Time - The Pink Floyd

'Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain,

You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today,

And then one day you find ten years have got behind you,

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun'.

 

Roger Waters - Time

 

I have this notion of living to be 100 years old. And if f I’m honest, I’m not really sure why. It could be that I want to join 15,000 people that are 100 years old or more, a bit like the 100 marathon club for old age or that it will give me the opportunity of living a long and meaningful existence with enough time to tick all of my bucket list wants.

 

Now, at 61 years and 126 days into my life’s innings, I’m already 61.34% into that 100-year journey, To give the remaining 38.66% some kind of perspective and I thought I’d condense the 100 years into just one and try to get some perspective on the longevity of life.. 

 

And if you follow my logic - if the 365 days were to represent the 100 years, and I was born at one second past midnight on New Year’s Day and lived to midnight on New Year’s Eve, right now, my age means I’ve already reached August 12^th. 

 

Yikes, what a thought - I’m kinda in the mid-summer of my existence already; half-way through my month eight out of twelve!

 

So, I looked at some key dates. The first week of January is lost as no-one can really remember their first two years of their life and as I didn’t start school until I was 5 that got me to 18^th of January. When I left school at 18, that became 6^th March and my eldest daughter who is now 35, was born on the 5^thApril.

 

As for running marathons, I’ve only been doing that since 28^th April, although my next significant birthday (70) works out at 12^th September with my 80th and 90th will take me to the end of October and November respectively, a very gloomy thought, which means I only have the rest of August to get things done.

 

Talk about ‘Tempus Fugit’.

 

You see, Roger Waters summed it up perfectly with the ‘you are young and life is long’ line. It seems like that when you are young only it’s not when, by the age of 40 and you’ve already reached the second May Bank Holiday, and we know how rubbish that can be.

 

Now before you calculate where your age puts you and you get all depressed, I’ll try and put a positive spin on this. Maybe it doesn’t matter how long you are on the planet as long as you give whatever time you do have 100% forget the 100 years as my chances of getting there are just over 10% being a male born in 1962. Getting to 12^th August has had its up and downs but I feel like I’ve had great value for money so far, and I’m looking forward to making the most of my Autumn and Winter years otherwise what’s the point of getting to 100 just to get your letter from King William V by then I would imagine.

 

What are you living for?

1,159 Marathons - 22,399 out of 36525 days complete

Blame - Calvin Harris

Got your ticket?

Blame - the dictionary definition says - ‘To feel or declare that (someone or something) is responsible for a fault or wrong’. Which sounds about right to me, literally speaking of course. In reality, it’s more about accepting it was all of your own doing imho. You see, I believe that YOU are the only person that YOU can ever really blame however much YOU might try to project the reasons for it elsewhere. Sure, there are always situations and accidents that are out of our control but when decisions have been made and you’ve made them, the buck stops with erm, YOU.

I’ve heard a million excuses in my time as a coach. It’s too hot, cold, wet, dry, short, long, whatever but hardly ever ‘I just got it wrong’ or ‘I simply wasn’t good enough’ There’s always a reason for it being someone else’s fault. Being honest with yourself is the key to success I believe. And if you get it wrong or are simply not up to the task in hand. Stop, learn from it and try again. But this time think about how you are going to celebrate when you succeed rather than think up a failure excuse before you start.

In my world, nothing is or has ever been easy. But I’ve never complained or tried to blame conditions, situations or even other people for my failures. To me, life has a simple logic. There are no short cuts to success and only hard work and pure graft will get you wherever it is that you want to be. Where in time you can become your own Winner. Of course, if you don’t want to be a winner and not be the best version of yourself, keep on blaming everything and everyone around you.

However, it would be a shame to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime and leave blame to those that need a reason to why they’ve failed.

1,157 Marathons - 271 Marathons - 9 Guinness World Records - 16 Guinness World Records

That's the Way (I Like It) - KC and the Sunshine Band

I’m often asked ‘why do keep going back to the desert?’. My reply is always...‘because I fucking love it - it's part of my DNA'... I love everything about the whole experience. The heat, the sand and the pure hardship that ‘Marathon des Sables’ always delivers. Getting destroyed by the heat, illness or the legendary blisters are all part of the fun.

I personally love the deconstruction-reconstruction aspect that everyone who takes part experiences. And if you have taken part, you’ll know exactly what I mean as trying to describe it, is simply impossible.

I’ll be honest and say it’s taken me to the edge of my endurance many-a-time. It’s been both my Kryptonite and Krypton. It’s the ultimate test of mind over matter. Many an amazing athlete has been and failed to understand that the MDS isn’t a six stage, seven day ultramarathon - it’s an eleven day test of self-sufficiency and sheer bloody mindedness. And if you’ve got that firmly set in your mind, you’ll get to the finish. How fast, how slow and in what state? Who cares - you're a winner. First or last, it’s the same medal. The medal of success.

It marks for many the hardest thing they’ve ever done. Something that can’t be bought and only earned through pure grit and determination. 

How you conquer the race? Well you can try every trick in the book. By being as light as possible, carrying 6.5kgs or running in a heat chamber for hours on end to acclimatise - or all the above. Mostly do whatever you can to try and convince yourself you can do it.

There are no short cuts to success, and you can’t buy experience - but the MDS is achievable for anyone young or old - you just need to be able to adapt to the moment, the next step or the next problem that presents itself. You learn a lot about yourself and just how deep you can dig.

It’s living life on the limit where there simply aren't any limits...

1,156 Marathons - 271 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 16 Marathon des Sables

PTRD - Taken to the Limit

The effects of the desert - Photo Ian Corless

I’m sure it’s a medical condition. Oh PTRD – it’s one of my creations? It’s Post Traumatic RACE Disorder, in simple terms it’s PTSD about an Ultra-Marathon. And I’m not belittling PTSD. I haven’t experienced open warfare or a live battlefield, but I have had a life-threatening illness that had to be mastered mentally, exorcised, accepted and beaten – so I do have some experience.

 

A week on from the 37th Marathon des Sables and for most the blisters and physical scars will now be healing. But the flashbacks, tiredness, even anger especially if you were a DNF will rage on - for some time to come. It’s weird as no matter how hard it was, how hard you were smashed up, many after a week back at home or back at work, will wish they were back in the desert.

 

It’s totally normal to miss the desert, your tent-mates and the tears of success or failure. The thing that’s been driving your world, your mind, your every waking thought for months has gone – in one short week. 

 

Normality will slowly start to creep back in if you’re not careful – the promises you made in the darkest of moments, will lose their importance. Trying to maintain any focus, on anything will be hard.

 

My advice is that if the desert beat you, dust yourself off. Learn from the experience and sign up again and make sure this time you win. And if you did well, do better or try another event that has different properties. There’s plenty to choose from - hot, cold, high, low – Go and test just how far you can go, how deep you can dig and find out what it’s like to be in the darkest black hole possible and survive.

 

And between now and then, get leaner, get fitter and fight back at the Kryptonite of PTRD – it’s not forever and it will pass as the positive memories will shine through.

1,156 Marathons - 271 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 16 Marathon des Sables

Mr Blue Sky - ELO

The sun shines bright...

There will be plenty of Marathon des Sables blogs hitting your screens over the next few days. Some will be full race reports in minute detail. Some sorry messages, from those that didn’t make it to the finish line. And some will try to help you comprehend what the World’s Toughest Footrace is like.

So in advance of the ‘MDS Blogjam’, I thought I’d try and explain why I keep coming back and why the MDS is in my DNA.

 

With over 1000 Runner’s the sheer magnitude of the race is overwhelming. The amount of thought and energy that’s been expended just to get to the start line, let alone the expense is mind-boggling. Yet no-one ever says they didn’t get value for money.

 

And it’s that value and it’s worth that really got me thinking. After shaving every last bit of kit down to make a 7.1 kgs at the start line (as pack weight is imperative) - I decided to take something with me that was priceless to me and yet worthless for the race. One of my treasured possessions, bought for 3/4 in old money (17p) when I was five years old from a toy shop in Stratford-upon-Avon. As you can see it’s been well loved and It’s not worth anything. 

 

Except to me. It’s about 56 years old and if it was in mint condition would be worth a couple of hundred pounds but it was worth so much more during the race as when things got tough it was there in my pocket to remind me that even when things get broken, they still have a purpose. And just like my battered Corgi 226 Mini Minor - I’ve survived and as I head home my thoughts are that ‘value’ in life isn’t about what and object is worth, it’s what it means.

1,156 Marathons - 271 Ultras - 9 GWR - 16 Marathon des Sables

Into the Sun - Weekend Players

Song - Into the Sun - Weekend Players

As I set off for my 16th Marathon des Sables (MDS) aka ‘The World’s Toughest Footrace’, in a couple of days, it got me thinking about what this ‘pilgrimage’ actually means to me. Funnily enough we fly out to the race seven years' to the day that I became ill with GBS. And as you know the MDS became part of my healing process. How apt.

I always say the race is part of my DNA yet it’s five years’ since I was last in the Southern Morocco slaving out 250km (156 miles) over six stages in temperatures of up to 50c. I can remember my first MDS in 1999, being 37 and running in fancy-dress, über-fit, super-excited, without any of the gizmos we now take to monitor our distance, heart rate etc. with a sense of freedom, adventure and innocence that’s sometimes hard to hold on to.

 

Twenty-four years and 1,000 marathons later, I’ve decided to just go and enjoy the whole experience and soak up every last drop of the highs and lows that the race brings. I mean why go if it’s too easy or impossible as the race is very doable. It’s all about looking after yourself and dealing with problems and situations as they unfold. Being able to adapt is the key quality as let’s face it 50c carrying a pack full of ‘space-food’ and living like a tramp for the week when your feet ache, ain’t easy.

 

So, this time, I have no race predictions. I’ve just surrounded myself with good people. Honest people. People I like and people I want to help feel the way I do about this amazing adventure. People I want to help finish the race too. There will be blisters, sweat and tears, but that’s why we go. To feel alive and to say ‘I’ve just run across the Sahara Desert’ to anyone who’s willing to listen upon our return to some kind of normality.

 

If you are racing, enjoy, do your best and don’t give up. If you want to follow anyone’s progress the ‘MDS Live” site is here, my tent number is 99 and my race number is 1033. Some get a move on messages and Premier League results are more than welcome.

 

I’m back in the office on May 2 and will willingly burn your ears with tall tales upon my return.

 

Until then, Au revoir…

1,154 Marathons - 270 Ultras - 15 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records

Enter Sandman - Metallica

With the MDS less than three weeks away I tought it would be worthwhile writing a short blog to try and help those that are injured/unwell/anxious or just plain excited.

If you feel you haven’t done enough or trained hard enough, join the crew as everyone will be having those thoughts right now. Self-doubt is a major part of the Kryptonite that can undermine your MDS.

There again, if you are in the shape of your life and feel your running shorts are going to explode, beware as there’s a massive opportunity to mess everything up by running one last marathon/ultra, walking 60km with a massive pack or playing a rough game of five-a-side with your kids - it does happen - a lot.

If like me, you’ve recently had Covid, take your time to return to exercise. My lungs felt like I’d become a 60-a-day smoker overnight and in reality it doesn’t matter that much if I don’t run again until the MDS as I’ve trained enough - just like you have hopefully - to get me through the race.

My advice would be to concentrate on staying healthy and work on lightening your pack weight. It's time better spent

Lastly, the MDS is really doable - it’s just as hard as you make it. Plan - plan - plan and be ready to adapt as the race unfolds and if you are still unsure or need some help please contact me as I’m here to help everyone get to the finish line.

And hopefully I'll be there celebrating with you on the 29th April.

See you in the desert...

1,153 Marathons - 270 Ultras - 15 Marathon des Sables