I ran a steady 7 miles Tuesday afternoon through the woods with Phil Darbyshire in work. Phil cut off after 35 mins to run some intervals but not before I was grilling him on race preparation and piling in the miles for my Autumn marathon. Phil a preacher of big miles and there’s no denying the merits. Intervals/tempos are all well and good but for me the most important session is the long run. We then touched on the standard of current grass root distance running.

As a whipper snapper in 1988, Phil ran the Sefton Park 5 miler in 26.21 and finished 26th. 138 runners were 30 mins or under and the top 5 were under 25 mins (the winner was PLS’s President, the great John Kelly in 24.12). In 2010, 21 runners were 30 mins or under and Paul Sankey, a fantastic runner, was 5th with a time of 26.24. I’ve mentioned this before and it is stating the obvious but football drains the resources and interests at grass roots for all sports. If kids were given the opportunity to take part in other sports I’m pretty sure the standards would get better.

My only concern is my time, not my position, but I wouldn't mind a top 10 finish tonight ;o)