Sunday 22nd January: Inskip half marathon
Report from Mark Hall
Having missed the Brass Monkey half marathon both me and Scott Harrington entered the Inskip half. The day was very cold with a chilling wind. The circuit is described on the entry form as fast and undulating, not sure if these words go together! The race attracted a 500 runner field. Scott is well into his marathon training and packed in 80 miles last week so was running the race on tired legs he still managed to run the race from gun to tape in the lead and comfortably won the event in a time of 70.48, 23 seconds off his PB. I finished 20th, 1st V55 in 77.28. (my last race before my counter clicks on to 57!)
The only negative point about this event is the very poor prize list. I received a bottle of wine for 1st V55 even though the event cost £19 to enter. Finishers received a goody bag with a big bar of chocolate, a hat , bottle of water a medal and a dish of hot pot! why not reduce the entry cost and drop the goody bag.
14 thoughts on “Sunday 22nd January: Inskip half marathon”
Top running Scott & Mark. Good to see you back on form, sub 6 min. miling Mark for 13 miles, how about the next handicap, 5 miles of road, a mile or so track & it’s free, no prizes or goody bag 🙂 and a good work out.
Stunning performances Boys.
As always, well done on your wins lads.
I agree with the positive comments about the beautiful running in this Inskip half. Congratulations to Scott H. for winning the race and to better his PB. his time of 70.48 is grand , it is a significant result . Also the 77.28 of Mark H. is fabulous at almost 57 years old . Top running indeed . I agree as well on entering races is too expansive , I just refuse to pay more the 10 pounds , in fact nowadays I do hill racing with no more 3 or 4 pounds to enter . Several years ago I payed 10 pounds to enter the Harewood 10k expecting at least a goody bag or a t shirt , nothing was given to the runners ,not even the bear bottle , they said all went to charity , and I went home not happy at all , and I did not like the race or the attitude of the organizers and surely that is not right ,is too exaggerated to one side , has to be strike the balance between good intentions and runners who gives the money first place .
Not that I race for prizes( well not all the time ) I was pleased with my cash prize on Sunday
But I do agree, road races are getting way too expensive, hence I don’t race that much anymore and just pick certain races over the year
When I came at the end of 2000 I could enter most races on the day , but nowadays the sport is so popular , with parkrun and beginners course all over the country , races gets sold out very quick , and as well you have to book through websites …that ”they tell you and push you saying hurry up few places left ”…and maybe they cost 25 pounds or more . So I agree with Scott H. and Mark H. that road races are too expensive ..and there are too many charity on the running circuit makes more difficult the sport ..when I was younger ( in my 50 ) I used to to almost 100 races every year …nowadays I would need a loan from the bank to do racing like I used to.
But great running guys, nice start to the year.
Plenty of £4 entry on the day fell/trail races about if you are after no frills racing. Often no memento for runners (sometimes a bottle of beer if you are lucky) but some half decent prizes for those who enter races to win prizes if you enter the right races. Windy Hill fell race often has good prizes 😉
The mass participation we are seeing in the sport of running should be applauded and welcomed as its making for a more healthy nation and positive example to youngsters. There are plenty of races not open to the general public, the cross country series, the YVAA series, HDSRL to name a few so no need to waste money on the corporate charity races if you are interested in just racing. But then people run for different reasons i guess.
Hello Sean , I fully agree with you , nowadays is what I do , hill races around 4 pounds like the Stanbury Splash or as you said the HDSRL series good value for money , or like Addingham Gala all around our district , because as well I do not wish to spend 30 pounds of petrol for a race far away as I used to. Maybe because I am a pensioner now and I am more careful about money . Well done for the last Peco cross country at West Park in Leeds last Sunday , just after the start you went strongly , from the back I could not see you no more as we enter the wood , only I saw you at the finish , still it looked like you could do another lap with no problems .
I would like to congratulate Mark H. for winning the Runner of the Year 2016 Award , a splendid achievement , deserved through all year round with top performances. 2nd for Howard J. another top competitor ,and 3nd Robin O. well done too . Scott H . very top road runner as well did great.
I think I may have been misunderstood. I don’t enter races to win a prize, I would be very disappointed if that was my thinking! The point I was trying to make is the cost of race entry is rising every year and prizes are still very poor. I think the runner has to be respected too, if you win a category you should at least receive your entry fee back. If I pay £10 entry and receive nothing that’s just about ok but £20…..I know fell, X races are cheaper but if you don’t like this type of event no point doing them, horses for courses and all that!
I fully agree with you Mark , the runner has to respected too , nowadays race organizer looks like their only worry is to beat the last year amount of money to raise for charity , and not to worry about runners at all because runners are taken for granted , so they can give away a new record amount of money in a check with a photo on the local newspaper .I think a new attitude is needed , yes to help good causes and charity ,but also runners has to be respected too indeed , and not runners left at the bottom or not consider at all by the organizers .
Due to the over popularity of certain races, races which sell out in advance year on year the organisers can get away with increasing the price and people will pay. They pay for that pb potential or the fear of missing out and it makes demand for these races is high. A good example is brass monkey and snake lane.
Mark – I was not saying you enter races for prizes, but some do and some even look at entry list before entering to see if they stand a chance of winning, especially cash prizes. Age category winners getting their money back could be a good idea. But all runners from the front to the back should be respected, without runners there would be no races.
I agree totally with Sean ..all the runners from the front to the back should be respected …without runners there would be no races …it is just so right what you said Sean ..the race organizers should be more fair towards all runners .. for a start .. to stop the exagerration of high prices to enter a road race , and to strike a balance maybe like 50 per cent to good causes and charity and 50 per cent to runners that are the one who finance all after all .