Today - Talk Talk

At ParkRun at the weekend, someone said to me, ‘Didn’t you used to be Rory Coleman?’ And at the time, between you and me, it cheesed me off to say the least. Rather than making it into a diplomatic incident where I might say a whole lot of things I’d later regret, I thought I’d walk away and consider the comment at leisure and try to work out why I felt so upset by it.

After some considerable metacognition, I concluded that of course I’m still Rory Coleman. Only not THE Rory Coleman that I once was. The intrepid record-breaking ULTRA marathon man. No, I’m a shadow of my former self in an ageing body that’s six years post major mega neurological trauma.

 

Luckily and I say luckily, I’ve managed to add 154 marathons to my tally since then. A remarkable feat for anyone to run at any pace I'd say. Completing my 100th ParkRun and achieving an age group win at the recent South Downs 50km has also brought me great satisfaction - but not the satisfaction of my earlier personal best times and races perhaps. And that's why I concluded I was so cheesed off - the truth hurts. Not by the remark - that was said in jest. It just hit a nerve.

 

You see, as you get older you need to realise that you're not the person you once were. And however upset you feel about that, there’s nothing you can do to wind back the clock. However, what you can do, is to enjoy the moment you're in and make the most out of who you are and try as hard as you can for as long as you can. And whatever you do, if you are giving it 100% (as I always do), then that's good enough.

Amen

1,130 Marathons - 262 Ultras - 100 ParkRun - 15 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records