January Running log

19/1/26 Night run/walk

So, I went out primarily to have a go a the "Flyover to Underpass segment" and see how I'd do and I figured I might have a shot at 2nd place. Turns out with very little running since pre-christmas I've done it relatively easy. I wouldn't say that I feel particularly fit at the moment, so I'm happy with that. But then seeing this 'Butler' geezer is exponentially faster than everyone led me to researching and see what that's all about. See below, the blokes the real deal, so the chances of beating him by the time I'm 62 are pretty slim to impossible.

This one below just happened by accident. It's a segment on this new circuit (See further down). 

But again look who's top of the leader board and it's the same with all the segments, so I did a bit of research and look what I found....

"David Butler is a prominent veteran long-distance runner and volunteer from Billericay, Essex, primarily known for his achievements with the Billericay Striders running club and his leadership within the local running community. 

As of 2026, his athletic career is characterized by the following:

Athletic Achievements

National Representative: He earned an international call-up for England in 2010, making his debut in the British and Irish cross-country international.

Marathon Success: In 2014, at age 61, he won the over-60s section of the London Marathon with a personal best of 2:48:46, a time that ranked him top 40 globally for his age group at the time.

Rankings: He has consistently been one of the top-ranked veteran runners in the UK. By 2025/2026, he is classified in the V70 (over 70) age category and continues to compete at a high level.

Track and Road Records: He has held some of the fastest times in the country for his age group in distances ranging from 5km (16:21.7 on track) to 10km and 5 miles. 

Community Leadership

Billericay parkrun: Butler was the founding Event Director of the Billericay parkrun when it launched in 2017.

Volunteering: He is a highly dedicated volunteer, having served as a Run Director dozens of times and accumulated hundreds of volunteer credits.

Club Involvement: He remains a key figure for the Billericay Striders, often representing them in regional and national masters competitions". 

I'll just stick with 2nd place rather than trying to beat 'Prometheus'! I'll have to find some others that he hasn't bagged!

15/1/26 Night run/Walk

Looking at this in terms of segment bagging, I've got this wrong and it's become apparent you have to do the run, the right way round. So the "Flyover to Underpass" my effort was put in from the run out from the start which is Underpass to Flyover, so that massive effort wasn't recorded. My time which has beaten my previous record is now 2.59 and that was recorded at the back end of the run where I was taking it easy, but I'll take it anyway as it's a PR. 

But there's some work to do even if do it in reverse - I've got to take a minute off my current time. But I'm hopeful, because look at the other segment...

I've smashed it and beat the previous record by 12 seconds, but it looks like the previous bloke was taking it fairly easy with heart rate of 119. 

I'm still doing this in run/walk splits, I'd like to be able to do this running the entire time which I've only done once and that was when I did 5K with my son Ben as a pacer and he ensured I ran the whole distance, so I can do 2K easy enough it's just a case of pacing myself. 

This above is the other record I beat which is a segment that I set up. I've set a target for getting this down to 10 mins, but looking at the fastest time across all ages the record is 8.18, making me think 11 mins may be more realistic? But anyway a new PR tonight which was nice. 

Longer term there's a segment I want to create and one I want the record for. The one that exists is Two Tree Island which is 2.27KM and some other old bloke holds that for 12 mins and something. The one I want to create is Southend Pier to Benfleet which is a smidge over 10K. So once Spring makes a showing and we've got some light I set that one up with a run/walk.