9th October, 2014
Transvulcania is still 7 months off but starting training yesterday seems like a good idea and I'm upping the hills, long runs and trails. I should have been running Berlin today but I pulled that for lack of a hope in hell of a pb and decided on the spur of the moment run the Purbeck Hills from Swanage to Weymouth. Not entirely sure where the idea came from. I've only been to Swanage once b…
20th September, 2014
I ran this marathon for the first time last year and had been looking forward to having another go at it. Both times it's served as a long training run rather than a race but as I went out extremely slowly last year I was confident I'd go faster this time out. Did that happen? Read on and find out! But no, it didn't.You can't beat trail running in this fantastic weather. Sunday was a perfect…
6th September, 2014
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…
26th July, 2014
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 …
17th June, 2014
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…
31st May, 2014
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…
16th May, 2014
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…
12th April, 2014
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…
1st April, 2014
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 …
23rd March, 2014
Second race in consecutive days, another 9am kick off and another drive to Loughborough. I've entered this race 3 times now and never turned up so it was a minor victory even to make it to Market Square. One of the previous occasions was lost to a night on the lash round Loughborough town centre followed by a massive curry and all the trimmings. If you're going to miss a race make sure its f…