Mind Over Matter

So at some point a few months ago, just after securing my entry for the Lakeland 50, I realised that the first half of 2016 was shaping up to look very crowded with ultramarathons. Thinking about how difficult I have typically found it to recover from ultra running I briefly considered dialling back everything I had planned so I could give myself the best possible chance of finishing Lakeland 50 and also having another crack at Fellsman after my failed attempt back in 2014.

Instead I ended up thinking about how I could try and use other ultramarathons as training for the big two to get around the fact that I’m ridiculously lazy and struggle to find the time to get out for the long runs necessary for ultra running. That quickly lead to me having a race every month up until July and at that point I decided that I may as well properly commit to this and round the year off.

After discussing my madness with others one of the first things that was asked was if I would be raising money for a charity. Having suffered with depression for several years and sadly losing my mum to her own struggles with depression back in 2013, the obvious choice for me was Mind. Mind work tirelessly to increase support for those who suffer from mental illness including raising awareness, campaigning for change and providing community support and legal assistance. As much great stuff as they’ve been able to do over the years there’s still far more to be done to and they can’t do that without donations from the public.

If you want to help support Mind and all their good work you can donate at my Virgin Money Giving page.

Without further ado, here’s the (provisional) list of races for 2016:

• Country to Capital
• Coastal Trail Series - South Devon
• Haworth Hobble
• Fellsman
• Keswick Mountain Festival Ultra
• Shires and Spires
• Lakeland 50
• Roseland August Trail - Black Route
• Chiltern Wonderland
• Downslink
• Wendover Woods
• Run to the Castle - Winter

All in all that just about clears 500 miles in 12 tricky races. It also includes the Fellsman, a 61 mile race through bogs and up mountains in the Pennines that saw me register my first DNF after picking up hypothermia after nearly 24 hours of struggling through the course. And considering how badly I recover from these types of things the fact that I only get 2 weeks between Keswick and Shires and Spires, Lakeland 50 and the RAT, Chiltern Wonderland and Downslink and also Wendover Woods and Run to the Castle seems pretty daunting!