Unusual Running Races

Running has become so popular nowadays that a lot of different and unique events are popping up that not only involve straight forward running. Running a marathon is just too tame now, we need more than that. I started looking for some unusual or wacky races that I could share with you all, and this a few of the best I found.

North American Wife Carrying Championships  


What a hero!

This race makes me laugh because if I was to suggest to the lovely Charlotte (my wife to be ) that we take part, she would probably call the wedding off. Essentially you run a race through an obstacle track with your wife on your back (note: it doesn't actually need to be your legal wife). Teams need to be made up of one male and one female but it doesn't need to be the man who carries the woman.

"Carrying methods often include the piggyback or fireman's carry, but teams are encouraged to create their own style. All winners to date have employed the highly-technical Estonian carry, which has the woman upside down with arms wrapped around the man's waist and her legs draped over his shoulders."

(Source)


Seemingly this all comes from a Finnish history. Rankainen the Robber, an infamous 19th century Finnish scamp only wanted the strongest men in his merry band. The way he tested this was to set up an obstacle race and make his men run it with a sack on their back. This evolved into running with women on their back to show more physical strength and so the lovely tradition was born.

The Great Kinder Beer Barrel Challenge

This race also looks like a lot of fun. Essentially, up to 11 teams of 8 runners rise to the challenge of carrying an 8 gallon keg of beer across the mountainous terrain of Kinder Scout.

The route is only about 3 miles, however there is a crazy 900ft climb up, and then of course they have to come back down. The fastest team get to drink their barrel of beer.

This is meant to be one of the most gruelling fell running events in the peak district, which is saying something!

Man vs Horse Marathon

Not as exciting as Cowboys vs Aliens marathon but still pretty cool. This is an annual event that pits horses against humans in a marathon through the Welsh countryside. You may think this sounds crazy, but as described in the book born to run, humans can actually outrun animals over long enough distances. This is called persistence hunting and it is how we survived and makes us who we are today.

That being said, in the 32 years of this event there have only ever been 2 human winners. That is still pretty incredible if you ask me!

The Great Wall Marathon

A marathon on the Great Wall of China sounds fantastic to me. I really want to visit China and go see the Great Wall, so it would be a great excuse.

Again, not much hidden in the title here, it is a marathon that takes place on the Great wall of china. Think how tough a marathon is at the best of times, a real test of human endurance and will power. Now add baking sun and 5164 steps to the mix! Maybe I will need to work in a few years of wife carrying before trying this one.

I will be writing more about unusual running races as and when I find them. I feel this is just the tip of the iceberg just now.

Let me know if you have ran in any of these races or indeed if there is a wacky race with your name on it that I may not have read about yet.

Tips for running a race

I really enjoy racing, it's a massive part of why I run. I have taken part in several races before, from winter duathlons to sprint triathlons as well as a few 10ks, and there are a few hints an tips I have picked up along the way. I thought it would be a good time to share these with you all.

Entry central

Every race has to start by first finding the right race for you. Entry central is where you will have to sign up for most of your races unless it's one of the massive city marathons or 10ks. It has great search functions where you can filter all the races by sport, date, distance from your house etc. have a look for yourself and find your next race.

Think about the route

I am certainly not one for studying every inch of a race route before the big day, but I would suggest having a quick look at the route so there are no surprises. For example, If there are lots of hills you want to do some hill training.

Train properly

If you sign up to a race you are making a commitment that goes beyond just the day of the race. You need to train properly for the distance you are racing to give a good account of yourself. There is nothing worse than finishing and thinking "if only I had trained more"! So be sure that you can commit to at least 8 weeks of training before you sign up.

Eat right

It is very important to eat right on race day. You need to eat a substantial amount 2 hours before your race. If you are running in the morning you NEED to get up early and have a good breakfast. If not you will just crash half way through the race and feel like a prat! True story! I would also recommend taking a banana to eat about half an hour before the start.

Have you got everything?

Most races will send you a race number before the race, or will get you to register before the race starts. You need to read everything the race organisers send you. Don't be caught out by small admin things, you want to be 100% focused on the race so make sure you take everything with you to avoid last minute panics.

If you are going to race then race!

This might not work for everyone, but when I run in a race I treat it as just that...a race! I get extremely well motivated by picking people in the pack and racing them, if I overtake them I if d someone else to catch. It really gets me through and makes things fun.

Know your pace

Work out what finish time you would be happy with, and work out the pace you need to run to achieve this time. You need to stick to this pace until the last 20% I would say, where you can pick things up a bit if you feel able. It's very important to not get carried away and sprint off the start line. Here is a great pace calculator where you can work out what pace you need to run.

Change of clothes for after

If you are running a race in a place that means you have to drive home after, take a change of clothes for the car. It's a horrible feeling when you cool down, but still have to sit in sweaty clothes. Eurgh!

Drink

It is very important to stay hydrated before during and after the race. I know we all know this but the excitement of race day sometimes gets the better of us. Keep drinking water, but not too much, you don't want to pee yourself half way through.

Have fun

How cliched is this tip? But it's worth saying I think. Races can bring out nerves in runners and get people stressed. The way I see it, there is no point worrying. Races are meant to be fun, and most of the time they are if you approach it with a relaxed and positive attitude (I just read that back and it sounds really cheesy
but I am keeping it in!).

Good luck with your next race, I hope there was something helpful above. I am going to sign up for the Fourth road bridge 10k next, it's where I got my PB so I hope to better it again this year!

Edinburgh Marathon - Team Relay

Picture the scene, the sun is splitting the sky, it's a baking hot 21 degrees and you are standing in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, ready to run 8.4 miles of a relay. Life could not be better.

The atmosphere was great and 10am could not come quick enough, I was super keen to get running. With 5 minutes to go I decided it was time to turn on my Garmin 305 and lock in to the satellites. But my watch had other plans. I was holding down the power button till my finger was sore, but no dice, my watch wanted a lie in today.

'Quick download the app Run-Keeper on your phone, its better than nothing!' was the sound advice from the lovely Charlotte. I was anxious, and could feel my world caving in. I am a creature of habit when I run, and didn't know what I would do without my pace keeping companion on my wrist.

The Run Keeper app is actually very good and I would recommend it to anybody. It played my custom made relay playlist and every 5 minutes it would interrupt and tell me my pace and distance ran. I was actually running a lot faster than target pace because I was not constantly looking at my watch.

I was hoping to run the 8.4 miles in about 1hr 10 minutes, so at mile six, when I was about 6 minutes ahead of target, I felt great. The sun did little to slow me down, and I really felt like I was flying. There was something lovely about running faster than all the marathon runners (I was kind of cheating only running a 1/3 of the way), but my pace was much quicker, meaning I spent an hour over-taking people. I felt like the fastest man alive.

When I was in Portobello, my great friends Helen and Euan were there to cheer me on, Euan took the picture below - look how happy I look!! Seeing them gave me a boost and I started running even faster. Charlotte had driven to the finish line so I knew when I saw here I could just sprint to the finish.

The relay handover was quick and painless (considering I had never met Katie, my team mate). I gave her the band and she was off like a shot, after a quick and awkward "Lovely to meet you - have a nice race!"

I had finished my leg of the race in just under an hour - 59 mins 32 secs in fact! The rest of the team ran 'relay' well and we actually finished in just over 3.5 hours. Out of 701 teams we came 57th, which we were all very chuffed with.

Chocolate milk in hand and medal round my neck I was filled with the desire to run the full Edinburgh Marathon next year. You may think it was just the adrenaline talking, but after a few nights sleep I am still hungry for 26.2 miles. Maybe I will win the whole thing?

2 mile race

Speed training is an important part of becoming a faster runner. Training at your threshold will allow you to increase your aerobic capacity and will in turn allow you to become a stronger faster runner. Sounds great eh? 

I was due for a run home from work last night, so I was prepared for a run home. I was feeling particularly "pumped" after a long weekend biking and was really looking forward to a run.


This led to me looking around for some races that I could really test my fitness on. I know for a fact I am not at optimum levels of fitness but I am working up to it, and races are always a nice indicator of how well you are progressing.

Much to my surprise, I found that there was actually a 2 mile race in the meadows taking place that night and it was only £2 to enter! I had my kit and the meadows is 10 mins from my work, it was as if the universe was conspiring to get me racing.

 

The race is part of a series of races that take part throughout the summer months, some 1 and 2 mile races as well as the occasional 5k. This is exactly what I need and I will definitely be going back.

The race went really well for me. I had never raced this distance before and was excited to see how it felt. The course was a flat 1 mile loop that we ran twice. I really loved the distance and will look for more 2 mile races. It was long enough to get myself into a zone, but short enough to really inject some pace.

I ran the first loop in 6min 11sec and the second in 6min 18sec, which is not bad pacing considering I forgot to bring my Garmin forerunner which is usually my pace setter. Finishing in 12min 29sec I was very happy and felt I gave a good account of myself. I like to set my sights on a couple of targets when I am racing, I find people who are running at a slightly quicker pace and tell myself I am going to overtake them. I managed to overtake both my targets, and they were both affiliated with racing clubs, so I feel pretty good (this can be read as smug as you like, I don't mind).

I would really love to get this time down to the 11min mark, and the races run until September, so I think this is possible.

If you are in Edinburgh you should definitely check the events out, they are well organised and good fun, and it's a great way to work in some speed training into your week, no matter what you are training for.

 

Edinburgh Half Marathon - Team Relay

Yesterday, I signed up to run the Edinburgh Half Marathon team relay and I am 'relay' excited.

My colleague at work asked if it was something I fancied doing, and within a few hours we had a team together and we had signed up. The last day for signing up at the £100 per team rate was yesterday so we were just in the nick of time, if you want to sign up now, it is £120 or you can run for a charity where the entry fee is waved as you raise a certain amount depending on the charity.

The race is split in to 4 legs of varying distances, I presume to account for the inevitable differences in abilities within teams.

Leg 1: The Royal Leg - 8.6 miles
Leg 2: The Cock & Pan Leg - 5.5 miles
Leg 3: The Gosford Leg - 7.6 miles
Leg 4: The Glory Leg - 4.5 miles

As the most experienced runner in the group, I put myself forward to do the first (and longest) leg of the race. I anticipate this will take me around an hour to run, although maybe slightly longer. My hopes are high though, as the course was voted as "THE FASTEST MARATHON IN THE UK" by Runners World Magazine readers.

 Also, as you can see from the graph, the first 8 miles look like a piece of cake, its virtually all downhill, I will be flying!!

We also had to buy a team ticket for the bus, which was a very reasonable £24. This will drop everyone off at their starting points, and will give you a lift back to the city centre once you complete the race.

I will be posting about my training for this race, and any updates from now on, so stay tuned for that!

Hello Running World

My name is Jude Moir, I have been running for a few years now but have made the decision to really start seriously trying to get faster! That has always been one of my primary goals when running. I enjoy competing against others and that is a big driving force.

The reason I have started writing this blog is to catalogue all the hints and tips I discover about how to become a faster runner. One of the things I will be struggling with is IT band syndrome. I have weak knees and will be trying various ways to overcome the fact that my knees are made of glass!

I also now want to set myself the challenge of running a 10k race in under 40mins. To date, my personal best is 43mins and 39secs which was ran last year at the Fourth Road Bridge 10k.

Running is going to be a big part of my life over the next little while and I hope you can keep me company through the process.