Still Running (weakly). Issue 158

PAST – inspiration – “It’s his best line.”  “Well, I think it’s his worst.”  James Lasdun and I were friends.  We were studying English Literature together at Bristol University from 1976 to 1979.  But we disagreed over a line of poetry.

The line was this: “Costing not less than everything” from Little Gidding in Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot.

“I think that’s Eliot’s best line,” I said to James.

“I think it’s his worst,” he replied.

“Ah yes, James, but you’re not a runner.”

James Lasdun went on to become a bestselling novelist and poet, so what do I know?

Well, what I do know is that this statement of extreme commitment summed up my attitude to running.

Now, what is the difference between dedication and commitment, I hear you ask?

Think of bacon and eggs: the hen is dedicated, but the pig is committed!!

I can remember – and I am sure that you can remember – times when you have given all that you could, where you have crossed the line and collapsed on the grass.

I can remember doing that after winning medals at national championships.  More latterly, I can remember doing that when I have managed to run for 5 minutes continuously.

These may be very different running performances, but the feeling is still the same.

Because the bugger of it is that, wherever you find yourself in the running stratosphere, the satisfaction that you feel is in direct proportion to the effort that you make – no matter what the actual speed of the run or quality of the performance.  So you know that to get that ultimate dose of satisfaction you are going to have to screw yourself up one more time.

Costing not less than everything………

PRESENT – perspiration – What was the biggest news in the running world this past week or so?  Was it Georgia Hunter Bell’s dominant victory on the Rome Diamond League 1500?  Keely getting beaten in Stockholm?  Was it the news (that I’ve only just seen) that Olympic finalist Jake Heyward is returning to form with a 3:34.1 1500 after a staggering 2 years of no running and 1,328 days without a race?  Was it perhaps the sad news of the passing of David Phillips MBE, a gentleman who ran over 500 marathons and raised over £150,000 for charity, and whom I met in Davos before the 2008 Swiss Alpine Marathon.  Rest in Peace, Dave.

No, with all due respect to Dave, it has to be Darren Wood’s completion of 1,000 parkruns at Morden on 30th May. 

It could actually have happened earlier: Darren was on 999 the week before but decided to volunteer that week instead and postpone his big moment – a gesture that symbolises the giving ethos that is at the heart of parkrun.

He could also have reached 1,000 sooner if he had taken part in the very first parkrun on 2nd October 2004 (called Bushy Park Time Trial back then) with the other 13 runners.  Back then, he was in the same running club as parkrun founder, Paul Sinton-Hewitt (Ranelagh Harriers), saw the email about it, but thought he would be too slow – something which perhaps shows the modesty of the man – and which now is of course laughable, given the unquestioned commitment to inclusivity on which parkrun prides itself.  (He did around 23 minutes the following week!)

On speaking about this milestone, Darren went back to a point he had made to Runner’s World a while ago – about not being judged – not judged for being slow, not judged for walking, and not judged for other, perhaps more far-reaching reasons. 

Because, in 2024, he had bravely admitted that the weekly gathering had helped him after a suicide attempt.  “I knew I had to go to parkrun to put the signs out.  I felt ashamed, but I went and I opened up to people.  I was never judged…… and people would always try to help.

“When I was going through my divorce, on Christmas Day parkrun was the only thing for me because I couldn’t see my children,” he added.

“A lot of people owe their lives to parkrun,” said Darren, “Including me.”  Many people would echo those words.

FUTURE – suggestion – parkrun is great for so many reasons, but one of the most important is that it starts to give our weeks a shape.

Probably the biggest obstacle for runners is finding the motivation to get out of the door and simply to do the sessions.  But…. if we have parkrun on a Saturday, and if we can meet with a friend or attend a club run to do a hard run on a Tuesday, and maybe some speedwork on a Thursday, then we are more than halfway to having the framework of a great week of running – and to defeating the problem of a lack of motivation.

I have banged on about key sessions, about extreme sessions, about sessions that prove what great shape you’re in, quite a lot.  But consistency is consistently held up as the most important factor in training.  If you can do most of the scheduled runs most weeks, then you have a fighting chance of being able to perform at something like your best come race day.

Back in my day, that might have meant training twice a day Monday to Thursday with two 6s on a Monday, a 6 and speedwork on a Tuesday, a 6 and a 10 on Wednesday, a 6 and hills on a Thursday, a 6 and a rest on Friday, then a 20 and a 5 on a Saturday, and perhaps a 35-miler on a Sunday.

Nowadays, though, that means going to the gym and doing what my body allows me to do on a Monday and a Wednesday, running a few minutes and walking a few minutes – and repeating – on a Tuesday and a Thursday, and then doing what I can at parkrun.  And I make sure I do that every week.  Consistently.

In both cases – historically and today – I couldn’t do any more.  And I wouldn’t let myself do any less.

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I don’t make it my business to recommend too many races but the Guildford 5km and 10km on 18th October supports the very worthy cause of teenage mental health.  Do consider entering!  Google “Greenhub Guildford 5km 10km”.  Thank you!