not!

Some pictures very sweaty pictures below:

Sweat free at the start!

Can you spot me?

Un-glamorous shots follow....

The last stretch:

Sweatbox:

Rest for a few seconds / sunbathing:

P.S. Proof it wasn't just me that found it hot and hilly:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2014/sep/29/running-blog-how-was-your-weekend-running