I could see the city lights…

Saturday was my 4th outing at Parbold Hill, the race I’ve taken part in most in my short running career. The first two outings I lost a shoe, the third attempt I thought I was in great shape but the muddy conditions ended any chance of me getting a decent time. This weekend it was frozen solid in parts and they extended the course slightly but we had a great turn out form PLS and I thought we were in with a shout for a team prize.

The Liverpool Harriers usual have the team prize sewn up and on the drive up we pulled alongside John McCole from the Harriers who was on his way, so there was one lad none of us were going to beat. Then we bumped into Richie Burney who’s won this race a few times, and Adam Peers who’d just ran 14:47 in the Armagh 5k, then Glen Groves who is usually a top 5 finisher in this race. So, the team prize was a pipe dream, or was it!

Parbold is always a popular race with PLS and although Martin and Keiran didn’t fancy it we still had James fresh from his Walton Park xc win, Bob Barrows who’s in training for the Royal Marines and in great shape, Neil Kelly who’s a demon up the hills and Simo who’s as crazy as anyone running down hill, oh and me. I fancied a good time here because due to the cold the going was bound to be fast. I had a decent warm up and the ground in the starting area was fine, not too hard, not too soft. The start is around ¾ on the road before it heads up the first hill that gradually get’s steeper. I set off at a quick pace but James and Bob were already well ahead, Neil quickly passed me on the hill but I settled into a good rhythm and whenever the course was flat or down hill, I dug in a really pushed on.

Parts of the first stages were frozen solid and it was hard to dodge between the ruts but there was still plenty of stretches to pick up the pace. I could see Neil and Bob ahead of me going up Parbold Hill itself but once they got around the corner they were gone. I wanted to get under 50 mins and managed to finish in 49:40 which was a good effort as the course had been extended (6.94 on my Garmin) and the frozen parts were just as tough as the mud.

The results themselves were pinned up in the school as I was getting changed. I Adam Peers was 1st with Richie Burney 2nd but couldn’t see John McCole’s name on the sheet. I asked Richie Burney and he said he never saw John. Turn out he got there late and the race was full! I appreciate the organizers have there rules but it would have been nice of them to late a top draw runner like John in. Glen Groves was 6th but we couldn’t see anymore Harriers in the mix so there a buzz around the PLS camp that we might have sneaked the team prize. Unfortunately Wigan Phoenix pipped us by 5 points, so close!

A good weeks training again and great race to top it off, I’m definitely feeling stronger so the hard work is paying off – I celebrated by having a late Saturday night on the wine followed by a lazy day watching cowboy films and Planet of the Apes, training week below:

MONDAY 6.5 steady then a quickish last 3 - steady 6.5 pm 13
TUESDAY 5.5 - ran session with the work lads but only at 6:15 pace for 10 x 2mins - warm up/down am - track session PM, 2 x 7.5 mins (5:35 m/mile) - 6 x 2.5 mins (5:20 m/mile) - warm up/down - 7 miles in total 12.5
WEDNESDAY 11.15 miles sub 7's am 11.15
THURSDAY 20 miles 7:37 average - out in in 7:45 back in 7:25 20
FRIDAY 9 miles easy 9
SATURDAY parbold hill race with warm up/down 10
SUNDAY rest 0

Total 75.65