You will need a cuppa tea on standby as this has stretched out to be even longer than my last report. 😂
So, last Sunday was an unusual race in that in order to run you have to be invited by your Masters Area club. The British Masters Athletic Federation (BMAF) has 4 Regional Associations (England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland). This is then sub divided into the area clubs. There are 8 England Area clubs. The meeting had representation from all areas this year bar the Isle of Man. (You can find out more about the British Masters Athletics Federation here if you wish.
Anyone over the age of 35 can join. 👍)
I had been invited to run the individual 100m, and join the 4x100m relay team, for my area club, the Veterans Athletics Club (VAC) which represents the London City and home counties.
It was quite an honour to be selected, but it does put the pressure on to do well😅 The other added pressure is that this is only the second time this year that I’ve competed at national level against my peers. A true test of my current form if ever there was one.
Anyway, back to the report. The meeting was in Nuneaton and I live in Brighton meaning a 3.5-4 hour drive there and back in one day, or a stay over. I opted for the stay over in Coventry which was much, much better than the prospect of all that driving and running in one day.
The weather on Saturday was truly awful as many here will testify to (I was thinking of you all out there at parkruns etc) and I was grateful that at least Sunday’s weather forecast wasn’t looking so bad. Had a quick stop-off in Stratford upon Avon where I had dinner at a good pub with good pub grub.
I left the hotel early in the morning on race day after a fairly good night’s sleep. I didn’t bother with breakfast but knew I needed to eat something or I’d run out of energy, so scoffed a couple of flap jacks down with my coffee. I arrived at the Pingles stadium in Nuneaton in good spirits and in good time to collect my number and setup my little pop up tent and sort out my gear.
I was feeling quite relaxed and looking forward to my race which was in just over an hour’s time at 13.31 (yes, honestly that was the precise time 😅🤔🙄), and met up with my coach who was also running the 200 and 400, as well as a few other familiar old faces from my area club.
I headed back to my tent to chill out for a bit. It was at this point that I spotted a few of my competitors on the track warming up, and it was like a switch had been flicked.
Out of nowhere I went into a mild form of panic attack/anxiety. My heart rate shot up and, try as hard as I could, I just couldn’t control it. I went for a little walk but had to go back into my tent and try and calm down.
This used to happen a lot in the old days, even at parkruns, and I thought it was all behind me as I was really chilled at the last run in Brighton and certainly not had anything like it since March this year.
I eventually got onto the track for my warmup thinking it would help focus my mind and calm me down, but it just got worse. I was really annoyed with myself and tried to focus on my drills, but I couldn’t even remember what order they were in. I was in a mess.
My race was due off in 30 minutes so I just did what I could for the next 10 minutes, stretching, strides, couple of block start practises and then hang around waiting for the call.
By this time the ladies 100s were well underway and the other athletes were milling around waiting for their call. The atmosphere was friendly but you could sense the tension. Athletes stretching off; high knees, others puffing away as they tried to keep calm. None of this helped of course, and I now had a head full of gremlins, doubt and worry. Just get this over with. Please. I dashed to the loo for a quick visit and tried again to calm myself down. You can guess that didn’t work either. 😅
I returned to the track start area just as the men’s 100 metres were underway. I got out of my training warmup clothes and put my spikes back on.
Eventually we were called by the starter’s assistant and given our lane draws. I was in lane 7. There were 8 of us. All regions. To my right was the South Western area sprinter and to my left the Eastern Area sprinter, both excellent runners with comparable times to mine this year. There were at least 3 Team GB members from the world indoor championships in my race.
The numbers of athletes in the races ahead of me started to dwindle as the races got underway and it wasn’t long before the race prior to ours were called to their marks. I checked my watch to turn it on for the race and spotted that my hr was at 145. Heck. That’s high. 😬🙄
When I looked back up, I noticed that my blocks had gone! One of the runners in the race ahead had taken them thinking they were stadium blocks and was using them! He was over in lane 2. I wouldn’t have minded but he was now adjusting them and moving my carefully pre positioned foot blocks. 🤦♂️😭😳😱 Can I even remember what the measurements were? It’ll take ages to get them back to where they should be. I froze. What can I do? l couldn’t say anything as we’re not allowed to speak to others ahead of us. I asked the assistant but he said it’s too late and to keep them nearer to me next time. Of course, in my head I knew what the numbers should be on the blocks, but I was now doubting myself. I glanced across at the other athletes in my race. They were all super focused of course, as should I have been.
The race ahead of us had two false starts. I noticed that this starter was holding athletes in the set position for quite a time. The last thing I needed today was a false start and DQ especially after my near miss last week. I mustn’t let these nerves get the better of me! For God’s sake calm down Brian.
I wasn’t going to bottle out of this. I’m doing it. The starter’s assistant called us forward and I dashed across the track to grab my blocks and get them setup. Luckily it looked like he hadn’t fiddled with the footplate angles and I recalled that my front block was at the 13 cm mark but, just to check, I did a quick and dirty measurement with my foot length as a guide. 2 for the left and 3 roughly for the right side. No time for messing around with them now as the other guys were already on their practise start. They’ll do. I gave them a quick run out and walked slowly back to the start line.
The assistant called us to our start position where we stand in a line about 2 metres or so behind the blocks. He shows the starter a white card and we are now under his orders. I look at the empty lane in front of me and suddenly it seems so far to the end. Like a tunnel. We are called to our marks and we walk forward to settle into the blocks.
I can literally feel my heart pounding out of my chest. I take a series of very deep breaths as I step back into the blocks. It’s rather windy today and the breeze is catching the trees around and behind me. I can hear the other athletes as they slap their legs and face, and whatever else they fancy, in order to get in the zone. I don’t usually do this, but today I thought I’d give it a go and joined in the bouncing and thigh slapping around me. An image of Bavarian line dancers crossed my mind and made me giggle and the whole charade certainly helped to calm me down.
I finally got settled in, and looked up one final time at the finish line before bowing my head and waiting for the set command. Remember to tense up and explode out of the block Brian! Get those first 3 steps right!
He calls set and I take a deep breath and raise my hips slowly up and tense. Must stay perfectly still here. I wait for the bang. It takes longer than usual and, even though I knew this, I twitched ever so slightly but not enough to be seen. Too late to tense back up. BANG There it is! Go!
Of course the start was going to be bad. The nerves and twitch made sure of that, but I never expected to be running upright after just 3 steps! Where was my drive phase? Heck. Too late now, get on with it!
I could already see 3 runners ahead of me to my left along with the chap to my right and by 40 metres I was in 5th place and I had an awful lot of work to do to catch up, which is almost impossible in a 100 metre race.
If you have watched these events at any level, the 100m race is usually decided by 60 metres. I was NOT going to let this happen. Anyone who knows me, knows that I never give up and today was no exception. Did I have anymore to give? I dug deep and gritted my teeth and before I knew it I could feel my legs responding and I started to inch closer to the athletes each side of me who I overtook, I could sense the other two ahead of me to the left and I was closing in fast on them too. Can I dip them on the line? Come on! Do this. I dip my head and reach for the line.
Sadly not. The two runners to t gete left of me were celebrating wins and it took a photo before the final results were decided. I had looked up at the winners time ahead of me and saw 12.94. I’m faster than that, I thought straight away. I did 12.74 last week. Just how bad was my time? I was quite down tbh. I should have won that. That’s just typical me though. I hate letting myself down especially when I know I could do better.
Anyway, the photo finish (pictured) revealed that I was a LOT closer than I thought. My time was given at 12.99. Second place was 12.96. So I was just 5 one hundredths of a second from first place! That both cheered me up and upset me. But I was happy to go under 13 seconds again this year.
Looking back now I’m a lot more happy than I was at the time. Heck, I got under 13 again despite that dreadful first 40 metres. I have a lot of work to do in training before the UK, and hopefully, European championships to fix my nerves and first 20 meters where I effectively lost that race. But despite all this I’m still fit and most of all, I’m happy and healthy and for that I am very grateful. I can’t win them all and I will learn from this.
I could continue to write about the relay in detail but I won’t as I’m sure you’ve had enough now, but suffice to say that I took the anchor leg on a wonderful team performance. We not only won, but we also set a new Championship record for the M60 age group. I was of course delighted and completely relaxed by the time this race started.
Stopped off again in Stratford on the way home so that I could have a walk around this pretty town but, most of all, so that I could finally eat something. I ended up eating an entire Nandos chicken with 4 side dishes 🤤 Got home finally at 11.30pm and slept like a baby.
My next race is a home open meeting on the 19th here in Brighton and then it’s the UK championships in Derby on 1st September where I’ve entered the 100m.
Really well done if you made it this far. Here’s your medal 🏅 😀
Chilly Half race report
LONDON LANDMARKS RACE REPORT (another long race report - sorry)
Beckley 10k Race Report