It’s been over a year since I last wrote a blog.. In fact my last one was about running 2 back to back marathons in a week. If you missed it please don’t worry as I only wrote the title, “Brighton to Paris, Friendship and a small wooden train” promised myself I’d go back to it and well, ,,,,,,, what with one thing and another thats as far as I got ! Me and Schubert have a lot in common ! So at least with this one I’ve written two sentences; (well three if you include this one !) so that’s progress as they say ! And that’s as far as I got hahah. So on to the next one ….
I have just come back to this blog as wanted to tell you about my latest ‘event’ and guess what ……….I found another blog which was unfinished and well as I’ve had another weekend that was life changing !!!! How many times can you change your life ?? Socks I understand, and that’s speaking as someone who used to recycle/reuse his socks every month or so from underneath the bedroom chair. Before marriage I hasten to add ! But the more I do this running “thing” the more events happen which just make me stop ! ( generally when Im too tired to run !) and think – “Wow, what a privilege it is to run with some of the most kind and supportive people you could ever wish to meet ! ”
Anyway Im going to skip over the first weekend, which happened to be up a mountain in the Lake District, otherwise this would be even longer and you would definitely fall asleep and its got nothing at all to do with my inability to remember the facts !!! The second ‘life changing event’ happened just a week ago on the Isle of Tiree. For those of you who don’t know Tiree is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides. Or if your geography is as good as mine it’s up there somewhere to the left ! Apparently it is one of the sunniest places in the UK. It is known as ‘The Hawaii of the North’, The Land below the Waves’ and ‘The Sunshine Island’. All I can say is not when I was there ! 
Anyway we will come to that part a bit later. …….. Why Tiree ? ………and even more to the point …… Why an Ultra Marathon on Tiree ……….. and even more ……. Why an Ultra Marathon on Tiree during some of the most difficult conditions that this event has ever seen ?
Well a little while ago I agreed, last Christmas to be exact; I must stop agreeing to things at Christmas ! ( for the uninitiated it was Christmas 2021 that I agreed to do my first ever run – the London Marathon for Bowel Cancer UK !) Anyway a few of my ‘running’ friends suggested that it would be a great idea to run an Ultra Marathon up on the beautiful Island of Tiree. So naturally I said – “Yeah! Incidentally the friends who persuaded me to run, ended up not running ! Hmmmmmm ! Anyway
Great Idea I mean what could possibly go wrong ??” And then I went to look at where Tiree was ! And what an Ultra Marathon actually meant ! Well the definition of an Ultra is any distance over 26.2 miles or 42 Km Well, I thought, Ive run a few 42 kms so what’s a few more between friends ! Apparently this one happened to be 55ish Km. I should have been a little suspicious about the “ish” but heigh ho; what I didn’t read within the definition was “Despite being longer than a marathon,, distance is not always the key challenge with ultra runs” What do they say in answering exam questions – always read to the end!
I persuaded Julia and two other friends to accompany me on this trip. After a really lovely four hour ferry journey, courtesy of Cal – Mac we arrived on the beautiful Island of Tiree.
Tiree boasts 3 hotels , one Co-op shop, and 16 beaches. Without this sounding like a ‘travelog’ the beaches are absolutely stunning; long; wide and nobody on them.
Now the sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed an arrow on one of these beach photos. These are the navigational systems around the island for the forthcoming Ultra Marathon. Follow the arrows and always keep the sea on your right ! The first instruction was clear although there were many times you were running and wondered, hoped against hope, that an arrow would appear somewhere. The second instructions was a little more worrying as if ‘the sea wasn’t on your right you were actually swimming or going in the complete opposite direction ! My absolute hats off to the folk who put these arrows out; I tended to trust those more than the sea ! And I actually was commended by one of the Marshalls who said ” well done ! You’re the first one to go the right way !” – so technically speaking I was the winner !!
So, the day before I collected my little bag of goodies, number, garland, shirt and map. The map , was important, apparently,( Grade 8 in Geography at GCE for the uninitiated that was a fail and a very long time ago, didn’t equip me with map reading !) as it obviously detailed where you were going and there weren’t always going to be runners in front of you to follow – not that Im at the front haha.
However on inspection of my goodie bag back at my hotel, there was the shirt (tick), the garland (Hawaii of the North!) (tick) a few goodies to keep me going (tick), the map (untick) Out of 270 runners mine was probably the only bag without a map ! To me it didn’t matter, its an island, I won’t get lost ! But apparently I would !! So back to the venue, where I met a lovely lady who gave me her map as she was running in a team ! ( Clearly had better friends than I had ! – only kidding. They did come and give brilliant support )
So back I go ; kit ready and raring to go! When I say raring what I mean is its an inevitability actually so raring or not its going to come !!
In the morning, breakfasted, chatting with other runners who all looked like runners, whereas I looked like someone who had got up too early and just wanted to go back to bed ! Off we go to the start :-
Everyone kitted out for the weather, hats, coats, sweaters etc . While me ……..
Ive got my ‘thingy’ round my neck ! that should do it !!! Lead off with the ‘piper’ and off we go ! Little did I know what was facing me – Force 9 gales, horizontal rain and 16 beaches, not to mention the inclines off the beaches, the sand dunes, the cliffs and the cows !!!!
Some amazing scenery, which if I could have looked up I would have seen.
Three checkpoints, to make sure I hadn’t got lost – must have heard about my map reading skills. At each check point your bdrop bags were laid on the ground in numerical order. I was number 14 ! So naturally I went to the space between 13 and 15. Maths A level comes in useful ( even though I didn’t get it !) but no bag . And after running 10 miles, 20 miles, 30 miles the last thing you want to do is go searching along the line for your bag !
Cursing , under my breath the folk who laid the bags out who clearly hadn’t done A Level maths, I realised that when I had written my labels on my bag ie 14 I had also written check point 1, 2 and 3 just in front of the number 14. What I realised was that 14 looked like 114, and 214 and 314 ! which must have been very confusing for the Marshalls as there were only 275 runners !!! My apologies Marshalls – my fault !!!
Carrying on beach after beach ( in fact it got to the stage where you thought “Not another **** beach!” but no choice but to c carry on and in some places have fun and chats with fellow runners, who just give amazing support
The support from on-lookers was also amazing and huge thanks to Julia, Paul, Carolyn, Stuart and Shelby who quite honestly were the best supporters on the island that day.
The last 6 miles was tough, gale force 9 winds and horizontal rain. When suddenly I heard a car behind and the shout of do you want to get in …………..
“No thanks Ive only got 6 miles to go !!! ” !!!!!!!!
I think the statement – ‘At this point I considered my life choices’ comes to mind.
But finish I did and after 7 hours and 59 minutes – sub 8 haha, I completed the Tiree Ultra marathon.
Would I do it again ??? What do you think ?
Already booked !
My aim was to run 1 or 2 races every month leading up to London Marathon 2024. Well I did ! And if I went through each of the runs step by step; and that’s an awful lot of steps; all of you particularly me would have fallen asleep ( must be the old age !) and this blog would make the Guinness Book of Records for being the longest boring blog on record. Currently up there in the top ten ! So not only am I going to be self-pitying, and Ill get to that bit later but Im going to be self-indulgent and just highlight some of the highlights – as they say a ‘dump’ . How cool am I ?
Take for example the Great North Run in September 2023. The downside of this run is that you are told to be in your ‘pen’ at the same time as everyone else regardless of your start time ! This means that you are standing around for almost 2 hours before the run. The positive side is you can bore everyone around you all about your reason for running, how many runs you’ve already completed and in general your life history since you first went to Nursery school! My thanks to the two lovely people, (you know who you area although you probably don’t read this !) who I was next to during these 2 hours who listened and nodded in all the right moments. My grateful thanks for putting up with my mutterings They must have felt pity for me – looking at my ageing years and thought, “This guy is not going to last the full distance!” One of them even told me afterwards that as she went zooming past me I didn’t say hello, as I thought it may put you off !!
But I did finish and then encountered the biggest downpour Gateshead has ever seen !! So heavy that trams stopped, busses stopped and the ferry stopped ! 75,000 runners and probably an equal amount of spectators all trapped in Gateshead !
But towards the end it, ie the Heavens, decided enough sun lets **** it down so much so that every single part of me, skin, vest, shorts, socks, shoes and anything else I was wearing were saturated, including my mobile !
Probably writing this to a very limited audience ! i.e. 1 ( me) but guess it’s cathartic. (First and last long word used !) My last post on here was so long ago even I found it interesting (mildly) to read it to remember what I’d said ! It was January 2023, and in it I talked about running the London Marathon last year and the incredible experience it was and the reasons why I ran it. The last 8 months have flown by and have provided all kinds of experiences. As you know (well of course you know – it’s only me reading it !) So in January I said I’d try to run every month in official Runs/Races, and sometimes 2 or 3 times a month. My first one was 10 km at Tatton Park in very wet conditions. At the end as I was walking back to the car, very wet and looking similar to someone who had a shower but forgotten to take their clothes off !, 
I said to a lady also walking back;
This meant that I completed some of the runs with a very strange support around my ribs which gave me an inclining of what women used to go through with a girdle!
Abersoch where the winds and rains came and the last 1 km of the 21 km was on the beach! As we turned the bend to arrive on the beach, I turned to the guy who I was running alongside and we both said; ” ******* **** ” or was it “Oh dear” can’t quite remember,. Advice apparently was to run as close to the sea as possible where the hard sand was. However, along the beach were approximately 13 groynes (look it up !) which were highest by the sea and lowest on the soft sand. A challenge but can’t deny it was great experience.
Lights at Blackpool –
probably shouldn’t have due to no runs for over a fortnight; a minor op involving 22 stitches and a chest cough that made it tough to breathe ! But couldnt say no could I – I mean it was in the plan !!! Medal haul was growing so was bought a medal hanger -to make the place look tidy!
in what was probably one of the most exhilarating 5 hrs and 50 minutes of my life. The strangest feelings take over your legs; although they are tired and physically you are quite shattered, your legs just seem to want to keep running – slowly I must admit, but they just want to keep moving. There must actually be a ‘stopping distance’ for runners dependent upon the distance they have covered. You can’t just stop dead. But let’s not start at the finish, ‘cos that would be just too weird and a very short blog ! – lets go to the beginning.
that you can just stand back and admire. She has 3 totally awesome daughters who are totally growing up in her image. When the going gets tough, or I don’t want to run, or I want to walk, or I want to stop ; she is there saying “You can do this!” I run to celebrate your life and amazing courage.
) that my friend said,
They were four or five deep standing on the platform, all with their drop-off bag and most of them looking as nervous as I was. We packed onto the train. It was like rush hour on a bad day – but with one big difference – everyone was talking with each other, polite, and not worrying if you were standing on somebody’s foot. Crammed in, literally standing face to face, stories flowed about why we were all running, and it was sort of then that I realised why I was attempting to run 26.2 miles. I met some amazing people just within the 2 or 3 stops to Blackheath Common. Meeting people like Rachel – who gave a donation to my Justgiving page –
This time I just stood there and looked around; chatted with a group of first time runners. The sense of camaraderie was amazing. Again a donation appears on my Justgiving page from Gillian and Kath,
Who knew over three quarters of a million people would turn out to watch just me run !!!! but that is honestly what it feels like. And then of course you do have family and friends who also turn out to watch you – I do have to thank them all for their amazing support, generosity and just for being fantastic people who without them I definitely wouldn’t have been able to successfully complete the run. Their support was just amazing ! Even friends who you didn’t know were going to be there and suddenly you hear your name shouted and you look;
Back at the hotel i met my family, friends and fellow runners who had now become close friends; absolutely the icing on the cake.
