New York Maratohon (4): Top Tips for (Pretty Average) Marathoners

Before anyone thinks I feel I have the experience and knowledge to pass on tips about running marathons to anyone else, I don't. Certainly not after my one pretty average attempt! However, I did receive some brilliant advice from people, which I found incredibly useful. It is this advice which I am passing on. The other thing about this is that I'm sure the advice was intended specifically for me, as someone who was never going to break any records, or run quickly, and whose main aim was simply to finish. I'm sure if you are a good, experienced and quick runner, or are looking to break your PB in your next marathon, this advice will probably not be so useful or relevant. Anyway, here goes:

1. Print your name on the front of your shirt. 

Name loud and proud!

This was probably the best advice I received! I had so many people, probably hundreds, shouting out;"Chris!", "Chris!", "Go Chris!", "Looking good Chris!" "Looking strong Chris!", "Chris, you own this!", "Great running Chris!" and so on and so on for 26.2 miles. Absolutely amazing and humbling and over-the-top and at times emotional and funny and so so encouraging. One of the runners I spoke to said that he got "amazing time!" a few times, something which I seemed to have missed out on! But it just gave me a huge lift, added humour and helped to take my mind off the running and the hurt. I even had a runner (as he passed me after about 5 miles) say, "Hey Chris! The girls really like you!"... just because I was getting so many shout outs. Made my day.

2. Get involved with the crowd.
Actually I think the actual advice was: run near to the edge of the course, so you're near the crowd, this way they'll see your name on your shirt and you'll be able to high five the children in the crowds. So I did.... and as can be seen from Tip no. 1, it worked! The other thing about this, is that I could see the writing on the signs the spectators were holding, which also gave me a lift with the humour ("Sweat is Sexy"). Again, I must have "high fived" hundreds of people during the race, trying to get whole lines of high fiving going. It was brilliant as the crowd at times responded, asked to be high fived and cheered me on all the more. Hugely encouraging. But I also tried to acknowledge people when they called my name out, either by a wink, nod, thumbs up or bigger response such as holding my arms high. One particular group of about 4 or 5 women, who were sitting on a roof top, called my name out and then burst out laughing when I responded... made me smile! I also went up to each Union Flag I saw (and there were a few) to cheer it and the people holding it.... the result of all this was that it made the whole race a fantastic experience for me and certainly helped to get me through ..... it also meant I must have run further than 26.2 miles and probably added another 5 minutes onto my time as I was so not focussed on running a race. Great experience though!

3. Eat and drink throughout the run.
I must admit one of the things I was slightly concerned about before the race was whether I would "Hit The Wall". One friend simply gave me the advice to eat and take in water on a regular basis throughout the run and not just when I thought I might need it. So in my longer training runs, one of the things I did do was practice drinking and eating while running and experimenting with the food I ate. I found this useful, as its not something I'd normally do. During the race, I did eat some energy bars fairly regularly, probably every 5 miles or so, and took in water again on a regular basis. The result of this was that I did not feel that I'd hit any wall, and in fact by about 20-21 miles, I really felt pretty strong, very confident, and was able to put a bit more effort into my last few miles.

Going into the Bronx... maybe?

4. Start off slowly.
This was one piece of advice which I probably took a bit too far, as not only did I start off slowly, but I carried on slowly and ended up even slower. My first mile was something like 11:30 minutes, which was approximately 2 minutes slower than I would have started normally, and my first 13 miles was 10-15 minutes slower than my normal half marathon time. So I think I'd have been disappointed if I had been going for a decent time, but as it was, it meant that I did feel pretty strong towards the end and was able to put a bit of effort into the last 3 or 4 miles when others were walking, particularly going into Central Park for the finish. In fact I was convinced that I was speeding along at the end, only to be told by my daughter who was tacking me over the internet that I was gradually getting slower and slower throughout the race. Oh well.

Oh, yes, I do have one more piece of advice, which is my very own. Watch where you're going. About 5 or 6 miles into the race, I was so busy high fiving people along the way that I didn't see where my feet were going and I ended up tripping on the road and falling flat on my face. Fortunately I have had plenty of practice at recovering well, as this is something I've done a few times on the pavements of Birmingham. I did a forward roll, and ended back up on my feet without too much of a problem. I even got a comment from an american as he passed me: "Great roll buddy". Nice. 

2013 Challenge Series: New York Marathon Result (3)

I am sorry if this is really over-indulgent, but I do have one more report on the New York Marathon. So you can stop reading now if you think you've had enough. I'll tell you what the blog is about: its about my result and how I found running the course........

Click to enlarge

First of all, my time? 4 hours and 46 minutes. Before the race, I would have accepted that as about what I was expecting: I would have been disappointed with a time of over 5 hours and would have been very happy with 4 hours 30 minutes, so I think this was about right. However, there is a little part of me that is a bit disappointed with my split times: my first mile was over 11 minutes, which is over 2 minutes more than I would have normally taken... this was going over a very windy and fairly steep Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, but even so, I was surprised at this. And then my 1/2 marathon split was 10-15 minutes slower that I'd normally take, which again I was slightly disappointed about: I suppose I shouldn't have been totally surprised at this as loads of people overtook me in this part of the race. 

Half way or the end?

So why so slow? Well, two things I think. Firstly i had been advised by others to start slowly and steadily, which I did, perhaps too slowly! Secondly, I was just so taken in my the atmosphere and crowds and cheering and generally high fiving people that my head was just not in the race: about half way, I remember thinking that the time had just flown by and that I needed to focus a bit more. 

However, from half way onwards to about 20 miles, I found the run harder going: there were a couple of bridges and the route went North through Manhattan for about 4 or 5 miles up a gentle incline. This for me was the hardest part of the race, and I walked two or three times whilst taking on water at the water stations. There was also a short but steepish slope up a bridge into the Bronx where a lot of people were walking, but once out of the Bronx, I remember thinking that I felt strong and that i was going to do it! I was encouraged, as at this stage I was overtaking people and going towards Central Park, I felt that I could run strongly towards the end..... In fact I thought that I was running quicker than the previous miles and I was overtaking loads of people (many of whom were walking) right till the end of the race. However, my daughter, following me on the marathon "tracker" over the internet, informs me that I was getting gradually slower throughout the race, including the end stages!

So, I came 34,084th out of 50,304 runners! So not fantastic, and my time's certainly not effected my Run Britain ranking either! But for me, just finishing intact was an achievement: for others, it was their time which was important. After the race I had a meal with several others, some of whom were clearly "veteran" marathon runners, who'd completed the course in times ranging from 3:04 to 3:23..... clearly a few steps up from me! They too had obviously enjoyed the run, and I was pleased to hear that they thought it was one of the hardest of the major marathons around. In fact they said you could take 10-15 minutes off your New York time to give equivalent times for other marathons. It made me feel a little better! 

Towards the end: Central Park

In fact all the people I spoke to after the race had completed it quicker than me..... apart from one person. On the day after the marathon, I visited Ground Zero. I saw a man gingerly trying to bend down to pick something up: he looked like someone who'd just run a marathon! I got chatting to him and found out I had completed the course about 2 minutes quicker than he had..... I was immensely chuffed to find out I'd run it quicker than him! ....... He then went on to tell me that he had had problems with his knees and Achilles just days before the race, had thought he could have broken down at any time and had stopped many times during the race to take photos as he went along. He broke down in tears at the finish, he was so overcome with emotion at just having finished because he did not think he would do it. A great achievement!

So to sum up: not a great (race) time, but I did have an absolutely amazing time running in New York. I would do it again, and would recommend it to anyone else who was thinking about it. Just do it!

Challenge Series 2013: New York Marathon (2)

Entrance to the marathon Expo

I hope you'll give me a little leeway to go on a bit! This is my second (and longer) race report on the 2013 New York Marathon. It was an amazing race, and the culmination of my year's Challenge Series, running to raise money for NYAS, so I hope you don't mind if I spend some time writing about some of my experiences. 

The New York marathon was more than just a race. It really was a whole weekend experience, although unfortunately I missed out on some of this, such as the opening ceremony on the Friday evening (I arrived too late for this in the evening) and the pasta supper on the Saturday (was wanting to rest after having walked round New York during the morning and afternoon). But I did get to sense the excitement and buzz generated by the event and I did feel that it was an amazing privilege to be part of this marathon weekend. 

Registering at Expo!

As I was staying with a load of other runners in the hotel in New York, I could not avoid being involved in talking about the race, but also in strolling round New York, I saw other runners, felt the vibe and sensed just what an amazing occasion this was. One thing I did do was to go to the Expo on the Saturday morning to register for the race, and was therefore able to get a feel of the sheer number of people who were not only involved in running and supporting their friends and family, but also in volunteering to ensure the race (unlike me..) ran smoothly. A mammoth task. There were runners from all over the world, and I certainly found it quite humbling to think I was just a small part of this race. And on the Sunday after the race, everywhere I went there were runners walking round in their heat capes and finishers medals and on Monday, people were still wearing their medals with obvious pride. I found it strangely moving to be a part of this great event.

A couple of the amazing volunteers 

And it was huge. I cannot imagine the organisation that went into the weekend. Running through New York on the Sunday, you realised how many main roads had to be shut off, not to mention the four bridges that had to be closed and the re-organisation that went into making Central Park fit for 50,000 people running to the finish, with stands at the finish line, and bags, medals and food to be collected. This was just a small part of the planning, as the whole course was cordoned off, there was a runners "village" at the start on Staten Island, about 160 bands lining the course, TV coverage, stewards, UPS baggage vans, drinks at most mile markers, cleaners clearing up the rubbish, not to mention the police, coaches to take people to the starting line and volunteers for the other events during the weekend such as the Expo. Stunning. There must have been thousands of volunteers helping with the race. It was obvious that it would not have been possible to run the weekend without them, but it was the way they helped which was so striking: with good grace, loads of enthusiasm and not a little humour. The volunteers were brilliant and the whole organisation was a great testament to the heart of the New Yorker. It really was a fantastic operation.

Click to enlarge

So what about the actual race? Well, I had been prepared a little for the course from reading about it on the NYRR website during the weeks leading up to race day. However, on the day before the race, I was able to get a whole view (virtually) of the course from the Top of The Rock (The Rockefeller Centre) .... all I can say is that the start on Staten Island looked a million miles away, not just the 15 odd miles it really was! 

The course started on Staten Island and wound its way through the five Boroughs of New York: Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and back again through Manhattan to finish at Central Park. There were some great views throughout the course: going across the 2 mile long Verrazano-Narrows Bridge you could see the full New York skyline, and again going into Manhattan across the Queensboro Bridge there were some great views. Plenty of runners were stopping off and taking photos! 

I was a bit disturbed to find that the information about the course on the NYRR website described it as hilly, and a challenge, particularly at the end of the race, getting to and running round Central Park. However, the elevation guide didn't seem to indicate anything to worry about, and walking round New York, it didn't seem too up-and-downy, so I wasn't overly concerned, especially as a friend said she didn't think it would be too bad from her knowledge. I think my experience was that it was the bridges which held the greatest fear in this respect: although they weren't very steep, they were long and their slope proved a significant challenge to a lot of people. I also particularly found running up Manhattan hard, as there was a long (if gentle) incline over a few miles. After the race, I was encouraged to hear from marathon "veterans" that they had found the course difficult and one of the hardest of the major courses they had run.

So race day came. We had to get up at 4:30am, and one of the runners I had met at the hotel graciously let me microwave some porridge before making our way to meet other runners. We then walked the the buses which would take us to the start at Staten Island. We arrived at the runners village at about 7:15, which for me meant I had wait of another 3 1/2 hours before my start in the last (4th) wave. This was the worst part of the day for me: the temperature was a chilly 7 or 8 degrees (although this did warm up to about 10-12 degrees later), and it was also pretty windy! We also had to ditch our bags and non-running clothes early, so I had quite a wait at the village where I felt pretty cold. It was great to chat to others though about their experiences, and it was good to see a plentiful supply of loos (although I have to say the one I used did remind me a little of a scene from "Slumdog Millionaire", I think you know which one) and the queues were not too bad!

My wave (the final wave) started at about 10:55, and again I thought the organisation at the start was great: if only it had been slightly warmer! We were taken to the start line in our corral, and after a couple of speeches, a slightly iffy rendition of "America", and a bit of posing for the cameras, we were off! The starting gun was a howitzer, which pretty much scared the living daylights out of us, and we passed the starting line to the sounds of "New York, New York"! What a way to go!

Runners Village at the Start

I'm not going to talk much about my actual run, I'm leaving that for my next blog. But I will talk about the crowds, which were unbelievable. Having crossed the first bridge, we came across the first sign, "Brooklyn Welcomes the New York Marathon!" From then on the noise, cheering and encouragement were amazing. At about the half way mark, I realised that; 1) I was running really slowly; 2) the time had just flown by; and 3) my head was all over the place, simply because of the atmosphere, cheering, music, crowds and so on. I cannot adequately describe the experience. There were apparently 160 bands along the route, and I was severely tempted on at least a couple of occasions to stop and listen, they were so darn good! And at one point I just heard a burst of a song (can't remember which one) from one of my favourite films, "School of Rock": I had to hold the emotion in as I thought of my son and family! But the best thing for me was the interaction between the crowds and the runners, with our names being called out, signs saying things like; "You Runners are and Inspiration!"; "If your feet hurt, It's because you're kicking ASSfelt!", "Pain is temporary, but Pride is Forever" and other such encouraging slogans, some of which were very funny! And the number of families, children out there watching and "high fiving" runners was great to see. And in amongst this, was the sense of pride that each of the 5 Boroughs had in hosting the race: at each point of entry into a borough, there was a sign saying Manhattan, or Queens, or the Bronx welcomed the New York marathon. And at each point there would also be someone over a PA, similarly encouraging their borough to welcome us and make a noise! 

And other memories? The man at about 8 or 9 miles (I think), who was shouting out "You runners are an inspiration! You are amazing! You are fantastic! Running the marathon...." and he just went on and on. By the time I had got to him, the race was probably about 2 hours old! And coming over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, it really was pretty quiet on the bridge, and fairly hard going, but then going down into Manhattan off the bridge, we were met with a wall of people and noise and cheering. Brilliant! And the finish in Central Park, which seemed to go on forever, but which also was bathed in sunlight from a low sun shining through the trees. And finally, after the finish, a long 3 or 4 mile walk back to the hotel, which though painful, was emotional: the sense of achievement, but also seeing hundreds of other runners wearing medals and being able to share in their pride.

2013 Challenge Series. The 2013 New York Marathon. Race Report (1)

It was TOTALLY AWESOME!

Next stop...... New York

Well, with less than one week to go to the New York Marathon, people have been asking me if I'm well prepared, how I'm feeling, what sort of time I'm aiming for, if I'm mad, how is training going, and a number of other questions about next weekend. The truth is, I have mixed emotions, that is when I'm not thinking this is all a dream/nightmare. Sometimes I have to remind myself that this is real, I did sign on the dotted line, and I am, in a few days time, going to fly across the pond to take part in one of the major marathon's in the running calendar.

My first emotion is one of excitement! I've recently had all the flight and race information through from Sports Tours International, and it just looks amazing, the whole event. I've also been looking at the ING New York City Marathon website, and am gobsmacked at the organisation that's gone into this: it really is an amazing weekend, not just race! The website is incredibly helpful and inspiring, with some great pictures and a description of the course as it runs through New York's 5 boroughs. There is also a fantastic video of the course, which is really helpful, if not a little daunting. And having never been to The Big A, I am looking forward to spending just a little bit of time walking
around, soaking up the atmosphere. And this is perhaps the most exciting part for me: having just taken part in the Great Brum Run, with 15,000-20,000 runners, I can only imagine the atmosphere, support and crazyness of running through New York with 55,000 others in front of those crowds. Unbelievable.

However, I also have other emotions, which oscillate between apprehension and terror. In my lower moments over recent days, as the race has become more of a reality and not just some "good idea" I had  few months ago, I've had some doubts about my ability to run this distance: this was particularly the case after running this Saturday, as I really struggled with my longer run. Am I going to be able to last the distance (literally)? Have I done enough training? Why am I so slow? I've never run a marathon before, and the most I've run is about 21 miles at a push. I feel a fraud, and not really worthy of running in such a great race. I know so many good runners who would do a much better job than me. I've not trained smart, or well, and I'm not sure if I've done enough. The course is not as flat as I thought it might be, and has hills in all the wrong places (basically anywhere on the course as far as I'm concerned). I'm worried about hitting the wall, what that will be like, whether my legs will last..... Maybe none of this would matter so much if I was a good, talented runner, but I'm not. I'm just a pretty average one. 

Will look forward to seeing him.....

Anyway, before I wallow in any more self pity, I must say that I do feel more positive most of the time. Just as well. In my more positive moments, I am, I hope, a little more realistic. I have done about five long 20 milers in training, so I know I can do that distance. The vast majority of my training has been on my own, and, running round Birmingham, has included plenty of hills, so really I think I've done it the hard way and shouldn't fear what New York has to throw at me. I have felt strong in last my two races, and have no major injuries or pain. 

I guess the fact that I've never run 26.2 miles before, means that this is an unknown quantity. I have no idea what running this distance will be like, how I will react, or if I will have the determination to see me to the end..... I suppose this is what it's all about for me. The ultimate challenge to finish my Challenge Series! I'm just hoping the atmosphere, adrenaline and a lot of prayer will get me through. We'll see!

Great Birmingham Run 2013

Pre-race selfie!

The penultimate race in my 2013 Challenge Series was the Great Birmingham Run, a half marathon following a route through Birmingham's city centre, through the south of the city, including Cannon Hill Park, Cadbury's, and Edgbaston and then back into Birmingham.

This would have been my last race of the series, if I had not decided to run the New York marathon, and I was torn between really "going for it" and taking it easy, so as to not take any unnecessary risks just a couple of weeks before New York. In the event I took it as a sort of training run, thereby not really performing at my best, but having a great time.

In the first mile

Before this year's race, The Great Brum Run last year was probably my favourite race, and I found it to be an exhilarating and emotional experience. This year, although I did not have the same response as last year, I thoroughly enjoyed this really great run! The weather was again pretty nearly perfect for running, pretty mild but with a bit of sun peeping through and the race itself was really well organised. 

An improvement on last year

The course had changed slightly from last year, with an additional "hilly bit" at about mile 4. This threw me a bit, and did make the course slightly harder, not only because of that hill, but also because the hill at the end came slightly later on in the course as well. However, I think I preferred it this year as it felt that once THE hill was done and out of the way, the finishing line came more quickly!

I had estimated that I'd get a time of 2.00 hours and was pretty surprised to be in the second "white" wave of the race, as I thought I'd be in the green wave, which was the next wave to start. I think I must have just scraped into this wave, as most people around me I think would have been expecting to run 1:50 or quicker. I was definitely surrounded by more "serious" runners than at the start last year, and as a result was overtaken by a good lot of runners over the first few miles! As I said, I was torn between racing and using the day as a training run: I decided that I'd take it relatively easy over the first 8-10 miles and then see where I was up to. In the event, I felt pretty comfortable running at a fairly easy pace and was happy with that, feeling pretty strong during the early and mid parts of the race. By about mile 10, I thought I was in with a chance of getting under 2:00 hours, so attempted to run a bit quicker. What I should say is that this came just at the time when The Hill appeared on the course, so it was only really after crawling up this that I attempted to "sprint" to the finish line. Having said that, I did feel strong going into the finish (doing a quick-for-me 8:12mm for the last mile), although the last few hundred metres seemed to go on forever: I'm sure they had moved the finish back a few hundred yards!

Jokes stats

Other thoughts? Well, although my time was nowhere near a PB for me, I was pretty pleased with my run and I did beat last year's time by over 7 minutes. I was also pleased I didn't get injured, as that really would have been hard to take. Again, it was great to be running in my home city: great to see so many familiar faces running and to see people I know (not usually runners) tackling a half marathon for the first time and doing really well. The atmosphere was amazing and the support was HUGE: it was fantastic to see bands, choirs, friends (and others) lining the streets of Brum to cheer people on. Brilliant!

Now my focus is on next week. In fact as I sit here writing, by this time next week, I will have either finished the race, or failed valiantly in the attempt. I have been gathering my thoughts about this, and will be sharing them soon....

2013 Challenge Series: Why I'm Running for NYAS

Tomorrow is the Great Birmingham Run, the last of my races before the New York Marathon. I've been really looking forward to this, as I really enjoyed it last year, its on my home turf, and there are loads of people I know who are running and supporting others. But this week, in amongst the excitement of preparing for the race tomorrow and of thinking ahead to New York, I had an email from a colleague at work, who shared something a young person in care had written about their experiences. These are their exact words; I have their permission to share them: 

"When you are in care you are surrounded by professionals and it’s really hard to be able to open up and trust any of them as you know they can’t keep things private for you. They have to share stuff with other people, it’s part of their job and I understand it that if they don’t share stuff they’d lose their job but I just want someone I can be honest with. Times when I have told people private things and then they’ve had to share it because they were worried, it’s just blown up in my face and made my life worse. So now I’ve learnt just not to trust anyone and not tell anyone anything. It makes life easier.

Professionals say they care but no one really loves me and that’s hard. No one in this world loves me and I’m really alone.  I mean nothing to no-one.

I just laugh when everyone tells me the view of the child is important as it’s just a word and no one really means it. I’m sitting in these meetings with everyone around me talking about my life and I’m just sitting there, sticking my fingers in my eyes and laughing because it’s so false. And then when they ask me what I think, I feel like saying ‘do you really care?’ When I share things I just feel like it’s a token thing and no one really cares what I think.

Being a child in care you are not free. I have no freedom. Everyone questions what I do and where I go. Everyone talks about me and has meetings about me. Every bit of my life is controlled and questioned by social care. I can’t even decide my own friends or even just talk to people in the street without them questioning why I’m doing it.  It makes me feel out of control of my own life and all I want is a bit of freedom."

These words stopped me in my tracks. Working with children and young people, its easy to think you are doing the right thing, but at the same time ignore the very person you're meant to be helping. But this is why I'm also proud to be running for NYAS. Our Independent Visitors are volunteers who befriend children in care, developing relationships with young people which sometimes last for several years and beyond, showing them that someone does care and value them. Our advocates ensure that the voice of young people are heard by social care; they carry a unique position in that they are the only professional who act on what the young person wants, helping them navigate through the care system and supporting them when things don't go right. Both help to empower and give value to young people in care and others who are vulnerable.

I was also reminded of a great excerpt from "The King's Speech": there are a lot of parallels between Lionel and our advocates. But the thing that has always struck me is this: if this is how the King of England felt, what must it be like being a child in care?

Yes, he had a voice, and a right to be heard. NYAS advocates support and empower thousands of children and young people every year to have their voices heard in a system dominated by adults. NYAS' annual review gives an overview about what the charity does. If you would like to support NYAS by sponsoring me, please visit my fundraising page.............. and if possible, give generously! Thank you!