SportsShoes Blog

How come when the news is full of stories of obesity, our obsession with the TV and the general laziness of our society, running races (particularly fell races) are seeing the biggest entry numbers for years.

I know it’s not exactly a new sport (in fact I’m sure it could put a case forward as being the oldest) but it really amazes me just how popular running or more specifically racing has become over the past 5 or so years (maybe it’s all down to the SS Blog!!). When I first enetered the 3 Peaks Fell Race (in 2003 I think) there were only about 250 runners and people were telling me that back in the good old days there were 2 or 3 times that number competing. I remember thinking at the time that I’d taken up a minority sport that was on its way to becoming extinct!!

Just 5 years on and here I am in January already having entered the Half Tour of Pendle in March, the Baildon Boundary and 3 Peaks Race in April, Wasdale in July and the Ben Nevis Race in September - and today I’ve been sent an e-mail with the Langdale fell race entry form and a message saying getting in quick as it’ll fill up - it’s not until mid October!!!

I’m not complaining, I think it’s fantastic that so many folk are running races - for many it’s a brave step to pin a number on and actually pitch yourself against others and the clock rather than just trotting round your well worn home circuit - but I’m sure if you speak to anyone that’s run a race they’ll tell you that’s it’s so much more fun than simply training.

I also think that if you get into racing, it brings a whole new meaning to training as now you’re not only doing it to get or stay in shape but you’re doing it to improve your performance, beat your mates or even try and win. Also, chances are that if you start racing you’re more likely to keep training which means long term health and fittness rather than just a short term improvement before slipping back into general laziness….

However, as a word of warning, if you’re thinking that getting good at running might be a route to making a fortune I’d forget it - I’ve got friends who are as good at racing on the fells as Kaka is at footy and they think they’ve had a good day if their prize money covers the cost of their petrol to get to the race…..

Thankfully it’s not about money it’s about getting out there in the fresh air, seeing our fabulous countryside and challenging your body against the best and worst the British weather can throw at it.

Go on enter a race and when you’ve done it and your covered in mud, your lungs feel like they’re going to burst and you want to be sick - tell me you didn’t enjoy it!!!

PS - A big hello to Pete D - thanks for reading.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Uncategorised. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.