Run, run, as fast as you can

I'm not the gingerbread man, but I think I'm reasonably hard to catch.

At the moment, my training is paying off big time. When I first went to university, I got stuck into the lifestyle of studying, and of course juggling. However, my running never really came into my life again for a whole year. I put on a bit a of weight and lost a whole bunch of fitness, and the only thing I gained was a bit of flexibility- which is useless.

I spent the last year or so "getting back into it". However I soon realised that I was becoming one of those runners who is ALWAYS "just about" trying to "get back into it". I couldn't really commit to my training, and quite frankly I just wasn't sure how to train properly. About 3 months ago however, I met up with an old friend of mine and he gave me tried and tested instructions over a couple of beers. Since then, I have been following that very plan.

My first competitive road race back as a team member of South Devon athletics was "The Exterminator". A 10k route that starts and finishes at the local college, and goes through stoke gabriel down to the creeks. I was attempting to beat Jamie Dent, a good friend of mine and revered runner in the club. We had people all placing theoretical bets on who would win out of us two, so it was all pretty tense. Long story short, I beat him- just! Only one place in it, and we finished in a clean 4th and 5th place out of about 200 runners.

An interesting thing about this race was that it was part of the club competition the "senior grand prix". Basically, at the beginning of every year, the club committee chooses 14 races in the calendar. To qualify, you have to run 7 or more of them. Your points are totalled up from your best seven, and then a winner is announced at the end of the year. It is all done within the club, so it only matters who you beat in the club. First back from the club gets 50 points, second back 49, and so on.

Anyway. If all stood, I would get 50 points from the exterminator, and Jamie Dent would get 49.

However, much to my dismay, it then surfaced that my membership had expired. I was disqualified from that grand prix race and my points were confiscated and given to Jamie. I was very disheartened, because I had worked so hard to beat him. There was nothing I could do really but train harder for the next race and sort out my club membership.

So I did just that. Last thursday, was another grand prix race, this time the "dawlish coastal dash". I knew that I could beat Jamie now, I proved that to myself last time. I knew that I had trained just as hard since the Exterminator. However, I knew that Jamie Dent has a mean pair of sprinting legs on him, and this race was only a 4 miler. If he was close enough to me near the finish, I have known him time and time again to just open up into another gear and blast past me over the line. Well I gave it my best, and I just managed to get back first for the club again! Roll on the next race.

In other news, James Strutt (left of picture above) competed for the first time as a South Devon runner on thursday as well. He pulled out a great sprint finish, beating the guy he had been neck and neck with for the whole race. Congrats dude!