There's hope for me yet - Dubai Marathon results

[Bazza1234]

Have a look here dubai.mikatiming.de/2015/ for the results of the Dubai marathon - races from the Marathon to the 10K. Enter you race and age group and see how you would have fared

[pot58 Graduate]

Wow suddenly I don't feel so slow!!!!

[JohnBlake Graduate]

That's really interesting, Bazza! I was about to contact you, and ask how long you took to do your first 10k, as we're very similar ages. I reckon my first 10k will take me about 74 minutes.

But.... I presume the Dubai races will have taken place in extreme heat, so not a fair comparison with rather cool Britain!

[Bazza1234 Graduate in reply to JohnBlake]

Hi John

I have now done quite a few 10K distances - but they have all been "training runs" and not races. As training runs, they have all been deliberately slow and easy - using my HRM to keep my pace down slow - so they have been around 80 minutes. Under actual race day conditions, I have done an 8K at a pace of 7:05 per Klm and a 14K at 7:30 per KLm. I have a 10 K "race" lined up for the end of March and I am hoping to run that in 70 minutes. I have made a decision to use a run/jog strategy for this race and am currently working out what ratio I should use while aiming for the 70 minute goal . I am thinking that it will either be 4/1 run/jog - or I may even use my HRM and run between 80-90% of my HRMax of approx 160 - that is from about 132-144. I have just done that this morning ( only for 4K ) and it worked out quite comfortably at 6:45 per K - so over 10K , I should be able to achieve the required 7:00 per K for a 70 minute race. . It is quite hot here at the moment too - so I am a bit off my pace - running parkrun currently about 2 minutes slower for the 5K than I was in August last year!!

[JohnBlake Graduate]

Thanks, Bazza, a very comprehensive answer. That's useful information. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to running in the Summer, I may need to run early in the morning! Very early!

[Hidden]

Have I done that right? Women of my age taking 2 hours 20 mins for 10K?

[Bazza1234 Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Yes- that's right !! That's why I said that there is hope for me yet!! Well - actually I reckon I could crawl 10K on my hands and knees in that time !!

I think you will find that they are actually walkers. We have people at parkrun who take an hour (or more) to walk the 5K. Actually - (and I know that what I am about to say is not really kosher according to the Parkrun ethos) - but I kind of resent these people who come to Parkrun and simply "stroll" around the course. I have the utmost respect for those who make some attempt to do their best - regardless of how long it takes - but none at all for the "strollers". I say this as a "Tailrunner"

[Hidden]

I'm not quite up to 10K yet, but I reckon I could do about 1HR 20, that would put me in the top 30...

There was an article in The Guardian a couple of weeks ago about running and Park Run, sadly I can't find it again, but they mistakenly called the tail runners Towel runners.....I had a vision of you running along behind the slow runners flicking their legs with wet towels....

[Bazza1234 Graduate in reply to Hidden]

That time is about what I have done the 10K in by running non-stop. But, as I said before, this has been a really conservative effort - deliberately running slow and easy to be able to get the distance. Problem for me is that 10 K is a LONG way - and I can't really judge how fast I can run and still get that distance - whereas with run/walk or run/jog, I know that I can run a bit faster during the run segments and therefore run/jog for me is faster than running non-stop -- probably more enjoyable too .

[Hidden in reply to Bazza1234]

Much the same here. I'm going for 10K just because I never got round to it..just want to see if I can. Frankly I'm not really that interested in long distances, I'm only running for exercise and I think 40 mins 3 times a week is enough. Once I've done the 10K I will probably drop back to just doing 5Ks. Certainly when I get back to France in March longer runs are pretty much impossible unless I want to run round in circles, there just aren't enough roads. That's what comes of living in the middle of nowhere! I think it will be pretty boring after Cambridge, I'm learning so much about my city that I've never seen before...next up the disused quarry that has been filled in for swimming - no I won't be swimming there in January !