15th October, 2020
Breakfast at the Inveroan was as good as the dinner. It dealt with the last vestiges of the whisky as me and the walkers chatted over our plans for the day. Some were going to Kingshouse 10 miles away and others on to Kinlochleven which is 18 miles or so from the hotel. I was heading for Fort William and had around 33 miles left to go.I packed everything up and hit the road a little later th…
14th October, 2020
Day 2 broke with a comprehensive clag out on the low peak outside the B&B bedroom window though with a tiny patch of brilliant sun so I thought it could go either way today. Spoiler alert, it wasn't the sunny one.The one solid thing about the accommodation was the breakfast and the granola course would have done me on any normal day but I shoved in a toast course and a veggie fry-up course for g…
13th October, 2020
With COVID raging and at the time of writing no prospect of it reigning in its raging any time soon a getaway or if you like a forgetaway was in order. I'd toyed with a route around Knoydart - bits of the Cape Wrath course - and then the Great Glen Way, both of which obviously meant the immediate purchase of maps and despite rejecting both in the end, no map is ever wasted. You can't have too …
27th November, 2018
Next May I'm due to start the Dragon's Back race from Conwy Castle on the North Coast of Wales down to Llandeilo, the best part of 200 miles South. It's run over 5 days and over pretty much every mountain in between with strict cut-offs throughout for good measure. It's an enormous undertaking whichever way you look at it - my major (of many) concerns being the cumultive lack of sleep with wha…
28th August, 2018
Great Yarmouth Seafront and PierEvery year since forever my extended family has decamped en masse to Sheringham on the Norfolk Coast, 4 miles up from its more well-known neighbour, Cromer. My lot were in the shoe-making business in the distant past in Leicester and all the factories used to shut down in the Summer at the same time for 'Leicester Fortnight'. Half the city would flock to the coa…
26th June, 2018
Cortina is a town that has redefined itself as a centre for trail running after the national level winter sports moved away and surrounding this picturesque town are some of the world's greatest trails winding through some of the world's most striking landscapes. Lavaredo is a 4-day trail fest with the main event being the Ultra Trail - a 119km race through 5800 metres of climb.I've run it once be…
31st July, 2017
This year's injury of choice - some sort of plantar fascia/policeman's heel/bruised fat pad sampling platter of frustration hung over this warm-up race for the CCC for a few months. I made a last-minute decision to run, mainly thanks to a cock-up on my part over the last day I could cancel my hotel. I took that as a sign and reasoned even getting part of it done would be useful training.The drive …
20th March, 2017
Some races Susie talks me into are ridiculously hard; some relatively 'easy'. It's the good cop bad cop routine, as used by the Stasi. But in this case even the good cop is peddling a marathon in the Cyprus sun.Some contrast to Haworth last weekend, this! The misty moors and trails to the heat (warmth really; it never was to get completely boiling) of the seaside road course of the Limassol …
14th February, 2017
This was Tom and Martin's fourth MarathonTalk run camp down in the New Forest and my second. I was really looking forward to it after last year. I hardly ever do this sort of thing - the only other one I can remember going to in fact was years ago with Runners World - but last year's was excellent and this one looked even more full of events.It's hosted by the curiously-named Sandy Balls - which n…
1st January, 2017
One of my must-dos, this. You have to get in quick - it's postal application only and there are only 400 places up for grabs.I love it because it's a fantastic way to see out the old year. A 10.8km fell race through Penistone Country Park in Haworth, W. Yorks which includes a couple of river crossings and a few hundred metres of climbing over what for the mostpart is little better than swamp. You …