Have A Happy Crazy Fast And Healthy New Year!

The hardest button to push is past your comfort zone, do that and you're grow not only as an athlete but also as a person!

Top Gear Fiat Panda 4WD vs marathon runner race cross London

FREE RUNNERS [Parkour] VS TOP GEAR IN RACE THROUGH LIVERPOOL!

Billy Connolly talks about suicide bombers = funny

Scott's post made me think of Billy Connolly, which lead me to find this video!

Good news the thaw has started, might be able to start running fast again soon :]

Good Deed For The Day!

Running along Selworthy Rd I spotted a car in trouble ahead.
Two attractive Asian girls got out and tried to push their rich father out of the snow.
Thought I'd give them a helping hand and eventually we got the car going again.
Hope this brings me much needed good Carma!
Sandhill run easy = 1 hour 8 mins

The Good Show

In this episode, a question that haunted Charles Darwin: if natural selection boils down to survival of the fittest, how do you explain why one creature might stick its neck out for another? Download

OK Not sure what this photo has to do with my story, but!

Beautiful Christmas Run!

Just had a great run through the big sandhill trails with Tess, conditions were fantastic.
Beautiful sunshine kept me warm, I even took my gloves off and with no wind it felt great to be alive.
The snow capped views were stunning!
The snow trails are now smooth and compact and not to bad to run on using my Nike Red Rocks for grip.
We finished with 2 hours 4 mins
Hope you had as much fun as we did today.
Happy festive spirit all round :]

Southport resident and football legend Kenny Dalglish and his wife Marina took to Twitter to rap the local council for not gritting the roads, He said there was more grit in his teeth than on the roads READ FULL STORY HERE

HAPPY F**KING CHRISTMAS:]

Trigger Point Performance: Better Body Biomechanics

l
Really crazy stuff, just followed the video, on the massaged leg I could do great one legged hops but on the unmassaged leg i could hardly get off the ground, give it a try it really works!

NEWS UPDATE
SWAC CHRISTMAS HANDICAP CANCELLED!
Check out the giant icicles forming from my roof!
What would happen if one of the said pointy icicles fell on my head, impalement for sure :[
Condition are still very poor for running here with rutted snow and ice on most of the roads and paths..
I decided to use this week and next as a time to recovery and refresh before I start the Marius Bakken training at the start of Jan.
Most of my runs have been in my X/c spikes but after hearing the good comments about YAKTRACKS I ordered a pair.
TRAINING UPDATE
Mon
Steady Hillside loop with 6 x 20 strides + 30 mins
Tue
Steady hillside loop = 39 mins
Wed
Sandhills easy with Tess = 1 hour 40 mins
Thur
Hillside loop with 6 x 20 sec strides = 32 mins
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, enjoy the holiday:]

WINTER SOLSTICE time to celebrate the return of the SUN!

Today the sun crossed the sky at its lowest trajectory as seen from the Northern Hemisphere, and so its apparent trek from rising to setting will be quick. Result: the shortest day of the year and the longest night.

On the bright side, starting Tomorrow the days will begin getting longer.

Where most of us live in the mid-latitudes, daylight ranges from about 15 hours around the summer solstice (when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun) to around 9 hours close to the winter solstice. The opposite happens in the Southern Hemisphere, and as such, summer gets its official start there this week.

With less sunlight hitting us, temperatures drop. However, the Earth is actually closer to the sun during winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It's the tilt that gets us.

And in fact the coldest days of the year are yet to come. Though the days will get longer during January, Northern Hemisphere oceans continue to cool in the relative lack of sunlight, and ocean temperatures drive much of the weather on the continents. READ MORE

Top 10 Amazing Moon Facts

CLICK HERE

No 'Dark Side'

Contrary to what you might have heard, there is no "dark side" of the moon. There is, however, a "far side" that we can't see from Earth. Here's why:

Long ago, the Earth's gravitational effects slowed the moon's rotation about its axis. Once the moon's rotation slowed enough to match its orbital period (the time it takes the moon to go around Earth) the effect stabilized.

So the moon goes around the Earth once and spins on its axis once, all in the same amount of time, and it shows us just one face the whole time.

Pagans celebrate the winter solstice, on December 21st
Christmas pagan? Do the celebration of December 25th, the Christmas tree, the giving of gifts and other Christmas traditions all have their root in the pagan mystery religions of the ancient? Or is all of this stuff about a "pagan Christmas" just a bunch of nonsense?
CHRISTMAS NOW

The celebration of the birth of commercialism.. CHRISTMAS PAST A holiday that originally was supposed to be for the birth of Christ. When the Catholics/ Christians took over the pagan peoples, they replaced their holiday with their own Birth of the Son, (as in of God) to make the transition to Christianity's traditions easier. The idea of Santa Claus and his reindeer was created in the 1800s, and is loosely based on St. Nicholas, who gave random presents to people. The idea of a christmas tree dates back to German celebrations of Christmas thousands of years ago. They used an evergreen tree to symbolize life and hope in dark times, and hung apples on it. THE ORGINAL CHRISTMAS A celebration of humanity dating back thousands of years. It originated as a pagan celebration of the birth of the Sun, as it was celebrated on the winter equinox, and after that point, days got longer.

Haile Gebrselassie signs $100,000 agreement with Johnnie Walker

READ HERE
Will we see him kitted out like this at his next race?

HOW TO MODIFY YOUR RUNNING SHOES TO GRIP ON ICE AND SNOW

FORUM ON MODIFYING SHOES FOR ICY CONDITIONS

EPIC RUN IN DEEP SNOW, A VOYAGE OF ONE MAN AND HIS DOG TOLD THROUGH VIDEO AND PICTURES!Long Run In Deep Snow

OH SHIT!
The snow came last night and lots of it.
You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone.
-Percy Cerutty
I tried to get to work on my motor bike but turned round after only half a mile, the roads were really bad, I ended up getting a taxi in.
i walked the 2 miles home this morning after a very hard night shift, the snow had continued to fall through the night, leaving a good 10-12 inch of the stuff, it was very hard to walk on the footpaths, best option being the flattened snow on the roads!
I passed a police car with a burned out clutch, the fumes still filling the cold air with toxic chemicals, just another casualty of the snow!
After 4 hours in bed I got up for my long run, I was meant to run with Paul but he didn't want to drive down to meet me [I don't blame him, the roads were very dangerous] so me and Tess set out alone across the heaviest snow Southport has seen in a long time!
It is quite rare to get snow here on the coast, so running in the stuff is quite novel, but hopefully it will soon melt away!
I had no problem with grip in my trail shoes but I had to pick my knees up high to clear the snow!
we went through the little nature reserve then the Velvet Trail, following walkers foot prints the best we could.
Then we got onto the sandhill 6 route.

It felt really hard pushing through the deep snow and although we were travelling at a very slow speed I had no trouble holding my heart rate at the correct endurance effort.
The snow got between my shoes and tights burning my ankles with cold.
My feet were fine, I'd applied Vaseline to my feet and toes which worked well to keep the cold and damp out.
I wore a hunters hat with ear flaps, thermal mitts, tights and a cycle thermal jacket which kept me warm in the freezing conditions.
My shoes were the Nike Red Rock Trail 2 shoes
Poor Tess was up to her belly in snow at times and we both started to feel quite tired out.
At last we made it to the Big dipper and onto the Royal Birkdale golf club house then past the big grass mound at Hillside, families were having great fun sliding down the steep bank in the snow!
Last few miles we got onto the roads and started to pick up speed, finishing with 1 hour 50 mins.
One very tough run!
I felt a glowing sense of achievement once I got home, after all it would have been easy to have wimped out and given today's run a miss, I'm glad I didn't :]

Did you have to run in the snow today, did you make it through?

HOW TO RUN ON ICE WITHOUT FALLING OVER!

Safe Snow Running

Deena Kastor shares her tips and favorite gear for running in winter.

» Read Full Story">

Safe Snow Running

Last winter I used my X/C spikes to give me grip on the ice and snow, but this idea from ICESPIKES looks good!
ICESPIKES For Safe Running On Ice Click Here

LOSE WEIGHT RUN FASTER AND LOOK BETTER!

Yes guys it's as simple as that, I know my best chance to break 2.45 in the London Marathon next year is to trim the weight down.
i got down to 11st 6pounds before this years race but at 5ft 10 in tall I'm still over a stone heavier than elite runner Ryan Hall.
If you think weight does not make a difference then do a test run on a 2 mile loop with 8 pounds strapped to yourself and run at say 80% of max heart rate, note your time.
Remove the weights and after a 10 min rest repeat the 2 mile loop without the added weight but still at 80% MHR.
Do you feel smoother, faster? and what is your finish time, faster right!
So if you are carrying a few excess pounds the good news is you can run faster just by getting lighter!
Other big advantages of carrying less weight are; less pounding to the legs and faster recovery!
For more advice check out the really good links below.
I'll start my healthy eating from the 2nd of Jan :]

Competitor.com’s Matt Fitzgerald sat down for an hour with LetsRun.com to answer questions and discuss his book Racing Weight. Matt hits on the major points of his new book and answers some controversial questions sent in by runners.

PODCAST "you just got to listen to this CLICK HERE"
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
Four ways to reach ideal racing weight CLICK HERE
Read extracts from RACING WEIGHT CLICK HERE

MARIUS BAKKEN ON DIET

Marathon eating

QUESTION by Katie
(Colorado)

Marathon eating - what to eat while training for the marathon.

"Hello-
I was wondering what a typical day of eating would look like for a runner trying to run 3 hours and below. I really want to make sure I am eating enough and eating the proper foods at the proper times. Is there any help or guidance on this that you can offer?

Thank you!

Katie"

Answer : Hi Katie, and thanks for your question.

There are a few articles you want to read about this - starting with this one : marathon diet - and look at the other articles connected to that one.

In addition to that, in the 100 day plan, there is a whole chapter on what to eat properly plus calculators to determine the race day intake.

Basically, for the marathon training period itself (not the days leading up to the marathon + marathon race day) you want to balance your meals so that you get enough energy BUT at the same time you want to aim for the lightest possible body you can have without losing energy.

A few tips :
* Add 600-800 grams of vegetables in addition to what you already eat during the day. This helps self regulate your diet.
* In the evening, snack on frozen berries
* cut out cereals, youghurt (except natural), sugary drinks (except during marathon practice on drinking) and candy. Those are the main sources of sugar for most of us, many are not aware of the cereals and yoghurt sugar content.
* Try and have many meals during the day and load up a bit the evening before your hardest runs (not the same day)
*Aim for about 40-55 % carbs, 20-25 proteins and the rest 20-25 % fat - very approximately.

And above all, never starve yourself. That is counter-productive ; you do not want to put yourself there. Enjoy your training and food intake, but do consider the above :)

I wish you all the best with your training,

kind regards,
Marius

Predicted effect of weight change

• weight v performance chart

AND here's a BLOG to help you shread the pounds
Would you eat a stack of 16 sugar cubes? READ MORE

The Evolution of Human Diet

CLICK HERE

The following was sent to me by Sarah

This woman is 51.

She is a TV "health guru" advocating a holistic approach to nutrition and ill health, promoting exercise, a pescetarian diet high in organic fruits and vegetables. She recommends detox diets colonic irrigation and supplements, also making statements that yeast is harmful, that the colour of food is nutritionally significant, and about the utility of lingual and faecal examination.
This woman is 50.

She is a TV cook, who eats nothing but meat, butter and deserts.

So forget "join a gym and eat more celery". This Christmas, it's food and booze all the way. And the only exercise you need is dancing.
Merry Christmas Girls!

EXTREME NIGHTIME RUNNING WITH MAGICSHINE MJ 808 HEADTORCH

Test run on sand dune trails with MagicShine MJ 808 headtorch
This was pretty cool, running in the pitch of dark round the SANDHILL 6 course.
No one out and about but me and Tess, the trail is very technical with narrow paths and uneven surfaces!
The Magicshine emits a very bright beam that lit-up up the paths well, which let me run along at a easy -steady paces.
Still not quite enough light on the really technical trails to run really fast, so I'm thinking of upgrading to the super powerful 816 which should allow me to run even faster without problems.
I might rig both lights together giving me over 2000 Lumen of light power!!!
I'm really hooked on this nightime running,I was buzzing as I finished the off road run, figgin amazing, lovin it, great fun:]
Took a video but it did not come out to well as you can see [looks like Tess is chasing a spooky orb, see end of vid]!!!

EXTREME NIGHT TIME RUNNING REPORT

Would you eat a stack of 16 sugar cubes? READ MORE

Training update
Mon
Club fartlek session
Note; last one this year restarts 10th Jan
Good session with the guys.
Ran down and back to give me 1 hour 49 mins
Tue
Sandhill 6 nightime run with Tess.
total time hour 20 mins

Southport Torchlight 5K returns

NEW SERIES STARTS  Nov 2013 7pm DETAILS click here
Bigger and better than ever before, don't miss the excitement!
Read about the first event HERE
Great link to Runners Head Torches
 

Check it out HERE
CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE
The event starts at the stone circle
Highest central point of the park Bentham's way, new woodlands park.






Are you bored? fed up? Been watching to many repeats on TV?
Want to get out and have some real FUN ?
Then get ready for a brand New exciting challenge!
Course based on The Rubbish 5K [Glow sticks will mark the route]For more details contact Andy on 07909980153
WANT ADVICE ON HOW TO SAFELY RUN IN THE DARK?
Check out this podcast from Marathon Talk HERE [note starts at 18 mins 20 sec into podcast]Also check out this; Top Tips For Running In The dark
Recommended headtorch MagicShine Super High Power

Ashurst Beacon Park X/C Result

OK this is how it goes!
Just finished 33rd in the X/C after only 3 hours in bed after a hard night shift.
Felt good on the first short lap but started to fade abit into the 2nd and 3rd laps!
Did not really have the energy to dig really deep, maybe a Redbull might have woken me up a bit.
BUT, I got beaten by Neil, which is not good news [for me] as he only trains once or twice a week!
Well me and Neil have a bit of history, going back quite a few years, he always seems to thrash me in the X/C's but I kick his pants in the summer!
Good course with some steep hills and plenty of mud!
Looking back I had my best run here in 2004 when I finished 22nd in 34.25, back then I'd been running twice a day, 14 hours a week and was in top form!
My aim at the moment is just to keep ticking over on minimal training until I start Training for London next month! RESULTS

Me the universe and everything!

The Fifth Dimension

Way back in time, when I was just a small boy i remember walking outside into the back yard of the family house and looking up into the sky on a dark clear night.
the stars looked amazing [back then there was a lot less light pollution] I was taking in all the awesome beauty of it all when all of a sudden 'BANG' i fell to the floor landing on my knees, it felt like a massive electric shock went straight through my brain!
I felt bewildered and in shock, for the first time in my short life I realized how huge and gigantic the universe was and how small and insignificant I was!
Many things flashed before me [ this was a year or so after my fathers death] my own mortality, how short life was and that life was not for evermore, maybe not things a small boy should be worrying about!
A few year later i remember having an out of body experience, I'd been watching TV with my brothers and sister.
I went to the kitchen for a drink and all of a sudden i felt a massive tug upwards, for a split second i seemed to rise up to the ceiling, I remember looking down on myself standing in the kitchen before i fell back through my own body!
Once more I felt bewildered with what had happened!
Maybe the best way to describe the feeling would be to say it felt a bit like when your in a lift in a hotel and it stops after going up several floors!
But for that split second of my out of body experience it felt like I was in another dimension in a different plane looking in!
I wonder has anyone ever experienced any of the above feelings in there lives?

Gravitational Anarchy RADIO LAB Podcast

A MUST LISTEN
In this podcast, we revisit some ideas from our recent episode on Falling. We begin with a story excerpted from an essay by Berton Roueché, which first appeared in the New Yorker in 1958 and was later published by Dutton in a book called "The Medical Detectives." Read for us by the actress Hope Davis, it tells the true tale of a woman named Rosemary Morton, who had a little, um, trouble with gravity. After that, we return to a segment from the Falling episode that has troubled some of our listeners: the mystery of falling cats. Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist extraordinaire and Director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, takes us to task for using "bad data." We call on science writer David Quammen to help us fight back and, in the end, we wonder how we can ever know the mind of a fallin
Listen

Training update
Wed
Club session
Location Dunes sports centre Southport
Time 6.30pm
Steve McLean took the session.
after a good warm up we did a pyramid session.
Using the sea wall near the pier.
it was very cold, well below freezing!
Managed to get down to 5 min mile pace once fully warmed up!
total time inc running down and back = 1 hour
Thur
30 mins at level one, finished with 6 fast strides.
felt good in the warmer weather :]

A HAIRY MOMENT! AND THE RUNNING WIG!

catlyynx twittered " just discovered that I shaved one leg twice. brilliant", Caitlin. about 23 hours ago via Twitterrific for Mac

Which made me think; strange how its cool to have body hair in some places but not in others!
And then I thought : What is the latest theory of why humans lost their body hair? Why are we the only hairless primate? ANSWER
There are more puzzling questions like; why do men lose the hair on the top of their heads but grow new hair in their ears and nose?
catlyynx just sent me a great link to answer the above HERE
And are these questions more important than how the universe started!
And who is the man in the wig [see video]!

The Man in the Wig talks HERE

EXTREME NIGHT TIME RUNNING REPORT

After recieving a GAMMA head touch in the post yesterday i was excited to test it out in the dark!
Heading into the sandhill nature trail along the unlit board walk I had no problem seeing ahead as I ran.
but once onto the sand dune paths i was soon in trouble, first I lost the path and the next thing a fell down into a ditch almost breaking my leg!
thankfully there was no major damage to myself.
But that was enough excitement for me, so I limped back to the road!

PHOTO; MAGICSHINE TURNS NIGHT INTO DAY!
I asked Steve McLean for his advice as he does a lot of night time orienteering and off road night time running.
He recommended the Magicshine MJ-808 with a 900-Lumen output.BUY
I was very impressed with how powerful his own Nagicshine is, so after looking around and comparing specs it seem to offer the best power to money ratio going!
i took the plunge and ordered one, I'll report back soon!

ICE WARRIORS AND DOCTOR SIMON BACK FROM THE DEAD!

I'm not saying it was cold, BUT when I opened the front door to go out I half expected to see Dr Who's Ice warriors march past!
Thick frost covered everything and some of the side roads were doing good impressions of skating rinks!
I ran down to meet the guys for the Monday fartlek session at Ainsdale.
surprisingly there was a good turn out and even Doc Simon turned up, the rumours that he would never walk again let alone run after injury must have been highly exaggerated to say the least!
Also club chairman Steve attended wearing nothing more than shorts and a vest, we think he must be nuclear fueled or at least eats Ready brek for breakfast!
Brian found the only unslippy piece of pavement in the whole of Southport, which just happened to be the bridge over the railway line.
After a full Health and safety assessment check we signed the disclaimer form and were set to go!
Disclaimer; If I die through my own sillyness Brian accepts NO blame whatsoever X
10 or 12 efforts followed, my mind went a bit blank in the cold and i forgot to turn the Garmin on.
Most of the time i tried to hang onto young Steve Lewis, we were hitting sub 5 minute mile pace uphill on most of them!
On the final effort he blew me away [short anaerobic efforts have never been my strong point, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!].
After the session I ran back with Paul then finished with an extra couple of miles.
total time 1 hour 49 mins
CLUB NEWS
With Steve McLean at the wheel there will soon be some exciting new stuff happening within the club, watch out for a new regular social meeting and new initiatives to bring new runners into the club!

My Bro andy emailed me with a great link to Runners Head Torches
Check it out HERE
Petzl Ultra with ACCU 2 Battery" name="PhotoBig">

Four Men And A Dog Run The Dunes

After cancelling the event at Parbold I arranged to meet up with Paul, Steve Lewis and club chairman Steve [the running man] McLean for a 2 hour run over the big sand dunes.
Overnight snow turned into rain and by our start time of 1pm it was getting a lot milder if a little wet.
Tess and myself showed the guys a great route that takes in many of the biggest sand Dunes in the area.
I thought it would be fantastic training for next weeks Beacon Park X/C which has some brutal short sharp climbs in it's 3 laps.
First we went through the small nature reserve then onto the velvet trail taking in the big dunes all the way to Pontins.
Then we continued on the sand trails before following the blue posts into the Pinewoods and Fisherman's Path.
It was time to head back taking in a few detours into the woods.
Paul was talking the whole way and looked really strong, Steve McLean was criusing in his effortless mode and Steve Lewis who is fairly new to running might have started to regret running with us, as this turned out to be one of his longest ever runs!
to finish the run off I took them back between the two golf courses [Royal Birkdale and Hillside] which meant more big dunes inc the infamous 'BIG DIPPER'.
We finished with a mile or two on the road to give us all 2 hours and 15 mins of quality training.
Thanks for the company guys, Cheers :]

Percy Cerutty - A Great Man with big bollocks!

WATCH PERCY'S TRAINING GROUP IN ACTION HERE
BEST RUNNING QUOTES EVER!
"Before you can call yourself a man you should be able to walk 100 miles in 48 hours, swim a mile and lift your own weight overhead".

"Thus I urge you to go on to your greatness if you believe it is in you. Think deeply and separate what you wish from what you are prepared to do."


"Ignore, then, whether you are tall and thin or short and stocky— whether they laughed at you at home (where they are often unkind) or at school (where they are mostly blind, anyway). Indeed—to hell with the lot of them if you 'feel' you can do it."
Percy Cerutty

"The introduction of resistance in form of sand and hill is too important to be ignored."
Percy Cerutty

"I'm not interested in athletics, I'm only interested in achievement. Fix your goal and work for it."
Percy Cerutty's training advice to Herb Elliott.

"If you die, I will bury you in the sandhills with all the other runners."
Percy Cerutty


"Run hard, be strong, think big!"
Percy Cerutty

If it hurts, make it hurt more.

- Percy Cerutty

You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone.
-Percy Cerutty

• "Hard things take time to do. Impossible things take a little longer."
  -- Percy Cerutty

• "The mastery of the true self, and the refusal to permit others to dominate us is the ultimate in living, and self-expression in athletics."
  -- Percy Cerutty

"Running: running: hear the beat!
Busting lungs and pounding feet.
Straining: gaining: 'til your done:
Or you have the race well-won.
Racing: Pacing: rather die:
Than give up or let them by.

First stanza of "The Distance Runner" by Percy Cerutty

Cerutty, Percy Wells - coach and running guru of Portsea, Australia who revolutionized training for the mile and middle distances during the 1950's and 1960's, And today!


Herb Elliot - one of Percy's greatest athletes....

"The more I talk to athletes, the more convinced I become that the method of training is relatively unimportant. There are many ways to the top, and the training method you choose is just the one that suits you best. No, the important thing is the attitude of the athlete, the desire to get to the top."
Herb Elliott

Elliott, Herb - one of the greatest of all middle distance runners. Won the 1500 in record time of 3:35.6 at the Rome Olympics in 1960. Elliott owned the mile; raced 44 times from 1954 to 1960 and was never beaten.

herb elliot on percy cerutty, legendary australian coach

click here for the story of the great Percy Cerutty, Australian coach

part of percy cerutty's training was to get his athletes to
do repeated sprints up steep sandhills, years later harry wilson would get steve ovett to do similar training to help biuld his strengh and power!

WHY TRAINING IN A GROUP WILL PUSH BACK YOUR LIMITS
Listen to the podcast interview with Prof Tim Noakes
He tells you how the central governor in your brain controls your ability to push hard and how to push those limits back! LISTEN NOW!

Cancelled Parbold Hill climb and down hill Event due to ICE!

Cancelled; Parbold Hill climb and down hill Mile Event
Steve Mclean informs me that conditions are dangerous out on the Stony lane route, with ICE and NEW snow falling.
With the safety of all in mind I've postponed the Event until early spring!
Please pass the word!
Cheers Rick

EXTREME NIGHT TIME RUNNING!

Report on the first Torchlight 5K
Racing off road at night is a first for me, i bought a led head touch only the day before, so I'd not even had the chance to try it out.
Running into the park and away from the street lighting I switched on my headlight, switching to full power I was a little disappointed to find the light was not as bright as hoped for, giving off a dull diffused beam!
I'm now looking at upgrading to a much brighter GAMMA head touch as the off road night time bug takes hold!
As I made my way to the start I could make out led lights bobbing up and down around the course.
Anyone not knowing what was happening might have wondered what was going on, maybe a pagon winter festive of lights!
The course was based on my Rubbish 5k which follows 2 laps of gravel trail which twist and turn and rides up and down the short sharp hills of the reclaimed landfill site.
Andy Hudson had persuaded 23 runners to take on the challenge, we lined up at the start which was at top of the hill by the stone circle in nervous anticipation .
Steve [the running man]McLean shot away from the start like a bolting wild horse!
I followed his very bright headlight [he was wearing a very high power custom made head torch] the best I could, my lungs filled with icy cold air which made me struggle for breath!
after 600m we turned left and onto narrow single track, Steve McLean pulles away as young Steve Lewis caught me up on the first steep hill.
I now followed Steve Lewis, the paths were white with frost and snow but pretty grippy!
Next we headed downhill and headed for the wooden bridge.
i struggled to find my way down the drop to the bridge my headlight only giving off a dull beam of light.
Steve flew across the bridge, I worked hard to catch him up then we worked together.
Into the second lap and my legs started to feel better as they warmed up.
I pushed hard now until the bridge where I let young Steve lead the way { i was using and abusing him, letting him lead me through the difficult sections but pushing passed him on the fast parts].
Into the final 1/2 mile I make a break, accelerating away from Steve, up the hill to the finish I feel strong and hold Steve off for second place!
Running in the dark is really exciting, it's like going back to my childhood when I use to play war games with my brothers and friends outside on dark winter nights!
Steve Mclean was first back for the guys and Tracey Peters was first for the girls.
It really was a fantastic event, don't miss the next one!

5K RESULTS

Tim Noakes on Marathon Talk podcast
" You have to train very hard to run your best Marathon"
Overcoming the central Governor LISTEN HERE

One Mile Hill Climb And downhill event For Southport Runners!

SOUTHPORT TORCHLIGHT 5K RESULTS

RESULTS

1 Steve McClean 18:52

2 Rick Bowker 19:21

3 Steve Lewis 19:24

4 Andrew Hudson 20:32

5 Howard Nuttall 20:32

6 Paul Cain 20:40

7 Keith Lunt 20:51

8 Brian Davey 21:00

9 Terry Boland 21:05

10 Tracey Peters 21:11

11 Paul Talbot 21:29

12 Brian Gow 21:44

13 Dave Macdonnell 22:37

14 Rob Cosgrave 23:20

15 Andrew Dawson 23:25

16 Phil Baxendale 23:45

17 Vicki Harvey 23:59

18 Morag Rimmer 24:05

19 Carol Wright 26:39

20 Callum Hudson 27:29

21 Donna Spencer 28:34

22 Carol James 30:14

23 Gill Gillison 30:14

Thanks to Nicola for Results

Whats it like to race in the dark, find out here soon with my special report!

MOONLIGHT 5K LATEST NEWS and RYAN HALL TO RUN BOSTON

LASTEST NEWS;
SOUTHPORT MOONLIGHT 5K TONIGHT!
Congrats to EVENT organizer Andy Hudson, The first night time 5k was a big success.
First man Steve Mclean
First women Tracey Peters
Full Results available soon DETAILS

MOONLIGHT 5K

Ryan Hall Will Run Boston Marathon READ HERE