Word from the Chair
A monthly article by the new Chairman. Ian Sturgess
Thursday 16th April 2009.
The last time in word from the chair I made a rather ill timed comment on how great the weather was, today it’s raining so I will steer clear of such matters and stick to another area of limited knowledge, running!
By the time this hits the web I may have run my Black dog marathon or be a day away and many of you will certainly be counting down to the great experience of taking part in the London marathon, good luck to all have a great day. There is much more to our club than running marathons but I hope you will forgive me if I focus on them in this edition.
I ran my first marathon in 1981, a very hilly course from Holt to Norwich Cathedral, I had trained very hard and was set on a sub 3 hour time, never achieved. I had determined to run to my watch and had carefully worked out the split times per mile, it would be tight but I was sure I was up for creeping under 3 hours.
The trouble with marathons is you are very fit and capable of churning out the first 15 or so miles pretty quickly, the trick to success is don’t let the legs overtake the watch, if your splits from mile one to mile 26 are 8min 30 make certain that is what you run, for there is usually a fairly severe penalty for running inside your splits in the first half. Back in 1981, 1.24 first half followed by a devastating 1.52 second. One of the things that really seems to hit me if I get over enthusiastic is the amount of extra fluid I have to take on when trying to push the pace, you have been warned!
Now before you all say He is not a coach just the chair I know that, however I have never been afraid of poking my nose into other peoples area of expertise particularly when trying to save people from making the same mistakes I have made on more than one marathon outing.This year I have promised myself I will stick to my splits for at least 20 miles, after that there is no chance of getting carried away. Now you have endured the lecture it just remains for me to wish all this year’s marathoners the very best of luck in your personal challenge.
To more general club matters: The committee have met and the minutes will be available on the web site and the club notice board.
The club will be entering a team in the ‘open’ section of the Round Norfolk Relay, all those interested in taking part should put their names on the sheet located on the notice board. In addition to runners we also need a good support team of drivers, cyclists and time keepers so please join in this great club weekend.
Whatever your distance, keep running!
Ian Sturgess
Previous Words from the Chair - click here