Last night was the last session at the club in the dark before the clocks change. Next week we'll be out on the grass in shorts & t-shirt soaking up the sun. That's the idea but the false dawn of last week's relatively balmy weather has morphed into a bitter Northerly wind this week and the full winter gear has had to go back on. I just hope summer heralds an improvement in my health. For the past six weeks I have felt totally battered.
The only running news in the last couple of weeks has been the hilarious saga of the club V55 ½ marathon record. Chris Riches ran Bath with the sole intention of beating Bob Ferris' time of 1.37.42. Being a canny fellow, perhaps thinking incorrectly that he would receive a free pint for every record broken, CR ran fairly cautiously yet still took a minute off Bob's time with c 1.36.40 by his reckoning. The idea being that, Bubka style, he would then take further small chunks off the time during the year thus earning more free beer. He triumphantly left a message on my answerphone that another record had fallen (I was working hard in the garden at the time if Claudie is reading this). 
But ... Claudie [seen in picture with Natalie in Rome last year] had seen Anne Pople earlier and she said that Ian was running the Forest of Dean ½ that day. Mmm, methinks, Ian's been seen out running with Dick's mob recently and when he runs he runs a lot (hyper- something or other), wonder what time he did? Turns out he ran 1.36.01 so my return call to CR was difficult, especially as it took me about five minutes before I could get a word in - he was still on a high - to break the news. "That's a great run by Ian, I'm really pleased for him" said CR through gritted teeth and without much conviction. However the story continues ...
But ... Claudie [seen in picture with Natalie in Rome last year] had seen Anne Pople earlier and she said that Ian was running the Forest of Dean ½ that day. Mmm, methinks, Ian's been seen out running with Dick's mob recently and when he runs he runs a lot (hyper- something or other), wonder what time he did? Turns out he ran 1.36.01 so my return call to CR was difficult, especially as it took me about five minutes before I could get a word in - he was still on a high - to break the news. "That's a great run by Ian, I'm really pleased for him" said CR through gritted teeth and without much conviction. However the story continues ...Next day the Bath results appeared on the internet: CR 1.36.01, the exact same time as Ian ran! Did we have joint record holders? Should CR hold the record as he's older than IP? Were the Bath results a cock-up? For a few short hours e-mails were flying around between the three of us and for some strange reason Brian Barrowclough became involved: the banter was superb. We even held up the normally super efficient club website update pending official confirmation. Of course it couldn't last, the Bath results were indeed an almighty cock-up and were initially published to the nearest minute! IP is the new record holder and CR has to go back to the drawing board. Great entertainment whilst it lasted.
Finally, news that Chris Illman now has a blog; it is highly informative and very entertaining. Have a look on http://www.illmanrunning.blogspot.com/
Absolute final comment this week; a lovely, timely and very apt statement that I read last week says it all really: "The art of good marathon training is to ensure that The Wall has a door in it".
