2010 Review

2010 - Most of my goals for 2010 were based on trying to beat or equal my PB's from 5k right upto the Marathon as well as beating any of my course PB's. So lets see what kind of a year 2010 really was.

 3k - Having never raced over 3000mtrs and never raced on a track and never raced indoors I entered the Northern Indoor Championships. My aim was to run sub 9 minutes, I failed in that task but came away happy with a time of 9 minutes 13 seconds and knowing I should be able to beat that time in the future.

 5k - I never raced over this distance in 2010

 5miles - This year I really underperformed at the Hartlepool Marina 5 mile with a time of 26 minutes 28 seconds and seeing as my PB is 25 minutes 5 seconds it was a big disappointment to be honest.

 10k - I made an early attempt to break my 10k PB at the Dewsbury 10k in February and clocked a time of 31 minutes 49 seconds, some 26 seconds off my best but I was over the moon with that performance. I made a late season attempt to beat my PB again at the Leeds Abbey Dash in November but could only manage 32 minutes 6 seconds which I put down to being not race fit.

 10 Miles - February I clocked 53 minutes 25 seconds which was very pleasing considering the very windy conditions but with a PB of 51 min 40 seconds I knew I would almost need  miracle to beat that. Late season I felt my fitness level was really good but unfortunately the Thirsk 10 mile race was cancelled.

 1/2 Marathon - There was no chance of any PB's over this distance due to the courses I selected to race on, but at Sheffield I beat my time from last year with a time of 69 mins 53 seconds which I felt was worth a PB if it was on a flat fast course. So I left Sheffield knowing I would be in top form for the up and coming Edinburgh Marathon.
 Marathon - Two weeks before the marathon I felt I was in better form than ever before but then suffered with a cold right up to race day. But on race day as the minutes ticked away to the start time I  felt 100% and ready to race. I set off too fast and lead the race for 10 miles but felt I was well within my capabilities, 1/2 way in 71 minutes 13 seconds which was 2 minutes ahead of my well thought out race plan. From 20 miles onwards the heat from the sun and the early race energy spent caught up with me and I crawled over the line in 2 hours 32 minutes 09 seconds. Almost 6 minutes slower than my best but I came away with the feeling of glory after leading a marathon for 10 miles and just because I had finished another marathon. You really need to race a marathon to understand how good it feels to cross that line, no matter how long it takes you.

Ripon 10 miles - I managed to win the race and beat my course PB.
Burton Leonard 10k - I won the race and smashed my course PB to pieces with the aid of Jim Bulman of N.Y.Moors  racing me all the way to the finishing line.
James Herriot Trail - I had two tasks in this race, 1 - beat last years winner who beat my course record. 2- Get my course record back. It was a really hard race in windy conditions and I pushed myself to the limits for the whole 14km to win the race but unfortunately was just outside the course record. ( Great Day )


 I finished 2010 with just 8 victories and won the  Blacksheep Race Series Championship, no PB's but a few course PB's so maybe not my best season but just like all past seasons looking back I did enjoy racing and meeting my fellow runners.