On the ‘Taper Town’ trail to running for real
Plus our usual round-up including how Neil Russell is sticking two fingers up at Parkinson’s by running from London to Barcelona
Welcome to Taper Town: Population me.
In less than a handful of days I’ll be heading off round and round a park in Northampton, hopefully for six hours.
If I haven’t bored you too much about it already, I’m going to be running around the town’s Racecourse to raise money for rough sleeper charity Project 16:15.
You can find out all about why I’m doing it and the reasons behind the run in the box below.
The 16:15 Charity Run - Our Coverage
Running for rough sleepers - Fun runners are encouraged to fundraise for Project 16:15
Running to show the humanity behind every blanket - the story behind the 16:15 Charity Run
Running for rough sleepers - Introducing the 16:15 Charity Run
In the last week a lot of people have asked me if I’m getting nervous about it?
First of all, it’s just another run. I’ll be doing it with lots of good friends, in a place I know really well and with an aid station on hand. It’s not like I’m heading out to do Badwater uncrewed!
But, yeah, for sure there are some nerves. I’ve not run for that long before in terms of time and unless things go badly wrong it’ll be further than I have ever run in the past.
What I’ve been asking myself though is what are real nerves, real anxiety?
I don’t know for sure of course, but it’s probably along the lines of being too scared to be around other people - perhaps too anxious in general, too worried they’ll tempt you back into addiction, too fearful of failing - that you’d rather than spend the night on your own, on the streets in the feeezing cold than in a night shelter or accommodation with other people.
That’s a scenario I’ve heard more than once from people on the streets.
Rough sleeping is complicated. The reasons people are where they are, do what they do, are complex.
That’s why a group like Project 16:15, which seeks to understand how these people really feel and help find them dignity is so important.
A big part of helping people off the streets comes through enabling them to find their own value in life and in themselves.
You can have all the drug and alcohol programmes, all the night shelters, all the accommodation schemes - and these are wonderful things - in the world, but people have to believe they deserve them.
Of course, the strikingly obvious answer is that they do - so let’s help them believe that and see their worth too.
Talking of self belief (cue abrupt gear change), I spent Sunday watching a steady stream of runners take part in everything from 10k to ultra races as part of Go Beyond Challenge’s Shires and Spires event.
Set in the beautiful Northampton countryside around Naseby - site of one of the most important battles in British history in 1645 when King Charles I’s army was routed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army in the English Civil War - the Shires and Spires is a challenging and undulating course with plenty of elevation.
I was particularly struck by the endurance and commitment of the ultra runners, many of whom were completing their first event at that distance (35 miles in this case).
I loved seeing their feeling of accomplishment - tinged with relief - as they crossed the line, many finding the energy from somewhere to produce sprint finishes.
A special mention as well to Andy Cottrell, aka Sharky, who completed a mind-blowing 200th marathon at the event.
He was accompanied by many of his friends from the Northampton Road Runners group, another sign of the togetherness and friendship that running can bring.
I’m off to carb load now, but I’ll leave you with our usual round-up of the last week’s podcast and newsletter content.
Enjoy,
Craig
This week on…
The podcast:
This week’s Running Tales Podcast guest was Neil Russell, who in little over a week is set to start an awe-inspiring 970-mile run from London to Barcelona, aiming to complete his journey in just over five weeks.
What makes Neil's challenge even more notable is that the 65-year-old will be doing it despite having been diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2018.
In fact, Neil's final destination is the World Parkinson's Congress, and along the way he is hoping to raise £50,000 for Cure Parkinson's and Parkinson's UK.
It's not the first time he has taken on an incredible challenge to raise money for the two charities, having made £11,000 while running from John O'Groats to Land's End last year.
Running Tales spoke to Neil about his current, gruelling training regime, how running has helped him to "stick two fingers up" at Parkinson's and how the condition effects him on a daily basis and with his running.
Substack:
Earlier this week, we examined the incredible story of Colin McCord, who ran five marathons in as many weeks.
As part of Colin’s epic running challenge - which took in the Great Welsh, Magna Carta, London and Manchester Marathons, and a final 26.2 miles on a treadmill - he raised close to £6,500 for Dementia UK in honour of his mum, Susan.
Our story also looked at how Running has helped Colin cope with PTSD, which he has had since he was the victim of a violent robbery in 2001.
We also wrote about Damon Fox, who is currently running 750kms in 12 weeks to raise money for children in poverty.
Damon told Running Tales: “I come from a bit of a broken home myself, so I’ve felt the need to support these children as I understand in some cases where they are coming from and what they have to deal with.”
You can read his story here: Meet the man with 7,500 reasons to keep running
Thanks as ever for reading and listening to Running Tales. We couldn’t do this without your support - please back us to keep going by…