Ton Up

I ran my first marathon in 2004 to see if I could. I was 56 years old and I thought it would be the only one I would do. Somehow it wasn't, and now a few years later I find that I've just clocked up my 100th marathon or ultra. With 18 road marathons, 5 trail marathons and 77 ultras you can see where my preferences lie. It's a meaningless figure really, just a step along the road, I'll carry on doing these things until I find them too hard, I hope that's a few years yet. And of course there have been a few DNF's along the way, about a dozen, I've probably learnt more from those than the completions. Ambitions for the future? Well, it's a while since I did the Fling, a race that will always have a special place for me as it was my first ultra, and I always said I would have a go at Jon Steele's Hardmoors Grand Slam one of the years. The Lakeland 100 and Lakes in a Day have their special attractions. And the longer events, the 200 mile "journeys" have been especially rewarding over the last few years, I'm sure there are more of those out there that I might still have the capability for a tilt at. That's the attraction, there's always more to do than you can possibly fit in. But for anyone interested, here's my list so far:

2004   Rotterdam Marathon
2005   Rotterdam Marathon (2)
          Amsterdam Marathon
2006   London Marathon
          Snowdonia Marathon
2007   Paris Marathon
          Highland Fling
          West Highland Way
          Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix (CCC)
          New York Marathon
          Rotherham Round
2008   Haworth Hobble
          Rotterdam Marathon (3)
          Highland Fling (2)
          West Highland Way (2)
          Dublin Marathon
          Rotherham Round (2)
2009   Haworth Hobble (2)
          Rotterdam Marathon (4)
          Highland Fling (3)
          West Highland Way (3)
          Devil o'the Highlands
          Amsterdam Marathon (2)
2010   Thames Trot
          Barcelona Marathon
          Hardmoors 55
          Highland Fling (4)
          LDWA Heart of Scotland 100
          West Highland Way (4)
          UTMB (shortened course due to bad weather)
          Snowdonia Marathon (2)
2011   Hardmoors 55 (2)
          Rotterdam Marathon (5)
          Highland Fling (5)
          West Highland Way (5)
          Lakeland 100
          Chester Marathon
          Rotherham Round (3)
          Brecon Beacons Ultra
          Tour de Helvellyn
2012   Hardmoors 55 (3)
          Highland Fling (6)
          West Highland Way (6)
          Lakeland 50
          Tor des Geants
          Glen Ogle 33
          Tour de Helvellyn (2)
2013   Belvoir Challenge
          Hardmoors 55 (4)
          Blackpool Marathon
          Exmoor Coastal Ultra
          Highland Fling (7)
          Scafell Pike Marathon
          West Highland Way (7)
          Lakeland Trails 100k
2014   Sandstone Trail Run
          West Highland Way (8)
          Lakes 10 Peaks Long Course
          Lakeland 100 (2)
          Grand Tour of Skiddaw
          Brecon Beacons 10 Peaks Long Course
          Lakes 3 x 3000
          Lakes in a Day
2015   Anglesey Coastal Ultra
          South Devon Coastal Ultra
          Belvoir Challenge (2)
          Hardmoors 55 (5)
          Highland Fling (8)
          Keswick Festival Ultra
          Pennine 39
          Ring of Fire
          Hardmoors 60
          Lakes in a Day (2)
          White Rose Ultra
2016   Northumberland Coastal Ultra
          Manchester Marathon
          Pembrokeshire Coastal Ultra
          Northern Traverse
          West Highland Way (9)
          Lakeland 100 (3)
          High Peak 40
          Lakes in a Day (3)
          Wooler Trail Marathon
2017   South Devon Coastal Ultra (2)
          Exmoor Coastal Ultra (2)
          Lakes Sky Ultra
          St Begas Ultra
          King Offas Dyke Race
          White Rose Ultra (2)
          Escape from Meriden
          Winter Cross Ultra
2018   Anglesey Coastal Ultra (2)
          Brecon to Cardiff
          Hardmoors 55 (6)
          London Marathon (2)
          Ultra Tour of Snowdonia 50
          Coniston Trail Marathon
          West Highland Way (10)
          Deadwater
          GB Ultras Snowdonia 50