Welcome back to my blog series covering my journey to 100 (M). The M represents my aim to get to 100 official marathons (hit the 50 this year) and a 100 mile run in 24 hours (Equinox24 in Sept 2023 will be the next attempt).
This one covers the 2nd part of 2016. I’m going to take this up to Saturday 15th October. I know that is really specific! The 16th of Oct 2016 was the day of the Birmingham half for that year and before the race I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to meet someone who was their to promote the Birmingham marathon that had been announced for 2017.
That will have to wait until the next blog! In my last blog I covered 2 10Ks I did within 4 days of each other, Birmingham 10k and DK 10K in early May. For the rest of May and June it was back to Parkruns, club night runs and the occasional other runs just to keep myself going.
My next race in club colours came on the 5th June and it was another race distance that you don’t really see that often. I’d started the year with the 7.5 mile Not the Roman X and in June I did the Great Midlands Fun Run which is 8.5 miles. Starting and finishing in Sutton Coldfield centre with a run through Sutton Park and up ‘Cardiac Hill’ it’s a challenging run. AS soon as you start, it’s uphill! It was (at that point) the closest run I did to home and the race was pleasant with lots of familiar faces running. The race encourages people to run for good causes and some runners use it as a chance to run in fancy dress (Harshad Patel as Banananman being the stand out memory).
The rest of June I started getting back into running a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday pattern albeit neither of the weekend days were for long runs. There was no need. A half marathon was all I needed to train for! Oh, how quickly that would change.
In July there was another race distance I had never done before. A 5 mile race called Staffs Knot which takes place around Cannock Chase. The Chase is very popular with runners (it’s got some great trails) and cyclists. It’s also a bit infamous for something else Stan Collymore once talked about, but we won’t dwell on that. I only go there to run! This was another midweek run and a lovely evening for a run, topped off by samosas at the finish line, courtesy of that man again, Harshad Patel!
In August I cranked up the miles and almost got back to doing a 100 mile month. The month ended with me using the Bank Holiday to get a 12 mile run in ready for GNR. So I actually did take that half quite seriously! Well, I put in the miles at least. At some point in those summer months the announcement was made that Birmingham would have a full marathon in 2017. It would be in October on the same day as the half and would see a marathon in the 2nd city for the first time since the early 1980s.
You know what’s coming! I decided I would do ‘1 more marathon’ seeing as it was so local to me! As we moved into September though a plan started to formulate in my head. Another multi race challenge over the course of 2017 finishing with the inaugural Birmingham marathon. It had to be bigger than 2014 (6 fulls and 14 halfs in 8 months) so I worked on a few ideas. More to follow on that.
Into September 2016 and the week before the GNR another 5-mile race. Little Aston 5 miler. It was a useful little outing on a route I was familiar with as we did some of our club runs around these roads. What was really good about it was that it was all quiet country roads. A neat trick when you live in such a big conurbation. I remember that there were so many ARC runners in the race a number of our club picked up age category awards.
A week later and it was back to the North East for my 7th GNR, this time in the colours of ARC. There was thing that stands out about that particular race. It was really warm. A lot warmer than any of the previous GNR’s I had done and by the finish, which for me was close to 1pm it had really warmed up. Looking back the time I ran reflects where I was with my running. It was just about getting around. Time wasn’t a factor for me. Well not to a large degree. I wanted decent time which at that time meant sub 2:30. It’s something I couldn’t achieve at GNR or Brum the following month and I realized I needed to set myself another challenge.
At that time I just couldn’t seem to focus on running unless I was attempting a challenge which involved running for a good cause. So by the end of September I was clear in my mind. I was going to run for the Stroke Association. When I was 16 my father suffered a stroke from which he almost died. Thankfully he survived and the impact has lasted ever since. He was told he could never work again and walks with a limp due to his right side having been paralysed initially. But he survived and 2017 would mark 25 years of him having survived that near death experience. So it was a big deal for me to run for The Stroke Association.
So now it was just a case of what the challenge would be. I fixed in on the number of 10. I’m not exactly sure why but I decided I would run 10 full and 10 half marathons in 2017, but 20 races did not seem enough! So, I added in 10 10Ks as well to make it 30 races. The advantage of having 10Ks in there meant doing 2 in 1 weekend. The last thing I wanted, and something that would have definitely pissed off my wife, was if I booked up 30 weekends! So I got creative for 2017 and there were some busy weekends.
I contacted the charity with my plans and got offered a charity place for London, which I would not take if I got a ballot place. The latter didn’t happen so I got the charity place. I knew some of the races I would do. London, GNR, Coventry, Manchester, Groundhog marathon and finishing with Birmingham marathon, home run in effect.
The next few months would involve looking at race options. 10Ks and to a degree half marathons would not be an issue. Spreading out fulls would be the challenge.
Anyway, I’ll come back to that next time. In terms of 2016 with GNR done on the 25th September I did the most local race to me; the Walsall 10K. I knew most of the route and it was a good workout followed the week after by the Bourneville 10K. Two things about this second race. Best goodie bag ever in terms of value for money! And the medals were made of wood and in the shape of a specific leaf. The design changes every year. The race is tough one. 2 laps won multi terrain, but it worked out well.
The following weekend saw me do another 2 10Ks! On Saturday 8th the Birchfield Poppy Run in Aldridge which was on grass and trail and a lovely run. Again, lots of familiar faces at that one. The very next day another 10K at Shugborough for St Katherines Hospice. It was a tough little run which is what most 10Ks seem to be to me! That double header made me realise 30 races in a year wouldn’t be an issue if found the right races and had a couple of weekend doubles.
And that brings us to Sunday 16th October 2016 and the day of the Birmingham half. The race was used to promote the fact that their would be full marathon the following year and it gave me the chance to get one of my most treasured race day photos as I was asked to promote the marathon and of course I’d settled on my challenge for 2017 so I wasn’t going to turn down the chance to talk about it.
Those that know, know who the photo was with! If you don’t? I’ll finish off the journey through 2016 next week.
Usingh Bolt - Endurance Runner 