The start of the adventure "Adam, come quickly!" I hear Matt shout with a sense of urgency. "We need your help" It's the end of our first day attempting the Coast to Coast Challenge, a 190 mile self-supported run across northern England. Just the two of us. I've just stopped to take a leak behind a boulder. What on Earth is he hollering about? And who is 'we'? Over the course of the last hour we have been descending the steep sides of an 800m high fell. A giant rock strewn wilderness with fast flowing becks and raging waterfalls that towers over Grasmere, the location of our accommodation for the night. Just another three miles to go before we can enjoy a well earned pie and a pint. It has been a tough day with two big climbs and 38 miles of running across the Lake District from St Bees Bay on the Irish Sea. Our 10 kilo backpacks are weighing us down and blisters are already forming on the soles of our feet from the stony trails. It has been a clear ...
What a weekend. It involved some running, some supporting runners and a bit more running. Saturday dawned wet and windy. 300 runners were assembling in Wendover ready for a 43 mile run into London. The fields were boggy, the paths were waterlogged and it was cold. Well, what do you expect on January 8th. These hardcore runners set off while I was driving from east to west London. My first stop was Bushy Park. This, as many will know, was the birthplace of parkrun. On 2nd October 2004 13 runners completed the first 5k with support from Paul and Joanne Sinton-Hewitt. 17 years later it is a global phenomenon. This was my running pilgrimage. I have wanted to run Bushy since I ran my first parkrun in September 2012. This would be my 291st. A gentle rain was falling as I parked up by the Diana Fountain just across from Hampton Court. To stretch my legs - and kill some time, I was an hour early - I ran around the park exploring the tree lined avenues, gated gardens and open marshland....
This weekend I signed up to be a member of the support team on the Druid's Challenge ultra running event in the Chiltern Hills. My friend Matt was running the three day, 85 mile event. I was allocated to help with set up and checkpoint duties on the Saturday and Sweeper on Sunday. The Druid has been going for 12 years. It is organised by XNRG, a family business that 'help people challenge themselves and break through their mental and physical barriers, whilst providing peace of mind with expertly run events, going the extra mile for every competitor.' They also put on the Pilgrim Challenge and a number of charity events raising money for Humanity Direct. To get there for the 7 o'clock start I left London at 3:30am. The benefit of this was clear roads and the ability to drive through the centre of London with no Congestion Charge to pay. I arrived at the agreed meeting point outside the village of Watlington. The first wave of competitors were walkers. They were brought...