In keeping with the changing nature of the season my life seems to be all about change at the moment. I started the month of October with an interview to try to save my job. As runners, especially when training with a long term goal in mind, we can all too easily lose ourselves in a running “bubble” and forget that times are hard in the real world.
Over the summer i’ve been having a good look at the various clubs in County Durham, trying to make a decision on whether I wanted to join another club and, if so, who to join next. The set-up at Sedgefield Harriers is superb and it immediately struck a chord with me. It’s a club that was only formed as recently as 2005 but since that time has taken massive steps forward in establishing itself on the North East running club scene. By 2011 the club had more than 70 senior members, and was in the process of growing a huge junior set-up with well over 100 kids. In September of last year the club was recognised by England Athletics as the North East Development Club of the Year, and the following month it was awarded England Athletics’ National Development Club of the Year. Unbelievably, it then went on to become UK Athletics Club of the Year for 2011. The club appears to be continuing to grow at a rapid pace, has ambitious plans to develop itself into a “performance” club, and I am extremely excited at the prospect of playing a big part in its future success. Ironically, my very first sports club many years ago was Sedgefield Cricket Club where as a kid I played regularly for its under-13, under-15 and under-18 sides. Returning to the village some 15 years later to run for Sedgefield Harriers certainly has a feeling of going full circle.
So with a new job and a new running club this Autumn has very quickly become all about change. Autumn is about much more than just the changing seasons however. It’s about getting ready for winter, the start of the build-up to Christmas, Halloween, fireworks night, X Factor and Strictly! For runners it’s about the start of winter training and a return to muddy cross country races. At least it is for most runners. For those of us who prefer to run on harder surfaces and over longer distances, the Autumn is the climax of months of hard training in preparation for another marathon. Berlin, Chicago, New York, Amsterdam - the Autumn really is littered with big city marathons.
Frankfurt by rights shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as any of these great places. After all, it is only the fifth largest city in Germany and hardly a place you would put at the top of your list of places to visit. But last October something spectacular happened on the streets of Frankfurt which propelled the Frankfurt Marathon to international prominence. Completely out of the blue, Wilson Kipsang (winner of this year’s Great North Run and marathon bronze medallist at the London Olympics) finished just 4 seconds outside of the world record in 2:03:42 on a course which is now being touted as one of the flattest and fastest in Europe. All of a sudden Frankfurt was in the marathon running eye and that rapid rise to prominence looks set to continue this year for none other than Patrick Makau, whose world record it was that Kipsang came within a whisker of breaking in last year’s race, has been signed up as this year’s star attraction. Will Makau break his own world record this weekend? Fuelled by his frustration at not being selected for the Kenyan Olympic team I’d say he probably will if the weather conditions are favourable for him.