SIMON GLENDENNING WINS HALF MARATHON AT PRINCES PARK:
Melbourne Pack runner Simon Glendenning had a massive win at the Princes Park Urban Trail Run 21.1km on April 2. Simon’s wife Bea also had a super run, coming 2nd in the 10km at the same event. They both wrote race reports on the event. Check them out….
Simon’s race report:
With two weeks to go before my first attempt at the Boston Marathon, Sean had scheduled a Half Marathon with the comment “not too hard Simon”. These words would have seemed crazy to me a year ago when I was using an app to train, however Sean’s programs and mid-week sessions in Edithvale have raised my fitness to new levels. My “not too hard” half marathon was to be run at a pace much faster than a goal I’d set myself when I started a running program in mid 2014, which was to break 40 minutes for 10km. It’s for this reason that I actually found myself a bit nervous before what was essentially a training run.
Race day was a perfect morning and the track around Princess park was already a stream of 24hr and 100K runners. Unbelievable feats of endurance and a great motivator.
The pre-race briefing was happening when I was completing my drills and strides, so when the race started and I found myself in the lead, I had to turn around to ask the other runners which way to go for the first loop. With navigational issues out of the way it was time to settle in to the pace Sean had prescribed. I did my best to block out the fact it was a race and concentrated on the feeling of my pace, intermittently checking my watch to make sure I wasn’t overdoing it. With a couple of K’s to go it was evident that I could break 1:20, which I hadn’t done before. However with a much bigger race so close I behaved myself and continued to the line under control as planned. In the end I ran my second 80 minute half marathon this year, which is 7 minutes faster than my PB from a year ago and a real confidence boost before Boston. Snagging a win on the day was a nice little bonus.
Bea’s Race report:
Sunday’s success was very unexpected. It wasn’t on my race schedule and I only decided the day before to participate. I had a 13k training run scheduled so I figured I may as well get it done in a race. My goal for the last year has been to run 10k in under 50 minutes. My last 4 races I wasn’t far off, but that pesky last minute kept eluding me! A couple of weeks ago Sean took me for a technique session where he quickly established how I could make some easy gains in time through improving my technique. Through-out Sunday’s run I focused my attention on key aspects of my form and it certainly paid off, hitting an official time of 49.52. Making the podium was an added bonus!