Spire English Half Marathon Route Guide Warrington 2012 Year Of The Personal Best!

                                                                     FRONT POV

                                                   
                                                                        REAR POV

Hello everyone.

After reading quite a few internet  threads regarding the importance of wanting to know and understand the route for this years EHM I decide to put a video online of what runners can expect. My own experience was that it helped knowing the geography and course route in 2011. The EHM has a few steep climbs etc so the more information you have to work with the better your race experience will be. Remember, whats goes up must come down!

The race is based in Victoria Park as is the start/finish line. The organisers put on great facilities for the runners and make sure the crowds have plenty to do before, during and after the race. It leaves the park and makes it's way out through South Warrington taking in some beautiful countryside. Mainly a road race the course does have a few stretches that are off road. Personally I really enjoyed these parts and on the whole most of the conversations after the 2011 race that I had just confirmed the course was excellent. The route stays unchanged for 2012.

The race is very well organised and always attracts good crowds. It's an exclusive event in Warrington so its always well attended with 2000+ runners and many many spectators enjoying the atmosphere inside the park and along the route.

For the runners it has to be well marshalled and the drink stations where they should be, runners wont be disappointed as these details are executed perfectly.

On the videos

The idea was just to film one from a front POV perspective but in the end I shot two so I'm putting them both up. I used Go Pro Camera HD Hero and the edits are via AVS editing system. I've not missed any of the course out and kept the edits down to a minimum, some had to be made though to keep the video length down. Playback is at x1.5 faster than normal which mean there is a bit of camera shake but I hope this doesn't distract from the overall mission of the video. The front POV has a downbeat soundtrack and the rear POV has a upbeat soundtrack but both give a good view.

Enjoy the ride, it was shot on my bike. I hope it gives you some useful information about the course and inspires you to sign up for it or get out there and put some training miles in!

This year I'm running in aid of The Cats Protection. I'll do a separate blog about this soon Meeooww :)

Cheers

Tony

More race info - www.english-half.co.uk

Delamere Forest MTB Skills Area

After hearing about the MTB skills area at Delamere Forest and spending 2 hours trying to find it, here is the resulting video. All videos shot on GoPro HD Hero 2 - Edit via AVS online video editor. If you're new to mountain biking or would like to improve your skills or just get out there and explore some off road paths then please visit the Delamere Forrest.

 

Info - Delemere Forest

My 10K Run Recorded in time lapse

Quick video of a 10K run. Enjoy!

This was my first and probably last attempt at recording a run in time lapse. I'm not sure it's turned out that great. I had the camera strapped to my chest when it should of been on my head (cutting movement down), but that's quite a public route and can live without the odd looks.

It's a great 10k run, well to be honest it's just under that distance. If you like trail runs and live around Warrington then you should try it out. The video has the stats for the run at the beginning. ENJOY!

MTB / Go Pro Camera Ride

Ive always owned a bike. Chopper, Grifter, BMX, Racer and so on. In fact looking back some of the happiest times of my youth were spent on a bike. But as with some of the more enjoyable elements of life getting a bit older meant the fun had gone out of being on the bike. My rusty MTB (mountain bike) was just a slave, something I used and abused to get me to work or for a late night drunken bike ride in search of more booze.

Being a keen runner meant I would use it even less, why bother as I had always felt sorry for cyclist when I was out running. My view was running beat being out on a bike hands down and on the whole I still believe that. Absolutely nothing beats the rush of smashing through the 10k mark with your favourite tunes in your ear. But thats another story.

So I'll get to my point. I had injured my knee and needed to cut back on the runs so in desperation I went looking for something beyond the gym (too boring) and came across MTB footage on you tube which had been caught on a Go Pro Camera.

I was instantly hooked. It was like this whole new movement in outdoor sports culture. People doing crazy stuff on bikes and it doesn't stop there, the whole Go Pro revolution is vast. I'll blog on this soon.
 

Just a few weeks after seeing the footage I'm the owner of a new MTB and the latest Go Pro camera. On reflection I could not afford it but it was one of the best things I ever did.

Not only did it keep my fitness levels up but it was fun. a lot of fun. It also reignited my love of photography and film which I thought had died some time ago.

Anyway here below is just one of the short films I've made and edited together. I'm still getting my head round the camera and editing software also my MTB skills are what you would expect from someone who hasn't been on a bike properly for 20 years (4 min 49 sec into the video proves this) but I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers

Sports Relief 10k

On one of the hottest March days on record the Sport Relief Run was held at Victoria Park Warrington. To be honest I didn't train much for it. I was only doing 6 miles which I run most days but I was in for quite a shock as it turned out. Great for the fun runners doing a mile but not so much fun for the handful of us doing the 6 miles, the sun was blistering!

To be honest it was still a lot of fun, just wish I'd got some sunny days of training in before hand. Don't think anyone was ready for the weather conditions that day but at least the park was full of people enjoying it.

I'd like to thank everyone who sponsored me and came along to clap all the runners over the line. Same time same place next year.

The 2 videos are just a bit of fun, shot using a Go Pro camera. Yes I had that thing strapped to my head running the full 6 miles!

Enjoy the Vids

Back From A Break - UPDATE

Well it's been some time since I've been here, typing away in the vain hope to get some point or other across with the shared hope someone will find it interesting. I'm already questioning how long this stint will last but I guess judging from my last period on here it will last as long as my motivation to type lasts, this bringing me nicely to saying hello again everyone and welcome to my blog.

My absence has been due to mainly moving house, then moving back. Starting a new job then ending the new job. Yes it's been a very disruptive year so far but I'm settled again now, so with some solid plans in place lets hope it stays that way.

Quick update on things so far.

My visits to Moore Nature Reserve have dropped off, my commitment to running has taken over and I've also found out what all the fuss was about with mountain bikes. After a running injury I bought one to help keep the fitness up. Turned out to be one of the best things I ever did.

The nature reserve is still very important to me, but I tend to be running round the place now more than walking or bird watching, this is a shame and something I hope to put right this year.

Not done much camping, not had the time or the funds but going out on the MTB and running around the countryside has made up for the lack of camping hours.

I've a huge amount of pics and videos to post up, so I'll push on.

Thanks for reading.

Tony

English Half Marathon 2011

My very first half marathon loomed and at 3am on race day I'm wide awake.  I was thinking back to the previous year when as a spectator I vowed I would be running it the following year and that my time would be competitive. Cometh the man........

So I've blogged a little about training for this years marathon etc, this can be found in the mix of my old blogs in the 'Legacy 5k' and 'Running Photography'. I'm guessing like a lot of other runners out there, we all have a fitness/running story.

I felt ill during the early hours, panicking over lack of sleep, what to eat pre-run and was I up to the job. The fact I'd been training for almost a year and getting in about 30 miles a week made no difference, I was still bricking it.

My fears and anxiety faded away once I got to the park. Seeing such a huge amount of runners and spectators just washed all my fears away. Everyone seamed to be enjoying the moment and getting on with their run prep, so I did the same.

I shall avoid going into detail about my experience during the very long 13.01 miles across South Warrington. I was lucky in some respects that I had run parts of the the course during this year and did my homework on how to approach and run my first half marathon.

The best advice I got came from a mate. Sprint train, this I did lots of during the run-up to the marathon. It worked for me and I always felt stronger the day after. Combined with a good diet and minimum booze during the week of the marathon I trained well in the hope to prove to myself I could put in a competitive time.

Support from Marshall's, the public and other runners was overwhelming and I'll repeat what everyone else is saying, the people helped us all through each hard run mile.

Yes then, I did put in a great time for my first marathon ( see first pic ) and the whole experience was a really great one. I felt liberated after the run, nackered but liberated from the un-healthy and some-what lazy individual I had been for the previous 40 years on this planet, it was a good feeling.

So to cut a long blog short it was a job well done. Not only by the 'self congratulating me' but a great job done by all the other runners, no matter what time someone had finished in. It was well organised and even though it's up against The Great North Run it attracted great crowds and some quality runners.

For me, now? I need to recover and find a running club to join so if anyone knows of a good Warrington club then drop me a line here in the comments box.

Cheers for reading.

Big thanks to Nez for the pics and support!