The long-awaited return to form of Mark Crawshaw is upon us. Mark ran 19:39 at Bakewell, just 9 seconds off his course PB, which he set back in November. Mark has been fighting his way back from injury and he won’t be finished there – quality will always shine through in the end. Expect to see PBs left, right and centre, from Mark this spring. Talking of PBs, Adam Leighton doesn’t believe in simply attaining them – he’s not interested unless he smashes 30 seconds off his! Adam ran 21:46 at Markeaton, a whopping 33 seconds off his previous best (he is now nearly 2 minutes quicker than his PB of 23:42 on February 9th!)
On the road, what better way to prepare for a tough hilly half marathon the next day than a speedy 5km round a park? Uh, well, some might say a gentle 2-3km with strides, plenty of rest and carbing up. Not necessary according to Brian Clements, who stuck in yet another sub-25 (his 8th in his last 10 parkruns) with 24:35 at South Norwood. (in case you’re wondering, the Hastings half marathon only kept him busy for 2 hours 9 minutes, and he has a Kama-Sutra medal to prove it.)