October 2025

                

         Autumn soon came around. On the 4^th of October I was being picked up by my old running buddy Lawrence Chen who I hadn't seen in ages. 

In tow was his girlfriend  Apple, their dog whose name I forget and and old friend of Larry’s (Lawrence) whose name has also been forgotten. You can’t forget a name like “Apple” though, can you?

Anyway, Larry’s mate drove us to Salisbury, Larry acting in as SatNav. We had a lovely time chatting away and catching up until we got to Salisbury for the parkrun. Larry didn’t tell me this, but it was our friend Di Mattingly’s 500^th parkrun! Di said, she was trying to keep it quiet, despite carrying a massive cake with 500 parkruns scrawled across it.

       It was a lovely parkrun and I was very happy with my time of 18.40 and P6. Only 7 seconds away from my course pb. We had a lovely walk to the cathedral and into town for some food. It was so nice to catch up with Mike Mattingly too (Di’s husband).

      A week later, Clare and myself headed to Andover to celebrate another 500^th parkrun. This time, it was of a guy we had met climbing at Golden Gecko in Romsey. His name was Mark, it was also his birthday. I hadn’t done Andover parkrun for 9 years and barely recognised it. I quite enjoyed the 2 lapped course as I jogged beside CC. More tourism for her too. 

      After walking into town for coffee, we decided to go to Sunnyfields Farm near Totton. They had a big pumpkin display going on and I quite wanted to see the Ozzy Osbourne tribute, being a Black Sabbath fan myself. I booked two tickets to “Pumpkin time” and off we went.

      It was actually better than I thought it would be, although the food wasn’t great. We had a nice time wandering around. I was surprised how much the place had changed in 6 years from when we went to the Vegan cafe that used to be there. Shame the food is crap there now.

    ...And then, the weekend came that I was dreading and had been so nervous about for so long. Abingdon marathon!

CC and I headed to Oxford the day before on the 18^th of October. It was funny that we bumped into our friends Helen and Andy. Helen was also running the marathon and was representing England, despite having many issues making it to the start line. We went for a coffee and realised we were staying at the same hotel too. The bed was so uncomfortable and I didn’t sleep very well, if at all.

     The marathon happened to fall on the day that I would celebrate being Vegan for 6 years. Here I was, in my Vegan Running Club vest, feeling proud of myself but also nervous as hell. CC kept on reassuring me that I’d do great and would be fine. The weather didn’t look great with wind and rain predicted for the day. It sure looked gloomy out but I was ready to run.

       My marathon PB was 3hrs 20mins at the New Forest marathon from a few years back but I made the course over a kilometre short on my watch and the course didn’t meet UKA standards, so wouldn’t appear on my “Runbritain” or “Power of 10” either.

My aim was to run a sub 3.15 marathon. I had only done a couple of long runs. One of 20 miles and the other of 22 miles. I didn’t really feel like I had put much effort into the training but it became a slog towards the end and I just wanted to get it over with. I had been enjoying the shorter distances much more these past couple of years. I knew that I didn’t really have the discipline to be a good marathoner. Why was I doing this?

       Anyway, I jogged around the track a couple of times and my glute/hamstring felt a bit sore as usual. Would I even get to the end?

I had done my long runs at 7.30 min/mile pace. That was my original goal but wouldn’t get me a sub 3.15. I had changed the goal to 7.20 pace per mile and now decided to take a bigger risk of 7.15 pace. I had originally planned to put no pressure on myself and just go out and run a “soft pb”. Ok, I wasn’t going for a sub 3, but it was still way out of my comfort zone.

        The course was two laps. I saw CC cheering me on at around 7 miles. I threw her my cap which was already drenched in sweat (lucky girl). I had been looking forward to seeing her. I got to 10 miles and wondered to myself what the hell I was thinking trying to run for 26 miles. I hadn’t even completed a lap yet and it felt like a long journey already. I didn’t really engage with anyone but I had two Northern girls chatting away behind me that were using me as a wind shield, after a couple of miles I got a bit sick of them and ramped up my pace a bit. I had already gone out a bit quick and even had a sub 7 mile in there. Think I did my first 10k in 44 minutes. I took my first gel just after 10 miles. I have been using the Mountain Fuel chia seed gels. Raspberry flavour.

I was looking forward to getting to that halfway mark. I got there in 1hr 34mins. Now, if I was going to run a negative split, that would be a sub 3.08 marathon. I got the feeling that I was going to slow down towards the end. 

I saw CC again at 16 miles and I was feeling very good, a bit too good. Only 10 miles to go I shouted. I was in good spirits and running well. I had just taken my second gel too. I got talking to a guy named Sam who lived in Brighton. He was a lovely guy and we also added a lady called Laura to our conversation. Laura was quite quiet to begin with and just sat behind us while we chatted away. I was saying how good I felt and seemed to yabber on about all kinds of stuff. When we got to 19 miles, I said something about 2 parkruns to go as I thought we were at 20 miles and not 19. Doh! Anyway, Sam said he felt strong and pushed on. I got chatting to Laura a bit more and mentioned that my hamstrings seemed to be tightening up a bit now. 

We got to about 22 miles and it felt like I was stuck in mud now and running much slower. My pace hadn’t dropped off much yet but the effort was much tougher. Laura went ahead of me and pushed on. Where is the finish I thought. I’m suffering now.  Everything hurts and I am actually slowing quite a bit on the last couple of miles but I get there eventually as CC cheers me onto the running track where I cruelly have to complete a lap to finish. I was feeling a bit of nausea from 22 miles onwards, so decided not to take my third energy gel and just pushed on. 

I finished it. 3hrs 10mins and 37secs. Average pace of 7.17, so not too far off. A big pb indeed. I was so happy. It was so nice to see CC’s smiling face and give her a hug. I told CC that I would never do another marathon again that day though…

        I also spoke to Sam who ran a 3.04, he really pushed on at 20 miles! And Laura who ran a 3.08. PB’s for all of us.

My friend Helen did a 3.03 marathon. A massive thanks to her husband Andy too who was out on the course cheering us on and I got a high 5 too. Cheers Andy, your lovely smile kept me going. 

We walked back to the car in the pouring rain and then poor CC had to drive us home in the crazy weather conditions that ensued.

         A few days later I was able to walk again and decided to meet up with my mate Damo for a walk around the "Mill trail" in Whitchurch. We got 3 trains there and only got slightly lost, taking in various mills, the Bombay sapphire distillery and an expensive lunch at the Watership down pub. I hadn’t been there since we did Overton 5 miler about 9 years ago. It was quite run down then but looks very posh now. The food was good too. I had a butternut squash risotto with vegan cheese :D

We had lovely sunny weather and a really good catch up.

        I overslept on the Saturday but made it in time for Southampton parkrun. The legs were still recovering from the marathon, so it was a slower jog around. My 382^nd parkrun and my 118^th at Southampton. It was a good excuse to wear my new Orange Vegan Running Club vest too.

            Sunday was another day for recovery. CC and I went to a coffee shop at Botley Mills called “Deveroast” which is owned by Pete Devereux, formerly of the artful dodger fame with Craig David. Pete seemed nice and bought our coffees over too. Then we went into Wickham for a visit to Pirate Pasties where we had spicy vegan pasties and a vegan sausage roll. I sure have been hungry since my marathon ;) “You’re always hungry” as CC would say.

      Thanks for reading. Hopefully I’ll recover for Gosport half in a couple of weeks time! 

I have also been sober for 5 years now too. Such a great decision to make. So glad I made the change in my life and what what a change it has made! 

September 2025

     

    The end of August saw me running the Totton 10k. I was still being cautious with a hamstring/glute injury, so it was a slower one for me. I got it done and the pain wasn’t too bad. The first HRRL (Hampshire road race league) was out of the way but the following week (Sept 7^th) would see me “racing” again at the Overton 5 miler, another HRRL race. All the while I am training for Abingdon marathon in October. I took it cautiously again, so no fast times to report. I had also been getting over a bug/virus thing. Talk about getting your excuses in!

It had been 10 years since I did the Overton 5. It’s a different course and I was sad to discover that it never went through the centre of the village and past the shops.

      It was a downhill start which was very narrow and the road was full of potholes and quite uneven. I couldn’t get anywhere near midpack on the startline, unless I wanted to tread through the stinging nettles. This had already pissed me off but I reminded myself that I wasn’t going for a time today. Just enjoy it. And I did. It was great to see Clare cheering me on as the rain started to pour down. It was very refreshing and I was enjoying it.

Nice to catch up with some club runners at the end. I didn’t see the drinking glasses until my mate Dan from Hardley posted a photo of his up online. I did pick up a coaster though! :D

 

        Three days later, on the Wednesday, saw me doing my longest run of 20 miles. I did many loops around the common in Southampton. Not something I would usually do, but I strangely enjoyed it. It also gave me a chance to test out my Mountain fuel Chia seed gels, which seem to do the trick.

 

        It was to be a busy month, what with me liking to celebrate my birthday for as long as possible. CC and I had made some plans and I had booked some hotels in advance. She would be driving us around everywhere, so we thought it would be nice to break the journey down into smaller chunks.

On the 11^th of September, the day after my 20 miler, we headed off to Cwmbran and stayed at a spa hotel somewhere. It was ok, but a bit run down looking. The main reason for us being there was so that we could try out the food at a Vegan pub in Upper Cwmbran called “The Queen Inn”.

I had already booked a table.

          We walked in and it looked like a proper boozer with a lot of locals sat around at the bar. Were we in the right place? We got taken through to another room where it was nice and quiet. We ordered some food and waited…

OMG, the food was out of this world. It seems so strange to have a Vegan pub with such high quality food, in the middle of nowhere! I would highly recommend the trip there.

         I woke up on the 12^th and it was my birthday. CC bombarded me with wrapped presents, which I obviously unwrapped as quickly as possible. I was well and truly being spoilt. I am so lucky to have such an amazing girlfriend. Thanks CC <3

It was a rainy day (of course) and we decided to go to Newport for a walk. I loved Newport and CC had never been, so we visited the transporter bridge. Looks like they are turning it into a proper tourist place with a shop etc.. but not yet finished.

        Another walk followed as we saw that “Waterfall Country” was on our route to our next destination in Pen Y Cae. We couldn’t work the routes or the distances out on the map at Waterfall country, so we just decided to wing it. It got a little bit dangerous and scary but we came out of it alive to tell the tale of our bravery and courage.

       We were staying in a kind of shepherd's hut thing, just below the Brecons. We both had an image of what the place would look like in our heads, but it was so different. It wasn’t as isolated as we thought. It was in a small village next to a pub with a mini zoo and there was a road not too far away. It was still a very lovely place though and probably my favourite of the whole trip.

      Why did we stay there, you ask? I wanted to do a parkrun of course! In Ystalfera there is a parkrun named “Cycle route 43”. I looked into it and thought, that sounds nice. So, here we were.

Everyone was so friendly and it reminded me of why I miss Wales so much. Every time I leave Wales, I want to go back.

      I thought I’d go for it today and see what I could do. The marathon training has definitely taken some speed out of my legs though (More excuses!). I did a brief warm up on this chilly morning. It was nice and dry though. There were waterfalls on this route too. I noticed a slight downward path, which meant we had a gentle climb on the way back to the finish.

There was a lovely race briefing where we were made to feel very welcome. They even announced my birthday and location.

         The ED read out a poem as a tribute to four miners who had died in the area. Everyone was silent and he was very softly spoken. It was very moving and I felt a tear come to my eye. This one was for the miners.

The mist had cleared which the ED described as “The dragon’s breath”.

And that’s how I’ll always think of it now.

          Off we went and to my surprise I was leading. I looked around once but couldn’t see anyone chasing me. I’m in P1! Can I hold it though? It’s always a bit scary when you are leading and you have never done the course before but luckily, this was an out and back with a turnaround at a cone and a marshal. This gave me an idea how far ahead I was, or so I thought it would. I smiled for the cameras and thanked the marshals. In my head I knew the course was climbing slightly. Will someone be gaining on me? “You’re way ahead” a marshal shouted. I didn’t believe her of course..lol. I could see the finish line for my first P1 at parkrun after coming 2nd, Seven times and 3rd, Eight times. Don’t look back, just sprint!

I did it! What a birthday present. My first P1 in a time of 19.01. I was a bit annoyed about the .01..lol. P2 was over 90 seconds behind me with a time of 20.38. I should have believed the lovely marshal. Sorry.

It was a great achievement for CC too as she hadn’t been running for a while. Her last parkrun was over a month ago with me at Meon Valley. She did just over 40 minutes and was pleased to come first in her age category for the first time ever :)

         We got into Swansea to meet up with one of CC’s sons who is at Swansea Uni. We had another lovely lunch at No.18 which is a Vegan cafe. When I lived on the Gower in 2020, it was called “Canteen 18”. Not sure if there are new owners or not but the food was still very tasty and good value for money as CC was paying :D

I managed to visit the cafe the day before we went into the first lockdown of 2020. Then I spent 6 months not seeing anyone in a small village called “Crofty”, where the ponies and sheep outnumbered the people. As beautiful as it was, it was quite a lonely time for me. Anyway…

          I thought it would be nice to revisit Pennard castle as I remember there being wonderful views and what better time could you ask to do it than with the woman you love. The rain held off and some sunshine came out too. There were many showers over the visit but they didn’t last. The views were still fantastic and not too touristy either. I booked a hotel on the Gower in Bishopston and when we got there, there was a wedding in full swing. The noise wasn’t too bad and our room was called “A room with a Bath”. I opened the door to our room and sure enough, there was a bath right in the middle of our room! Bit random.

        The next morning I got a bit lost but kinda knew the area from living here. I ran on a B road into Mumbles which I knew was going to be busy and fast with traffic later in the morning, so I was trying to work out a looped route in my head. It was still early and I escorted a hedgehog off the road and to the verge. He was very cute indeed.

     I wanted to revisit an old cycle route I used to do. It goes from Black Pill to Gowerton via Clyne valley, Killay and Dunvant.

I ran up Three Crosses to the top. This is one of the biggest climbs I know of. I jogged up it a couple of times before but could never cycle up it. It had 400ft of climbing in just one mile! I strangely enjoyed it though. Annoyingly the only way back now was on a busy road past Swansea Airport. It wasn’t fun and I got to Kittle and back to the hotel before we headed from Wales to Wells.

      We stayed in a place called “Worth” which was a tiny place in Somerset. I chose the nicest room but it was an attic room. So we would be bumping our heads on the ceiling a bit. Our first time to Wells and the place was very nice but we were now evidently both very tired and just wanted to chill out in our room.

    My birthday had been dragging on a bit, so we decided to head home via Golden Gecko for a climbing session and a catch up with the owner Jeff, who we both love :)

 

     On the 15^th I ran from Westend to Cadnam where CC picked me up and drove me to Fordingbridge. Sandy Balls to be precise! My old mate Sean had come back from Perth in Australia to visit everyone. It had been 13 years since we had seen each other and I was one of two best men at his wedding. It was like he had never left. We went for a nice breakfast and a walk. It was so good to see him.

         The 19^th saw me doing a 22 mile run from my house. Into Lyndhurst (the boring way, A35) and a loop back round through Emery down and Minstead (the hilly way). I was happy that I managed to run an average pace at 7.30 min per mile pace. This would possibly be my target pace for my marathon? Those last Three miles felt very hard though! At least there would be water stations at my marathon.

       No parkrun as I wanted to get the long run in on the Saturday and free up the Sunday to see Sean again and our other friend Greg. We went over to his house in Waltham Chase where he has his own skatepark and ramps where he teaches people to skate. Sean, Greg and I, have all been skateboarding for over 35 years now. We had a good catch up and skate together and I only fell off once.

         I am still climbing most weeks and had a great catch up with my mate Clayton on the 24^th. We had a really good session and pushed each other. I think I need to climb with more people to improve really.

       The last Saturday of September saw me rock up at Southampton parkrun. I was toying with the idea of Ganger Farm (couldn’t be bothered to run the 7 miles there) and Bartley park (that horrible tight turn at the bottom of the hill). I wasn’t going to go for a time. I had my Boston 13’s on, which aren’t the cheating shoes I would wear for a quicker time. I saw  Josh Chivers, Paddy, Andy Costello with his dog Ripley too. I knew I wasn’t in great shape for a fast 5k, but would aim for a sub 19. Still pretty good I know. I ran pretty well but it wasn’t easy of course. I got a time of 18.48 which wasn’t bad but reminded me to get the marathon over with and get some proper speedwork training sorted out after my recovery.

     Two weeks until my marathon!

Thanks for reading if you got this far. Hope it wasn’t too boring. xx