My life has been full of moments where I’ve thought ‘how on earth did I end up doing this!’ Sometimes in a good way, and sometimes in a bad way. And I hope to have plenty more of those moments in the years to come.
Coast to Coast triathlon, my first proper multi-sport event. I couldn't find an Iron-Man distance event that truly inspired me, so I invented my own. I ran/swam/mountain biked 200 miles from the Cumbrian coast to the Northumberland coast. And enjoyed it more than any registered event I have ever done - the freedom to go at my pace, on a route devised solely around my abilities. I was amazed at how simple and liberating it was to organise. Great. I wrote about it for 220 Triathlon although they chose not to print part of it because (I speculate!) my views on sports nutrition and triathlon training, don't match those of their sponsors and the image they like to keep of the sport. I raised £1200 for HART. And a big thanks for all the help Tim.
Leading Arctic expeditions - Working with BSES, taking 18 – 23 year olds to the Arctic on a Leadership Development Programme. Here we were instructing the young adults in mountaineering and survival skills, as well as teaching them how to take responsibility for others in a really challenging environment. 6 week expeditions provide an excellent opportunity learn a lot about yourself, and both the young leaders and the expedition leaders found they took a huge amount of learning away with them. A great adventure, and this is the one that taught me to follow my dreams more, and that everyone can be inspiring.
Grand Union Canal Run - 145 miles non-stop is a really, really long way. And non-stop really tests the motivation to keep going. I managed to fall asleep whilst running, and nearly collapsing into the canal as I thought I was chasing a herd of elephants about to disappear into an abyss over a lock. I will admit to be so fed up by the end, I just wanted to go home, and pulled out a 4 final hour marathon just to get the whole thing over and done with. I didn’t realise how much this took out of me until two weeks later when I attempted an Alpine ultra marathon, and failed miserably after about 10 minutes.
I’ve run a lot of marathons and ultra marathons. Often just for fun. Many have just been a day and a night out – take a bivvi bag, some food, and off through the countryside until I was tired. I’ve never really felt the need for certificates and medals. Instead I’ve seen many a beautiful sunrise, plenty of badgers, owls… The best thing is being able to take my dog too.
I've managed my fair share of registered races across the UK and Europe, but have always found the greatest joy in inventing my own, packing a bag, and heading off.
I've just completed a himalayan mountain marathon, quite possibly the hardest race I've ever done, and also the friendliest.
I’ve travelled a lot too and had my fair share of epics. In our world we're often short of time, which makes a true experience harder to find. But it is still possible, simply by following that sense of adventure. And those moments are treasure.
Coast to Coast triathlon, my first proper multi-sport event. I couldn't find an Iron-Man distance event that truly inspired me, so I invented my own. I ran/swam/mountain biked 200 miles from the Cumbrian coast to the Northumberland coast. And enjoyed it more than any registered event I have ever done - the freedom to go at my pace, on a route devised solely around my abilities. I was amazed at how simple and liberating it was to organise. Great. I wrote about it for 220 Triathlon although they chose not to print part of it because (I speculate!) my views on sports nutrition and triathlon training, don't match those of their sponsors and the image they like to keep of the sport. I raised £1200 for HART. And a big thanks for all the help Tim. 
Leading Arctic expeditions - Working with BSES, taking 18 – 23 year olds to the Arctic on a Leadership Development Programme. Here we were instructing the young adults in mountaineering and survival skills, as well as teaching them how to take responsibility for others in a really challenging environment. 6 week expeditions provide an excellent opportunity learn a lot about yourself, and both the young leaders and the expedition leaders found they took a huge amount of learning away with them. A great adventure, and this is the one that taught me to follow my dreams more, and that everyone can be inspiring.
Grand Union Canal Run - 145 miles non-stop is a really, really long way. And non-stop really tests the motivation to keep going. I managed to fall asleep whilst running, and nearly collapsing into the canal as I thought I was chasing a herd of elephants about to disappear into an abyss over a lock. I will admit to be so fed up by the end, I just wanted to go home, and pulled out a 4 final hour marathon just to get the whole thing over and done with. I didn’t realise how much this took out of me until two weeks later when I attempted an Alpine ultra marathon, and failed miserably after about 10 minutes.I’ve run a lot of marathons and ultra marathons. Often just for fun. Many have just been a day and a night out – take a bivvi bag, some food, and off through the countryside until I was tired. I’ve never really felt the need for certificates and medals. Instead I’ve seen many a beautiful sunrise, plenty of badgers, owls… The best thing is being able to take my dog too.I've managed my fair share of registered races across the UK and Europe, but have always found the greatest joy in inventing my own, packing a bag, and heading off.
I've just completed a himalayan mountain marathon, quite possibly the hardest race I've ever done, and also the friendliest.
I’ve travelled a lot too and had my fair share of epics. In our world we're often short of time, which makes a true experience harder to find. But it is still possible, simply by following that sense of adventure. And those moments are treasure. Independent travel is a great way to learn about making do with what you have, and learning different perspectives. And it is really quite easy to get off the beaten track – you just walk in a different direction, and keep on going.
I’ve climbed a few mountains in South America, the Alps, Norway, Borneo, and Africa. There are such beautiful sights and settings when the effort you put in turns into a real sense of achievement. One of my fondest memories of southern Africa is hanging from a belay on Table Mountain, waving at the people in the cablecar, and staring out to sea over Robben Island.
24 hours on a rowing machine with my good friend Kev Adams. Over the years we’ve done this three times, even though lots of people (including an Olympic coach) told us not to be so silly. One year we did try for '1 million metres' which we estimated to take 3 days, but unfortunately on day 2 a niggle in the knee ended that. But not wanting to disappoint, the next day we did another 24 hours. Our perseverance raised over £5,000 for Cancer Research.
