Ep41: Lauren is back from the Marathon Des Sables

Some final advice for anyone running their first London Marathon this weekend. Normal, more regular service will return! Reminder that my second book “Ducking Long Way” is out on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ducking-Long-Way-Ultra-Running/dp/1913207587 For more irreverent running nonsense head to:  www.runlikeduck.co.uk

California dreaming? I was. A holiday to the US fortunately lined up with the Born To Run event hosted by All We Do Is Run events so I turned up to a horse ranch at 5am on a Saturday to run 30 miles and hopefully avoid the rattlesnakes. Hear how I got on and why you should head to California. Reminder that my second book “Ducking Long Way” is out on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ducking-Long-Way-Ultra-Running/dp/1913207587 For more irreverent running nonsense head to:  www.runlikeduck.co.uk For Born To Run events head to:   https://allwedoisrun.com/  

If you like your marathons with a touch of politics then you're in luck! The Malta Marathon has been running for 37 years and has face cancellation due to Covid and freak storms. As many as 4000 runners tackle the full and half marathon on a typical year. With just three weeks to go until the 2022 event they were denied a permit on their previous route and offered a new route they deemed unsafe so were forced to cancel.  Then the very next day there was an announcement of an alternative full and half marathon, organised by Transport Malta and Sport Malta, for the same day as the original. Could a government department organise a large scale event so quickly and could a pasty Brit with little training make it around?  

The Centurion 50 mile slam is four 50 mile events in a single year and a challenging target for any runner. Dawn decided it looked a bit too easy so threw in becoming a mum and completing her journey to the 100 marathon club all in 12 months! She’s full of enthusiasm and advice for recent or expectant mums on returning to running, as well as recounting the challenge of completing the slam. Reminder that my second book “Ducking Long Way” is out for pre-order on Amazon and includes my adventure on the Lakeland 100: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ducking-Long-Way-Ultra-Running/dp/1913207587   For more irreverent running nonsense head to www.runlikeduck.co.uk   For the race head to https://www.centurionrunning.com/  

This year’s MDS was as usual hot and sandy. With soaring temps and a bug sweeping through the camp it saw drop out rates of 50%. If the camel spiders didn’t get you the vomiting did. In part 2 of the MDS special Lauren is back to tell us how she got on, why there’s a mountain in the desert and describe how bad 200 people who haven’t washed for a week smell. Reminder that my second book “Ducking Long Way” is out on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ducking-Long-Way-Ultra-Running/dp/1913207587 For more irreverent running nonsense head to www.runlikeduck.co.uk For the race head to https://www.marathondessables.com/en  

The London Marathon is famous for catering to runners of all abilities but that image was tainted in 2019 when the back of the pack runners were pushed to one side and the course was closed around them with aid stations packed up before they got to them. The organisers vowed to fix this and took on the criticism, intending to improve the provision so that all runners can truly experience the London Marathon for all 26.2 miles. I talk to Bex, a self-proclaimed back of the pack runner about her experience this year when she ran London as her first marathon, taking the daunting leapt up from half marathon distance. Bex also has great advice on how to deal with online trolls and what it truly means to be a runner. Reminder that my second book “Ducking Long Way” is out on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ducking-Long-Way-Ultra-Running/dp/1913207587 For more irreverent running nonsense head to www.runlikeduck.co.uk  

Ep39: You Could Have Been Running The Berlin Marathon – Ben did, eventually Three times a charm for Ben, when he finally got to run Berlin marathon this year. Hear how to keep you focus when the world and your own body conspire to stop you running the event you’ve trained for.   Inspired to run Berlin? The race will be held September 25th 2022, and ballot entry is open until December 6, 2021 with the lucky winners notified at the beginning of January 2022. https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/   Reminder that my second book “Ducking Long Way” is out on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ducking-Long-Way-Ultra-Running/dp/1913207587   For more irreverent running nonsense head to www.runlikeduck.co.uk  

After nearly an 18 month wait, London marathon is finally here. As it’s a bit different this year here’s some tips on the Expo (yes we still have to go, yes I still don’t like them). What you need for the Expo – Negative lateral flow test – either the text or the email. You’ll need to show this to staff to enter the Excel and again when you collect bib Drop bag (or just the contents, they have spare bags if yours never arrived like mine) ID to collect bib – I don’t think this was well publicised but there may have been documentation with the drop bag I never got that covered this. QR entry code – install the official London Marathon app on phone & login as per the emailed instructions you should have received on Wednesday this week. It will also confirm your bib number if you never received the drop bag. £20 parking charge if driving – machines take card. Or first born child. Face mask if taking public transport (although few seem to bother) or if you want to wear in the expo. Maybe 20% of attendees and 50% of the staff had them on.

Whilst 40,000 runners are getting ready to run London Marathon in the rain, Lauren is mere days away from the Marathon Des Sables. It’s now in its 35th year and one of the most famous ultras. Competitors take on a multiday 250km race across the Sahara, trying not to get eaten by camel spiders or bitten by snakes. They do all this whilst carrying everything on their backs. The organisers provide tents and water, everything else is down to you. As you can imagine the planning and training for an event like this is a huge challenge. Hear how Lauren has prepared and where to buy venom pumps. She’ll be back on after she’s finished to let us know what it was like and if the reality lived up to the expectation. Reminder that my second book “Ducking Long Way” is out on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ducking-Long-Way-Ultra-Running/dp/1913207587 For more irreverent running nonsense head to www.runlikeduck.co.uk For the race head to https://www.marathondessables.com/en  

A 10 mile lap of Wendover Woods is a pretty challenging loop for any runner. There’s some hills big enough to have names, a couple of technical trail sections and a few stiles thrown in just to break it up and make you regret never doing any yoga. It’s the 50 mile event of the Centurion Grand Slam that runners often dread. I’ve managed to avoid it as it always falls on my wife’s birthday and I like being married. That’s my excuse anyway. Centurion staged a 100 mile one-off event here in 2019 and due to popular demand it returned for 2021. 49 people were daft enough to turn up on a Friday morning in July and see if they could add to the 20 finishers from the previous event. I was one of them in a field at 8am wondering what I’d signed up for. After a string of 100 mile DNFs it wasn’t looking positive so I tried to break it down into small chunks and not thing about the enormity of the task.   Reminder that my second book “Ducking Long Way” is out for pre-order on Amazon and includes my adventure on the Lakeland 100:   https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ducking-Long-Way-Ultra-Running/dp/1913207587   For more irreverent running nonsense head to www.runlikeduck.co.uk   For the race head to https://www.centurionrunning.com/