There are a handful of races for which my attendance copybook is blotted and for the Maidenhead Half it's just all blots.  This is the 4th time the race has been.  I've entered all 4 but have yet to show up.Reasons have ranged from the acceptable 'injured' to the unacceptable 'couldn't be bothered'.  I can't remember exactly why I missed the 3rd event, so let's say 'injured' and prevent further…

The Thunder Run is yet another one of those nuts races that I got talked into entering (probably by one or more of the usual suspects, Sarah, Martin or Mike) without me giving the inevitable consequences a whole lot of thought.  On the plus side, everyone loves it and everyone goes back every year.  It's also on my list of things I haven't tried and that's a list I'm always looking for a chance …

This is one of my favourite races.  For a start it means a trip to the Toon or more specifically Whitley Bay to crash out at one of my oldest friends' place, strategically located a mere 5 minute walk from the fantastic Rockliffe Arms.  Your man is a runner with North Shields Poly and that means the club bus to and from the race with a great bunch of people all capable of drinking like a desicca…

I can't remember the last time I ran a 10K race.. well over a year anyway. I think it's mainly because they hurt a lot and I've used the move to Ultras as a thinly-veiled excuse to drop a lot (almost all) speedwork. Which also hurts.  But Berlin demands that all gets put back in the diary so when Susie said she was in for this I thought I should tag along.  As a large bonus Carl and Shaun were i…

This is a race I've wanted a go at for at least the past 10 years but it has always fallen wrongly for the rest of my diary for one reason or another (or I've forgotten about it until it was too late).  That's kind of a pity because like the (admittedly somewhat tougher!) Barkley Marathons it's got longer and harder ever since.It's been going a lot longer than that though - 35 years now - and wha…

There's something about Comrades that draws you back.  Many things.  When you've run your first one you get your one and only shot at a back-to-back medal by taking on the race in the opposite direction and that proved irresistible.  But it's not just a bit of (small!) bling, it's the draw of taking on one of the World's most iconic races cheered on by huge, passionate crowds drawn from every b…

In just over a week I head back out to the fabulous South Africa for another crack at the Comrades Ultra.  It feels like it's sprung out of nowhere as the TP100 race has dominated my thoughts for the past few months but this isn't a race that deserves second billing.   There's unfinished business after the shoe debacle last year plus the battering from the elements and, assuming there's been su…

Yesterday I attempted my first 100-miler, running the Thames Path 100 (TP100) along the course of the Thames from Richmond to Oxford.  I was going to write that things didn't go as planned but there was precious little evidence of a plan beforehand though finishing the race would certainly have been in there had there been. To cut to the chase I ended up dropping out at the Henley checkpoint 51 m…

The London Marathon is now the last long run separating my 'it's not for ages yet' reverie from the Thames Path 100 monster.  It's on my doorstep, it's one of the best-organised races in the world and such a massive occasion that if you can get a place it's almost impossible to ignore.I've had a go at my pb here several times but my best time here is still 6 minutes down on my Amsterdam 2:37 desp…

Unless I have a sudden change of heart, and a sudden change of legs for that matter, this is the last ultra before the monster that is looming up just over 4 weeks away.It's a new event to the calendar this year and I reluctantly passed up the chance to go for another Thames Path recce with Rodrigo favouring some hills instead.  I felt somewhat guilty about that but he ran the second 50 miles of …