Thursday 23 December 2010

Then, Now, Tomorrow

End of the year (almost) so its time to say Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year to one and all and lets hope that 2011 is bigger and better than 2010 - not that 2010 was a bad year anyway!

2010 had its fair share of ups and downs on the running front, in more ways that one. After starting the year with the Country to Capital 45 mile Ultra I suffered a leg injury in the Thames Trot, that continued to cause issues for the next few races, and after many months of training I went to the Grand Union Canal Race in not the best frame of mind - needing a break - which I duly got, whether I liked it or not!!!

2010 saw me break into Triathlon (one to be precise), but started a spark and is something I hope to build on for 2011 (amongst other things). There are other familiar races planned, a re-visit to the GUCR and London Marathon, for the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity, and hopefully other new events including the Baxter's Loch Ness Marathon (for reasons which will become apparent).

I have to thank my sponsors for their support over 2010, namely Buff (I'm on their sponsored page), Compressport, Polaroid and Fitness Footwear, all who have supplied me with running bits, and all who have kept me going, through rain and shine (and plenty of snow too). Without them this last year would have been a whole lot tougher!

Last, but certainly not least of all, my best wishes go to Alex Flynn after a momentous year for him (see http://www.alexflynn.co.uk/ for all the details), running in not only the Grand Union Canal Race (reaching 119 miles), also doing the Europe 135 Ultra, Marathon Des Sables, London Triathlon (despite having a deep-set fear of water), Country to Capital and other races along the way, and pushing his body and commitment to raising £1M for Cure Parkinson's Trust to the max - deepest respect to the guy and I know 2011 is expected to be even bigger and better for him and the 10 Million Metre Campaign - Keep Moving Mate!!!

Update in a few weeks on a number of things in the pipeline, and how training is going, despite the um… festive traditions and here's to a good year of racing for all!!
CHEERS!!

Rich

1 comment:

deb said...

Hi Rich, just stumbled upon your blog - I'm also doing the London marathon for rainbow trust and it will be my first. Just knowing that it's humanly possible for people like you to do those huge ultras and stuff makes a marathon seem more achievable for someone like me! I would also like to thank you for what you are doing for the Rainbow Trust, they are a great support to our family as our daughter Iris goes through treatment for a brain tumour, she turns 4 on Sunday. If you're interested in knowing about some of the actual help we get, and what it means to us then check out our blog http://irisconnolly.wordpress.com especially the page called "a new cycle of chemo" Thanks, Debra