The summer seems to have finally arrived and its a great time to go out and explore the great British countryside.  Our route of the month is Osmington White Horse, a beautiful route that is best run on a clear day to take in the spectacular views.  However, the sun can bring its own problems for us runners.  Running in the heat can be exhausting and staying properly hydrated becomes more of a problem.  So, with this in mind, our lead article explores the need for hydration without taking things too far!  We also have a race report from Richard Thomas on the Comrades Marathon in South Africa and an inspiring report from Mark Cooper about his epic challenge.

If you would like to write a race report for the next newsletter then please let me know.  Also, if you would like to help us check out some route for the site then please send me an email.

Louise at GRG
www.GoodRunGuide.co.uk

You Can Drink Too Much!

back to top

Site News

One of our priorities is to ensure that the Good Run Guide site is fast and response, even when presenting large amounts of information as we do on your personal Home Page.  Independent monitoring by Google shows that we already do fairly well on this - Google reports that on average,  our web pages load faster than those of around 80%-85% of other sites on the internet. This is in part due to our policy of not incorporating any commericial advertising and also our investment in top quality hosting located here in Great Britain.

To improve responsiveness even further, we are planning to release a new version of our Route Measurer tool this month, which will take advantage of improved mapping software recently released by Google. The changes are largely 'behind the scene' and will result in the maps being loaded more quickly but we will also be introducing a few other small feature enhancements at the same time.

Looking back at last month's changes, if you have a Garmin GPS with a heart rate monitor, you can now upload your heart rate split data directly to the site using our Garmin Uploader following last month's upgrade to this part of the site. And, if you forgot to record splits on your GPS, you can use our Auto-Generate feature and we'll work them out for you!

One of the areas we are keen to develop further on the site is the Training Friends section. At present, this is mainly limited to sharing and comparing summary training statistics but we are considering ideas to extend this further, so that you can choose to share more information with your friends if you wish. We'd be interested to hear any ideas on this. If you have any thoughts please let us know by contacting us directly or by by posting on the Forum Topic "Sharing More With Your Training Partners" that has been set up by David Kirby.

As always, if you have any feedback about changes to the site or have a suggestion you would like to put forward, please let us know.

Comrades 2010 Race Report

By GRG Member Richard Thomas


On 30 May I ran my second Comrades Marathon in a personal best time of 10:54:11 to collect my second Bronze Medal and a “Double Down” Medal.

This was the 85th running of the race first held in 1921 between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa in honour of the fallen in WWI. Normally the race is run “down” one year and “up” the next but to commemorate the occasion this year's race was staged as a “down” run, as was last year's - the first time “down” runs have been held in consecutive years (hence the “double down” medal). In fact, despite its name, the “down” run involves 1,400m of climbing and 2,000m of descent and, as most of the descent comes in the last 20kms, when your quads are beginning to feel like jelly and your knees are screaming at the constant jarring, many Comrades veterans reckon it’s the tougher of the runs.

Gold medals are awarded to the first 10 men and women; the “Wally Hayward” medal to finishers under 6 hours; silver medals to those between 6 and 7½ hours; the “Bill Rowan” medal to those between 7½ and 9 hours; bronze medals to those between 9 and 11 hours and “Vic Chapman” medals to those between 11 and 12 hours.

The largest field ever (23,568) started the race in the darkness at 05.30am in front of the colonial red-brick Town Hall building in PMB to run the 56 miles (90km) to the Finish at the Kingsmead Stadium in Durban. Around 20,000 completed the race on a hot and sultry day and I finished 8,733rd. Last year's men's winner Stephen Muzhingi, from Zimbabwe, won again in 5:29:00. The ladies' winner was Elena Nurgalieva, from Russia, in 6:13:03, consolidating her and her twin sister, Olesya's, dominance over the race, with either one or the other having won 7 out of the last 8 Comrades.

This year you had to pace the race more carefully due to the larger field. My strategy was to stay ahead of the sub-11 hour pacing group and, for most of the race, I achieved this. I completed the first marathon in 4:55 and felt good, despite the heat (around 28 degrees at noon) and the climbs and descents as you pass through the “Valley of a Thousand Hills”. The fine weather brought out the supporters with their flags, “braai’s” and “vuvuzelas”, making the sights, sounds and smells as the runners passed through towns like Hillcrest, Kloof and Pinetown absolutely fantastic. Just before the long downhill at Fields Hill (around 70km) I allowed myself a short break to stretch out my aching muscles, only to watch the pacing group going past. I caught up with them on the hill and then with 3km to go I overtook them to ensure my PB.

There were some emotional moments during the race, not least passing the Ethembeni School for physically handicapped children at Inchanga. I visited the school a couple of days before the race to deliver over 100 caps generously donated by friends and colleagues. As ever on race day the children lined the route outside their school and cheered on the runners. At just before Half Way this is a spiritually uplifting moment and few runners pass by without shedding a tear. Emotions get the better of you again at the final cut off as you watch the agonies of the runners who don’t quite make it before the race director fires his gun and closes the Finish Line on the dot of 12 hours.

This was, once again, a memorable and satisfying challenge of fitness, stamina and willpower. As one Comrades veteran told me: “You haven’t really conquered the Comrades ‘till you’ve completed an “up” run”, so I’ll be back next year for the Durban to PMB race.

50 Marathons in 56 Days

If you've been following the progress of GRG Member Mark Cooper, you will know that he has successfully completed his epic challenge to run 50 marathons in 56 days.  We caught up with Mark to ask him more about this fantastic achievement.

Why did you decide to do it?
 
I decided that I wanted to create a fundraiser in memory of my Mum who passed away in 1997 very suddenly. I also wanted to raise money for The Edinburgh Headway Group who helped my Family at that time. On top of both these factors I have a deep burning desire to change my life and hopefully inspire a few people along that way to show them that if I can do this then anyone can.

What were the highs and lows of the trip?
 
The lowest point came very early on for me when during marathon 5 I experienced sever pain in the tendon on my left ankle. After a quick physio visit in Eindhoven I was back on the road the next day and the pain had all but dissapeared. The Kinezo tape used really saved my entire expedition. From then on I never experienced anymore bio mechanical issues. The highest point had to be crossing over the Pyrenees from France into Spain, I used the route through the mountain village of Maurellias las Illas which is higher than Ben Nevis in height. I had to go it alone as its an unofficial border crossing with many problems with smuggling, when I reached the top and saw the crossing into Spain after being in France for such a long time I knew I would complete my challenge. I looked North and saw the whole of France laid out before me and to the South the whole of Spain and the Meddeteranian Sea, it was a sight and feeling that I shall never forget.

How much money did you raise?
 
My aim was to raise £25,000 and at the moment the total is close to the 26k mark and I have been promised at least another £5,000, so we will break the 30k mark, which is unbelievable. I have to thank everyone who donated, yes I put myself through the mill for the funds but people still need a generous heart to make the target a reality. None more so than one lady who donated an incredible £8,000 to the cause, to say I was moved was an understatement.

What did you learn about yourself?
 
Before I went into this challenge I had already undergone a total change in personality from being a smoker and drinker to realising that there is more to life than the weekends. I never doubted for a second that I would not finish this but it has purely proven to me again that we can do anything, I know it's a line used often and some people might not agree with me but given the correct attitude and passion then all is possible and there is no way I can ever go back to the life I led before. Once you achieve something so ambitious its impossible to ever go back to being unambitious.

Any injuries?
 
As I said, I had the pain in my left ankle but other than that nothing, I guess it's a lot down to mental attitude and using the correct recovery fuels. For mental attitude I find that in everyday life if I feel like I'm coming down with something I ignore it and push on and it subsides and I think running is the same, so many people give in to pain, innjuries and illness when the best medicine is to fight it; look at Lance Armstrong, a true fighter, I believe that we all have that inside us. As for recovery fuels I used Sports Fuel products during the entire trip and never have I felt so strong and ready each morning to take on another marathon.

How fit do you feel!?
 
Its safe to say that I now feel the fittest I have and may very well ever be, for me now it is a case of seeing how far that fitness can take me and hopefully helping other people get fitter and feel good within themselves. If I can manage to stay healthy for my future family and do the same for others then I will have achieved what I believe I am here to do.

What's next?
 
I have already signed up to run the 84 miles of Hadrians Wall with a friend, we will be running on Saturday 31st July going from Carlisle to Newcastle, we are looking to set a course record, my first ultra is going to be some experience, I just hope I can finish. On a more day to day level I am looking for a career in fitness and coaching, helping young people to get more out of themselves through fitness because as we all know a healthy body is a healthy mind which means better performance in school and a more focused person generally.

You can find out more about Mark's challenge on his website : www.runwithmark.com.

back to top

Member Leagues Update

We have had the member leagues up and running since the beginning of 2010 and they have been a great success. However one thing we have noticed is that the leagues tend to be a bit static as one good performance sits as your best for months at a time. To make the leagues more dynamic and interesting we have introduced a rolling 3 month expiry date for each performance rather than the rolling year as we previously had. Thus, after 3 months your next best performance will take over as the one that defines your placing in the league table.

Of course this has the effect that if there is no qualifying performance in that time period you will drop out of the league until your next qualifying run. To counteract this, one league you will never drop out of is a new one we have set up which will be called Best Race Performance, which is your best age graded performance since the leagues were set up, the main league now being called Best Recent Race Performance.

More details can be found under Community - Member Leagues - Rules. You can also opt in or out of participation in the leagues by selecting "My Details" at the top of this or any other page.

back to top

Every year there are thousands of races organised around the UK and so it is very difficult for us to include them all in our race listings. However, if there is a race you are planning to run that is not listed, please let us know as we like to include races that our Members are running.

If you are organising a race yourself or know someone else who is, you can add your race to our race listings for free under the Race Listings menu.

We are lucky to have a very wide range of runners on Good Run Guide from right across  Great Britain and from complete novices to World Record holders. So, if you're looking for some advice or encouragement, or can offer any to other Members, why not join in with our Forum. Some excellent advice has been posted on the Forum already and it's a great way to share your experiences, good or bad!

Check out the Forum

Most running shoes should be replaced after around 300-500 miles of use so that they continue to provide the right level of support and cushioning required to prevent injury. Check with the maker for mileage advice on specific makes and models.

Further advice can be found in our Running Shoes article.

You can also track shoe mileage with the Good Run Guide Shoe Tracker