I’d never any intention of becoming a runner when I joined my local gym all those years ago (even though then that was when I’d already passed the age of 40). I was purely interested in getting fitter, having had to stop playing hockey as I couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game […]

It was probably the most unusual race start I’d ever encountered — except perhaps the “head off when you’re ready” instructions during the slightly chaotic days of Covid. Having parked up in Wendover railway station, we took the short walk to the pub car park for the race briefing. Nothing unusual so far, although I […]

Ten years ago to the very same weekend as the start of Capital to Country, I was in Florence, standing on the start line of my very first marathon. Why? 1 – Emily had said something to me in the March, and 2 – If was going to be in pain running this far, I […]

A couple of things jumped out at me during one of my 10-milers with my training buddy with Sophy that morning. And something shortly after it.  Neither of these thoughts would have been particularly noteworthy had it not been for the fact that I was trying to capture as many thoughts, observations and so on […]

I could not have done all that training on my own. Over 700 training miles done, I was travelling at about 11 minutes per mile on average, if not a little slower. That’s nearly 130 hours all told. Putting it like that doesn’t sound too many does it? Or maybe over 32 marathons sounds more […]

I’m writing this a few days after the National Running Show, once the van’s been returned, the legs have recovered (standing up for hours on end is harder than I thought it would be), and my head’s had a bit of space to catch up with everything that happened. Getting there was… more than expected […]

I nearly didn’t take the TrailKube there at all. It was on the way there that I nearly didn’t take the TrailKube with me at all. At the airport, bags open, people milling about, I’d left it with a couple of friends while I nipped to the loo — and for a brief, heart-stopping moment […]

I’d been watching a few documentaries about some amazing Ultra runners and was feeling distinctly left behind, what with just two months of running remaining before I needed to rest before my challenge. I was basically struck by a kind of panic that I’d left it all far too late and that I was never […]

Last summer saw my return, after a hiatus of what I now know as “too long”, to my running club, Northampton Road Runners. Based at a new venue in the local University, now on the other side of town from me, all the routes would be unfamiliar to me, and that was certainly the case […]