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Latest News
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Iso's Big Sur Race Report The Big Sur International Marathon Experience, for sure!!
2 Days to go
After 3 days of “work” in San Francisco I had a few hours to kill before leaving the foggy city, so what better way to put in the time than with a little cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge on a tandem with my colleague, Jonny. There were a couple of unforeseen problems with this smart idea, firstly Jonny hadn’t been on a bicycle since he was 7 years old, therefore, I was nominated as the front man and after consuming copious amounts of garlic in The Stinking Rose the night before, it started to ooze liberally from our pores – in hindsight it was probably just as well that I was in front! Secondly, we not only underestimated how far away the bridge was, but also how hilly it was to get to this masterpiece of constructional engineering. It took us almost 3 hours to get back to the rental place- our arms and legs were like jelly after it–perfect pre- marathon preparation!
Jonny had hired a Mustang Cabriolet to drive to LA and he kindly offered to drop me off in Monterey where I was staying prior to the marathon. By the time we got there, both of us ended up getting sun burnt, probably an even more stupid idea than the tandem expedition, but excellent fun...
1 Day to go
After a short jog at 5.30am along the beach and some early breakfast, I walked to the convention centre to pick up my number. The entire organisation was carried out über-efficiently and in less than 2 minutes I had my bib number, my timing chip, a bus ticket with an allocated departure time of 4.15am (yes am, not pm) and my t-shirt. Having grown up in a country which has a (mostly unfounded) reputation for efficiency, this military-style operation was quite scary.
I spent a bit of time at the expo, acquiring a pair of Brooks running shoes and a very cool massage stick (www.thestick.com – I know I am a sucker when it comes to these things, but it is actually very good). Bart Yasso, the Chief Running Officer of Runner’s World (how cool a title is that!) was there to flog his forthcoming book(he has the coolest job on the planet: he gets paid to travel around the world and run in fun races.) Free talks were given all day and I went to listen to the nutter of all nutters Dean Karnazes (www.ultramarathonman.com). I just couldn’t sit in an auditorium all afternoon and decided to go whale watching (as you do) to top up my sun-burn. After the usual dose of carbo-loading, I hit the pillow early to get some sleep before the big day.
Getting to the Start
3.45am! Three alarms went off in short succession and I got dressed half-asleep before heading off in the dark to walk to the bus pick up area. There must have been well over 100 buses lined up to get us to the start. The organisers had hired the famous yellow school buses and covered each one’s big ‘School Bus’ signs with ‘Marathon Bus’, which given the time of the day, was probably a wise thing to do to avoid any confusion.
On the bus most people either had their breakfast in silence or slept. The ride took just over an hour and covered the entire run route backwards. I couldn’t see any of the scenery since it was pitch black outside, but I could hear a lot of gear changes and this is when the realisation kicked in that this wasn’t going to be easy!
The start area was a big car park in the Big Sur, where food (fruit and bagels) and drink (coffee and Gatorade) was provided. I went through my usual anally retentive pre-race routine before hitting the portaloos which proved more of a challenge than expected. If you ever have to visit one of these in a big dark forest, I strongly advise you to either bring a torch or, if that’s not your thing, rehearse the exercise blind folded – I am sure you get the idea…
The Start
10 minutes to go and time to get to the start. The American flag got hoisted by a selected runner and the last encouraging words of wisdom were provided by the CRO himself (I just love that title!). 5 minutes to go and suddenly everything went silent. The US anthem was sung by a local opera singer – running caps came off, hands were put on hearts and chins were raised to the sky. I was tempted to apply a bit more Vaseline, but decided to show some respect for the lubricant industry. Then, 26 doves were released! I really think that it should have been 26.2, but I guess it would have caused some concern with California’s animal protection association if a dove leg was thrown into the air too. We eventually got underway and the fun started…
The Race
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The first 5 miles were on rolling hills through the Big Sur forest and there were more spectators on that stretch than on the entire Belfast Marathon route. Log cabin owners, campers, forest worker and stoned hippies all provided support which was quite impressive given that it was still only 7 o’clock in the morning. The route was pretty much up and down until mile 10, when we approached the scary looking climb to the notorious Hurricane Point. At the foot of the mountain we were drummed in for the ascent by the Taikos.
My speed dropped down to 10.5 minute miles and then went up to 8.20 on the downhill stretch which included the most stunning bridge I have ever crossed in a race.
There were a couple of things that were just a bit different to our races ‘at home’:
- They had two people at each mile marker, one was shouting out the current time every 5 seconds and the other was then yelling the estimated finish time. While this seemed like a great idea, it was actually quite useless since it didn’t actually take into consideration the chipped times.
- Neither bottles, nor plastic cups were handed out, but instead half-filled paper cups which were squeezed together at the top, basically creating a little spout. This worked really well since you can have a drink without pouring half the contents over your face and had the added advantage of you not tripping over all the plastic bottles lying around.
- At 23 miles there was a “Free Hugs Station”! There was a range of people – wearing plastic bin liners on top of their clothes – who offered a bit of a cuddle if you were so inclined. Not quite sure if this concept would go down too well in this part of the world, but then, you never know.
The rest of the race was made up of a lot of hills, quite strong head winds, excellent feed stations (6 types of gel from the halfway point) and stunning scenery.
The Finish
By the time I finally got to Carmel (where Clint Eastwood was mayor a few years ago) in 4:04 (806th out of over 3,200 finishers), the temperature had risen to25 degrees. After crossing the finishing line, you were greeted by 10 people – 5 on each side – whose sole purpose was to high five you – excellent use of volunteer marshalls! The timing chip came off and we were all given a very unique medal.
At the entrance to the (huge) food & drinks tent everyone was handed a little carton-style box to stack up on supplies. Fruit, bagels, yoghurt, you name it, it was there. The entire finishing area was a real spectacle with free beer, massages, more food and more drinks – not a ham sandwich or a tray bake in sight!
Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to enjoy all the freebies as I had to rush back to the hotel for a shower, check out and take the 2 ½ hour shuttle ride to San Francisco airport. I am sure spending all night squashed in an economy class seat wasn’t the best thing to do after 26.2 miles of hills.
Well, that’s the rundown on my Big Sur adventure - it was my 10th marathon and it was certainly one I won’t forget! I’ll finish with the quote Bart Yasso (remember, the CRO) inscribed for me in his book: “Never limit where running can take you”.
Iso
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Race Cancellation
RACE NEWS - PLEASE NOTE THE FORTHCOMING ALBERTVILLE 5 MILE RACE HAS BEEN POSTPONED ON SATURDAY 8TH MARCH.
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GOOD LUCK ISO & TERRY
Good Luck to Up & Runners members Iso and Terry who will be running the Barcelona Marathon on March 2nd.
Results just in from Barcelona - Iso - 3.58.44 and Terry 4.05.39.
Fantastic Results from both guys. Well Done!!!
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Claire's Race Report - Trotting Over the Moors!
I Arrived in Thresfield just after 7am, a beautiful little village nestled in the Yorkshire Dales. The sun was shining but there was a bite in the air and the wind was making us aware of it's presence. After the usual faffing (car was a 15 minute walk from the start and I had left my Garmin there) and registration in a little school, we clustered outside ready for the off. Walkers and runners assembled and we headed off down the lane and over the fields. What a beautiful morning. Before long we hit the end of the road and were climbing up on to the moors. Then through a couple of fields and the bog trotting begun. The paths weren't too bad but it was pretty wet, the wind was strong, but bearable and the scenary amazing. Just watching eveyone trailing away into the distance is an awesome enough site. Over the moors and on to the first checkpoint, which wasnt even set up when we got there.
The open moors became walled farm tracks, beautiful stone and very muddy paths but we started the descent down passed Winterburn Reservoir, where we missed the second checkpoint and into Rhylstone for the third checkpoint. Hmm, a veritable delight of homemade cakes awaited us along with a very warming cup of tea. The weather had turned now, brilliant blue skies had been replaced with grey clouds and a wind that was picking up. Setting off again we could see a big ridge ahead of us and you knew you were going up and over, that's what i love about it... you see where you have to go but have no idea what awaits you on the other side and more often than not the scenery changes dramatically. We wound our way across some fields and to a gravelly/rocky track to start the ascent. You could only walk and again witness the sight of streams of people in front of you, all part of the same adventure was amazing. You have to keep stopping and looking back to admire the views over the dales and just take in the breathtaking scenery all around. Fnally we hit the top and it was on over some beautiful moorland, but this time there was a good path to follow and no bog trotting required. We missed another checkpoint at Upper Barden Ressie but carried on over the moor getting a decent run in.
The wind was picking up yet more and the descent had begun again, down to Lower Barden Ressie, again on well formed tracks and with the wind behind you, twisting and turning down the moorside and the bits into the wind literally took your breath away, over the ressie and down to checkpoint five for some well earned cake, more tea and biscuits.
The scenery changed again now as we were down into the valley. Passed the ruins of Barden Tower and over a very cute stone bridge, we picked up the river wharf and ran along this for a few miles. Lovely windy river throught the farms and valley countryside. You knew the next climb was soon to come and sure enought we hit Howgill Lane and time to start meandering up the side of the hill. However the little farm track wasn't so bad and took you more along than up. A few little bits of head scratching over which was the right way to go, but we soon hit the next checkpoint and then it was down through the fields and out to the road.
Down a steep tarmacked road before heading back in to the fields and picking up the stream again. A beautiful valley with rock faces either side of you, we got a little lost here and ended up in Trollers Ghyll, the namesake of the race. So glad we did though as it was a stream babbling down through two rock faces and is so called because apparently the trolls used to lie in wait and throw rocks at unsuspecting travellers. We got back on track, started climbing again and across on to more open countryside. We could see a finger post to new road, the next checkpoint (18m, we had been out for 3hr45m and it really didn't feel like it) and there was some debate over the best way to go. We took the wrong way, so had to drop down over the rough moorland and back up again to checkpoint seven for more tea and biscuits. Looking back we couldn't believe how high up you suddenly where, sneaky climbing without even noticing it.
The next part was the hardest part of all. Not terrain wise, i wish it had been less windy becaus it would have been a great run down. We headed down the road and then onto the moorland to cross some fields, but oh wow the wind, it was a continual battle all the way. f you stood still you got blown over and we were running straight into it. There was no respite and we dropped down into a walled track to continue the descent down to the final checkpoint by the river wharf
The final run home was all along the river wharf. There had been tales of this being a bit of a drag, but it was still lovely scenary and took you through the lovely little village of burnsall. The wind wasn't too bad at this point, but not for long. we headed out on the final 3-4 miles back and gradually the wind got stronger and stronger. Euph left us at this point , in need of getting back for an early mothers day lunch... so our trusty navigatior was away but we should have been ok as it was all along the river. Very scenic with little trees and a winding river path. We eventually hit more open gorund though and it was here the wind really started to pick up again. Not to worry one guy said, a couple of twists and turns over a bridge and you are home. Ruth's husband appeared a couple of miles from the end, he had finished in about 3hr45min! and it was good to have some help to work out the exact way back to the village, he jogged alongside us and you it was hard to believe he had also been out and tackled the 25miles. The final road bridge was in sight, off the river and up a little hill into grassington, finally finally there was the school, waiting for us 5hrs after we left and 25m round to reach it, but what a wonderful sight. And a lovely warming meal of chilli and potato wedges waiting for us.
I had a fantastic run, really enjoyed every single minute of it and can't recommend it more. The navigation wasn't so bad, the paths well marked and the climbs not too tough. bring on next year!
Claire Wilson - March 2nd 08
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 Three Up & Runners Make the 2007 Top 30 Marathon Rankings
Three members of the Up & Runners club; Don Travers (4th), Stephen Williamson (16th) and Marty Gorman (24th) were listed in the top 30 for Northern Ireland in the 2007 Rankings courtesy of Power of 10.
This Newry team are also responsible for a fantastic first team result for the Up & Runners of 7th place in the 2007 Dublin Marathon.
Well done lads!
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 Up and Running Article
Athletics Northern Ireland
Wednesday, November 28 2007
The Up and Runners club has the unique circumstance of being the only running club in Northern Ireland to be started up via the internet. The Belfast forum of Up and Running was started by shop owner Michael Jenkins when the first specialist running shop in NI opened its doors on St Patrick’s Day 05.
Those early days saw MJ (as known on the forum) posting solitary notes on local races, training plans and shop offers. Finally the solitude got too much so he set up a new forum alter ego “running bear” to discuss the NI running scene with. This was the key and following the Belfast Marathon that year finally posts from “real runners” started to trickle in.
Belfast Marathon 06 saw another surge in interest much of it thanks to forumite fuzzy bear’s entertaining tales of: runner’s nipple, corn plasters (apparently a great aid for runner’s nipple!) jelly babies, dancing to Grease and pink tights! After Belfast 06, talk of meeting these people with funny names for a run started to take shape. To date the Belfast forum dominates the Up & Running UK forum, accounting for 95% of the total posts from a collective 24 stores.
The first official outing of the Up and Running forumites took place on a cold Sunday morning at Stormont in January 07. 10 people turned up (sheepishly exchanged silly names) and completed their first 5 mile training run as a group. Larne Half Marathon in March saw 11 runners out for the first time in the team colours and became the start of something really special. In no time the Sunday run was an established group of runners and by late spring a regular weekly Wednesday run along the Lagan towpath was added to the mix. Last months Dublin Marathon saw 17 runners proudly running under the Up and Running name, 7 of whom were running a marathon for the first time.
As of November 07, Up and Runners became a fully affiliated club with the NIAF with an encouraging 46 members signing up. The ethos of the club will always remain the same: Runners of all shapes, sizes and ability are welcome and there is no such thing as too slow! Whether you run 5 minute miles or 15 minute miles making an effort to get out the door in your running shoes makes you a runner.
Eileen Regan.
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