A Dodgy Crystal Ball

Great Run email me to tell me that they want to see me on the Great Manchester Half Marathon start line next May. They say that no crystal ball is needed and, based on my 10k time, they have calculated that my predicted half marathon finishing time could be 01:33:12. Lol. That's some dodgy crystal ball they have.

I mean, how the hell have they worked that out? My most recent 10k time was Sheffield and that was 44:55, not that quick and it wasn’t a Great Run race anyway. So how would they know? They may be harping back to my Manchester 10k time of 41:37 but that was in 2011. I don’t think I’ve done a Great Run 10k since.

Dog training is cold, foggy and icy but great fun. If you're a dog.

L says that if she hasn't done any painting when I get home then I am to refuse all rights to the fresh crusty loaf. That's not a problem.

Although I am somewhat surprised to find that she has painted the wrong room. This is just my opinion obviously but I didn’t think there was much wrong with the front bedroom unlike the back bedroom which is in dire need of attention. 

However, L does like setting herself a tight deadline and this is to spruce the room up for our guest over the festive season. Although this is only Daughter...

(Monday 5^th December)

Rolling Back The Years

There are black clouds gathering above Manchester as the morning of the Great Manchester 10k dawns and we head up the motorway. The dogs and I are supporting, L and Daughter are running. The things people agree to when their guard is down.

Daughter has promised not to swear (much) but even so L arrives with her ‘tin hat’ at the ready. Oddly no one seems to know what a ‘tin hat’ is, simply assuming L is doing the race in VE Day themed fancy dress.

Daughter manages to park us in a single carriageway alley right in the middle of Manchester which we totally block but apparently this is fine because she works there. It proves to be fine.

The girls are in one of the later waves so don’t trouble the likes of Betsy Saina, Gemma Steel, Stephen Mokoka, Bernard Lagat or the great Haile Gebrselassie. They all get a head start.

The rain holds off (it wouldn't dare) and the support crew head out to do some serious cheering (and barking) at the 1k point and then the 9k point. Daughter seems to be grimacing a smile as she passes.

Doggo manages a jog from the 9k point, you can see him rolling back the years (in his mind at least) and I reckon he could have probably kept going all the way to the line on Deansgate had Daughter not shot him an evil look that dared him to overtake her. We’d also have probably had to administer CPR to him.

We rendezvous afterwards by ‘the man with the tin foil balloons’, unfortunately we’re at different balloon sellers but we get that sorted eventually.

We head to the Stoker Arms for Sunday lunch, where the guest ale is from Nottingham in the form of Navigation Apus.

When we get back home I calm L down with several OP's in the Peacock.

(Sunday 10^th May)

Capitulation Was Inevitable

The deed has been done. The entry is in. I told L to wait until nearer the time but it just couldn’t be done. Once they’d sent one of those psychologically disturbing emails saying entries were still open ‘for a short while longer’, capitulation was inevitable. We know they’re lying because they’re always lying but there’s always that nagging suspicion that one day they may actually be telling the truth. Anyway the Manchester run has been entered.

Cue a torrent of ‘OMG’ and ‘what have I done’ type texts from Daughter. The sort of ones I normally get from L.

I now need to start practicing my best ever, most tactful ever, most encouraging, cheerleading.  One wrong word could end up in a torrent of abuse, if either of them can talk.

Today is spent on the park and doing a little DIY. Only a very little for me but I let L paint and plaster to her hearts content.

(Sunday 9^th November)

Racing Gebrselassie

I’m on TV this morning, me, Haile Gebrselassie, Paula Radcliffe and 38,000 others. Well not Paula actually, she got wind of the fact I'd entered and pulled out, citing breathing difficulties while training. Hmmm. When I get ‘breathing difficulties’ I usually blame it on too much Snecklifter. Us athletes are all the same you know.

It’s The Great Manchester Run, self styled as Britain’s Premier 10k, although that's a bit of a cheat because there are actually five races happening here = five waves. Everybody doesn’t run as one like at the London Marathon or the Great North Run. The run was first staged in 2003 with a field of 10,000, this year they have sold 38,000 places, although afterwards the results will show that only 28,000 turned but that’s still pretty big.

Today, I have a proper race number ‘5287’ not ‘666’ and they’ve helpfully put everyone's name on their numbers as well, just in case you are so delirious at the finish that you forget who you are. Which is possible, as I’m in the first ‘Orange’ wave with Mr Gebrselassie.

Parking is great. We drive straight into the centre and park up in an NCP with no problems at all before heading off for a wander around. We’ve left the dogs at home but actually it wouldn’t have been too bad for them here, as it will be relatively easy for me to nip back to the car and fetch them once I’ve finished. They do love a bit of supporting.



I head to the start to join the other 6,000 or so in my wave. Such numbers don’t leave much room for an aerobic warm-up and means there’s every chance you could gain a black eye if the runner next to you flails around too much to the warm-up music. It’s also quite difficult to get up near the front. I stand just behind the sub-40 pacer but we’re still miles back and I soon lose him in the crowd as he starts to push forward. I reckon we need waves within the waves here.

The marshals make a good fist of stemming the flow of runners across the start line with a sort of a funnel system, so initially it’s not too congested but things very quickly bunch up again. Not good, I fear Gebrselassie may be getting away from me already.

The sheer volume of runners makes it very difficult to maintain a steady pace and I’m 15 seconds or so behind where I want to be and nowhere near Haile. It’s not until half way that I manage to get a bit of space and record a few quicker splits. It’s a shame because it’s a course full of PB potential on pancake flat roads although the route itself is rather dull. When going past Old Trafford is the highlight, you know it’s not the best route in the world. It would have been nice to have seen more of the city centre.

The weather isn’t great either, it’s been drizzling on and off all morning, but it stays fine for my actual run, although if you’re a later starter you probably got soaked or if you opted to go through the ‘cooling’ shower that was erected at 6.5km. I gave it a very wide berth.

The atmosphere was patchy, probably the weather again. There was a good turn out but the spectators seemed subdued, certainly not as up for it as at Reading. Again the bands on the course were good, giving everyone a musical boost.

Then before I know it I’m sprinting (sort off) across the finish line on Deansgate. Then because L was in start number two, twenty minutes after me, I’ve got plenty of time to get back to the car to get some warmer clothes before heading back to the course in time to see her finish.



All in all, mass participation at its finest and achieving what these sort of races are all about, that is getting new folk into running.

The Great Salford Swim is also going on today, which we don’t get to see but we do wander up to have a look at the athletics track which will be in use later.



We would have stayed to watch but by now the weather is really foul so we opt to hit the motorways and head home.

Back home we do a few pubs, the White Hart In Lenton where we haven’t been for ages before revisiting the Johnson’s Arms Beer Fest. Then to round off things off, a well earned curry, for which Daughter joins us.

(Sunday 15th May)

Some Head Start

A Monday at work? What’s that all about then?

It’s also back to a 'usual' sort of Monday, in the car, shopping at lunchtime and training with MD in the evening.

The highlight of the day is the arrival of my race pack for The Great Manchester Run. The instructions for which look well complicated. There are five different start times, ranging from the ‘Orange’ start at 10:34 to the ‘Pink’ start at 12:30. Two hours apart! That’s some head start.



The good news is that I’m in the ‘Orange’ one, the same as a certain Mr Gebrselassie who, they say, is a bit useful over 10k. Well over any distance actually. Hopefully he’ll have an off day.

L hasn’t got her pack yet so I’ve no idea what colour she’s been given. I might even be able to finish in time to see her start.

(Monday 9th May)