I’ve managed it at last – I’ve just recorded my 100th
road race win in today’s ‘Christmas Cracker’ 20km at Moreton Morrell! It’s been some time coming – I realised I was
getting close a while ago, but injuries prevented me actually achieving it
until today! And it was made even more
special by the fact my coach of 29 years, Les, was there to share it,
especially after everything he has been through over the last 12 months. He marked the occasion in style by arranging
for some balloons printed with ‘100’ to be handed to me just before the finish,
for me to carry and wave as I crossed the line!
 |
| Crossing the line with my '100' balloons (which Les also managed to colour co-ordinate with my kit!) |
My 100th win comes from a total of just 254 road
races (not including all the track, cross-country and trail races where I’ve
also notched up quite a few wins too).
My first road race was in 1987 as a junior and since then I’ve run over
a variety of distances ranging from 5km to 100km. In addition to my wins I’ve also finished 2nd
on 52 occasions and 3rd on 22 others giving a total of 174
podium finishes from the 254 races! A
few facts and figures:
·
My first win was in 1992 in the Rugby Women’s
10k.
·
My first Warwickshire AA gold was in 1996 in the
Chelmsley Wood 10k.
·
My first Midland Counties AA gold was in 2000 in
the Erewash 10 mile.
·
My biggest win was the 2010 50k World Trophy
Final in Galway.
·
I’ve raced in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France,
Germany, Ireland, Lebanon, Morocco, The Netherlands, Slovakia and South Africa.
I’ve had some fantastic opportunities and have many great
memories from my road races – winning the 2010 50k World Trophy Final and
setting a national record; standing on the podium at the European 100km champs.
and watching the Union Flag hoisted; the amazing atmosphere in the Comrades Marathon
in South Africa; beating Berhane Adere in the Great North Run and being
mentioned by Brendan Foster and Steve Cram on the TV commentary; the incredible
atmosphere of the London Marathon; proudly wearing my GB vest on five
occasions, including two World Championships; standing on the podium in the
Amsterdam Olympic Stadium – the list could go on and on!
Of course, my 100 wins haven’t come without an awful lot
of hard work and dedication. And one
thing is sure, I couldn’t have done it without the support of many people –
Mizuno for supplying me with shoes and kit; X-Bionic for their fantastic
compression wear; The Warwickshire Golf & Country Club for the use of their
gym; my physio Mark Buckingham for putting me back together when I’m broken; my
club, Leamington C&AC for their encouragement and recognition in making me
a life member; my family for all their support and finally, of course, Les who
has been there at nearly all of my road races to celebrate the successes and
pick me up when things haven’t gone so well.
It was a great race to achieve my 100th
victory today – superbly organised, as ever, by Raceways Multi-sport Event Management
in aid of their charity ‘Kids Run Free’ (http://www.kidsrunfree.co.uk/site/index.php).
The course was a two-lap undulating route through the Warwickshire countryside
and was well-marshalled. An uphill climb
at the end of each of the two laps was made harder by the strong wind blowing
straight in our faces, but at least the pre-race rain held off! And despite my clocking up 254 road races I’ve
never actually raced the 20k distance before, so I ended up with a PB too! I think the celebratory mince pie afterwards
was well-earned!
‘Making my century’ was a fitting end to the year and it
was great to finish on a high. After the
World 100k in September I was selected as a non-travelling reserve for the GB
team for the World 50k champs. in Doha, Qatar.
This meant I spent three months training for a race that I didn’t know
if I would be running! I was always on
stand-by to jump in at the last minute if the girl who was selected had to
withdraw, however I didn’t hear anything from the GB team management so I assumed
all was OK with her. It came as somewhat
of a surprise, therefore, when I read the results of the race, to find that she
hadn’t even started! I was never called
upon to take her place, despite making myself available right up to the last
minute! So much for selecting a reserve!
The last three months haven’t gone to waste though, as I’ve
been working with one of the personal trainers at The Warwickshire, Sam Baker,
on my strength and conditioning. He’s
been really great working with me on my technique, trying to get my glutes
firing, working on core and upper back strength and addressing a muscle
imbalance in my legs. He’s very knowledgeable
and excellent at explaining everything (and very patient with me too, when I
can’t seem to make my body do quite what he’s looking for!) I’ve also been working with my physio on
addressing my ongoing hamstring tendinopathy.
He’s recently acquired a new ‘toy’ which he’s been using to give me Extracorporeal
Shockwave Therapy – basically it’s a probe that pulsates on the affected
area. It’s early days yet, but fingers
crossed it will start to have a positive effect soon. I’ve also started to wear a sacroiliac
support belt to see if that helps too.
And on top of all this I’ve ventured back to the
athletics track in Leamington to start doing track sessions again, after a gap
of 18 months! It’s a vague hope that I’ll
get some speed back in my legs again, although I think it’s a bit
optimistic! However, it’s been really
good fun and I’ve enjoyed training in a group again; encouraging and pushing
each other, as well as the friendly banter.
So 2015 hasn’t been a bad running year for me
really. I’ve managed to come back from
my injuries last year to finish 10th in the World 100k championships
and go to 5th on the UK All-time rankings, and to eventually reach
100 road race wins. Here’s to 2016 – I may
have reached 100 but I hope I’m not out just yet!
Have a great Christmas everyone, and I hope you have a
happy and healthy 2016.
