Your World
ALL FRIENDS HERE
I was reading the latest copy of Runner’s World and felt compelled to write in. I am relatively new to the running scene. I completed a Couch to 5K programme in October 2022. A year later, I ran the Royal Parks Half, and in between those I’ve run a few 10K events, too. At all these events, I’ve been both surprised and inspired by just how friendly and helpful the running community is. Every single event I’ve been to I’ve had people cheering me across the line, offering helpful advice and generally being really friendly. For anyone who runs alone and is a little nervous about going to an event, I cannot overstate how amazing the events are and how inspiring it is being surrounded by people pushing themselves to the limit.
Welcome to the club, Aaron. The supportive, friendly nature of the vast majority of runners is one of the things that makes our sport so special.
HAIL THE PACERS
I just achieved a PB at the Linlithgow 10K this weekend past. I have to say a big thank you to that under-appreciated group of volunteers: the race pacers. I’ve always had trouble in the second half of the race, which has a nasty hill in it (‘Heartbreak Hill’ as the locals call it), so my plan was to stick with the pacers and get myself up and over it. Amazingly, it worked. I used the curve at the top of the hill and momentum took me past the pacers at about 8km. I just sped up and hung on for my new PB. So here I am, a 10K runner under an hour, and it’s all thanks to the pacers.
GOOD FOR AGE
I read Jo Pavey’s article on adapting with age, in the December Runner’s World, with interest. As a 73-yearold runner who’s been road running for 39 years, I used to find it difficult to be motivated when my times in races got slower as I got older. I then found some ‘age-related times and percentages’ websites. I realised that the age-related percentages that I was doing were only a few per cent lower than I achieved when I was running my PBs at the age of 43. My aim is now to get back to my PB percentages. There’s no reason why I can’t, if I put in the right training.
FLIER BRIGADE
Earlier this year, in spring, I decided to start running at the tender age of 46. I’d just finished my second parkrun, thinking I was almost dying and dripping with sweat, when a guy pushed a flier into my hand. I took it, glanced at it and declared, ‘
