After the full approval a new, improved route for this year’s Oxford Half Marathon the organisers celebrated with a gathering at Iffley Road Track yesterday (10^th May 2012), unveiling the new route and officially launching the race with over 1,200 runners registered already.

Amongst the guests was a true running icon who not only lives in Oxford but has got a very special link with the Iffley Road Track - Sir Roger Bannister himself, who ran a mile in under four minutes for the first time ever on that very same track on 6 May 1954. Runners of the Oxford Half Marathon will be passing the track, which is now known as Roger Bannister running track, on the route as well as the blue plaque which records the event on their way towards the city centre.

Sir Roger Bannister has also been announced as the official starter of the race on 14^th October 2012 and will be sending the runners on their way around the 13.1 mile course.

Andy Heyes, Race Director commented: “We are honoured that Sir Roger Bannister has not only pledged support for the Oxford Half Marathon but that he has also agreed to be the official starter for the race. Having a running icon like Sir Roger start the race is inspirational for everyone involved and I’m confident that it will lead to more people deciding to register and to take on a personal challenge.”

Wayne Morse, Communications Manager at MINI Plant Oxford commented: “We are delighted to be sponsoring the Oxford Half Marathon for the second year. This event is one that has real community involvement, which is something we’re proud to be part of.

“We have many keen runners at Plant Oxford and will no doubt see quite a few of them taking part in the race again this year”.

Lord Mayor of Oxford Councillor Elise Benjamin was also present alongside other key local figures including Jon Roycroft, Director of Sport at Oxford University and Mark Lygo, Executive Member for Sport from Oxford City Council. The media partners and sponsors had made their way to the Iffley Road Track for the occasion of the official launch and to start the countdown to race day too.

The new UKA licensed route can accommodate up to 6,000 runners and the course is largely traffic free with road closures in place. Registration is open, go to www.oxfordhalfmarathon.com to secure your place now. Entry is £29 for affiliated runners and £31 for non-affiliated runners and all finishers receive a medal, a goodie bag and a Brooks technical t-shirt.

MINI Plant Oxford is the Headline Sponsor for the Oxford Half Marathon for the 2^nd year. Other partners include Brooks Sports (Sports Brand Partner), Up and Running (Sports Retail Partner), Garmin (Training Partner), Highland Spring and Tesco (Water and Delivery Partner) with BBC Radio Oxford being the Broadcasting Partner and The Oxford Mail the media partner for the Oxford Half Marathon 2012.

Oxford based charity Helen & Douglas House, a hospice providing care for children and young adults, is the Official Charity Partner for 2012.

Go to www.oxfordhalfmarathon.com for further details about the race and to enter now.

Been a busy few weeks since my last blog. Crossfit Leeds has moved from it's original premise to a much bigger place around the corner, the new facility is amazing and testament to Mike's hard work since the original gym opened up.

The first week was in the old box.

Monday was 1^st session of the week. We worked up to hitting a 3 rep back squat and I got up to 135KG which is a new PB and there is more in the tank over the next few weeks I think. The workout was a 12min AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) 5 Burpees, 10 Ring Rows (Hang from rings left in front body straight and bring chest to rings) , 15 10KG Wall Ball (Med in hand squat to vertical and then throw to a 10 foot target on the wall) and 20 Sit Ups. I struggled massively on the ring rows further showing my awful back/chest strength that needs to be improved. I managed 5Rounds and 5 Sit Ups.

Wednesday was Hang Clean practice again aiming to hit a 3 rep max. I did a lot of reps before getting up to 3x90KG but I have a feeling 100KG is do able if I hadn't have done as many reps before hand. The Workout was probably my 2 most hated movement 5 Rounds for time of 5 100KG Deadlifts and 50 Double Unders (Skip with double rotation on one skip) Past readers of my blog will know I don't have the best relationship with double unders but with a lot of practice I am beginning to get there and Managed the workout in 7mins 40. It was about 3mins behind the fastest time but the fact I even finished it was a quite remarkable improvement from a fortnight ago.

Friday is my day off from work and I now try and squeeze in a double session, this week it was more like a triple session. In the morning I did about 10x60m Sprints out of blocks with some of the sprinters from Leeds Met University that my track coach works with. We then went in the gym and did a huge range of lifts including 3x80KG thrusters (Front Squat to Overhead Press) Which I was particularly pleased with until I got down to Crossfit Leeds and saw the workout “Jackie” which is a benchmark workout this involves 1000m Row, 50x20KG Thrusters then 30 Pull Ups. 7.47mins for me. 3.30 1K for any interested rowers out there, have to keep it steady so legs can manage 50 thrusters.

The following Monday was the 1^st WOD in the new box and what a great workout to christen the new place. “The Chief” is another well used benchmark WOD around the World 5x 3min AMRAP of 3x60KG Power Clean, 6 Press Ups and 9 Body Weight Squats. Wherever you finish on the previous 3min round you continue on the next. I did 25Rounds and 5 Press Ups which I pleased with. My WOD total was 78 Cleans, 155 Press Ups and 225 Squats! Tuesday was a very sore day at work!! I will also add when doing 1 rep power cleans I easily lifted 105KG but ran out of time to light to go any heavier.

Wednesday was partner WOD day we started the class with Turkish Get Ups...I can begin to explain in words quite what it is but it involves going from lying on the ground with a kettlebell up right and finishing with the kettlebell still upright but with you stood up. The WOD was alternating rounds with your partner 20min AMRAP 5 Burpees 10x32KG KB Swings and 15x24” Box Jumps. My Partner and I did 17 Rounds, sorry for killing you off Andy in your 1^st Crossfit Class!

I didn't train the rest of the week as it was The TRAIN Manchester War of the Roses on Saturday. The competition involved 8 WODs from 9.30-4 all teambased which put emphasis on the teamwork aspect.

The Workouts were as follows …

750 10KG Wall Balls in Teams of 5. Yorkshire Win

8x200m Sprint. Lancashire Win

1 Rep Max Snatch. Yorkshire Win

In Pairs 100, 80, 60, 40, 20 Double Unders and Situps. - Everyone involved does the WOD and time is accumulated. Lancashire Win.

Team “Jackie” in Teams of 3. 3000m Row 150x20 Thruster 90 Pull Ups. Lancashire Win

Team “Fight Gone Bad” In teams of 24 every person 1min of each of the following 30KG Push Press, 90KG Deadlift, 24” Box Jumps, 24KG KB Swings, Burpees. Total Number of Reps across all exercises. Yorkshire Win

In Teams of 4 50 Rope Climbs and move 8000KG on Squat Cleans. Lancashire Win.

24KG Kettlebell Firemans Carry Relay. Yorkshire Win

Tiebreaker1 vs 1 in 1 min as many 48KG KB Swings as possible Lancashire Win and Take 1^st War of The Roses Title.

Great day out and enjoyed my taste of a real Crossfit Competition and was part of every Workout except for the Rope Climbs, given me an idea of where I really am in fitness, strength etc and what I'm still lacking. I plan to drop more of my specific track training to make more time for skill practice as well as trying to squeeze in a swim once a week.

I'm writing this blog entry on the Sunday following this and I can tell you I am feeling yesterday in my legs...bring on Monday!

The big day arrives. Alarm set for 5:30am. Only to be woken at 4:00am by the sound of large raindrops striking my bedroom window with the force of a shotgun.................. from then on, I knew it would be wet.

6:45am Team meeting at McDonalds. Horizontal rain outside and Gerry proclaims that the weather can only get better....... It doesn't! The team attempts to erect the marquee in gale force conditions. Soon abandoned. The stadium concourse starts to flood. Can it get any worse?

8:00am Mizuno truck all set and ready to go. The first runners start to arrive. It looks and feels like a raw winter February. Everyone tries to find some cover, including Santa who has already managed to split his trousers even before the race. The Gingerbread Man looks a bit soggy. Excess water cleared, the stadium concourse is opened and provides some respite for the runners.

09:50am The rain is relentless and the runners are called to the start. Miraculously, everyone gets away without incident. A testament to the organisers. Then it really starts to rain down stair rods! 2hrs 41mins 54secs later the first runner, Dave Mitchinson, running for Mizuno Race Team finishes the first Milton Keynes Marathon. The course has had to be altered due to flooding but the marshals have done a sterling job, making sure the runners stayed as safe as possible. The first lady home is Yvette Grice in a time of 3hrs 00mins 35secs. The Corporate Relay is won by Team Motor Insurance Bureau 5 in a time of 3hrs 26mins 13secs. An excellent finish by Raymond Hill, to win the V60 category in a time of 3:35:45!

Soon the stadium starts to fill with wet, cold and exhausted runners but most have a smile on their faces as they reach the finish line. The rain continues to beat down on the runners as more and more pour through the finish. 7hrs 25mins after the start, the last of the 2,936 runners finish the course. Well done to every single one of you, whether you finished or not. You should be proud of yourself.

An excellent effort by the organisers, marshals, volunteers and sponsors. Here's to next year.

Regards Ross & U&R Team Liverpool

As far as the race was concerned, Jonathan Escalante-Phillips (Up and Running Cambridge Staff Member and running his first half marathon) won in 1h17m14s, with Pablo Plaza Lastras 2^nd in 1h19m20s. The first lady home was Jill Christie finishing in 1h22m47s (7^th Overall).

Overall the event was a great success and definitely one worth doing should Baldock decide to host another one next year.  Keep an eye open on their website http://www.baldocktown.co.uk/ for details. For those of us that finished we tamed 'The Beast' for now, but it won as I'm sure the majority of us will be back next year to better our times and run our perfect race...

Paul

Its been an eventful few weeks of crossfitting for me. The 1^st of the weeks my time was taken up by doing the Crossfit Central Manchester Games Qualifiers. The top 60 men and women would qualify on their own right and then teams of 2 men and 2 women would also compete.

There were 3 workouts that needed to be done to qualify, I did them Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The 1^st Workout was a 6min AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) 10x35kg Snatch, 10xBurpees, 10x24” Box Jumps. I completed 4 rounds and 1 Burpee or 131 reps. This was the best male score in the gym and within the top 10 off all male qualifiers.

The 2^nd Workout as a 12min AMRAP 6x50kg Power Clean 4x50kg Push Press and 10xToes to Bar (Hang off Pull up frame and touch toes to the bar). At 6mins I had completed 5Rounds and was heading towards 9/10 rounds for the entire workout but on the 6^th round I ripped a Callous off my right hand making it incredibly painful to hang off the bar and perform toes to bar. I ended up coming short on 7Rounds and 2 Toes to bar or 151 Reps this was disappointing considering the speed I was going at but I'm still a rookie cross-fitter lacking experience and in hindsight I should have wrapped my hands before the workout as doing such volume of T2B would have put anyone’s hands in danger of ripping.

The 3^rd Workout was 12min AMRAP of 150 Double Unders (Skip where rope passes underneath your feet twice) and 150 10kg Wall Balls. (Med Ball held in front of body squat past 90degrees and then throw Med Ball to 10ft target on the wall) This Workout was what caused me a lot of problems. I have picked up all the movements of crossfit except double under's so far and I only managed 141 Double Under's or 141 Reps. This destroyed any chance of me qualifying for the Games but proved a great learning experience for me. In-fact the following day I spend 30mins of drilling the double under's and managed to crack the movement.

Back on the track I did a running session on the Sunday of 3x300m off 10min rest and ran 36.5, 37.5, 39.5 which continues to prove how Crossfit has helped me on the track. Those times are as good or better then when I was a good level 400m hurdler.

The next week was a very tough few workouts. Monday was on of the members birthday and Crossfit has a great Community and usually celebrate birthdays by putting on a particularly painful workout. “Rachel” was to do the following as fast as possible: 1200m Run (200m Turnabouts) 5 Rounds of 5xWall Climbs (Chest to floor facing away from the wall in press up position to chest against the wall in a handstand) 15x80kg Dead-lifts and 30 Sit Ups then 1200m run after the 5rounds are complete. This Workout was incredibly painful, I got cramp in both quads at 600m on the last 1200m run! I did this in 24.02mins

Wednesday was “Cindy” which is one of the benchmark workouts. It was to be performed as a partner workout this time to mix it up and keep the intensity from dropping off . Cindy is normally 20min AMRAP of 5 Pull Ups, 10 Press Ups, 15 Body Weight Squats. So it was alternating rounds with your partner. There was and odd number in the class so it was suggested I did the workout on my own as you would normally do it. I have only done Cindy once before in early Feb and I did 17 Rounds that time. This time I did 20 Rounds and actually scored higher than a few of the partners did! This workout reminds me everytime that I must continue to work on the press ups and they get really nasty at around 10mins and slow the rounds right down.

That was my week of crossfit cut short as on Friday I was in London supporting my Dad who was running the Virgin London Marathon. He ran 3.49.06 which isn't bad for a 49year old on his Marathon debut!

I will blog again in a fortnight, keep training hard

Report by Darran Bilton

It's that time of year again and with the weather having been rather random or late ,all bets were on London being a rather gloomy damp affair. Having wondered the streets of London on the Friday dodging showers of hail stones my confidence in the weather was not improved. It was then a very welcome suprise upon waking up on Sunday morning to find the sun shining. Getting to the start at around 8.15 I round the weather to be pleasant and not to warm. PERFECT! Having struggled with various injuries over the past couple of years and having been stuck at around 2.42 for at least 4 of those years. Having trained very hard since pretty much November time I was very eager to go any amount faster wether that be just under 2.42 or under the ever elusive 2.40. Being the 2012 year , the race had a record numbers of runners (37,000) and with that there would be plenty of people chasing fast times. I was very pleased with my initial pacing going through half way in a time that if I played my cards right should see me through into a sub 2.42 time. Around 16 miles I could feel my old hamstring injury coming out to play. Luckily with a slight knocking off of my pace and a slight stride adjustment it eased up. With the ever amazing London crowds I actually sped up in the last 2-3 miles and put on as much of a surge as I could in the last 800 metres. With the last 100 metres to go I could see I wasn't gonna get that sub 2.40 but the pb was in the bag. With my calf muscles set to explode I strode out to the best of my ability. As I crossed the finish line I threw two triumphant fists to the year , grimming ear to ear. Final result - 2.40.51 and placing my highest ever position, 188. As a marshall removes my chip he asks "good run?". I beleive my response spoke volumes...."time for a beer!". Same time next year....see you in 2013. Race from from Richard of U&R York.

Saturday 24th After much debating on Friday night re the Saturday morning run the majority wanted to get the bus to Patterdale and run back along the Ullswater lakeside, the distance seemed to vary depending who you listened to. This meant an early start which I didn't fancy so Ursula and I decided to run from the hut onto Barton Fell. Once again the weather was superb and we followed the prescribed route but could not find the path that was supposed to take us down to Howtown so we more or less doubled back, great run, around 7 miles. The main group followed us back in to Park Foot and they also had really enjoyed their run, time for refreshments again. In the afternoon a few of us decided to get the Lake Steamer ( it's now diesel) to Howtown and walk back to Park Foot, only about 3 miles but very enjoyable in the warm weather. Had long chat with Claire from Wetherby AC who was recovering from a nasty head on collision a few weeks before, very lucky to be there at all. In the evening we were invited to the Wetherby hut for a curry ( after all I am a second claim member) and the now infamous Tom Hannah quiz which you do whether you like it or not.

Sunday 25th With such a lot of runners (around 50) dotted around Pooley Bridge and such a difference in pace levels there were quite a few different groups on the Sunday morning. Trusting in Ursulas map reading skills a few of set off for a steady 6 miles. The route took us along the River Eamont eventually to Dalemain House and across to the lovely village of Dacre and back through Pooley Bridge to our hut, very sociable, really enjoyable. The afternoon was the social nosh up put on by Barbara and Dave Hainsworth who were staying in a cottage opposite the Sun Inn. Once again an excellent spread followed by a new event , a social sing along, if singing is the correct description, the weather allowing this to take place on the huge lawn at the back of the cottage. My thoughts are that a lot of us better stick to running but many thanks to Rogan and his guitar for trying to maintain something that sounded like a song. A quick hop over to the Sun Inn to finish off the weekend for some, a good chat about the weekends events and everyone seemed to have had a good time.

Monday 26th No running this morning as we had to be out of the hut by 10 am. A few of were meeting up near Appleby for a short walk and a pub lunch to finish off the long weekend. The weather was still superb, Janet saw lots of primroses, one of her favourites, and we watched a woodpecker in action which was nice, but not as nice as the pub lunch. On the way back over the A66 we all agreed it had once again been a cracking weekend and my personal thanks to Tom, Colin, Barbara and Dave and anyone else I have missed for their work that goes into putting on this annual event . PS. The jig saw didn't get finished.

Richard Lowson and Darran Bilton from the York branch of Up & Running, braved the challenging course of Parliament Hill Fields at Highgate in London to compete in this year's National Cross Country Championships. Representing Knavesmire Harriers and Leeds City A.C. respectively, both elite runners set off in bright sunshine at the stroke of 3pm in what was one of the highest quality fields this established championship has ever hosted. Known for its steep ascents and sharp turns, the energy-sapping 12k (7.5 mile) course overlooked the stunning panorama of the City, with all its sights. Not that any of the record field of over 1700 runners were looking at anything other than the terrain and indeed, those around them desperately trying to get in front and help their teams to the coveted National trophy. Richard had an amazing start and found himself at the sharp end of the field, with Darran hindered partly by his own large team (Leeds City decided to field all its big guns including numerous International athletes!) As the race progressed Darran overtook Richard and battled to get in amongst his own team members (he was lying 12th with only the first 9 to count in the honours). This he did, finishing 113th overall, 8th out of the triumphant Leeds squad. This guaranteed him being part of the ' first 9 to count ' trophy, though just saw him miss being part of the other main prize; the ' first 6 to count' trophy, which Leeds City A.C. also won! Further down the field Richard was having a battle royal that saw him finish the highest up the field in his life in an amazing 192nd. Not surprisingly he was also the number one runner for Knavesmire Harriers. Both Richard and Darran will be racing in the London Marathon on 22nd April, both starting on the 'elite grid' with the best in the World! A video of the National Cross Country Champs courtesy of Athletics Weekly magazine is available at; www.athleticsweekly.com/videos/saucony-english-national-men/ Known for its steep ascents and sharp turns, the energy-sapping 12k (7.5 mile) course overlooked the stunning panorama of the City, with all its sights. Not that any of the record field of over 1700 runners were looking at anything other than the terrain and indeed, those around them desperately trying to get in front and help their teams to the coveted National trophy. Richard had an amazing start and found himself at the sharp end of the field, with Darran hindered partly by his own large team (Leeds City decided to field all its big guns including numerous International athletes!) As the race progressed Darran overtook Richard and battled to get in amongst his own team members (he was lying 12th with only the first 9 to count in the honours). This he did, finishing 113th overall, 8th out of the triumphant Leeds squad. This guaranteed him being part of the ' first 9 to count ' trophy, though just saw him miss being part of the other main prize; the ' first 6 to count' trophy, which Leeds City A.C. also won! Further down the field Richard was having a battle royal that saw him finish the highest up the field in his life in an amazing 192nd. Not surprisingly he was also the number one runner for Knavesmire Harriers. Both Richard and Darran will be racing in the London Marathon on 22nd April, both starting on the 'elite grid' with the best in the World! A video of the National Cross Country Champs courtesy of Athletics Weekly magazine is available at; www.athleticsweekly.com/videos/saucony-english-national-men/

This week I'm headed to the lab to find out a bit more about my running and the science behind it. I want to see if I can benefit from what I learn to help improve my performances. You may or may not of heard of a VO2Max test, this is a scientific test to test your aerobic endurance.   I have been running for a number of years now but recently I haven’t been performing as well as I could have been. After reading a number of running magazines and websites I decided to give this test a go. Once you have signed up for it  you are sent a questionnaire to fill out prior to your visit. This helps the testers learn a bit about you and your goals. On test day I arrive at the lab and I am greeted by one of the testers. After short introductions all round, it’s time to get my running kit on! Once ready I’m told what is going to actually happen in the test and I’m shown the chart of data they are going to be collecting from me. These are all in scientific terms but they are explained in layman terms so don’t worry you don’t need a degree to do this! What is actually recorded is speed, incline, time, respiratory frequency(number of breathes per minute), tidal volume (the volume of oxygen you take in), respiratory quotient (works out whether your burning fat or carbohydrates - 0.7 or below is pure fat, 1.0 and above is pure carbohydrates) and your heart rate. I’m asked what my 10k time is and from this they devise what speeds I will be working at. The test is in two parts, the warm up which consists of 1x5mins@  10k pace -4kph  and then 4mins of 10k-4kph, 10k-3kph, 10k-2kph pace @ 1% incline and the aerobic part where I start at my 10k speed minus 2kph on 1% incline, increasing speed by 1kph each minute until reaching my 10k speed plus 1 kph. This is followed by a 1% gradient increase every subsequent minute until failure. So, now I know what is actually going to be asked of me, my height and weight are taken, my mask and heart rate monitor are fitted and it’s time to do the test. I start running and plenty of encouragement is given along the way, running a kph quicker than your 10k pace on a incline is harder than its sounds. I run until I can't go any further and I jump off the treadmill. It’s amazing how quickly you recover once you have stopped. Once I've cooled down and freshened up, the data is explained to me and a training plan is devised on the results. Your VO2 is the volume of oxygen absorbed by the body per minute, divided by your body weight, the only way you can truly alter your score is by changing your weight. My reading is at 65.91. Regardless of your score, it’s how efficient you are with what you've got. Someone can have a higher score and be slower than me or a lower score but be faster than me. So don’t get too tied up on what your scores are, instead use your new found knowledge of facts to help you to perform better. As well as my VO2, I found out that my maximum heart rate (196bpm) is and my threshold heart rate (189bpm), the maximum my heart can go before working anaerobically. Interestingly I found out that I predominately burn carbs all the time, I rarely burn fat which is not the norm! So I need to remember to take on board plenty of fuel in my marathons!! So, know I'm geared up with my new found knowledge and I know what heart rate zones I need to work at depending on what I aim to achieve in a session... the fells are calling, wish me luck!