A conversation and a coffee with one of my heroes.
The youngest, aged twelve, could not conceal her disappointment, and turned away, feeling as so many of us have felt when we discover that our idols are very ordinary men and women. This quote is from Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott, 1886. It is similar to the…
Robbie Britton and inov-8: two great things come together
I have recently had the chance to get to know ultra runner, adventurer and all-round top-bloke, Robbie Britton and we have crossed paths at a number of events – almost literally at the Bristol half marathon last year when he was pacing a group (did they have any…
Meeting Anton Krupicka
It would not be hard to argue that Chamonix, France is the spiritual home of trail running and ultra-trail running, at least in Europe (though I would say that it is the global hub for trail running) and one of the strongest pieces of evidence for that, is…
Meeting the inov-8 team in Chamonix
I have long been a fan of inov-8. And not just the shoes, though it is worth saying that I think their shoes are ace and since I tried on a pair of the Road-X 233s I realised how much more there is to the inov-8 range than…
Feet In The Clouds interview with Richard Askwith
You may have recently seen my review of Richard Askwith’s book about fell running, Feet In The Clouds, which is being re-released by Aurum Publishing. A classic text that I have probably read half a dozen times, you can read my review here. In addition to sending me…
Three is the magic number – interviewing Kipsang, Mutai and Makau at the 2013 London marathon
It seems as though every year, the organisers of the London marathon bring together “the greatest field ever assembled” for their race – London is one of the six major marathons and is an iconic race on the bucket list of runners from the very elite all the…
Running around Hyde Park with Liz, yelling.
In my very humble opinion, I think that Liz Yelling has all the attributes of a top coach – she has ‘been-there-done-that-and-got-the-t-shirt’, she has a really friendly way with us normal runners and none of the unnecessary airs and graces that could come with being an elite athlete,…
Meeting Kate Giles from the Crewroom
As I rushed around trying to find the place I was supposed to be meeting Kate Giles, founder of Crewroom, last Friday, I knew that I was going to be late. But when I finally located where I was supposed to be, Kate did not seem worried at…
The day I went running with Julia Bleasdale
Last week I had the pleasure of going running with Julia Bleasdale. Yep, that’s right… the runner who came 8th in both 5,000m and 10,000m finals at the London Olympics, running a personal best time of 30:55.63 in the 10,000m race. the very same Julia Bleasdale who is…
Runners At The Sharp-end #7: Justina Heslop
Justina is a friend and colleague of Tom Payn, our Runner From The Sharp-end #6 (which you can read here) so thank you to Tom for asking Justina to answer the RATS questions and thank you to Justina for taking the time to do that. The first –…