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| Off for an Ultra Run! |
Yes you read the title of this post correctly I ran 80 kilometers non stop on the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere from sunrise at 8.30am here in Spain to sunset at just before 6pm completing the challenge in 8 hours and 35 minutes, raising near on half the $5,000 that we need to sink this well in the process.
I wanted to write this post as an encouragement to those of us who have just drifted into middle age and to show that if I can achieve something that I only ever dreamt of then let that be a motivation to us all that each one of us has amazing amazing potential inside of us that is just waiting to be released.
So before we go into my run and look at how I undertook what was the longest run of my life, beating my previous best by seven kilometers, I want to take you back to the summer of 2016 when I took up running again and look back at the motivation to do that.
We'd arrived back in England after a three month trip to Madagascar where we once again engaged with our wonderful friends working in the capital Antananarivo and the eastern port city of Toamasina. Our return was to help support Maz' sister as she supported her mum who was in the final stages of her battle against cancer, sadly Judy passed away from just after we had got back home but it was good to be there at the end.
After a visit to see our eldest son and his family in Bath I felt overweight and short of breath as I played football and attempted to chase our three precious grandchildren around the local park.
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| My logo care of Emily House |
I'd always been a good runner in my secondary school years, often picked for the cross-country team, longer distance track runs and spending nights at the athletic club in Aylesbury, Bucks. I had also continued to keep my fit playing football for my local team until I was 40 years old but then we took the bold step and moved to South Africa to set up the Village of Hope, a home for children impacted by HIV and TB, and although I ran a sports outreach programme into the local community using football and netball to encourage the young people living in the formal and informal settlements where we lived I had become lazy, overindulging in a tad too many braai's (BBQ) and perhaps enjoying the wonderful South African wine a little too much!
Back to that June day in 2016 I looked at my life, the choices that I was making and observed other people around me, some who like me had just let things slip and others who were pushing themselves as they neared their fiftieth birthdays I was worried that within a few years I could have further grandchildren and pondered on what sort of Granddad would they grow up knowing and what fun would we all miss out on if I couldn't even kick a ball with them.
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| My motivation to run, the current water situation in Madagascar |
So a few days later I decided to dust off a pair of old astro turf football boots, put on a tee-shirt and a pair of shorts and head off for a run around the block a simple run of around 500 meters. By the end of the run I could hardly breath but undeterred I woke the next morning to undertake another round of that 500 meter loop.
By the morning of 23rd June, just a few days into my new found regime I decided that I needed to download an App to help me keep a note of my activities, mainly to motivate me but also to have a base point to look back on. If you click this link you'll be taken to my Strava page where you'll see that during that first recorded run I covered 2.62km in a total time of near on 15 minutes at an average pace of 5 mins 36 seconds per kilometer.
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| Water hole for a village of 2,000 people |
Over the following days, weeks and now years I've extended my runs, starting with a 5km, a 10k in just under one hour by the middle of July and that was really that with the longer distances as I continued with runs around 5km-10km for just over a year. However on July 24th 2017 I pushed the boat out and ran with my Ultra running Brother-in-law, Chris, over my longest run to date a 14.8km run in France which took almost one and a half hours.
That August I turned 50 and on my birthday I ran a 10km in just over 50 minutes which I was very pleased with and with that in the bag I decided to enter into my first half marathon, again with my brother-in-law, and also my sister in Northampton, which I ran in just under one hour 50 minutes, I think I'd found my running legs but my distances really didn't go up again until I entered my first marathon over a year later.
My aim was to get over the line in under 4 hour's so I made up my mind that I would complete this with a run/walk strategy, thus ensuring I didn't burn out too quickly and giving my legs and body some time to recover as I tackled the tough Winelands Marathon held in the stunning South African town of Stellenbosch, more famed for its wines than it's marathon and guess what, just over 3 hours and 57 minutes since I set out I stumbled over the 26.2 mile (42.2km) line completely exhausted but I'd done it!
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| The pump on top of the first new Well that we funded in early 2020 |
As you can see it took me quite some time to build up to a marathon distance and by the end of 2018 not only myself but also Maz had got into running regularly and we'd also changed our eating habits, inspired by the book Finding Ultra by Rich Roll we cut out all meat and dairy from our diets, a decision that we feel has both benefitted our health, weight, well-being and the well-being of the planet and those that we share it with.
Whilst in South Africa, we were based there to undertake some work for Emerging Leaders, working with local farms and the communities around those farms sharing the amazing Leadership for Life programme and seeing some very positive impact into the lives of those people who we'd come to know and love during our near on seven years setting up and running the Village of Hope, we both entered into the bi yearly 'trail series', runs up in the beautiful mountains that surround Cape Town which we both really enjoyed.
I wasn't without injury, during those first few years I really struggled with a bad back, slipping my disc whilst in South Africa which meant three months without running, continuing problems with my achilles and both knees, especially my left knee which I'm sure was the result of my 35 years or so playing football.
In early 2019 my crazy Brother-in-law challenged me to join him on an Ultra marathon, basically an ultra is any run that is longer than a marathon, technically I suppose it could be 43kms or 27 miles, but this one was going to be 73kms or just over 45 miles and would be taking place on the stunning island of Jersey which is situated just off of the north coast of France and although has long beautiful beaches to its west and southern sides has a very rugged north coast which was going to make the challenge of running it in under 11 hours very tough indeed....but once again we did it and although I couldn't walk for a couple of days after that event I was so proud of my achievement and to look back on where I'd come from just over 3 years before, however I vowed never to undertake another ultra distance again!
Since then I've tried to complete a marathon distance over a week every week and am not only feeling the benefit to my physical health but also my mental and spiritual health, it also means that I get out most days to take in some fresh air and to enjoy all that nature has to offer, be that on the pavements of England, fields of Zambia, sand tracks in Zimbabwe, mountain paths in South Africa, dusty streets in Madagascar, footpaths through the slums in Uganda, the beaches of Mauritius or the promenades here in Spain, I am blessed and I don't take that for granted.
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| Just the 75,500 steps! |
If you haven't given up reading by now I'll just quickly let you know how I managed to cover the 80kms within the timescales that I had set myself.
Firstly I made sure I had put some miles or Kilometers in my legs, training each day to do either some hill work, short sprints or longer distances.
Next I made my plan for the run, my two previous ultra distances had been over some hilly terrain (I didn't mention that I had actually completed a second ultra distance, this was last June when I ran a 7.5km lap around Buckinghamshire on the shortest night of the year, completing the 56kms with some friends in just under six hours during the middle of the night, yes that was crazy but a wonderful way to celebrate the summer solstice and raise further funds for our friends who are struggling in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Madagascar), this time I wasn't going to put the challenging hills in so I opted for an 8km lap (x10) up and down the promenade in Torrox Costa, lightweight I know!
At 8.30am I started my run, equipped with a drinks bottle and Maz on hand to bring down supplies as per the timings I'd estimated that I would run passed our apartment. I aimed to get through the first marathon as fast as I could and then worry about the following 38km once I'd got that under my belt.
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| Lunch time |
After a short break for lunch, where Maz bought down a pot noddle to compliment the nuts, seeds and dried fruit that I had been consuming since the first hour, I knew that I had around five hours to keep going to hit the final 38km. I reached 50km by running 1.5Km and walking 500 meters in 4hrs 50 mins and kept that going till I got to 60km.
The sun has shone all day and it was quite fun to see the shadows created as I passed the lighthouse and also bars where people had been enjoying their pre-Christmas drinks and food whilst I plodded passed them with sweat pouring from under my Santa hat which I had worn since the start.
The last 20kms were made up of a walk/run with 500m intervals with Maz joining me for the last 14km which was a great encouragement to me and I crossed the 80km mark with 35 minutes left before the beautiful sun dropped into the mediterranean sea to end a perfect day!
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| Nearly finished |
I hope you've enjoyed the read and that you have been inspired to realise the amazing potential that lies within each and everyone of us, maybe you won't go out for an 80km run but I would encourage you all to at least take time to exercise your body each day and if you can think more about what you put in your body via your choice of diet, I can guarantee that you'll feel better both in your body (I lost 20kg once I made my life choices) and in your mind.
Lastly if you are able to spare a few pennies then please visit our Facebook Fundraising page by clicking on to this link and help me to make a difference to those we know who are currently facing a daily challenge of finding fresh water just to live.
