The Nightmare On Boggarts Hole Clough

It was an, almost, unique weekend for me, on the rare occasions where I’ve raced on both days the shorter Saturday race has helped me to a good race on Sunday. However, just because it’s happened on those rare occasions, I don’t go out of my way to seek double race weekends. There has to be a compromise somewhere and I do try to put family first, sometimes. Having said that, my relationship with Carole has blossomed to the point that she no longer gets frustrated when I focus my whole day on a race. And it’s a change I’ve taken complete advantage of by choosing to race just about every weekend this winter. She has developed an understanding of my desire to race and is starting to incorporate herself into my race weekends rather than be opposed to them. She’s even starting to enjoy standing around in mud for 40 minutes whilst I slog my way around a cross country course, now that’s true love. Or is it? I receive a post from one of my Pennington Flash pals, Shelle Bradley, who stated that her husband had run a race alongside another lady but, instead of going through the finish line with the other lady, he had turned round and gone back for Shelle and shared her finishing time. Now if that isn’t true love I don’t know what is, but no matter how much I love Carole, there is no way I’m ever going to share her finishing time.

I hadn’t originally planned to race both days, I had thought the cross country race was on Saturday, luckily one of my Salford team mates reminded me the race was on Sunday. So this prompted the idea to go to the Congleton parkrun, on Saturday, after all it was time Carole ran it. I’d also persuaded one of my clients, Katy, to go along. I’ve always thought that Katy and Ray were about the same standard, now was a chance that I would be proven correct as Ray and Sharon were also planning to go along.

The week prior had been pretty dismal, weather wise, this, combined with the fact I had a busy gym week with clients, led me to do my quality sessions on the treadmill. It was great for getting my legs turning over faster as, despite warm ups, warm downs and recoveries between reps, I was comfortably running 10k in 35 minutes. But the down side is that treadmills make my calf muscles tighten and no matter how much I stretched or rolled them they were still a little tight on the Saturday morning, still it was only a parkrun, not that important, until Malcolm Fowler turned up!

I hadn’t wanted a hard run but there was no way I was going to let Malcolm get the better of me again. But it wasn’t Malcolm I had to worry about today as he damaged his hamstring somewhere around the course, I wasn’t aware at the time I just kept pushing to the finish as I knew Malcolm would pounce if I slowed and offered any sign of weakness. But the run was won by Tom Bush, another local rival. He and his wife, Olivia, just seemed to have a bit more pace than me, on the day, as I finished in 3^rd place.

Carole and Sharon both had good runs but as I jogged around after the finish I saw Ray and Katy coming towards the finish, neck and neck. My theory proved I was intrigued as to who would come in first, and then Katy kicked. With only 2 seconds between them I’m looking forward to lots more inter-client showdowns.

So Sunday and Boggarts Hole Clough was the setting for the Manchester Area Cross Country League. I’ve never been there before but I guessed it would be a tough course. Still it’s all good strengthening work for me. On arrival I started checking out the course but when it got a bit muddy I decided it could wait until the first lap. As I walked back to where all the athletes congregated I bumped into James Jackson, James and I competed against each other on many occasions in the Surrey League, back when we were youngsters, when James moved up North he joined Salford Harrriers, but he hasn’t run for them for some time. Looks like he’s rekindling his competitive spirit and thinking about getting back into the Masters running scene. It’ll be some team with my old rivals from London, James and Paul Simons, plus the current crop of talented oldies and the addition of my mate Rob Tudor. So look out for Salford.

Just before the start of the race I went for a short jog and ended up getting my left leg entangled in a bramble, as the bramble untangled itself it ripped some interesting patterns into my skin, brilliant 4 minutes to the start and I’ve got blood oozing out of my lower leg. This reminded me of my comeback race, three years ago, I was just heading to the start line of the National Cross Country Champs when some idiot ran his spikes down the back of my leg.

Then we were off and I was immediately swamped by a horde of faster starting runners. The first part of the course was winding through boggy grassland and I was caught in a big huddle of runners, having my pace dictated to me. I could see Graham MacNeil up ahead and about to pull a big gap on me, but I figured that three laps would pull me through the field. The 2^nd part of the course was through wooded trails, and this is where I got caught out. The trail was so narrow and twisty and yet covered in thick sticky mud, with tree trunks running through it. I was in danger of having my shoes sucked. This was real hell for me, I really struggled through this patch and it even stopped me dead at one point. Back to the first part of the course and I managed to get into my stride, the field having elongated. I was passing people all the way round here but dreading the muddy patch I now knew was coming. Second time around, although bad, I managed to navigate the tricky muddy part by adapting my style to that more akin to a ballerina (I don’t have the most attractive running style at the best of times but I was grateful Sid Sacks wasn’t here taking photos of me. Then it was onto the 3^rd lap and, although my legs were no feeling tired from all the races, training and ballet practice, I was still picking people off. As I navigated the mud this time round I remember thinking how horrible this was, I may not be a star cross country runner but I do enjoy it, however, frankly, this is one course I could never grow to love. I pushed hard towards the finish but had nothing left to sprint with at the end.

Despite what I thought was a bad run, I finished in my highest position in the league, 27^th and 2^nd M45. This is probably because loads of people didn’t turn up, having raced Boggarts Hole Clough before. I’m currently lying 2^nd overall in the M45 section. No chance of winning that as Rob Downs has won all the fixtures, but I do have a chance to slip down, the scoring is based on your best 3 races so I’m sure the likes of Ian Wetherall, Malcolm Fowler and Dave Lockett will have a say in that, they haven’t finished 3 races yet so the last race is crucial. With Dave missing out today it also gave me maximum points in the Salford Harriers cross country Masters champs. So I do have a chance to win that competition after all, but I’ll have to beat Dave to do so. Although I genuinely hated the course at the time, and probably for a couple of days after that’s actually the sort of thing that will make me turn up again, I can’t have a cross country course be the master of me, I have to master the cross country course. I’m not saying I’m in a hurry to return and I’m not promising I will be back, but don’t rule me out.

This week’s been quite interesting. On Monday I was interviewed by a journalist who is writing an article on older runners, for Runners World. I don’t know when it’s coming out, nor how much of what I said will make the final article. But it was an interesting chat. The other big event of this week is my birthday, today. And what treat did I line myself up with….a double fartlek, Katy in the morning and Ray in the evening. Thanks to everybody who has wished me a happy birthday and don’t let the cold snap get you down.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Planning 2013

I’m not one for making new year’s resolutions, but the start of a new year is a good opportunity to look back over what has occurred the previous year and to decide what I’d like to achieve for this year. I’ve had some loose plans for a while, but now it’s time to start firming things up.

But first lets take a look back at 2012. This time last year I didn’t have much to look back on, despite winning a 10k, at the end of 2011, and 7 parkruns, 2011 had been my least successful year to date. But instead of letting this get me down I was determined 2012 was going to see me back winning medals. Straight away I was in the mix with a respectable 17^th in my first race of the year, and first cross country race for 10 months, at the Cheshire Cross Country Championships. I placed 2^nd in the M45 age group, which was good considering the depth of Masters talent in Cheshire, but the down sides were that there was only a medal for 1^st and I was about 2 minutes behind Ian Wetherall, who took the medal. Consistent training saw me gradually improve as I took more parkrun victories and then, in full flow of training for the European masters 10000m, I took my first medal in 19 months, a bronze at the Masters 5k championships. Still improving I took another bronze in the 5000m at the Masters track and field championships. All was looking good for the Europeans, but then disaster, I tore my hamstring, which put paid to any ambitions in Germany. However thanks to the physio and my own strengthening work I was back in action earlier than anticipated and, although far from my best, I managed 9^th place in the European Masters 5000m.

It was while I was injured I had time to reflect on my running over the last few years. I’d joined Herne Hill Harriers when I turned 40 because I thrive on team spirit, at the time Belgrave had no interest in Masters athletics but Herne Hill had a solid team of old men. When I joined it tipped the scales and Herne Hill’s Masters started winning national masters events. But less than a year later my work asked me to consider relocating to Edinburgh. It wasn’t a tough decision to make at the time, but it was tough leaving behind the team mates, other running friends and all the races I was familiar with. Whilst I retained membership of Herne Hill, and won a number of national medals with them, I was also able to represent a Scottish club, Edinburgh AC. This helped me to survive some dark times by using my training and racing as a means of keeping strong when other things weren’t going my way. But then came a further move, back to England, and back to my childhood county of Cheshire. Whilst I was still a member of Herne Hill I was unable to count with a more local club, and I didn’t want to leave Herne Hill because they were my mates and besides, with all the recent upheaval, I wasn’t altogether sure how long we’d be in Cheshire. There followed a tough three years of running very few times for Herne Hill and being the only Herne Hill runner in the races I entered. Despite that I didn’t feel too lonely as I soon managed to make friends with a number of runners from various local clubs. But the team spirit was missing from my life and the other thing I felt I needed to help me to improve was regular cross country. So in Germany I decided it was time to move on, to a more local club, but which one? I looked at Vale Royal, Sale, Altrincham, Salford and Wilmslow but it was Salford that stood out to me as the club I was most likely to settle into, even though they were the furthest away. So I left Herne Hill after seven good and successful years and joined Salford. So far it seems to have been a good decision for not only have I enjoyed being a member of Salford but I’ve been made welcome by a fantastic bunch of athletes and supporters and to cap it all won a BMAF silver as part of the cross country relay team. As we look forward, as a club, to 2013, there is the possibility of much more success for Salford and I want to be part of it.

Finishing off 2012 with half a cross country season and, in particular, tasting success at Derby, has left me feeling pretty confident about 2013. I know I’m not the best runner in Britain, in my age group, but I’ll always give my best and when I’m at my fittest I can be up with the best, also when I’m surrounded by team mates giving as much as me that makes us a strong unit.

The last few weeks of December saw a lack of cross country running for me, probably a timely break as too much can wear you down. I was anticipating a training consolidation period but then I ended up doing 3 parkruns. I’ve already mentioned, in a previous blog, that I turned up for the inaugural Congleton parkrun, well that was intended to be my last race of the year. But things don’t always work out and Ray twisted my arm to go along to week 2 at Congleton. I wasn’t really in the mood but a wet, windy, miserable and muddy parkrun was better than the alternative, a wet and windy hill session on my own. So what did I have to lose? The answer: my 2012 100% parkrun record as local M45 rival Malcolm Fowler turned up and took me to the cleaners. Well I’m not bothered about statistics, winning streaks will always come to an end and I certainly wasn’t going to lock myself up in a room for the rest of my life so I was never again beaten, but it was a bit disheartening to be beaten by another M45, even if it was by one of the best M45s around. At least Malcolm didn’t take my course record, though he sits above me on age grading, due to being a year older than me. The following week I turned up again for Congleton’s 3^rd parkrun, again I wasn’t intending to do so but Carole was keen to run one. As it turned out Carole was in bed sick with man flu but as I’d arranged to go with Ray I decided to go anyway. Once again Malcolm was there, which meant I had a challenge on my hands, much better than a lonely hill session. This time both of us got stuffed by a youngster from Stoke, who became the first sub 17 minute runner and took my course record from me. But I ran my fastest time around the course, retaining my M45 record, finishing a few seconds ahead of Malcolm, though Malcolm still retains the top position on the age graded league. Beating Malcolm was a timely boost to my confidence as I saw him as one of my main challenges for the M45 title in the Cheshire Cross Country Championships the following weekend.

On the way back from that parkrun Ray and I were discussing our goals for 2013, which turned out to have a number of similarities. This led to my thinking about what else could I add to our training to make our goals happen. Then it dawned on me, something I loved doing, was very effective, but I’d neglected for a number of years – fartlek. So the next day I purposefully went out and designed my own fartlek course, which starts close to my house and finishes close to Ray’s. 12 repetitions ranging from 40 seconds to just over 3 minutes, featuring 5 hills (in Cheshire!) and varying lengths of recovery, the shortest just 15 metres. I ran it hard that day and have since used it with one client. I ran it hard again today and I love it, can’t wait to try it out on Ray.

So onto my 2013 goals. Well the first one was to have a good run at the Cheshire Cross Country Champs. I felt I had a chance of 1^st M45, but so did others, including Malcolm Fowler, who’s name is listed more times than anyone else I know in the history of medal winning at the Cheshire Champs. The race took place last Saturday, at Reaseheath, a course that was 1/3 suitable for me and 2/3 not very suitable for me. But I wasn’t going to let that get in the way, I’m working on improving my cross country running and little by little I’m improving. I know I’ll never be a Mike Deegan but I can be a better Roger Alsop. Despite making a schoolboy error, thinking the start was 2:30 instead of 2:15 (thanks Ray for the timely reminder) I managed to get to the start line nice and relaxed. As we headed out I was nicely positioned alongside Malcolm, but with James Noakes (another M45) and the possibility of another M45 ahead of me I wasn’t going to focus solely on Malcolm, so when Dave Alexander, an M40 of some repute, went past me I tried to go with him. Into the muddy field and Malcolm came back past me, after that he pulled away to a convincing victory. I struggled to cope with the mud in those fields, during that first lap, and a group of runners containing Graham MacNeill, 1^st m50, James Noakes, Tom Bush and a couple of City of Chester guys (one of whom I think was M45 Duncan Harris), pulled a gap on me. I was on my own as I tried to find the best way through the mud.

It was hard work in those fields but towards the end of the lap we were back on firm ground and I got a little respite. Out of the woods I was still looking at a largish gap to the group in front of me. Malcolm was way ahead so it was a certainty M45 gold had gone, particularly with his cross country reputation. Knowing that last year there was only a medal for the age group winner I could easily have given up at this point but I wasn’t about to, I’m striving to improve in these conditions and the only way that is going to happen is if I work hard in my weak area. So I relaxed and pushed. It seemed to work, I was finding it much easier to plough through the mud, I still had the odd moment of instability but I appeared to be gaining on the group ahead. The gap was getting smaller and, upon reaching the firmer ground again, I got some extra vigour. I sailed past 3 of the guys before entering the woods, passed another couple just after the woods and soon there was only Graham MacNeill up ahead. Graham was going well and it took me a while to reel him in but he came in all the same. I had about half a lap to go, I wasn’t going to let anyone come back to me. No looking back, just forwards and push all the way. I maintained position, finishing 14^th, a disappointing minute behind Malcolm, but I felt like I’d managed to kick off a demon. With a little more work maybe I’ll make a cross country runner of me yet. Once again I was 2^nd M45 so went home without a medal, only to find out, that evening, that someone had decided to hand out other medals and there is a Cheshire M45 silver medal with my metaphorical name on it.

So with my first, almost success, out of the way what are my plans for 2013: I’ve still got a way to go on finding my cross country feet but I’ve some time and a number of races to go before the one that matters, the BMAF Champs. Two years ago I was 2^nd M45, what I’d give to beat that, but it won’t be easy (if it was easy we wouldn’t be doing it, is something I keep telling my clients, at least I practice what I preach). I’ve decided against the European indoors (too much going on at that time) and I’ll probably miss the track completely this year (though I might think differently about that later). I really want to help Salford to some national gold medals this year and I’m thinking about venturing into Europe for the non stadia championships. Other than that I think it’s time I did some 10ks and possibly a 10 mile or half marathon. With BMAF championships very much in mind, both for myself and Salford, I think that’ll keep me pretty busy. I’d also like to gain selection for England again.      

But with the hard training comes the possibility of injury and I’m conscious of a little niggle in my left knee, again. So better get those victories in before it goes again.

I should say well done to my Salford colleagues for all the success they had in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Middlesex championships. Proving we are a great club of great athletes – we just need a few more in Cheshire.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

A Weekend of Two Races

This weekend I did a couple of things a little different to what I normally do on a weekend. Firstly, I raced both Saturday and Sunday. This is something I’ve only done twice before. Mind you it wasn’t the same as racing both races flat out as the 2^nd thing was that I paced a race. I’ve never, officially, paced a race before, though I was once asked if I would like to pace a group of runners in the Edinburgh 10k, I had to turn it down as I was working that day, so this was going to be a unique experience for me.

So as the title suggests, lets separate this blog into two parts and concentrate on Saturday first. On Saturday Salford were taking part in the 3^rd race of the Manchester Area Cross Country League. I’d run the first one, finishing 39^th and 5^th M45, but missed the second one due to my training trip to Spain. This weekend we were racing in Wythenshawe Park, a place I’ve not visited before. Heading off to the venue I was fairly confident that it would be less muddy than the Heaton Park course, but this illusion was quickly dismissed as I checked out the course, skipping through muddy sections followed by sections of waterlogged grass. There was also a stream crossing, I ‘m wary of stream crossings they always offer an opportunity for a catastrophe to occur. Despite the conditions, which were definitely not to my personal preference, I was feeling oddly confident. I’d perked up as the week progressed and was keen to make a more robust effort in this race than at Heaton Park.

Unfortunately, in the preceding Ladies race one of our Ladies had come a cropper at the stream crossing and had broken her wrist. But I didn’t let this get to me, when I’d surveyed the course I’d leapt over the stream like a gazelle and landed sure footedly. I lined up for the race, right on the front line, but there was no countdown, just the noise of the starter. I was caught mid jiggle (if you don’t know what that means, watch the video) and quickly swamped by a mass of athletes as we headed out on the short lap. I got into my stride and started picking my way through the field, I could see Graham MacNeil and Dave Lockett up ahead of me, both rivals for ‘old man of the week’. And then before I knew it there was a pile up as a group of runners went too wide and hit the tape. I’m sure one went a over t and I could see that Dave had been affected slightly. My poor start meant I had time to adjust my line to avoid becoming embroiled in that. Dave was quickly into his running and pulling away from me at a rapid rate. As I watched him vanish into the distance I waved goodbye to any chance of catching him in the Salford veterans standings for this year’s cross country championships. So I switched all my attention on Graham, it was time to win the battle of the ‘redheads going slightly white’.

As we continued on this first lap I seemed to be matching Graham but not making any headway on the distance between him and me. I was finding it tough as I slipped and slid around parts of the course, there was very little of it that was firm, but I kept my focus on Graham all the same. Despite the slipping and sliding I was making my way through the field and managed to pass my team mate Billy MaCartney on the way to the crowd area. Coming round the encircled crowd was a real fillip, hearing all the Salford mob, and even some of the Vale Royal mob, cheer me on is always uplifting and I seemed to find my stride again. As I crossed the start line, for the start of the first of the two larger laps, somebody shouted I was in 40^th position. Not bad I thought and quickly passed team mate Howard Mead to equal my position from the first match. Now I was on a MacNeil mission, can’t have him beating me, he’s over 50. Not only that but there were 3 Wilmslow runners, who all looked like they were masters, lined up ahead of me. They’re a strong masters club so I couldn’t afford to let all 3 finish ahead of me.

This was the lap we encountered the stream for the first time but I picked my spot and landed perfectly and up the other side without a hitch, just as another Wilmslow athlete came past me. I latched onto him and it was a good move as he dragged me round past his team mates and I’d got the better of Graham at last. I felt good but, hang on a minute, wasn’t that Dave up ahead. Still with a gap but it now seemed achievable, especially as I had this Wilmslow youngster helping with my pacing. Back round to the crowd and more cheering, I was still with the Wilmslow guy and Dave was getting closer. A few hundred metres later I’d pushed for it, seeing Dave up close I’d made my move to pass him, uttering some encouragement as I passed, after all he is a team mate. I also seemed to drop the Wilmslow guy but just before the stream crossing he’d gone back past me.

As we came to the stream the Wilmslow guy leapt and was away. My attempt was a little less graceful as I jumped like a buffalo shot mid flight by Bill Cody. I landed with my right foot ankle deep in mud and as I tried to move forward I fell forward smothering my knuckles in mud. By the time I scrambled back up the Wilmslow guy was long gone and I had a group of runners, including Dave, hot on my tail. I got back into my stride and pushed for home. Entering the woods I took a sneak back to see where Dave was and nearly missed the turn, but once out of the woods it was plain sailing, although I did have a fast finishing Tom Bush hunting me down. I finished 29^th, 3^rd M45, and my win over Dave gives me a fighting chance in the Salford champs.

All in all I felt I ran well, the two M45s to finish ahead of me were over a minute clear of me but that doesn’t actually concern me as much as you’d think it would. I know there’s a lot more to come and the cross country is just a stepping stone for me. My victory over Dave was fortunate, I don’t think he was at his best on the day, but it does give me a little hope for the rest of this championship year. As a team we’d done well, but we can do better. Home for a shower, my kit was straight into the washing machine and it took me 20 minutes to get all the mud off my legs.   

It had been a reasonably mild day but overnight the temperatures dropped, far from perfect for an early morning start on Sunday. Sunday was the day I was due to pace Lee Riley to his 6^th world record as he tried to duck under 46:04 in the Wrexham 10k (carrying his 40lb pack). I was to be at Lee’s for 8:30 but as I scraped the ice off my windscreen and stretched my aching legs I wondered if I’d be any use to Lee at all and wouldn’t it be more sensible to go back to a warm bed. Still a commitment is a commitment and I never let anyone down. So I set off through the icy back lanes and arrived at Lee’s in plenty of time. The rest of the team were already there; Jacqui (designated driver, sandwich maker, holder of the scales and Lee’s publicist) and Llorenc Sales Ferre (a young Spanish athlete from Stoke AC who would act as 2^nd pacemaker and cameraman).

Off we headed for Wrexham, but as we drew close the sky turned darker and there were occasional showers. A quick circuit of the course, in the car, showed it was relatively flat, a bit narrow in places but a good surface, however there was one bit still affected by the flood that had occurred the previous week, giving us a big puddle to traverse with muddy patches just after it.

Back to the club house we went through all the admin of setting a world record, weighing, photographing and the witnessing of everything by officials from the club. I have to say the race officials were very helpful and willingly gave up their time during a period that was very busy for them. I’d worked out all the k splits for our attempt, based on beating 43 minutes (Lee’s goal) but also what it would take to beat 46 minutes, which was all we really needed to do, but there were no k markers, only mile markers. Still 7 minute mile pace would give us 43:something so that was all we needed to achieve.

And then it was time to head to the start. A minor issue as we struggled to get Lee’s pack as tight as possible but we got there in the end. The organisers had allowed us some space at the start, which was much appreciated but as the race set off we did find it difficult to settle into position for the first mile as it was quite congested. We didn’t panic and settled into a pace which seemed quite comfortable and yet fast enough. I’ll point out here that I didn’t use a garmin, I like to run how I feel and I’ve worked with Lee for some time now, gaining a good understanding of how he’s running. I knew he’d gone off too quickly during his 5k record, only a few weeks ago, and suffered for it towards the end, but I was feeling confident Lee could handle this pace. Still even I was a bit surprised when we went through the first mile marker in 6:19.

Oh well no point in worrying about that now, I checked how Lee felt, he said he was good. We still had a good way to go but we settled down, I put the faster first mile down to having to accelerate as we passed a number of people who had gone off too fast. I felt the 2^nd mile was slower and more consistently paced, and it was, 6:21. Wow, we were 1 minute 20 ahead of a schedule that would see us smash the official world record, so we had plenty in hand. Still if Lee felt good lets keep it up. At this point Lee was thinking sub 40 but I told him to wait until 4 miles before considering that, I felt if we pushed too hard now we would lose it all in the last two miles.

Lee did feel good but that 3^rd mile was slower at 6:46. Still not complaining it was still faster than our schedule. At all these mile markers Llorenc would sprint forward to the marker and film Lee and myself crossing the line, he’d then get me to shout the time into the video recorder. There was no marker for 5k, which was a bit of a shame, but I’m confident we were close to Lee’s world record time for that distance, and I wasn’t worried we were going too fast. Lee was looking good, sure it was hurting and there were signs of fatigue but I could see that Lee was on for this, he had his race face on.

During the next mile we passed through the puddle and the muddy patches but still Lee forged on and although slowing, slightly, it was still a sub 7 min mile. I can’t recall exactly what the time was for this mile, I was too busy providing motivational pep talks to Lee to let it sink in. However, with just over two miles to go we were around two minutes ahead of schedule.

The 5^th mile proved a tough one, Lee went outside of the schedule, 7:05, but we still had plenty in reserve on our schedule and then a further 2 minutes and more on the official world record, so we could afford this. Lee was looking tired, I could see that he was working hard to maintain pace and I was a little worried that he could run out of steam, but this wasn’t a marathon and, although I don’t know how it must feel to be carrying that weight around, surely we couldn’t drop more than 3 minutes in the next mile and a bit. Even so I wasn’t going to chance it, I gave Lee every bit of motivation I could, all the stuff I know that works for me when times are tough.

Lee rallied, we reached the 6 mile point with a 7:01, surely we couldn’t fail now. I urged him on over those final 346 metres, making sure it was a sustained effort rather than an all out kick too early. As we reached the line Llorence and I drifted to the side, we didn’t want to get in the way of the timekeepers or mess up other runners times and we certainly didn’t want a post 41 minute 10k time attributed to our CV’s (at least not yet), but we heard the officials shout out 41:24 as Lee passed the line. A fantastic New World Record, breaking the previous one by 4 minutes and 40 seconds. That’s Lee’s 6^th different world record distance, I haven’t kept count of how many he’s actually taken, he’s broken his own time on occasions, but of course he still holds all 6 distances at the same time (400m, 1 mile, 5000m, 10k, Half Marathon, Marathon).

Apart from the time I paced Lee, in a time trial, to equal the mile world record, which he subsequently broke, this was my first time pacing Lee to a new world record. I have to say it felt good to be a part of it, I’ve been working with Lee on these records for about two years now and we’ve become quite close. It means a lot to me to see Lee achieving each one, though usually I’m away when he does them, so it was particularly good to be a part of this record attempt. We went through all the post race weighing and officialdom, once again thanks to the officials for their assistance and then it was off to consider what next!

The video will be edited and Lee will be posting it on youtube, along with those of Lee’s achievements that are already there. Plus the Wrexham 10k organisers can boast that it had a world record set on their course.     

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk