“The concept is simple, you start on the hour every hour and have to run and complete a 4.167 mile trail route in that time. You must run the loop and be back ready to start the next loop or you are out, the race continues until there is only one person who can complete…
The Back Yard format is the work of legendary racemaker Lazarus Lake and has quickly grown into a global phenomenon – as charted in an excellent recent BBC feature. In a nutshell – Back Yards are 4.16 miles long and runners complete one lap at a time, on the hour, every hour, until only one…
Let’s start with the Ooser himself. He was represented by some kind of popular mask worn in mummer style occasions. The Ooser was never truly famous, even back 120 years or so ago. Even when this evocative carved wooden head and moving jaw was at the peak of its powers , the Ooser was known…
In December 2019 I looked ahead to 2020, the most meticulously planned year of my life with 20 outstanding endurance running events booked and scheduled in amongst my cut down office workload. I sunk a vast chunk of savings into entry fees, travel and hotels. But what a year in prospect! Spoiler alert: It didn’t…
News of October’s edition 26 of Ultrarunning World’s magazine only reached me today. Congratulations to the publishing team – its a great read, and I’m proud to see my Race Report in there, and better still illustrated by the photographs of Stuart March Photography, one of the very best studios in events and sports. Working…
One of the pleasures of ultrarunning and long endurance days out, is that it acts like a humanity sieve. The people that put themselves through it are my kind of people – outdoorsy, energised, contemplative, easy company. In the middle of the pack there’s no room for arrogance; we’re not there to win the race…
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gareth-kilshaw [Run begins on Saturday 7th November] When Gareth Kilshaw dumped the cigarettes 4 years ago, and took on and beat his running enthused brother at a local 10K, he had no idea that he would become a running hero of mine via feats in ultrarunning. I’m proud now to be able to call him…
Photographs ©Frank Wainwright. Taken from Cornwall, Devon and Dorset running adventures, October 2020.
The offer of interviewing Marshall Ulrich on the publication of his new book Both Feet on the Ground saw an immediate yes for me. How much incentive do you need? Marshall is an ultra running adventuring hero, an icon of my sport and his book was billed as sharing profoundly the “Therapeutic Benefits of Immersion…
With so many endurance events in jeopardy, just running for the joy of being out and exercising is back on trend. This interview from 8th March is with one of the most positive thinkers in the world of running, about how he has rediscovered that simple joy and used it to look ahead, past the…