smrac distance Site no longer being updated….. see www.smrac.org.uk

Club record for Jivendra at Watford

We've made good use of Watford this year but it is unreasonable to expect to get pbs every time we go! What was good to see this week was the number of people backing up their best times with very solid runs. Looking ahead, we have to make sure that we get a feel for the pace we are running at and that is what recent sessions have been focussed on - feeling comfortable at target pace and then picking up at the end. With this in mind, it was perhaps no surprise that the three best runs of the night came from those who ran the most sensible opening laps.

Liz was surely on course for a 4:34/5 clocking in her race but took an almighty thump with 300 to go which knocked her wide in to lane three and put her off her stride. To finish with 4:36.30, only two tenths outside her best was a great effort.

Jivendra was told to watch Liz carefully - she moved through the field in each of the first three laps before racing the last - and he copied her tactics perfectly. In his first fast 1500 he still had a turn of pace in the last 200 and knocked 6 seconds from the SMRAC U15 club record to run 4:24.51.

Bradley Goater suffered from the exaggerated times people are putting on entry slips and ended up in the b race rather than the a we would have hoped for. It would be a lot better all round if people were honest about times as everyone would know what to expect. Thankfully Josh Grace got the pace going on the first lap although it slowed in the middle of the race. Bradley ran the last lap in 61.5 to end up with 3:59.55, fractionally outside his best of 3:59.44. The England Champs will be a nice place to run 3:57.

Jack Killip too suffered with the timings. The first lap was so slow with nobody willing to take it on and he ended up with 4:12, some way short of his potential in an even paced race. Still, we have to learn how to deal with the pace changes or be willing to get the pace going sometimes. Again, a pb at the England Champs will round the season off nicely.

Christina, Tom and Rebecca probably started too fast and should consider building in to races as we've discussed. Learn what the pace feels like and don't get involved in sprints to the first bend. Rebecca's 4:55 was a step back in the right direction, following so close from her 3k debut.

Maddie ran another solid if not spectacular run and will enjoy her break in Lanzarote, before returning to think about a carefully planned build up to next year's English Schools.

Eoin, Adam, Ollie and Jamie weren't too far away from their best nearing the end of the season.

FULL RESULTS