This was the fourth round in this years league, and I lined up feeling a lot more positive than I had in the previous three fixtures after a good run at Ribble Valley and some good mileage in recent weeks.This course always throws up a few early shocks as it starts with 200 metres on the flat and th .. Read More

Back in September when I ran the Cardiff 10k, Jacqui Brace from Welsh Athletics was telling the North team about this event and challenged us to an unofficial Wales vs North Inter-area match.  Mick Hill, our team manager at Cardiff, thought it was a great idea and accepted the challenge!October .. Read More

This is always a good quality race, and an opportunity to run fast so I made sure I eased down properly for this one.  There was added interest for Northern athletes with the inclusion of the Northern Championships, and we were hopeful of doing well as a team with our strongest four runners (ba .. Read More

There aren’t many 10 mile races around these days, so it’s always nice when the opportunity comes up to do one.  Especially so when it’s 4 miles from your house and your last 10 mile race was a 500 mile round trip to Portsmouth!Unlike the Great South Run which is a very flat a .. Read More

After such a terrible race at Liverpool the previous weekend, I was keen to get it out of my system and the Manchester League was a good place to do it.  I’ve won the league for the past two seasons and really enjoy the atmosphere and the friendliness of these lower key races.  I was .. Read More

After a pleasing run at Leeds over 10k the previous weekend, I lined up here feeling positive about this race.  I’ve had a mixed bag of results here in recent years, the highlight being in 2009 finishing 12th and 34secs behind the race winner that day.  Last year, I came into this ra .. Read More

The Leeds Abbey Dash is one of those races that starts at 9:30am and means an early start.  My normal routine for a 9:30am start would be to get up at 6:30am, have a small bowl of cereal and a slice of toast with Jam to allow my breakfast time to settle before the race.Matt Barnes had arranged .. Read More

Round 2 of this years Manchester League was held at Sherdley Park, St Helens.  This was a course I had a good record on.  Last year I had won this fixture having raced the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k in the morning!  The previous year I had shocked myself by outkicking Gareth Raven for a sur .. Read More

The National Cross Country Relays will always be a pretty special event for me as we have medalled twice at this event.  With it only being four runners to make a team, it opens it up to smaller clubs to have a serious crack at it but that means having your best four runners out.I’ve been .. Read More

I’ve always wanted to do this race but it has always seemed to clash with something else.  I remember watching it on TV last year and thinking what a super quick course it looked as Joseph Ebuya powered away to an outrageous 45min vitory.Training had gone really well over the last few wee .. Read More

Having won this league for the last two years, I’m going to try and do as many of these races as I can.  I’ve always felt that my cross country running improves when I’ve got a few under my belt and often think that some people come into the big races without enough practice a .. Read More

After my good run at the Northern 6 Stage, I was hopeful of another step forward in performance here, although I hadn’t been feeling well for a few days.  I took over on leg 2 from Matt Barnes who had a decent run on the first leg and was about 50 metres behind a group containing Dave Mit .. Read More

The Northern 6 Stage is one of my favourite events of the year.  There’s something about the atmosphere at this event, and with it being 6 stages there are lots of teams in with a shout of medals.  My own club Altrincham have a superb record at this event, finishing in the top 4 on e .. Read More

This was my third race in seven days and would complete my first 100 mile week since March.  My Plantar Fasciitis had now settled down to a point where I could start to train normally again, I felt like an athlete reborn!I was keen to use low key races as part of my training.  I had treate .. Read More

I used this low key trail race near Rochdale as part of a training session.  My intention was to run the 5k fairly hard, and then follow the course a second time, running 2mins hard, 1min easy.The race was organised by Andy O’Sullivan who organises many races for charity throughout the ye .. Read More

This was my first race since a very disappointing track season, blighted by injury.  Up until the Solihull BMC in July, I was still managing to produce runs that weren’t too far from my personal bests, but I was hanging onto the last threads of last winters training by then and from that .. Read More

Although I had ended my track season by this stage, I was asked by City of Manchester’s team manager Dean Hardman to run the 5000m here.  It was a pretty big match for us as it was the final fixture of the season and we held a narrow lead overall coming into the match.The race was a reall .. Read More

Despite accepting after last weeks 10000m race that it was game over as far as PBs were concerned this track season,  I made a late decision to run here.   It may seem a strange decision but I still felt I could get my seasons best down.  I wasn’t that happy with my SB of 1 .. Read More

In the corresponding races both last year and in 2009, I ran two of my fastest 10ks ever (29:55 and 29:58).  Both of those results came well into a marathon build up, with a background of high mileage, 10k sessions and tempo runs.  This year was very different.  In the last 16 weeks, .. Read More

I was really looking forward to this race.  I had never ran at a UK Championships, although had previously ran the 10000m Championship when it was held within the Watford BMC Meeting.  As much as I was looking forward to it, I was apprehensive.  I had been trying to get to the bottom .. Read More

I couldn’t possibly line up at the Trials this weekend with my last race an 8:47 3000m so I decided to do another 3000m rather than train.  My biggest problem on Saturday was the erratic lap times, so my gameplan was simply to run as evenly as I could here and I would do that by running m .. Read More

23/7/11  BMC Trafford Grand Prix - 3000mAfter an encouraging 14:42 the previous weekend at Solihull, I thought that I might have a chance of running inside 8:30 here.  That wouldn’t be a PB but would be a sign that things were getting back on course and I still had a shot at a PB ove .. Read More

Having returned to serious racing the previous weekend at the British Athletics League and run a less than impressive 3000m, I knew that I would have to step up in performance here or risk going out of the back door.I was seeded into the C race which was being paced by Keith Gerrard at 14:25 pace.&n .. Read More

“Out of the Frying Pan and straight into the Fire” would be an apt saying to describe this race.  Team Manager Dean Hardman had asked me two weeks before the race if I would run the 3000m here and I said that I wasn’t fit enough and hadn’t done a track session for some t .. Read More

Altrincham entered a team into this years Welsh Castles Relay as part of the celebration for the club’s 50th anniversary.  We’d never done the event before so were not sure what to expect, but our team captain Dave Livingstone had done a superb job researching the event and putting .. Read More

This was the second of a series of three 5k races my club organise over the summer.  I always aim to run in one of these three events.   I only decided to run this one just as I was leaving work at 6:30pm, and the race start time was at 7:15pm so things were a little tight!I didn&rsqu .. Read More

I ran my first league meeting of the 2011 season, competing in the BAL Premiership for my higher claim club City of Manchester.  It was a 5000m race at an impressive facility in Cardiff which I hadn’t previously visited.My legs had felt absolutely destroyed all week since the London 10k a .. Read More

The London 10k incorporated the UK:A championships and the organisers had offered an excellent incentive to clubs with £2000 for the winning team and cash prizes for the top 6 teams.  Myself, Matt Barnes and Andy discussed it and felt this would be worth our while.  Myself and Andy t .. Read More

I had deliberated all week whether to run this race.  I’ve enjoyed running the 5000m at this meeting in recent years because it’s only a 10 minute drive from my house, and of all the BMC meetings the atmosphere at this one is pretty special with spectators lining the backstraight of .. Read More

The Great Manchester Run is a race I always like to try and do as it is local for me and I always get good crowd support there from many people that I know.  It's always nice to race a big race in your home city and they don't come any bigger than this in Manchester.My training since London has .. Read More

There was a pretty decent field assembled for this 10k race on Bank Holiday Monday.  Andrew Pearson has been in good form with a 48min 10 miler and several 65/66min hafs and low 30min 10k wins.  I knew from training with my brother Andy that he was in very good shape.  Then there was .. Read More

It seems a while ago now, but it's taken me a few weeks to have the heart to write this race report.I've just read my race report from the National 12 Stage Road Relays the previous weekend, and the warning signs were there.  I'd commented that I was moving reasonably well and feeling good on t .. Read More

I arrived back from my warm weather training trip in Portugal the day before this race and was confident of a good run.  I've run this race enough times to have an idea what sort of time is a good run for me.  Unfortunately I found out on my return that we had no team.  I had structur .. Read More

The Wilmslow Half Marathon is one of my favourite races.  It is my local half marathon and I always get a good amount of crowd support from clubmates, friends and relatives.  I first ran it in 2000 when I was 21 and ran 69:15, that was my first ever half and I loved it!Since then I have ru .. Read More

When I sat down a few weeks ago and planned my training with my coach Norman Poole, he said that I could run the Northern relays if I wanted to but I would have to train through them as I was going to have to take a very easy week the following week for the English Half Marathon Champs. Th .. Read More

I have run in many, many races throughout my twenty years in this sport.  Some have faded away into a distant memory now, but this years Dentdale Run is one race that will last in the memory for many years to come.I was staying in the quiet sleepy village of Dent for the weekend with .. Read More

Sorry for the delay in writing this report, at this time of year I have always been very busy organising the Trafford 10kAfter having such a good run at the National Cross Country Championships, I was keen to keep the momentum going and put in another good performance here.  I wa .. Read More

My last blog was written two days before this race, and the subject was that I needed to pay more attention to my lifestyle.  I'd come down with a horrendous cold on Monday and I knew that I only had myself to blame after subjecting myself to an appalling sleeping routine at the end of las .. Read More

I've never really considered the possibility of running this race before because I'm generally in training for a spring marathon when it it is on.When Kevin Quinn approached me in January about running it this year for his company "Real Runners" I decided I would give it a go.  I've heard .. Read More

When I sat down and planned my racing and training schedule up to the London Marathon in April, I decided that cross country wouldn't really feature after mid-January.  The only two exceptions to that were the Northern and National Cross Countrys which I try to do every year.  I haven .. Read More

I last ran this race way back in 2002 as part of my preparation for my debut marathon at London.  I remember it being very undulating and finishing 4th in 68:55.  As my training for London gathered momentum, I went to the Wilmslow Half Marathon eight weeks later and ran 65:24 - a PB which .. Read More

Just six days after returning to racing after injury in the Manchester League, I was back at the same venue for the Greater Manchester Championships.I’d been told during the week that Andi Jones, Gareth Raven and Carl Hardman were all running.  Given my time off and suspected lack of fitn .. Read More

I wasn't sure whether to run this race.  I'd only been back running 10 days after my injury layoff and hadn't done anything hard until that week when I did a 6 mile tempo on Tuesday and 10x400m on Thursday in 68s.  I knew that a placing in the first few would secure me the overall league t .. Read More

Round 3 of the Manchester League was at Boggart  Hole Clough.  There were doubts as to whether the race would go ahead at all due to heavy snow.  It did go ahead and I looked forward to the race as I always do these league races.I had finished second (to my brother) in round 1 and the .. Read More

For most of the country's top endurance runners, this race is the biggest target of the first half of the winter as it incorporates the trials for the British team for the European Championships.  The field is always very, very strong for this race and in many ways it is stronger than the Natio .. Read More

Insane, mad, nuts, bonkers, lunatic, off my head, crazy.  I was called them all on Sunday when I tackled two 10k races on the same day just 5 hours apart.It's the first time I've ever done something like this, and something I've always been curious to try to see what affect it has.  I get .. Read More

I have always enjoyed the Leeds Abbey Dash, and the race holds special memories for me as it was the race where I first broke the magical 30min barrier back in 2005.  I first ran there in 2001 and went under 31mins for the first time, running 30:40 which was a big step forward for me at the tim .. Read More

The relay season concluded at Mansfield on Saturday, and this event has arguably been our strongest with two bronze medals in recent years.  We knew throughout the week that repeating that result was an impossibility as we had three strong runners and quite a drop off to our fourth man.  B .. Read More

The first race of the Manchester Cross Country League took place on Saturday.  The league consists of five races, and the overall league standings are based on your best four races.Last winter was the first winter in what must have been ten years that I completed the series.  In recent yea .. Read More

In the week leading up to this race, the Altrincham team were quietly confident of causing a bit of a stir.  On paper, the team looked like it could do some real damageLeg 1 – Matt Barnes.  13:58 5000m this summer, AAA road 5k champion and winner of leg 1 of the National 12 StageLeg .. Read More

This race wasn't on my original plan a week ago.  I was going to be there working for Sweatshop, assisting with the prizes and course set up and selling product.  Then the University asked me midweek if I would run a leg for their old boys team.  The event is always a good bit of fun, .. Read More

The Northern 6 Stage is one of my favourite events of the year.  I love all of the relay events but the Northern 6 is the one I enjoy more than the others.  Probably because my club Altrincham have a good record in the event and it’s more exciting when you’re scrapping for meda .. Read More

I’ve been blogging on the site now since July and have written a few race reports.  They have all been decent results and in each instance, I’ve been able to report back positively on how the races went.  I have thought to myself a few times that there will come a point when I .. Read More

Apologies for the delay in writing this race report.  I have been waiting for the results of the race but they still haven’t come through so will just have to write everything up without knowing the exact results!When I planned my races leading up to Toronto, it quickly became obvious tha .. Read More

Before I forget, I’d like to start this race report by saying what a fantastically well organised race the Bristol Half Marathon is.  The larger half marathons generally have to be due to the number of runners involved, road closures, etc.  But Bristol stands out for me for a few rea .. Read More

I have done quite a few 10,000m races over the years and one thing has struck me more than anything.  A time of 30:00 averages out at 72secs per lap.  Of the 15 races I had done before Saturday, I had broken 30mins on two occasions and both times I had gone through 400m in 74secs.  On .. Read More

Stretford 5k Race ReportI approached this race with a real feeling of trepidation.  I hadn't raced for 4 weeks since the AAA 5k on the road at Blackburn.  At that point, I wasn't very fit at all and it showed, 14:55 was a painful struggle from start to finish.  I'd just come back from .. Read More

I was extremely fortunate today to attend an Olympic Experience day, organised by London 2012 sponsors Adidas and my employers Sweatshop.This was the fourth in a series of five such events and today’s sport was Boxing and was held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.I must admit to .. Read More

I’d like to start my first blog of the new year by wishing all of the readers a successful 2012.  It’s a huge year for athletics in this country for very obvious reasons and I’m really looking forward to seeing people pushing the boundaries in their training and hopefully witn .. Read More

I’ve been taking a bit of stick this week from people about the length of my hair at the moment.  It’s fair to say that I would normally not let it grow this long, but it could be a while before it is next cut...During a conversation with my housemate Ben a few weeks ago, he asked m .. Read More

Apologies for the lack of blogging of late, there’s been quite a bit going on in my life – more on that later!As many of you know, I work in a running shop and I’m often asked by customers how many miles a week I run.  When I tell people, most cannot comprehend how I manage to .. Read More

We often hear people talking about the decline in the standard of British Distance Running compared to previous decades.  We know for example that there was a huge amount of depth on the British rankings in the 1980s which for whatever reason isn’t there today.  As an illustration I .. Read More

I was very, very surprised last week when the email came through with all the runnerslife website statistics for June.  I’m fully aware that I haven’t blogged much recently, so it was a huge surprise to see that of all the athletes on the site, my pages were the ones which received .. Read More

As some of you know, I work for Sweatshop as an Assistant Manager at the store in Hyde, Manchester.  As well as having 35 shops across the UK, we also organise quite a few race events, most notably the Reading Half Marathon and Nottingham Marathon and Half Marathon.The Events team have been wor .. Read More

Last Saturday evening was the first in the 2011 British Milers Club Grand Prix series.  I was involved quite a bit with the organisation of this years meeting so thought I would share my experiences in this blog.  For those readers who don't know who the BMC are, basically they are a club .. Read More

“You should only ever drop out of a race if you’re going to do yourself damage by continuing”.  A  quote I heard from former National Cross Country champion Peter Riley a few years ago.I like to race a lot, but have only dropped out of four races in the last fourteen year .. Read More

As I sit here writing this blog, it is my final day warm weather training in Portugal.  I’ve got in some fantastic training out here and feel as fit as I’ve ever felt.  It’s been great staying with five other runners (Martin Williams, Steve Sharp, Ian Rawlinson, Mick Hill .. Read More