Category Archives: Marathons

10
Dec
2011

Britain’s most brutal race

6 comments
Posted in Marathons, MicroAdventure
I’m fond of adventures close to home. I also enjoy gruelling challenges. There is generally a perception that the two are not compatible. Many people, myself included, have done ultramarathons around the world. But you shouldn’t need to travel far to have a miserable time! So I was pleased to receive an email from Scott [...]

Read more
29
May
2011

Thoughts on Running Across the Sahara

1 comment
Posted in Marathons, Travel
Is running a race across a desert just a physical challenge, or is it also a worthwhile "travel experience"?
07
Mar
2011

How to Train for an Ultramarathon

6 comments
Posted in Marathons, Training
Train long and slow, get decent shoes fitted, stretch more often than you can be bothered to stretch, be prepared to suffer, and find a way to laugh about it. If you can do that you can do the Marathon des Sables.
08
Feb
2011

Video: 24 hour Winter Mountain Bike Race

9 comments
Posted in Cycling, Marathons, MicroAdventure, Video
The Strathpuffer is a 24 hour winter mountain bike race in northern Scotland. I rode it as the first event in my year of microadventures.
02
Feb
2011

Patagonian Expedition Race

0 comments
Posted in Marathons
The Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, the world’s “wildest and most respected eco-adventure challenge”, starts this week – and a British team of adventurers is competing. I’m jealous! The ‘Last Wild Race’ is a wilderness multisport event and the route will remain a secret until 24 hours before the event. Find out more here. DON’T MISS [...]

Read more
22
Jan
2011

Enter a Race Today – microadventure #1

20 comments
Posted in Health and Fitness, Marathons, MicroAdventure, Training
This year is my year of British microadventures. A year of seeking out challenges, new places and new experiences in my own country. In order to try to encourage a wider span of people to sample a microadventure for themselves, I am going to cover a range of different types of microadventure. I’m kicking off [...]

Read more
06
Jan
2011

The Epic Triathlon

3 comments
Posted in Charity, Marathons
One of my hesitations when deciding to spend 2011 pursuing microadventures around the UK was that perhaps I might feel starved of really tough challenges. How wrong I was. As an example of how a bit of imagination and madness can ignite mighty challenges, I want to showcase The Epic Triathlon project. The Bob Graham [...]

Read more
22
Nov
2010

Video from the Original Mountain Marathon

0 comments
Posted in Marathons
Rain, misery, and navigating through a swamp? It must be the original mountain marathon...
15
Nov
2010

The Strathpuffer

5 comments
Posted in Cycling, Marathons
I've just been signed up for one of the World's toughest 24 hour mountain bike races. In January. In Scotland. Oh dear...
27
Sep
2010

OMG – it’s only one month until the OMM

4 comments
Posted in Marathons, Training
Broadly speaking, there are two types of people in the world: those who know what “OMG” means, and those who know what the OMM is. (LOL!) The OMM is, of course, the Original Mountain Marathon, the “first, most famous, and largest mountain marathon in the world.” Run over two days, the OMM is always held [...]

Read more
17
Mar
2010

A resource for long distance challenges

0 comments
Posted in Marathons, Running
If you’re looking for an ultra-distance challenge in the UK then you should check out the Go Far website. It has all the big ones on there, including the Bob Graham Round which still eludes me. If you know of anything else you can add them to this database of long-distance races. DON’T MISS A [...]

Read more
11
Feb
2010

How to run a marathon: 10 tips

5 comments
Posted in Best Bits, Lists, Marathons, Running, Training
This is the time of year when many people are training for their first marathon. So here are my 10 easy tips to running a faster marathon time. It’s not aimed at expert runners, nor is it for people who only want to cross the finish line. The list is for people like me – [...]

Read more
02
Feb
2010

Life in the Fast Lane

1 comment
Posted in Best Bits, Cycling, Marathons, Running, Training, Writing
I’m in the fast lane of the motorway, zipping past all the souls in less of a hurry than me. The winter sky is blue and sharply cold. But I have the window wide open. I am relishing the noisy buffeting of the freezing air. The cold gale flays my post-race, glowing face and feels [...]

Read more
04
Jan
2010

Guest Blog – Top Tips On Effective Exercise Nutrition

1 comment
Posted in Guest Blog, Marathons, Training
Luke is a teacher in Ross-on-Wye. I met him recently when he invited me to speak at his school. After my talk he took me on a stunning 10-mile run down the Wye Valley. I wish that happened regularly after my talks! As well as being a very busy teacher, Luke also combines a lot [...]

Read more
07
Nov
2009

Ballbuster Duathlon

2 comments
Posted in Best Bits, Marathons, Running
I’m wallowing in the lovely self-indulgent idleness that comes after a decent bout of exercise. I watched the rugby on TV this afternoon from a soft sofa with a large red wine, and now I’m eating chocolate biscuits and drinking tea in anticipation of this evening’s Chinese Takeaway and Match of the Day. This morning [...]

Read more
07
Oct
2009

10 Great Races to do in Britain

13 comments
Posted in Lists, Marathons
Here’s a list of 10 Races I am working to tick off in Britain. Please leave a comment to let me know how wrong my pick is, which classics I have omitted, and so on… - London Marathon - Ballbuster duathlon - Devizes to Westminster canoe marathon - Thames Ring 250 - Man vs Horse [...]

Read more
07
Sep
2009

Guest Blog: Steve Backshall. “Relieved that the evil nastiness was over and would never have to be repeated”

8 comments
Posted in Expeditions, Guest Blog, Marathons
Each month I ask my guest blogger who I should invite to write the next one. Ed Stafford suggested I ask Steve Backshall. Steve is is a naturalist, writer, adventurer and television presenter. He has kindly written this month’s guest blog post, an account of the miserable wonderfulness that is the 125-mile Devizes to Westminster [...]

Read more
25
Jun
2009

The UK’s longest ever non-stop running race, the Thames Ring 250

1 comment
Posted in Best Bits, Marathons, Motivation, Running, slideshows
“There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, then perhaps for the rest of our lives we will be unwilling to settle for less” – Kurt Hahn The UK’s longest ever non-stop running race is the Thames Ring 250. 250 miles, to be completed within 100 hours. [...]

Read more
12
May
2009

Phil Packer walking the London Marathon

2 comments
Posted in Charity, Marathons, Motivation
Danfung, the photographer who accompanied Phil and I on our Channel row has now made this little video about Phil’s heroic last place (!) in the London Marathon. He is creeping ever closer to his amazing £1million target. You can read Phil’s latest news here. Phil’s now training with Andy Kirkpatrick for his next challenge… [...]

Read more
17
Nov
2008

Marathon des Sables music

1 comment
Posted in Marathons
It's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day today