Dead Runners society race report
Bury 20 mile race - sunday 28th February
1999.
As my recovery progressed I set my
sights on another marathon, as preparation I returned to another one of my
favourite races, the Bury 20.
Evenin all. Tony here posting for the Tiger team about this morning's little run in the Suffolk countryside. This morning I drove about 30 miles down the A14 into darkest Suffolk to run in the Bury 20 mile race in Bury St. Edmunds, probably the best of the pre-London marathon 20 mile races peculiar to this time of the year. This was to be my 5th run in this race and my 3rd consecutive run. Last year's Bury 20 was my best race of the year with a time of 2h18 and after that I ran 3h09 in Boston. That was last year, after a fractured knee last summer and an extra 10 pounds of weight put on during my recovery I knew 2h18 was not realistic. After last months 1h36 half-marathon I thought 2h30 would be a nice number to shoot for. Met up with some university runners and some runners from Hunts AC before the race who I hadn't seen for some time. Back to the car to get my racing gear on and then 5 minutes jog from the car to the start to warm up. It was a cold sunny windy day but I was going to tough it out in running vest and shorts today. There were loads of runners today who were IMHO very overdressed at the start wearing tights and tracksters and rainsuits and woolly hats. I learned a long time ago that if you feel a bit cold on the start line you soon warm up in all but the worst of the british climate. Off went the horn and away we went, it looked like there were about 1000 runners today, the first couple of miles through the town were a bit crowded. As we approached the edge of town I caught Cambridge University astronomy lecturer Dr Roger Griffin who I knew from training with the kiddies, Roger is faster than me, even before my injury but he said he wasn't marathon training, he was just running as he was giving some friends a ride to the race. 2 miles reached in 15.52 (didn't see mile 1) and we were almost out of town, 3 miles in 23.29 (7.37 last mile) and now we were out in the country and running uphill into the wind along a narrow country lane, this was hard work. 4 miles in 31.31 (8.02) and 5 miles in 39.26 (7.55), slower than I wanted but the wind was strong out there. By now we were running through the village of Risby which gave a bit of shelter to the wind, 6 miles in 46.58 (7.32) and now we were heading downhill for a bit. Just before 7 miles (54.26, 7.28) we passed Cambridge University Hare and Hounds president Dr Mike Turner, Mike was one of the best runners in the country in the mid 1960s and is still pretty good for his age but today he was pacing one of his friends round. 8 miles in 1h01.48 (7.22) and the long downhill ended just before 9 miles (1h09.24, 7.36). By now I was starting to feel tired and my left leg was feeling rather sore, I was working hard to stick with Roger. I felt a bit better by the time we got to halfway (1h17.07, 7.43). The second half of the race is tougher than the first but the strong wind would be at our backs for part of the second 10 miles. 11 miles in 1h25.01 (7.54), at the drinks station just before 12 miles I speeded up a little to get my drink and suddenly Roger wasn't on my shoulder any more, 12 miles in 1h32.52 (7.51). I was moving reasonably well by now but I knew what was coming, just before 13 miles we turned off onto a narrower country lane for the HILLS. 13 miles in 1h40.41 (7.49) there was a steep downhill to 14 miles (1h48.10, 7.29). Roger caught me at the bottom of the hill but I pulled away from him up the next steep uphill, Roger caught me on the next descent before the last big climb, Roger said he probably wouldn't see me again after the next climb. Up we went and I pulled away, this was a long tough hill but I slogged it out. Passed quite a few runners including people walking and some struggling up in rainsuits with the jacket wrapped round their waist! Over the top and past the 15 mile mark in 1h55.35 (7.25). Now I was over the worst, the wind was behind me and it was time to see if I could race it for the last 5 miles to the end. I grabbed 2 drinks at the 15 mile drinks stop and then pushed on harder. I was feeling pretty tired by now but I was moving better than those around me, back into Risby and passed 16 miles in 2h03.06 (7.31). Tough going for the next mile on a slight up slope, got to 17 miles in 2h10.42 (7.36) and Roger caught me up again "oh no not you again". I decided to keep racing and see if I could shake him off, pushed really hard downhill to 18 miles (2h18.13, 7.31), this time last year I was finishing :-( By now I could see the cars on the A14, we were close to the A14 junction and Bury St. Edmunds. Along the last bit of country lane, turn right and thump, straight into a wall of wind, not nice. Through the wind tunnel as we went under the A14 before turning on the road into town. Just before 19 miles Roger zoomed off and I slowed down, 19 miles in 2h26.09 (7.56), lost quite a few places here. I did manage to pass olympic marathon runner Sally Eastall here though, I passed her as if she was standing still! That's because she was standing still, Sally is a member of St. Edmunds Pacers, the club that organises the race and she was doing her bit for the club as a race marshal. One mile to go and it seemed endless, managed to pass a few runners before the finish on the track. Last year there was only 50 metres to run on the track to the finish but this year we ran almost all the way round. I could see Roger 200m ahead by now. Into the finish straight and I could see the clock said 2h33.5x but it just changed over to 2h34 before I crossed the line. Finish time of 2h34.02 (7.52), a bit slower than I wanted but it was tough out there in the wind, I did manage a negative split though. Really tired on finishing, left leg really sore at the end but I made it. I got plenty of drinks at the end and then forced myself to jog very slowly back to the car and some clean dry clothes. A personal worst time for a 20 mile race by over 5 minutes, I still have a long way to go to regain my previous levels of fitness but at least I made it round in 1 piece. Providing I don't have too many problems with my post-race recovery I think I'll enter the Sheffield marathon now. The beautiful Shelley has just said she's making us some dinner so I'd better sign off. --
Shelley Walsh and Tony Bell
Milton Cambridgshire England
Tiger@shells.demon.co.uk
Shelley Walsh Shelley@shells.demon.co.uk
http://www.shells.demon.co.uk/index.html
Tony Bell
Tony@shells.demon.co.uk
http://www.shells.demon.co.uk/tonyweb.html
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