SportsShoes Blog

Anyone reading my blog will know that this year I’ve signed up for the West Highland Way Race which is a 95 mile run between Glasgow and Fort William.

The WHW is on the 19th June so between then and now I need to get my mind into ‘going long’ mode and get some miles in.

On the 6th Feb I’m doing the Trog, a 20 mile route around the moors above Calderdale and on the 13th March it’s the Hobble a 33 mile jaunt around the moors above  Haworth. In terms of distance, both of those are just tiddly little warm up jogs although I will be going out hard in both to try and lay down descent times.

What I need before the big event in June is a long distance challenge to really test the mettle - and here it is…..

In 2007 in training for the Ultratrail Tour Du Mont Blanc I ran the 3 Peaks in the Yorkshire Dales twice back to back in 10.5 hours solo.

This time, we’re going for a triple round - yes three laps of the famous Yorkshire 3 Peaks in one go and in less than 24 hours.

To make it even more silly we’re going to attempt the stunt on the 3 Peaks Race day - 24th April. Me and my pal Steve Fry have both entered the race and the plan is to start our first lap at around 2 or 3am, do a steady jog round to finish around 9am then sign on for the race which starts at 10am. We’ll then run the race and, if we can still stay upright, have a quick swig and a bite to eat on the finish field then turn round and do it again. If we have a good third round we’ll hopefully make it back to the pub before they stop serving - now that would make a grand entrance!

The plan is to try and raise a few quid for Cancer charities as I lost a friend last year and a clubmate of Steve and mine also lost her battle with the disease in 2009.

This is the first time I’ve gone public with the plan so I guess it’s now official….

Well I can’t believe it - we’re nearly a month into the new year already. Where does time go????

So far my training has gone pretty well running most days and getting a long run in at the weekend.

I even managed to run through all the snow and ice although I can’t say it was much of a pleasure.

To be honest I think the bad weather actually increased my mileage as I had to run and bike to work a few times as I literally couldn’t get the car out.

This coming weekend it’s the Stanbury Splash fell race - a traditional New Year 7 mile shakedown around the moors above Haworth. Earlier in the same day it’s the Junior quarry run which is the first race in Bingley’s Junior Fell Championship. I hope we get a few juniors to give it a whirl as I’ve arranged the championship this year and would really like to get more kids out on the hills.

Looking a little further down the line I’m doing the Wadsworth Trog in February, Noonstones (which this year is an English Championship race) and the Haworth Hobble in March. Last year I managed 3rd in the Hobble so will be hoping to have another good run this time around.

I’ve also entered the 3 Peaks race in April but me and a friend are planning something a little bit special for that day so watch this space.

Believe it or not we are all now watching the Ben Nevis Race website to grab an entry for the race which is not until September. Entries open in the last week of January and last year all places were taken within 2 days.

The Inov-8 330s are still working well and what with all the snow we’ve had they’ve hardly been off my feet since I bought them (still think they need a dual compound sole though…)