Goals For 2014

In this blog entry I am making public my goals for 2014.  I have a number of specific goals, but the main aim is to run a total of 26 marathons or ultra marathons in the year, in what I am calling my marathon of marathon runs.  To qualify each run has to be recognised as a single event by the 100 marathon club.  So if I do the three day Druid Challenge again then this will count as three marathons.  But the 24 hour Thunder Run will only count as one event, even though it will be feasible to run one marathon on the Saturday and then another on the Sunday.  Any training runs that are over 26 miles will also not count towards the total.  The following is a list of events that I intend to do right up to July.  The ones in italics haven’t yet been entered, all others are already paid for:

12 January – Cold Christmas to Good Easter Marathon, Essex

1 & 2 February – 2 Day Pilgrim Challenge (33 miles each day), North Downs Way

15 February – Valentines Marathon, Stratford-upon-Avon

16 March – Pitsford Marathon, Northamptonshire

22 March – CTS Coastal Ultra Marathon (34 miles), Sussex

3 & 4 April – The Pony Express (30 miles each day), New Forest

27 April – Shakespeare Marathon, Stratford-upon-Avon

11 May – Halstead Marathon, Essex

17 May – North Downs Way 50 Mile Ultra

21 & 22 June – Isle of Wight 2 Day Ultra (38 miles & 32 miles)

19 July – The Chilterns 50km Ultra (31 miles)

26 July – The 24 Hour Adidas Thunder Run

So that’s a total of 15 events already identified (including 3 two day events).

In addition to the above, I have also pre-registered (as of today) for the 2014 100km trail race around Mont Blanc.  I won’t know if I have a place or not until about mid January.  If I do get a place then I will consider this to be my main event of the year and most of my training will be focused on trying to do well in this race.  I know from experience that training to run in the Alps is very, very difficult when you live in the flat of Cambridgeshire.  The race takes place on 29 August and starts in Courmayer, Italy, passes through Switzerland and ends in Chamonix, France.

I have also challenged myself and some friends and clients to run every single day in January, in what I am calling Runuary.  The rules are simple – you have to run at least one mile each day.  Anyone going on a ski trip can include at least 1 mile of cross country skiing.  So far about 12 people have signed up; we’ll see how many complete the challenge.

Many weeks have passed since I ran the Druid Challenge.  Since then I have been ticking over doing long runs of about 14 to 16 miles at the weekend, which I stepped up to 18 miles last Sunday.  I’m just getting myself ready for that first marathon of the year on 12 January.