After having a few easy days of running, after the Liversedge Half, It was a trip to Norton this Sunday to do the annual nine mile road race. It's an unusual distance, but certainly can't be classed as a short easy 10 miler. The weather and temp were perfect for running and the rural setting provided excellent scenic running conditions. There were a reasonable mix of quality runners up front, with ex international Andrew Pearson from Longwood Harriers providing this years challenge. Andrew has come back on the running scene after a few years off and gaining a couple of stone in weight. Although probably not yet at his best his historic 10k time of sub 29 minutes shows it would be expected that he is up there with the front runners today. There was also Carl Ryde from Doncaster,Kev Lilley(sheffield),Chris Birchill(Leeds) and Paul Marchant(Rothwell) all ensuring Andrew Pearson couldn't treat this as a steady Sunday run.
I set off very steady today and gradually overtook runners who found the early pace too fast. I feel strong as an ox, and the weight training is helping with my strength on the hills. I now need to convert this strength in to forward motion and speed.
I finished the race in 52-28, which is 3 minutes faster than last year. Once again I was 3rd over 40(discounting Kev Lilley, who is over 45), So I can't complain about todays result, which also provided another training workout in prep for the Leeds Half in May.
The race was won by Andrew Pearson in 46-26
1 comment:
Well done at Norton with your 3 min improvement Tony. I won it last year in strong winds. Can't remember the time? I see Andy Pearson is making a racing comeback too. He has amazing natural ability....bit like myself ha ha.
Spen was a nice cruise today. No post-race after effects.
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