Still Running (weakly). Issue 90

PAST – inspiration – “Who’d want to read a book about me?” I asked. Well, apparently, over 1,000 of you do, because that was the milestone number of copies that The Run of Life passed last week. I know that doesn’t exactly put me in the John Grisham/Richard Osman league, but never in a 1,000 years did I think…………

Back then, I took some persuading that I had something to say that people might want to hear. “But you’ve run for your country, Steve.” “Yes, but not many times.” “And you’ve won national medals.” “But lots of people have won more.” “And done 100 marathons and 500 parkruns….” “But, but…” “And you’re a Centurion.” “But there are over a thousand of us.”

“And you know loads about runners and running, and you’ve written lots about it too.”

It took quite a lot to overcome my imposter syndrome!

PRESENT – perspiration – And so, after a lot of conversations like that with family and friends, the book came to pass. And it seems that my journey – and the stories I have retold of people setting about similar challenges – has obviously meant something to you guys. It’s taken the 1,000 copies to finally convince me of that!

People have told me that I know so many great stories about runners and running, and that these inspire them. People have said that my book is so different from the usual biographies of famous sportspeople: for one thing, “You are just a normal bloke, Steve, with a family and a job, so you’re more like us and your challenges are our challenges,” and for another, “Unlike most of these ghostwritten bios, you tell it like it is – you lay bare the pain, the sacrifices, the worry, the doubts – and you show us that we can get through them too.”

So I am very glad, that, in sharing those stories, I have been able to inspire many of you to reach for your ultimate goals.

As I said in the book’s preface, if I have managed to write down some of the stories that inspired me, and in so doing, I have inspired you, then I will feel that I have repaid just a little of the decades of satisfaction that running has given me.

So I want to say a special thank you here to those of you who have shared your stories and your reinvigorated goals with me, after reading the book. It is gratifying and humbling to know that the inspiration has come full circle.

FUTURE – suggestion – It’s been a good run but, you know me, in the spirit of my book – “Altogether now, ‘Always have a target’,” I have more that I want to achieve over the next exciting 2 or 20 years or so – a 2nd book, 2,000 sales, a 5km time that starts with a 2………!

Let’s get the negatives out of the way right here and now!

2nd book. But I’ve used up all my stories in the first one. Oh, there is the one about the bloke I used to race walk against. After every bad race, he was so fed up, he’d go home and set fire to his kit. Of course, he got over it. But he never had much money, so at the next race, we’d see him turn up in slightly burnt vest and shorts.

Or the faster runner who offered to help his sister on her ‘60 seconds sprint, 60 seconds jog’ session. After warming up, they set off and after a while, he said, “Just checking, is this fast bit?”

2,000 sales. Well, I didn’t sell any on Monday; see, it’s slowing down already, you’ll never reach 1,100, let alone………..

5km time under 30. Really, Steve, after a total knee replacement and cancer, do you really think…….. I mean your last sub-30 was in August 2019.

Yes, you heard it here first, folks, no excuses, all the 2s – book number 2, thousand sales number 2, 5km time starting with 2. I’ll keep you posted.

Apologies for the self-indulgent nature of this week’s snippets; normal service will be resumed next week!