Running 44@60 - tips, ideas and advice for your first ultra marathon or marathon

So here we are recording on Monday January 27th - 2 days after the Arc 50 

So what happened to our group - Richard, Anya, Himani, Tom, Nicky and Matt?

Each has a story to tell

Some made it

Some didn’t

What would they all do differently?

And what are they doing next? 

It has been fantastic being part of this group - behind the scenes the What’s app group the 7 of us are part of has been virtually every day for the past ...

Just 3 days to go to the Arc of Attrition 50 - I've been planning all the sections - estimating times for each one, making notes of landmarks to take with me, getting all the kit ready for registration check on Friday.

And with no running for four weeks I've been eating, sleeping, watching Arc of Attrition You Tube videos and listening to previous episodes of this podcast which featured the Arc 50.

My pl...

So here we are recording on January 16th - just 9 days to go the Arc 50 

Richard, Anya, Himani, Tom, Nicky and Matt kindly agreed towards the end of October to come on the show and talk about their build up to the Arc 50

We previously recorded on November 7th - hard to believe that was two months ago - and then again on December 12th 

I try and avoid during asking them how they are feeling!

Instead we focus on sharing anythin...

At the Cornwall Running Show on Sunday someone asked me if I could point them in the direction of the episodes on this podcast that have featured the Arc of Attrition 50 or 100
Here they are in episode number and broadcast date order - you should be able to easily use this info on your podcast app or platform to find each episode:

Ep 22 - Feb 11th 2020 - Being an Arc Angel at Penzance - recorded in the aid station
...

The 4th Cornwall Running Show organised by Tracy Waite from The Waite Room took place at the Penventon Hotel on Sunday January 12th.

13 visitors sat in the podcast recording hot seat and shared their running plans for 2025. You're going to hear from Dave, Sharon, Andy, Lynsey, Blakey, Liz, Andy, Jodie, Connor, David, Steven, Kathryn and Phil.

I mention that I'll share links to some of the events they tal...

The Cornwall Running Show is taking place at the Penventon Park Hotel on Sunday January 12th 2025 

Tracy Waite is the organiser and mastermind behind what will be the 4th edition of the show.

The exhibition hall is open to visitors from 10am but anyone wanting to go on a guided run pre-show needs to arrive on site at 9am - in trail shoes - with  change of shoes please for the show. 

There is a packed programme of activities and speake...

This is episode 166 of the Running 44@60 podcast and the 33rd in 2024.

In this episode I give a shout out to all the fantastic guests who have appeared on the show this year plus I detail my favourite three Parkruns, I give an honourable mention to 3 other races and then in reverse order I introduce my top six favourite races of 2024

I did 20 races in total in 2024 and of the top six from 2023 only one has made the top six for 2024 -...

I had this idea to bring together a couple of ARC 50 2025 runners to talk about plans, thoughts, kit, etc…

That ‘couple’ quickly turned into six!

So a big thank to Richard, Anya, Himani, Tom, Nicky and Matt for contributing 

In this episode recorded on December 12th we talk where we’ve got to training wise, how we getting on rounding up all the kit needed and plans for training in the next few weeks. 

The Arc 50 is on Saturday January ...

Ollie Jackman decided in 2020 after lots of lockdown solo running to Run Devon. 

From the most Northernly point to the most Southerly point in 3 days using his own route to coincide with overnight campsites. 

His adventure raised in excess of £5000 for Young Devon a charity that for over 70 years has been helping young people thrive. 

He covered 137 miles! 

In 2021 he decided to do Run Devon again with a few more runners and some chang...

To celebrate a landmark birthday in 2024 Rachel Thomson tackled a series of running events throughout the year whilst raising money for St Petrocs, the Cornwall Homeless Charity. The website provides information on how you can donate - including all those running hoodies you never wear.

So how did all go?

We catch up on the four events that became five when Rachel added the November Cornish Marathon to her challenges. 

Rachel’s fundra...

On the run recording of the Arc 50 Hayle to Godrevy section condensed into about 30 minutes of run time. 

Taking you through the Dunes - often referred to as the 'Dunes of Doom' - well lets hope not! I've been through here several tie including twice last winter in the dark with my good friend Tracy Waite. I took some photos on this and previous run which you can find on my Arc Training Website section. You ...

On the run recording of the Zennor to St Ives route condensed into about 20 minutes of run time. 

Picking out all the various landmarks, gates, big rocks, styles, signposts along the way. 

I've broken the ARC 50 down into 9 sections:

1. Minack to Lands End 
2. Lands End to Cape Cornwall
3. Cape Cornwall to Pendeen
4. Pendeen to Zennor
5. Zennor to St Ives
6. St Ives to Hayle
7. Hayle to Godrevy
8. Godrevy to Portreath 
9. Portreath to Porth...

I had this idea to bring together a couple of ARC 50 2025 runners to talk about plans, thoughts, kit, etc…

That ‘couple’ quickly turned into six!

So a big thank to Richard, Anya, Himani, Tom, Nicky and Matt for contributing to this episode.

We talk about where we are with our training and plans - we recorded On Thursday Nov 8th so 78 days from the ARC 50.

Five of the group are running the Lighthouse Marathon on Saturday November 9th wh...

I made a big thing about saying that I would never run the Cornish Marathon and there I was on November 3rd 2024 on the start line.

So yes I did run the Cornish Marathon, or rather I 'Jeffed' the Cornish Marathon so four minutes running one minute walking using the same strategy I used at the Brighton Marathon earlier in the year.

Was a great day and I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lots of...

I met Brendan Fletcher when we were both earlier this year on the England Athletics Coach in Running Fitness course.

Brendan is a fully qualified tour guide and has run several ultra marathons most of which I've never heard of including:

TestWay Ultra
Dragon Coastal Ultra 100
Run with No Witty Name
Clarendon Marathon

We also talk about Brendan's new running tour around Stonehenge ba...

One of the things I'm always trying to do on this podcast is have people on it who have completed running challenges that we've not covered before and indeed many of the listeners might not have heard of.

I first met Martin Elcoate at the Cornwall Running Show in 2023 when he was one of the volunteers on The Green Runners stand.

And then earlier this year Martin appeared in a whole page article in Runner...

The Woods is an event organised Bys Vyken Events and I took part in it on September 14th 2024 tackling the 12 hour version of the four and a bit mile loop in Tehidy Woods in the middle of Cornwall.

It was a great day and an event that I would definitely recommend. 

I didn't record on the way around with the exception of a few snippets on my phone on my last lap which I share at the end of a few minutes of introducing the event a...

Annie Vernon is the daughter of a Cornish farmer who became a double world champion and an Olympic Silver medalist in that toughest of all sports - rowing.

Annie then wrote an award winning book Mind Games - subtitled determination, doubt and lucky socks: an inside his guide to the psychology of elite athletes. You can buy Mind Games from your local independent bookshop or via Bookshop which is an online shop supporting independent ...

I’ve recently, along with 11 others, passed the England Athletics Coach in Running Fitness Course

This involved an initial weekend in Taunton followed by a couple of Zoom lead sessions before returning to Taunton almost 3 months later for a final assessment.

In between the first and last session we had to work with an athlete on an eight week programme (known as a mesocycle) to help them reach a particular running goal. 

So I've ...