The great thaw

Due to the Christmas festivities and the distractions of yet more food and drink I have not found the time to post anything since Christmas Eve. So here is a run down of running related activities since.

Sunday (Boxing Day) was a steady 12 miles through Pont Valley, Celestial Way and around Pont Top.

Monday saw a fresh fall of snow and I contented myself with a steady 5 miles along the Derwent Walk.

Tuesday saw a rise in temperatures and rain rather than snow. This meant a 6 mile slither and trudge along the Pont with Luke who had decided to join me on my run.

Wednesday was a brisk 3 miles - I hesitate to call this a tempo run as the pavements had stretches of frozen slush which made for difficult running.

This morning was a steady 8 miles around the Consett section of the Coast to Coast. However the frozen footpaths seemed to be more suited to ice skating than running. As I had been expecting the paths to be difficult and therefore a slow run I took the camera with me and took these photos of the sculptures along the walk at Consett.






As I write this I have just had a phone call from Liam, our club Fixtures Secretary, to tell me that the club have an entry spare for the London Marathon if I am interested. I must admit I am tempted, but after the disaster of this years attempt and my current problems with knees and hamstrings I am taking the sensible (?) option and declining.
On the 23rd November I posted about two news stories I had read. One about the Governments imminent cuts to funding in schools sports and the other regarding the ultimate possible times for world records.
Well both have been in the news again this week. Firstly, it seems as though the Government may be starting to reconsider the cutting of funding for schools sports, with funding (£65m a year) being made available for the two years following the end of the current funding. I suppose a reduction in funding is better than no funding at all.
With regards what the ultimate times for world records could be The Times has reported that John Brenkus, the presenter of an American television programme 'Sports Science' has just published a book 'The Perfection Point' and believes that the pinnacle time for the Marathon will be 1hr 57min 57sec and will be reached in the very near future. However, he says it will take much longer to reach the ultimate 100m record which he believes will be 8.99sec. Brenkus also thinks the ultimate time for the Mile will be 3min 18.87sec.
Sticking with things in the news I see that Athletic Weekly have reported on a recent survey which shows that the number of people who are taking part in athletics once a week or more in the England has grown from 1.74 million to 1.86 million in the last year and is now the 3rd most popular participation sport in England, behind swimming and football.

Comments

Christina said…
Hope you had a good Christmas.
Do you run with a camera? Your photos are always clear and you always share such scenic views with us.
Alan Dent said…
I had a great Christmas thanks - Hope your was enjoyable too

I run with a camara sometimes when I anm having an easy or steady run - I am glad you like the photos