When a growing team of athletes of all abilities, ages and targets consistently run lifetime best performances, week on week, people start to ask questions.

‘How are they running so well?’, ‘How do they keep improving?’, and ‘What is their secret?’ are questions asked of our Team Blizard stars on a regular basis.

The answer is so very simple: lactate threshold training, with every single one of our runners tested by Coach Dave Tune, our former GB athlete, at Blizard’s renowned centre for performance excellence in Bircotes.

Each and every runner leaves the clinic with their own personal heart rate zones to train in, clear instructions from Dave as to how to execute their training with sample schedules included, and regular communication encouraged to ensure each and every session is in the correct zone.

Many of our Team Blizard athletes go on to join Dave’s coaching programmes, receiving even more individual attention, and consistently producing results on another level to runners of similar abilities elsewhere, but who do not have the benefit of Coach Tune’s guidance or know how to train smart to heart rate zones.

This weekend’s haul of PBs was the result of a clever set of dedicated training weeks - with many inspiring stories of triumph over adversity - leading up to standout performances at the North Lincs half marathon, the Bexhill marathon, the River Moy half, the Lea Bunny 10k, the Pennistone 5m and the Masters road relays at Sutton Coldfield.

Elite Team Blizard winning machine, Rotherham’s Fiona Davies, won yet again at the final South Yorkshire Road League 5 mile race at Penistone, which she described as ‘really hilly, but my kind of course’ after beating the rest of the women’s field in a strong 30:47.



Fellow elite Team Blizard member and triathlon coach extraordinaire, Jono Frary was victorious at the South Hunsley triathlon, along with his sister-in-law Debbie! They both saw off their entire opposition when they sped through the 400m pool swim before embarking on a challenging 24k bike, culminating in a speedy 5k run! Great work Team Frary!



Rotherham’s Brenda King proved she is a force to be reckoned with when she ran a superb 29:54 to finish a fantastic fourth on her leg at the Masters road relays at Sutton Coldfield! Great running Brenda, we can’t wait to see how you do at the Askern 10k this Wednesday! Meanwhile, Telford's veteran V35 international, Claire Martin, ran the fastest leg of the whole event in an incredible 17:05, and will surely be seen sporting the England vest again soon.



Competing at the other end of the distance and discipline spectrum was Tickhill’s gritty Max Polson, who decided to run the Bexhill marathon on his 30th birthday! He not only scored a brilliant PB of 3:43:48, but, as Coach Tune explained, ‘his return to form is nothing short of amazing after breaking his leg’ just over a year ago. Max confidently covered the hilly course, which included more than 1000ft of elevation, following a significant period of rehabilitation after suffering a horrific football injury. He recovered thanks to sticking to his physiotherapy exercises and treatment from our own Jenny Blizard, and has been building his mileage back up, culminating in a lifetime best performance in Sussex yesterday!



Over at the North Lincs half marathon, Barnsley’s Dan Kestrel proved he has got a cool head on his shoulders when he ran the race at marathon pace yesterday, keeping his heart rate low but still running an astonishing 70 minutes to finish second overall. Dan should take great confidence from his stunning performance as he builds up to the Edinburgh marathon in just two weeks’ time.



Doncaster's consistently brilliant V55, Caroline Wheelhouse, is still beating the majority of athletes regardless of age, and continued that impressive theme when she crossed the line in an excellent 89:34! Just amazing.

Although every single Team Blizard athlete excelled on the undulating course at Scunthorpe, it was Jay Buxton who had the biggest smile on his face when he crossed the line with a new 84:12 PB. The popular 50-year-old was overjoyed with his result: “I’d like to say a massive thank you to Dave Tune and Dave Sedgwick for encouraging me all the way round - we did it!”



Also running the race of his life was Kimberworth’s Arron Larkin, who absolutely smashed his previous 74:49 PB out the park with a 72:07 clocking!

Arron has been supported by Dave and our massage expert, Owen James, for some time, and was keen to express his thanks: “I absolutely loved today, what a great race! I have been training really hard for this event, and today all my hard work paid off, and to be so close to sub-1:12 is unbelievable. A massive thank you to Owen James for his sports massages, training, race day preparation and strategy tips, and Dave Tune for putting me through my lactate training test and setting up my training zones at Blizard Physiotherapy!”



Owen also ran a lifetime best with an impressive 1:14:31 PB, Hull’s Paul Legard scored a two minute best of 79:32, Gainsborough’s super vet, Chris Inman, ran a huge four minute PB of 1:45:45, and popular local runner Tony England ran 1:40:45, great stuff!

Not to be outdone in the ‘running faster than ever’ stakes, Clowne’s Peter Twigg ran an enormous best by more than four minutes with 81:52, and V50 coached athlete and all round hard working athlete, Malc Stapleton, also beat his PB by the same margin with a brilliant 86:07.



Fellow-coached runners, Kimberworth’s Caroline and Pete Jackson proved they listened to every word Coach Tune told them, both in training and in their race execution when they ran storming lifetime bests, while Askern’s Susie Firth Warris's 1:35:50 result was an amazing two minute PB.



Top veteran and a great fan of the powers of the On Running shoes, David Dinsmore, ran a phenomenal 96:15 PB at the River Moy half marathon in Ireland, while North Derbyshire’s Sam Iliffe impressed when she won the Lea Bunny 10k! (NO RESULTS OUT YET)



To finish this race report on a happy high, just as it started, Barlick’s Matt Lalor won his leg of the Calderdale Way relay despite considerable foot 'issues', and Stamford's Ed Fancourt knocked a huge chunk off his 5k PB when he ran a fantastic 19:24 at the Glasgow parkrun - great news both of you, keep it up!