Edinburgh marathon

The final stage of my triple PB attempt ended in undignified fashion in a portaloo near the 24th mile marker of the Edinburgh marathon. A combination of an unwise football match (my first for three years) three days before the marathon, dodgy tummy (again) and strong winds, made the Edinburgh marathon a bit of a disaster. I spent 12 minutes in the water closet and finished half-heartedly in 3:48, half an hour slower than expected. Still, myself, Dave, Neil and Shane had a great weekend in Edinburgh. Some good food and drink, and fine accommodation, too. Adventures in running and gastronomy - the concept is sound.

Chester half marathon

The second stage of the possible 'fortnight PB trilogy'(!) went to plan yesterday, with 1:24:59 at the Chester half marathon. This is more than half a minute inside February's Wrexham half time, and six minutes quicker than my Chester time last year (32 minutes quicker than my 2005 time, but that's another story). Can't help thinking that I may have been unambitious with my recent targets, since I achieved them both to the second (ie sub 38m for 10k, sub 1:25 for half marathon). Or were they just right? Not sure. Ran a reasonably good tactical race at Chester, in good conditions - calm, sunny but not too hot. Went off at a decent pace, then relaxed a bit round Pulford, but managed to keep it going in relative comfort up the Eccleston hill then had enough left in the tank to finish fairly fast. I was 61st from 1,856 finishers. We'll see if I can continue the PB sequence next Sunday at the Edinburgh marathon. At least I recovered enough to cycle to work today.

Market Drayton 10k

Just managed to break 38 minutes for 10k yesterday at the enjoyable Market Drayton 10k. The forecast blustery rain held off nicely for us, and I ran a reasonable race over the course - which has a couple of steep hills in the first two miles but is otherwise pretty fast. My official time was 37:55, but my watch time was a couple of seconds faster. My companions Shane and Tim had good runs too. A good day was rounded off with the Buckley presentation evening, when I picked up a trophy for 6th male in this year's border league: especially nice given that we won the league so comfortably. My 10k time was encouraging, given that I'd done a 16 miler last Thursday, a big figure of 8 from HK to Hawarden and then to Hope and round the lanes. Chester half marathon next weekend, then the Edinburgh marathon in two weeks: if I can PB at all three events and distances I'll be pretty pleased.

Llangynhafal loop fell race, Border League

An interesting weekend of races, with two varied events but similar results in both. On Friday, the last round of the Borders League took place in Wrexham. I ran what I felt to be a good race, 23:40 for the four mile course, probably the fastest I've ever run at 5:50 mile pace. But finished 67th, my worst of the season bar flu-affected Prestatyn. Probably all due to the strength of the field. But I was pleased to complete all seven races this season to finish 14th senior male (339 points), and Buckley won the team prize by a huge margin - over 1000 points. This was even more marked in Sunday's event: the Llangynhafal loop fell race near Ruthin. This cracking AS 4.5m event was this year a counter in the Welsh, North Wales and British champs, so the field was strong: certainly the strongest field I've ever competed in, by a considerable margin. I ran a good race to finish in 44:28, got to the top of Moel Famau via the Nant y Ne gully in 27 mins, well placed, but lost at least 10 places on the very fast descent over Moel Dywyll and back steeply to the village. Finished startlingly low down the field, 113th from 170 (men only, the women ran a seperate race).