Lloyd Biddell

As is usual when booking a holiday I usually have a quick look to see whether there are any local races on.  As we were going to Mykonos for a week I was highly doubtful there would be anything on such a small Greek island, but as it happened there was the annual Mykonos Run 10k on the day of our departure.  The slight logistical problem was that the race was scheduled to start at 5pm, whilst my flight was 9.05pm with check in closing an hour before.  There was also an issue in that it was a ‘point to point’ race so had no idea how I would get to the start.  In any case I entered on the basis that I could figure it all out nearer the time. A couple of days before the event I thought I’d pop to the town hall to just check that my entry was all in order only to find they had no record despite me having paid!  It was all sorted though and lucky I did pop by as I was told that there would be a bus from the main town to the start about an hour before the race but w...

What a nightmare 2018 so far.  Everything was going to plan in January and all the signs were there that I was starting to move to the next level.  As usual, part of training is about managing niggles and I had some minor ankle discomfort but over the course of a couple of weeks it got worse and worse.  It eventually got to the point of not running for a week but every time I tried to run again nothing had changed. Roll forward five months and the ankle pain was diagnosed as posterior tibialis tendonitis but no matter what treatment I tried the pain would not budge.  I even had a dose of steroids, xray and MRI to try and understand what was going on but alas nothing.  In the end I rolled the dice a bit and at the beginning of July I tried some short runs (like 5 mins on a treadmill) and I was just about able to run pain free, although far from sensation free.  I've been able to build up bit by bit since then and I'm convinced the running in a controlled f...

In a similar vein to the Wheaton Aston 10k, the Captain Cooks Fell Race on New Year's Day is starting to become a tradition whilst having a break in the Yorkshire Dales (although the race itself is North York Moors).  The 2017 edition was a very unusual race in that of the three main contenders I was probably only the fastest of the three of us in two small sections, but it was my consistency and perhaps a little doggedness towards the end where I dug very deep to effect an overtake 300 metres out from the finish and claim the victory.  I was therefore looking forward to the 2018 race and hoped I could retain my title. Start. In the first km along the road section I was well positioned and slotted into second, just ahead of last years runner up.  Towards the end of the first km it was just me and last years runner up who pulled away from everyone else and even at this early stage it was pretty clear it was going to be a head to head shootout between the two of us f...

In what is now a post Christmas tradition I made my third appearance at the Wheaton Aston 10k that I won in 32.22 last year and still stands as my PB.  Whilst I no longer focus on the shorter races any more I was pretty confident that my PB would be smashed. In the lead up to the start the conditions were really poor - plenty of standing water some of which covered the entire width of the road, it was blustery, near freezing and started to gently snow about 10 minutes before the start although this cleared before the race began.  I quickly decided that the conditions were not particularly conducive to fast running and decided to just go with the flow and run it as a race rather than go for a time. Relaxing in the lead group. In the first km I was in a lead group of 4 and whilst we went through the first km in a decent lick of 3.18 I was well in control.  Over the next 3km the pace slowed considerably - 3.36, 3.30 & 3.31 and despite the conditions it was reall...

In what is starting to become a bit of a tradition I entered the Grizedale night event as part of a long weekend away in the Lake District.   As this is the third year in a row that I’ve done the event it would be a good test of relative fitness assuming the course conditions are more or less the same.   Unfortunately, it became clear that this would be far from the case as I waited in the event centre car park.   There was already some snow on the ground, it was -2C and is was starting to snow again about 90 minutes before the start.   It was even getting to the point about having to decide whether to bail from the event, as if the snow started to settle on the roads it would be almost impossible to get back to Ambleside safely.   Thankfully, about an hour before the start it stopped again, so the race was on! Can just about make me out in seven layers stripping down just before the off! Due to how cold it was I decided to race in my leggings for the...

Since my return from New Zealand I've just been focussed on keeping things ticking over and I haven't really done any sessions of note since late September.  For me this is as close as I get to having an 'off season' and it's the one time of the year where I can slot in some 'fun' events and the Lee Mill Fell Race Relay was exactly that.  The course was approximately 10km and included around 370 metres of climb. At the event centre it was a pretty chilly 2 degrees and the ground was pretty soft, but on the hills it was clear there would be some snow to contend with.  I was second leg for Mercia Fell Runners and whilst waiting for the start of my leg the finish times of the leaders were much much slower than in 2016.  I started in 8th, about 4-5 minutes from the leader and then around 30 seconds - 3 minutes behind those between 2nd - 7th. Handover at the start. Quite early on it was difficult to gauge who was racing and who was just warming up on th...

Since the Chester Marathon the plan was to have a rest and I had booked a trip to New Zealand for some R&R.  Me being me I couldn't help to see whether there was any races and I stumbled across the Auckland Marathon which coincidentally is the largest marathon in New Zealand.  Upon contacting the organisers I was duly offered a free entry and that was that.  In my mind I knew it was a mad idea, but I could just trot round and enjoy it all for a change. Since Chester the legs initially recovered well but a combination of jet lag, walking around 10 miles a day plus some runs in Queenstown that included around 6km of hills resulted in them feeling pretty dead.  In fact I was even thinking of pulling out; it felt like trying to hit a moving target at times by attempting to juggle recovery whilst keeping the legs moving.  As the days got closer I was contacted by the organisers who wanted to profile me as a 'contender' for the race.  Ok, so no backing out...