Start LLCR130 at Eldonian Village Hall, Liverpool (Courtesy of Gill Thomas)
I’m grateful for what’s been a great 2016 for me. It’s been immensely enjoyable, training has been effective and results have been much improved.
Granted, I had a few scares in terms of niggles, but thankfully they all resolved themselves as I eased off where necessary and continued to listen to my body.
In terms of annual mileage it’s been my highest ever at 3519 none of which have been junk miles in my book. Doubles have featured heavily again and I’ve benefitted from strength and flexibility training.
I’ve met some great people along the way who have made 2016 an utterly memorable year. Can’t wait to share some time with you all again in 2017.
Key results:
- 3rd place at GUCR in 27:43. This gave me a massive shot of confidence. I always believed I could go sub 30 here, but it was so elusive. I was just pipped to 2nd place but now know where I can do better in future.
- 1st place at Liverpool to Leeds (LLCR130) in 24:28. Very pleased to finish 1st and a full four hours ahead of second place in atrocious weather conditions, although this wasn’t a course PB for me, as I hit 24:09 last year.
- Sub 30 at Spartathlon in 29:14. I was absolutely delighted with this result but feel sure I’m capable of more. Unbelievably, I missed two auto-qualifying opportunities for Spartathlon 2017 via Spartathlon itself when I hit Nestani in 19:38, just two minutes too late and again as I finished in 29:14. If I’d have been 26 minutes earlier to finish in 28:48 that would have nailed it. Despite already having ballot qualifiers I still had it all to do. Thankfully, I had one last opportunity via a 24 hour race.
- 6th Place at my debut 24hr track race at Barcelona in 218.44km earning me an auto-qualifier for Spartathlon in 2017/18. Given I wasn’t 100% for this race and it was my debut on a 24hr track race, I’m immensely encouraged in terms of what I could achieve on the track, despite it being tedious beyond belief.
I’m immensely grateful to my wonderful wife Gill and in-laws Kelvin and Collette for crewing me at Spartathlon and Barcelona, for the support of family and friends throughout the year, to all the Race Directors and volunteers and to all those runners I’ve shared some miles with. I can’t thank you all enough.
Wishing you all a great festive break and a wonderful New Year!
Ian
UltraIan 