slight changes

Hello all. Recently been in contact with Tom Meldrum (a few times actually) over the past month or two. He came first in the recent Crawley 12 hr race with 75.8 miles and he has a very good blog which I've added to the list entitled 'Other Blogs I Like' over on the left.

I've also done a minor update to the Help & Advice page.

Also, all the best to Richie Cunningham and Phil Robertson who are running The Highland Fling Race at the weekend - 53 miles on The West Highland Way in Scotland. And also to the Otley AC runners in the London Marathon on Sunday ... running 26 miles with over 30,000 other folk isn't my idea of fun but some people are apparently very good at it.

charity fund raising

charity number 1080540


Well here we are - the big announcement. Regular visitors will know by now that I plan to raise some money for charity next year. After much deliberation I've decided to raise funds in aid of Orchid.

Orchid is the only UK registered cancer charity to focus entirely on the male-specific cancers; prostate, penile and testicular. Orchid exists to save lives and suffering caused by these diseases by funding medical research and promoting awareness about them. More information can be found here.

The race I plan to take part in is a 48 hour race which is part of the Athens International Ultramarathon Festival 2009.

I'm sure you lot will give generously. Most of you know by now that I had cancer back in the 1990s (testicular which then spread to my lungs) so this is quite dear to my heart.

Right ... moving on ... the song lyrics on the last post. Well Alastair Humphreys got the first one correct. They were Nothing Else Matters by Metallica and Ain't Gonna Cry No More by Whitesnake. The latter especially has lots of memories for me ... when originally told I had cancer I couldn't seem to stop playing that particular Whitesnake album (Ready an' Willing). Must've driven all the other patients mad but it certainly helped with my frame of mind.

Another brilliant song which puts things in perspective is When A Blind Man Cries by Deep Purple.

Now then - why would Alastair Humphreys be reading this blog. I don't have anything in common with this adventurer type bloke except that we're both Yorkshiremen. He's twelve years younger than me and I don't recall ever meeting him ... if he does though I 'd be interested to know when and where. Anyway I wish him all the best for his long journey home !!!

All the best too to Steve Battle, Les Hill and Paul Tranter who are taking part in tomorrow's Rowbotham's Round Rotherham 50. I hope the weather is better than last year for you ... it can't be worse. Commiserations to Phil Robertson who has had to withdraw through illness.

Remember - Orchid exists to save men’s lives from testicular, prostate and penile cancers through pioneering research and promoting awareness.

Plans for 2009

First of all an apology for not posting sooner. A few days ago I badly twisted my knee descending a ladder after putting some shelves up at home. Swollen with minor ligament damage - nothing too serious but enough to stop me running for a week or two.

Now ... onto next year. So far in my ultra running career (which began in late 2005) I've competed seriously in one 40 mile track race and five 24 hour races. I've also competed [but not seriously] in two 50 mile trail races. After my last race - London about six weeks ago - I took some time out and decided that 2009 should be different.

After looking around at all the options and lots of different websites/blogs I've decided that I'd like, once again, to raise money for charity. Most of you will be aware by now that I had cancer back in the 1990s so that seems the obvious choice. However, unlike most people apparently, I don't like to raise money by doing something within my comfort zone. So ...

There's a 48 hour race in Athens, Greece beginning on Wednesday 8 April 2009 and I plan to use this race threefold:

- raise money for a cancer charity to be decided shortly
- a new challenge for me
- to show the selectors of the England team for the Commonwealth Championships that I am fit

After that I can fit in another race in June or July before the Commonwealth Championships in mid September and then the fun filled end of year mudbath which is the Round Rotherham 50.

Lots to organise then. Travel to Athens and accommodation for myself and crew (have already asked Phil Robertson of Otley AC), choosing a suitable charity, sponsorship, fundraising, press, etc.

I'd like to thank Dan Rose for turning me onto fundraising again. He's done wonders raising over $7500 this year after suffering cancer in 2004.

Of course, plans could change if UK Athletics select me for the World and European Championships in Ciserano [Italy] on 2 May 2009. Personally I think that's unlikely though as in recent years qualifying standards have been higher than my 228k.

friends & family results

I was going to write a post last night but forgot - so here it is ...

Keir ran well in the 1 mile fun run. He finished in approx 25th place with 7 mins 06. Not bad considering he does absolutely no training at all. Oh yes ... while I remember ... at his school sports day last July he came first in the high jump (again, no training at all) with 1.35m.

At the accompanying half marathon in Leeds on Sunday morning, Ian Fisher won easily proving that he is over his major injury concerns earlier in the year. His time was just over 69 mins.

Meanwhile Simon Anderson had a poor run and came home in just over 1h 30. He's running the Amsterdam marathon the same weekend as my next 24 hr race. I'll be thinking of him ... his race will last about 3 hours. Hope he remembers that my race will last eight times as long.

Ah yes ... Phil Robertson completed A Coventry Way in 8h 08 at the weekend in apparently difficult circumstances. Read more here.

At the moment I'm planning my week of 'crash training' which will begin on Monday 22 September and will conclude with the Horsforth 10k on Sunday 28 September. Daily updates will be posted as they were in June this year. Need to take on board extra vitamins B and C before and during crash training so I've spent some time recently planning my diet for the two weeks beginning 15 September.

Today is a training free day - I have an average of one per week - where all I do is rehab stuff. At the moment I'm running a bath and using some toiletries from Lush which I find very good for relaxing and muscular aches, etc. (wiccy magic muscle [massage bar], ma bar [bubble bar], elixir [bath ballistic]) ... brilliant stuff.

22 miles tomorrow, 22 miles on Thursday and 11 on Friday to look forward to !!!

Not much happening

After yesterday free of training - all I did was rehab stuff - today I'm back with the cycling and strength training before tomorrow's long run.

The plan is to cover 31 - 32 miles and this will be my longest run before my next ultra race next month.

All the best to Phil Robertson and Paul Tranter for their 40 miler around Coventry at the weekend. I know their training hasn't gone well recently but I'm sure they'll enjoy themselves in the midlands.

Almost There ...

First of all an apology (again ... )

On June 25 I included a link to Phil Robertson's blog that was incorrect. The actual address is http://www.runthehills.blogspot.com/. [I guess I must've been thinking of Iron Maiden !!!].


With only a few days left I've started applying a thick coating of vaseline to my feet at least twice a day. It feels strange when walking but it definitely helps reduce blister formation during these long races. [Another tip from William Sichel although everyone is different and you must adjust it to your own needs/requirements].


For the last few days it's taken me longer than usual to get to sleep at night. I guess this is a consequence of being less active recently because of tapering.

Had my last run of any worth today - 7 miles fartlek. The final run will be a 4 miler tomorrow evening showing runners around the route of the Washburn Relay which I've organised for 18 July.

The weather forecast isn't exactly brilliant for the weekend - heavy showers. Nothing I can do about that though except hope it's wrong.

Otley - home of the ultra distance runner

First of all a big well done to Phil Robertson of Otley AC who has completed the West Highland Way Race (95 miles) in just under 28 hours - an amazing achievement. He was with Paul Tranter [another Otley resident] who has now completed the Marathon des Sables and the West Highland Way Race in less than five months.

For more details about Phil Robertson see his blog at http://www.runtothehills.blogspot.com

Just noticed, on the UK Athletics website the selection criteria for the IAU European Championships and World Cup 100k to be held in Etruschi, Italy on 8 November. Basically they are only considering individuals if they are confident of a top 15 placing. This means they have set standards of 7h 05 for men and 8h 15 for women. In the last 18 months only one man and two women have achieved this (Jez Bragg, Adele Salt and Emma Gooderham).

They have also set lower, team standards, of 7h 20 and 8h 30 but, again, I think that perhaps they are setting their targets a bit high as no other British runners have achieved this lower mark in the qualifying period which began on 1 January 2007.

I wonder what the criteria will be for the 24 hr World Challenge in Korea on October 18/19.

Well Done and Good Luck

Well done to Paul Tranter on his new pb at the Barry 40 last weekend. I guess that's about 10s per mile quicker than his previous best time which dates from 2005.

Also, all the best to Phil Robertson (another Otley AC runner) who's taking part in the 31 mile Wuthering Hike this weekend. As you can probably tell by the name, it's over the moors around Haworth in Yorkshire.

I wish these long trail races were in summer ... winter is too muddy/slippery for me.

Felt a twinge in my ankle/heel this morning whilst cycling ... I don't think it's a recurrence of the injury but it needs treating with caution for the time being.

No recognition for ultra runners

At Thursday evening's committee meeting (I'm secretary of Otley AC, a medium sized club based in Yorkshire, England), I nominated Phil Robertson for our Runner of the Month award - in December he completed the Round Rotherham 50 in 9h 47. Considering the terrible weather and the fact that this was his first ultra I felt this was a remarkable achievement ... no one else did though.

At the meeting I was shown Athletics Weekly's (27 Dec issue) annual review. Guess what ... not a single mention of anything longer than a marathon. Another example of ultra runners getting a raw deal.

As far as my recovery goes I was doing fine until yesterday when my achilles started playing up. I guess 3 sets of 10 'step stretches' is a bit too much at the moment so I'll stick with 3 sets of 9 for a few days. Need to get up to 3 sets of 25.