NIKE ONWARDS, get a pair of SPIRA shoes and you too can run as smoothly and sweetly as this video!

I BEAT CHRIS BOARDMAN AT LONDON MARATHON

I was excited to read this story as a ex racing cyclist, back in the early 90's Chris Boarman beat me many times in the local 10 mile time trials. When I was doing 22.18 for ten Chris was doing 17 mins !!!

Rick [ 2.51.15] beats Chris Boardman [3.19.27] in London Marathon

• Home
• » CW News
• » Boardman clocks 3-19 in London Marathon

Monday 27th April 2009 - Nigel Wynn

Former British professional rider turned coach/bike designer/commentator Chris Boardman completed Sunday's London Marathon in a respectable 3 hours 19 minutes 27 seconds.
Boardman, now 41, took part in the 26-mile running event to raise funds for the National Autistic Society, and was interviewed shortly after finishing by the BBC's Sue Barker.
MORE

WOW! I RAN 2.38 AT LONDON MARATHON!!!

Year Age Actual Time Age Adjusted
1999 38 2:49:53 2:49:25
2000 39 2:56:15 2:54:33
2002 41 2:54:53 2:50:47
2003 42 2:48:52 2:43:43
2004 43 2:52:34 2:46:06
2009 48 2:51:15 2:38:48

Thanks to Brian Grice for compiling my age adjusted Marathon times
http://www.pinebeltpacers.org/AgeGrade/newwava.html

LONDON MARATHON TEN YEARS ON!

Photo me London Marathon 1999
ALL AROUND WAS CARNAGE!
Jo, Tracey, Paul , Ken, myself along with my good wife Niz and pauls friend Tom set off for London on Friday lunch time. The plan was to pick the numbers up as soon as we hit the big city and spend the Saturday relaxing and taking in the sights!
The Expo was a big disappointment, nothing very new or exciting to see and for such a massive race one might expect a bit more [ lets hope the new sponsors Virgin spice things up next year].
Once we got our numbers it was time to relax with a nice pasta meal in a Italian restaurant in Euston.
Sat 25th
Tracey, Jo, Paul and myself ran 2 miles round a local park in the morning, it felt very humid and my hay fever was not good! I hoped it would be a little cooler for Sundays race, they kept forecasting late morning rain for the race!
In the afternoon I treated Niz to a cruise up and down the Thames followed by a flight on the London eye, clear sky's and sunshine made for some excellent views.
Saturday night and we met up with the rest of the guys and girls in the running club doing London [ 15 of us in all].



Sun 26th RACE DAY
We got up at 5.40, went down for breakfast and eat a last meal of porridge, toast and fruit, I could see tension and nerviness etched on my fellow runners faces [ looking like condemned men ready for a hanging!] , the big day had come round so fast, there was no way back!
Mark Ashby, Tracey and myself were starting in the good for age red start, I never started from here before and was in for a shock soon after the start!
The sun was burning down on us as we waited patiently at the start, Our lives flashed before us as reality zoomed in as the announcer counted down, 3,2,1, GO!!!
I started near the front, but held myself back as runner after runner blasted by, I wasn't going to make a dreadful mistake and blow all my months of training in a few miles of sub 6 adrenaline fueled madness!
The first shock came quite quickly, the red start is really hilly, unlike the green and blue starts that have a nice gradual downhill for 3 miles the red start drops madly downhill 200 ft in a few minutes before climbing a steep hill and dropping down again to meet the main marathon [ blue line route]. This came as a massive surprise to me and it was difficult to set the right pace, I simply held back, but it didn't feel right or comfortable!
3 miles in 18.59.
Back in 1999 I felt so strong and energized blasting round the whole 26.2 miles on a massive wave of adrenaline, today was very different, I did not feel quite right, I don't think it was so much the heat [ I ran my best races her in 2003 and 99 on hot days] but more the humid atmosphere! I was burning up from the inside like a pressure cooker about to explode!
The vast enthusiastic noisy crowds and the humidity made me feel very claustrophobic [ not good for someone who use to suffer from panic attacks in crowded places as a child!].
mile 5 in 31.31.
I tried to calm myself down and relax, I started taking water very early as I knew I'd be in serious trouble later on if I didn't.
10 miles in 1.03
I was hoping by now to be running in the zone but it was not happening for me today, I kept feeling like I was about to crack, feeling dizzy for a while before coming around again only to lapse into feeling bad again, I was still on 2.47 - 2.48 pace but the effort felt to hard to maintain!
13 miles in 1.23.
Once past the half way point I started taking on board more and more water, the water stations seemed to come every 1/2 mile or so and I slowed to a jog after each station in a desperate attempt to pore the liquid down my throat and keep hydrated!
The course seemed far more rolling than I remembered from my last attempt in 2004, at the end the Garmin showed 1800ft of climbing, is that right or did the long tunnel send the G.P.S. nutty!
20 miles in 2.08
Talking to the runners around me they all seemed to be going through the same thing, dehydration ! The good news was that despite slowing it was not by much, I was holding myself together on grim determination!
I homed in on the weakening runners in front of me, one by one I picked them off like a blood thirsty cheetah after its prey!
I was slowing but people around me were slowing more, one then a second runner stopped dead in front of me, I had to swerve to avoid smashing into the back of them.
All around was carnage, runners cramping up, or so dehydrated they couldn't run anymore!
The miles were flying by now only 3 to go, shit just a short recovery run I thought to myself, I give every thing I had and that was not much.
Finally the finish came into sight I didn't dare sprint I would have probably blacked out if I had tried, I went for the dignified approach and crossed the line still standing up!
26.2 miles 2.51.15
At first I felt disappointed to miss my 1999 target time by 1min 22 secs, but then after hearing the horror stories from club mates I quickly changed my mind, dam that was hard and I made it through! Dad I ran that for you!
Team mate Peter Roome trained really hard to break 3 hours but cracked to finish dehydrated almost collapsing on the line and stretchered off by the wonderfully hard working St Johns Ambulance people! Peter said he was running through a dark dark tunnel over the last mile, fighting to stay on his two feet!
Chris Dunn went through hell running on a infected foot to finish a courageous3.06.
Steve wilkinson ran 1.17 in the liverpool half but cracked soon after 14 miles walking the last 10miles. Mark Ashby came back from injury to record a very respectable 3.07.
Tracey did even better setting a new p.b. after only six weeks serious training due to injury, she finished with 3.26, Jo put in another great run in with 3.23 and Paul after increasing his training from 23 miles per week last year to 60-70 miles this year knocked a wopping 30 mins off his time from last year to finish in 3.24. Flying Doctor Simon Tobin had a fantastic run under the conditions with 3.29 .
LONDON MARATHON RESULTS SINCE MY FIRST MARATHON IN 1999;
1999 2.49.53, 2000 2.56.15, 2002 2.54.53, 2003 2.48.52, 2004 2.52.34, 2009 2.51.15
Conclusions, Marathons are bloody hard work, there is no way around it, if you want your best time and push it to the limit your going to go through a lot of pain, I mean thats the appeal of the marathon its a challenge like no other!
It tests your mental as well as physical limits to the maximum!

TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT ONE MORE TIME!

LONDON MARATHON RESULT

Flora London Marathon 2009 Results

REPORT TO FOLLOW, ITS A HOT ONE!
I TRY MY BEST BUT MISS OUT ON MY TARGET 2.49.53 [set 10 years ago] BY JUST 1 MIN 22 SEC !
I FINISH FIRST FOR THE CLUB AS MANY BREAK DOWN IN THE HEAT.More

I have never drunk so much water in a race before, after 13 miles I was slowing to a jog at each water station [ and there is a lot of them] to get the fluids into my body, the heat came as a bit of a shock to the system, repeatedly I thought I was going to crack and it was a big relief to get to the finish in one piece [ it took all my mental strength to hold it together, this was a tough one for sure!
5k 19.25, 10k 39.27, 15k 59.24, 20k 1.19.21, 1/2 1.23.43,
25k 1.39.26, 30k 1.59.57, 35k 2.20.41 40k 2.41.50, Finish 2.51.15
Red = meltdown!
At first i felt a bit disappointed with myself but on reflection i feel kind of proud, hell there is a big difference between running at 38 and 48 and I still blasted my 2004 London time by over a minute!

LONDON MARATHON RESULTS SINCE MY FIRST MARATHON IN 1999;
1999 2.49.53, 2000 2.56.15, 2002 2.54.53, 2003 2.48.52, 2004 2.52.34, 2009 2.51.15
ONCE AGAIN I HAVE KEPT A CLEAN RECORD AND COMPLETED EVERY MARATHON I HAVE EVER RUN UNDER 3 HOURS!
THANKS FOR ALL COMMENTS, GRATEFULLY RECEIVED
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW, ONCE i'VE HAD TIME TO THINK, PONDER AND ANNALISE MY RACE!

London Marathon, I run this race for my Dad!

My Dad died at 48, the age I am now! I was only 4 when he passed away so suddenly, yet despite being only 4 years old I have such strong and vivid memories of him. He was a photo journalist and served with the RAF in the second world war, flying in Lancaster bombers over Berlin taking reconnaissance photo's to see if they had hit there strategic targets, 'IMAGINE FLYING OVER A DARK,DARK BERLIN SKY WITH ANTI AIRCRAFT FIRE ALL AROUND'! EACH TIME THEY TOOK OFF ON A MISSION THEY NEVER KNEW IF THEY WOULD MAKE IT BACK!
Many of my fathers friends didn't. So many young men and women gave their lives up for the freedom we take so easily for granted, my Dad made it through but I think the stress he went through took its toll and and he died so young!
I run this Marathon in his memory, I will run with determination and pride, I will think of my Dad and the freedom he helped bring us!
















If you are running on Sunday enjoy the amazing event, good luck and I hope you get the time you want!
Thur 23rd
Steady run with Tess round the reclaimed tip = 35.44
Wed 22nd Easy run with Niz along the velvet trail = 21 mins
Evening Measuring and marking out the RUBBISH 5K route with Jon = 40 mins
Its a great course and we should have some fun on this challenging route, hope to put on 4 races through the summer, watch this space!











CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE

London marathon weather report

Super speed freak 5.00 MILE PACE final coundown London marathon workout

Mike Gratton comes from the hard school of Marathon running, so I have a lot of respect for him and his training program [ so far its worked really well].The final hard session called for 8 x 400m, I got Tracey to join me on the session, we started with 1 mile easy before we headed into the last fast session before London, using the Saxon -Gloucester rd block. We used the first effort as a warm up and went for it in the last 7, I felt pretty good and averaged 12 mph, 5.00 mile pace for the efforts, not bad for an old dog in Marathon training, now its easy,easy, REST!

Boston marathon results

results

LONDON MARATHON, FINAL TEMPO RUN 6.14 PACE FOR 12 MILES

I was pleased to read this article the other day CLICK HERE TO TRAIN LIKE A 2.06 MARATHON RUNNER!
as it seems all my long tempo [ 11 - 18 miles] runs have been more than worthwhile, this afternoon I set out on my last long tempo before London, I was feeling a little tired after a very heavy night at work but at least the sun was out to make me feel better.
I ran my normal York rd, Trafalgar rd hill, hillside, Ainsdale and back along the coast rd loop, I got blown along by the wind at the start but had to fight the wind along the 2 1/2 mile exposed coast rd, it was hard work but I was kind of impressed with myself for powering along and holding pace!
Turning off the coast road I felt the effort in my legs and I used the downhill to recover a bit before moving onto a 3 mile loop.
10 miles went by in under 1.02 and now I finished off the run on a half mile loop near home, I hammered the straights and cruised the corners, soon I was almost on 12 miles and finished with a 11.7 mph final effort. JOB DONE!
My average pace would have given me a 1.21 half marathon but I'm sure in a race I might have been able to drop a couple of minutes!
Last year I could only manage 6.32 pace for a similar session!
12M, 6.14 PACE, 9.6 AV, 11.7 MAX, = 1.14,58

LONG TEMPO RUNS PROGRESSION;
Sat March 7th
12.23 miles, 9.4 av, 6.22 pace = 1.17.58
Wed March 18th
11.01 miles, 9.5 mph av, 6.19 pace = 1.09
Sat April 11th
18 miles, 9 mph av, 6.41 pace = 2.00 [ day after 4 mile race]
Sat April 18th
12m, 9.6 mph av, 6.14 pace, = 1.14.58
My other long hard runs were a 23 mile run with over 2,300 ft of climbing and a 20 mile race run at 6.18 pace.
I have done 9 steady runs of 20 miles or over and I have run many fartleck runs over 16 - 20 miles this year.
Just one more hard session on Tuesday, 8 x 400m then its easy, easy, rest!

Run Your Best Ever Marathon.RON DA COSTA, ROD DIXON.

CLICK HERE TO TRAIN LIKE A 2.06 MARATHON RUNNER!

ROD DIXON ON HOW HE WON THE NEW YORK MARATHON, MOMENTS IN RUNNING HISTORY!

Marathon world best progression click here