Having done Race to the King and Race to the Stones, when Race to the Tower started it was one I wanted to try as well to complete the set (although ...Castle has started and finished since then too) although it took a few years to get there at first due to it clashing with Endure24, and then due to the global pandemic. At last though, I was ready to reach the start line for my last ultra marathon of 2022.
June 25, 2022
My last 10K didn't go that well, but fortunately I knew I'd got a few more still booked in for the year. The downside to this next one was that it's an evening race which makes fuelling harder, but on the positive side it's one that would be in daylight, and I've PB'd on this course before so I knew it well enough. Of course there was absolutely no chance of getting a PB tonight, no matter how har …
June 9, 2022
For my first trip of 2022, I was heading to the Bailiwick of Guernsey for a 36 mile ultra marathon around the island. As with any other trip to a new place, of course I'd try to get in as much tourism as I could whilst there as well. Unusually, I'd be flying in the afternoon before the race, and then flying home a few days later. It'd give me chance to spend a day cycling around the island, just so long as my legs were up for it after what was going to be one of the toughest ultra marathons I've done so far. === If you’ve enjoyed these posts you can also view the full photo album on Flickr.
May 3, 2022 to May 17, 2022 | 5 posts
Today was a (mostly) downhill run in Milton Keynes - the Rocket 5K. I wasn't really sure what to expect going into it after how the last two years have gone, but felt it would be a good indicator of whether what I'm doing now is working.
May 1, 2022
Repeating races I've done before always feels like a way to benchmark where I currently am. It's been a long time since I first did this race, and have done it a few times over the years. It was one of my first races back after the start of the pandemic, when they started up again. For that race I did it in 39:20 - not my fastest 10K, but the fastest I'd done this course. So for this race my goal …
April 24, 2022
This was a bit of a last minute race entry for the Easter weekend. I did parkrun yesterday, my fastest since the start of the pandemic, and today was for getting some miles in. With shorter races for the next two weeks it'd be my last chance to get some decent miles in before Guernsey, and how better to do that than with a friend. I perhaps hadn't had the best night of sleep, and was having breakf …
April 17, 2022
My last big long run before Manchester Marathon. Last time I did this was just before lockdown in 2020, so would be a good marker for where I now am
March 13, 2022
My first night race in a few years, and one I'd travelled a long way for.
February 23, 2022
My first race of 2022 was the Watford Half Marathon. Could it be a return to form, or would those days now be behind me?
February 6, 2022
Not my best half marathon, but not my worst either. Somehow I finished 92nd out of 1,471 runners with a time of 1:28:53. The best bit was getting to see friends again though.
December 12, 2021
This country split into two by conflict is one which my trip would also be divided into two due to the pandemic. For my first part of the trip I would be there sightseeing as 2021 approaches it's end, and would be returning there at the start of 2022 for the race that has now been postponed three times. Sightseeing would no be straight forward though. Some places are temporarily closed, and most tours that I attempted to book were cancelled, including one into North Cyprus. It also didn't help that a major storm was on it's way in, just in time for my arrival… If you'd like to see more photographs from this trip, they're available to view on Flickr.
November 16, 2021 to December 11, 2021 | 10 posts
With two more marathons now behind me, was there any chance that a half marathon could be anywhere near what I'd done before the pandemic?
October 31, 2021
Twelve years ago, before the age of the smart phone, I visited Berlin at the start of my adventure spanning three European countries. I was younger then, and less experienced at travelling, and with a friend in tow, we had a tendency to get lost. Now I was returning to run the Berlin Marathon as the first part of a railway journey around Germany in a time when a global pandemic is at the forefront of everyone's minds. How would it affect this adventure, and what would be different? === The full photo album for this trip can be found on Flickr.
September 14, 2021 to October 8, 2021 | 14 posts
I have to mostly agree with Sir Terry - there are so many bikes in Amsterdam with lanes specifically for them. As long as you're alert it's not a problem. It's so different in some ways from other European cities, yet also strangely similar. It's also incredibly flat (if you ignore the bridges) so it sounded like it could be a good place to go PB chasing for a marathon. There was plenty of training; but poor planning meant this would be a challenge… “My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage at all pedestrians while ringing their bell loudly, the concept of avoiding people being foreign to them.” -- Sir Terry Pratchett If you’ve enjoyed these posts you can also view the full photo album on Flickr.
October 18, 2019 to October 8, 2020 | 7 posts
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” -- J. R. R. Tolkien When I first visited New Zealand it was a very short trip, and a very unsuccessful one. Every sight I was hoping to see was fraught with problems caused by the weather. It was like we'd stumbled into Moria and awoken a Balrog that had followed us all the way to Mordor (or Tongariro rather). Nine years later it was time to make that long-expected return to the country that had doubled as Middle Earth. What would we face this time?
January 5, 2019 to February 17, 2019 | 18 posts
A few days spent in Switzerland as 2019 began. I got to see the sights of Geneva and Zurich, and then experienced delay after delay trying to get home: snow, emergency ascents, baggage collection, and tube trains with technical difficulties… If you've enjoyed these posts you can also view the full photo album on Flickr.
December 30, 2018 to January 5, 2019 | 7 posts
Once more I travel to the United States on another adventure. This time I was there for the Chicago Marathon - one of the World Majors. This former second city of America is one referred to as the windy city - I knew that didn't mean the weather; yet it didn't mean the weather was going to be okay. There would be thunderstorms. To relax a little afterwards I was then in Canada for a little bit more sightseeing… If you've enjoyed these blog posts, then be sure to check out the full photo albums on flickr for Chicago and Ottawa.
October 1, 2018 to October 12, 2018 | 11 posts
Thirty six years after our parents had visited Yugoslavia, I was travelling around Croatia and Slovenia with my sister and seeing as many sights as we could along the way. From Dubrovnik up to Bled we explored the Dalmatian Coast and beyond. If you've enjoyed these blog posts, then be sure to check out the full photo album on flickr.
August 14, 2018 to September 2, 2018 | 17 posts
A week in the "warm heart of Africa" volunteering on community projects in the Nkope area through Impact Marathon Series. We worked on building a primary school using their traditional building methods, fitted new bins to help tidy up, cleared fields and planted trees, along with putting on a school sports day for the children there. The week ended with one of the toughest marathons I'll ever do… If you’ve enjoyed these posts you can also view the full photo album on Flickr.
May 15, 2018 to May 27, 2018 | 8 posts
The story of hiking around the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, staying in a different village each night. To end this adventure I then got to see a very different side to Morocco by exploring two cities that were in themselves very different to each other: Marrakech and Rabat. After ten years of travelling around the world I got to use some of the knowledge gathered; yet still found that there were new lessons to be learned… If you’ve enjoyed these posts you can also view the full photo album on Flickr.
October 25, 2017 to November 11, 2017 | 12 posts