Adam in Runderland

I first met Paul at an event run by Saxons, Vikings and Normans (SVN). They stage numerous events where people can run anything from 5k to an ultra marathon within a seven hour period. The medals and goody bags are amazing. The best thing about the 'races' are that they aren't races. People walk, walk/run, and yes, some go for fast times. There is a mix of abilities and everyone is there to encourage and support one another. SVN also helps people achieve incredible goals like 100 marathons, 20 marathons in 20 days etc. Paul is a regular at their events. Yet just six years ago he wouldn't have been found anywhere near them. I spoke to Paul about how and why he became a runner. Paul ran cross country at school. Unlike many children he enjoyed it. As he grew up he was very active and practiced marshal arts, becoming a 4th dan black belt. His career went well and he was successful earning good money. However, he began to mistreat his body and rely more and more on alcohol. ...

A year ago I set and completed the goal of running every street in Folkestone where I was then living. Now in Lewisham I thought about doing the same here. Every street in London? - I don't think so. Lewisham town? - not challenging enough. Lewisham Borough? - that's more like it. From the day I arrived here I have been plotting my runs on a map of London and already have many local streets covered as well as some longer runs beyond. I find it helps to be able to see these things visually. It is also a good motivator for a run when you live in a city and don't want to run far enough to get to a park or the River. The biggest problem is that once you've started it is hard to stop. There is always just one more street to run. However the upside is that you get more miles in. So I have some roads around the area filled in and will now be trying to fill the gaps. Lewisham encompasses an area of 35square km, ranging from Deptford in the north to Sydenham in the south, Dulwic...

This is the first post about runners that inspire me. It may be the last, but hopefully there will be more. I met Melissa Venables while waiting for a post race massage after a particularly gruelling trail marathon. We got chatting and she told me of her exploits. I was left feeling awed by what she had achieved and what she planned to do in the future. Since then I have followed her progress on Strava. Recently she posted a race report on her Facebook page and allowed me to reproduce it here. (CP=Checkpoint) North Downs Way 100 miler I really should learn how to blog as this is more of a blog than post. If you don’t want to read it, in summary, on Saturday we were privileged (well if you consider running 103 miles in Saturday’s scorching heat lucky) to have a race that wasn’t cancelled. I am broken but delighted to have won the ladies race finishing in 21.42.49 and either 5th or 6th overall (live results said 6th but recent published results say 5th!!) . Great to be back racing and cr...

Bexley parkrun was my goal for number 15. Rather than drive there I decided to incorporate it into a weekend long run as it was only about six miles from Lewisham. It had been a hot week, but the temperature had dropped slightly although the sun was still out. I headed towards Eltham up the long hill and then continued through the town towards Bexley. Just a short way before Bexley I turned to the north and arrived at Danson Park. The park was already busy with walkers, runners and dog walkers. It was getting hotter despite only being 8 o'clock. I stashed my water and belongings in a tree and set off for a reccy lap. There was a large lake at the bottom of a grassy hill on which sat Danson House. On the far side was an ornamental garden and some woodland. Half way around my exploratory loop I met a couple jogging and asked if they ever ran parkrun here. They did and so I followed them while they showed me where to go. Once at the start I let them go ahead and prepared my...