2016 – Part 1. Year of Club Colours

I look back at my running in 2016 with interest.  I mentioned it towards the end of my last blog that a little bit of a spark, a little bit of passion and enthusiasm and a desire to push myself disappeared after the ultra I did in 2015.  I fulfilled my race commitments in 2015 but I needed someway of resetting my running.

I did my first 10 mile race and first 10K in December 2015 in the club colours of Aldridge Running Club and that was the spark I needed.  Doing distances I hadn’t done in races but I had done in training for longer race distances.  Going to local (ish) races and seeing lots of familiar faces.  Whether they were fellow ARC runners, people I saw at my local Walsall Parkrun or other club runners that I got used to seeing on the running circuit.

In 2016 I did one race for charity which was part of a collective, so it was a team effort with fundraising.  Aside from that my now regular races of GNR and Birmingham half were scheduled in but after the Chester marathon 2015 I had sworn off marathons!  Again!  We all know that didn’t last but it took a very special challenge to really get me back into marathon running. 

So, 2016 blogs aren’t going to be too detailed but the theme is that I was doing regular races throughout the year that kept me maintaining some sort of fitness.  I still did my Parkruns and there were club nights where we formed a lovely little chatty group on the 6-mile route.  So 2016 was the year that being part of ARC really helped me a lot.  If I hadn’t been part of the club I think I would have gone back to just training for a race, doing it and then stopping running; or only doing Parkrun.

My first race of 2016 came on the 17^th Jan at race called Not the Roman IX.  Hosted by Stratford-Upon-Avon Athletic Club the official distance was 12Km.  So definitely a bit of a niche distance.  A lovely countryside run and I remember having a decent run.  One amusing thing I remember from this race.  It had a start time of 11am which I found refreshing given it was out in the sticks.  I got there just after 10.15 as I remember and I saw another ARC runner there, Leigh Ally.  It turned out Leigh had thought the start time was 9am and got there before the start/finish area had even been setup.  To his credit he helped the organisers set up.

February saw me take part in my 3^rd cross country race of that season.  I’d not been able to do the January one, so I headed to Gloucester on a very rainy day to run on route that had to be adjusted as some of it was to waterlogged for cross country running!!  This race was a lot flatter than the other 2 I had done but it was very heavy going due to the amount of rain that had fallen that week.  My time was decent and I was only about 15 to 20 seconds behind the runner in front of me as I collected my 3^rd wooden spoon!  I didn’t return to cross country running for 3 years but I glad I did eventually go back.

I ended February with the first of 3 half marathons I did that year.  Coventry half on the 28^th Feb.  Similar to the previous year I ran this race as part of a team of runners that Haroon Mota, who many runners will be familiar with due to his amazing fundraising abilities, for a charity called Penny Appeal.  Again we did a couple of training sessions for all the team especially those new to running and held a Q&A over lunch in Coventry a couple of weeks before the race. I remember on the day that I saw a whole load of runners running for Penny Appeal and during the race I went past a few.  At about 5 miles I caught up one of the team, Yas, and ran the rest of the race with him.  I paced him round to help get to his target time and it felt good just to run with no pressure and help someone achieve their goal.

A couple of weeks later I did my 2^nd 10K race.  I’d enjoyed Wheaton Aston in December and the Fradley 10K (which I will be returning to in 2023) was my 2^nd race surrounded by a lot of ARC runners and lots of other familiar faces. 

Fradley was a pleasant 2 lap course and what I enjoyed was trying to ‘race’ other runners.  It wasn’t aggressive or too competitive but a bit of fun and I knew that with 200m to go the one thing I did have in my locker was a sprint finish!  Which I remember putting to good use at the end of Fradley 10K.  Handing out the medals that day was British 400m hurdler and 400m relay runner Meghan Beesley.  She did a bit of a double take with the name but then quickly got it!

I also managed to PB!  OK, it was only my second 10K but I knocked 2 seconds off my Wheaton Aston time.  That’s right 2 seconds!  At this distance and Parkruns you do what you can to shave off a few seconds where you can.

I’m going to keep this blog and the others for 2016 quite short and snappy so I’ll finish with my next 10K which was on 1^st May.  The Birmingham 10K.  A run to Edgbaston cricket ground, a lap around the outside of the stadium and back into the city.  It was a decent run and I managed to knock 3 minutes off my PB.  I think I got my tactics better.  I went as hard as I could over each mile and it proved to be my best 10K time of the year ( I did 8 10K’s in 2016). 

Three days later on the Wednesday evening I took part in the DK 10K (Dudley Kingswinford).  It was my first evening race and an enjoyable outing with lots of friendly faces.  I was 4 minutes slower than the Birmingham 10K but that wasn’t a concern.  It felt good to get another race in, with no pressure.

So, I was happy with my running.  I wasn’t thinking about marathons.  I was still doing a few halfs and I’d got into 10K running.  In 2016 that is exactly what I needed.  I wasn’t putting any pressure on myself, I was getting some enjoyment back into my running and taking part in Grand Prix races for the club was encouraging me just to race a little bit harder in these shorter races.  I’d gotten into volunteering at Parkrun and it was good.

But.  I did miss marathon running.  I entered the London marathon in April ballot yet again!  However I didn’t miss it enough to want to enter another marathon in it’s own right.