Categories: uncategorized
Date: 14 March 2004 22:38:06
it's rare that i get to do anything 'community spirited' to do with running, as it ends up being very much an individual thing. you train alone, you race to beat your own times, you go home. if i was in a club i suppose i'd have more chance but even then time is limited.
so the taking part in a mass, non-competitive training run fairly locally was a welcome change, and a few weeks before the opportunity to help pace a group round tickled my fancy.
so i found myself toeing the line in a 'pacer' vest helping lead the 9min/mile group round a few laps of sutton park in birmingham. it was 3laps of 6miles plus an out and back for the final 2, the laps were mostly traffic free with one steep climb to deal with.
neil the other pacer lead the way with the 9min/mile lollipop and the magic gps watch, so there wasn't too much for me to do except try and be consistent and try to keep an eye on the group, occasionally bringing up the rear.
it was fun seeing the other groups, certainly on the first lap closely bunched following their pacers, and interesting to see the groups fragment as people either pushed off the front or dropped from the back.
we made it round what was something over 20miles in 2:56 which is not too far off the target pace.
so thanks to the people who joined us for this jaunt, and thanks to runnersworld for the opportunity to feel a little bit community minded!
(as a secondary bonus i felt good & strong, and like i could have pushed on for another 6miles so hopefully stratford marathon in april should be another good one for me. reassuring since the rule of thumb of 2*half marathon time +20mins based on last weekends half marathon, is another 20mins quicker than my time at the draycote 35 race!)
[todays run: 20miles]
[this weeks run total: 27.5]
[this weeks swim total: 3.9km]