Age
33
Occupation
I’m a Category Planning Manager for Tesco,
looking after Chilled Meals, Desserts, Pizza, etc. As you can imagine it’s been
an interesting few months, but we have certainly embraced a challenge that the
industry has never faced before. On a normal day, I’d be looking after what
products we range and the prices and promotions that we offer across the
country. It certainly keeps you on your toes.
Reason you started running?
Well I was watching the London Marathon on
TV and thought “that looks fun”. A bit naive for sure, but a colleague of mine
pushed me into it and there it was. I was bone idle before that so I had next
to no fitness, but I found that it allowed me to channel my competitive nature
into something I could do and improve at. Once I hit 5k and saw times start to
drop, I caught the bug and the rest is history.
 |
| Brighton Marathon 2015 |
Favourite race distance?
Tough one, this. It’s probably a coin flip
between marathon and 10k, as they happen to be where I’m happiest with my
times. Marathon has chewed me up and spat me out on several occasions, but when
it goes right it’s just the best feeling, whereas 10k is a good balance between
speed and distance. Parkrun 5ks are great for the social side, but the runs are
always hard work, and I just can’t get half marathons right, so I’m sticking
with my original decision.
Favourite race and route?
Again a tough one but I’ve always enjoyed
Ealing Half Marathon. It’s a closed road route in London but has a real
community feel that the locals get behind and it’s a challenging yet attackable
race. Club races like The Solstice and The Stampede also get a huge shout out
for the number of Striders there and the camaraderie amongst all of us. Also,
any race where a large number of Striders turn up, either for the journey down
or the beers afterwards. The Big Half in March 2020 gets a shout for that one,
as well as any London Marathon spectating day, despite the frustration of
watching, not running.
 |
| Stampede 2019 |
Training route wise, I never get tired of
that flat stretch up at Childwickbury and oddly, going into Bedmond Lanes is
always enjoyable for the peace and quiet despite its rather undulating and
punishing profile.
Running goals?
I have unfinished business with 5k and Half
Marathon. My 5k PB is 20:11, so I’m sure you can guess what I’m going for
there. I’m quite content with other PBs, but there’s always that nagging doubt
that you can do better. Once we get back to normal again, I’ll hope to pick up
the pace and start attacking the faster times, and maybe even have a crack at a
solo Stampede one day…
What motivates you?
As I alluded to before, I like the sense of
competitiveness in running. That is, competitiveness against yourself and
beating your own times and personal bests. Whenever I played other sports,
people took it far too seriously, and while people care about running as best
as they can, it’s always done in good spirit.
What also helps is being part of the club,
because my running has improved so much because of it. Whether it’s chasing
down that individual you can never pin down on the track, or just having a
steady Thursday night run with like-minded people, it’s all the same to me.
People doing what they enjoy and sharing that with others.
Most memorable run/race?
It may have to be my marathon PB in Dublin
(3.39:45) in 2019 which went just as well as I could have hoped despite
starting late due to an excessive toilet queue. I’ve had my fair share of
blow-ups so for a race of that length to go as well as it did was great.
Stampede a couple of months before was great as well. To be part of a team of four who all covered six laps was beyond our expectations despite my dip in energy/mood in the middle of the day. Who knew that a jam sandwich could be so beneficial? Also, to be part of a race where teams and individuals (yes you Rich Evans) did such terrific things was a brilliant thing to be part of.
The experience of London Marathon almost
goes without saying despite having run terribly twice, but the races where
there are a good number of Striders out are also great in themselves, which
means that the Valencia Marathon trip in December 2019 has to get a mention
despite my legs falling off at mile 22.
We need to take over more pubs at races
when this is all done!
Injuries?
Fortunately not too many, apart from an IT
Band issue in 2016 that knocked me out for the best part of a year. The
recovery period led me to joining Striders so every cloud…
Other than the odd niggle though I’ve been
quite fortunate. Sometimes you get a bit tired of it all when you’re running
but that feeling is a whole lot worse when you’re injured.
Other hobbies?
Well football is the obvious one. I used to
go and watch Barnet home and away before I found better things to do with my
Saturdays.
I like my computer games too, as well as
this that and the other. Cricket, golf, you name it. Also, after this lockdown
I will never take a pub and a freshly poured draught pint for granted ever
again.
Guilty pleasures?
Other than those computer games, if anyone
saw my iTunes library there’d be some pretty disappointing things in there. I
will maintain though that ABBA were really good for their time and no one can
argue me out of this.
No comments:
Post a Comment