Running the Breeze

The 25th Hexhamshire Hobble was a great race and one of the most spectacular days I have ever experienced. It just goes to show that you don't need to travel very far to see some of the best mother nature has to offer.

Do you get lost heading down to the local shops but want to improve your navigation skills so you can take part in some of the more challenging fell races? Maybe you run and want tot try something new? Perhaps you took a navigation course before GPS had been invented and want to keep the skills up. Orienteering is the answer, and I have finally got round to giving it a go and I think its a great sport that more runners should try.

When my alarm chimed at 6am I was already half awake. I would love to tell you it was because I was excited. It was the day of race three in the 2018/9 Start Fitness North East Harrier league and to be my first of the season! I love every aspect of cross country, the team camaraderie, the challenging courses, and especially the mud. No dear reader, it wasn't the excitement that woke me up long before dawn; it was the rain hammering on my bedroom window! Normally I would hop out of bed and think, "Great, this is proper cross country weather!", but normally my alarm would be set much later in the day. The race was to be put on by Gosforth harriers with support from Heaton Harriers, and my club, Tyne Bridge Harriers and I had volunteered to help with setting up the course. To get it ready for the first junior race at 12pm we had been told to arrive at Gosforth Racecourse for 7:30. I'm always quite well organised for cross country, with my bag prepared the nigh...

I'm standing in the crowded, narrow road between towering pine trees and not happy with myself. This isn't the perfect mindset for a race start line. Everyone has been tightly packed onto the tarmac in the shadow of the starting banner. I'm standing seven rows from the front. I want to be in the first two. Since finishing in the top 20 at this race three years ago I have had an eye on a top 10 finish, something that up to now I have only achieved in a couple of small fell races, and then only recently. So far my record here is 18th, 14th & 17th so I feel like I could justify pushing my way forward. Instead, I let my politeness overcome me and stand kicking myself (not literally, obviously, if there was space for that I could have danced to the front) and watch as the legendary Daley Thompson gets ready to set us off. Before me lies the full lap of Kielder water, and 11km into that, in Kielder village, awaits my bike. My first task is to run to it. Long before all t...

Tomorrow is the start of the 2018 Kielder marathon weekend. For the fourth successive year that, for me, means it's time for the run bike run. Organised by Steve Cram's company "Events of the North", the weekend sees the run bike run and 10km on Saturday and the half and full marathons on the Sunday. All of the events are on the gravel path that circulates Europe's largest man made reservoir and the organisers claim the race the be "Britain's most Beautiful" and they probably aren't far wrong (provided you enjoy undulating paths, woodland and open water") The route of the run bike run (not a duathlon because it's not the right distance) is the same as the marathon the next day only with a bit of cheating on the bike in the middle. So, after 3 previous races, and repeatedly telling myself "I'll train properly next time", how have I arrived for this one? Race simulation training sessions, check! Increased time on the bik...

So why am I writing a blog? I am not a race winning, record breaking runner with great training tips to share.  I am not an adventurer with incredible stories to tell. I am not fighting against long odds or battling some unthinkable troubles. I am not even doing anything particularly special, at least not yet. In truth I am a very lucky, average man who was blessed with an easy start. I have a great home-life and a good job that allows me to indulge in my hobby of running.  Like many runners, lacing up the trainers is not just about keeping fit. It's a three to five times weekly therapy session shaking those pesky thoughts about until they settle into a more sensible order. It's a great social fix, meeting up with old and new friends for a hard training session or long easy run. You share in each other’s successes and failures and runners are, almost exclusively, incredible people. Surrounding yourself with these kind, generous, driven attitudes rubs off...