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00:00:01
Rohan Kallicharan
205 Plays6 months ago
In this episode Michelle chats with community member Rohan who has been running for over 10 years.
Michelle and Rohan chat about Rohan's love of running, his charity work, mental health, and his goal to reach 100 marathons by his 50th birthday.
He will be running his 100th marathon this Saturday 1st June.
Trigger Warning: This episode contains a discussion about attempted suicide, which may be distressing for some listeners.
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Transcript
Introduction and Rho's Background
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi Ro, thank you so much for joining us on the UK Run Chat podcast today. Those listening will obviously know you well from having hosted some UK Run Chat hours for us, so you'll already be a familiar face. But thank you so much for giving up your time tonight. Can you just kind of introduce yourself to those people who don't know you? Of course I can. Thank you so much for having me first and foremost.
00:00:26
Speaker
It's always a joy to host them the quickest hour of the week on a Sunday night. It definitely keeps me out of trouble. So I'm, I'm, uh, I'm Rho, Rho Han to my mum when I'm in trouble, as we were, we were just laughing about, um, offline. Who am I? I am, as of today, a 96 time marathon runner, hoping to become 97 and 98 this weekend. I took up running about 10 years ago.
00:00:57
Speaker
and it's been an incredible journey ever since. I took it up to lose a little bit of weight and raise a bit of money for charity, but it's become such a wonderful part of my life. Away from
Lifestyle Changes and Running Motivation
00:01:12
Speaker
running, I'm an HR director for a global not-for-profit organisation. I'm married to Claire and we're based in South West London, not far from Battersea. So that's the
00:01:27
Speaker
very quick whistle-stop tour. Yeah, wow. So with that, I kind of want to start with my own ones, but perhaps we should rewind a little and have a chat about how you got into running then. So you mentioned there that you ran to lose some weight. So when did that all start? So it started on a Sunday night in Oldham back in around 2000, right back at the start of 2013.
00:01:57
Speaker
And I'd been up to Oldham to watch my beloved Liverpool football club lose an FA Cup tie against Oldham. And we're coming out of the ground on a dark January evening and I managed to trip over and roll down a little hill and find myself, let's say, quite muddy, quite wet, quite disheveled and quite what on earth have I just done.
00:02:24
Speaker
and then had to sit in that disheveled state on the supporters coach back to Birmingham where I lived at the time for the next three hours and that was all 20 stone of me at the time. I wasn't a small guy back then. I
Mental Health and Running Journey
00:02:43
Speaker
grew up playing a lot of sport. My dad was actually an international cricketer for the West Indies
00:02:50
Speaker
So sport was always a part of my life growing up, played a lot of cricket, hockey. I would never say that running was a particular strength of mine back in the day. I was known as the Cuban in sixth form. And this was basically nothing to do with cigars or anything like that. But it was down to the fact that in the 92 Olympics or the 91 World Championships, one of the two, I can't remember,
00:03:19
Speaker
there was a long distance heat. And there was a Cuban lady who was at least two or three laps behind everyone else. And typically when it came to cross country or warm ups, I was always just three laps behind everyone else. So I got fondly christened the Cuban back in those days. So I've been sporty, but then over a period of time, and we'll talk about mental health, I'm sure during the next hour. I live with very poor mental health. And
00:03:49
Speaker
As I rebuilt my life from a really difficult period in my 30s, basically, I was so focused on my mental health. I didn't really realize that I was becoming less and less active. I was really putting on weight.
00:04:07
Speaker
And as I said, you know, I'm always a bit playful with it, but this incident of rolling down the hill and splitting my trousers really was the beginning of starting again, because I just realized at that point in time that if I didn't do something about it then, actually, number one, my mental health was going to suffer all over again. But also, you know, I really was at the point of no return.
00:04:33
Speaker
So sometimes, you know, I do sometimes think fate. As a Christian, I probably shouldn't say fate too much. I should probably believe more in destiny. But I went into work a few days later. And we had all the flip drops would come through this door at lunchtime. One of them was for a club, a 24
00:05:02
Speaker
24 hour anytime access gym fitness club that was going to open up about two doors from the office and it just it was just one of those where I thought if I don't do this now I am never going to do it I have to do it now so I started I signed up for the club and
00:05:23
Speaker
And I basically started getting up at about 4.30 in the morning and getting the first bus from Birmingham City Centre where I lived, the two miles up the Hadley Road to the gym. So I could basically go in, I'd be there at about five in the morning before anyone else because I was determined. If I was dying on a treadmill, no one was gonna see me, believe me. So I started that journey and it was,
00:05:54
Speaker
it was painful. It was kind of like, you know, back at that time, it was 30 minutes, it was 30 seconds walk, and kind of like two minutes stop, we're not talking about even beginning to run yet. But you know, over over a period of time, as you know, you persevere, and it became, you know, that I could run for 30 seconds, but then walk for a minute and then fall over and catch my breath for about five. But you just keep on going.
00:06:25
Speaker
Where it took off and picked up a life of its own was when I decided to fundraise, because I knew that actually I wasn't seeing a huge amount of progress. There was a little bit, but ultimately, you know, deep inside I had that crikey, this is hurting, this isn't much fun, and what am I really achieving with it? I could have much more fun going back to eating everything in sight and not doing anything.
00:06:53
Speaker
So I decided to do the one thing that any sensible human being who couldn't run a bath would do, enter a 10K. And I entered Manchester, the great Manchester run, which was a 10K rather than half marathon back in those days. And I decided that I'd raise money for the mental health charity that had supported me through my most difficult times.
00:07:21
Speaker
And that, above all, was the moment where it all changed. I remember I got on the phone to my mum and she just looked at me and kind of like said, well, not looked at me, but you could hear her kind of like sighing on the other end of the phone. She's kind of like, you're going to die. What are you doing? And I'm kind of like, believe me, the minute that one person donates a pound, I have no choice. I'm going to do it.
00:07:49
Speaker
And that that was it. I did do it. It wasn't pretty. And I've got some great photos, which actually I'm hosting the the UK run channel on the 2nd of June. My promise to you is I will bring some I'll bring some of those photos. And I start I started that day. And I remember I got up the next day. I had no idea what Don's was because in fairness, I was sore all the time.
00:08:16
Speaker
But I remember just thinking, you know what? I've got this incredible feeling of achievement. It's amazing. I haven't felt this good since I was a kid playing a strong level of cricket and a lot fitter. It feels so good. So I got on the blower to the mine team, the fundraising team, and said, oh, can I do a half marathon later this year? Can I do the Great North Run? And then we come, yeah, of course you can.
00:08:44
Speaker
So I got on the phone to my mum, told her, you can imagine what her response was. Especially when I told her that not only was I going to do Great North Run, I was actually going to do Great North Run, Royal Parks and Great Birmingham Run, three half marathons in five weeks. I don't do things by halves. But I still had, I had five or six months to get there. And actually, by the time I got to the half marathons, I'd actually become a fairly,
00:09:14
Speaker
a fairly nimble, much fitter human being that was comfortable running, enjoyed running. And I
Overcoming Challenges and Injury
00:09:24
Speaker
loved every minute of those three-yard marathons. I mean, Great North was hilarious in so much that we got to the finish line at the heavens opened. And I've probably, I've rarely been so cold in my life as I have been standing on that beach.
00:09:42
Speaker
South Shields waiting to wait to catch a bus. But again, it's just that it's easy to say phrases, Michelle, like runners high. But, you know, whether you go for a run in the morning before work, whether you go for a run in the evening after work, any time in between or a race, there is something which and I'm not a scientist. I'm not going to get into the endorphins conversation or the the chemistry conversation. All I'm saying is
00:10:12
Speaker
There is a sense of energy, there's a feeling of satisfaction and achievement, whether you've run a mile, whether you've run a hundred, because, you know, actually, in one person's mile, there's another person's hundred. And you get that sense of achievement, that sense of, I can actually really do something. And that's that that was really how we continue to take off.
00:10:39
Speaker
And of course, you know what's next. I finished doing the Three Heart Marathons, got on the phone to the charity team of Mind. Guys, can I do you know what? And you also know the next conversation when I got on the phone to my mum, but you know what, 96 happens later and mum, I am still going strong. Does she still have the link we have to?
00:11:02
Speaker
No, she, these days she's, she's kind of like giving up. She, I think she believes that I am titanium these days. If so, when I did an accidental 10 in 10 days last year, she was just kind of like, yeah, alright, I shouldn't be surprised by anything you do these days. So is it just marathons you do now? Or do you still do all distances as well? You obviously prefer your marathons, don't you? It tends to be marathons and ultras. Yeah.
00:11:30
Speaker
But for me, I think it's just, it is an iconic distance. And by the way, it's not a case, I'll go out and run any distance any day of the week. But when it comes to actually events, definitely I do love the marathons. And look, I had a serious injury a couple of years ago.
00:11:57
Speaker
so missed most of 2022 with injury and acts almost unintentionally rebuilt to get back to this point of being able to run marathons to be able to enjoy them and to actually run more than I've done before but
00:12:15
Speaker
actually in being injured and going through recuperation and almost resetting my relationship of what I wanted to achieve through running, actually my body's become much more adapted to running that distance. I run a lot more off-road now as well. You know, I never talk flippantly about running marathon because ultimately you have to respect any distance that you ask your body to run, but actually
00:12:46
Speaker
there's probably, you know, it's probably once in every 10 marathons, I've got an effort race, a target race, you know, the rest of them are long runs with friends along the tow path, the terms path where, you know, ultimately, yes, they are official marathons. They're run by, you know, by a by a race organizer, but there's no there's no egos, there's no
00:13:11
Speaker
target times. It's just actually really great times with like-minded people and actually being out in the open, out in the outdoors, just really being at peace with myself. And it's one of the reasons why I've actually now become, again, I'm slowly taking the step up to doing more ultra, but running recently did the Manchester to Liverpool.
00:13:38
Speaker
ultra which was just so enjoyable again. Such a contrast for example from London Marathon last Sunday where look you know it was my seventh London and I loved every minute of it. But you arrive and you arrive into the starting pen and you're in testosterone central
00:14:04
Speaker
Whereas you arrive at Salford Media City for the start of the Manchester to Liverpool ultra and actually you couldn't be in two more contrasting environments. And the ultra is a different test. It's a battle of the mind as much as it is of the body.
00:14:32
Speaker
But the support that you give to other people, the support you receive from other people, there are no competitors. You really do do it together as teams. I know there were moments where I carried strangers along with me and I know for a while there were moments when others took me along when I was kind of like, actually, you know what, I'm really struggling here. But they were kind of like, well, run with me for a few minutes.
00:15:00
Speaker
that's the kind of the kind of camaraderie you build up over over an ultra and actually when you're with a similar group of and you know there were about five hundred runs i think for Manchester Liverpool and you know there were probably about 30 or 40 of us in in a particular kind of like pace group so you come across you cross each other quite quite regularly at the diff whether it's at the different
00:15:28
Speaker
aid stations or just when someone's walked a new run, you will constantly see the same faces. So you just get used to encouraging each other along that journey. And I think there's something very, very special about that. And I will always
00:15:46
Speaker
do, you know, a few target marathons a year, because there's still something really special about going off to another city and exploring it on the roads. But I see, you know, my, my, my longer term future being more and more trail and ultra. Yeah. Oh,
00:16:13
Speaker
There are so many that have been so special. But if I'm totally honest, I think London last week was finally the marathon where I just found it a zen that's difficult to describe. And I really would describe it as a favorite of all of them so far. And the context being, you know, there was a point in time
00:16:42
Speaker
where my relationship with running it become quite toxic. I say
Enjoyment and Relaxed Approach to Running
00:16:50
Speaker
accidentally I worked hard and you know probably thoroughly unintentionally became you know pretty decent at running so back in 2017 I ran my first sub three you know I ran a couple of others soon soon afterwards and that was
00:17:13
Speaker
although it was a great achievement and something that I'm always going to be proud of it was the beginning of a big downslope for me because suddenly I was turning up at races putting a huge amount of pressure on myself
00:17:30
Speaker
to perform, to prove to myself, not to anyone else, that it hadn't all been a fluke and to prove to myself that I was still as fit and healthy as I was a couple of years ago or a couple of weeks ago, whatever it may be. And in many respects, I think that's what really led to the Achilles injury, which which which kept me out for for about a year. And as I said, that injury was the best thing that ever happened to me.
00:17:56
Speaker
because by the time I came back I just learnt to start enjoying myself again and you know I think take it from my wife really more than me
00:18:09
Speaker
she she said she'd never seen me so relaxed as last week going into a big one and it is true i didn't even bother taking selfies at the expo i was just kind of like yeah i'm gonna go pick up my number chat with a few people that i know i went with a few of my um uh
00:18:28
Speaker
Clubmates from Clap and Pioneers, which again is unusual for me because I'm quite an introvert and I normally at these events I just want to be in my own little bubble, but I just I embraced and enjoyed every moment of that weekend and even on the Saturday the day before where I can often get myself really Tied up in knots about am I gonna get enough steps in you know, just to walk so I'm ready for the next day and
00:18:58
Speaker
Am I going to eat the right things? Am I going to have enough water? Am I going to go to the loo? All of those things that have just totally destroyed so many race weekends in the past. None of them were there. I was just, yeah, you know what?
00:19:14
Speaker
I'm enjoying it. I'm ready. I want to have fun. And that's exactly what I did. It was such fun. It was amazing. And I saw so many of my mates out on the course as well. I'm spectating. I saw my wife a couple of times, friends from church, all of that. It was just one of those,
00:19:43
Speaker
It was the whole experience of the weekend and it showed in my performance in so much that my splits were insane. I think for all of the 5K splits across the race, there's only two seconds which separate the fastest and the slowest. I was that consistent across.
00:20:06
Speaker
across it. For me, that's what made it so special, just that sense of relaxation, fun and enjoyment. Rome's always great as well, finishing and starting in front of the Colosseum. For anyone who ever comes down to London in August, September, I absolutely love Richmond. Jade and Tom put on an incredible event down there, which again is so, so inclusive.
00:20:36
Speaker
And, you know, as far as the ultras go that, you know, the Manchester to Liverpool was very, very meaningful for me. Because, you know, I got to go, I got to run to the city I call home. And in many respects, I was putting, I was putting in the rearview mirror some of the demons of the challenges I faced earlier in my life.
00:21:00
Speaker
Yeah,
Transformation and Giving Back
00:21:01
Speaker
do you want to talk to us about mental health and how we're in this action? Yeah, of course. So I and I suppose we go back to that conversation about being a pretty happy, sporty, energetic child and early teenager.
00:21:26
Speaker
And it was probably in my late teens that I begun to go from being that happy-go-lucky, bright teenager to basically being a mixture of Kevin and Perry, to be honest.
00:21:43
Speaker
And I think that was partly the problem because, you know, I did become withdrawn. I became angry. I became everything that I hadn't been before. But ultimately to the outside world looking in, I was just kind of like, yeah, he's a teenager. Fine.
00:22:01
Speaker
People explained it away because mum and dad were going through a divorce at that point in time, so it was difficult at home. So all of that, you know, I asked for help a couple of times. I asked, I asked teachers at school, I asked them family GP and they all just said, you know,
00:22:24
Speaker
without using that phrase, man up. I just did, you know, man up, you'll be, you'll be fine. You can head off to uni quite soon and you'll put it behind you and you'll be, you'll be good as gold. And of course I wasn't as good as gold. I went off to uni and my behavior became more and more erratic. It was, it was absolutely erratic and
00:22:50
Speaker
What would happen if I was capable of literally being awake and energetic and wired, as I'd put it, for about 72 hours without sleeping. And when I did sleep, I'd crash and I wouldn't face anyone for days. And it was that pattern which ended up with me. I did the most indescribable achievement of failing first year three times. The fact that they let me take first year three times is more of a problem.
00:23:20
Speaker
But back in those days with the grant system, it was just kind of like, oh, yeah, okay. We'll give you some more money. That's fine. No problem. And again, I did ask a GP at uni. What's going on? He was kind of like, look, you've left home for the first time. Your parents have just gone through that. Again, you'll settle. It will be okay. And this pattern just went on and on and.
00:23:45
Speaker
let's fast forward almost through the next 10 years where it was a pattern of this manic behavior, this agitation, followed by feeling really sad and unable to face anyone. During the manic stages, my behavior would be erratic. I would be extremely angry at times.
00:24:14
Speaker
I, you know, I did spend absolutely erratically, got myself into all kinds of debt. I mean, I managed to spend a student loan in about two hours at HMV and Burton's menswear. You know, we can laugh, and I do laugh about it, but this is where I was. And ultimately, anyone now
00:24:43
Speaker
would look, you know, if I went to a doctor now and described that behavior, anyone straight away would have a sense that it was bipolar disorder, but no one did. And part of it, I don't blame anyone because every time I present it to a doctor, the only time you present is when you're in a depressive state. You don't present when you're in manic because when I was manic, I thought I was untouchable.
00:25:12
Speaker
I was absolutely untouchable when I was manic. So the only time I present is in depressive state. That's what nearly ended my life because in depressive state, what they did finally do, they finally prescribed me antidepressants and
00:25:32
Speaker
Ultimately, what they're taking is a mood illness where I'm at my most dangerous when my moods elevated and manic and they're giving me medication which elevated it even further. The inevitable happened and you know, there were there were and I apologize for I hope that, you know, there won't be any triggers for anyone. There were attempts on my own life.
00:26:01
Speaker
And I'm just, I'm hugely grateful that ultimately through no volition of my own in January, 2006, I did wake up and finally got the help that I needed because at that point in time, I finally had someone in the hospital who said, you're not leaving this place unless you go with a responsible adult.
00:26:30
Speaker
And the only responsible adult I could turn to at that point in time was with my mom at which stage I finally, after, you know, 15 years of really being in, in this kind of crisis on this, on this absolute roller coaster, had to just put my hand up and say, help. And, you know, ultimately, I,
00:26:55
Speaker
It's what's driven my running journey in so many ways. So, you know, when we talk about, and I'll always bring an element of mischief because that's who I am. So, you know, when I talk about how I started running, there is that mischief in so much that, yeah, the reason I knew that I wouldn't quit was once anybody donated a pound. And yeah, mum actually did say, you know, you're going to die.
00:27:25
Speaker
But the reality was the reality was this. It meant so much more to me, giving something back to the charity who had been at the forefront of, you know, giving me a second chance at life. And, you know, that that's really driven the marathon journey through there. You know, I've done some crazy fundraising antics
00:27:52
Speaker
And, you know, I wouldn't change a single one of them.
00:27:59
Speaker
you know, to be able to use my life, to be able to appreciate every single morning how lucky I am to be alive. And to be able to use that and use something I love doing in running to be able to transform other lives is just a gift. It's an incredible gift to be able to bring. And, you know, last weekend,
00:28:30
Speaker
I came around the finish line, I came around the final bend at the London Marathon, and there was a guy in front of me, Jim Hall, who was, I mean, he was a total stranger at the time, we've now been connected, and done BBC interviews together, but he was, you know, with a lot of discomfort, you know, in the last couple of hundred metres,
00:28:59
Speaker
And it was just one of those where I couldn't actually believe how many people ran past them. I genuinely couldn't and I was kind of like, I'm not, I can't run past.
00:29:09
Speaker
another human being because ultimately, you know, 30 seconds of the time, it's just not, it's not that important to me. But doing the right thing for another human being is because ultimately, I'm here today because other human beings did right by me. And, you know, running allows me to pay it back, but also pay it forward. And, you know, that, I think,
00:29:33
Speaker
When I when I wake up at five thirty every morning and even on the cold mornings like this morning, which felt like kind of like February rather than than April, you know, it's easy. It's it's a privilege to go out the door because ultimately I know the benefit I get from it. And I also know ultimately that I can use it for for for the good of others. Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that very personal story that row. That's yeah.
00:30:02
Speaker
You are a big inspiration to others and you do raise a lot of awareness, don't you? I think that's so important. Do you want to talk to us a bit about the awareness work that you do? Again, it has been a privilege.
00:30:22
Speaker
fortunate that, and in fairness, people might argue when they've listened to me on the podcast, but I'm fortunate that public speaking is something that I felt very comfortable with. So I've been able to, you know, as I rebuilt my, I rebuilt my career and, well, I say rebuilt, I built a career from scratch because up until 29, up until the age of 29 and then 32 when everything came to a head.
00:30:51
Speaker
I've not been able to hold down a job. And, you know, I'm very fortunate now that you know, I am I am in a comfortable
00:31:00
Speaker
position. I built a career as an HR director and through that I do a lot of work around workplace wellbeing. So I've been very fortunate to be able to do a lot of public speaking in that space. And then, you know, I've had an incredible journey with my Mental Health Charity. And, you know, actually that journey is just coming to an end now. You know, it's
00:31:30
Speaker
probably around 12-13 years of doing fundraising, awareness raising with them and ultimately I can't speak highly enough of the work they've done to transform the landscape around mental health in this country and for me I've had the privilege to represent them as a runner
00:31:51
Speaker
to work on a lot of corporate fundraising partnerships with them, to do a lot of media campaigns with them. I was part of the documentary that won a Mind Media Award in 2017 in my mental health. Which, you know, all of which is very, very humbling for me and most humbling was getting to be a trustee for the last three years. But, you know,
00:32:21
Speaker
Every journey, I think, runs its distance. And, you know, I think as we've got towards the finishing line of this journey, I've realized actually great. I'm really looking forward to what the next race is, what the next cause, next charity, I've got ideas, the way that I can impact. And, you know, for me, I think,
00:32:51
Speaker
I've been so used to having that purpose in my life and I know full well, Claire my wife has the patience of Saint because ultimately she does, she loses me to running.
00:33:07
Speaker
Day after day after day she will often lose me to a weekend in Liverpool if i want to go and watch the football as well and then on top of that she will lose me to fundraising and mental health commitments and
00:33:25
Speaker
she really
Future Plans and Balancing Life
00:33:26
Speaker
is, she's the rock on which all of this is built in many regards because she in many ways has given me the freedom to continue having that purpose but I also know that now's the time for me that I want to give something back to her and that means you know I think doing
00:33:51
Speaker
number one, doing less football and doing less in terms of my fundraising and public facing commitments and stepping back from the role as trustee and not applying for re-election, which means I can focus on number one being husband, number two being very good at my job and number three focusing on continuing to enjoy my running.
00:34:19
Speaker
And I will still do, I will still fundraise, there's no two ways about it. And I'm very lucky that I'm able to do it in a way that's probably different to a lot of people who we know for well how difficult it is to raise fundraising targets for big events and they're demanding targets. I'm very fortunate now that because I've got a profile as a public speaker around mental health, I will get,
00:34:47
Speaker
you know some paid engagements and I'm able just to donate those paid engagements to where basically be my fundraising in many regards. So I suppose it's just one of those things of everything going full circle and just coming together perfectly because you know the running has
00:35:09
Speaker
given me the energy and the purpose. The energy and the purpose is what drives the everyday, the desire to change lives, the desire to have a transformative effect on those around me.
00:35:26
Speaker
And obviously, you know, it's also driven the, I suppose, the success in the workplace, which has allowed me to also build the profile as a speaker, which just feeds back into everything. So, you know, there's not a day when I don't realise quite how fortunate and blessed I am.
00:35:51
Speaker
So for me, I think whether it's in running work or anything else, the key to me is always be humble and always look to
00:36:06
Speaker
Yes, you want to reach up to learn, you want to reach up to develop, you want to reach up to be better, but I want to spend as much time reaching down to bring others with me. And down is probably the wrong way of putting it because it sounds really condescending, but reach across, let's put it.
00:36:24
Speaker
to bring people who want to go on a journey, to actually give them the leg up in, as I said, in the same way that people have given me. So I'm hugely excited at the next chapter, the next race, you know, as I said. For me, I've loved everything that I've done with mine. I've already connected with a couple of new causes and charities that I want to do some fun stuff with and we'll see where that journey goes.
00:36:54
Speaker
Yeah, that sounds really exciting. We'll look forward to hearing about that. In terms of your race is coming up then, what have you got coming up next? You mentioned earlier you wanted to do some more ultras. Yeah, so I mean, it's a strange one in so much that
00:37:17
Speaker
I quite long ago had this crazy dream of reaching 100 marathons on my 50th birthday. And then actually, I got busy, I got injured, and I was a while away from doing it. And let's be honest, I didn't think I'd do another one marathon, let alone another 50 back about 18 months ago.
00:37:45
Speaker
And it really was accidental. So I took a sabbatical last year. I needed that time. Mum hadn't been that well at the start of the year, so it was a good opportunity for me to take, to step away from work for a short time, look after mum. But then, admittedly, I found the job search a little bit more difficult than I hoped it might be, certainly to get the right opportunity. So I had time on my hands, and I spent it running.
00:38:16
Speaker
So I turned up to Phoenix running down in Wharton on Thames to do three in three days back in July.
00:38:26
Speaker
And that three and three days very, very quickly became four and four, five and five. And by the time I'd done five and five, there was no two ways about it. I was I was going to do the the ten and ten or as as Rick from being his cause at the tit. So that that was that was the accidental tit. And from there, I decided to go on
00:38:53
Speaker
to go on a mission to where do 52 and 52 weeks. So at the moment, I have done 43 of those
00:39:05
Speaker
um 52 and I've got until the 11th of July uh to complete my um my my slight the slight challenge is actually the fact that I have a three-week hiatus of May because I'm determined that I am actually going to run that number 100 on my 50th birthday on the 1st of June so this weekend I wouldn't call them races so the next few that that
00:39:37
Speaker
You know, they're marathons, they're events, but they're fun runs. So I've got 97 and 98 this weekend down on the towpath at Phoenix. And then I'm an Exeter next weekend, the 12th for number 99.
00:40:01
Speaker
And then on the 1st of June back on terms for the for number 100. And I will drop into the hashtag at some point on Twitter, the details of how anyone can enter that and come and have a fun day. The beauty of those events are they're the they're the lapped events format, which means you can run 5K, you can run a marathon, you can run
00:40:26
Speaker
anything in between or more and you get you still get treated like a king or queen and believe me there'll be a lot of cake going around that day as well. That's that and then I suppose the key ones later in the target races I'm probably the one that I'm kind of like focusing on with Batteries Park in
00:40:55
Speaker
I think they've moved actually from October to November. It's one of the run-through events and it's the one marathon where I literally can get out of bed and be at the start line in about five minutes walk, it's great. So I think that's really my target one for the rest of the year. Once we've got the 52 and 52 done,
00:41:20
Speaker
I'm looking to my side to see if Claire can hear me. If I do go on another fundraising mission, I might just extend that to 100 in 100 weeks. So watch this space. And again, I think
00:41:35
Speaker
The thing is, when you choose to take on that kind of challenge, you've got to be so kind to your body that I will probably only decide to do one or two target races every year where I actually look to try and peak for those. Everything else is have fun and enjoy. I've got the one that I'm really looking forward to is the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath Ultra in
00:42:04
Speaker
And I think that's in October. And number one, really looking forward to it. I love the ethos that Trail Escape have brought with their events. So looking forward to that. And also because I very rarely get to run in the West Country. We've got friends and family down there. So that should be a lot of fun as well. But I think for the rest of the year,
00:42:34
Speaker
I've had the two target races in spring, Rome and London, both of which were great. If anyone had told me two years ago that I would ever get close to 302 again, which I did in London last weekend, I'd have laughed at them.
00:42:59
Speaker
I haven't got the ego these days, Michelle, to need to go any quicker than that for me. It's just an honour and a privilege to be able to run the best I can be. And then, you know, as we said, well, I'm doing the same double next year, Ro, and London in the spring. And then, you know, we'll just, between now and then, we'll just continue having some fun.
00:43:26
Speaker
Yeah. So I mean, what's the injury in terms of how you look after your body then? Because you obviously don't want that to happen again. Absolutely. Just ego stripped away. So I think knowing, you know, with all the, with all, with all the events again is just less intense, less intensity.
00:43:56
Speaker
and listening to my body the minute I feel a tweak I don't I don't you know get that um in a chin which says oh no go and prove go and prove you know this is how toxic it was I felt I felt a calf injury and it would be kind of like no let's go out for a run to prove you're not injured and you know that's how toxic that relationship had become at that point whereas now it's kind of like fine you know what you
00:44:25
Speaker
it's not right. Rest, you know, whether it's two days, four days, five days. And I think Claire was probably made up as well as shocked when I did just feel a little tweak in my calf probably around March time, early March. And I just said, fine, I'm having five days off. Didn't do a thing. Whereas that would have been unheard of.
00:44:50
Speaker
in the past and you know that's just something about where I am in terms of the journey. I suppose the other two things to think about are yesterday I got on my bike for the first time in seven months and somehow between now and May the 26th I have to be ready to ride 100 miles with Claire for Ride London because
00:45:15
Speaker
Again, that's one of the things that I can definitely give back to her. She is a very good cyclist. So I tend to see a lot of her back when I go out for a ride with her. So I've got to get ready for that. And the other one that I'm
00:45:38
Speaker
excited about is I've actually so I was meant to be doing a hundred miler running my first 100 miles and that would have been on 1st of March but I had to pull out of that because of mum's health she had an accident and I just couldn't
00:45:55
Speaker
couldn't do it, but I'm now got one booked in. I think it's on the 1st of September already in September. So yeah, there's loads ahead. I think, you know, going back to your question, what's changed is I'm not afraid to listen to my body and my mind. I'm not afraid to, you know, the inner chimp and the ego no longer have control.
00:46:23
Speaker
I'm more than happy waking up in the morning and just say, I don't feel like it today. And, you know, ultimately, when your body and mind are able to guide you in that way, that makes life a hell of a lot easier. Yeah, that is so powerful. Yeah, and that's it. If it's one thing that I see in the community and I'm so passionate about, you know, there are so many younger runners coming through.
00:46:54
Speaker
And, you know, so that you're now on the UK run chat community. They're so talented, so eager, so enthusiastic. But we've also built up this connection with mental wellbeing and running, which obviously I know all about as you can imagine, but we've built it up to a point where we've almost
00:47:16
Speaker
We've almost toxicly told people that the only way you can look after your mental wellbeing is to run every day. There's a girl that I see running out on Clapham Common every day, and I swear she's been limping for the last 18 months, and she never looks as if she's enjoying it, and yet she's out there.
00:47:42
Speaker
yourself, your body's too precious. And if you damage yourself long term, your mind's not going to thank you for it. And, you know, that that would be my message to anyone is find something else as well as running as well, you know, because there are going to be moments when you can't run. That's part of the journey. And actually,
00:48:06
Speaker
treasure those moments because that's when you're building your energy and building your resilience for the next chapters ahead. And that's
Advice for Runners and Community Support
00:48:12
Speaker
the biggest piece of advice I'd give to anyone who's listening. Brilliant. You've just completely. It would be that it would be listen to your body, listen to your mind and just enjoy and cherish being able to do it.
00:48:35
Speaker
your journey, your way, not compared to anybody else's. I love that. Thank you so much for coming and spending an hour with us. It's been really interesting hearing your story. Is there anything you would like, any final thoughts you would like to leave us with today?
00:48:54
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it really would be embraced communities like UK Run Chat. And I really mean that. For me, it's been such a support at different times in my journey. UK Run Chat and, you know, Phoenix Running that I've spoken about, the events organised, you guys reflect everything that's so good in the running community, which is shared experiences,
00:49:23
Speaker
The fact that it doesn't matter whether you run a mile in 15 minutes, 15 hours or five minutes, you are accepted. You've got a voice. People want to help you, support you. And just, yeah, my advice to anyone is embrace all of that. Embrace all of that and just, you know, enjoy the journey.
00:49:48
Speaker
look in the mirror and know every day that you're just giving of your best. Because ultimately, as we said earlier on, your best is the best you can give. And I
Conclusion and Social Media
00:49:59
Speaker
always say to someone, you know, someone will tell me, well, you ran 10 marathons in 10 days. I can't run a bath. I'm kind of like, stop, because your 10 kilometres in one day might be my 10 marathons in 10 days. Just
00:50:14
Speaker
you know, ultimately set yourself little goals, have little wins, have big smiles. Yeah, that's a perfect finish. Thank you. Thank you. Where can our listeners find you on socials then? You're obviously on the UK venture hour soon. Yeah. So my ex or Twitter handler, as we might call it, is Rohito, which is rro underscore
00:50:45
Speaker
J-I-T-O. And yes, I did used to have a penchant for a rum cocktail or two. I've actually been teetangled for now the best part of 500 days. And that's one of the best decisions I ever made. But that's for another story. Maybe that'll be when I host the hour. But
00:51:07
Speaker
So Rojito and Instagram is Rohan K, R-O-H-A-N-K-1-9-7-4. Brilliant. Well, thank you very much for joining us tonight. We hope all of you who are listening have enjoyed this episode. Thank you and we'll see you again soon. Will do. Thanks, Michelle.