Age: 62
How did you first get into running?
At university and into my early 30s my sport was squash. I only ran a bit to keep fit; always on my own and as a means to an end. All changed one summer’s evening when my opponent didn’t turn up for a match. I decided to go for a run and, just as I was setting off, I met a couple of guys heading out also and they asked me to join them. I was quite taken aback by a complete stranger inviting someone to run with them but, of course, they were from a local running club and had already discovered running is a social activity. We ran across fields and down lanes I never knew existed even though I lived locally – and they chatted; non-stop; for the whole run.
Inevitably I joined that running club – Hart Road Runners based in Fleet, Hampshire. This was around 30 years ago. It was a small club with about 40 members focussed on road running and races. Running took over from squash.
I was what you might call a decent, average club runner. My PB’s are marathon: 3:47, half 1:37 and 10k 41 mins. I’ve never won anything. My motivation is to be fit enough that running is enjoyable and so that I can tackle some decently long trail runs.
What’s a typical running week for you?
From experience running 20-25 miles a week is about right for me. If I do that I’ll keep the fitness up and the injuries down and so that’s my goal for 2023. I’ve got a hilly 20 miler in the diary for the start of March though so I know I need to push the mileage up.
What’s in the diary?
Winter Cross Country League
Hereford 10 Miler (Club Championship Race) – 19 February
Grizzly 20 Mile Trail Run, Seaton, Devon – 5th March
Forest of Dean Half Marathon – 2nd April
Pembrokeshire Trail Half Marathon – 22nd April
I’ll probably return to The Lake District for the OMM Lite Mountain Marathon at the beginning of June. It’s a two-day running and orienteering challenge where you compete in teams of two or three. You return to the campsite at the end of each day – it’s great fun and quite civilised.
What’s your Most Memorable Run?
I thought back over my runs of the last 30 years and decided that the most memorable have been those when things haven’t gone to plan. Races can bite back, it could be insufficient training or going off too fast but the one you can’t control is the weather. Like many runners I’m optimistic about running conditions and push common sense aside when deciding whether to start a race I’ve trained for. Three events that really stick in my mind.
First is the Meon Valley Plod – a 21 mile hilly trail race held in February when the weather is rarely good but it is a well marked and marshalled course with refreshment stations. Maybe this lulled me into a false sense of security as in 2013, despite the heavy rain and cold at the start I set off in shorts and only a light jacket over my running vest. By mile 12 I was soaked through and cold and the only shelter I could find was in a church along with a couple of other runners. We managed to contact the race organisers and were picked up. Less than half the entrants completed the course that year and there were quite a few cases of mild hypothermia. I sent the church a donation for unknowingly giving shelter in a storm .
Second is the 2007 Chicago Marathon held on the first weekend of October. That year it was hot. Very, very hot. Even at 7am it was already in the low 20’s but I suppose with 35,000 runners there wasn’t enough common sense to call it off. With the race underway the temperature rose to over 30 degrees, race medical teams were overwhelmed and over 300 people were taken to hospital.
The organisers decided to stop the race and police came onto the course with loud hailers to implore people to ‘stop running’ and telling them ‘it’s a felony to run’. Runners would slow to a walk, get around a corner out of sight of the police and start running again! Then the organisers decided to cut the whole race short at around the 14 mile mark and diverted runners back by the shortest route to the finish. I was ahead of the diversion I and was able to finish the marathon. I can’t remember how long it took – but the cold beer at the end was one of the best ever!
Third is the Saunder’s Mountain Marathon held in The Lake District in June. It’s a two-day orienteering challenge where you’re self-supporting, usually as a team of two, carrying everything you need. The only thing you’re given at the overnight camp is water.
We’d had a great Saturday but on the Sunday low cloud and rain had moved in and, as we climbed up to one of the higher check points visibility had dropped to about 10 to 15 metres. For once we did make the sensible decision and decided to call it a day and navigate our way back to the finish. We set a bearing that we were pretty sure would get us off the top without having to scramble down a steep section but this meant we would have to navigate rough tufty grass and peat bogs. We walked single file so we could both check the bearing. Some of the bogs could be jumped over, others you had to go round. I looked at one of these black peaty pools and there was what looked like a stepping stone in the middle. A decent size – maybe a foot across. I jumped across – one foot landing onto the ‘rock’ but it promptly submerged into the water. I followed – down into the black peaty pool and sunk down to my waist. I’d managed to haul myself out as my partner turned round to see me barely visible in the mist. There was what can only be described as ‘stuff’ hanging off me. You’ve guessed it – what I thought was a rock was a dead and partially decomposing sheep – it wasn’t nice.
Any injuries you’ve struggled with?
I’ve had most things – achilles, calf and back sprains, plantar. They are all frustrating when you get them. Like most runners I muddle through while I have an injury. Thankfully I’m injury free at the moment!
What do you most love about running?
The simplicity really appeals to me. A pair of trainers, shorts, t-shirt and off you go. And whatever the distance or weather, ‘you’ll never regret going for a run’.
The most important thing though is the people – you have to be pretty down to earth to see the funny side of finishing a race; wet and muddy, and then getting changed in a car park. It’s a great leveller and, for me, it means that running tends to attract the sort of people that I’m happy to spend time with.
Running is kinder on the body than contact sports so people can run until much later in life. It means that you can have two or three generations all running together and there’s a nice mix of both men and women – all with different stories to tell and motivations – that’s pretty amazing and it makes clubs like Croft very special.
I’ve made some great friends through running. One of those strange guys that asked me if I wanted to join them for a run 30 years ago will be joining us when we go to Pembrokeshire to run the Trail Half Marathon.
What do you do for a living?
I have a business that works for regions in Japan – helping them connect with the travel trade in the UK, Europe and Australia.
Who do you live with?
With my lovely wife Wendy. We moved to Uphampton in March last year from Farnham in Surrey. I knew that joining a running club would help us get settled in. I didn’t appreciate just how wonderful Croft would be or how important it would become. We’ve got a daughter, Serena (27) and a son, George (25). They have both been with us for Christmas which has been great.
Have you any pets?
Two Working Cocker Spaniels (although they don’t do much work). They are like Eeyore and Tigger. Milo worries about everything and Sam thinks everything and everyone is totally brilliant. He can be a bit too bouncy at times. He’s 10 but no one’s told him.
Have you any book, film or TV recommendations?
I must admit, I do love black humour. Dr. Strangelove (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb) directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1964 is an all time favourite. More recently I’ve really enjoyed Killing Eve and The Death of Stalin written by Armando Iannucci. My favourite series of the last couple of years has to be Succession on Sky Atlantic. BBC’s Happy Valley is great. The fourth (and last) season is starting tonight. If you haven’t watched it you do need to familiarise yourself with the backstory.
One running book recommendation is Feet in The Clouds by Richard Askwith. It’s the story of his attempt to complete the Bob Graham Round in the Lake District – 42 peaks in 24 hours. Alongside his story he gives a brilliant history of fell running. I’ve read it a few times now.
I’m one of those people that has multiple books on the go at one time, mostly non fiction. It means that any single book can take me an age to finish. One novel that I’m re-reading is 1984 by George Orwell. I first read it in 1974 or 75 – so 1984 was the future – an age away and the story he told was strangely other-worldly. Now, as we start 2023 it seems very prescient – rather alarmingly so.
