From pain-ridden non-runner to Masters athlete - meet 'The Poet With Pace'
He didn't run until he was in his 50s but Donato has made up for lost time since
“I didn’t feel like it - it hurt a lot.”
As a running newsletter and podcast producer, it sometimes comes as a surprise when people tell you that don’t love this crazy sport.
You expect to hear it from the non-running ‘Muggles’ out there, who prefer bizarre past-times like watching football or spending time in the pub rather than smashing out the miles just for kicks.
But not from committed runners like Donato, aka the Poet with Pace, who have broken Guinness World Records and represented their country at Masters level.
That, however, was exactly what the pizza-powered marathon runner’s attitude was for the first 54 years of his life.
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“I had various physical issues that prevented me not only from running, but I couldn't really walk a lot,” he told the Running Tales Podcast.
“In my 20s, I was in and out of hospital quite a lot with all sorts of ailments. I remember being diagnosed with some issues with my knees, and one doctor said, ‘we're going to have to perform surgery on your knees and move the tendons around’.
“To which I said, no thanks, goodbye. But as you can imagine, running just hurt a lot.”
Although those early problems were eventually resolved with time and rest, Donato did not rush to start running.
It was only when a friend posted on social media that the Hibbs Lupus Trust was looking for people to run the Birmingham Half Marathon to raise money to support the charity that he even gave the sport a thought.
A keen walker by that time, covering distances of 40 miles of more, Donato thought running 13.1 miles couldn’t be too hard, so signed up for the race.
“How little I knew,” he said. “Within ten minutes of stepping out of the door on my first training run, I was back home messaging John Hibbs to say there was no chance.
“I nearly had a cardiac arrest in front of a lady in the park in South London. I'd barely been moving five minutes and everything was hurting.”
It was only when he got a reply to say he could walk the race that he agreed to enter.
“I had zero intention of ever doing anything more than that,” he said.
“It was just going to be tick the box, do my half marathon, raise the money for charity and be done.
“But as you know, one thing sometimes leads to another.”
Despite ending up in hospital with a suspected heart attack just weeks before the race - his family has a history of heart issues, Donato was able to not only start it, but successfully finish.
It was then that peer pressure started to nag at him, with colleagues and managers at his work suggesting he should run a marathon.
Although he swerved their advances, Donato did sign-up for a 10k in West London, finishing in a respectable 44 minutes and 56 seconds.
The marathon vultures began circling again, and the breast cancer charity he was working for came calling after one of their runners for the Brighton Marathon dropped out.
Worn down by his colleagues persistence and keen to help, Donato somewhat reluctantly agreed to take part. Almost before he knew it, he was following a race plan and had bought not only a Garmin watch but a heart monitor and a GoPro.
He said: “My children genuinely were concerned about my running, especially after what I went through with a half marathon.
“So, it was just a way of recording and sharing things on YouTube. I was only getting five or ten views per video. It was just to say, look, I've done my training, here it is.
“A lot of the videos were just me running around Croydon area; really dull, boring stuff. But at least it was showing my family that I was doing the training.”
These days, recording his runs and races has gained Donato a far greater audience with his popular ‘Chatty Adventures’ YouTube channel attracting 5,500 subscribers.
But back when he was starting out, running had more to do with “blooming hard work” than enjoyable, video producing romps through some of the country’s biggest races.
One thing had changed though. Donato was becoming hooked: “I finished [Brighton] in what is regarded a very respectable time and I'd already decided I would do one more after that.”
He managed to persuade the coaching team who worked for his charity to train him for that second marathon in Frankfurt.
At a time of personal struggle - Donato lost his job and moved house in quick succession, before tragically his mother died - he threw himself into running, working hard and learning more and more about race day strategy.
“When I finished that Frankfurt marathon, it was all a bit of a blur,” he said.
“I did cry a lot, because obviously memories of my mother came up and lots of things were going on, but I was also happy - so happy I forgot to stop my Garmin.
“When I finished I went back to the hotel, got changed, and met up with a group of around 25 people I had been training with.
“We all went for a meal and I sat with a guy who finished in two hours 20 minutes. And he wasn't happy. Out of the 25 of us, do you know who the happiest was? Me.
“And do you know who the slowest was? Out of the 25? Me. I was with a bunch of supreme elite athletes, and I was the slowest by a long shot.
“It turns out I'd improved my time by over half an hour. But I didn't know that. Nobody mentioned it to me until about a week later.”
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In fact, not only had Donato set a new personal best time in three hours and 15 minutes, he’d qualified for Boston, Chicago, London and New York Marathons for his 55-60 years old age category.
Realising running was something he could not only do, but was pretty good at, Donato set out to take on the World Marathon Majors entering New York immediately and going on to run Boston.
With five majors now behind him, Donato is a seasoned marathon runner these days but he was still shocked when his running journey took another twist.
While training to run the New York Marathon, Donato ran his first sub-40 minute 10k prompting a friend to suggest he took part in some Masters 10km races.
Initially unexcited by the prospect of travelling “for five hours both ways just to run for 40 minutes,” he dismissed the idea.
But when he came across the chance to try and qualify for the Masters team in the marathon, the longer distance proved more attractive.
Donato’s race of choice was the Chester Marathon and despite being “almost reduced to a walk” for the last two miles, he managed to finish in the top three English athletes for his age group.
He has since qualified for the age 55-60 Masters team in the marathon for three consecutive years, and in 2023 he qualified for the 10k and half-marathon teams as well.
“I'm looking forward to the races next year in an England vest,” he said.
“I still have to pinch myself. I've got all the trophies in the back here and badges, and it's great when you get these county champion medals and gold medals. It really does fill you with pride.
“When I was a kid, I never dreamt of representing England or being international in anything, because I was totally rubbish when it came to sport.
“I was always that guy who wanted to have a go, and sometimes they made me captain of the gymnastics team - even though I was the worst gymnast.
“I think some teachers took pity on me. But sometimes it's not about having a team of all the best athletes, it's about having a team of people who want to take part and enjoy it, which I always do.”
For all his success, which also includes a Guinness World Record running the fastest marathon dressed as a hospital patient, it’s that sense of fun and enjoyment which defines Donato’s running.
He said: “The strap line on my YouTube is ‘it’s for the joy of running.
“I enjoy my running, and that's why I film it. That's why I'm on social media. That's why I share it.
“I actually genuinely enjoy it. I'm not doing it for the shillings. I'm not doing it for the grind. I definitely don't find it a grind at all.
“If you don't feel like going for a run, don't. If you do, just go out and enjoy it and find people who enjoy it as well.
“Genuinely enjoy it and run with them. Running with other people is brilliant. And I've met literally thousands of people face to face who have shared their joy and told me how much they enjoy their running and want to get better.”
Donato requested we only use his first name in this article. We are happy to comply with that request.
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Wonderful story!