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00:00:01
Bruce Hampton
72 Plays4 hours ago
Bruce is running a 4 Marathons and an Ultra Challenge this year (with his 4 marathons in the space of 30 days). He's already completed Brighton and Paris Marathons, and next up for him is Manchester, then Milton Keynes.
Bruce chats openly about starting running during lockdown to help him lose weight, and since then he's devised a number of different challenges, all for charity.
Follow Bruce on X
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Transcript
00:00:00
UKRunChat
Hello and welcome to this episode of the UK Run Chat Podcast. I'm Michelle and today I'm joined by Bruce Hampton, who is kind of halfway between a challenge that he's in the midst of at the moment and to do four marathons in 30 days and an ultra.
00:00:19
UKRunChat
So we got in touch to chat about his challenge, but we'll also be chatting about just running in general. Hi Bruce, thanks so much for joining us.
00:00:26
Bruce
Thank you very much for having me.
00:00:27
UKRunChat
Yeah, how are you Would you like to give our listeners a brief introduction to you?
00:00:32
Bruce
Yeah, OK, so um I've been running for about five years, started during COVID, um and and been looking to to pick up challenges on the way. um Throughout ah the last six or seven years, I've been been doing some work with Birmingham Hospices and their predecessor, um which was St Mary's Hospice, um which I came about through through my rugby activities.
00:00:58
Bruce
So this year, um I decided to step up a ah level and I'm doing four marathons in 30 days across April. um So I started in Brighton,
00:01:09
Bruce
um Last weekend, i've I've just got back from Paris this weekend. I've got a weekend off and then I'm off to Manchester and Milton Keynes the following two weekends.
00:01:21
UKRunChat
Yeah, well, that's quite a challenge, isn't it? Because, you know, a marathon is no mean feat to run on its own, but four of them in that shorter period is, must be quite tough.
00:01:30
Bruce
Yeah, I could definitely feel feel the tiredness in my legs in Paris towards the end. It it was um ah a step up having to do the second one in in in the week.
00:01:41
UKRunChat
Yeah, I'm sure it was. So you've done, you've done Brighton so far. How did that one go?
00:01:46
Bruce
Yeah, so um prior prior to this year, my personal best was four hours and two minutes. And i I've been working quite hard. I was determined to break the four hour four hour barrier.
00:01:57
Bruce
um and And to say I did that is is a bit of an understatement because I managed to get it down to three, 44, 25. So ah big improvement this time. So the the training's really paid off.
00:02:10
Bruce
um So i I was absolutely ecstatic with that.
00:02:13
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's a huge chunk off, isn't it? That's brilliant.
00:02:15
Bruce
Yeah, it was 18 minutes.
00:02:17
UKRunChat
Yeah, wow. So that was completely unexpected then. So what's kind of changed with training, do you think? Have you just been doing more?
00:02:25
Bruce
Yeah, so this year I've made a a real um a real push to try and lose a little bit of weight um and to to think about how I could increase the training levels to get under that four hour mark. That was my real goal. um So I've lost three stone um since Christmas.
00:02:45
Bruce
um And I've run probably 10 15 miles a week further than I was before. So I've gone from running 25 to 30 miles to running 40 to 45 miles a week.
00:02:59
Bruce
um But thinking quite carefully about how I manage that. So not doing, I'm not one to follow programs, etc. I very much make it up as I go along. But working really hard on on so longer runs at a slightly lower tempo.
00:03:16
UKRunChat
Yeah, so keeping those nice and easy.
00:03:18
Bruce
Yeah.
00:03:20
UKRunChat
Yeah, so you've been just, I mean, you've just been putting kind of more runs in then to to add up those miles.
00:03:24
Bruce
Yeah, more runs in So um ah one of my my big things is park run on a Saturday morning, um but doing it doing ah a longer warm up before that so that it becomes a 10k rather than a 5k and that sort of thing.
00:03:40
UKRunChat
Yeah, okay. so you've So you've kind of, you've done marathon, ah you've done the marathon in Brighton and achieved, well, more than achieved a goal there.
00:03:49
Bruce
Yeah.
00:03:49
UKRunChat
And a week later, you went to Paris. So how how was that? Tell us about Paris Marathon as well.
00:03:53
Bruce
Oh, Paris, it was such an amazing experience.
00:03:54
UKRunChat
I've never seen it.
00:03:56
Bruce
The the the crowds are are on another level um compared to anything I've done before. um and And I mean, the number of people, there there were, i think, 55,000 people finished, um making it the biggest marathon ever.
00:04:12
Bruce
um So it was it was on another scale. It was very crowded. And there were places where it was hard to get past people.
00:04:17
UKRunChat
yeah Yeah, that's fantastic.
00:04:21
Bruce
um But again, i was i was under four hours, which was what I was aiming for. and and I had an absolute whale of a time.
00:04:31
UKRunChat
So tell us a little bit about the Paris marathon experience then what's it like?
00:04:36
Bruce
It was my first really big marathon. So um having the whole experience of of having to go and pick up number from the the expo and and having that massive experience there. And then the morning of it arriving under the Arc de Triomphe before the start. So in in a real you know cultural capital, I'm a massive cycling fan. so So the Tour de France finishes there every year. So seeing that was amazing.
00:05:05
Bruce
was really exciting and and starting on on the finish straight for the Tour de France and the Champs-Élysées is just absolutely iconic. You know, you're running past the Louvre, you're running past the Eiffel Tower.
00:05:19
Bruce
I mean, there can't be many cities that could rival that for for for um if for the environment.
00:05:25
UKRunChat
Yeah, I'm sure it sounds wonderful. um Yeah, so how you said the legs were quite tired. what What did your kind of week in between those two marathons look like then?
00:05:35
Bruce
um I'm often told I probably don't recover well enough. um So um i did, ah with with my running club, we run a social run on a Monday, um which is for people who are recovering from events. So we we do five miles at a quite a slow, chatty pace.
00:05:54
Bruce
um Then on Wednesday, I was out with my club doing our usual Wednesday club run. um On Thursday, we've got ah a local pub who do ah a 5k run on a Thursday night, which has become a real social thing.
00:06:10
Bruce
um And it was actually my 50th run with them last Thursday. um So I'm the first person to have got to that milestone. So I didn't feel that I could have a week off that either.
00:06:21
Bruce
So um but so we went, we had some cake and had a pint of beer afterwards.
00:06:21
UKRunChat
okay
00:06:27
UKRunChat
So you you're planning a quiet a couple of weeks now between Paris and Manchester
00:06:32
Bruce
ah Quieter. i I took Monday off this week, which is rare for me. But i will I did do the club run last night and I will be doing the the pub run tonight. um Obviously, I've got to do pub run on Saturday this week.
00:06:46
Bruce
but But probably not any long mileage at the weekend. And and we'll see. Although I always wake up on a Sunday morning and want to go for a run.
00:06:57
UKRunChat
Yeah. Do you find your body's kind of used to it now?
00:06:59
Bruce
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
00:07:00
UKRunChat
Yeah. So what does kind of a long run look like for you in marathon training then?
00:07:05
Bruce
So um I'd run probably a half marathon most Sundays. I'm looking to to up that, depending on what races I've got around that. So maybe 16 miles, maybe 20 miles.
00:07:18
Bruce
I very rarely go beyond 20 miles in a training run. um But yeah, so probably 15, 16 miles most weekends.
00:07:27
UKRunChat
Yeah. Okay. So I just wanted to, before we get on to kind of what's coming next, I thought we'll, we'll kind of, we'll go backwards a little bit and just pick up on a few things you've mentioned already. So and just, do you want to kind of tell us about kind of maybe your first run and why you decided to start running?
00:07:43
UKRunChat
Where did, where did the idea come from?
00:07:45
Bruce
Yeah, so I ran when I was at school. um I did um a lot of cross-country at a reasonably high level. um just Just a name drop, I was in in a in the same school year as a certain Mo Farah.
00:07:59
UKRunChat
Oh, wow.
00:07:59
Bruce
ah and he went to school in the in the next borough in London. So we we used to come across each other occasionally cross-country events in in London. um And obviously, i mean, he used to go off and win and I used to come somewhere near the back of the field.
00:08:17
Bruce
um But I'd given up sport um when I was at university um and it had been about 15, 16 years of not really doing anything. And I got very overweight. um I weighed 22 stone.
00:08:31
Bruce
um And then COVID came along. And um one of the the last things that happened before we went into COVID, I was in in the school library. I'm a teacher.
00:08:42
Bruce
And one of the year 11 students said, oh, you know, I'm either going to come out of this lockdown six stone heavier or six stone lighter. And that stuck with me. And on the and the first week of of COVID, it was, but what what can i do to lose six stone?
00:08:59
Bruce
um And so um ah did try running, but it was it was not really doable um at that weight. So I did a lot of walking.
00:09:10
Bruce
ah did a lot of cycling and gradually got my weight down. And then i started started running um as often as I could, um building up slowly. um But obviously all the events were off at that point because of Covid. So I did a lot of virtual things. I did a virtual Land's End to Jono Gropes challenge, mainly cycling. um i did um a virtual half marathon, which was excruciatingly painful, the first one I'd done.
00:09:43
Bruce
um So that was in the August of of that year. um And it took me a year, but I lost the six stone almost to the day after she made that comment.
00:09:57
Bruce
um So it was it was using that time when we weren't having to be in work every day to really to really make a difference to my life, and and and it really has.
00:10:09
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's what an incredible gift that time has been for you then. Yeah, that's amazing.
00:10:13
Bruce
Yeah.
00:10:14
UKRunChat
So did you was it just kind of the increased activity level that helped you lose weight or were you kind of looking at other things like your diet and things?
00:10:22
Bruce
I have looked at my diet, but i'm I've never been someone who can who can do a diet. I can't stick to it. It doesn't work for me. And the the challenge of losing weight, for me to say wanted to.
00:10:37
Bruce
So I've never been someone who saying a diet for works. If I said I need to lose three stone or something, I just wouldn't stick to it. But having the the challenge of doing something like Land's End to John Egg Roats really got me pushing and trying to do further. And and so while looking at my diet, it was more a total lifestyle change rather than a conscious effort to to lose weight.
00:11:04
Bruce
But I think that that, for me, has been more sustainable. And I've managed to keep the weight off throughout that time. And actually, um i've I've now lost seven stone altogether.
00:11:15
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's amazing. I think that's the key, isn't it? It's it's making lifestyle changes that are kind of compatible with day-to-day life, isn't it?
00:11:20
Bruce
Yeah.
00:11:24
UKRunChat
So that you don't you don' go back back to where you were.
00:11:24
Bruce
Yeah, absolutely.
00:11:27
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's an amazing achievement. Well done.
00:11:30
Bruce
Thank you.
00:11:30
UKRunChat
So you you obviously, that was reflected in your running because you obviously could see improvement as well you were as you were losing the weight along the way.
00:11:36
Bruce
Yeah.
00:11:38
UKRunChat
So tell you mentioned the jog there. Was that the virtual challenge?
00:11:43
Bruce
Yeah, so I did it virtually. um I found found a company on the internet and signed up and and and just, you know, using using Strava to to add the miles up every day and just cycling 20 miles here, running five miles there and going for a walk. And it all really quickly added up to the the thousand miles or so that it needed.
00:12:05
UKRunChat
yeah Yeah, no, it's it's a great achievement to tick something off like that, isn't it?
00:12:08
Bruce
Yeah.
00:12:09
UKRunChat
Yeah. so and So when did Parkrun kind of come into the picture for you then? Obviously not during COVID because it wasn't happening.
00:12:17
Bruce
No, so it came back the the following August. so It was about 18 months after the initial COVID happened. um And i'd um in 2021, I picked up the first of my really big challenges. and i I started running um half marathons in January just because it sort of happened. And so at the end of January, I'd run three half marathons. And I sort of thought in February, well, how long can I keep this going?
00:12:45
Bruce
So I set up a challenge to run 50 half marathons in the year 2021.
00:12:50
Bruce
And when Parkrun came back in August, my my Saturday routine was to get up and run 10 miles to get to a parkrun and then finish the half marathon by doing doing the parkrun on the end of it.
00:13:04
Bruce
um And so I did quite a lot of the but different local parkruns around here in that manner, which was quite a good fun way of getting into it.
00:13:13
UKRunChat
Oh, that's a great way to do some tourism, actually, isn't it?
00:13:16
Bruce
Yeah.
00:13:16
UKRunChat
Yeah, a good idea. So what whereabouts you based? what Which is your local park route normally?
00:13:21
Bruce
So my local parkrun is Brewton Park in Solihull, but it's quite a busy one, so it's not one I particularly enjoy. So I like to go all over the place, and actually I've done 109 different parkruns out runs, so i do like to get around a bit.
00:13:40
UKRunChat
which is your favourite, Bruce? I'm going ask you to pick one.
00:13:43
Bruce
um It's very difficult to say. I think possibly Mount Edgecombe on the Cornwall Devon border is is amazing. um You have to do ferry boat ride to get to the start line, which was absolutely fantastic.
00:13:57
Bruce
South Shields up in Newcastle is another amazing one along the coast. so But I love all parkruns. They're all different and everyone is so welcoming and you have such a great experience of meeting people, particularly the tourists who are there.
00:14:14
Bruce
um and And it's a really, really brilliant way to get people active on a Saturday morning.
00:14:20
UKRunChat
Yeah, it's it's wonderful. I used to do a bit of tourism myself. I've not kind of been to Parkrun for a while just because it doesn't fit in with family at the moment.
00:14:26
Bruce
Yeah.
00:14:26
UKRunChat
I'm hoping to get back to it, but I do love visiting different Parkruns. They've all got their own unique character.
00:14:32
Bruce
have Yeah, yeah. yeah
00:14:34
UKRunChat
Yeah, we tend to get to them when we go on holiday. We'll go and visit one if we can.
00:14:37
Bruce
Yeah, we we book holidays around parkruns.
00:14:40
UKRunChat
yeah Have you done any abroad?
00:14:43
Bruce
Yeah, so we've done, um me and my wife have done two in in in the Netherlands. um So we did one of the the extra events two years ago, and then we all went as a family last summer to get our letter Z because we were working towards our alphabet.
00:14:59
Bruce
And then in May this year, we've got a trip booked where we're going to fly out to Copenhagen on the Wednesday, do the extra park run on the Thursday, get a train to Germany on the Friday and do a German park run on the Saturday so that we tick off two new countries in one trip.
00:15:16
UKRunChat
So there's a park run on a Thursday.
00:15:18
Bruce
Yeah, so every country is allowed to nominate one extra day per year.
00:15:23
UKRunChat
i never knew that.
00:15:23
Bruce
to do a park run. So Scandinavia um is the the Thursday during the half term week in May. So um we're going to get those those Denmark and then Germany in that week.
00:15:35
UKRunChat
Oh, that's brilliant. it How exciting is that?
00:15:37
Bruce
Yeah.
00:15:39
UKRunChat
So you've completed your alphabet, have you? Do you like doing the other park run challenges?
00:15:42
Bruce
Yeah, we we actually only completed our alphabet last weekend. So we did Victoria Docks in London on the way to Brighton.
00:15:46
UKRunChat
Yeah. Oh, wow.
00:15:50
UKRunChat
That's brilliant. i love it. So what's the next part run challenge taking off then?
00:15:54
Bruce
i don't I don't know. I um i think we're we're having a not a break from tourism, but a break from the pressure of finding new things.
00:16:04
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:16:05
Bruce
But it's not that far off getting a second alphabet, although that would involve another trip abroad to get another Z.
00:16:11
UKRunChat
Yeah. So what was the Dutch one like? Was that all right?
00:16:15
Bruce
Yeah, so the first one we did was um in Leiden, which is between Amsterdam and The Hague.
00:16:21
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:16:22
Bruce
And we were staying there and it was a beautiful run around a golf course with dykes and windmills. So you're really, really picturesque and really good fun.
00:16:34
Bruce
And then the second time we went, we went to The Hague to do um to get RZ at Zelda Park.
00:16:39
UKRunChat
and
00:16:40
Bruce
um which was really, really exciting in a different way. Much more like a park run in this country where it was round a park. and and um But um lots and lots of English people there to to get their letters out, which is always good fun.
00:16:55
UKRunChat
Yeah, no, sure. so That sounds good. I've got family in lahague in the Hague. really should go and arrange to do that one, shouldn't I?
00:17:01
Bruce
Yeah, absolutely.
00:17:03
UKRunChat
ah So talk us through like how you said you've lost. and I'm just going back to the weight loss briefly because you mentioned earlier you've you've lost three stone this year alone.
00:17:11
Bruce
Yeah.
00:17:12
UKRunChat
Is that right?
00:17:13
Bruce
Yes, that's right.
00:17:13
UKRunChat
So talk us through how that kind of fit into marathon training, because we do need to make sure we're fueling o ourselves properly as well, don't we, for this running. So how did you how did you approach that?
00:17:24
Bruce
So um the when I'm on a weight loss game, what I do is I record everything that I'm eating, drinking and running. So I've got, um it's an app on my phone and everything I do plugs in. So you're you're absolutely right. You need to be really careful because it's very easy to to skip breakfast, to skip the calories or I'm not going to have lunch today because I want to lose weight. So obviously that's not very sensible, particularly if you're doing a longer run. um So making sure that I am staying a healthy number of calories consumed, but also monitoring, you know, what what well um what the gap is between how much I'm using and how much I'm consuming.
00:18:09
Bruce
um Possibly the biggest thing um is I didn't have ah an alcoholic drink for two months, um which which makes a huge, huge difference in calories.
00:18:21
UKRunChat
Yeah, it it does, doesn't it? It's surprising where all those hidden calories can come from.
00:18:25
Bruce
Yeah.
00:18:26
UKRunChat
Yeah. So what does kind of a typical like pre-long run breakfast look like for you then?
00:18:34
Bruce
um So if i'm if I'm doing 15, 16 miles, I usually have a couple of bagels, usually with peanut butter on um as my base. um And then I'll carry gels around with me. and I tend to to take those um every three miles or so for a longer run.
00:18:55
Bruce
if i'm only doing it If I'm only doing a half marathon, I can get away with not taking anything with me, but anything beyond that. It becomes a little bit more challenging towards the end.
00:19:05
UKRunChat
Yeah, and what what would you tend to refuel with afterwards? What's your favourite go to post?
00:19:10
Bruce
um
00:19:10
UKRunChat
and
00:19:12
Bruce
It varies. It depends a bit on on how far I've travelled. If I'm just running at home, it will be usually a nice and a nice veggie burger in the evening or something.
00:19:24
Bruce
Pizza's always a great one because of the the carbohydrate. um I like to mix it up though.
00:19:29
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah, good. So you mentioned a running group there as well. do you want to give them a shout out and tell us a little bit about how you got involved with them?
00:19:38
Bruce
Yeah, so um my club, ah and a Nolan Dorridge running club, um which is a local club, um and we got into them. It was actually my wife got chatting to someone at Parkrun. It was one of the rare times that we went to Bruton Park and and um one of the one of their run leaders approached her and started talking about running and said how how great the club was and would we be interested in joining.
00:20:01
Bruce
um So we went along on the Monday night and um we did an interval session and it was really good fun. Lovely people, um as as every running person I've met pretty much is. And we just got into it from there. we're going on a Monday and a Wednesday um and enjoyed it so much that I'm now one of the run leaders as well.
00:20:23
Bruce
um So Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm leading runs with them um and a really great bunch of people.
00:20:30
UKRunChat
Oh, that's yeah, that's lovely. So what do you enjoy about leading runs them?
00:20:35
Bruce
I like the the mental challenge of coming up with new routes every week to to keep things fresh. ah like i like the mental challenge of trying to run to a certain pace.
00:20:46
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:20:46
Bruce
um So if I've got the 10 minute mile group or the 9 minute 30 mile group, going out and trying to get as close to that as possible um and and encouraging people who are new to running or who are coming back from injury or or finding things difficult. I really enjoy being being there to support them.
00:21:06
UKRunChat
Yeah, it's it's quite a skill pacing, isn't it? And I guess that comes in very useful when you're trying to pace yourself for a marathon.
00:21:14
Bruce
Yeah, although when I'm on my own, I do tend to get carried away.
00:21:18
UKRunChat
Oh, I think, yeah, I think we're all a bit guilty of that, though, aren't we?
00:21:21
Bruce
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:23
UKRunChat
So what does your, you have kind of ah a pacing plan when you, have like when you approached your, you wanted your sub four at Brighton?
00:21:24
Bruce
I do, sorry.
00:21:31
UKRunChat
Did you have kind of a pace plan there?
00:21:33
Bruce
Well, my plan was to try and go off at about 8 minutes 50 pace, which would would be fairly comfortable to get under. um
00:21:42
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:21:43
Bruce
I got carried away. um and was running at 8.20 pace for the first half. um So I was well under that. But I managed to hold under nine minute miles all the way, which was was really good. um I will say when I passed my family at about the 17 mile point, my wife looked at my son and said, there is no way that he's going to hold that pace for the rest of the marathon.
00:22:08
Bruce
But I did.
00:22:09
UKRunChat
Yeah, you did you did well because quite often that can backfire, can't it?
00:22:13
Bruce
Yeah, and i I've had that experience.
00:22:13
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:22:14
Bruce
So last year I did Edinburgh Marathon and I went off at a similarly stupid pace and I couldn't hold it together. So my my real plan this year was to make sure that I could hold it together longer, um which is what the the training programme's really, really done for me this year.
00:22:32
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's obviously paid off at Brighton, hasn't it? And then you've still got your sub four then at Paris.
00:22:35
Bruce
Yeah.
00:22:37
UKRunChat
That's brilliant.
00:22:37
Bruce
Yeah.
00:22:38
UKRunChat
ah What are your goals going into Manchester? So we're we're coming up to the biggest, it's actually the biggest weekend of marathon running because we've got London and Manchester on the same day, haven't we
00:22:47
Bruce
Yeah, and and and others.
00:22:48
UKRunChat
ah
00:22:49
Bruce
and Stratford around here um also got a marathon that day.
00:22:50
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:22:52
Bruce
um So we're looking at about 100,000 people in the UK running marathons, which is absolutely amazing.
00:22:57
UKRunChat
Yeah, isn't that incredible? I think that's brilliant.
00:23:00
Bruce
Yeah. um So, i mean, my real target this year was four hours. So I'm going in with with no pressure, which is is a really nice feeling. um I'd definitely like to go under four hours again. So Manchester was my personal best before this year. So um four hours too. So I'd like to to round that down and get under four hours.
00:23:20
Bruce
But and the most important thing is just to to really enjoy it and and and meet people and and have ah have a great laugh while going around.
00:23:29
UKRunChat
Yeah, man Manchester is a great course. Have you done the, they're changing the route this year, aren't Because finishing city centre.
00:23:34
Bruce
Yeah, so so I've done it three times before um so and we've always finished right by the start.
00:23:36
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:23:40
Bruce
So it's going to be interesting um finishing nearer the city centre.
00:23:41
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:23:45
Bruce
I think it's a bit of a shame to to lose the city centre bit from the first five miles.
00:23:50
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:23:50
Bruce
and That was always really well supported and and you're not actually going right into the centre even on the finish this year. So I'm sure it won't won't change things because it is a ah really well supported marathon. But we'll we'll see what the changes are.
00:24:05
UKRunChat
Yeah, no, it'll be it'd be interesting to hear feedback from anybody that's doing that marathon. I know we've got quite a few listeners who are gearing up for Manchester. um So what would you say has been your favourite race so far that you've done?
00:24:21
Bruce
Oh, they're all so different. I loved, I love Manchester. um As I say, I'm going back there. This is the fourth time this year. It will always be special for me because it was the first marathon I ran.
00:24:32
Bruce
um I did Snowdon marathon last year, which was very different um and you had the ah challenges of the altitude changes and you didn't go all the way up to the top of Snowdon, but it felt like you were pretty close at times.
00:24:49
Bruce
um So that was fantastic. um And then I've done some really little marathons. I did one um on the Thames Towpath in March where there were only 50 people doing the event, 19 of us doing the marathon. And that was really good fun because you were just running out and back.
00:25:06
Bruce
And so you got to really know the other people on the course and you were giving encouragement every time you ran past them. So it was a really, really fantastic smaller event.
00:25:15
UKRunChat
Yeah, that sounds interesting. So how far was the out and back?
00:25:19
Bruce
It was just over 5k out and back, so it was eight laps for the marathon.
00:25:22
UKRunChat
Okay.
00:25:24
Bruce
um
00:25:24
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:25:24
Bruce
it It was really well organised. I can't speak highly enough of it. i've really enjoyed it.
00:25:31
UKRunChat
That must have brought different challenges to a normal marathon. was that Did that kind of feel tougher mentally to do that?
00:25:40
Bruce
Yeah, um it's not that it's not the toughest one I've done. i did I did Groundhog Day last year as well, which is on 400 metre track, but it is a very, very different mentality to a ah city marathon where you'll just go through each place once.
00:25:54
UKRunChat
Okay, yeah, there's not as much sightseeing to be done on a track. Tell us about that. i mean I'm intrigued to hear more.
00:26:02
Bruce
So Groundhog Day is in Telford and and it's on ah just on a 400m running track there and it's at the beginning of March so last year when I was there it snowed at the beginning which was was also made made things interesting and it's it's just having the real discipline to just drag yourself around that track over a hundred times But again, because you're seeing the same people over and over again, it's it's really, you you form a real bond with certain people. You're chatting, yeah yeah you're you're overtaking some people, they're overtaking you. You've got people going much faster than you.
00:26:43
Bruce
um The one thing, though, is it's absolutely impossible to count 105 while you're running.
00:26:49
UKRunChat
yeah how does that work do you have kind of somebody yeah
00:26:52
Bruce
So you have a chip and um someone on a computer and and every so often they'll say, right, you've done 40 laps or or you've got five laps to go.
00:26:56
UKRunChat
yeah
00:27:01
Bruce
So unfortunately, you don't have to keep count.
00:27:05
UKRunChat
oh well yeah that's good it i guess fueling is much easier on a on a track like that for a marathon
00:27:11
Bruce
Yeah, because you can you can set up your stuff um where you want on the track and then you're running through the water station every 400 metres. So it's really yeah really easy to to pick up.
00:27:23
Bruce
the The challenge I had was I'd always think, oh, I'll just go one more lap or I'll just go one more lap. So actually, I probably ended up not fueling as well as I would um in a marathon where you know that the the the water points for every 5k or so.
00:27:37
UKRunChat
Yeah. So did you find you were quicker on a track then or slower?
00:27:42
Bruce
um I was quicker to halfway. um
00:27:45
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:27:46
Bruce
It was early in the season, so I wasn't um as prepared as I was later um for Manchester. So I was relatively quick for halfway. that It's quite difficult to tell because um because the GPS on my watch was a bit inaccurate. So it ended up saying that I'd run 28 miles rather than 26. But obviously i'd run 105 laps, so I knew exactly what I'd done.
00:28:10
Bruce
how distance-wise. So pacing was quite tricky in that respect. um So I wasn't as quick as as I was in Manchester six weeks later, but I probably could be if I really set myself up for that one.
00:28:26
UKRunChat
Yeah, I guess it's a different, you don't have the crowds to spur you on like you do in a big city marathon, do you Because I kind of can help a lot.
00:28:33
Bruce
No, no, the there weren't many spectators.
00:28:37
UKRunChat
Yeah, because sometimes you need a little encouragement to really dig deep, I find.
00:28:42
Bruce
Yeah, absolutely.
00:28:44
UKRunChat
Yeah, so you've got Manchester coming up. That's at the end of the month. And then you've got Milton Keynes marathon.
00:28:51
Bruce
That's right, yeah.
00:28:52
UKRunChat
Yeah. Have you done Milton Keynes before?
00:28:55
Bruce
No, Milton Keynes, is it's the first time um that I've done that. It's one I looked at last year and i I was thinking about doing and then it sold out so I didn't get to do it.
00:29:05
UKRunChat
o Okay. Yeah.
00:29:06
Bruce
So, yeah.
00:29:07
UKRunChat
So you've got similar goals for that as do you have for Manchester.
00:29:11
Bruce
Yeah, if I can get under four again, that would be amazing.
00:29:13
UKRunChat
yeah
00:29:14
Bruce
and If I can do all of them and then to be my four fastest ever, that would be amazing. But I think by that point, we'll see how the legs are and and and and just getting round will be pay enough.
00:29:26
UKRunChat
Yeah. So just tell us a little bit more about your challenge zone, because it's not just the four marathons that you're doing, is it?
00:29:33
Bruce
No, so I've got the four marathons that we've already talked about and then in July I'm doing Race to the Stones which is a 100km race along the Ridgeway which is one of Britain's oldest footpaths.
00:29:47
Bruce
um So it starts just just south of Oxford by the M40 and goes across the the Downs and finishes Avebury Circle which are the Stones in the in the title.
00:30:01
UKRunChat
Yeah, so are you are you kind of feeling excited about that? are you a bit nervous?
00:30:06
Bruce
I think 100 kilometres is always nerve-wracking. I have done one before. So it's a great challenge and it's a very different mentality to running even a marathon. So you're looking at...
00:30:21
Bruce
making sure that you're consuming a high number of calories all the way. um but But eating almost normally, eating sandwiches, etc. um Just trying to keep going. And there'll be lots of points where it's not feasible to keep running.
00:30:36
Bruce
um and And so there'll be quite bit of walking within that um and hoping to get around in about 15 hours this year.
00:30:43
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah, that sounds good. too Have you done that specific one before? You've done the distance before?
00:30:48
Bruce
I've done the distance before. I did Race to the King, which is ah another event organised by Threshold Trails.
00:30:50
UKRunChat
yeah Yeah, so is that your first attempt at 100?
00:30:54
Bruce
um So that was on the south coast. um That was 100 kilometres, which I did last year.
00:31:02
UKRunChat
was it?
00:31:03
Bruce
I really enjoyed it. um Although I did say when I i finished, i'm I'm never doing that again, um which is really rare for me. But obviously that that didn't last because I've signed up for another one this year.
00:31:16
UKRunChat
So why did you decide to go for it again?
00:31:19
Bruce
I think it was the the the challenge sort of um grew out of o my frustration in not being able to get into the London Marathon.
00:31:30
Bruce
um And so I wanted to make it something big. and It sort of ended up as a bit of a play on words of the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.
00:31:41
Bruce
um So I had my four marathons booked and I needed something to to top that off at the end.
00:31:42
UKRunChat
right
00:31:47
Bruce
and so um and And while I was thinking about it, that email just landed from from Threshold saying, oh, you did this last year. Have you considered doing one this year?
00:31:58
Bruce
um So that was how it jumped in.
00:32:02
UKRunChat
ah So what are you most looking forward to about it then?
00:32:06
Bruce
um Well, hopefully it should be really good weather. um I'm not much of a ah trail runner generally, so it's a different experience. So it's really nice to you know have have different things in the diary f we every so often.
00:32:22
Bruce
um And I've got a couple of people from the club are doing it. So it'd be nice to to maybe have some time chatting to to different people on the way. But as I've i said, the the running community and meeting people.
00:32:36
Bruce
um and And last time I did one, I saw the same people over 80, 90 kilometres and had little chats and and kept each other going, which was absolutely fantastic. So just just the sense of community from doing it
00:32:51
UKRunChat
Yeah, I think that's the nice thing about long events like that, isn't it? You do tend to meet incredible people who who are kind of similar to you, really.
00:32:57
Bruce
yeah
00:32:59
UKRunChat
They you know they enjoy running running long distance and you can have you can have really good chats with people, can't you?
00:32:59
Bruce
Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:05
Bruce
yeah
00:33:07
UKRunChat
Yeah, that sounds good. um so you are So your challenge, you are raising money for Birmingham Hospice. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that charity?
00:33:18
Bruce
Yeah, so Birmingham Hospice are, um so it's it's two two hospices in in Birmingham, um ah particularly focusing on end of life care um for for cancer patients. um I got into raising money for them through um through my rugby club, mostly, um as they've been charity partners. And and we've done, we've always run what we call the rugby ramble, which is a 14 mile walk every year.
00:33:46
Bruce
um So i I started doing things like that. and And as I got more into running, I like to throw a challenge together, something a bit more than more sane people perhaps would do.
00:34:03
Bruce
And so I've built up a ah few challenges over the years. I tend to do one every other year or so. um And it sort came from that really.
00:34:12
UKRunChat
Yes. ah Tell us a bit more about what other the challenges you've done then. which your 100k part of one of those?
00:34:16
Bruce
there
00:34:19
Bruce
No, that one wasn't. um So um through COVID, when I started running, I was getting really into it. And and they did a it was a virtual run in the December.
00:34:31
Bruce
um And I think it was a five or a 10K virtual run. But I decided that I was going to run 100 miles in December um to to to raise money. And that was, know, that was my first sort of foray into into challenges.
00:34:45
Bruce
um and And I remember that 100 miles being a real real challenge for me. was more than I'd ever done before. um And then in 2021, the following year, um I did 50 half marathons in the year, um which again...
00:35:01
UKRunChat
Oh yeah, we talked about that earlier, didn't we?
00:35:03
Bruce
Yeah, really, really enjoyed um the the discipline of having to do one almost every week, which was um which was fantastic.
00:35:03
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:13
Bruce
um And then I had um a couple of years off. um And in 2023, I did an event called Escape Meriden, which is um you start at midnight in Meriden, which is roughly in the centre of centre of England. And you have 24 hours to get as far away from it as possible um as the crow flies.
00:35:38
Bruce
So yeah get everybody's shooting off in different directions and I headed south towards the London area to see how far I could get and I managed to to last 18 hours before um sort of collapsing in a puddle in in Dunstable near Luton.
00:35:55
UKRunChat
Gosh, that sounds yeah very very quirky.
00:35:58
Bruce
Yeah.
00:35:58
UKRunChat
ah So did do you kind of how do you approach that kind of event? Do you plan out your rough route beforehand?
00:36:05
Bruce
Yeah, I've got an idea. I've done quite a lot of research with looking at what people have done in previous years. and But also because of the nature of event of the event, it's unsupported. So you need to work out where you can pick up supplies on the way. So...
00:36:24
Bruce
um I made sure that about eight or nine o'clock on the Saturday morning that I was in Toaster, where I had a ah family friend who was able to replenish all my water and give me some food and things.
00:36:36
Bruce
And then Milton Keynes at lunchtime, I stopped for lunch in a pub, which was quite a nice ah quite a nice way of breaking things up. So...
00:36:46
UKRunChat
That must feel very surreal in the middle of a kind of long run like that.
00:36:51
Bruce
Yeah, yeah, it was. it was And the pub were lovely. And I actually made a donation to the charity while I was there and insisted on on giving me my lunch for free, which was really nice of them.
00:37:02
UKRunChat
Oh, that was so nice of them. Yeah. Did you dress up? Because some people kind of dress up in like the orange kind of jumpsuits as well, don't they? Or were you just kind of in normal running gear?
00:37:10
Bruce
ah I started off in the jumpsuit, but it it was really, really wet overnight.
00:37:13
UKRunChat
and
00:37:16
Bruce
And by sort five o'clock in the morning, it was just heavy and it was just horrible. So it went in at somebody's bin as I went past.
00:37:28
UKRunChat
So, how far did you end up getting in the end?
00:37:31
Bruce
So I got to Dunstable which was just over 60 miles as the the crow flies. I was determined to get to that point so I got the gold medal. So 30 miles for silver, 60 for gold or 90 for black.
00:37:40
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:37:44
Bruce
There was no way i was going to get to 90 at that point so I made sure i got over the line.
00:37:47
UKRunChat
Wow.
00:37:50
UKRunChat
Yeah. Oh, that's, that's incredible. Well done.
00:37:54
UKRunChat
So yeah, I will, yeah, we wish you all the very best with your challenge this year, Bruce. So you've got Manchester, you've got and Milton Keynes, and then you've got the upcoming Race to the Stones. And we'll put a link to your fundraising page in the show notes if anybody would like to, would like to donate.
00:38:11
UKRunChat
They can do, uh,
00:38:12
Bruce
Thank you.
00:38:13
UKRunChat
I'm just going to finish off by asking you um if you could give one piece of advice to somebody taking up running, what would it be?
00:38:23
Bruce
i think Be yourself. Everybody's different. um Nobody fits in in in the same the same hole. So you what you need to do is find out what you love, find out what you enjoy and run for yourself. You get people like me who run marathons. You get people who focus on 5Ks. Find your distance and enjoy yourself.
00:38:48
UKRunChat
Yeah, that's really great advice. What would you say is your favourite distance?
00:38:52
Bruce
it's It's a marathon. I love it.
00:38:53
UKRunChat
Is it the marathon?
00:38:54
Bruce
Absolutely love it.
00:38:54
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. what What is it you love most about it?
00:38:58
Bruce
I think it's the mental discipline. um i i i'm I'm not particularly quick over 5k compared to my my marathon times. I'm definitely somebody who who can go for a long time at that steady pace.
00:39:12
Bruce
yeah A lot of people are much, much faster than me over a half marathon, but I can get them over a full marathon. um I think that it plays to my strengths, which are bloody mindedness and being able to be consistent over a long period of time.
00:39:30
UKRunChat
Yeah, like like you've just said, if somebody's taking up running, they need to find what suits them because we're all so different, aren't we?
00:39:35
Bruce
Absolutely. Yeah.
00:39:37
UKRunChat
Yeah. Oh, well, it's been wonderful talking to you. Thank you so much for your time.
00:39:43
Bruce
Pleasure.
00:39:43
UKRunChat
and
00:39:43
Bruce
Thank you very much.
00:39:43
UKRunChat
and all all the very best with your with completing the rest of your challenge this year. Do let us know how you get on
00:39:48
Bruce
Thank you. I will do. Thank you very much.
00:39:51
UKRunChat
Yeah, all right. Take care. And we hope that everybody out there listening has enjoyed this episode. We'll see you on the next one.