'A' RACE WINDOW GETTING SMALLER
PODIUM 5K
A couple of weeks of running were back in the legs when Up & Running were trading at the Podium 5K once again, so duty bound I stuck a vest on and gave it a go. I felt a bit of pressure for this one, having ranted to all and sundry about sub-18 minute runners glorifying themselves in the 'B' race than further challenging themselves in the 'A' race, here I was wondering if I should make the opposite adjustment to avoid doing the 'A' race a disservice. I was right to be worried. I found this one tough going. Physically because I just didn't have the endurance or speed in the bank and mentally because I was the definitive backmarker. If the 18 minute mark is indeed a window to some kind of moral qualification to run the Podium 'A' race, then I clambered some wobbly stepladders and forced entry through a tiny gap head first. 17:52 was too close for comfort and my regressively slowest of three Podium's this year. It wasn't pretty at all. In the end it seemed ungentlemanly conduct to pip the young Keighley lass Zara Knappy on the finishing straight, but a race is a race and her presence gave me something to hang on to on that last lap.
I've spouted plenty of negativity on these pages since deciding to engage in these running ramblings, but I do actually try and look for positives. On reflection, I can still latch on to a positive from last night's Podium... 42 years old and still able to blag a sub-18.

Friday 29th July 2016
PODIUM 5k   Barrowford, Lancs.   
1st Man: Jack Morris (Stockport) 14:45   
1st Lady: Alison Lavender (Oswestry Olympians) 16:55
My stats - 17:52   27th/28