A forum for friends and members of <a href="http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/index.php">Durham City Harriers & AC</a><br/> If you would like to join contact the Webmaster http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/index.php Fri, 18 May 2012 10:44:42 +0100 Phorum 5.2.6a http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?9,4331,4331#msg-4331 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?9,4331,4331#msg-4331 Lirf course
Don't worry about the bit that says you have to set up a group-all you'd need to do would be to help out in terms of leading a group at the club. Have a word with Gary or Andy if interested.]]> gary coulter Senior Endurance Group Thu, 17 May 2012 16:08:45 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4330#msg-4330 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4330#msg-4330 alan rowell General Wed, 16 May 2012 10:57:23 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4329#msg-4329 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4329#msg-4329 gary coulter General Wed, 16 May 2012 09:01:23 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4328#msg-4328 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4328#msg-4328
Yes count me in for this relay. I fancy the adventure of running along the wall. I can also bring a car if needed and have a 4 man tent if required.. John.. (:D]]> john mc elroy General Wed, 16 May 2012 07:32:35 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4327#msg-4327 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4327#msg-4327 Chris Herkes General Tue, 15 May 2012 22:06:13 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4326#msg-4326 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4326#msg-4326 alan rowell General Tue, 15 May 2012 21:42:33 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4325#msg-4325 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4325,4325#msg-4325 gary coulter General Tue, 15 May 2012 16:17:15 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4324#msg-4324 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4324#msg-4324
Mike]]> MikeK Results & Race Reports Mon, 14 May 2012 08:34:20 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4323#msg-4323 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4323#msg-4323
Having spent a week in Prague last year I understand why Mike enjoyed the sites so much. It is a wonderful city and one day I think I would like to take in a marathon here.

Mike, is the course relatively flat, or does it take in some of the many hills within the city?]]> Anth Results & Race Reports Mon, 14 May 2012 06:30:04 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4322#msg-4322 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4322#msg-4322 Jon Results & Race Reports Sun, 13 May 2012 19:54:19 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4321#msg-4321 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4321#msg-4321 Rob G Results & Race Reports Sun, 13 May 2012 16:14:49 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4320#msg-4320 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4320#msg-4320
Really well organised at the beginning and the end and one scenic city, if you fancy a foreign marathon, this should be towards the top of your list. Even the cobbles are not really a problem, the only real problem is the sites you run past which cause you to crane your neck to take them in.

the run is fairly flat and start in the old town and takes in all the sights and all the bridges, in fact the only criticism would be that it does a bit too much doubling back down the same roads.

Weather was perfect, 13 to 15 degrees sunny, a bit of wind at some points. good support most of the way round and a fantastic last kilometre. Interesting music on the way round, no calypso bands or school choirs, no this was heavy (almost death) metal, just what you need to blow the
20 mile blues away.

Prague itself is well worth a visit, the same sights look even better when you actually stop to tasked them in. it's also very cheap, beer at 1.50 a pint and god homely food featuring lots of dumplings.

Well done to everyone at sunderland last week, prague is certainly less convenient but arguably more interesting]]> MikeK Results & Race Reports Sun, 13 May 2012 15:16:54 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4319#msg-4319 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4319,4319#msg-4319 MikeK Results & Race Reports Sun, 13 May 2012 14:20:15 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4163,4318#msg-4318 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?2,4163,4318#msg-4318 gary coulter General Tue, 08 May 2012 14:24:48 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4317,4317#msg-4317 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4317,4317#msg-4317 viperman Results & Race Reports Tue, 08 May 2012 13:49:22 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4316#msg-4316 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4316#msg-4316
Ian]]> crampti Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 20:54:14 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4315#msg-4315 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4315#msg-4315
Ian]]> crampti Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 20:50:57 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4314#msg-4314 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4314#msg-4314 Rob G Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 18:17:00 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4313#msg-4313 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4313#msg-4313 Rob G Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 18:16:11 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4312#msg-4312 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4312#msg-4312 Jon Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 16:56:13 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4311#msg-4311 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4311#msg-4311
Rather satisfying that despite slowing in the second half of the race I managed to improve my position from 154th at 10k, to 140th at 20k and then 83rd to finish.
Jon also moved through the ranks from 115th, to 90th to 54th. Splits below are from the results page;

Race Number,First Name,Surname,Gender,Gender Position,Category ,Category Position,Club,10K,Stage Position,10K to 20K,Stage Position,Gun Time,Overall,Position,Chip Time ,Chip Position
863 Jon Ayres Male 54 M40+ 15 Durham City Harriers & AC 00:43:39 115 00:48:20 90 03:14:23 54 03:14:17 54
864 Anthony Hunt Male 83 M40+ 34 Durham City Harriers & AC 00:44:42 154 00:49:40 140 03:21:52 83 03:21:46 83

Also, notice a rather strange coincidence. Jon and myself did not enter the race together, yet our race numbers were 863 and 864. Strange.]]> Anth Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 16:33:08 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4310#msg-4310 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4310#msg-4310 alan rowell Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 15:51:12 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4309#msg-4309 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4309#msg-4309 The weather was really good. Not perfect, with some surprisingly stiff sea breezes, but nothing to complain about really. The first of my four marathons I've ran with really strong winds (twice) or heat wave. Some say it was hot, but it wasn't really. It was a great temperature to run in. It was definetly sunny as evidenced by my vest tan, but not hot.
After the minor panic's at the start, with Jon's unresponsive Garmin and my mates realisation that he'd left his trainers (which was very unlike him as he is an experienced tri-athlete), the race got off slightly late. A lap around the stadium and off over the Wearmouth Bridge for the first 19 miles or so on the south of the Wear.
I settled into around 07:30 pace and was enjoying the route. I had a few slower splits around halfway but picked it up heading towards 20 miles and over onto the north side of the river. Some nice support from Craig just off the bridge and then a few minutes later from Kevin, Darren and family. Great support. At this point I was thinking how I'd never felt so good at 20 miles and was reasonably confident of sustaining a similar pace. We then dropped down to do the St Peters Church loop which was bizarre as there was no one around, just me and my mate running along. We climbed out of there back onto the main road and I felt completely different to only half mile earlier when I felt great (relatively speaking of course). From this point on I had to really concentrate to keep my pace up. After the switchback near Whitburn it was a bit of a slog to climb back past Roker Park and back along towards the Stadium. At 23 miles I started to get cramps but it was manageable. I have suffered immensely with cramps in my past marathons, but having taken salt tablets at one and two hours, it was not as bad as before. Saw Kevin with around 1 mile or so to go and he offered some really positive encouragement for which I was immensely grateful, and his wife and Darren also giving great support. Pushed on to finish with a PB of 03:21:46. Forgot to stop my watch which was a shame.
Well organised medal and goodie bag section next the pitch in the Stadium. Then off home and a 15 minute soak in a cold bath. I'm walking down stairs forwards today, so I think the bath helped a lot. Feeling sore with a couple of blisters but glad of my PB.
Would do this again for sure. Great run by Jon as well with an almost 6 minute improvement over last years PB.]]> Anth Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 11:29:51 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4308#msg-4308 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4308#msg-4308 Chris Herkes Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 11:26:41 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4307#msg-4307 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4307#msg-4307 viperman Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 11:19:02 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4306#msg-4306 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4306#msg-4306 alan rowell Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 10:50:32 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4305#msg-4305 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4305#msg-4305 alan rowell Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 10:49:27 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4304#msg-4304 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4304,4304#msg-4304 viperman Results & Race Reports Mon, 07 May 2012 08:35:31 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4303#msg-4303 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4303#msg-4303 The day started off well as my garmin refused to work and it became apparent I'd be running off instinct and the persistent questioning of those around me as to what our pace was.Though this paled into insignificance when compared to Anth's chum who found out with half an hour to go that he'd forgot to pack his shoes and had to place an S.O.S.out to his wife who delivered the footwear with 9 minutes to spare.At this point I couldn't work out if it was high drama or pure farce I'll leave those wiser than me to make the decision.
Then we were off and with the cheers of Craig Herkes in our ears the journey began,I'd spotted a couple of runners who I'd guessed would be aiming for a similar time to me and decided to stalk/shadow them for the first half of the race.During this time the run was pretty easy with the odd gradient either way and a lot of feeding stations,though it was a shock to run out of a toilet at 3 miles into the race and hear Chloe cheering me on.The only quibble I faced for the first 13 or so was the odd bout of fresh northerly wind and the water pouches which seemed primed to explode in your face when pressed to hard.
After the first half the work seemed to begin and with what felt like an eternity we crawled into Barnes park,it was a great relief just to get off the roads and have a change of scenery even if there was a bit of climbing involved,I caught a glimpse of Anth at 16 miles or so who looked to be going really well and so the plod back to the home of S.A.F.C began,during the next few 3 or so miles it became apparent that the lack of runners at the start which allowed us to get straight into our pace was now going to offer precious few targets andI don't think I caught more than 5 people on this stretch.
Having reached the Mecca of the Mackems I saw the 30k sign and after being joined briefly by Kevin Knight an Chris headed out towards the coast here the loops and even slight climbs started to take their toll though thankfully I'd hit a string of runners to aim for each one passed felt like home was that bit closer.
We climbed off the seafront at 23 and the stiff bank offered the chance of a couple of more scalps though by now my gait had become more of a lame shuffle as cramp started to make itself known,then a friendly face(fresh from 10k only 90 or so minutes prior)Kevin offered friendly words and jogged alongside me,though his offer of jellybeans were rejected,there's a first me refusing food.
Into the final mile I claimed another place and lurched towards the line desperate to break 3.15,this achieved I savoured a walk through the stadium of light( and dreamed of seeing the mighty Hatters playing there)and took advantage of the free sports massages.
So a result that gives me a G.F.A for London( You will have to get a sub 90 for a half) now - Editor) achieved it's a case of job done and thanks to those mentioned for support and companionship at various times as to the course there's a lot of turns and gradients,organisation was good and support throughout the streets was ok too.As for next year well I hear Paris is a sight to behold!]]> Jon Results & Race Reports Sun, 06 May 2012 23:42:11 +0100 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4302#msg-4302 http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/Forum/read.php?15,4298,4302#msg-4302 Chris Herkes Results & Race Reports Sun, 06 May 2012 22:56:54 +0100