Events & News

Dalton Dash 2019

About The Event

The Hull Marathon have confirmed the revised route for our 2017 event. After discussions with relevant local authorities, councils have now approved the route. The changes reflect feedback from 2015 and 2016 with road closures reduced so that the event has less impact on traffic flow.

Starting at the KCOM Stadium the route will provide a running tour of the 2017 UK City of Culture and will feature notable city landmarks such as Queen Victoria Square – home to the Ferens Art Gallery and Maritime Museum, Holy Trinity Church, The Deep, Victoria Dock, Spurn Lightship and Hull Marina, Albert Dock and the Humber Bridge. The varied course also includes West Park, East Park, Pickering Park, Peter Pan Park and a lap of Costello Stadium. The marathon and relays will finish inside the KCOM Stadium where spectators will have a great view of the finishing line and will be able to cheer on the runners from the comfort of the stands.

Some of the new features for 2017:

• start outside the KCOM Stadium
• finish inside the stadium
• Whitefriargate
• Holy Trinity Church
• The Deep
• Victoria Dock
• New Bridge Road
• underpass at Clarence Street
• Spurn Lightship
• a lap of Costello Stadium
• Peter Pan Park

See the complete route HERE

The route will be measured by an accredited course measurer in due course so that a Certificate of Course Accuracy can be awarded.

A lot of time and effort has gone into planning the revised route with Race Director Lucas Meagor running round the city exploring possibilities. Commenting on the revised course, he said: “We have looked to reflect feedback from runners, residents and businesses whilst also aiming to showcase the city for the marathon. There will always be areas we have been unable to include due to the logistics of the city layout and limitations of 26.2 miles, but we have also looked to accommodate challenges around the impact of road closures or restrictions. Details of closures, partial closures and timings will be published over the summer. We also have more plans to announce around how the route will be highlighted "culturally" which we believe will enhance the new look course in this special year."

The first major indoor meeting of the year enabled the winners to temporaily go top of the Power of Ten rankings.

In the 800m, teenager Jamie Webb (Liverpool), the 2013 Northern indoor champion, set a PB of 1:51.34 in defeating World Masters record holder Anthony Whiteman (Humber Runner), who is over twice his age and ran 1:53.29.

The women's 800m was won by Adelle Tracey (Guildford) in 2:08.96.

The former European junior 800m silver medallist Niall Brooks (Sale) won the 1500m in 3:47.48 in his indoor debut. 

Claire Gibson (Kilbarchan) won a competitive women's 1500m in 4:19.29 to go top of the UK rankings.

Richard Weir (Derby) did likewise in the 3000m, which he won in 8:10.60

More from British Athletics here.

Hill Training

 By Anthony Whiteman

The first pre-requisite for a decent hill training session is the hill itself. Some of us are blessed with excellent long hills right outside the front door whilst others, namely me right now (based in North East Lincolnshire), a decent drive is required to find a worth-while hill. Choosing the surface you want to run on depends on what your goals are. I was never a particularly keen cross country runner, preferring the higher speed I could run at on the road compared to the relative ‘slog’ of grass hills. But if cross country is your thing then they are essential. Despite not doing much hill running these days I still find myself rating hills I come across by how good they would be for running up ( I know, I should get a life!). I look for the following; a wide pavement or quiet road, I hate it when a pedestrian or car ruins a good rep, the gradient should be challenging but not impossible and long enough to fit the needs of the intended session.

I was blessed with an outstanding hill whilst living in South-West London, the hill in question was Nightingale Lane in Richmond-upon-Thames. Well known to local runners it took me 50 seconds to get up, getting steeper as you went up, and eight reps with a 90-120 second jog back recovery would be more than enough for a good workout. I credit this session with my break-through onto the World scene, coupled with a 4 mile warm up and then the same home it is a tough old session! The success of this session meant I used the same structure on hills wherever I trained, namely 8 x 45-50 seconds with jog back recovery and it was a staple part of my training alongside the varied interval sessions.

At one end of the scale are long hill reps, namely 3 x 3 minutes hills with a full jog back recovery, these are run hard and it’s the kind of session you cannot really build into. You have to go full throttle from the outset. To find a 3 minute hill is a challenge in itself but if you want a tough, tough session then look no further.

Another style of hill training was one I did whilst training in South Africa. It was given the well-earned name ‘Hill of Pain’. It entailed a hill, 900 metres long, marked every 100 metres, the idea was to run 200 metres up then 100 jog down allowing you to slowly work your way up the hill. 8 reps will take you to the top then you come down by running 100 metres up and jogging down 200 metres. It was made even worse by the fact we were at altitude, but the principle would work on any long hill. Lamp posts, cones etc. can replace our road markings.

When the track season is approaching the emphasis of hill training can be changed with the use of shorter hills. They are normally done in sets of 10 with a jog back recovery, any more and you lose count! 2 sets are ideal with 3 to 5 minutes recovery in-between. I enjoyed this session because I would often run it with a group of 400 metre runners. They would have a slow walk recovery and I would jog back as normal allowing me to fit in an extra rep as they rested. I tended to run the extra one ‘steady’ a couple of seconds slower enabling me to push the rep with the 400 metre guys. So with a little lateral thinking even unlikely training partners can become beneficial to the distance runner

So far I have built a pretty good case to never do any hills as they are far too tough, so what are the benefits to you as a runner? They certainly improve a runner’s efficiency forcing them to concentrate on driving arms and legs especially at the end of a steep hill. This will hopefully lead to an increase in stride length allowing the runner to run faster per mile with the same effort. The cardio-vascular benefit is strong as all hills are real lung-busters, you certainly get a real sense of achievement when you finish a tough hill session.

Anthony Whiteman is a two-time Olympian and ranked 6th on the UK All Time list at 1500m. He now works in our Hessle store and as a Personal Trainer in North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire.

Entries for the 2017 Hornsea 1/3 Marathon on Sunday 9th April are now open

ENTER HERE

** LIMITED ENTRIES ON THE DAY**

Sunday 2nd September 2018

A friendly but competitive undulating Half Marathon held on unspoilt rural roads in the Yorkshire Wolds.   Extensive prize list, unique technical T-Shirts in various sizes and a warm welcome guaranteed.  A great race in its own right or a cracking warm up for an Autumn Marathon.

Extensive prize list including first 3 Male and Female plus plenty of veteran categories. To be confirmed closer to race day.

Chip timing will again be used for this event so there will be no paper entry system.   This long-established race, along with the Humber Bridge Half Marathon, is fully endorsed by the Hull Marathon as an ideal warm-up event and the Race Director of the Marathon (Lucas Meagor) has personally run the Major Stone so can vouch for the quality of the race and the interesting nature of the course. 

Entry details HERE

The Tempo Run

By Anthony Whiteman

Running is a simple process, you could, if you so wanted, do it with no equipment at all. No shoes or running gear at all, yet as runners we have to deal with complex ideas surrounding training. For the distance runner the method that probably causes the most confusion is Tempo running, a Lactate Threshold run, a LV run or a Threshold run. The fact that it does not have one simple name is a key to what makes it hard to get right. How fast is too fast? How slow is too slow? For the longer distance runner the Tempo run is deemed more important than the interval session by many running experts.

Now for the science, I shall make this brief! It is all based the body’s efficient use of it’s energy systems by teaching the body to use oxygen for metabolism more efficiently. One of the waste products of these energy systems is Lactate (Lactic acid), essentially the faster you run the more Lactate is produced and it works to protect the body ( if we could all run at 20 MPH for hours on end our bodies would not last very long). The figure that is generally accepted for Tempo Runs is 2 mmols/l (2 milli-mililitres of Lactate per litre of Blood). Lactate testing is fairly standard for Elite level athletes, blood is usually taken from the ear lobe and can even be tested out in the field. I was able to set my personal threshold levels using such a lactate test. Using the data I was able to determine what my heart rate was at 2 mmols, and that became my guide when training. For example whilst training at altitude I religiously kept my heart rate under this limit (153 bpm) for all steady runs.

So now we know roughly what is too slow (under 153 bpm for me) but how can we translate that for someone who does not use a heart rate monitor? You can use a perceived exertion test, an 8 on a 1-10 scale (comfortable would be 5 and racing close to 10). You should not be able to chat; a question like “pace okay?” would be possible but not more. It should feel “uncomfortably hard.

So what about distance, I would suggest you keep them short (20 mins) till you get the pace right and then increase. A 10 minute warm up and warm down is advisable. Pick a loop you can do regularly, as a middle distance runner I used a 3 mile loop, I knew where the mile points were on the course to check pace and over the years watched my times drop from 18.37 as a 13 year old to 13.25 in my mid-twenties. Once you have got this “uncomfortably hard” idea tamed you can increase. An excellent way of incorporating this into training is what we used to call the “turn and burn”. It was something that Paul Evans(2.08 marathon runner) taught me, he would run 60 mins out (about 10 miles) then turn and tempo run back in 50 mins. It is a little extreme but the concept is simple and I would often do it by running 40 mins out ( about 6 miles ) then try to run back in 33/34 mins. But any time would work.

I have had good success with this style of training within my own running career and seen it improve my own clients race pace with regular use. Get the Pace right and it can really help you improve!

Anthony Whiteman is a two-time Olympian and ranked 6th on the UK All Time list at 1500m. He now works in our Hessle store and as a Personal Trainer in North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire.

The Humber Triathletes Go Tri - New Venue - Ennerdale Cycling Track

The Humber Triathletes GO TRI is a fun way to access triathlon for the first time. Join in swim, cycle or run training sessions or take part in your very first triathlon event. GO TRI training events are available locally, reasonably priced, with manageable distances which have been purpose-designed for beginners.

GO TRI events are approved by Triathlon England and delivered by trusted event organisers nationwide. All you have to do is turn up ready and enjoy!

Event Details

Duathlon consisting of a 2km run, 5km bike and a 1km run. The dates for the next duathlons in 2018 will be 24th June, 29th July, 26th August, 30th September, 28th October, 25th November - Registration 8:30am Race Start 9:00am

Entry

The entry fee will only be £5 (pay on the day) then just turn up and race . The events will be low key, therefore no finish gantry, goody bags etc. Each race is expected to have fewer than 100 competitors. The event is held every month throughout the year.

Location

Ennerdale Leisure Centre Cycling Track Hull, HU7 6EA

The East Hull 20, sponsored by Humber Runner, saw an intriguing race between 2 athletes surely destined for sub 2hr30 clockings in their respective Spring marathons. Phil Taylor (Bridlington) may have been expecting a comfy win given his recent training and racing form but surprise package Mike Hargreaves (East Hull) was determined to push him all the way. Showing no ill effects from his recent injury scare, Hargreaves proceeded to destroy his personal best and in doing so made Taylor work hard for his victory. With Taylor now heading for the Manchester marathon and Hargreaves for London both will have come away from this race in confident mood.

Photo by Dave Gowans

Full Results: