My official time for the Great North Run: 1:49:55

My official placing for my agegroup: 23!
yes, twenty three!
wow
so, if i improve like a LOT, then i'll be well, somewhat good!


Name ___sex __ time __ position overall __position in age group
Brian Alldis m 00:56:40 9 1 <----- look at that time - amazing - that's a lot better than next year's target!
ANDREW LAWRENCE M 01:18:39 126 2
Bob Daly m 01:21:49 191 3
Sam Clegg m 01:22:18 210 4
DANIEL PARKINSON m 01:29:33 560 5 <----the times really start to increase here though!
Sam Cooke m 01:30:38 661 6
David Stayner m 01:31:36 746 7
Luke Johnson m 01:32:37 853 8
Stuart Maynes m 01:34:49 1128 9
keir feeney m 01:35:12 1182 10
Matthew Garthwaite m 01:35:14 1185 11
Adam Dobson m 01:38:28 1671 12
Peter Concannon m 01:42:28 2548 13
Michael Chater m 01:43:11 2725 14
ANDREW CRAWFORD M 01:43:12 2728 15
Simon Woods m 01:43:17 2752 16
Thomas Coffield m 01:44:11 2973 17
Chris Lormor m 01:46:39 3539 18
Bill Atton m 01:46:58 3702 19
David Riley m 01:48:18 4100 20
Stephen Fleck m 01:48:40 4213 21
david thirsk m 01:49:40 4573 22
Patrick m 01:49:55 4684 23 <------------ me yah!


I know I can take at least ten minutes off my time by just starting at the front/near the front of the line. And I'm also sure I can run at least ten minutes faster. So next year I'm hoping to run this in a maximum of 1:30. Good luck to me! Anyway, I get the impression that with some hard work I could really get into this long distance running thing. Not from a professional sense or anything, but from a 'being good' sense, I think I could do it.
A lot of people have an attitude towards running of thinking that there's really little point to it: it's a lot of hard work and pain for little gain. They have a kind of point in a way - it's not really a social thing unless you do it in a club and if you do it well, the work is, quite simply, hard. The benefits however are also great - you get a huge psychological boost from running a great time, beating yourself, and achieving something. It takes some sort of dedication - going out until 3 in the morning DOES affect the way you run, and eating lots of heavy fatty foods DOES make you slower and give you cramps. So when you streamline yourself and just go for it for ten miles or whatever, you do get a benefit. Plus, if you're trying to lose weight, it's a superb tool. You can start out slowly walking and just ramp up your workout, going a few minutes faster every week or trying for 30 seconds faster a day or whatever. You don't have to kill yourself with exertion to do well!
I don't. Speaking of which, doing well is something unique to running (and other solitary sports like cycling too I suppose) - as you judge your success against yourself. You quantify what is 'good' and what is 'bad', not someone else on the sidelines. If you're making an effort and achieving your goals, then you're doing well.