Adventures

Ever had a moment where you stopped and thought 'how on earth did I end up doing this!'?

Project Davos - A Nepali distance running team?
Initially this may sound like the Jamaican bobsleigh team, but these guys scream along their mountain ultra marathons trails.  And their trails really are tough. I selected two of the best runners, and for the first time in their lives they received some focused, scientific training.

I’ve been bowled over by how well they do on such little training, food and preparation. It's been an inspiring challenge to give them the best of western coaching, whilst making the most of their strengths. 

A project like this, in a country like Nepal, has made me a convert to the evolutionary approach to movement, training and nutrition.


200 mile off-road Triathlon

Coast-to-Coast TriathlonMy 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. I wrote about it for 220 Triathlon and raised £1200 for HART. A big thanks for all the help Tim.




 Leading Arctic Expeditions

BSES Svalbard
Working with BSES, taking 18–23 year olds to the Arctic on a Leadership Development Programme. We were instructing
mountaineering and survival skills, as well as using a really challenging environment to teach taking responsibility for others. A six week expeditions provides an excellent opportunity learn a lot about yourself, and both the young people and  leaders found they took a huge amount 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.




145 mile Grand Union Canal Run

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 collapsed 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 hour marathon at the end 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.



Marathons and Ultra Marathons

Marathons and Ultra Marathons
I've run a lot of marathons and ultra marathons, and advised race organisers on route choice, aid stations, and so on.

Many or my favourite runs have just been a day and a night out – take a bivvi bag, some food, and head 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 run hundreds of marathons and over 50 ultras across the UK and Europe, and Asia.  I've run in the desert, the jungle, in mountains and on snow. But I've always found the greatest joy in inventing my own race, packing a small bag, and heading off.


24 hours on a Rowing Machine

24-hour Row
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