Neil Featherby: The power of pacing ahead of Wymondham 20
'Pace makes for the perfect race' which I constantly hammer home to any athlete or distance runner I have ever advised.
Mark Armstrong demonstrated this in last weekend's Barcelona Marathon and no, I don't advise Mark, but he has most certainly learnt over the years just how important it is to know exactly where you are at with your fitness and ability once you toe the start line of a marathon.
So before I go any further, it really is a big well done to him and I am sure he will continue to improve for the foreseeable future.
In 1989, I won the very first Wymondham 20-mile road race which of course takes place this coming weekend.
I am sure many will be using this as a tester prior to an April marathon. However, and at the same time, if this is the case it is so important not to run yourself into the ground whereby it can then affect training during those final few weeks leading up to marathon day.
Going back to that very first Wymondham 20, which I won in a time of 1:49:35, and is still a race record to this day albeit being equalled during the 1990s by Anthony Pooley from Bury St Edmunds Pacers, I have a feeling that a new name will be added as the race record holder after this Sunday's race.
When I stood on the start line just outside of Wymondham College with a few hundred others, it was one of those days when I was just not as motivated as I should have been.
It had had been raining quite hard prior to the start with several big puddles out on the wet roads but I liked running in the rain so it wasn't that.
For whatever reason I just didn't feel fired up as you should be for a race. I had finished third in the Malta marathon just a few weeks before which may have had something to do with it and I had spent what had been Christmas and the first few weeks of January staying in hospital with my young son Greg after he had broken his femur on Christmas Eve. Maybe this and the effort of the Malta marathon had just come to a head and I was mentally stale.
It was also a two-lap course, so heading out for the second time around was just a case of keep on running and then when I got to the 19 mile marker I looked at my watch and saw that unless I gave it my all during the last mile I wasn't going to go under 1 hour 50 mins.
It was a bit like a kick up the back side for which I ran that last mile in five minutes flat which was faster than any of the previous 19. It also proved just how much our minds dictate towards our feelings when it comes to having the drive or not having it.
Callum Bowen Jones, who I coach, will be running in this Sunday's race and for the first time over the 20 mile distance.
Up to now he has not raced beyond a half marathon. I also have a couple of other guys running it for which it will also be a first time for one of them.
I am forever winding Callum up telling him that he's not as good as I was and needless to say I am only joking, but if all goes to plan he for one should break what has been a race record which has stood for far too long.
For all those running and racing this weekend, I hope you have a good one.
Oh and stay motivated!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Streaking Nitrogen Could Achieve Millionaire Status In Saturday's Wonder Again
Streaking Nitrogen Could Achieve Millionaire Status In Saturday's Wonder Again originally appeared on Paulick Report. D.J. Stable's Kentucky homebred Nitrogen will chase millionaire status when she brings a four-race win streak into Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Wonder Again, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for sophomore fillies on Belmont Stakes Day, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the Medaglia d'Oro bay has found a new level this year with four wins in as many starts while running her bankroll to $981,604 through a 7-4-1-2 ledger. She graduated in style in the Listed Ginger Brew in January at Gulfstream Park and added the Grade 3 Florida Oaks in March at Tampa Bay Downs, the Grade 2 Appalachian in April at Keeneland and the Grade 2 Edgewood on May 2 at Churchill Downs. Advertisement Last out, she drew off to win by 3 1/2-lengths in the 1 1/16-mile Edgewood under returning pilot Jose Ortiz with an explosive turn-of-foot when asked. 'She's beautiful. She's big and tall. She's never been much of a workhorse so if you watched her work, you would think she was just average, but when she runs, she explodes when Jose asks her the question,' Casse said. Casse noted that Ortiz believes Nitrogen, who will exit post 6 carrying a co-field high 123 pounds, has won with plenty in the tank. 'It would appear that way. Jose certainly feels that way,' Casse said. Although she exited her 2-year-old campaign a maiden after three attempts, she demonstrated her abundant class with a three-quarter length third in the Grade 1 Natalma in September at Woodbine before closing from 12th-of-14 to finish a close third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in November at Del Mar. Casse indicated that a good result on Saturday would propel Nitrogen to the nine-furlong Grade 1, $500,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 5 during the four-day July 4 Racing Festival at Saratoga. Nitrogen, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-placed Love to Shop, is out of the stakes-placed Uncle Mo mare Tiffany Case – a half-sister to graded stakes-winner Talk Veuve to Me. Casse also sends out Bessie Abott [post 3, Dylan Davis, 118 pounds], a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-placed Spirit And Glory, who was second to returning rival Al Jafara in her stateside debut in a Keeneland allowance for owners Gary Barber and Team Valor International. Newstead Stables' Laurelin [post 8, Kendrick Carmouche, 120 pounds], an Irish-bred chestnut daughter of Zarak, is undefeated in three starts for trainer Graham Motion. Laurelin has notched all three of her victories with recent recipient of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award Kendrick Carmouche at the helm at Aqueduct Racetrack, scoring on debut in October traveling 1 1/16-miles. She followed with a victory in the Tepin in November by a half-length over New York-bred Five G, who subsequently won the Cash Run at Gulfstream and later the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks. Last out, in her April 27 seasonal debut, Laurelin posted a game neck victory over pacesetting returning rival Opulent Restraint in the one-mile Listed Memories of Silver with another returning rival, Virgin Colada, in third. There, she stalked Opulent Restraint through splits of 23.11, 48.60 and 1:14.05. Into the final turn, Carmouche tipped Laurelin to the outside of Opulent Restraint as a retreating Burner Account drifted in and caused Italian Soiree to steady and bump with the favored Virgin Colada, who had her rally from last stymied. Opulent Restraint dug in along the rail inside the eighth pole, but Laurelin would not be denied the narrow score in a final time of 1:38.68. 'You can't fault her record, that's for sure. She's done nothing wrong and impressed me every time she's run—particularly last time,' Motion said. 'We have liked her a lot since the day she came to us and she has always been professional. I don't think I've been surprised by any of her races.' Bred in Ireland by M.H. Dixon and Mount Coote Estates, Laurelin was a $169,488 purchase from Book 1 of the 2023 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale and is out of the winning Cape Cross mare Bari, making her a half-sister to Irish stakes-winner Maude Gonne Spirit. Advertisement Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out a formidable trio in Opulent Restraint [post 5, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 120 pounds], Virgin Colada [post 4, Joel Rosario, 118 pounds] and Al Jafara [post 1, Flavien Prat, 118 pounds] as he looks for a record-extending seventh win in this event following past success with Lady Eli [2015], New Money Honey [2017], Cambier Parc [2019], Consumer Spending [2022], Prerequisite [2023] and Segesta [2024]. Stephanie Seymour Brant's Opulent Restraint, by Dubawi, captured the Listed Chelsey Flower by a nose traveling 1 1/16-miles in October at Belmont at the Big A. She was a 5 1/4-length fourth to Nitrogen in the Florida Oaks in her seasonal debut ahead of her game Memories of Silver try. 'A nice filly. Headstrong, but solid,' Brown said, as he pursues a fourth consecutive Wonder Again. Opulent Restraint is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning dam Significant Form was second in this event in 2018 for the same connections. Resolute Racing's Virgin Colada, by More Than Ready, graduated at first asking in July at the Spa with a rallying half-length score. She was subsequently second in both the Listed P. G. Johnson at Saratoga and Grade 2 Miss Grillo at Belmont at the Big A before a troubled off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in November at Del Mar. She will look to get a clean run after traffic trouble last out in her seasonal debut in the Memories of Silver. 'She had a lot of trouble turning for home,' Brown said. Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and Richard Schermerhorn's Al Jafara was a stylish winner of her stateside debut, closing from last-of-12 and seven lengths off the pace to win the aforementioned 1 1/16-mile allowance on April 12 over good Keeneland turf by 1 3/4-lengths over returning rival Bessie Abott. 'She was kind of a little further behind than I thought she would be, but she sure kicked on Keeneland's turf. Hopefully, she takes to the Saratoga turf,' Brown said. The Pinatubo chestnut made her first two starts in France for trainer Hedi Ghabri, including a maiden win at second asking in September traveling nine furlongs at Chantilly. The $270,611 purchase from the Arqana Saint-Cloud sale is out of the Fastnet Rock mare Predawn, a full-sister to Group 1-winner Qualify and Group 2-placed Shogun. KatieRich Stables' May Day Ready [post 2, Frankie Dettori, 123 pounds] won the Grade 2 Jessamine last year at Keeneland en route to a runner-up effort in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar. Trained by Joe Lee, the Tapit bay completed her campaign with an off-the-board effort in the Group 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies at Kyoto in Japan. May Day Ready has worked steadily over the Keeneland dirt for her seasonal debut, including a half-mile breeze in 48.80 on May 25. The $325,000 purchase at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training is out of the Group 3-winning More Than Ready mare Nemoralia, who was second in the 2015 Grade 1 Frizette and third in the 2015 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Advertisement A talented group also includes trainer Rusty Arnold's recent maiden winner Love You Anyway [post 7, Luis Saez, 118 pounds], a $450,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase for Bregman Family Racing out of the Grade 3 winning Quality Road mare Princess La Quinta. The Wonder Again is slated as Race 6 on Saturday's 14-race card, headlined by the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets in Race 13. Other Grade 1 action includes the Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap [Race 8] – a 'Win and You're In' for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile; the Jaipur [Race 9], a 'Win and You're In' for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint; the Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun [Race 11], and Resorts World Casino Manhattan [Race 12]. The stacked card adds the Grade 3 True North [Race 7] and the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge [Race 10]. First post is 10:45 a.m. and admission gates will open to the public at 9 a.m. This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Bayer Leverkusen seal Mark Flekken capture
Former FC Freiburg Keeper Mark Flekken is officially back in the Bundesliga. Bayer Leverkusen confirmed the signing of the Brentford man yesterday. Contrary to previous reports, it appears as if Leverkusen have largely acceded to Brentford's demands. Flekken's new contract runs through 2028. Kicker claims that Germany's red company team have delivered a base-transfer-fee of around €10m. The amount can easily rise closer to Brentford's initial demands of €13m if certain performance-based incentives are reached. Advertisement Brentford thus stand to recoup the €13m they initially paid for the Dutch international. After a difficult first year in the Premier League, Flekken was able to string together more consistency for the London outfit last season. 'Mark exudes impressive physical presence and has certainly been one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League over the past two years,' B04 sporting director Simon Rolfes noted in a club statement. 'He knows the Bundesliga from his successful time in Freiburg. His years in England and his role in the Dutch national team have also given Mark a great deal of international experience. This means we are very well set up in goal for the coming years.' 'This is another special step in my career,' Flekken himself added. 'The many matches against world-class professionals in England have helped me progress even further. I'm very happy to be able to bring my qualities to a top German club with high national and European goals. I love the Bundesliga and am naturally looking forward to playing for the Werkself in the Champions League.' GGFN | Peter Weis
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Leverkusen sign Flekken from Brentford
Bayer Leverkusen have announced the signing of goalkeeper Mark Flekken from Brentford. The 31-year-old has signed a three-year contract with the Bundesliga side in an undisclosed deal that is reportedly worth €10 million. Advertisement Flekken initially joined the Bees from Freiburg in summer 2023 to replace the outgoing David Raya and has since then featured 77 times for the club. During the 2024/25 season, Flekken made 150 seasons in total – the most of any goalkeeper in the top five European leagues – with a save percentage of 73.4. "Mark has proven to be a seamless replacement for David Raya, who set an extremely high standard during his years with us," said Brentford Director of Football, Phil Giles "We were expecting Mark to be our goalkeeper for many more years, however when Bayer Leverkusen made it known that they wanted to do this transfer, and Mark made it clear that he was interested in moving closer to home and with a possibility of Champions League football, we turned our attention towards how all parties could make this happen. "Mark has done a great job for us and leaves with our thanks and support."
