Category Archives: Marathons

29
Oct
2008

The extreme world of mountain marathons

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Posted in Marathons, Motivation, Running, Training
Ben and I are currently training for an attempt on the Bob Graham Round. 24 hours, 42 peaks, 27000 feet of ascent: 65 miles of fun in the Lakeland hills. I learnt about this challenge in the fabulous book, Feet in the Clouds, by Richard Askwith. The Original Mountain Marathon received huge publicity this weekend due to the [...]

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19
Aug
2008

I hate gyms

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Posted in Marathons, Motivation, South Pole
Wise words from Miss Pollyanna: “Well screw that! I am utterly sick of the turbo. I now know the reasons why I took up cycling. It’s not to race or win, nope sirry! It was to feel the fresh air on my face. To battle on a solo mission on one’s self over mountains and [...]

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22
May
2008

Marathon des Sables on TV

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Posted in Marathons
This year’s MdS was filmed by ITV. They showed their programme this week. It was great to see the desert again as the memories rushed back. But I did not like the programme much. They did not show the vast majority of runners who were out there to actually run the race rather than a) [...]

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01
May
2008

Toughest Races on Earth?

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Posted in Marathons
A list of the world’s most extreme marathons and the 10 Toughest Races on Earth. Click here for the full article. More exciting though: here are Ten Impossible Adventures for you to dream about. DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and [...]

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25
Apr
2008

Ultramarathon Man

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Posted in Marathons
Tent 91 at the MdS became huge fans of Dean Karnazes “Run if you can,” he wrote in his book about his ludicrous long-distance running achievements, “walk if you have to, crawl if you must. But never, ever stop.” This advice served us well (though did little to help my metatarsal!). So I wrote him [...]

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12
Apr
2008

Marathon des Sables 2008

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Posted in Best Bits, Marathons
“What counts in battle is what you do when the pain sets in” – John Short “It’s not that we have a short time to live but that we waste a lot of it” – Seneca “Run if you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, but never stop” – Dean Karnazes [...]

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10
Apr
2008

Broken foot, broken dream?

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Posted in Expeditions, Marathons, South Pole
Three months ago I sat waiting for my x-ray results. I was seen by a man who I am sure knew less medicine than I did. He said my foot was fine and to go away and rest and stop wasting his time. Now the same pain is back, but thankfully not the same expert. [...]

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08
Apr
2008

Snap

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Posted in Marathons
Broken my left foot.In plaster for 6 weeks.Not allowed to even cycle.Grumpy. DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and children.
24
Mar
2008

The Devizes to Westminster canoe marathon

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Posted in Expeditions, Marathons
The weekend did not begin well. My paddling partner, Lucy, and I were loading the car to head for the Devizes to Westminster canoe race, “the longest non-stop canoe marathon in the world”. Lucy accidentally dropped a life-jacket in the Thames and so I had to ignore the snow and jump into the river to [...]

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20
Mar
2008

6

0 comments
Posted in Marathons
Great relief on Sunday when I made it, with no increase in pain, through the Bath Half Marathon. My time of 2 hrs 35 (yes, 2’35 and yes, you did hear correctly: it was a half marathon not a full one) may not instill much confidence about my capability for completing the MdS, but it [...]

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