Northwich Five-O

I’ve been a little quiet lately, it’s been a busy period workwise so I’ve cut down on my social and social media activity. But I’ve also been doing some self analysis of where I am with my running and where I’m going with it.

To recap (for any new readers, regular readers feel free to ignore this paragraph); When I turned 45 I was running great, highly ranked in the UK, in my age group, and running times I hadn’t seen since before I turned 40, I had some good results in national competitions and even took a medal in the European champs (the one for old people). Injury took it’s toll and I dropped some form but was still performing well until I hit 48 and had the worst injury of my running life. It’s been a long time getting over that, and various other associated problems with my legs, glutes and back, but these last couple of months I’ve been pretty much able to train without associated muscle injury pain.

So what has this meant to me: For starters it means I can take part in races without the fear of breaking down. It means I can train at 100% and, more importantly I can train at a ‘relatively’ high pace, I’m also able to start quickly in races (for a long time I had to let others go whilst my legs got warmed up, even after a lengthy warm up the standing around at the start was enough to stiffen the muscles). However for two years I’ve missed a lot of training and what training I’ve been doing has been of a far lesser intensity and quality to that I would like to achieve, so, understandably, my form has deserted me and my results pale into insignificance compared to where I was before the big injury.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be running and running sub 18 minutes for a 5k is still pretty good, but being an ambitious runner it just isn’t good enough for me. But I’m also pragmatic, I’ve been here, relatively, before and I know it’s just a matter of persevering with the training, that I know works well, and being patient. Yes I’d like to be running faster now and I’d like to be contributing more to the Salford squad, but I’ve accepted that now is not my time and I’m happy to see my friends and fellow team members have successful runs whilst I persevere with my training programme.

So I’m looking forwards. Next year I turn 50, It’s hard to visualise it myself, particularly as I keep seeing postings of my results and pictures of me running in the 1990s, but yes I will be a quinquagenarian. I’ll be ranked against a load of people older than me rather than younger than me, although there are some extremely good runners turning, or recently turned 50, so I’ll still need to be running well. The main point is that instead of trying hard to find my fitness over the next few weeks I can concentrate my training so that I come into form next year, assuming I stay injury free.

So that’s what I’ve been doing/will continue to do over the next few months. My running continues to be focussed around improving speed and endurance but I’ve incorporated specific cross training sessions into my training as the 2^nd session of the day; Boot camp, kettlebells, weights, other cardio work and core activities. Yes I know I’ve done all that before but because of my injuries I wasn’t able to keep it as regular as I wanted to. Now I feel I’m back on track, though, as results show, I’m a long way off recovering my best form. Here’s hoping to a long sustained period of training that will see Rog back to his best form.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Don’t Let It Get You Down

I’ve had good times, my personal bests for all distances above 400m (excepting the steeplechase, which just goes to show Rog can’t jump) are pretty respectable, I’ve got a box full of medals and I’ve represented my country, in fact I’ve represented my Wifey’s country too (and she still won’t forgive me for that). I’m far from being a household name but I’ve been a ‘known’ runner within the running community and, I think, I have the respect of my peers for what I’ve achieved and how I’ve conducted myself as a runner. But, I’ve also had times where I’ve been out injured, I’ve struggled to run to the form I know I can achieve or I’ve just felt like I’m going nowhere. During these periods of poor form it would be so easy to accept defeat and stop training hard, run for fitness but don’t push yourself, after all it hurts to train hard, doesn’t it. But I’m a stubborn old git and I tend to push through it, punishing myself for no apparent return, until one day you turn a corner and you’re back in competitive mode.

I know many former star runners who no longer compete, some had injuries that just wouldn’t be fixed, others retired for reasons of their own, I never ask. Perhaps one reason I keep going is that I was never a schoolboy wonder, when I first started running my first 5k was over 18 minutes, so a 17 minute 5k, whilst significantly slower than my best, just doesn’t seem that bad.

I may not have been a star athlete in 1990, but I'd learnt how to win, and how to hold onto my watch picture as I crossed the line

The good times came to me in 1993 when I won my 1^st Surrey 10000m title, with a time of 30:33.7. Until that point I’d been a gradually improving club runner who was reliable but of B team standard. That victory propelled me into the big time, within six weeks I was running at Crystal Palace in the UK Champs. In front of full house I came dead last in the 3000m, yet, because of my previous lack of form, I was still able to walk away with a pb. I never became that big but I was always a contender in Surrey Champs and even won an individual South of England silver medal. 1993-1996 were my first peak.

getting ready to pounce past Mike Boyle to win my first major title, the Surrey 10000m, 1993

The good times came to a halt at the end of 1996, I’d won my first cross country race, the South of Thames Junior, in November and was in the form of my life. I had high hopes of a good position in the County Cross Country Champs, which were taking place in December, even had thoughts of a possible win (though I hadn’t expected Internationals Gary Staines and Jon Solly to turn up). But a week before the race I went down with a cold, a really bad cold. I rested up but really wanted to do the race. By the Saturday morning I was feeling fine so I went for a mile jog, it was easy, great I was able to race. That afternoon I hit the 1 mile point, in the 7.5 mile race, and it was like hitting a wall. I had nothing, I pushed through, hurting like hell as runner after runner took a place away from me. It was all I could do to hang onto 18^th place, the consolation being that Belgrave won the team event for the first time in 30 years.

I rested after the race and I really struggled in January, I couldn’t work it out so eventually I went to the doctors and it turned out I’d been lucky, I’d only strained my heart. Rest and a gradual increase in training activity were prescribed. 1997, by the previous three years standards, wasn’t a great year, though I still managed 3^rd in the Surrey 5000m Champs and 10^th in the Surrey Cross Country Champs, despite fracturing my metatarsal in May and having a further nine weeks rest. In 1998 I tried hard to regain my form of 1996 and was rewarded by my body telling me enough was enough, it broke down and I was out for a further 5 months. In all honesty I thought that was it, I couldn’t see myself getting back running, there was one defining moment that made me want to try again though – One sunny day as I was walking through Regents Park a runner from another club came past and said, in a disparaging way, ‘didn’t you used to be a runner’ – well that was like a red rag to a bull, he’d never come close to beating me and I had a feeling he never would.

As you can imagine it was slow progress at first, my first race back was in December, the Surrey Cross Country Champs, where I finished 66^th. I was back though and over the summer managed to get my 5000m times back to low 15 minutes, clearly I wasn’t as good as I’d been but I showed flashes of my old form with a win in the Surrey 10000m and the 3^rd fastest man in the Surrey Road Relays. Soon after I was off to Germany and the lack of distractions, housework, girlfriend, meant I was able to fully focus my training, when I wasn’t working.

A little less hair and past my best but still able to win the Wimbledon 10k in 31:56 and avoid being run over by a Jag

2000 started great, I set a huge pb when winning the Sidcup 10 and ran my 2^nd fastest 10k time a few weeks later, 31:04. Solid running continued until I tore my calf muscle in the Surrey 5000m Champs. It was another setback and another tough summer. I was now 35, I couldn’t see me having many years left at my peak. The next couple of years I was there or thereabouts but I was more of an also ran, though, on my day, I pulled off the odd race win in times that I’d be very happy to get within a minute of now. My decision to run the 2003 London Marathon meant I was training even harder than I’d done before and prior to the marathon I was in great shape. My marathon time, 2:34.10 was no great shakes compared by my peers but that 1^st marathon is like going into the unknown and I was just glad I managed to get round as my brain had been telling me to pull out from about 9 miles. The bonus being Belgrave took silver in the South of England Champs.

Following the marathon I really struggled to get any form back, sure there were a couple of 10ks run sub 32 minutes, but they were the exception rather than the rule. At the time I was approaching 40 and saw this as a reason to keep running. I was being realistic now, I couldn’t see me regaining my best ever form and one thing that had kept me going was fighting to keep my place in a very strong Belgrave team, I needed that fight to keep going but now Belgrave was overrun with young talent, I needed a Masters team to give me something to aim for. Belgrave just didn’t have the focus, so I took the tough decision to leave and join Herne Hill. Incentive in place I was running well, winning my 1^st Masters race and placing 1^st M40 at the Alsager 5, and then a torn hamstring put paid to the summer that had promised so much.

I managed to get back to form to help Herne Hill win the British Masters Cross Country Relay Champs, but then another change I was off to Scotland and years of shift work. I ran ok in Scotland, particularly in that first year. But I was definitely slowing down, it was an opportunistic Rog who found himself in the Edinburgh AC team that won the Scottish Road Relays in 2006, I took full advantage of my relay experience by taking EAC into the lead, which we kept to the end. After that my form started to dwindle as my body felt more and more tired from the ravages of night shift. I had some reasonable runs in that time but I was a different athlete to the one I’d been in London.

Edinburgh days, still got a turn of speed on the odd occasion

A 33:10 10k in 2009, aged 44, showed I could still pull out a good run but I did little else for the rest of the year, the job, the niggles, the uncertainties over redundancy and the studying to become a Personal Trainer all seemed to take their toll. At the back end of 2009 my life in Scotland was over, Carole, who I’d been with for a couple of years, took a position in Cheshire and I had to make a decision about my future. The offer of redundancy helped and I left behind my IT career, completed my training and started life in Cheshire, as a Personal Trainer.

It was a hard time trying to get established in a new area, particularly as we were living in a small village, but it did give me the time to train hard and 2010 started with a bang, 1^st M45 at Alsager, in a time faster than when I’d been 1^st M40 5 years earlier, 20^th and 1^st M45 at the Trafford 10k, in my fastest 10k for years, 32:19, and 2^nd in the BMAF Cross Country Champs. Those were the good times, a little niggle helped me to lose form but I was still good enough to take 2^nd in the BMAF 5k Champs and 3^rd in the European Masters 10000m Champs. After that I was exhausted, my form dwindled and a succession of niggles and injuries have stopped me from regaining that form. I’ve had good runs during the four years that have passed, I’ve won quite a few medals too, but in particular these last two years have been a real struggle for me, going from injury to injury. It’s the closest I’ve got to retirement since 1998, but there’s something encouraging about seeing my mates and Salford colleagues running well and it’s kept me going. This year’s been really hard I’ve had to work really hard to run slow times, but these last three weeks I’ve been managing to train properly for the first time in two years, yes there’s been pain but not the pain you get when you’re training through an injury. A few weeks ago I ran a 5k at the fast Christleton event and it was hard work to just break 17:30. Yesterday I took part in the BMAF 5k Champs and felt much better running 17:11. Ok, I know, It’s nothing special, the winning M45 time was 15:37 and there were three more M45s under 16 minutes, including my team mate Gerry O’Neill, but it’s progress towards something better and that’ll keep me in the game for a few weeks more.

Back to form in 2005, 2nd BMAF XC M45

After all these years I know that all that’s stopping me from getting back to the top of my form is a period of consistent hard training, I’m hopeful I’ll get the chance to prove I’m right.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

British Masters Road Relays 2014 – An Alsop’s Salford Perspective

As last Saturday’s championship approached I had a growing anticipation of the race to come. It wasn’t quite the anticipation I had in the four years that I was a member of the Herne Hill team that finished runners up twice and won twice, but I was looking forward to a good day out in Sutton Park, with Salford. For starters there would be the usual bus full of Salford competitors and supporters, for the first time since I joined we would feature a ladies team in a masters relay, then there was the opportunity to catch up with old friends and competitors from years gone by, sadly Herne Hill, Belgrave and Edinburgh AC were without teams, but there were still plenty of people I knew, and lastly I was at least going to get a run this year, having missed out through injury last year. Still it was another injury that had put me into the Salford M45 B team, not a position I want to occupy but totally appropriate since I only started jogging a week earlier. I wasn’t alone, many of my Salford colleagues were returning from injuries, struggling with injuries or just hadn’t been able to make it to the start line at all through injury. But, what was good to see was so many old runners taking part and even more so, so many of them running really well, achieving times that runners many years younger would love to run.

All the Salford teams looked like they would be challenging for medals, could it be another Salford medal fest. As usually happens in the week before a major championship, there were dropouts, for various reasons, but we have numbers to cover and we were able to get five main teams out and a number of B teams to back them up, by far the largest contingent of teams and athletes in the whole event.

Arriving at Sutton Park it wasn’t just runners out enjoying the sunshine, the bottom end was packed with picnickers. As we approached the course the red and white Salford tent was standing out proud, with a number of the lads and lasses hanging around watching the first event, ladies and M65+.  We had a team in the W35 and, incredibly, three teams in the M65+. As expected the Salford A teams were in the hunt for medals and the Ladies were at one point leading the whole race. Unfortunately, on this occasion we just didn’t have enough strength in depth but it was a good start to the day, we’d shown our steel and there was more to come. The ladies finished 8^th, and the gents in 6^th, 10^th and 16^th respectively. Of course it wasn’t a complete medal free zone as Stan Curran picked up a bronze as 3^rd fastest M65 and Hayley Kuter took silver in the W35 event.

One race down, two medals taken as Hayley and Stan set impressive times

After my own warm up, I’d kept it short as I didn’t know how much running my legs had in them, I spent some time chatting with the many runners I’ve encountered in my 25 years as an athlete. It was good to catch up with Jon James, who I’d roomed with when we both ran for England, he’s had his own injury problems so it was good to see him back running, even more impressive to see him take a medal as one of the fastest M45 legs.

I was on 2^nd leg, the same as my mate Rob, so once the gun went there wasn’t a lot of time to hang around, last visit to the loo and then huddle around with all the other leg two’s waiting for your man to come in.

First man coming in to the handover area was Mark Johnson of Mansfield, with another impressive run, which would hold up as the 2^nd fastest M35 leg. Just two seconds down was the first of Salford’s teams, Matt Shaw bringing the M35 A team in 2^nd. These were followed in by a group of M35s before the first M45 team came home in 8^th, Thames Hare and Hounds, one of the teams tipped for glory. Eight seconds further back our reliable rocket, Dave Lockett brought Salford M45 A home in 3^rd M45 position, giving Rob Tudor two to chase. Steve Pennington handed over to me, M45 B, in 38^th position, Mike Grace wasn’t far behind in 42^nd with the M35 B team, not too far back, holding 6^th M55 position was Stan Owen, with Gary Thomason bringing home the M55 B team a little further back. What an incredible job Dave had done to get A and B teams out in all three categories plus three teams in the previous race, expect to see B teams in the Ladies soon too, we’re going to need a bigger bus!

At the end of leg two Salford Harriers M35 team were leading the way, but not far behind, in 2^nd and 1^st M45, Jon James had a great run. Rob too had run a great leg, pulling the M45 team into 4^th position overall and 2^nd to Wells, but with an ominous Leicester lurking in 3^rd. Woodford Green were leading the M55 race, with Cambuslang in 2^nd and our Eric Williams having his own stormer in 3^rd. My run was far short of spectacular but served it’s purpose in getting me round intact, not one painful moment during the whole 3 miles, and, even though I couldn’t be as competitive as I like, I still managed to gain 2 places. A mere 7 places further back another of our recovering injured, Dave Hudson, was running well for the M35 B team, showing promise for later in the year, and a little bit further back, Ian Johnson was pulling the M55 B team up 7 places.

By the end of Leg 3 our M35 team were back in 2^nd place, as former Belgrave colleague Simon Marwood of Altrincham passed our Jon Dance, but the gap was only 6 seconds. Thames Hare and Hounds were now in 3^rd with, to my mind, one of the top runs of the day by Martin Rees (M60) bringing M35 Les Croupiers into 4^th. Paul Simons, yet another long term injury sufferer had earned his place in the Salford M45 B team through persistence against pain but how he wouldn’t have wished he was in the sort of shape he’s capable of. I’ve raced against Paul for many years and he’ll always give everything he’s got for the team, and he did, taking the lead in the M45 category, 8 seconds ahead of Leicester, with Thames Hare and Hounds M45 team in 3rd. This was the last leg for the M55 race which Woodford Green won, Phil Quibell brought home Salford in 2^nd place, ahead of Bristol and West. That was Salford’s first set of team medal sorted. Salford M45 B team was still winning the battle of the Bs as Paul Birkett gained a further 4 places. The M35 B team were just over a minute behind as Phil West also gained 2 places, and Tommy Temple showed B consistency as he moved up the M55 team by 4 places.

M55 silver; Phil and Stan, minus Eric

Halfway through the main race and Salford’s M55 teams had set our standard with 2^nd and 25^th, at the end of the next leg we’d know the fate of the M45 teams.

Altrincham showed their intent on this leg, Matt Barnes set the day’s fastest time as he opened up a minute and 21 second gap over Thames Hare and Hounds, who had come through into 2^nd with a fine run by Simon Wurr. John Lloyd had run well to keep Salford M35 in 3^rd but Les Croupiers were now only 4 seconds behind us. It made a nice change for Salford M45s to be heading Leicester at the start of the last leg, but with Gordon Lee on that leg for Leicester it was always going to be tough to maintain the position. Gerry O’Neill is new in the team but he showed what a fine prospect he is, running not much slower than established luminaries Dave Lockett and Rob Tudor, unfortunately it wasn’t enough as Gordon went on to set the fastest M45 time of the day. 2^nd again for Salford M45, but we’ll have our day. Ben Reynolds secured team bronze for Thames Hare and Hounds M45 team. Ian Jackson moved M45 B team up a further 5 places to 27^th overall and Sean Cordell kept the Salford M35 B team in touch moving them up 3 places. More medals secured as the M45s finished in 2^nd and 13^th respectively.

More medals as the M45 race finishes; Dave, Rob and Paul, minus Gerry

At the end of leg 5 Altrincham were still in the lead, 1 minute 23 ahead of Les Croupiers, who’s Robert Sage had pulled them from 4^th to 2^nd. Pumlani Bangani kept Salford in the hunt, in 3^rd, 9 seconds further back, with Thames Hare and Hounds dropping to 4^th.  Salford’s remaining B team moved up 14 places, thanks to Trevor Raynor.

Was there any doubt? with Dave Norman on last Leg, Altrincham clinched the 2014 title. Les Croupiers put up a good show as Graham Breen ran fastest on leg 6 to secure silver for them and Glyn Billington kept Salford steady in bronze position. Thames Hare and Hounds vanished as they failed to run a 6^th man and Albert Castile pulled Salford B up one final place, finishing in 23rd.

Completing the set; Matt, Billy, Glyn, Jon, John and Pumlani

The end of some successful Salford plundering, with two team silvers, one team bronze and individual medals for Stan, Hayley and Matt. A total of 16 medals as Salford once again showed their support for Masters athletics.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk
Photos, thanks to Sid Sacks, who also ran.

Salford Harriers Raising Their Game

I like a bit of history, it was my favourite subject at school and I’m enjoying watching the programmes looking back on the First World War, in this the 100^th year since the start. During my 25 years as a runner I’ve belonged to clubs with great histories and I feel like I’ve made an actual contribution, albeit a small one in comparison to others, to that history. It was one of the reasons I joined Salford Harriers, nearly two years ago. They go back to 1884 and have won a number of major titles since then.

Unfortunately, for me, I’ve spent most of my time with Salford suffering with one injury or another, my current problem, pulled hamstring, is reminiscent of the injury I had when I first joined. Fortunately for Salford my incapacitation has not stopped them from winning as the club is filled with talented runners, in fact so many that our B teams feature prominently in competitions as well as our A teams.

Since I joined, and it’s purely coincidental, the Senior team has been building in strength. Sure Andi Jones leaving was a big loss but fresh blood has come into the team and our Senior squad can boast a team full of International runners with improving pbs. The Masters, always a threat and always supportive of Masters competitions (usually bringing more than one team in each age group, who else could boast that claim) have won or been challenging for the win in just about every competition. Since I joined, when we were already a class Masters squad, we’ve been bolstered by the addition of more quality runners. Unfortunately, for us, this last year the rules have changed to reduce the number of athletes to run in Masters teams in the relay competitions, whilst this should make competition fiercer, allowing more teams a bite at the cherry, it will mean a number of our athletes will miss out on their own little nibble. Perhaps it’s time to allow B teams to feature in the medals, I’m sure we could sneak a few that way and I’ve never seen why strong teams should be penalised, look at Aldershot’s ladies team, they regularly finish 1^st and 2^nd in major competitions but the fact that some always miss out on medals may encourage them to leave a team they don’t want to.

Next weekend is the Masters Road Relays at Sutton Park. It promises to be a fantastic day out. It always has been and I’ve been lucky enough to be involved for a number of years. I’ve yet to make my debut for Salford in this event, last year I was almost ready to start running again after messing up my Achilles in the winter, this year it still looks like I may have to miss out again. For Salford it’s not just a chance to fight for medals against the best clubs in the country, it’s a day out. Having seen our A team line ups I’m quite excited to see how they do.

It’s been a bit of a break since I wrote my last blog, work has kept me busy, so busy I’ve been working seven days a week for a while, thankfully I enjoy my work and there is reward in doing it. My last blog saw me express my thoughts on giving in to the injuries, whilst at the same time I was making a determined bid to try to make our four man team for next week’s championship. Writing down my thoughts made me more determined, the following weekend I was up in Scotland for a family do, so I decided to run the Edinburgh Parkrun. For the first time in many a race I actually lined up at the start thinking I could have a good race, I’d even put on my racing flats, something I’ve never done before for a parkrun. It was a windy day but as I set off the wind was behind me, I went through the first k faster than any I’ve done in a long time and an even quicker 2^nd k, but turning the corner half way round I was suddenly hit by this incredibly strong wind, the likes of which I’ve never experienced before. It stopped me dead, I pushed through, by 3k I was hitting lactic but still fighting through this stiff wind. It was incredibly painful and I just wanted it to stop but it wasn’t going to so I just had to keep fighting it all the way to the finish. I’d been on for a sub 17:30 finish early on but the wind saw me falter to 18:02 a chance wasted.

The confidence gained, despite the slow time, meant I lined up, four days later, for a 5 mile race with a real feeling that I could do well. And I was doing well, through 3 miles in a time that would have seen me run about 17:20 for 5k, I was coming strong in that 4^th mile, passing people and setting my sights on a group ahead. With 1 mile to go I felt a slight twinge in my hamstring, I eased back a touch but thought I’d be ok to maintain pace. I decided not to push any harder and let the group ahead go, but I was still on for a reasonable finish, then 300m to go to the finish I felt a big pull. This time I had to slow right down and jog/limp into the finish. I lost a lot of time in that 300m but only 1 position. More importantly that was it for me, I could hardly walk and it’s only now that I’m able to make a start running again. Such is the life of a runner.

All my plans for this year have been thrown into disarray, the races I was targeting are all bunched around May and June and there is no way I’ll be fit enough to compete at the level I wanted to by then. I’ll have to build up slowly and focus on next year, when I hit the new age group. So clearly I’m not giving into it just yet.

Incidentally, I’ve just realised that I’ve written this blog from the perspective of the mens team, but actually the ladies are also showing form and will be aiming to feature next week too.

Come on Salford.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Is Enough, Enough?

I don’t really like quitting and I don’t actually think I’m a quitter, but sometimes you just have to say I’ve given it everything I can and it’s time to move on. I tried hockey, I was the worst player on the team, even though I scored one of those really spectacular goals that would feature on goal of the year, had there been cameras around, the sort that only the best players can conceive of, or, in my case, is a mishit back pass that not only doesn’t stay on the ground but also heads in the wrong direction. It was my first goal for the BBC, my 2^nd and last goal would follow about 10 minutes later, less spectacular and, this time, actually intentional. Soon after I realised I was fooling myself if I thought I was going to be any good at hockey and gave up. My quitting of the hockey world coincided with the quitting of my career at the BBC, I was going nowhere in an organisation that I loved working for but they didn’t love me enough to pay me a salary that meant I could actually afford to live in London.

If it was money I was after then I needed a change and I found myself embarking on a career in the computer industry. It started well, I picked up programming quickly and was one of only three people, from the course, to get selected to work for the top employer on the list, NatWest. With a new career came a new sport, football. I’d never been a great footballer but I was above average. I didn’t have any dreams of playing for a proper club or even making any money out of it but I did harbour the dream that I would get a regular team place in a local Sunday league team. Those hopes were soon dashed when I realised the difference between playing with friends and playing competitive footballers. After 4 months of getting selected to join the team in the pub after the match I realised my football career was a non starter, time to try something else.

I tried running, I seemed to have some natural endurance so I thought I’d join a club. Hercules Wimbledon beckoned, but they were shut, so I ended up at Belgrave. I wasn’t much cop at running either; my first 800m, on 6^th May 1989, ended in 2:15.2, but I still came 3^rd. I followed this up on 12^th June with a 5000m, which I completed in 18:12 – I wasn’t last. Two months after my first 800m I ran my second one and improved dramatically to 2:14.8. Not exactly Olympic material, but there was something about running that I liked. I could see that if you worked hard you could improve but most of all I didn’t have to get picked to take part, all I had to do was enter. Obviously I realised that for some events you had to be selected but in those days I had no real ambition, other than to improve my performance and have some fun.

A young Rog winning a mile race in 1990, 4:35 - a classic stopwatch photo

Twenty five years later I have improved, though I’m now slipping closer to those original markers I set down. Not only that but I did get selected for some big events, and I’ve had a lot of fun. However these days I really am beginning to find it hard to motivate myself and I’ll admit the thought of giving up has crossed my mind.

During the middle of my peak years, seen here leading a BMC 1500m with some of Surrey's best in action

In those twenty five years I’ve had two maybe three calendar years where I haven’t suffered an injury that has meant taking a break from the sport. A lot of the injuries were short term strains or pulls which took a couple of weeks to fix and then you were back, when I was younger it didn’t take that long to get fit again either. 1996 was the first serious injury, I strained my heart running with a cold. The injury itself sounds worse than it was, it was a simple muscle strain, the muscle being the heart. Had I carried on at the time I could have caused a more serious outcome but as it was I took a break and allowed it time to fix itself. It took me a while to get back to fitness and even then I was nowhere near the form I had been in prior to injury. So I trained harder, I’d been in the form of my life in the autumn of 1996 and I wanted to get back there. Unfortunately training harder didn’t work, it just broke my foot, metatarsal to be exact. Fortunately, when I tried to come back, nine weeks later, it had been a really wet summer and I began my training in a waterlogged park. Amazingly, after only 5 weeks training I anchored Belgrave’s Surrey Road Relay team to win gold, and I earned that gold with a fantastic run, under the circumstances, to hold off a Herne Hill runner thought to be of similar ability to me.

That winter I got back close to where I’d been the previous winter, some great Surrey Leagues, a good performance at the Inter Counties cross country champs and even one of the faster legs at the South of England road relays. This was it Rog was back and about to set the running world on fire. Only I didn’t, in the spring I started to get calf pains, I tried to run through but after several weeks of on/off training I decided it was time to see a specialist. Without going into details I had a problem, in fact it wasn’t only one my whole body was a mess. The answer was to have an orthotic built. In the meantime I had to rest.

This was to become one of the longest breaks of my running career, to date, about five months. Luckily I was contracting at the time, on an hourly rate, so I could focus everything into my career and making the money that would see me through rainy days in the future. The problem had been so painful at times that I really couldn’t see myself coming back from this one, particularly after how hard I’d worked to come back the previous two times. I reviewed my time in running and decided that I couldn’t complain, I’d had a good run of it, achieving much more than I could have hoped for, if I had to give up now so be it, I’d find something else.

But I wasn’t quite ready to give up yet. After watching Belgrave struggle to get out a team in the Surrey road relays of 1998, a year after we had won the title, we couldn’t field 6 Surrey qualified runners, in fact we couldn’t even field 6 runners and failed to even finish a team. I rarely get angry or moody with running but that performance took the packet of biscuits out of my hand. I was the fattest and heaviest I’d ever been at eleven and a half stone but I made up my mind that Belgrave needed me and I needed running.

I started running again soon after, it was slow progress but I aimed to make my comeback at the County Cross Country champs in December. It wasn’t a good start, it rained persistently and the course featured a steep hill that had little grip on it. We went up it four times, I had to walk on two of those occasions. I finished 66^th, but I’d finished and I was only going to get better. A month later I was 52^nd in the last of that season’s Surrey league races. I probably would have been somewhere in the 60s if it hadn’t been for some loud Belgrave runner following me round that second lap shouting his head off at me to keep pushing, the only reason I pushed harder was to get away from the annoying sound of his voice. As it turned out, no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t shake off Will Cockerell and this would be the start of another great running relationship, but at least I beat him. It did take a while for my fitness to come back but by 2000 I was running well again, a 31:04 10k, my best for seven years, and I lined up for the Surrey 5000m convinced it was my time to win, after so many 2^nd and 3^rd places, and I was right up there, sitting on Stuart Major confident I would sweep past when I wanted to, and then it happened, my calf tore. I hobbled round for two laps before realising that carrying on would make things very bad.

I’ve kept coming back for more, retirement in 1998 would have been premature, I achieved much more after that, in fact I’ve continue to achieve in running. Last year, threw up another bad injury that has caused me no end of issues and caused me to lose a lot of the race fitness I had built up, yet I still won races and I still took medals. So far this year has been pretty poor by my previous standards, I’ve struggled through two very muddy cross country races and I’ve found my fitness lacking in the three road races I’ve taken part in. The thought of giving in is not so alien a concept but I’m not sure I’m ready to do it just yet. I’m thinking of trying a different sport, perhaps that will make the decision for me, but all I need is a good race and I’ll embrace running again. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, there are thousands of runners out there who I’m sure wish they could run as fast as I currently am, but I’m no longer enjoying pushing my body so hard and worse I hate turning up at races feeling indifferent, the sparkle, the desire, the passion, the confidence have all deserted me. How do I get them back, perseverance is the key, keep plugging away and maybe, just maybe I’ll find some of my old sparkle, perhaps all I need is a road relay, particularly one where I’m handed the lead.

Give up in 1998, just think how many road relays I would have missed, let alone won. Here I am in 2009 leading on leg 1 of the South of England Masters champs, the day after my brother's wedding, I wasn't even in good shape but relays bring out the best in me.

But if any of my running buddies are reading this, don’t worry the towel is still on the rail. I am running relatively pain free and, though a little slower than I would like, there is a flow to my running. Deep down I know I can’t just give up the running, I also know that, if I can stay injury free, the form will return and I’ll be back competing with my peers, I might even get that first victory over Rob Tudor. But I always wonder if one of these injuries will eventually call time on my running, and if it does, I will retire a happy man, having been a part of four great clubs, Belgrave, Herne Hill, Edinburgh and Salford – five if you count NatWest, when they were the best.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Giving and Taking Advice

2 Sept 1990 – a Sunday morning. I was at Belgrave Hall getting changed ready to run my first half marathon, the Wimbledon. I’d been running for a year and a half now and I’d improved some, my 5k pb had gone from 18:12 to 15:57, but I’d never run as far as a half marathon, not even in training. There was only one reason I’d entered, my girlfriend’s brother was running it and their parents were coming to watch him. Having tried hard to gain their respect for four years here was an opportunity to turn things around in one race. As I got changed there was the usual clubroom banter going on, between guys doing the half and other guys just there for their usual Sunday run.

Amid the banter one old guy came up to me and introduced himself as Charlie Dickinson. I’d never heard of Charlie, not surprising as he’d been travelling around the world since I’d joined Belgrave, but now he was back and about to show the Masters (or Veterans in those days) scene what he could do. But the one thing that stood out about Charlie was that he was full of advice, whether you wanted it or not. I was just trying to relax, enjoy myself and beat my girlfriend’s brother but Charlie kept on giving me snippets of advice I wasn’t really interested in, afterall my dad was old and I’d never listened to him, why should I listen to an old man I didn’t know. I told him I thought I could run 1:20 and he told me I should stay behind Fred as he was definitely going to run 1:20.

With Charlie’s advice firmly in my head I began the race, headed off without Fred and finished in 1:18.50. The last three miles had been hard work and I was knackered. I’d beaten my girlfriend’s brother by about 25 minutes, had I gained any parental respect, probably not as I suffered post race flatulence for the rest of the day and fell asleep mid afternoon. However I had gained a begrudging respect for Charlie, who didn’t abandon me, like I abandoned his race plan, and kept popping up at various places on the course to cheer me on. A year later I started training with Charlie, under the guidance of Arthur Bruce, by now I was a more willing recipient of his advice and we became great friends, how could you not with someone who runs his 5000m pb (15:14) at age 44.

As I improved I started dishing out advice in Charlie fashion, but after a while I realised that people didn’t want to be told what to do all the time, so I stopped. Of course I was happy to dish out advice but now I waited until I was asked. I generally follow that path still, though recently I can be accused of giving one of my Salford colleagues some advice he wasn’t asking for, his response reminded me of this tale.

But I often do give advice to people when they ask, naturally you can get advice from many different sources and often those sources will offer differing advice. That’s natural and it’s up to you to understand the advice and choose whichever course you feel is best for you. I did get annoyed with one client who I gave advice to, they then went to get advice off other sources and spent days questioning why my advice was different to theirs, but that’s another story.

Someone else I took advice from, when I was a beginner runner, was Belgrave’s John Mather, John’s recently opened up a group on Facebook ‘I was, or am a runner!’ There are some great pictures and cuttings being uploaded into the group, from many of Britain’s finest athletes of the past, some still going, worth a look if you can get it.

Moving onto more current times: it’s almost two weeks since I underwent a series of running firsts, it’s amazing how many there are available to me, despite all my years in running. The event was the Northern 12 Stage Road Relay, held at Heaton Park. It was the first time I’d taken part in the Northern event, having been a regular at the Southern event with Belgrave and Herne Hill previously. It was the first time I’d been in a 12 stage B team, when I previously hadn’t been good enough for the A team there was no B team entered, mind you on this particular occasion I’d have been happy to be in the C team. I also thought this was the first time I’d been the slowest short stage in the team during a 12 Stage, but on closer examination I realised I was the slowest in Belgrave’s National 12 Stage team that took Silver in 2004, though on that occasion I was still able to hold my head up with 3^rd fastest on the leg, the two guys faster than me, marginally, were from the two teams I was chasing (we were lying in 3^rd when I took over, and when I handed over), Kevin Quinn of AFD and Duncan Mason of Salford, Kevin I’ve known for many years, we trained together for a while, Duncan, I met for the first time proper at the Northern 12 Stage. Needless to say, on this occasion, I didn’t set the Salford tent alight with a scintillating time, but I did ok, most importantly I came through without making my injury any worse, though I did run into a rock on my warm up and suffered a painful bruised knee for about a week. Salford’s A team were always in the hunt and were just shy of the medals, coming 4^th. The B team were always up there challenging for a National qualification and were well placed with two legs to go, but then we went a man down, a disappointing end to a great day, but not one to dwell on.

Anyone know where leg 11 is?

2010 in the Herne Hill A Team, having a good run sweeping past the Belgrave athlete as I approached the Belgrave supporters, can't remember receiving any cheers for old time's sake!

After the race I went to Spain for a few days, a planned trip to try to sharpen up in the sunshine in anticipation of a National 12 Stage leg. Following our non qualification, my inability to really turn on the pace and the weather forecast, I was wishing we’d decided to go to the Lake District instead, for some serious walking. But as it turned out, the weather in Spain was great, whereas in Britain it was not, and my injury pains started to subside, thanks at last to all the hard physio related exercises I’ve been doing, and I was able to start running a bit faster. In fact, despite only being their four days I was able to train reasonably hard on three of them, the old Rog is coming back. In fact since I’ve returned from Spain my training has gone particularly well, I’m moving freely again, virtually without any pain and with a much improved pace, even on the short sharp reps. Now time to start planning my next race, I think.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Trafford 10k

21 February 2010 – I had a terrible night. I don’t know why, it was just one of those nights where you can’t get off to sleep. The next morning I was due to run the Trafford 10k, having been 1^st M45 at the Alsager 5 two weeks previous, running faster than I had 5 years earlier when I was 1^st M40, I was keen to see what I could do in a 10k. But, when my alarm went off, I felt rough as anything. I got out of bed all the same and went to the window, before me the road was covered in a thick layer of snow. We were renting in the countryside at the time, Hassall Green, there was no way the road would be clear by the time I needed to leave. I supposed the main roads would be clear but I knew the race was around country lanes too. Frankly I felt terrible and really didn’t feel like it, so I did something I rarely do, I decided to skip the race and go back to bed.

Later I heard the race had been rescheduled, due to the weather. The rescheduled event took place on 7 March. I’d had a good winter of training and a long period without injury so I was looking forward to my second bite at this particular cherry. Still new to Cheshire, having only been down since November 2009, I didn’t know many people and, being quite shy, I spent my time, before the race, relaxing with a book. It was a cool but sunny day, perfect for a race, and Chris Thompson, of European 10000m silver fame (though that was to come later in the year), took full advantage, setting a blistering pace from the start. His winning time of 28:02 was phenomenal and over 1 minute 30 seconds ahead of 2^nd place, pretty impressive in this strength of field. In 6^th place Andy Ward was also impressive, 1^st M40 in 30:22. Gary Priestley, prior to him joining Salford Harriers, was in 16^th, 31:46, just ahead of 1^st Salford Harrier, Simon Bruton, 18^th in 31:49 and two places further back was 1^st M45, Roger Alsop, still a Herne Hill Harrier, in 32:19. I’d had a great run, I was flying and best of all it felt so easy. But I couldn’t hang around to bask in any glory or try to make friends with the locals, I was due back in Sandbach to have lunch with the Foster’s, an old school friend and his family.

Move on four years and the Trafford 10k is now firmly established in March. I haven’t been able to run it since 2010, enforced holidays and injuries seemed to get in the way, but I’ve been wanting to for a while. This year the enforced holiday was early and I was keen to have a road race to focus on so I entered, and, in retaliation for all the enforced holidays, I entered Carole as well. I was really looking forward to the race, sure I knew I wasn’t anywhere near the shape I was in in 2010 but I felt I was just about getting over my injuries and starting to train reasonably well. However, then the injury and illness struck again.

Unable to train with any real quality, over the last three weeks, I set myself a realistic goal of trying to run sub 36 minutes. Seems an easy target to beat but considering most of my recent training has been carried out no quicker than 7 minute mile pace, maybe not so easy. That was my realistic goal, but I actually fancied trying to break 35 minutes. To cap it all, just as my hamstring was improving, I pulled it again on Friday night. Just a slight pull but enough to feel a twinge every time I sneezed, yep still sneezing….

Sunday was a glorious day, Carole and I were basking in the sunshine at the start of the 10k. What a change not to wear anything under my singlet, no hat or gloves either, I even got my sunglasses out. We were told to listen for a whistle and 3-2-1, but in reality they might as well have used a dog whistle it was so ineffective. I barely heard it and I was only about five rows back, Carole much further back didn’t hear it at all and thought there had been a false start. Anyway we were off.

Standing around tightly packed is never a great way to start a race, but even worse with tight hamstrings and I felt a slight pull as we started off, I knew it would be ok once I got going but my slow start meant I was swamped in the first k. Frankly I wasn’t too bothered though, I knew I’d pull through as the race progressed.

There were some great results; Nick McCormick was a runaway winner, showing his intent from the start, creating a gap early on, his time of 28:56 was 27 seconds faster than 2^nd place Ross Millington with Richard Weir just 10 seconds further back in 3^rd. Very impressively proving that age doesn’t have to mean decline, Andy Ward was again 1^st M40, two places higher than in 2010, 4^th, with a time 44 seconds quicker than in 2010, 29:38. Salford Harriers were well supported in the race with 21 runners and the usual group of supporters. Our number one on the day was Joe Bailey in 5^th place overall, with a time of 29:47. In 13^th place was Carl Hardman, just a day after finishing 32^nd in the Inter-Counties cross country champs, with a time of 30:41, with Josh Tighe 3^rd man in 36^th place, with a time of 31:57. Dave Lockett ran another great race, a week before the BMAF cross country champs, to take 1^st M45, finishing 48^th in a very impressive 32:48, just ahead of 3^rd M40 Glyn Billington, who set another pb of 32:51. My mate, Rob Tudor, who refused to give me a lift to the race because I have been critical of his musical tastes, was also impressive to take 2^nd M45 in 75^th with a time of 33:35. We also had 2^nd M55 with Phil Quibell and 1^st M65 with Stan Curran.

Myself, I was far from impressive with a race position of 133^rd and a time of 35:41 but I can’t get disappointed with that result, knowing what I know about how my body currently is, though I am disappointed that I’m unable to run properly without pain. Perhaps it’s time to take an enforced break to give my body time to fully repair, or, temptingly, try something else. I did feel disappointment during the race, not for myself, but when I caught and passed Ben Riddell during the last 2k. Ben’s a much younger and faster runner than me but he was jogging when I passed him, clearly something had gone wrong, I hope whatever it is will be fixed soon. As for Carole, in her first 10k for a number of years, she ran well, her chip time was under 57 minutes, which is not bad considering she only trains once or twice a week and the most she’s run in one go, over the last two years, is 5 miles. She was happy with that and I was happy the sun was shining, so off home we went to eat our mars bars and await the official results.

I knew I'd be slow so I picked this crafty disguise so nobody would recognise me - photo from Sid Sacks

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk