2 years of #Runstreak completed - 5855 miles, but it's not about the numbers...

Two years not out! Phew! :) 

With the card and badge that my runch colleagues so kindly gave me today. 

I really need to get back into blogging more regularly - when I leave it as long as I have, I feel as though I have to recap on everything that's happened since my last post. And as my last post was over 6 months ago, there could be an awful lot to tell! 

I could spend a very long time eulogising about the many brilliant running experiences I've had over the last few months - at the Thunder Run, High Peak 40, Robin Hood Marathon, Chester Marathon, York Marathon, White Rose Ultra and dozens of great parkruns, but I'm not going to, as I fear I'd end up with a post that would take far too long for anyone to read, even if I could somehow find the time to write it!

I could also write for a long time about the stats of my streak so far (especially as I really love stats!) - earlier today I decided to check how I was doing and was pretty pleased to see that in the last 2 years I've racked up 5855 miles of running, with 3074 in the last 365 days. I've also been really chuffed to break all my PBs from 400 metres to 40 miles this year, but I'm not going to ramble on about those either. 

In reflecting on the last two years, on how my aim to try running every day for a week back in November 2011, somehow spiralled into a life-changing journey: whilst thinking about what's made me keep going for so long, and what inspires me to now run every day, for as long as I can, I've realised that for me at least, it's not about the PBs, or the mileage stats (though they do provide fun challenges and useful benchmarks along the way). 

It's not even about the amazing new places that I've discovered thanks to running - lovely footpaths and bridleways within yards of places I've lived and worked for years, but never knew existed: stunning hills, mountains and lakes in distant parts the country that I'd never have bothered to seek out in the days before I started running. 

The statistics are motivating and affirming, the new places and sights are wonderful, but I know now with more certainly than ever: what really inspires me to run, what makes running so enjoyable, every day, are the brilliant people I'm fortunate to run with. 

Those people are too numerous to mention by name, but they are what make running special for me - when I think about my plans for days, weeks and months ahead: the races I want to run, the routes I want try, it's always coupled with "who will I be able to run with there?"

Two years ago I knew almost nobody who was a runner, but now with an ever growing number of running friends, colleagues, neighbours and family members, I'm really lucky to be able to run with others almost every day. In fact, I think there have only been three days this year when I've not run with someone else, and I've still run every race and training run longer than a half marathon with someone else, or often several other people. 

Today's runstreak anniversary runs summed up why I enjoy running so much - I was fortunate to be accompanied for some celebratory fun by Mark, Chris, Paul and Adrian: 4 of my brilliant band of runch colleagues, who incredibly kindly presented me with a card to mark the occasion - very touching!

The guys were happy to do whatever runs I fancied - so we ran 2.0 miles round the block to the park, then we drew a GPS "2" at the park, then we tried to write "TWO" (which came out surprisingly well) and we finished the lunchtime fun off with a "jog" back to work, which ended up with Adrian, Mark and I, all sprinting pretty hard to try to get our best times on the final Strava segment back to the office (though Adrian slowed down when he realised he'd forgotten to press "start" on his watch!). 

Runch crew - l to r: Chris, me, Paul, Mark (Adrian took the pic).

Today was a microcosm of what running is about for me - friends and shared experiences - I don't have any specific goals for the next year of runstreak in terms of mileages or times (well not yet at least), but I do have one overriding hope - that when I look back in 12 months time, 2 years time, or whenever my runstreak finishes, I can say that it's been as fun and rewarding as the past 2 years have been. 

So that's it for now, I hope I'll make more time to blog again soon, so that there's less that I feel I'm missing out and fewer people I'm not mentioning who I feel I should. Before I go though, just a quick mention for my fantastic other half Sarah, my amazing mum and dad, and my brilliant boys James and Kieran - without their support and indulgence of my running obsession, I wouldn't be able to run anywhere near as far, with anywhere near as many great people as I've been able to over the past couple of years.

Thanks also to everyone I've been fortunate to run with over the past 2 years, I'm looking forward to many more shared miles with friends old and new in the months and years to come. 

Highland Fling 2013 race report, wow, wow, ow! :)

So, after promising in my previous blog post that I'd update more regularly, as usual, I've completely failed to do that! I definitely can't let any more time pass before writing about the amazing experience that was the Hoka Highland Fling though, so here goes...

The background

The Hoka Highland Fling is one of the UK's largest ultra marathon races. This year, the 8th running of the event saw the biggest field ever, with 593 runners and 47 relay teams of 4 people - making 781 runners in total, which I believe is the biggest field for any ultra race, ever in the UK. 

The "'Fling" takes place each year on the southern half of the West Highland Way, the popular walking / hiking route that links Milngavie just outside Glasgow, with Fort William, 96 miles to the north. The nominal halfway point of the route is in Tyndrum, and we'd be running the 53 miles there from Milngavie in a maximum of 15 hours, rather than the 4 to 7 days usually taken by walkers.

I decided to enter the race after completing my first ultra marathon, the High Peak 40, last September, as it seemed another big step forward in terms of the challenge it presented. The other big appeal of the Fling is that part of the route (3 miles from the end to 2 miles from the end) goes through Kirkton Farm, where my sister and her family lived for 3 years, and which is a really stunning part of the world. I hoped the rest of the route would be just as scenic.

Pre-race

I was very lucky to be able to go up to Scotland on Wednesday, before the race on Saturday and was accompanied by my brilliant other half, Sarah. We ran / walked the final 10K of the 'Fling route (from Crianlarich, through Kirkton Farm to Tyndrum) on Thursday, and also drove to all the places around Loch Lomond where Sarah and the rest of my support crew would be meeting us on race day. Then on the Friday, we ran the first 2 miles of the WHW out of Milngavie and checked out where the start was (between a Tesco car park and the railway station). Some pictures from the recce are here: 

Fling Recce Pics

On Friday evening, we headed to a pub for race registration, picked up the timing chip and car parking pass, and spent an enjoyable couple of hours eating lasagne and talking to my inspirational Twitter running friend Trevor who I'd arranged to run the 'Fling with. Trevor and I had only run together a couple of times before, but I think we were both quietly confident that we'd work well together as a team.

We were definitely far less confident about the race itself, as I'd only ever run more than 30 miles once (at the High Peak 40 last year) and Trevor, despite being an experienced and accomplished Fell runner, had never run further than 27 miles, so the 'Fling would be almost exactly twice as far as his previous 'longest ever run'. 

Race day - a day I'll remember for a very long time 

My 'Fling day started with a 4:00am alarm, and after usual pre-race preparations (coffee, porridge, multiple kit checks, shower and bathroom trips), Sarah and I left the hotel just after 5:00am for the 15 minute drive to Milngavie. With plenty of time before the start, I managed to meet up with Trevor, his friend Matt, and Colin, another Twitter running friend who I'd met very briefly in the pouring rain at my first marathon in Manchester, exactly a year before. 

There was a very short race briefing and then at just before 6 am, the almost 600 solo runners lined up in pace pens (almost unheard of in an ultra), with Trevor and I positioning ourselves near the back. 

At the start - a lot of hardcore runners!

Milngavie to Drymen (12.6 miles in 2 hrs 9 mins, position at checkpoint: 318th). 

I'm going to follow the traditional 'Fling report structure and break it down into the WHW sections / race checkpoints. 

The first 12 miles was relatively easy terrain-wise, with only a few minor hills where walk breaks seemed sensible (Trevor and I had agreed that we'd walk every significant hill, and that if there were any sections where we could run for a long time, we'd still force ourselves to walk sometimes, to save our legs for later on). The two highlights during the first section were the first of many amazing views (I'm pretty sure we could see Ben More, 30+ miles away at one point) and spending a bit of time running with another Twitter running friend, Ken. 

Here are a couple of pictures from that section:

One of very few backwards running pics I took at the Fling

See that snow capped mountain, far off in the distance? We're running past that later!

Me and my shadow (Trevor) running the first section

A typical view in the first few miles

Looking happy with Trevor (left) and half of Ken

Drymen to Balmaha (7.2 miles in about 90 mins, no official timings / positions). 

As we came into Drymen (the first significant landmark on the route), Sarah was waiting to greet us, which was a big boost, as I knew that the first "tricky" section of the route was ahead. There was a diversion in place from the usual WHW path due to forestry work, and as we rejoined the main route we caught up to another Twitter runner, Stephen and talked to him briefly, whilst taking in the first of many amazing views towards Loch Lomond. 


Shortly after, we started the climb up and around Conic Hill. It was the first "technical" section, with single file walking the order of the day most of the time, but where we could, Trevor and I were able to overtake a few people, and it was obvious that our strategy of starting slowly was paying off, as we feeling stronger than most others looked at that point. At the highest point we reached on Conic Hill, we paused briefly for Trevor to take some pictures (I hope they've come out well as the views were totally stunning), and we began the descent.

There's a great video of the race here with the Conic Hill section as its centrepiece:Highland Fling 2013 Video  

Of all the 53 miles, the 1 mile down Conic Hill was probably the most fun, and also the only place where Trevor was able to really show off his fell running expertise, as we dropped almost exactly 1000 feet in the space of one mile. We flew (at times almost literally), past a lot of runners in this section, and I was very glad my legs were relatively fresh at this stage, as I wouldn't have any hope of keeping up with Trevor (and probably would have taken a nasty fall if I'd tried), if this mile had come later in the race. 

As we came into the checkpoint at Balmaha, I was feeling great and it was wonderful to Sarah again, as well as my Mum, Dad, and my son Kieran, who would be our amazing support team for the rest of the day. 

With Trevor at Balmaha, both looking pretty fresh after running 20 miles

Balmaha to Rowardennan (around 7.5 miles in about 90 minutes). Cumulative distance 27.2 miles - official cumulative time at checkpoint: 5 hr 16 mins, official position: 257th). 

After a very refreshing stop at Balmaha, which took a bit longer than planned (we definitely spent more time in the checkpoints than most runners), we set off again along the shores of Loch Lomond. This section wasn't particularly memorable, there weren't any significant hills, but there were plenty of opportunities for walk breaks to take in the views. Again amongst the highlights were seeing other Twitter runners - we caught up to Ken again (he'd passed us in the checkpoint), and then were passed by Simon, who was one of the first of many relay runners to fly past us (the relay runners each ran about a half marathon, so the top guys were running way faster than us).

In fact, from Balmaha to the finish, the results suggest that only 2 non relay runners passed us, and I'm pretty sure that they overtook in the checkpoints, as I don't remember any other solo runners coming past at any time (relay runners had numbers on to identify them, solo runners just had timing chips around their ankles). 

Rowardennan to Inversnaid. (7.1 miles, around 90 mins, no official timings) 

At Rowardennan we were again greeted by our fantastic support team, which was a big boost, and I had my first "real" food of the race (an egg sandwich) and took the opportunity to put dry socks on, which was a relief. As we left the checkpoint, I caught sight of Ken coming in, and didn't realise that would be the last time our paths would cross - I was fully expecting him to overtake us later on, but in fact he had to drop out due to foot issues. 

Sarah getting supplies for Trevor & I at Rowardennan

About to change my mucky socks.

The next section was quite an enjoyable one in hindsight, with a long wind up and then down, along wide forest fire roads, with a chance for some "proper" running, and again we passed many runners. We had a brief chat with the one chap who tried to keep pace with us for a while, a German (I believe) guy, who told us he'd recce'd the section ahead and it was the trickiest part of the course. 

At the checkpoint at Inversnaid, we caught up with Colin for the first time - it was great to briefly see a friendly face before we headed off again. 

Inversnaid to Beinglas (6.6 miles, around 2 hours). Official cumulative time at Beinglas: 8:57, position: 236th

Although I'd read various blogs and reports about the WHW / Fling route, and had just had the warning from the aforementioned German chap, I have to admit I wasn't really prepared for this section. Whereas all the rest of the route was either runnable, or at least possible to walk at a decent pace, most of this bit was best described as a "scramble". The route follows the shore of Loch Lomond very closely, but there were very few good views, instead we spent nearly all of the 2 hours clambering through innumerable tree roots and sliding across wet rocks. We passed a couple of other runners (who had to stand aside to let us pass as the "path" was only wide enough for one person in many places), and were overtaken by one or 2 relay runners, but mostly I'd describe this as a physical and mental slog, during which I struggled more than any other part during the day. 

I was incredibly pleased to finally leave the side of the loch and head towards the farm at Beinglas where I knew the support team would be waiting, I'm not sure how much longer I could have managed that scramble for. It was such a relief to see Mum and Sarah, and from talking to them after, I know that when we arrived there, they could see how difficult I'd found that section and were more concerned about my wellbeing than at any other point during the day. 

Beinglas to Tyndrum (finish): 12.1 miles, 2 hours 7 minutes. Final time: 11 hours 36 minutes, Final position: 193rd. 

After leaving Beinglas, the gloom and struggle of the previous section gradually faded, as we headed towards the Falls of Falloch, then ran close to the River Falloch and the A82 for several miles. Trevor and I both had up and down times during this section, and kept each other going by suggesting walk breaks and alternating who took the lead. We passed a few more runners during this section and were surprised to see a wedding going on under a tree about 100 yards from the WHW - a lovely place to get married for sure. Just before we crossed the A82 for the first time, we had an unscheduled greeting from our support team, who'd found an unofficial place to stop and cheer - and Kieran even ran with us for a couple of hundred yards, before we headed off again, and they drove on to meet us at Kirkton farm. 

Kieran, Trevor and I by the River Falloch

Looking back to where the WHW crosses the River Falloch

After crossing the A82, we headed up towards Crianlarich, a very varied section, which involved some substantial elevation gain, wading through mud and past a large herd of Highland Cows, through a tiny railway underpass and again we passed many runners - it was amazing how closely grouped a lot of runners still were at this stage, after 40+ miles and 10 hours plus of running. It seemed our strategy of going slowly at the start and taking our time at the checkpoints had really worked well, as although we walked a fair bit, and I suffered a bit of cramp, we were running far more, and more freely than any of the people we passed, so much so that one chap grumpily quipped "you two look far too fresh" as we skipped past him (I say 'skipped', but really mean we shuffled slightly quicker than him)...

The view towards Ben More & Crianlarich. A lost boot & glove look on

With 10K to go, we reached the section that Sarah and I had recce'd 2 days before, and knowing what was ahead, and that we'd soon be seeing my family again, I felt better than at any time in the previous 15 miles. We reached the highest point of the whole run (just over 1,100 ft, above Crianlarich) and then enjoyed the final significant descent towards the A82 crossing just before Kirkton farm. 

With Mum & Kieran. Trevor & I look like we're struggling here

As we approached Kirkton, Mum and Kieran ran to meet us, and then after a quick final pitstop to leave our rucksacks in the car, Trevor, Sarah, Mum, Kieran and I ran off together towards Auchtertyre and then under the A82 again. 

Trevor running from Kirkton towards Auchtertyre

We passed a couple more runners in the final stages, including a Japanese lady who nearly fell in one of the many streams we crossed, and then 400 yards from the finish, we could hear the sound of bagpipes and were greeted by a piper, playing by the side of the path. As we reached the final corner, my son James, and my nieces Beth and Anna were there to greet us, and as we entered the very impressive finish funnel, the sense of relief at having made it was overwhelming. 

Into the finish funnel - mucky legs!

Trevor and I crossed the line together in 192nd and 193rd place respectively (he just pipped me on alphabetical order :). We'd moved up from 318th place at Drymen, overtaking 126 runners and being passed by just 2 and for the final section from Beinglas to Tyndrum were 123rd quickest, very pleasing stats for a numbers obsessive like me :).  Just after crossing the line, we  were handed our medals and water, then goody bags containing Fling bubbly (Prosecco) and then shortly after t-shirts, a free bottle of beer, soup and bread. Amazing value for a race that cost £27 to enter! 

Fling Bubbly!

Fling Medal!

These will stand a while!

After some emotional hugs with my superlative support team (I've run out of superlatives for them) in the marquee, I stumbled to the Real Food Cafe, the wonderful fish & chip restaurant round the corner from the finish, and on the way I saw Colin, who'd also finished, just over half an hour behind us. Trevor joined us for some well deserved refuelling, to end what had be a very memorable 13 hours or so together. 

Sarah and I embrace - the hug that says it all...

Some more of the amazing support team

Apologies as always for the length of this post, but I think in this case, the 'Fling deserves it, what an event, what a day. 

Before I sign off, I just want to thank my support team one last time: Sarah, Mum, Dad, Kieran, James, Kathy, Beth & Anna, I couldn't have done it without you and a huge thanks to Trevor too, for putting up with me for so long and helping me to finish in a much faster time than I could have expected. 

And finally... Many, many, may thanks to everyone who's donated to my JustGiving page so far - we've now raised £360 for Beating Bowel Cancer, which is just fantastic. 

I'm not promising to blog again any time soon, but I can promise that the next post is almost certain to be shorter than this one :). 

Mike

Better late than never - and this is very late!

I need to remember: the longer I leave it, the more I have to write about! 

This post was actually started at the end of 2012, and was originally intended to be a review of the year. I wrote a few paragraphs and then got distracted (that happens a lot) - in fact I think I probably went for a run :). 

January - the month when rather than blogging, I ran a silly number of miles and made a running proposal... 

I then decided to make it both a review of 2012 and a preview about what I had planned for 2013. Then I got distracted again, and went for a run, in fact I went for lots of runs, as in January I took part in Strava's Base Mile Blast Challenge. The challenge was simple: run as far as you can in January. So I did... 

As usual, I got a bit carried away, so by the end of January I'd logged 54 separate runs, and managed to clock up 320 miles - far further than I'd ever run before. 

Strava Base Mile Challenge results

I ended up finishing the challenge in 38th place out of 10,408 people worldwide who took part, and in the UK, I was 10th out of 1,990 - which I have to admit, I was pretty pleased with. 

Also during January, Sarah and I got engaged! There was only one way to do it, and was on a run of course - and this is the run: 

The run where I proposed to Sarah 

I was lucky that the day I decided to propose, it was a lovely, sunny morning, and near the end of the run, on Wilford Bridge (one of my favourite routes to run / ride to and around work), I asked Sarah to stop running (that surprised her) got down on one knee, and asked her to marry me. Fortunately, she said yes! 

The view from Wilford Bridge where I proposed to Sarah

So, I planned to write a review of January's running madness, marriage proposal and a post about my plans for the rest of the year, but before I'd got round to doing that, I'd managed to start another challenge. This time, it wasn't an "official" challenge of any sort, it was simply a fun competition between several of my Twitter and Strava running friends. 

February - the month when rather than blogging, I ran a silly amount of hillage and set a new 5K PB

The challenge was again a simple one: run as much "hillage" (how much you go uphill) in the month of February - with the challenge being measured using Strava's reporting of "Elevation gain". The second part of the challenge, was to see who could run the most amount of elevation gain per mile, or "hillage/mi" during the month. The inspiration behind the challenge was Trevor @houndkirk aka #CoachWatson who's renowned for the amazing amount of hillage that he runs, week after week, and he was the favourite for the overall hillage competition.

In the second element of the competition, the hillage/mi favourite was Adam (@xplantrunner) who living on Latrigg in the Lake District, was able to run pretty much straight up into the sky, almost from his front door. 

Over the month, many different Twitter and Strava runners got involved in the challenge, but it was clear from the start that in the overall competition it was going to be a head to head battle between Trevor and Twitter's Runstreak "Gaffer" Andrew, @mrafletch. 

In the end, Andrew prevailed, just, with a total of 22,390ft of hillage, with Trevor only 0.2% behind on 22,346ft. I managed to pick up 3rd place, with 20,134ft - the most I've ever run, by far  and over double the hillage I ran in January, so I was more than happy with that! 

In the hillage/mi challenge, Adam, who managed a total of over 18,000ft in the month, trounced everyone else, with a total of almost 200ft/mi - over double my average. 

A new 5K PB, a great family run at the Belvoir Challenge, and a recce of the Grindleford Gallop route with friends. 

Also during February, I managed to set my first new PB of the year, improving my previous 5K time of 19:35 (from June 2012), getting it down to 19:17 at Northampton parkrun. 

New 5K PB!

The week after that speedy run, came two much longer and slower ones, which in their own ways were equally, if not not more rewarding... 

First up was the Belvoir Challenge - a hilly, muddy and cake-filled run / walk around the Vale of Belvoir. It was a brilliant event, worthy of a blog post in its own right, which my running friend David (@runrforlife) has handily written here: 

David's review of the Belvoir Challenge

As well as myself and David, also running at Belvoir were Sarah, James and Kieran and my Conkers parkrun friends: Ainslea, Heidi & Robin. It was a really great event and definitely one for our diaries for next year. 

The day after the Belvoir Challenge, I ran a recce of the route of the Grindleford Gallop, with Andrew and Trevor (the #HillageChallenge kings) and Simon (@mazymixer), who talked me into many running challenges last year, and who I ran almost every step of my first 2 marathons with... 

The Gallop route is a challenging one (21 miles with 3,000ft of elevation) but the day of the recce the weather was pretty good, meaning we could take some time to enjoy the views. 

Pictures of both the Belvoir Challenge and Gallop recce are here: 

Belvoir Challenge & Gallop Recce photos

here are a couple of examples

Left to right: Andrew, Trevor, Simon & me...

At the Belvoir Challenge, being chased by Heidi (pink Ninja) and Robin

So that was February done, another really fun month of running, another silly challenge and still no blog post to summarise 2012, or look ahead to 2013! 

We're two thirds of the way through March, so I'd better get on with finishing this post...

Rather than writing a summary of March, as it's not yet over, I thought I'd finally get around to sharing what my plans are for this year. 

Whereas last year my goal was to run / walk and ride a total of 5000 miles, which I did on Christmas day, when I ran with Mum and Kieran: 

5000 miles in 2012 completed on Christmas Day 

this year, I've decided not to have an overall mileage target, or a running mileage target, but instead to have a series of smaller targets and one big goal race. 

My smaller targets are simple (or simple to express at least) and they are to beat each of my running PBs that stood at the start of 2013, for every distance from 400 metres to 50 miles
At the start of this year, my PBs were: 

400m     75 secs (approx, I've never raced or timed just one single 400 metres)
800m     2:45  (approx, again, I've never raced it). 
1K          3:29 
1 mile    5:52 (Bingham Track Mile race - only race I've ever won! :))
2 miles 12:23 
5K         19:35 Northampton parkrun: June 2012: 4th place  
10K       43:11 - Wollaton Park 10K - June 16th 2012 
10 Miles 1:10:36 - Turkey Trot HM - December 2012 
Half Marathon 1:33:43 Turkey Trot HM - December 2012 
Marathon 3:44:36 - Manchester Marathon, April 2012 
40 Miles 8:34:00 - High Peak 40 - September 2012

Of those PBs, the 5K, Half Marathon and 40 mile ones I thought would be the toughest to beat, but I've already improved my 5K time, so that's a great start. 

One big goal race: the Highland Fling

My biggest single challenge for this year is to run the Hoka Highland Fling race at the end of April. The Highland Fling is 53 miles along the West Highland Way in Scotland, a far longer, tougher run than I've ever done before. It's now under 6 weeks away, and I'm excited and daunted in equal measure. 

I'll be running the Highland Fling in support of Beating Bowel Cancer, and have updated my JustGiving page, any and all donations to this great cause will be greatly appreciated. 

Mike's Highland Fling Just Giving page

I hope to blog again before the 'Fling, not least so I don't have to write so much! 

Thanks for reading all this, apologies for how long it's been since my last post, and for how long this post is!

Mike

52 Weeks, 50 parkruns, A year of, running, races and fun with family & friends.

Our first year of parkrun - what a year it's been. 

As I haven’t blogged for a while, (I never did get round to writing the post about the HighPeak 40 that I said I would), I thought I’d better not miss another major milestone. And tomorrow is a pretty major milestone for me – it’s the anniversary of our first parkrun!

For any of my running friends, in fact for most, if not all of my friends and family, it probably feels like running, and parkrun have been a big part of my life for a long time now. I'm very well aware that I have something of a reputation (undeniably deserved) as a bit of (OK a complete) running addict and parkrun fanatic.

Believe it or not, it actually was only 52 weeks ago, on 12th November 2011, that James, Kieran and I first ventured down to Colwick Park for our first parkrun event (event #21 there). Little did we know then what a life-transforming day that would be, as we arrived at the almost deserted car park in the centre of the park, about 30 mins before the 9am start of the run.  

James & Kieran before our first parkrun

 A few minutes before the start, friendly faces began to appear, and soon enough the run was underway – we’d not been to check the course out before, and despite always living only around 5 miles away, we were quickly running through parts of the park that I’d never seen before.

The first of dozens of backwards running parkrun pics :)

Colwick Park in November - still pretty, even on grey autumn days

The perfect event to enjoy with friends and family, and to make new friends too. 

Within a mile of the start of our first run, I was having the time of my life, and it was clear the boys were loving it too. By the time we crossed the finish line, I knew we'd become regular attendees at Colwick, but I can't pretend that I had any idea then, just how much parkrun would become a fixture in our weekly routine. 

The boys and I finished together in 40th, 41st and 42nd places (out of 102 runners), with times of 25:25 and 25:26, which considering the boys had only run their first mile with me 2 weeks before was pretty stunning. It's also hard to believe that parkrun that day was my 1st organised running event, ever, and it was only a few weeks before (after I'd done my first Triathlon), that I'd started to enjoy running at all...

Here's my RunKeeper trace of our first parkrun. http://runkeeper.com/user/MikeW30/activity/59581255

Since that momentous first parkrun a year ago, so much has changed for me, the boys and others too, and I can say with confidence that the past year has been the most interesting, exciting and happiest of my life so far. 

I've been incredibly lucky to have been able to run at parkrun with friends old and new, and to make many new friends through running, but nothing makes me prouder and happier than that as well as James and Kieran being  regular parkrunners now, my Mum and Dad are too: something that I would never have thought possible (and I know they wouldn't either) this time last year. 

In fact last week we were official pacers at Colwick parkrun and had a fantastic time, hopefully we'll do that again soon, as it was a really rewarding experience. 

A family of parkrun pacers

There have been so many rewarding experiences at parkrun over the past year, it's impossible to list them all here, and I know there will be many more in the future, as it takes something major for me to ever not run, or volunteer at a parkrun now. In fact, over the past year, there have only been 2 Saturdays when I haven't been at a parkrun - the first was in January, when Colwick parkrun was cancelled for the first and only time so far, and the 2nd was in September, when my first Ultra (HighPeak 40) started on Saturday at 8am (so there was no way I could do a parkrun at 9am too!). 

So many great runs, so much fun. 

Only missing 2 parkruns over the past year means tomorrow will be my 50th parkrun event, although it will *only* be the 47th time that I've run, as on 3 occasions I've been a non-running volunteer (once Timekeeper and twice Run Director). I've also been an official pacer 3 times, including once with Terry, a really inspirational blind runner at Colwick, so in total tomorrow I'll have recorded 47 runs and 6 times volunteering in 52 weeks! :) 

Over the past year I've been to 10 different parkrun events, 7 in England, 2 in Scotland and 1 in Wales, I've set 8 PBs for 5K, starting with a 21:49 at Colwick and then getting down to 19:35 at the incredibly fast Northampton parkrun course (still my best run, ever), in July.  

My fastest time at my home event at Colwick is 20:04, so my next target there is to get under 20 mins, which I'm sure I'll do one day. One of the many things that my parkrun experience has taught me though, is that I enjoy running with friends and family (and pacing people I've never met before), more than I do trying to set a new PB every week. 

Through parkrun I've been inspired to try other new events too and over the past year I've run my first 10K race (the day after my first parkrun), and I've now run 5 more since, I've done 2 half marathon races (and I've signed up for several more), my first 2 marathons (Manchester in April and Chester in October) as well as my first Ultra, the aforementioned HighPeak 40 in September. I've also (today) signed up for my biggest challenge yet, the 53 mile Highland Fling race along the West Highland Way next April. 

A big Thanks

As I've rambled enough already as usual, I'll sign off this post with a big "Thanks" to everyone who's supported me and run with me over the past year, especially my parents, my kids, my other half Sarah, the Colwick parkrun event team and all of the parkrun family, all my running friends and Twitter friends. I'm looking forward to many more years of happy parkrunning - and hopefully to getting a "50" t-shirt very soon and to be very close to my 100 shirt by this time next year. 

And really finally, here's a small selection of the 100s of pictures I've taken at parkrun events over the past year. 

Saucony Kinvara TR Review

And without further ado - my first running shoe review: Saucony Kinvara TR 

After 200+ miles, Kinvara TRs still look quite bright!

After my first attempt at writing a review of the new Saucony Kinvara TR trail shoes, ended up being a post about  why I shouldn’t be reviewing running shoes , I'm going to try to be a bit more of a "proper" shoe reviewer this time and actually write a useful review. Just to clarify, the Kinvara TRs aren't available in the UK at the time of writing (mid August 2012), and I was incredibly lucky to be sent a pre-launch pair to review. I haven't been paid for this review, or given any instruction about what I should or shouldn't say. I've just run in the shoes, a lot, in the 6+ weeks that I've had them.

Having run 200+ miles in the Kinvara TRs now, on a varied mix of on-road, gravel paths and muddy trails, I can definitely say they are amongst the most surprising running shoes I've tried so far, and amongst the most comfortable.

Not just Kinvara 2s with an off-road sole.

When I first read the information about the Kinvara TR, I assumed it would feel very similar to the Kinvara 2, but would offer much better off-road grip thanks to a sole designed for off-road use. In fact, the Kinvara TR feels very, very different to the Kinvara 2 when you first put it on.

 The first sensation I had when I put the the Kinvara 2s on, back in February, was that my feet had been "released". The Kinvara 2 has a very light, thin upper, that hardly restricts your foot at all - giving a very different, and very natural sensation, almost like not wearing shoes at all. The Kinvara TR on the other hand feels much more like a "normal" running shoe to me, but a very snug and comfortable one. For me the feel is fairly similar to my Brooks Racer ST-5s, which have been my "go to" long-run road shoes, as they are reasonably light and fast, but a bit more cushioned than the Kinvara 2 or the Brooks Green Silence shoes that I use for shorter distances. 

Very bright, and pretty light: 285g / 10oz - UK size 10 / US size 11

Light, and very bright. 

The first thing that everyone notices about the Kinvara TR, at least in the colour variant that I have, is that they are bright, very bright. My training partner Stuart (Capt. USA) calls them my "Health and Safety shoes" and I can see why - they definitely aren't for the shy and retiring :). When I put them on, I was surprised to feel that they were light, but not as light as I was expecting. It turns out that they tip the scales at 285g (10oz) in my UK size 10 (US size 11). My Kinvara 2, Brooks Green Silence, and my other trail shoes, the Inov-8 X-Talon 212s, all tip the scales at around 240g (8.5oz) so the Kinvara TRs are noticeably heavier.

Again the best comparison for me is with my Brooks Racer ST-5s, which are almost exactly the same weight and for me have a similar fit. I have pretty wide feet, and some brands of shoe don't work for me at all as a result, but I've found that Brooks and Saucony in particular suit the shape of my feet. The Kinvara TR is a better fit for me than the Kinvara 2 (which was only just wide enough) and doesn't feel like it's struggling to accommodate my abnormal feet in the same way that its road-going predecessor sometimes seemed to. 

Getting them dirty for the first time - many of my runs in the Kinvara TRs have been mud-fests 

The Kinvara TRs are billed as Minimalist shoes, and for anyone used to "traditional" running shoes, which have much more structure, cushioning and weight (most are 300g+ if not 400g+ in larger sizes), they will feel light and free, but for me, they are at the heavier end of what I'm comfortable running in (but not too heavy). 

Comfortable on road, as well as off...

A lot of the running that I do is on-road, or a combination of road and trail, and on my first run in the Kinvara TRs, I was immediately struck by how good they felt running on the pavement. This is in marked contrast to my Inov-8 X-Talon 212s, which just feel "wrong" running on concrete / tarmac (which I know is not what they are designed for at all). 

In fact, the first long run I did in the Kinvara TR was entirely on the road, when I ran a 14 mile leg of the Real Relay in them, just a couple of days after getting them. I loved the experience, and the shoes were absolutely fine on the harder surfaces. 

Since then I've logged around 400 miles in total, and around 1/2 of those have been in the Kinvara TRs - which have become my "go to" shoes for any run which is either all trail, or part trail, part road. I've been on some pretty muddy, steep and wet off-road sections, and they've taken everything I've thrown at them in their stride.

I planned to get this review done a couple of weeks ago, but being tardy in my writing has actually worked really well, as today I gave the Kinvara TRs their ultimate test so far...

20 Hilly & wet miles in the Peak District, wearing Kinvara TRs

Andrew shows the way to Mam Tor - the final climb of the day

Today's run was one of the toughest and most fun I've ever done - running the first half (20 miles, 2800ft of elevation gain) of the High Peak 40 event that I'm going to try to run next month! 

I was lucky to not have to run it on my own and was accompanied on a day of adventure and flapjack eating, by my very experienced running uncle: Chris, and 3 Twitter running friends: Andrew (who's done the High Peak 40 three times already), Matt, who I hope to be running with on event day itself, and Martin, who's also training for his first Ultra marathon.

The High Peak 20 running crew

The route for today's run was a great test of fitness, and equipment, especially our shoes, as there was a real mix of terrain. With everything from long downhill road sections, to incredibly steep (walking only) rocky uphill sections, through wet, muddy fields and gravel paths, if you could think of a surface to run on, we probably encountered it today.

Throughout the run, the Kinvara TRs were incredibly comfortable, and gave good cushioning and support, and my feet felt really protected on the many sections with sharp, loose rocks. They also gave good traction on the uphill sections, and the many gravel and muddy downhill sections. The only slight criticism I had was that on the really steep and slippery rocky downhill around Rushup Edge, I was struggling for grip more than the others, and didn't always feel totally in control. I suspect this may well be due to the lugs starting to wear down (after a lot of road running), rather than any inherent lack of grip from the shoes. 

After today's run, I'm feeling more confident that I can complete the entire High Peak 40 race - though I also know that I'll be using the Kinvara TRs as my shoes on the day - rather than my Inov-8 X-Talons, which wouldn't give enough cushioning for me over the 9 hours I'll be using them, and aren't designed for roads, which make up a chunk of the route. 


Summary: Surprising, Comfortable & adaptable. 

And that's it: after getting on for 2 months of running in the Kinvara TRs at least 2 or 3 times a week, often more, I've been continually surprised by how different to the Kinvara 2s they are, and how many different types of runs I find myself using them for. For entirely off-road runs, especially those with really muddy / slippery sections, I'd still choose my Inov-8 X-Talons, but for any other off-road run, particularly those with on-road parts too, I pick the Kinvara TRs every time. 


I guess that the biggest recommendation I can give for the Kinvara TRs is that I'll be running my first ultra marathon in them, and if anyone asked if I'd recommend they do the same, my answer would be an emphatic, "yes". 

Please let me know if there's anything more you'd like to know about the Saucony Kinvara TRs, or the other shoes that I've run in over the past year (I've been through quite a few!) - and if there's interest from readers of this blog, I'll happily review my other shoes too, even if the manufacturers don't ask me to...

Mike
P.S. Thanks to Andrew, Matt, Martin & Chris for a great run today.