Running the Breeze

I'm standing in the crowded, narrow road between towering pine trees and not happy with myself. This isn't the perfect mindset for a race start line. Everyone has been tightly packed onto the tarmac in the shadow of the starting banner. I'm standing seven rows from the front. I want to be in the first two. Since finishing in the top 20 at this race three years ago I have had an eye on a top 10 finish, something that up to now I have only achieved in a couple of small fell races, and then only recently. So far my record here is 18th, 14th & 17th so I feel like I could justify pushing my way forward. Instead, I let my politeness overcome me and stand kicking myself (not literally, obviously, if there was space for that I could have danced to the front) and watch as the legendary Daley Thompson gets ready to set us off. Before me lies the full lap of Kielder water, and 11km into that, in Kielder village, awaits my bike. My first task is to run to it. Long before all t...

Tomorrow is the start of the 2018 Kielder marathon weekend. For the fourth successive year that, for me, means it's time for the run bike run. Organised by Steve Cram's company "Events of the North", the weekend sees the run bike run and 10km on Saturday and the half and full marathons on the Sunday. All of the events are on the gravel path that circulates Europe's largest man made reservoir and the organisers claim the race the be "Britain's most Beautiful" and they probably aren't far wrong (provided you enjoy undulating paths, woodland and open water") The route of the run bike run (not a duathlon because it's not the right distance) is the same as the marathon the next day only with a bit of cheating on the bike in the middle. So, after 3 previous races, and repeatedly telling myself "I'll train properly next time", how have I arrived for this one? Race simulation training sessions, check! Increased time on the bik...