Today in the spotlight is
Howard Bull. Howard joined Striders in 2010 and has volunteered in many and
various different roles in that time including treasurer and currently on the publicity team.
Age
Parkrun has me in the VM35-39 age category 😉
Occupation
I work in Children's Services, with responsibility for finance and data in my particular area.
Reason you started running?
I had never been a sporty
person at school or university, not even in the slightest, but by my early
twenties I had started to get a little bit of a belly, and I would get out of
breath quite easily. Also at that stage of my life, my career and love life
weren't really going anywhere, so I decided I needed a new hobby to take my
mind off things. The final push out the door came once I had booked a four-month
round-the-world trip, including visiting some fairly hot countries in
South-East Asia and I realised that I needed to get a bit fitter in order to
get the most out of my travels.
I joined Striders a couple of years later, once jogging round the park by myself got a bit repetitive, and after speaking with Tom & Helen Crouch, and Jez & Leda Cox, who persuaded me that I wouldn't be the slowest person on the track. About six months after that I joined the committee as treasurer (still not quite sure how that happened!), which I did for three years, and am currently in my fifth year on the publicity team.
Favourite race distance?
Definitely 10K. I like being
able to go out and push it, without having to worry about pacing in the same
way you have to in anything from a Half Marathon upwards. It's a bit more of a
challenge than a free weekly 5K parkrun, but at the same time you know if it
goes badly you'll still be done in about three quarters of an hour.
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| Welwyn 10k 2018 |
Favourite race or running route?
I absolutely loved the 'New' Garden City 10 race which took place only once, in 2012. It was a ten-mile race all around roads and trails local to me, and they even got special permission to run through parts of the Brocket Hall golf course which are normally closed off to the public.
The Berkhamsted Half is
another favourite; Hertfordshire is a very beautiful place out in the
countryside, and it doesn't get enough credit for this. This race takes in a
number of local beauty spots, and rolling hills, but also knowing that the
final mile is downhill is a great motivator to race 12 miles hard, and then let
gravity do the work in the last stretch.
How often do you train?
Anything from twice to five
times a week, it all depends. The trick is getting to know when you don't fancy
going out to run because you're just tired and feeling lazy, or because your
body is trying to tell you to take it easy.
What motivates you?
I haven't been running at my
best for about a year, so what normally motivates me in trying to get back to
where I was, or not get slower. In lockdown however, my aims are just to keep
ticking over, and to keep mentally and physically healthy.
In a more general sense, I think growing up I always believed that you were either naturally good at something, or not, and there was nothing you could do to change that. When I started running it shocked me how much I could exceed my own low expectations just by plugging away and training consistently and well.
Most memorable race or run?
The two times I've run the London Marathon (once wearing the old Striders vest, and once in the new one, both times with much pride) will always have a special place in my heart, and the second occasion is still my PB.
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| Captured at the Striders cheering spot at the London Marathon |
The marathon I enjoyed the
most was Amsterdam in 2014, which was combined with a holiday. I arrived nearly
a week before the event, had a restful few days, doing the free walking tours
and going round Anne Frank's house, then as the days passed, the normal tourist
types walking around were gradually replaced by thin people wearing
brightly-coloured trainers! From what I remember most of the runners in the
race seemed to be wearing UK club vests; in particular I remember chatting to
someone in a 100 Marathon Club top about whether they knew Jack Brooks (they
did), and then someone else with an English accent came up to us to ask how
many kilometres there are in a marathon. This fellow voiced his disappointment
quite strongly when we told him there are 42; he'd evidently been ticking the
km markers off assuming there'd only be 26 of them.
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| Amsterdam Marathon in 2014 |
Injuries
After my first marathon, I
took ten days off running thinking that that would be enough, and then got
straight back into training. This was a mistake and I felt something go in my
knee whilst at Striders on the Tuesday night. It took me a good six months to
get it properly sorted, and then another six months to get back to where I was
before it happened. Ever since then I have been quite wary about getting
injured for a prolonged period again, which I know is ever more likely as I get
older.
Other hobbies
To be honest I probably
enjoy going out for a nice country walk more than I do running. This is
probably how I'll fill my time once I can't run anymore. I also try and swim
every now and again. A few years ago I won the summer aquathlon (a 250m open
water swim, followed by a 5K run) series down at Lea Valley White Water Centre,
which was a surreal but fantastic experience.
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| Winner of the Summer Aquathlon at Lea Valley |
I also like
listening to a lot of music.
Guilty Pleasures
I feel no shame in being a
bit of geek and liking TV shows such as Star Trek and Doctor Who, but at the
same time I feel you get more out of these things the less seriously you try
and take them. It amazes me how angry some people online get about the latest
iterations of their favourite shows/films, when they're just meant to be a bit
of fun.
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| Jedi race director at Jersey Farm Parkrun |
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