Eight years ago, I ran the Bacchus Half Marathon – an undulating trail run, starting and finishing in a vineyard, with fancy dress encouraged and wine at the drinks stops. Unfortunately, I was far too competitive and time-fixated to take advantage of the wine at the drinks stops. As I […]
I’m writing this the day after my first (and probably only) marathon, feeling an unmistakable mix of afterglow and agony. Well, perhaps agony is a bit strong but physically I do feel about 90 years old. This is a different order of magnitude from normal DOMS – it’s an all-encompassing […]
Back in February, I completed what was probably the worst run of my life. I say completed, but I’m not sure it counts as completion when you stop a mile from home and have to shuffle back. The actual running bit (though again, I’m not sure it counts as running) […]
Hackney Half had all the makings of an amazing event. Flat course, superb organisation, perfect weather; the most luxuriantly-bearded runners I have ever seen in the queue for a Portaloo. With that in mind, it was a bit of a shame I had one of the worst runs of my […]
I am not a winter runner. When confronted with sub-zero temperatures, leaden skies, howling winds and implacable bleakness, my reaction is more “kill it with fire” than “let’s go running”. This being so, it is unclear why I decided to sign up to the inaugural Cancer Research UK Winter Run, […]
When I told people I was doing the Bacchus Half Marathon, there’d be a pause, and then a look of consternation would cross their faces. Bacchus is the Roman god of the grape harvest, wine and winemaking, ritual madness and religious ecstasy. According to Wikipedia, ‘his thyrsus is a beneficent wand but also […]
Yesterday was the day. The day of the presumptuously-titled Great North Run, which I’d been working towards since the spring. To cut a long story short, it was indeed great, it was indeed Northern, and it was indeed a run. But why would I cut a long story short when […]
Before I ran Bushy Park Half Marathon yesterday morning, I wasn’t sure I could run a half marathon. A day after completing the race, I’m still not sure I could run one. I got through it, my memory suggests, and with an alright time, but it’s hard to make the […]
This is a Write Off 