1. Athens Marathon – 2019
I couldn’t have picked a more iconic marathon to run than the original 26.2 mile route. Running from Marathon to Athens you are literally running in the footsteps of a chap named Pheidippides who was knocking about in 490BC.
The build up to this marathon was extremely frustrating due to a calf strain I sustained early in preparations. The longest run I was able to complete was 7 miles which was only 1 week out from flying to Greece. Obviously, this was not an ideal scenario ahead of running 26.2 miles for the first time, but when you’ve paid for the entry fee, flights, and accommodation, missing this once in a lifetime experience was not an option.
I successfully managed to scramble my way around in 4 hours and 10 minutes, my only expectation was completion, so to come through in a little over 4 hours in my worst physical shape was satisfying. I wouldn’t recommend attempting to run a marathon on little to no training because let me tell you this, it’s extremely painful due to the simple fact you are not conditioned to run the distance.
2. Double Marathon – 2023
I’ve always had aspirations of seeing how far I can run in one stint and every year it’s been a goal of mine to achieve a new distance PB. The double marathon (52.4 miles) was always going to be a challenging distance to run, it was pleasing to get this done in under 10 hours too. As a running coach in Leeds, I’ve always tried to make sure I’m leading by example by constantly raising the bar with future running events.
3. Running 100 Day’s On The Bounce – Over 1,000km – 2021
This was probably one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever done. The original challenge was to run 10k everyday for 10 day’s straight but this quickly got out of hand and spilled into 50 straight day’s running the exact same 6.2 mile route. In fact, it was on day 50 I upped the steaks and ran a half-marathon, this was quickly backed up by a 50k ultramarathon on day 51.
The show went on right up until the grand finale on day 100 where I completed a personal best marathon time of 3 hours and 29 minutes around an outdoor athletics track at Temple Newsam. Running around in circles for a total of 105 laps seemed a fitting way to end this ultra endurance challenge.
4. Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon 2023
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced so much cramp in all my life than what I experienced here at Leeds Marathon 2023. Unfortunately, I seemed to have picked up a bug in the day’s leading up to this race and looking back, I definitely didn’t fuel properly in the build up to this marathon. To compile the misery, I went out like a bull in a China shop, this led to the first wave of cramping beginning at just 7 miles in.
I was working far too hard early on in the race for probably where my fitness was actually at, through the first 10k I was looking at a 3 hour 15 marathon time, this quickly went downhill and everything became about surviving the next 18 miles. Pool In Wharfedale was a barrel of laughs, being sick up against a fence and depleting every electrolyte left in my body was not part of the plan. I always knew the final nail in the coffin for me would be on completion of the 3 mile climb out of Otley up to Bramhope. At mile 22/23 I was locked frozen in the middle of the road holding my hamstring practically in my hands from the horrendous cramping.
I spent the whole marathon constantly eating and drinking whatever I could get my hands on in order to have the energy to get me round in 3 hours 56 minutes. As seen in the picture below, Leeds Marathon turned into a live buffet for CSS Fitness.
5. Running 100 Miles Around Leeds – Ultramarathon – 2024
I think running 100 miles in 22 hours might just be the hardest single running challenge I’ve ever done. The pain by the end was something I have never experienced before and the recovery time after completion was not straightforward. If you want the full breakdown from my experience of running 100 miles, head over to a recent blog post of mine “running 100 miles around Leeds“.
