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Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

The picture is at Languard Point, with the sea behind me, the exit of Harwich Harbour to the left, and shows a bit of the nature reserve, cluttered with the accumulated remains of several centuries of military defences and hemmed in by the Port of Felixstowe behind and the seaside world of leisure away to […]

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parkrun

Volunteering

This is me (in red, centre photo) enjoying Bury St Edmunds parkrun back in April, and at the time of writing still the banner photo for the event on Facebook. I’ve now done 72 parkruns. Volunteering is exactly that – voluntary – but nevertheless it is a truism that parkrun wouldn’t exist without volunteers, and […]

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New shoes

As my main road shoes (I have another pair of trail shoes) are coming towards the end of their recommended life, I treated myself to a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS shoes, my fourth such – this is the 2017 model, and I’ve had two 2016s and a 2014 pair. The primary focus was […]

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New things

With two weeks to go before the London 10 mile race in Richmond Park, Sunday was my last long run for the next 14 days. My schedule called for 15.3km at 5:37/km and I managed 15.3km at 5:36/km, coming in 9 seconds ahead of plan, so that was pretty pleasing. Today was a day of […]

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Running on the move

I’ve said here and elsewhere that I’m using travel with work as an opportunity for my running, not an excuse. But that doesn’t mean it is without challenges. Some can be tackled with planning: when I need to stay away, but it doesn’t matter where exactly, then I try to pick somewhere where it will be […]

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parkrun

Preston – parkrun location 42

Encouragement and magic gingerbread from friends helped me find the energy to get out of bed in good time rather than lie there listening to the rain. I headed down the M6 with the wipers on storm, wondering if it was a good idea, but by the time I reached Preston the rain had stopped […]

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Time to go Forth

Having said the other day that I had determined to use work travel as an opportunity rather than an excuse, I stayed in bed in Elgin yesterday (after all, it was a great bedroom with a four-poster bed and three showers to choose from!) so on the last morning of the Scotland trip I felt […]

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Dyce and Don

Travelling with work used to represent a challenge to my running – or perhaps “excuse” was a better word. I find travel tiring, and fitting in the running meant rising early before hitting the road, or finding the energy to go for a run after getting back after hours of driving, or getting up from […]

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London Marathon

Public ballot

A record total number of 386,050 applicants registered for a ballot place in the 2018 Virgin Money London Marathon. This is the highest number of applicants for any marathon in the world. 327,516 of those applicants were from the UK. This is 73,586 up from the previous UK applicant record of 253,930 for the 2017 […]

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London Marathon

A bit too far

With the excitement of Friday’s news of the 2018 London Marathon place still simmering away (indeed, perhaps on a more active boil), and with the previous weekend’s 10-mile PB at the Lee Valley Velopark also not gone away, I perhaps got a bit carried away with this morning’s run. When a route from Norton through […]

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London Marathon parkrun races

Stephen afoot

I started running indoors in late 2007, and after reaching 5km indoors in March 2008, started outdoor running, and entered the first Royal Parks Half Marathon in October 2008. I did two more half-marathons in Reading in 2009 and 2010, after which my running rather lost objective and focus. In 2014, I discovered parkrun, which […]