Marathons: To Run or not to Run

The Kielder marathon in the North-East is one of the most picturesque marathons in the UK, and although highly competitive is hardly the place one would expect the antics of 32-year-old, Sunderland Harriers runner Rob Sloan in this year’s event.

Members of the public on their way to cheer on runners crossing the finish line were surprised to see, the driver of the bus they were on, pull over for a muddied man shouting on the side of the road.

A day earlier Sloan had won the 10km race and below he proudly shows off his medal.

After bursting out the gates Sloan dropped back to tenth but astonished runners by finishing third without any of the runners he seemingly passed, noticing he did so.

A passenger on the bus, Scott Boylan, told BBC’s Inside Out programme: “We were on the bus taking us up to the finish line and we saw some guy running by the side of the bus trying to flag the bus down so the driver pulled over and this guy gets on soaking wet and covered in mud with a marathon vest on and we joked that's the way to finish a marathon - to catch a bus.”

Whereas the director of the race, former World Champion, Steve Cram is clearly left frustrated by Sloan’s behaviour, particularly his changes of heart with regards to admission of his misdemeanours:

“I'm a bit sick and tired of him denying it now. We did give him the option early on when he did actually admit it to us on the phone and we prepared a statement which was basically saying he'd made a mistake and he'd apologised and we were happy with that. People do this in all marathons but the vast majority don't come in the top three”

Sloan then ran the marathon equivalent on the BBC’s treadmill and finished with a time of 3hrs 7mins, more than quarter of an hour longer than the 2hrs 51mins time in October, which startled race officials. Although it is difficult to read too much into this as the differences between a treadmill and a real marathon are obvious.

An embarassed Kevin Carr, the chairman of Sunderland Harriers, said: ‘It’s blatant cheating as far as I’m concerned and as a club we’re going to come down really hard on him.

Assuming he did cheat, Sloan would do well to learn from the determination of 27 year-old Amber Miller who earlier this year completed the Chicago marathon then gave birth soon after after.

39- week pregnant Miller, described the experience as ‘nothing out of the ordinary’ at claimed to eat a sandwich as the contractions became stronger.

“Lots of people were cheering me on: 'Go pregnant lady'," she said.

"For me, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I was running up until that point anyway," she told Associated Press news agency.

"I am crazy about running."

Sources: BBC, The Guardian

Christmas Swimming

For those of you who didn’t quite feel cold enough when getting out of bed this morning, I have a proposition. Winter swimming.

Many people associate this time of year with cozy fires, roast dinners and presents. Try telling that to the participants of the Tenby Boxing Day Swim and others around the country.

The Tenby swim in particular has spiralled out of control (in a good way), and has now become one of the region’s major charity earners. The Pembrokeshire coastline comes alive as hundreds of fancy-dressed revellers (this year is a TV theme, so gives you some creative licence).

Last year, the coldest Christmas on record saw a snowy scene on the town’s North Beach as The Big Red Swim took to the water, and as the swimmers charged for the sea, they were encouraged by official confirmation from coastguards that it was warmer in than out. With the air temperature standing at 3 degrees centigrade, the water temperature was officially recorded at a comforting 8.9 degrees centigrade.

What is actually comforting is the fact there is a huge bonfire waiting at the end for those who have braved the elements and completed the swim, no doubt followed by a left-over turkey sandwich when they get home.

Tenby is not the only place for a festive swim, the people of Norfolk seem the most enthusiastic as there are no fewer than five locations over the Christmas period. For a swim on the 26^th check out Cromer beach and Sea Palling, whilst Hunstaton is the location of choice for Christmas Day itself.

So other than feeling refreshed, getting away from the family arguments and earning money for charity, are there any reasons why you should go for a dip this winter?

According to Pete Roberts who is a bonafied winter swimmer there are many. Although let me add that he is an experienced swimmer, so novices may need to take extra precaution when exposing themselves to the elements. Roberts claims: "It's a proven fact that winter swimmers have a higher resistance to infection, a significantly lower incidence of cancer and heart disease, together with an extended life expectancy."

Whilst Lieping Ren is a Chinese scientist who has spent eight years researching the use of winter swimming to treat HIV/AIDS patients.

See here for more information on the health benefits of cold-water swimming, and here for how to enter Europe's largest boxing day swim at Seaburn beach in Sunderland. Be one of the lucky 1,000!!!!!

Music and Running: Chalk and Cheese?

The debate about whether to listen to music while running is something that separate athletes and part-time runners alike. The pros include likelihood of the ideal ‘flow-state’, added motivation and the blocking of negative stimuli like fatigue and boredom. Whilst the cons are added danger from cars and pedestrians, along with inefficient running due to surging up hills at the wrong points.

Personally I wouldn’t dream of stepping out without the iPod, and for that reason I have decided to pass on my mp3-related advice.

As I stepped into the outdoors for what I classified as my first ‘winter run’ I switched on my ipod and ‘daringly’ selected shuffle. However, after listening to the first song I chose, I was then subjected to Michael Buble (great for sitting round the Christmas tree) and Jack Johnson (wonderful for chilling by the surf). Neither of these exactly had me desperate to eat up those miles, although I am sure a criticism levelled at me will be “Why did you have them on your ipod in the first place?”

Hopefully these 10 will get you out into that night air, and propel you on as you begin to waiver. (Not necessarily in this order)

Flock of Seagulls – I ran, Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies), Daft Punk – Alive, The Field – Over the Ice, Kasabian – Shoot the Runner!, Fat Boy Slim – Right Here Right Now, The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name, The Strokes – Reptilia, Booka Shade – Regenerate, Chase and Status – Let You Go

Snow in the Alps

Punters, seasonnaires and tour operators breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday as heavy snow in the Alps put an end to the driest autumn the Alps have seen since 1864. Up until now, mountains were beautifully green with luscious vegetation and flowers, paradoxically the most disgusting sight a skier could see in early December.

The highest resorts, the liveliest resorts and the resorts with the best snowmaking facilities were the best prepared to deal with the snow drought as glaciers and holidaymakers spending money on alcohol saved the day. The problem with snowmaking is that conditions have to be -3C for the facility to work properly, not something you will find in resorts where a week ago picnics and T-shirts were the order of the day.

Scenes of no snow in Val d'Isere a week ago.

The Ski Club of Great Britain said skiers should look to glacier resorts to be guaranteed snow but there are some non-glacial locations across Europe where skiing is still possible.

A spokesman said: “Snow is forecast for this week. The heaviest snowfall is expected to fall at the western European resorts, but resorts in the east should receive fresh snow too.

“Around 40cm of new snow could fall over the next nine days in parts of France and Switzerland. The fresh snow should dramatically improve the overall snow cover across the Alps.

“Even without the fresh snow, many European resorts are hoping to open for the winter season this coming weekend thanks to the great efforts of grooming and snow making teams.”

The Espace Killy, Zermatt and Ischgl had already managed to open at the expected date, although even for an early season bargain, one would expect more than 20% of the slopes to be open. Serre Chevalier had the best of it in Central Europe and can now boast of over a metre of snow.

Serre Chevalier full of snow

In terms of the fresh pow-pow that we are all hunting, the best place to be right now (assuming you don’t want to make the trip over the pond) is in Norway. Some smaller resorts have just received over 4.5 feet of new snow while the better-known resorts such as Voss and Hemsedal have just had over 3 feet.

If Chrissie Wellington Is Not in the Running..?

Another controversial week draws to an end, and the hot topic of conversation is the omission of women in the BBC’s shortlist for Sports’ Personality of the Year.

Personally I am of the opinion that athletes should be judged for the award primarily on sporting achievement, supplementing that with a contribution to sport in general and finally within areas outside sport, after all it is Sports Personality, not Sportsman of the year.

10km Open Water World Champion Keri-Anne Payne disagrees: “Are they voting for the people who are most popular? Or who has achieved the most in their sport this year? The line is fuzzy." Certainly a valid point, but I wonder whether the medal she achieved for that incredible feat in Shanghai (below) is enough recognition for being the best in her field. How much work in the community has he done compared to a candidate such as Amir Kahn?

Above all, the award should be based on merit, and who more deserving than Britain’s outstanding triathlete Chrissie Wellington. Other than Darts’ Phil Taylor, I would be surprised if there was a Brit higher up in their respective field, and guess what…she has a personality too.

I feel like it is always important to start here, there are plenty of sporting personalities, but a joker or maverick’s appeal is somewhat diminished if they are underperforming. Wellington’s record is incredible, she has been crowned World Iron Man champion four of the last five years and has shattered numerous records along the way. In this summer’s Challenge Roth (below), Chrissie broke her own record by exactly a minute and would have placed 5^th in the mens race with a time of eight hours, 18 minutes and 13 seconds.

In my opinion the men shouldn't be used as the benchmark for her achievements, they are remarkable enough on their own, but it is difficult when every article available on the race mentions that fact, and, it was the omission of women from the BBC’s shortlist that sparked the debate in the first place.

Wellington herself is a fantastic character. A recent piece in The Guardian saw Wellington stand oiled-up in front of university students for a photo shoot. This was not a Sepp Blatter-esque drive to make womens sport sexy, but as a celebration of her body, the vehicle that has taken her to the absolute pinnacle of her sport. Something that Wellington speaks proudly of: “"I love my body…I am more than content with it. I take a holistic view and see it not just as the contours of my skin but as the muscles, sinews, bones and everything else. This body has taken me to heights that I never imagined.”

She hails from East Anglia and after graduating from Birmingham University in 2001, she decided to lose some post-travelling weight by running which was going swimmingly (sorry!), until she was knocked down by a bus on the way to work.

Although this is not encouraged, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise: Whilst ‘rehabbing’ in a swimming pool, she was spotted by a coach and encouraged to turn her hand to Triathlon, and the rest his history.

Whether you agree that the omission of women from the BBC’s was justified or not, it is undeniable that the criticism of their own voting system has not avoided a PR disaster. The system which includes ‘Men only’ mags Zoo and Nuts has to be flawed but are the BBC capable of fiddling the results?

Blue Peter-gate suggests they could, and probably should have…