Jonathan Rickards
Jonathan is one of the longest serving members of TWH and is a previous Club Chairman. This year he has taken on the role of Chief Marshall for the Half Marathon — a hugely responsible role for which we are extremely grateful!
PBs are seemingly a long time ago, but are there to be savoured, and this article has opened up an archive of results I had almost forgotten.
Some of the first races I ran when I joined the club have not been repeated with any greater success since. For example, the Seven Sisters Marathon (1995) in which I did 4.21 (now the Beachy Head Marathon) was the first marathon I had run. It was a case of ignorance being bliss because I've never remotely repeated that time even though I have run it on two further occasions. This was followed by my first London Marathon attempt in 1996 of 3.41 (as Capt. Haddock - for those who remember that I was bearded then!), but overdoing things meant I was injured with achilles during 1997 and had to wait until 1998 to go back and (clean shaven) do my best time of 3.32. If ony we had had electronic tags this might have been a sub-3.30!
I have always had an outdoor active life with a proportion of physical work. This gradually changed and I took up running when after spending more and more of my time emailing in front of a computer aged 30 and feeling 50. I was also picking up viruses ..not only from my sneezing collegues but while working with computer aided design as my job veered from landscape gardening to landscape architecture.
In running, I considered I'd found something better to do than worry about work. Yes ... for a short time I was 50 feeling 30.
I have never been any good at ball games. As soon as a sphere comes into play, of whatever size, I run. The incapacity I have developed in this field has opened the way to others in which I excelled even less including boxing, cycling, wrestling, curling and badminton. Which leaves athletics. However I have always sailed something and owned a Hobiecat in my early 20s and enjoyed the technical challenges this brings.
North Downs Run - a real warm weather challenge, longish 35K a good experience rather than race if all goes well.
Médoc Marathon for the continental touch - a cross between It's a Knockout and a Michelin starred restaurant.
Parliament Hill Southerns (XC champs) for the ultimate (unlikely) cross country venue in central London. It is long, (9 miles) and hard, (knee deep mud) but an event not to be missed.
In all I have enjoyed the variety that the different events bring.
Tonbridge Triathlon 1.50.44 (99): an educational challenge as I found out I couldn't swim!
Not sure but any of a distance of 10k these days. My favourite tip is a preferred practice of mine to rest sufficiently before big races. Although it is largely a matter of choice according to ones training schedule, I have always found that once the training is done and the miles are in there, the body will respond on the day and a recuperating rest a week or 10 days with only light exercise rather than a 'shake down' lead-in to the race day can make a difference in having the lasting stamina for the final miles.
On of the endearing aspects of club life was the regular Sunday runs. Largely at the instigation of Jacques Courivaud who meticulously planned the route and laid out water the day before, about 15 or 20 of us would venture forth whatever the weather and put in about 15 to 18 miles over the footpaths from the Rusthall venue. It took me about 5 years to establish where we had been but I realise now that there were few footpaths we had not used. Whilst such training may not do much for speed, the stamina build up is considerable and a great help to cross-country running. Bravo to Guy and others who are continuing the great tradition.