I intend to give this Bob Graham round malarkey a crack in early-June. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend seems an appropriate juncture. That’s less than three months away. Time is ticking dangerously fast. I’m not ready. Of course, I’m not ready. I’ll never be truly ready. Just as ready as I can be. Having said…
Category: England
Heights of Madness: mapped, for the first time
I never got round to creating a map illustrating the route I travelled for Heights of Madness. The publisher didn’t require one; nor did I fancy the daunting task. Besides, I am no artist. Six years on, someone has done it for me. It is a work of art, I think. The yellow clouds are the…
South of England Cross Country Championships 2012
The South of England Cross Country Championships – the ‘southerns’ – is a January barometer of fitness and fight, a race in which the weak of spirit can find themselves painfully exposed. South of England, in a running context, means everything below an imaginary line drawn between Bristol and The Wash. That swathe of England…
Winter Tanners 2012 results
The results for the Winter Tanners have finally appeared. It was not a race – the LDWA make that abundantly clear. Still, it is good to compare yourself with others. And comparing myself with others, I did alright: second, in fact, in 4 hours, 20 minutes. I trailed the leader by two minutes; he was…
Box Hill fell race 2012
Today was my third Box Hill fell race. I clocked 62.52 in 2008, 57.23 in 2011. I was quicker still today, breaking the line in 55,45. With this rate of progress, I’ll break the course record in about 2017. Every runner wants to develop, to be faster, but it doesn’t get any easier. I strode…
Winter Tanners 2012
I very nearly didn’t run the Winter Tanners. My right soleus had tightened up following a hard track session on Tuesday, and by Friday I was on the cusp of dropping out. I had gone to work on the muscle on the foam roller the night before, aggravating it further. I was hugely disappointed. Suddenly,…
Winter Tanners: six days to go
By this time next week I might just have the smug satisfaction of being able to call myself an ultrarunner – and no longer a mere marathoner. By this time next week – as a consequence – I imagine I’ll also be in a great deal of pain. An ultramarathon is classified as anything longer…
The New Year’s Day run
With a big year of sporting endurance ahead (more of that in due course), I had to start 2012 as I mean to go on. That meant braving the wind and rain lashing the Fylde coast. The stretch from St Annes pier to Blackpool’s South Pier, along the beach, was straightforward. Although, I’m glad I…
Heights of Madness 