Month: December 2020

2021: a manifesto

Published on by Kevin Bonfield12 Comments

2021, are you ready for me?

There’s no ‘new normal’ for me. There’s no ‘going back to how it used to be’. Nope. I’m starting right here, in this moment, with all that is happening, right now. As I promised in my last post, I’m going with a full manifesto.

I’m making some public pledges: To hold myself to account in 2021.

Writing 

After finding myself dabbling more and more with poetry and snippets of creative nonfiction during 2020, I’d like to keep this going. 

I’m going to submit a minimum of one piece of writing to a literary journal every single week during 2021.

I was chuffed as a chuffed thing to find poems of mine in Unpublishable Zine and Neuro Logical. One was even read out on a podcast. Have confidence Kevin, have confidence.

And to achieve the above, I’m going to write one new piece of poetry, flash fiction or other vignette. Every. Single. Week.

Da da daaaaaaa, the novel. Well, what can I say. The idea came to me about 4 years ago. The working title has been there from the start. The two protagonists are very well formed and researched. As is ‘the big thing’ from the past which defines one of them.

Sadly there’s probably only 10,000 words of the first draft written. And, to be honest they’re in danger of being completely rewritten anyway. BUT, the story is always with me, I’m learning more about my characters every day. They talk to me you know!

If I want it badly enough, I’ll write it. My target is 2500 words a week of the first draft. This should comfortably complete the draft by the end of 2021. Do it Kevin, just feckin’ do it.

What about The Blog? This here blog. There are so many ideas I have as I’m driving around delivering. Time to put some of these light bulb moments into action. I feel another pledge coming on:

I’m going to email at least one ‘trail running character’ every 14 days to see if they fancy being featured (more about this later). I’m going to add new content to the blog. Every Single Week. I’m going to review at least one book a month.

I already keep a journal, or note book, with me pretty much all of the time. When inspiration comes, a voice on the radio, a headline, a quip from a colleague, a shade of green, I try and scribble it down. How many flashes of ideas pass us by unnoticed otherwise? My pen and paper act as the keepnet as I fish for the words.

I shall write in my journal. Every. Single. Day. Just thoughts. Observations. Even a note to say nothing of note. Never dismiss a thought – it will end up being used somewhere.

So that’s writing. Why am I going to do all of that? Because I bloomin’ well love writing. I may or may not be any good at it. I’m certainly not going to make any money from it. People either will or won’t read it. But even the odd comment about a piece, telling me that what I’ve written resonates, that really is the chocolate on the log.

Reading

Yup. Going to do lots of this too. I actually have quite a large ‘to read’ pile, but you can never have too many books right? In fact I’ve just placed a sneaky order for a novel with the book token I got given for going the extra mile at work in the build up to Christmas. Nicky and I also have a rather impressively sized book token waiting to be unleashed. This was also a ‘thank you’. Almost like these people know us…..

There’ll be novels, biographies, short stories, AND…..

I’ll read at least one poem every single day. 

I’m going to buy one book a month from an independent publisher, by an author I haven’t read before. And I’m going to read a minimum of 6 books during 2021 which were published at least ten years ago.

It’s would be easy just to lazily follow the new releases and read the most popular books, the best sellers. Nicky and I are already quite proud of the diversity of the tomes we tackle (here’s my list from 2020), but there’s always more out there. It used to be the same with music, listening to John Peel and Tommy Vance back in the day gave me a window into artists beyond Radio One and the top 40. Now, of course there are podcasts (like the excellent A Good Read on Radio 4) and book bloggers (there some brilliant examples, try John Fish’s The Last Word Book Review as a pretty good starter), as well the usual reviews in the mainstream press.

Don’t forget these occasional ramblings about some of the books I’ve read.

I’m going to read rather than ‘phone’. Particularly when I get gaps in my schedule at work, or on breaks. It’s so, so much more rewarding than wasting time scrolling through Facebook. 

There is no target for the amount of books I’m going to read. There are big books, small books, slow burners and page turners. Who knows how many it will be….. Will it be more than in 2020?

Running And Fitness And Health

Here we go then: firstly, I’m making no predictions for any events which I may or may not complete. As I write (New Year’s Eve) the current regulations and guidance would mean no events taking place.

As regular readers will know, I’m writing occasional pieces about some of the characters behind trail running events. Tough times for everybody and particularly hard for these guys and girls to not know when they’ll be hosting again. 

Like most events, the big winter ultra marathon I was hoping to tackle is postponed for a year. This shouldn’t stop me, I bloomin’ love those big trail runs – I am going to continue to prepare for the distance. A route is being planned nearer to home, an attempt to tackle the distance on the day anyway. I am also going to prepare for the 100 mile event I have planned for May. I shall keep training for this assuming it will take place.

There’s very little which will stop Nicky! She is my absolute inspiration.

I’ll never be as organised as Nicky…….. she has every session pencilled in for the next 8 months. Then again, she is attempting something HUGE which involves swimming, cycling and running a very, very long way! She needs to be balancing her training. Whereas I am naturally more chaotic. I will make sure I get my long runs done out there on the trails. Other than that, I’ll run when I feel like it, wherever the the mood takes me. If I’m tired from work, I’ve found there’s no point in forcing myself. I just want to carry on enjoying every step.

In fact, I will pledge to NOT attempt to follow a training plan.

I’ve got my first triathlon, a couple of cycling events and a few running events planned. I shall prepare for them all as if they are going ahead.

My goal for ALL of these events is to do as much as I can to give myself the best chance of completing them. I will not train if I’m over tired from the combination of working, training and any other aspect of life, I will rest if rest is what’s required.

BUT, I will pledge this: I will, every single day, do either some conditioning work, strength exercises, stretches or other body maintenance.

This will hopefully give me the best chance of keeping healthy as my aging body builds towards these challenges.

And so to the aspect of my fitness and health which I neglect rather, my food! I tend to eat healthy breakfasts, lunches and dinners and spoil it all by scoffing random bags of donuts or fighting Nicky for the last liquorice allsort. My commitment needs to be one I’m buying into. I need to tell myself every time I shovel a pile of chocolate fingers into my gob that I’m undoing the good work of all the other commitments I’ve made up to now. 

So, I am going to not snack at work. I’m going to only snack during evenings after big (as in 2 hours plus) training days. Puddings will still be the law after roast dinners of course. 

Sleep. Ahhh, the dreaded sleep (or dreaded lack of it!). There was a great piece about sleep recently on the excellent Over The Fells blog. They spoke to ultra-marathon coach and nutritionist, Joe Wenman as well as marathoner Tish Jones and trail running legend, John Kelly. It was reassuring that Kelly’s life is as chaotic as most of the rest of us! Like him, my life will in no way suit me making any pledges for hours of sleep I’m going to get. I’ll just say that I’m going to keep turning in early, hoping for plenty of zzzzz’s!

And Finally

Everybody is living this day. Right here. Right now. There is no right, no wrong and no perfect way to negotiate through this life. I want to continue to respect the fact that, in the best way they can, everybody is (to quote AL Kennedy) “attempting to survive our time”. Hopefully, this respect will be reciprocated and we can all just get on together. Being kind. If not, I have discovered the ‘mute’ function this year, in real life and online, it’s bloody brilliant!

If anyone has got to the end of this, I’ll be mightily impressed. With that sort of grit and resolve, you should definitely be the type of character who will stick to their New Years resolutions.

2021. Bring. It. On.

In Praise Of 2020 #4 My Favourite Reads Of The Year

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“The more I read, the more I enjoy reading“

My clumsy attempt to explain how I feel about books.

With my beautiful lady wife Nicky being such a book fanatic (and her having rejuvenated my own love of both reading and writing) it is hardly surprising that the conversation regularly turns to books.

I’m currently deep into the 750 ish pages of Barak Obama’s A Promised Land. This is my 41st book of the year and I’m quite proud of the diverse range of titles I’ve challenged myself to tackle. Nicky has gone further and currently has the ‘do not disturb’ sign up as she laps up Emma Donoghue’s The Pull Of The Stars, her 52nd book of 2020.

See here for a list of the 40 I’ve read.

BEST FICTION BOOKS I’VE READ THIS YEAR

When it comes to fiction, I’m struggling to look beyond Douglas Stuart’s Booker Prize winning Shuggie Bain when choosing my favourite read of the year. Nicky read it earlier in the year and was periodically overwhelmed the power, the lyricism and brutal truth of Shuggie’s upbringing at the hand’s of his damaged mother in an alcohol soaked 80’s Glasgow. I also found myself having to lower the book and take a breather from the emotions the book recalls. Loved it.

There’s some hot competition here, of the fiction I’ve read, there’s probably only one which makes me ‘meh’ as I scan the whole list.

But, I can’t get past how much I enjoyed and was moved by Benjamin Myers’ The Gallows Pole (which I reviewed here). And this would narrowly beat the most beautiful dementia novel I’ve had the heart-breaking pleasure to read, We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas.

BEST NON FICTION BOOKS I’VE READ THIS YEAR

Lemn Sissay’s My Name Is Why is a book that will probably never leave me. A memoir of his growing up in an ever more brutal and cruel care system. Having been born in Wigan to an Ethiopian mother, Sissay went into foster care. The slow deterioration of his placement there, and the subsequent placements, make reading almost unbearably painful at times. Shocking, honest and a labour of love for Sissay – it took him 34 years to get the records of his care from the authorities. What he discovered hidden in these documents was as damaging (and damning) as any of his memories which were already haunting him. Stunning .

I’ve delved more into creative non fiction and memoir this year. Choosing just two more as runners up is tough. The great combination of being characters whose work entertains me, who I greatly admire and who then turn out to be great writers too has led me to Coal Black Mornings by Brett Anderson (reviewed here) and 26.2 Miles To Happiness by Paul Tonkinson.

It is none of my business where you buy your books from but consider using HIVE which runs a scheme to support a local independent book shop (you get to choose who you support with your purchase). Lots of book shops are doing mail order or click and collect schemes. I used one to get a surprise book package to Nicky during the first lockdown.

Foyles and Waterstones are much more highly regarded in the world of writers and readers than Amazon and so maybe consider them and only use Amazon if you really can’t find the books you want elsewhere. Similarly, the supermarkets are naughtily undercutting the more traditional book retailers by displaying popular titles at a massive discount. Again, none of my business and we’re all in need of a bargain, but this punishes the publisher and the author who are on a small enough percentage of royalties at full price. A bit like with music streaming, any sale is better than no sale I guess. The independent sector is in a fragile state, despite an increase in popularity of reading, small shops and independent publishers are clinging on at the moment.

Anyway, here’s to a 2021 full of good news and great reads.

In Praise of 2020 #3 Maps and Apps

Published on by Kevin Bonfield1 Comment

First they tell me my entire record collection is in my telephone, now it seems there are maps inside my watch.

I know I’m old school, but surely there is witchcraft at play here!

Weeks spent exercising close to home, months spent shielding, avoiding contact with everyone, events cancelled, holidays postponed, shocking and anxiety inducing news day after day. We were ready for some adventure.

Charlie joins us for the shorter runs

We are lucky that we get so, so much pleasure from simply being outdoors. Walking the dog, running and once the weather and regulations allowed, swimming and cycling.

One thing we found helped us massively was to have an adventure once a week. On my day off work, we would create a route and drive to somewhere relatively local. After a longish run exploring some new trails we would treat ourselves to a snack of Double Deckers and cold Diet Coke (we take our sports nutrition very seriously!)

A city boy by birth, I am not a natural map reader. It hasn’t been unheard of for us to not actually be where my finger is pointing to on a map! In fact I’ve made a few navigation errors since I’ve been attempting these longer trail ultra marathons. I remember coming up behind some runners I’d already overtaken once in the Gower 50!

Elite athletes’ recovery nutrition

What a boon then, when I upgraded my running watch to one which can tell me which way to go! It felt like an extravagance. But not being into cars, flashy clothes etc, I reckoned I should use the extra pennies I’ve earned this year to invest in something which I would actually use.

And with it we’ve been on so many adventures………….

Nicky said it feels like being on holiday. After weeks of confining herself to very short trips from home, what a joy to go somewhere else and explore.

It’s so simple, even I can create a route!

Here’s how we do it – we find the trails and lanes on the paper map in the comfort of home, then create a route on the app which accompanies the watch, following the trails we’ve found. Then we sent it to the watch. I shit you not!

So Nicky and I get to joyfully skip around the countryside knowing that my watch will vibrate (honestly, I’m not making this up!) to warn me if we’ve gone off route. We’ve been caught out a couple of times: once we ended up wandering across somebody’s lawn. On another occasion, a landowner had build an ugly block wall across the entrance to a right of way!

Mostly, it’s been a succession of joyous adventures washed down with increasingly elaborate post run nutrition. What started as a drink and snack started to become a full on picnic as autumn arrived!

As we make our plans for 2021 (with the obvious caveats), it would be too easy to stop our adventure runs, particularly as Nicky starts to build towards her Ironman triathlon near the end of the summer. The running in most triathlons is on flat and even surfaces and so 15 miles of rocky, muddy and hilly coast path is hardly specific training. BUT, it really is good for the soul and so we will be substituting some of her longer runs with a few trips out into the countryside.

Love is….

I heard a great phrase on my favourite running podcast, Running Commentary as the festive season approached. Rob Deering, when asked about whether he might have new year’s resolutions, said he was going further and more in depth with his plans for 2021. He is creating a manifesto for the year. I really like the idea of this. There is no ‘new normal’, no going back to ‘the way things used to be’, there is only what we have. Right here. Right now. It’s the only place we can live. So I’m thinking about what I’d like to achieve as ‘me’ in 2021 and setting out just how I’m going to go about that.

As I said, everything comes with caveats as the world tries to juggle ways to keep us all safe but keep us all moving too.

But that is all for another day, another blog………

We really are thankful for our health and the health of our loved ones. We are also grateful and aware that we are lucky enough not to have to worry about jobs being safe. With this in mind, we know that we can keep planning to be outside, taking every opportunity to enjoy the wonderful coast and countryside we are blessed with being surrounded by.

Badger Trail Events

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“We will get through this, we must be patient, races have and will come back.”

Kev Day, with the sort of positivity we all need.

My series looking at some of the characters behind trail running events in the South West continues as we meet Kevin Day from Badger Trail Events.

Kevin and Denise Day are the fabulous team behind Badger Trail Events. This really is a team operation. In fact Kev (he prefers the shortened moniker) goes to great lengths to point out just how motivational Denise is throughout this q & a. He reminds me of me, and not just because we are namesakes: Like I do with Nicky, he sees the whole of life as being faced by a team of two. 

Badger Trail Events’ first race was the Ooser Marathon in March 2018. The race having been launched in November of the previous year. Kev had taken a break from the whole world of routing and planning trail events, having cut his teeth as part of another of Dorset’s event organisers. 

Many of us were already fans of Kev’s routes, having enjoyed some of White Star Running’s great offerings, such as The Giant’s Head Marathon. Whatever the reasons for his departure from that organisation, it isn’t really any of our business, nor is it particularly relevant. Anyway, as it has turned out, it has meant even more Dorset based events for us to choose from.

Kev is always pleased to see us!

Before we delve into the birth of Badger Trail Events, a few personal memories. At those earlier events, Kev was part of the great atmosphere and was always out on the course, checking in with the aid stations, the tail runners, making sure the leaders were going the right way and generally offering banter and encouragement. I particularly remember on a baking hot day, Nicky and I being pleased to see him magically appear in the pick up truck with bowsers of water to hand out in between official drinks stations. 

Oh, and he always had his badger sporran on display, hence the ‘I felt the badger’ badges which became stuff of Dorset legend. Nicky certainly earned hers!

I digress. His self employed handyman business had already taken a back seat to race organising and he found himself encouraged to dip his toe into going solo. Except he wasn’t alone. Denise and a few close friends managed to convince him to stage The Ooser. A route was already in his mind and so Badger Trail Events was born.

Denise nervously took a step into the limelight to be Race Director. Kev concentrated on getting the route just right and reverted to his role of being everywhere at all times on race day. The support and encouragement of their network of friends (who really should get a mention; Rose, Mike and their son Elliot, known as ‘mini-badger’, as well as Jenny and Beverly) meant that this first time event was a huge success.

“The day went well. Denise was a little scared being RD (she hates speaking to crowds of people). But she did a great job. I was out on the course following the front runners and keeping an eye on the sweepers, whilst trying not to be sick with worry. I got back with the last runners to the news all went well.”

The team Kev and Denise have put together delivered The Ooser again in 2019.  Around 500 runners tackled either  the marathon or half marathon. The route explores Dorset’s hidden and forgotten trails, ancient woodlands, farmland and featuring plenty of mud, water and hills.

They managed to get two events staged in between the lockdown periods this year, and those who were able to run were quick to complement the Badger Trail Events team on how well they had been staged.

“You and your team did the best job. I managed a few events between July and now and none were as well organised and thought through as yours. Also, you have the best routes and medals and the meanest of hills” 

Social media is full of praise for all of Badger Trail Events’ Races

Both Kev and Denise have been heavily involved with creating and supporting, not only their own events, but also Parkrun and Junior Parkrun. From personal experience, I can also confirm that they are likely to pop up at all sorts of races, helping out and cheering on the runners. I remember Kev appearing nearing the finish line of The Dorset Villages Marathon one year, as I stumbled towards it!

During the first lockdown, Kev was liaising with other event organisers and Parkrun, constantly looking at ways in which running could be a community event again. 

I asked Kev how he was feeling about 2021 for Badger Trail Events in light of, you know, everything.

“Positive. That’s all you can be. The Ooser is due to go off on the 4th April, The Hellstone in late May / early June (sorting dates with the landowner) and hopefully, The FUBAR & SNAFU will happen once again at Bovington.”

And Kev really is positive when it comes to future events, a lesson to us all. Referring to the Ooser again:

“What with the vaccine and also the covid measures in place, we may get back to the 800 runner mark.”

The Hellstone is a marathon, half marathon and 10k set in open countryside, with “devilish hills”, a stone circle and even a cricket pitch. 

As for the Bovington races, they are staged at the tank museum and tank driver training grounds. Having raced at Bovington on a Kev course, expect a bit of mud! FUBAR and SNAFU? You’ll have to google it!

Kev and Denise certainly aren’t desperate to flood the market with new races, but they are constantly on the lookout for new and different venues. When pushed for ambitions with regard to future races, Kev had this mouth watering teaser:

“We would love to do something along the lines of the Barkley Marathon (“the race that eats it young”). We’re on the lookout for a route……”

When it comes to their own running, Kev quickly wants to talk about Denise’s incredible achievements and skip over his own. Before we delve into Denise’s rather impressive palmares, a little story of how Kev got into running. Those of you who read my piece on Bys Vyken will know that David (Bys Vyken’s founder) found motivation in chasing a friend when getting into running. Kev is the same. Having played football, rugby “union of course!”, cricket, raced motorbikes and even represented Dorset at pool, He found himself goaded into a running challenge:

“I was 20 ish….. A Scottish guy I worked with had entered a 5k run. He boasted how quick he was (he’d had trials with Rangers F.C , so was fit). To shut him up, I entered too, saying I would beat him. Doh! 3 months of training, over Blackhill in Bere Regis, paid off on the day, I beat him by around 10 feet!”

Kev didn’t really know about running clubs and just carried on training on his own. He got faster and fitter (running under 20 minutes for a hilly 5k). But, he’s far more interested in sharing Denise’s story….

“Denise’s journey into running started even later. Approaching a certain age (editorial licence used here!), she was worried about putting on weight…….. she worried about it so much we bought a dog……. a great excuse to get out and exercise”

Dogs are such an important part of life in the Badger household. In all weathers, every day, Denise and the dog were out there. She then felt the urge to start jogging during a walk and before long had found out about Parkrun and was keen to be fit enough to run one.

Max

With Kev pretty much stopping his own sport, he became, alongside Max, Denise’s cheerleader.

“I helped, cajoled and encouraged Denise to get out and run. I showed her how to land on her feet, all about cadence, what to eat, getting her mind right and so on.”

This worked too as before long they were celebrating a non stop mile. A month later they were again elated as Denise completed her first Parkrun. She slept for 2 hours afterwards, but a runner had been born. As Denise told me, Max the dog became her ever faithful training partner.

“When I started running seriously in 2011 (training for my first ever race – The Great South Run, because of a work challenge) we had Max. He did all my training with me including first marathon the year after (2012 London)”

Denise – thankful for the fittest dog in Dorset!

L – R Max, Daisy and Bear

Max was joined by Daisy a few years later and the dogs went on every adventure. Sadly Max passed away earlier this year. Daisy wasn’t lonely for too long though as the wonderfully named Bear has now joined the gang.

“Denise has done most of the races in Dorset. She has also done the Chamonix Half and Full and the Ex to Axe, a nasty 22 mile trail race, also her first (and possibly last) 100k run. She’s still running and one day I’ll make her do the Ooser (maybe year 5 in 2022).”

Denise remains motivated to keep fit and keep going, with Kev always in support. His own motivations are (like so many we meet in the great trail running scene) philanthropic:

“I’m always motivated by those who think they can’t, then they do. I’m inspired by the younger runners who try their hardest week in week out at parkrun, and get better. I suppose I’m motivated by the slower runners and those who are trying their hardest.”

Kev is a bit of a talent spotter too. Noticing young runners showing promise at Parkrun and being instrumental in getting them teamed up with coaches to try and realise their potential. Denise too likes to encourage and be a role model. Her own daughter has started to really enjoy exercise with the example shown by, and with the encouragement of, her Mum. Another runner born, with a marathon planned for 2021… 

I ask everyone in this series what their proudest running moments have been. Kev is sure that Denise would say her 100km ultra marathon. And Kev himself? “What Denise has done”!

The couple are rightly proud of the achievements of Badger Trail Events so far, as well as humbled by the fact that so many people choose to run The Ooser as a first marathon. As Kev says, “it’s not flat!”.

Kev acknowledges that this venture deprives him of any financial security or space in his home (something Brian of Winding Paths also told us in his interview). Sometimes he questions his sanity too. BUT, both him and Denise are inspired and enthused by the runners who sign up to their events and make race days so special.

It has been an absolute pleasure to catch up with Badger Trail Events’ story and I’m sure this most inspiring and popular of couples will take their events from strength to strength. 

River Deep Mountain High

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PureTrail Events

“Running is still the oxygen of my life. I couldn’t live without it.”

Mark Brooks, PureTrail Events

Mark Brooks, along with Steve Skedgell, started PureTrail Events back in 2015. Their first race was The Dartmoor Volcano, a 10 (ish) mile tour of South Dartmoor, one of Mark’s favourite training runs.

In a loud world, where we are bombarded by a cacophony of social media noise, Mark is refreshingly quiet. Yet, as we delve deeper, it turns out he has rather a lot to shout about. More on this later…….

101 runners tackled that first Dartmoor Volcano, and the feedback was great. With this first success behind them, Mark and Steve set about finding other new and exciting routes to share with us.

Mark already had the seeds of an idea in his mind;

“I’d been thinking of starting a trail running enterprise for quite a while and it seemed like the right time. Trail running had exploded since around 2010, probably 5 years before that to be honest, when races, even long races (ultras) were being course-marked”

As Mark goes on to say, the likes of myself (born in a city, struggles with an A to Z never mind a OS map and compass) were finding these new style events so accessible. Mark had completed the UTMB (the first of his 6 times!) in 2008 and saw just how big trail running was becoming.

His own trail running goes way back to 1985, often in self navigated, low key events. These attracted only those who could tackle both the terrain and the navigation. After moving to the South West in 2008, he “immediately saw the potential with the Coast Path and The Moor for what I loved to do – go trail running!”

The PureTrail Running Group – held on Wednesdays but sadly on pause as we speak, as so much of our social activity is, was also started in 2015. This created a community which could share in the local knowledge of Mark and Steve and also became the core of the volunteers on race days. All abilities are welcome and encouraged and as many as 30 turn up to enjoy a different moorland adventure each week.

Mark & Steve Will Be Hoping To Dress Like This Rather More Often In 2021!

“This year has been a nightmare really”

Mark sums up neatly how 2020 has been for event organisers

“But anyway, we’ve survived and 2021 looks more promising although events on Dartmoor are still looking a bit iffy. Time will tell. There’s a lot of vested interests on Dartmoor and runners (events companies) always seem to be bottom of the pecking order.”

PureTrail’s next physical event is Race The Light on 19th December (this being written on 12th December, so hurry!). Nicky and I had a fantastic evening tackling this event in 2018 and I even wrote a blog about it .

It will be pureTrail’s 3rd event of 2020, having cancelled so much, including their much anticipated trail running trip to Greece.

As we saw with Winding Paths and Bys Vyken, PureTrail have also come up with a different take on the ‘virtual’ challenge. They have introduced the Solo Series where we are being encouraged to get out and try the routes of PureTrail events which are taking place later in 2021. Tackle the route of their new event, The Coleridge Way Ultra during January and then the also new for 2021, 100 mile Dartmoor event in February and The Tsunami Ultra route in March. There will be final finishing positions at the end of each month and a goody bag of souvenirs (including discounted entry off the physical events) for finishers. 

I’ve been so impressed with the way our local and smaller events organisers have stepped up during this challenging year. I strongly recommend checking these ‘solo’ challenges out.

Yours Truly in Race The Tide – Photo by Mark Brooks!

Regular readers will know that Nicky (my rather amazing and gorgeous lady wife) and I do a lot of events together. Well why not check out the blog post I wrote after Race The Tide half marathon in 2017, or this one, from after I’d ran the marathon in 2018. We went back to run the half again in 2019. One of my favourite ever events. In fact, of the marathons I’ve ran solo, this would definitely be my favourite.

Mark himself is certainly no stranger to the world of running.

“I’ve been running literally all of my life. Did my first marathon in 1985, first Ultra in 1986 .. a 40 odd mile navigating event across the Brecon Beacons. ‘The Omega Run’ it was called, it was organised by a bunch of lunatic ex SAS guys.. this first ultra nearly broke me.. but it didn’t,  and as you know.. that’s what happens – you’re hooked”

He loves the adventure of the longer events, 50 miles and over, where the only certainty is the lack of certainty. That uncertainty took a different form for all of us this year, Mark was booked in for a 7th UTMB, the Lakeland 100 (which would have been his 4th) and the Transylvania 100.

As I have with all the interviewees in this series, I ask Mark about his proudest moment as a runner. He has a special place in his heart for that first UTMB; 

“Quite a few memorable moments.. but I think finishing the UTMB for the first time in 2008. It was my first 100 miler. I couldn’t believe a race could be so relentless. So much ascent. 2 nights out. Hallucinations, dehydration, the works! Every moment of the last 24 hours of it thinking to myself ‘NEVER AGAIN! Convinced that I was never ever going to do this ridiculous, stupid race ever again, and anyone who did was basically insane.”

Of course, we know how this goes now……

“Then, as I crossed that finish-line, the UTMB finish-line.. 6 deep with spectators, the previous 37 hours just melted away into some euphoric haze of sheer exhaustion, delight and such pride in what I had managed to do. I sat down on the steps of the church there behind the finish line and decided right there and then to sign up again next year.. and do better..!  And so I did.” 

Lining Up For UTMB With Fellow South West Runners Duncan Oakes, Steve Wyatt
And Luke Scott Elliot

He adds that he feels an immense sense of achievement in any long race and remains motivated by the chance to push himself, to see just how far he could go. Having the opportunity to travel to events in other countries adds further adventure and excitement to the races. That’s the addiction of this wonderful world of trail running. 

No two runs are ever the same, Mark says he “has to keep things fresh, always!”

“Winning is not what it’s about at all, not for me, and not for 95% of runners I guess”

Mark Brooks.

I should point out that Mark won the very first Spine Challenger in 2012 and was also first across the line in the 2015 RAT Plague in Cornwall. His humility left these facts out until much later.

We need to look back up north for Mark’s favourite UK race. He has completed the Fellsman (61 miles across the North York Moors) a mere 9 times. The event is already a victim of Covid for its 2021 edition, so Mark will have to wait a bit longer before he makes it 10! 

Mark also drops UTMB Oman into his list of memorable events;

“Priceless, the memories will stay forever, I guess that’s it, you’re creating memories, living your life, doing stuff you love doing.”

Kilian Jornet is in a class of one as far as Mark is concerned. He is honoured to have shared the trails in events with Jornet and sees him as doing everything with the right attitude;

“Everything he has done he does with humility and his passion for the mountains goes beyond his desire to win races. I really respect him as a runner and as a human being. I’ve been in a few races with him and I’ve felt I’m right there in that moment with probably the best of all time, what he has done is awe-inspiring.”

Amongst Mark’s other inspirations are Lizzy Hawker, Jasmine Paris and the legend that is Joss Naylor.

So what about his proudest race director moments? 

He doesn’t single any event out, just having the satisfaction of knowing that all of the different pieces of organisation have aligned on the day. He hopes for every PureTrail event to be the best experience for everybody involved or taking part;

“Trail races are great places to be, or they should be… positive and happy gatherings of people doing what they love to do.”

Mark doesn’t feel that he’s necessarily had to ‘sacrifice’ anything since starting PureTrail, but acknowledges;

“When you turn a passion into a job it can take on a very different role in your life. Running was, and still is to some extent an escape from the mundanity of day to day life.. the stresses and problems which we all share. I can’t escape like I used to be able to.. as I’m always thinking about the next race, even when I’m out running.”

There aren’t too many events which require a boat trip to the start line!

PureTrail already offer a diverse, challenging and inspiring set of events, including the amazing Lundy Island Race, a location where very few will ever get to run, never mind race. Mark therefore says he’s looking to improve and expand on the events already in PureTrail’s repertoire rather than be guilty of further saturating the market in locations which are already well used.

Mark is concerned by the growing trend of organisers seeking to profit from locations where another already hosts events. There is a real possibility of this becoming a barrier to permissions being granted for future events;

“Unfortunately, that’s lost on some organisers, but then some event organisers are in it purely for the money, not for the love of the sport. If we’re not careful we could lose a lot of races due to closure of certain sections of the Moor and the coast through overuse.”

PureTrail’s European adventures are to be expanded with the addition of Outer Edge, which we are told to ‘watch this space’ for.

Mark maybe the quiet one, but once asked about his passion, his glorious trails, he could go on and on. His enthusiasm and excitement are infectious and inspiring. With this much love for the sport of trail running it is hardly any wonder that PureTrails’ events are rather special.