Heanor RC will have five runners in amongst the 36,000 others competing in the London Marathon this weekend whilst Lily Winfield will also be making the trip down to the capital to represent the East Midlands in the Mini Marathon.

Like Great Britain’s double-world and Olympic track champion Mo Farah, Lee Perkins, Dale Annable and Marie Mann will be making their debut marathon appearances in the capital whilst Carl Hughes and Rose Leivers will be hoping their experience and encouraging training will see them dip inside the three and four-hour barriers respectively.

Carl Hughes and Rose have both been following a training programme provided by HRC’s UKA Level 2 Coach, Rob Rainsford, and are heading into Sunday’s race in good form and injury-free.

This weekend won’t be the first marathon for either of the two and, whilst they’re aware of the challenge of the 26.2 mile distance, both are looking forward to the race and hoping to better their personal bests.

“Training has gone really well, I’ve had no injuries on the way & I’ve posted PBs in the races I have done so, yes, running well & feeling confident,” said Carl. “I’ve done a bit more intensity, upped my mileage by 10-15 miles a week and have taken on gels during my long runs, which I haven’t done before.”

With a current personal best of 3:20:09, set at the Blackpool Marathon last April, Carl says he’s going to enjoy the experience but hopes “to get in around the 3 hour mark.”

Sunday will see Rose Leivers make her fourth marathon appearance. Following a 4:06:33 debut in Manchester two years ago, Rose raced in Chester in the autumn of 2012 before running 4:14:48 in the UK capital twelve months ago.

“Training has gone really well. It’s been very tough going but I’m sure it’ll be worth it. I definitely feel a stronger runner mentally after these last twelve weeks!” said Rose.With training going “better than expected” this time, Rose is hoping the hard work pays off with a first sub-4 hour clocking on Sunday.

“I’ve taken the training more seriously this year as I’m aiming for sub-4 hours and fancied a challenge. I’ve followed a great plan from Rob and stuck to it so I’m going to trust the training and most of all enjoy it. Bring on Sunday!”

Preparations haven’t gone quite so smoothly for debutante Dale Annable. One of three HRC runners set to line up in Greenwich for the 10:00am start on Sunday for the first time, Dale admits that the monotony of marathon training and self-imposed pressure started to get him down before he had a quiet word with himself a few weeks ago.

“I am looking forward to it now but a few months ago it was becoming a big burden on my life. I decided to calm down my training because it was all becoming way too serious. I was losing the enjoyment of my running as well as becoming too tired and stressed out about it all.

Now I’ve calmed down my training and it’s taken a weight off my shoulders. I’ve tried to remember it’s my hobby that I enjoy, not a chore where things are too highly expected of me.”

Rediscovering the enjoyment factor has led Dale to reassess his targets. After running over thirty seconds quicker than on the same course three weeks before at the ERRA National 12-Stage Road Relays last week, Dale says he now hopes to make the most of the day and “to run well and enjoy the whole experience of a first marathon.”

One of Heanor RC’s newest recruits, Marie Mann, will also be running her first marathon on Sunday and will be raising funds for the charity Epilepsy Action.

Marie, who ran the final leg for the women’s “B” team at the Midland 6-Stage Road Relays last month, is hoping to raise awareness after her husband was diagnosed with the condition twelve months ago and hopes to secure more than £1500 of donations for her 26.2 mile effort this weekend. More details about Marie’s marathon debut and reasons for running can be found in this week’s Ripley and Heanor News.

Another marathon debutante will be long-serving Heanor RC member Lee Perkins. Although Lee has made preparations for his marathon debut before, he has never been able to make it to race day in one piece due to injuries.

Renowned for rarely running more than three times a week when he isn’t even in marathon training, Lee’s build-up again hasn’t been without its inevitable niggles but his more individualised approach will at least see him make the start line this Sunday.

“I said to myself I wouldn’t follow a set plan. I’ve tried to that before and learned the hard way that what works for one doesn’t work for another, so the only plan I had was to increase my mileage slowly and work on gradually increasing my long runs – everything else will look after itself,” said Lee.

“I’m not nervous at all but not having done a marathon before I would say I’m apprehensive. I thought when I started out that, by race day, I’ll know exactly what I’m capable of and the pace I need to go out at from the start.

The reality is I think I know what will be a safe pace but I don’t really know what I’m capable of so that leaves me with a big dilemma. Not good for those placing bets on my time!”

Lee has provided his training schedule from the last sixteen weeks (below) and it makes for inspiring reading. The particularly low mileage points halfway through the schedule were caused by the knee pain that has affected Lee in recent years and is something that he says was brought on by tightness in his quadriceps.

Increasing his fortnightly massage to weekly, however, has seemed to have worked wonders and, a pulled calf muscle aside in week eleven, Lee has been able to build his long run up to the required level and should have no problem completing the distance this weekend – provided his body remains intact.

“I increased my long runs significantly in a last-ditch attempt to get at least some sort of structure into the build-up. I was conscious that I’d hit a point where if my body was going to reject the distance then the reality of pulling a marathon off on the day was going to be very slim.

That’s when running the 22 mile long run was a real boost. It wasn’t easy but in my own mind I would have been happy going on for another 4 miles. The calf has sorted itself out, the knee pain comes and goes and I have pain and tightness in the groin. But with that 22 mile long run under my belt, the work is done – it’s time now to taper, rest, eat well, take lots of pain killers and then let’s have it!”