3rd October 2010
I guess that "English" sounds better than Warrington which is where it was. After holding back somewhat at Macc last week I was hoping to run a decent time here but we were unfortunately hit by the wettest day of the year.
The weather was truly awful with continuous lashing rain before, after and during. Even after a few miles I just couldn't get warmed up. I had been planning to pick it up as the course turned downhill in the second half but by then I was just so cold and stiff that I could only jog back alone through the puddles to a PW. Surprisingly nobody overtook me and I still finished 5th overall.
The course appeared rather bleak and the organisation seemed a bit flaky but it would be harsh to judge either on a day like this.
1 James Connor (Kent AC) 1:07:48
5 Rob Downs 1MV40 1:18:59
1808 finishers
Full results at http://www.winningtimeuk.com/index.php?page=results&event=119
Rob, I can confirm your comments aren’t that harsh. Maybe against our better judgement, Nicky and I ran it last year while others were sunning themselves in the Luberon! Forget any superior claims this race may have just because it has “English” in the name. Considering the organisation and sponsorship thrown at it by New Balance, we thought it was a bit of a shambles on the day. Other than some home international runners (and never heard of) and a Kenyan, there appeared to be very few decent club runners as hardly anyone lined up in front of us claiming to be sub-90min! Was it only a fun run? Then the start was delayed by some 15mins while they sorted out a road closure somewhere out on the course, something we could have done without as it wasn’t that warm and we were also damp from a brief shower shortly before the scheduled start time. Afterwards, only the international runners were made a grand fuss of and only they received their prizes. Everyone else seemingly having to wait while they checked the results. Nicky won her age category (and F40) by a country mile had to wait weeks to receive her prize, which considering they had chip timing was very poor!! Having said this, thought the course was okay, fairly fast, quite expensive, but a shame it is squeezed in between Macclesfield and Congleton – which are better races!
We also had truly awful weather at Luberon.
The sun was much too bright and kept dazzling everyone!