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Steve Till
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In this episode of the UKRunChat podcast, we welcome Steve Till, a true endurance sport veteran. From finishing last in his first school race to representing Great Britain in 24-hour running events, from completing more than 100 marathons to walking 100 miles in under 24 hours as a Centurion, Steve has dedicated his life to the pursuit of distance. We explore the origins of his running journey, the highs and lows of competition, what fuels his passion, and what he’s learned over four decades of movement.
Steve has competed in 100km and 24-hour running events for his country, has won medals in
national championships, has run more than 100 marathons, over 500 parkruns, and is a Centurion, having race walked 100 miles in less than 24 hours.
But it wasn’t always that way. His running passion was ignited in 1971, watching the European Championships on TV, but he spent the first few years of his running life coming last in school sports day races and then university cross country events.
Finally hard work triumphed over talent, and he moved up the rankings, finally securing that
much-sought-after Great Britain call-up in 1996. Steve believes that having exactly the right target in any walk of life can supply all the motivation you need to put yourself in with a chance of achieving it. In his case, that was a GB vest; in yours, perhaps promotion, that dream job, doing Couch-to-5K or your first marathon. If you hit upon a goal and a light bulb goes on in your head and you say, “If I could just achieve that, I could die happy,” then you’ve got the right one.
That sort of goal is so compelling, it delivers all the impetus you need to do the work necessary to get there.
Here are 26 career highlights – above and below 26.2 miles!
2021 500th parkrun
2011 Ran Chicago Marathon
(Completing set of current Marathon Majors – London, Berlin, New York City, Boston, Chicago)
2003 100th marathon
1996 Represented GB in European 24-hour Championships
1996 Represented England in Anglo-Celtic Plate 100km Run Championships
(England beat Scotland, Ireland and Wales)
1996 Ran in 100th Boston Marathon
1995 2nd in National 24 hours Run Championships
1995 3rd in Compton 40 miles trail race
1994 3rd in National 24 hours Run Championships
1994 1st in Humberside 24 hours Run Championships
1994 3rd in National 100km Run Championships
1989 Ran New York City Marathon
1987 2nd in Solihull 24 hours Run Championships
1986 1st in Totton Half Marathon
1985 3rd in Southampton Marathon
1985 3rd in Surrey 50 miles Walk (successor to London to Brighton)
1984 Ran Berlin Marathon
1984 5th in Foster’s Quadrathon
(2m swim, 50km walk, 100m bike, marathon)
1984 2nd in London to Brighton Walk
1983 3rd in London to Brighton Walk
1983 6th in Foster’s Quadrathon
(2m swim, 50km walk, 100m bike, marathon)
1983 Surrey 100 miles Walk – qualified as Centurion 768
(Have to walk 100 in under 24 hours in a judged race)
1982 2nd in London to Brighton Walk
1982 3rd in Bradford 50km Walk
1981 7th in London to Brighton Walk (most famous ultradistance walk in the world)
1981 Ran 1st London Marathon'
Check out Steves website
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Steve Till and his running journey
00:00:00
ukrunchat
Hello, welcome to this episode of the UK Run Chat podcast. Today I'm joined by Steve Till, who has a whole host of running stories and tales and to tell you. and Today we're going to be doing a bit of ah an introductory episode with Steve, so he can tell us a bit about how he got into running, and then we hope to follow up with some deeper dive episodes later.
00:00:27
ukrunchat
and to drill into some of the very special experiences that Steve has had. So welcome, Steve. Thank you so much for joining us today. Would you like to just give a brief introduction to your to our listeners, to your yourself, first of all?
00:00:41
Steve
Yes, by all means. Yeah, thank you um in in return for having me. um So yes, ah ah Steve Till, I have represented Great Britain at some ultra distance events. um I've done over 100 marathons, over 500 and I used to be a race walker and in that capacity I am a centurion having walked 100 miles in less than 24 hours.
00:01:02
ukrunchat
Thank you.
00:01:07
Steve
um So those are my sort of claims to fame and my um varied background, if you like, in athletics.
00:01:15
ukrunchat
Yeah, that's brilliant. So we were just chatting briefly before we started recording, weren't we, about where the kind of running bug struck you. And you with you were telling me a wonderful tale.
00:01:25
ukrunchat
Would you be able to relay that to our listeners about how that just suddenly hit?
Early inspirations and setbacks in running
00:01:30
ukrunchat
it's like It was like a lightning bolt, wasn't it, out of no one for you?
00:01:32
Steve
It was. Yeah, absolutely. was. I mean, yeah, I can pinpoint exactly when I got into running. It was the 10th of August 1971. um I watched was watching the European Athletics Championships on TV and it was the men's 10,000 metres.
00:01:48
Steve
Dave Bedford of Great Britain led for the first 24 of the 25 laps.
00:01:53
Steve
But on the last lap, he was overtaken by Juha Vettainen of Finland and Jürgen Haase of East Germany. And like these two, they ran the last lap in 53.8 seconds, the Finn prevailing by about a yard. And these European championships were being held in Helsinki. So the crowd obviously went absolutely mad.
00:02:13
Steve
But the speed, the... The athleticism of of the two of them over that last night was something I'd never seen before. It was just amazing. um I sat there stunned. um it As I said, it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. And I had watched the Brazilian team of Pelé and ah Rivalino ah win the Football World Cup the year before. But this actually knocked that into a cocked hat, this 10,000 metres.
00:02:40
Steve
And I didn't know what to do with myself. um I did the only thing that made any sense to me, and that was I went outside the house and I ran up and down the hill um because I wanted to be i want to be part of that world of endurance and speed and pain and struggle.
00:02:56
Steve
um And I felt that um by running up and down the hill outside the house, um the Grand Canyon-sized gulf between their world of athletics and my tiny world of athletics,
00:03:09
Steve
I felt I'd sort of narrowed it by about an inch um in doing that. And I felt a tiny little part of their world of endurance. And from then on, I was hooked on running all those, what is it, 54 years ago. Yeah.
00:03:24
ukrunchat
It just shows the power of athletics, doesn't it, of those moments. That's why it's so important. that but What was it specifically about that that race that grasped your imagination, do you think?
00:03:36
ukrunchat
see Do you know?
00:03:37
Steve
I think it was the the change from, I mean, they were they were going pretty fast. they I think it was a near European record. um So they they were going pretty fast over over those laps. They were doing perhaps 67, 66 seconds 400 before that. But when...
00:03:51
Steve
um seconds per four hundred um before that but when Vertainen and Haasa broke into that sprint, they were they were running like 200-meter runners. um it was It was that, and and it was a hot night in Helsinki, and they were both you know sweating, and you could see, so halfway down the finishing straight, Haasa almost caught up to Vertainen, ah but the fin held him off, and you could see on their faces how much it was taking out of them.
00:04:20
Steve
um and so i suppose it was the combination of the athleticism they showed the sheer speed after six miles of running um and what they were willing to put themselves through to win that gold medal
00:04:33
ukrunchat
Yeah, and you and you just you wanted some of that for yourself.
00:04:35
Steve
that one is similar yeah absolutely yeah
00:04:36
ukrunchat
So so that first run that you did what did, did you enjoy it? You said you went out and did hit hill reps. Was that an enjoyable first running experience?
00:04:50
Steve
I can't remember. i I don't know if it was enjoyable. It was certainly satisfying in a sort of a way because because it it was the only thing I could think of doing. um i mean, going on from there, i i I carried on running. Obviously, I was bitten by the bug.
00:05:05
Steve
And... um so 1971 moved into 1972 um olympic year and i i would i would go out and run in a very random sort of way um but i would um i worked out that the back garden if i did 30 laps around the back garden that was about a mile and i reckon i was doing about four minutes for a mile this is the age at the age of 14 um um
00:05:27
ukrunchat
why
00:05:28
Steve
and um ah Yeah, and and so I reckon I was getting pretty close. So I thought, oh, and in the Olympics later in September in 1972, I must be on for at least one or two gold medals.
00:05:41
Steve
I thought, um you know, if I'm doing a mile around my back garden about four minutes, you know i'm um' ah I i should should certainly get the gold in the 1500 and probably the 800 as well.
00:05:52
Steve
And then came school sports day. So, of course, I entered the 1500 metres and came last. and that came last
00:06:00
ukrunchat
Right.
00:06:00
Steve
So it was a little bit of a wake up call, a little bit of a shattering of my Olympic dreams. I thought, well, maybe I won't be going to Munich after all. Maybe I won't be winning those gold medals.
Pursuit of ultra-distance running and earning a GB vest
00:06:12
Steve
But it didn't kill my passion. I carried on, you know, i carried on running. And I think the next year I came second in the school sports 1500 meters rather than last, you know, because obviously there is this cause and effect thing. You know, the more you run, the more you train, the faster you get.
00:06:27
Steve
um So my complete lack of talent um was ah at last sort of being outweighed by the hard work I was putting in.
00:06:38
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:06:38
Steve
um So I progressed from there, shall we say.
00:06:42
ukrunchat
ah So what kind of, was it just that you were running more? Because that's a tough thing to deal with to come last when you think you you're kind of better at running than that, isn't it? So clearly you were enjoying running.
00:06:56
ukrunchat
So how did you kind of in improve on that?
00:06:56
Steve
Yeah. it It was just by hard work, really. I mean, i um even at university, when I went to university, I joined the cross country club. And at one point, one of my colleagues said said to me, you know, they laugh at you, Steve, because you run so much, but you're still so slow. You still come last in all the um the ah cross country races that we have against the other universities.
00:07:26
Steve
um and but But I don't know why suppose I was so passionate about it. It didn't kill that passion. And running, particularly long distance running, is is the sport. It is a bit of a meritocracy, I suppose, in that if you put in the hard work, you will get the results, um even if you haven't got any any real talent.
00:07:43
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:07:46
Steve
um So i I carried on um running. And as by my last... By my final year at university, I was starting to get get sort of halfway up the field rather than right at the back.
00:07:59
Steve
um And i I carried on running and I got some decent results. i mean, if you run 100 miles a week, you're going to you know you're going to run fairly fast. um And I started to, this is going into the sort of the mid 80s, I suppose, started to win some local races, get some decent times. But I knew I was never going to be, know, national standard at 5,000, 10,000, half marathon, marathon.
00:08:27
Steve
um I did some good times. And as I say, i I was lucky enough to win some local races. But I knew that everything. you know, that those Olympic gold medals that I was sure I was going to get in 1972 were never going to really, really be mine, really be claimed.
00:08:34
ukrunchat
Thank you.
00:08:43
Steve
And, and um In 1991 92, my wife and I went round the world and we had a lot of time to think. And I thought, what am I gonna do? I've still got this huge you know passion for running. What could I do? What would be the fulfillment of my ambition in running?
00:09:05
Steve
um And I thought of ultra distance running as you do, you know, because I've done a few ultras, but and it tended to be that the the longer the race went on the nearer the front I got.
00:09:16
Steve
um And ultra distance running is the last. ah the last ah refuge, shall we say, of the untalented runner. you you you You run as much as you possibly can and you might actually you know win one of these things or or get on the podium at least. um So I thought ultra-distance running. And then I thought, oh, there are world championships and European championships at ultra distances, particularly um in particular the 24 hours and the 100k.
00:09:42
Steve
Those were the two internationally recognised distances back in the 90s. um And I thought, oh, I wonder if I could get a GB vest, a Great Britain vest.
00:09:54
Steve
um And when I had that thought, a light bulb came on in my head.
00:09:55
ukrunchat
Thank you.
00:09:59
Steve
that That was it. I thought, well, I could die happy. If I could just get a British vest, I could die happy. And once I'd thought of that, I then started to do all the hard work, that before the actual running hard work, the ah the planning hard work. So when we got back from going around the world, um I thought, okay, what races do I need to enter? What standard do I need to get to?
00:10:23
Steve
um And what... Obviously, what training do I need to do in order to have a chance of getting on the ah the British team? um And that sort of first year, about 1993, I was about 10th in Great Britain over a hundred k and about the same over 24 hours um but i worked really hard um i decided that you know i i would throw everything at this basically so um i would i would run 100 miles a week i would on a bank holiday holiday weekend, I would run 50 miles on each of the the three days.
00:11:02
Steve
um I would do things like, I was um working full-time, had a full-time job. I'd do things like get up at two in the morning, ah run a marathon, go back to bed for an hour, get up and go off to work.
00:11:15
Steve
um I would, if I only had, only had, if I only had four hours on a Sunday to train, I would sprint the third hour. So I would, therefore make the last hour, the fourth hour, absolutely agonizing because I'd used all my energy ah by the end of the third hour.
00:11:33
Steve
So that that run felt like a much longer run. I was trying to get more more value, more bang for my buck, if you like, um in making the runs as hard as I possibly could.
00:11:42
ukrunchat
yeah
00:11:45
Steve
i on ah On a work day, I would run a hard 10 miles in the evening not really have anything to eat. And I'd run another 10 miles the next morning because I felt that if I was,
00:11:57
Steve
um if I didn't have any energy inside me, that 10 miles would be worth more than just 10, it would be more like 20 or a marathon. So I was trying to use my time really intelligently, really wisely. um And it did all pay off. In 1994, I got bronze medals in both the National 100K and National 24 hours.
00:12:19
Steve
um And I came to the... ah came to the notice of the GB ah
Experiences in international competitions and Parkrun community
00:12:27
Steve
selectors. um So I was in the squad then in 1995. I got a s silver medal in the 24-hour national championships in 95.
00:12:35
Steve
um And then in 1996, I thought, right, this is where I've got a chance. There are European championships in France in September. um I wonder what I need to do to get on the team.
00:12:47
Steve
um And so I asked the chief selector, um what do I need to do? and He agreed that doing a 24 hours was too much in advance of the European Championship.
00:12:53
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:12:58
Steve
So he he said, do a 12 hours, do a 12 hour time trial, um see if you can break 80 hours, 80 miles, sorry.
00:13:07
ukrunchat
yeah
00:13:07
Steve
See if you can do more than 80 miles. And that is um basically three consecutive sub four hour marathons. So um i I set two and I went up to Doncaster and i'm ah on a dusty old 400 meter track in Doncaster, I um yeah i said to the the organizers, I'm only going to do 12 hours so I hope that's all right they they were fine with it um lap scorers obviously um and it went it went well it went well for for nine hours so in nine hours I'd done 100k 62 miles so that meant that in the last three hours I just had to do 10 minute miles um to get the the 80 miles i needed to get in the British team it was quite black and white it was quite
00:13:42
ukrunchat
Thank you.
00:13:53
Steve
uh sort of binary this you know in the if i if i got 80 miles i felt i was definitely on the team if i did 79 i might not be so um i thought okay i've got three hours to go i just need 10 minute miles over those last three hours um with about an hour and a half to go i started to slip behind schedule i started to slow down ah and so i had a very stern word with myself at that point because you know this was this was life and death here for me you know um was i going to get the 80 miles um And I managed to do it and I did about 80 and a half miles in those 12 hours.
00:14:27
Steve
um And three months later I was pulling on ah the British vest and it was, yeah.
00:14:32
ukrunchat
Yeah. How did that feel after kind of setting that as your goal? That must have felt incredible for you.
00:14:38
Steve
It was. it It was incredible. it was, i mean, in in a way, the actual event and the my performance at the European Championships was a bit of um an anti-climax, if anything, um because it was all about getting there.
00:14:53
Steve
You know, it was... um Yeah, ah it it was it was all about the the journey, if you like, as people say, um to get there and fulfilling that.
00:15:02
ukrunchat
yeah
00:15:04
Steve
um I knew I wasn't in with a chance of you know um getting um ah medal at the European champion Championships, um and the British team wasn't really strong enough to to compete for medals either.
00:15:20
Steve
um So there wasn't any real pressure apart from obviously pride. I i didn't want to wear the British vest and not, you know, but I sorry i ah did what I could. um It wasn't my best 24 hour performance. um But yeah, it was certainly enjoyable because it was the fulfillment of a lifetime's ambition, really.
00:15:41
ukrunchat
Yeah, that's that's wonderful. So, i mean, to just tell us a little bit more about that race and what happened after that.
00:15:49
Steve
Yeah, um so it was in Corson in France. um It was half mile loop, um quite hilly, quite up and down. um Yeah, actually, I'll tell you something about beforehand. So when when I was ah selected,
00:16:06
Steve
ah The original team of um men for the 24-hour championships was ah Richard Brown, who just set a a record, or the record, for Land's End ah to John O'Groats.
00:16:19
ukrunchat
Yes.
00:16:21
Steve
ah James Zarai, who was one is still, I think, only one of um two or three people to have done over 1,000 kilometres in six days.
00:16:31
Steve
um Don Ritchie, generally recognised certainly that time to be the greatest altercator of all time. um And me, so had a little bit of ah imposter syndrome, if you like, because I thought, well, I don't deserve to be here. And all my, to be honest, all my club mates were saying, yes, you do, Steve. Yes, you don't you've done you know you've done the hard work. You've got the medals at the championships. You do deserve that British vest.
00:16:55
Steve
But it didn't feel... There was part of me that sort of thought, oh, God, there's Richard and James and Don and then there's me, you know. um But, no, it was fine. But, you know, we went over to France and, um yeah, it was...
00:17:13
Steve
Yeah, it was just great to be part of that, um really. it was um ive I found it quite hard because I was used to 24 hours ah running round round a nice flat track, and this was a little bit up and down.
00:17:24
Steve
um So, um yeah, I mean, who wouldn't want to run 24 hours round a 400-meter track? I mean, it's...
00:17:33
Steve
um So the the the sort of half mile loop being bit up one side and down the other side, that was quite hard on on the old leg. So, i mean, i did I did fewer miles than I'd done around the track. But um it was, yeah, it was it was it was great to just to wear the vest. and to um I've still got all that. I've still got, them obviously, the vests and the they give you, you know,
00:17:56
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:17:56
Steve
two sets of everything, particularly for a 24 hour race, you need all sorts of, you need a, uh, a rain suit and a track suit and, you know, all sorts of things to, uh, to make sure you can keep going in all, in all, um, all weathers and, uh, uh, through the night and everything.
00:18:13
Steve
Um, yeah.
00:18:13
ukrunchat
yeah ah what Yeah. What wonderful memories though. i mean, looking back, were there kind of and of any sacrifices that you had to make to enable you to kind of get there and represent GB?
00:18:30
Steve
um in terms of ah the training or in terms of yeah yeah i mean yeah obviously the training took up most of my spare time and i and when you're when you're running long distances um you know if if if you're doing a long run as as anybody who's done a marathon will know if if you if you're a long run on the sunday you can't spend you know eight hours on your feet the day before or even the day after you've got to sort of
00:18:34
ukrunchat
and Yeah, yeah. and
00:18:59
Steve
have a fairly what I call professional approach to the key sessions. So if I was going to run all day on a Sunday, I i knew what I needed to do eat and drink and ah sleep and everything um around that both before and after to ensure that that session gave me the most value that it possibly could.
00:19:21
Steve
um
00:19:21
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:19:22
Steve
You know, I i was working ah Monday to Friday. um and and And so the time for training was was limited. And I, as I said before, I tried to be creative in the way that I use my time to get the most value out of the the the time that i had to train.
00:19:39
Steve
um So they were certainly sacrifices. I didn't look upon them as sacrifices. And and and I think the important point is once I decided and once I'd hit upon the target of the vest, the British vest, I...
00:19:57
Steve
There was never any doubt that I was going to do those long runs. You know, the motivation was there because I knew the target. I knew how important that target was to me. There was never any doubt that I was going to go out and run, you know, 50 miles on the Saturday, 50 miles on the Sunday, 50 miles on the Monday for Bank Holiday Weekend.
00:20:16
Steve
never any doubt in my mind so motivation wasn't the problem i knew what i had to do and um yeah and i would i would just do it and i would manage to fit um the rest of my life around that um and i think i might have fallen asleep in some business meetings but um you know they had to put up with that ah
00:20:37
ukrunchat
So that, yeah, that motivation is really key, isn't it? So once you'd achieved that goal that you set yourself of wearing the GB vest,
00:20:40
Steve
yeah
00:20:46
Steve
Yes.
00:20:47
ukrunchat
Did that change? Did you have to then come up with some new goals? I mean, you've achieved so much during your running life. So what kind of, I'm interested in what happened after that then.
00:20:57
ukrunchat
Kind of a, its it's kind of a turning point, isn't it really? I guess you've you've reached a big goal. What's next?
00:21:04
Steve
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. ah That's a very good question because it did change. um Definitely. I mean, and partly life intervened because the the year after, um so 1997, we started the family.
00:21:22
ukrunchat
yeah
00:21:22
Steve
So that obviously, so um with the best will in the world, I couldn't leave my wife to look after the kids and go out and run eight hours on a Sunday.
00:21:31
Steve
That wasn't really fair. so so So my lifestyle changed. um And i i kind of, there were a few things. I mean, I was incredibly satisfied to have to have done what I did. But there there was, so I suppose I switched to, there are few races around the world and around the country that I hadn't done that I wanted to do, to tick those off, if you like.
00:21:55
Steve
Um, so I went and did them and they didn't, didn't take up as much time as training for an ultra would have done if you like. Um, so I was pleased to be able to do those.
00:22:01
ukrunchat
yeah
00:22:04
Steve
Um, there were things like and of the 100th marathon. Um, so I'd done by the time I got my British vest, I'd probably done 70 or 80 marathons, I suppose. And I thought, yeah, I would like to do um a hundred marathons. I would like to join, um, at the a hundred marathon club.
00:22:23
Steve
Um, Yeah, and then, um so, and and then obviously my life was taken up with um looking after the family and, you know, so they came first and whatever running I could do had to fit in around that quite oh quite naturally.
00:22:40
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:22:41
Steve
um And then I suppose I was very lucky ah that Parkrun came along at just the right time in my life. um So obviously it started in 2004. I did my first Parkrun in 2007 and I thought, oh, this is good because um I'm probably not going to set another personal best, but um obviously Parkrun calls personal bests your best time at any any different event which is good um so it gave my aging body more targets uh if you like um and uh so that sort of took over and and um
00:23:18
Steve
I mean, when i when I did the first one in 2007, Bushy Park was the only park run. So I had to drive up from um Hampshire um just a few times. i only did it a few times. And then gradually park run came nearer, Banstead Woods, and then ah Basingstoke was was much nearer. So I was able to do that sort of um most weeks.
00:23:39
Steve
um so the and because parkrun prides you know quantity over uh quality um then just doing the runs was the important thing so um and even now what i do when i when i go on to the parkrun results i don't i don't bother with who's finished first that's
00:23:51
ukrunchat
yeah
00:23:59
Steve
very incidental. I i order to leave the finishes in descending order of the number of park runs done, and that puts me at or near the top. So...
00:24:09
Steve
Sorry.
00:24:10
ukrunchat
That's brilliant.
00:24:10
Steve
668. Yeah.
00:24:11
ukrunchat
How many park runs have you done then, Steve?
00:24:11
Steve
Yeah, it's...
00:24:14
Steve
You know...
00:24:14
ukrunchat
what What's the current number of park runs you've done?
00:24:18
Steve
six hundred and sixty eight
00:24:19
ukrunchat
Yeah, that's incredible, isn't it? Wow.
00:24:22
Steve
ye yeah um yeah it's um yeah you know I think I'm too weak to stop, as someone once said, i think you know, um but it gives me so much, you
Coaching, racewalking, and notable races
00:24:37
Steve
know, running. It has given me so much and it ah continues to do so.
00:24:42
Steve
um And, you know, I go out for a run now and I do, you know, three or four miles where I would have done three or four hours 20 30 years ago but it still feels the same. I'm still out of breath, my legs still ache. I think I look like Seb Coe or Mo Farah. I've tried to catch sight of myself in shop windows, because that's bit of real,
00:25:13
Steve
even more of a wake-up call than school sports day in 1972. um Because I think, who is that pathetic old man, um you know, stumbling along the pavement there?
00:25:17
ukrunchat
I've
00:25:24
Steve
I think it's me. um But it still feels the same. it's still It's still all about the effort and the challenge and trying to get the best out of yourself. um So if I can take 30 seconds off a park run personal best, that has ah an element of...
00:25:42
Steve
ah satisfaction, perhaps not quite as much as getting a British fest, but still, it it it still helps. It's still great.
00:25:50
ukrunchat
Yeah, I don't know. it's I think you can always be competitive at part run, though, with yourself, can't you? You can always constantly strive for a course PB or, you know, and you can move you you move up in age categories quite quickly at part run, don't you?
00:25:58
Steve
Yep.
00:26:02
ukrunchat
It's every five years.
00:26:03
Steve
Yep.
00:26:03
ukrunchat
So you're always kind of, there's always something you can set a goal with, isn't there?
00:26:09
Steve
Yes. Yes.
00:26:10
ukrunchat
Yeah, yeah.
00:26:10
Steve
Yep.
00:26:11
ukrunchat
which Have you travelled around much, around many different part runs?
00:26:13
Steve
but I've done 40 odd different backgrounds and if if I'm away, I'll do i'll do different ones.
00:26:18
ukrunchat
yeah
00:26:22
Steve
um I tend to be quite loyal. kind ah kind of I know lots of people are parkrun tourists and they do like a different one every week.
00:26:32
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:26:33
Steve
I pride myself on being um loyal to um Alice Holt Parkrun, which is my home parkrun, which is a lovely parkrun, obviously is the best parkrun in the world, um naturally.
00:26:47
Steve
um And so I like to do parkruns there. um
00:26:51
ukrunchat
yeah
00:26:52
Steve
But yeah, it's it's quite hilly. So if I want a better time, I have to go elsewhere. um But yeah, so i've i've done I've done lots of them and it depends where where we are. If we if we go away or if I go and um you know see my children or whatever, then we'll do different ones.
00:27:12
ukrunchat
Yeah, it's it's it's nice to try them, but but I kind of see what you're saying with it. It is nice to be part of your local community, isn't it?
00:27:19
Steve
Yeah. yeah
00:27:19
ukrunchat
um I mean, you of you I'm guessing you found kind of lifelong friends through Parkrun. You've been doing it so long.
00:27:25
ukrunchat
You must have to do that.
00:27:25
Steve
Oh, absolutely.
00:27:26
Steve
yeah
00:27:27
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:27:27
Steve
Yeah, absolutely. Yes. Oh, it's great. I mean, yeah. um So every week if I go to um yeah Alice Holt, I bump into people who you know may not have been there for a while or um people who are there every week and you know we have a chat.
00:27:43
Steve
Well, you know, I mean, that's the whole um ethos of Parkrun.
00:27:43
ukrunchat
yeah
00:27:46
Steve
It's as much about ah the social aspects as about the physical stuff. So, um yeah, it's always great to do that. Yeah.
00:27:55
ukrunchat
yeah Yeah. Do you have kind of a favourite memory from Parkrun or ah a standout moment?
00:28:01
Steve
um I don't know, something just comes into my head. My daughter ah desperately wanted to do a personal best at Alice Hall. And this is going back a few years now.
00:28:12
Steve
And I said, okay, and this is when I was fast enough to be able to pace her.
00:28:12
ukrunchat
yeah
00:28:15
Steve
I couldn't possibly pace her. And now she's twice as fast as I am.
00:28:17
ukrunchat
just
00:28:19
Steve
um But she, her personal best was like 31 minutes. And she, you know, thought, could I get, could she get under 30? Anyway, i so I paced her around and I said, and because I knew the course really well, um I said, okay, you're on, yeah, you're on for a low 28 here or you're you know you're on for 28 and a half. And you know and and then at the last crossroads, when we used to turn up the hill, um I said, go on, you sprint from here because you can do it. And she did a 27, 27.52, I think something like that.
00:28:48
Steve
And I crawled in about half a minute later. um But that was a special memory because that was that was you know not everybody can pace uh properly um you know so i was glad to be able to sort of give something back even though it was only to my own daughter uh if you like and and i suppose that that's a theme too ah in the as as i said before um Yeah, running has given me so much that I have been fortunate to be able to give give back, um not just doing so some volunteering at Park Run, but coaching um athletes as well, which is always great. So satisfaction now is, yes, in my own running, but also in seeing others
00:29:31
Steve
um you know, do good times, do things they thought they couldn't do, set personal bests, complete long races that they thought were were were beyond them. um all All that good stuff um is very, um yeah, satisfying too.
00:29:47
ukrunchat
Yeah. So what kind of distance do the athletes that you coach do? Are they long distance runners as well or is it all kinds of athletes?
00:29:54
Steve
Yeah, it it is all kinds. I mean, people sort of come to me, I suppose, for my long distance expertise and and the fact like I do think I know what I'm doing over, you know, marathons and ultra marathons.
00:30:00
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:30:06
Steve
um So it's mostly that. um I mean, i um a gentleman got hold of me just last week. um And he'd he'd read my book, um which embarrassingly he keeps by by the side of his bed, ah much to the annoyance of his wife.
00:30:22
Steve
um And he said, i I think you're one of the people might be able to help me, Steve. And I said, oh, why is that? he Because I want to run across the Himalayas next year. so So that's sort of an extreme, if you like, of ultra distance running.
00:30:34
ukrunchat
yeah
00:30:36
Steve
So um yeah, so there's everything from that. um Yeah, I mean, i do I do train people to, you know, run a parkrun PB or even a, you a mile PB.
00:30:45
ukrunchat
Yeah, yeah
00:30:47
Steve
But I know moment no know most about, i suppose, marathons and upwards. Yeah.
00:30:55
ukrunchat
yeah. Oh, that's really good. So just going back to kind of the long distance races then, because you've you've done some race walking as well, haven't you? So you are what's known as a centurion, which means you've you've race walked, it's 100 miles, isn't it, in under 24 hours, is that correct?
00:31:06
Steve
Yes.
00:31:11
Steve
Yes, that's right.
00:31:13
ukrunchat
Yeah. so how did how and when did you get into that then from from the running?
00:31:17
Steve
um Well, yeah, i did. I did. So when was this? just before I went to university, I got into race walking. I just happened to see a couple of friends um and they they were race walkers. and I sort of joined in with them and I thought, oh, this is good. I can. I'm.
00:31:33
Steve
I feel reasonably comfortable doing this and it turns out I was not a natural but it it came fairly easy to me, easily to me, the technique.
00:31:45
Steve
um So I joined a club, ah sorry walking club um and progressed and
00:31:45
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:31:52
Steve
and predictably as the distances got longer so i got better so i was okay at 20k and 50k but uh the lunds de brighton i was um on the podium a few times um and um yeah one of my proudest achievements is becoming a centurion um and it's quite nice we have our own unique numbers i'm century in number 768
00:31:58
ukrunchat
yeah
00:32:20
Steve
ah in the UK and when we have a meeting the Centurion with the lowest number takes the chair which is also quite ah a nice little tradition um yeah so um yeah there are fewer Centurions than people who have run a four minute mile or climbed Everest so um I guess it's it' fairly exclusive and perhaps not for everybody but I'm i'm very proud of it yeah
00:32:29
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:32:45
ukrunchat
Yeah, yeah but this is a whole other world that I didn't really, I wasn't really aware of. So yeah, just tell us a little bit more about it. So who, will who organizes it? Is it the LDWA, the Long Distance Walking Association?
00:32:59
Steve
No, it's not. No, it's um ah race walking clubs. So there are so most I think most athletics clubs in the UK have um a race walking arm, if you like.
00:33:03
ukrunchat
Okay.
00:33:10
Steve
um There are some specialist walking clubs, my club being being one of them where where it is just walking.
00:33:10
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:33:16
Steve
So. so um generally the clubs organise it between themselves that each year there is 100 mile race put on because obviously a lot of people want to be centurions so there's generally in the UK one 100 mile race per year um and I mean ah the Dutch and the Belgians are very keen on these distances they've got a great ah tradition so there are
00:33:30
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:33:43
Steve
centurion races over there as well on on the continent. um So I mean I did my 100 miles back in 1983 and yeah it was fortunate enough to manage make us get under 24 hours for 100 miles which isn't easy.
00:33:57
Steve
hundred miles um which isn't easy yeah
00:34:02
ukrunchat
know I mean, what what pace do you have to do for that? Just because my brain can't do the maths that quick.
00:34:05
Steve
well it is
00:34:08
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:34:09
Steve
Well, obviously, if you if you did 12 minute miles, you'd be doing five miles an hour.
00:34:12
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:34:12
Steve
So you do 20 hours, which i suppose is is about about an average sort of time that people do.
00:34:17
ukrunchat
Okay.
00:34:18
Steve
I thought I could do a really fast time. So I set off at 10 minute miles and I got to 60 miles and blew up.
00:34:25
ukrunchat
Okay.
00:34:25
Steve
So the last 40 miles were a bit of a struggle. But I did. I managed to do it because I thought what i'm not going to do is very many times. um So if I can struggle around and get to 100 miles, then that will be at least I will be centurion and that will be an ambition fulfilled in itself.
00:34:39
ukrunchat
yeah Yeah, because you do have to pace yourself at that distance, I'm guessing, don't you?
00:34:42
Steve
Yeah.
00:34:45
ukrunchat
Because you you can burn out.
00:34:47
Steve
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I i got very good ah pedigree over the long distances. and I was a bit sort of um overconfident in that I thought I could i could knock out 10-minute miles all the way, which would have given me and nearly a world record, I think.
00:34:55
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:35:01
Steve
um It was about 1640, 1640 is miles all way for 100 miles. but um And the world record, I think at the time, was 1650 or something like that. and And I thought I could get near that.
00:35:12
Steve
But obviously, hadn't done the training just too weak.
00:35:20
ukrunchat
And that's the one who's done a lot of long distance saying that. I mean, you've podiumed at some really tough events.
00:35:24
Steve
Yeah.
00:35:27
ukrunchat
I mean, was was there is there one race that stands out as being tougher than everything else?
00:35:35
Steve
I mean, there are all sorts of races, all sorts of, um, different races. I think, you know, if you're going for a half marathon or a marathon PB, that is an extended period of of really redlining it, of being just, you know just trying to pace yourself, of constantly, you know monitoring, am I going too fast or could I push harder? You know, how am I doing? Am I on pace for for a PB or not?
00:36:02
Steve
You know, that is really tough. And I mean, I've, um when I did my half marathon PB, at Reading in 1985, I got with a pack and I was doing, I thought, oh, blimey, that was a 520 mile. ah you know um'm um I shouldn't be up here, you know, ah but I managed to carry it on all the way. So I got a two-minute personal best in the half marathon.
00:36:25
Steve
um And I can remember doing the Berlin Marathon and in 84 and um I was suddenly, you know, a couple of minutes up on what I'd done before. But but it's sort of, it's keeping pushing and keeping red lining it, as I say, all the way.
00:36:36
ukrunchat
Thank you.
00:36:39
Steve
um i suppose in a different way, um I'd always wanted to do the Swiss Alpine Marathon from Davos. And so I finally did it in 2008. I did the 78K and i I talked to a lot of people and said, you know, what how fit do I need to be? Because I wasn't obviously at my peak then. I was coming right down the other side of the hill.
00:37:01
Steve
So um i they said, Oh, if you can do a sub four out marathon, you'll be all right. And so, and at the time I sort of thought, well, can I, I'm not sure I could anyway, i went and I was flirting with the cutoffs the whole way, shall we say?
00:37:15
Steve
Um, so I was literally two or three minutes up after like 30 K and I thought, I'm not going to do this. I'm by the time I get to the next, um, cutoff point and the Swiss were very time conscious.
00:37:28
ukrunchat
yeah
00:37:28
Steve
And, um, I got to like, 45k and i was I was just about, okay, I was three minutes inside but there was a bloke behind me from the same group that went out with us from from England.
00:37:40
Steve
um He was 20 seconds too slow and they put him on the bus and sent him back to Davos. You know, it's that sort of thing.
00:37:46
ukrunchat
but
00:37:47
Steve
But but By the time I'd sort of got to the top of the last mountain, um i thought, okay, i'm I'm all right. I've got, I was like 15 minutes up or something. And it was just a ah steady downhill run back back to the finish. And I thought, I've got this now. I can remember lady from Iceland catching up to me at that point. And she said to me, are you as proud of yourself as i am of me and i thought oh you know and and and we ran down into the town together and it was just a lovely feeling lovely and all the um there are so they have different different races on the same day there's a 10k who used to be then 10k 20k 30k two different marathons and the 78k and all the other guys from the same from the english group group came out and um
00:38:14
ukrunchat
so
00:38:35
Steve
ah supported us but as we came into the town you do a loop of the town and and then finish
Motivations, perseverance, and community support
00:38:40
Steve
in the stadium. i mean, that was an obviously i can remember that in in in some some detail because it it meant a lot to finish finished the race um and not get put on the bus halfway through it um
00:38:55
ukrunchat
Yeah, that sounds special. I bet it was beautiful scenery as well, wasn't it?
00:38:58
Steve
Oh, it was absolutely, yeah, i mean, that's the other thing. It was absolutely beautiful, absolutely fantastic.
00:39:02
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:39:03
Steve
um Yeah, I mean, the mountains, the, you know, the meadows with flowers and and everything. It was just absolutely amazing. Yeah, yeah.
00:39:12
ukrunchat
Yeah. Were we just saying the most picturesque place you've run? Is it is it there or something?
00:39:18
Steve
I think so. um Yeah, I mean, I've been lucky enough to run in some, yeah, some lovely, lovely places.
00:39:19
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:39:24
Steve
Yeah. in the state. I mean, I did, I was only talking yesterday day about the, uh, did ah the Bangkok marathon in 1991. That, that, uh, wasn't particularly picturesque, but it, you know, you, you remember it for the heat.
00:39:40
ukrunchat
Yeah. Wow. Yeah.
00:39:41
Steve
Yeah. So, uh, yeah, I mean, it's difficult to compare races really. I mean, there's so many different experiences. Um, you know, some races you just get around some you've, you have a,
00:39:56
Steve
um, a particular target, whether it's a place or you may even think you can win it, or it's a time, a personal best or something that you want to do.
00:40:04
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:40:05
Steve
Um, yeah. So each race has its different character, i suppose, and different approach.
00:40:10
ukrunchat
Yeah. Are you still do hes still doing races nowadays?
00:40:13
Steve
I am. I did the Cheddar Gorge Omnium on Sunday, um which is a format nicked through the world of cycling. So it's four races in the day um and you can choose choose different. um I did the 6K, 100 metres, 1K and hill climb, um which is doesn't sound much, but actually...
00:40:36
Steve
Um, when you do them all about an hour apart, um, they do test you, particularly if you haven't sprinted a hundred meters since school, you know, um, and it's around, uh, cheddar gorge.
00:40:43
ukrunchat
yeah
00:40:46
Steve
So it's not flat at all. Um, so, but that was great. i did that. Um, yeah, with my daughter, she, she did it as well. Well, some, some way in front of me, she did it.
00:40:57
ukrunchat
Yeah, what you and what an interesting race format that is, though. That does sound challenging, actually.
00:41:00
Steve
Yeah.
00:41:03
Steve
yeah Yeah, um I've done a few times and um yeah I think it's a great idea. um ah it's it's a day of racing a lot of people are just there to do like the half marathon or the 10k or whatever.
00:41:15
Steve
But I think the format of the four races um it is great. And of course you you you meet up with the same people at the start of each of the races. So you have a chat and you have a laugh about how gloomy and hilly it is or whatever, or how how hot it is or everything.
00:41:31
Steve
um Yeah, it's good. I mean, you know, the camaraderie of the competitors is is great. even if you yeah never see them again. um It's just for that day, it's nice.
00:41:40
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:41:43
Steve
Yeah.
00:41:43
ukrunchat
Yeah, and hopefully your daughter enjoyed it as well.
00:41:46
Steve
She did, yeah. Yeah, she she had a great time. Yeah. Yeah, I have to say, actually, I won the over-60s category.
00:41:49
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:41:54
ukrunchat
Oh, brilliant.
00:41:55
Steve
Yeah.
00:41:55
ukrunchat
Yeah, so you're still very competitive then, Steve, because I was going to ask what...
00:41:55
Steve
they
00:41:59
Steve
It wasn't that...
00:41:59
ukrunchat
and
00:42:00
Steve
If I can just ah put that in some context, there was only one competitor in the over-60s. So... ah
00:42:05
ukrunchat
Oh, okay, okay. But still, you've got to be in it to win it, haven't you, this year?
00:42:08
Steve
You've got to be in it to win it. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:11
ukrunchat
But i was going to ask, what is it that drives you now? So, you know, has has your motivation changed? Is it still performance based? you you still aiming to be kind of best in age category or is it more kind of just enjoyment driven?
00:42:25
Steve
it Yeah. It's not, it's not enjoyment driven really. I mean, ah It's more about performance. It's more about, I think I ought to be able to do this sort of time in a park run, let's say, or in a 10K or in a mile or whatever it might be.
00:42:35
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:42:41
Steve
And it's the striving towards that. um That's the important thing for me.
00:42:43
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:42:45
Steve
i think in... in Well, yeah, pretty much every race I enter and park runs, I do aim to to run my hardest, to do my best to see where I'm at.
00:43:00
Steve
um And I think that is hugely important to me. um It's not everybody's cup tea. I absolutely accept that, um yeah, go and go and enjoy the race. um go and um you have have an easy race, just enjoy the scenery or the other ah competitors or whatever, that that's fine. I'm not saying that's wrong.
00:43:20
Steve
I'm saying for me, suppose it's a habit. It's what I've always done. And and ah um so much of my... feeling of satisfaction and even my feeling of self-worth is bound up in i can still push myself okay I may be twice as slow as I was 20 years ago but I can still push myself or I can still um i mean Ron Hill ah said you know I may be 50 years old or 60 years old but I still love to sweat like hell um and you know I'm behind that yeah
00:43:52
ukrunchat
Yeah, no, that's brilliant. And ah you obviously get a lot of satisfaction from pushing yourself and doing the best that you can. There must have been moments, though, where you've had low points and setbacks and not achieved what you wanted to achieve. How do you handle those moments as an athlete?
00:44:07
Steve
Um, it is difficult. I've, I've, I've been lucky in that I've only had ah couple of some serious injuries in 54 years of running.
00:44:18
Steve
Um, you know, so I haven't had major setbacks. I've, I've had, I've had races that I thought I could do better in, or thought I could win.
00:44:24
ukrunchat
Thank you.
00:44:31
Steve
Um, when I haven't, I, I injured my knee just before the 1997 National 24-hour Championships, which I definitely thought I could win. ah But I injured my knee and I didn't get further than about 10 miles in the actual championships.
00:44:47
Steve
So that was a setback. But that was okay. All right. Well, yeah, knees are funny things. I'll give it ah'll give it six weeks. I mean, obviously saw physios and things. um But knees are funny things and it just settled down and I was able to to start running again.
00:45:03
Steve
um So, and I suppose as time goes on, as I've been running for so long, i have to put it in that context and I have to say, okay, all right, even if I pulled my hamstring tomorrow or, you know, got ah got the flu or something, okay, well, let's put that in the context of, you know, 54 years of, you know, pretty good running and and some some good performances and some decent achievements, you know, let's not be too disappointed that I can't run for the next four days or something.
00:45:32
Steve
you know
00:45:32
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:45:32
Steve
um So I think that longevity gives you the ability of perspective um to put put it all in in perspective.
00:45:39
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:45:41
Steve
Yeah.
00:45:42
ukrunchat
Yeah, because because really it's about being just consistent over a long period, isn't it, if you want to there at something.
00:45:47
Steve
Yes.
00:45:48
ukrunchat
So a few you know a few days here and there is not realistically going to make a big difference, is it, I guess?
00:45:53
Steve
No, no, absolutely. And I say to ah the runners that coach, if you can do most of the sessions most weeks, then you'll you'll be getting somewhere, you know, because no one ever has the perfect build up to a race.
00:46:00
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:46:06
Steve
There's always going to be something.
00:46:06
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:46:07
Steve
They always think, oh, I should have one more long run or that speed session could have been a bit faster or, you know. um But actually, if you can do most things most weeks, then um then you'll be okay. You'll be in with a good shot of either you know winning it, getting on podium, doing your best or best, whatever your target is, or just you know getting around.
00:46:27
Steve
Yeah.
00:46:28
ukrunchat
Yeah, yeah.
00:46:29
Steve
yeah
00:46:29
ukrunchat
what what do you I'm interested in what you advise your athletes as well is that if they don't manage to hit a PB or they don't do as well as they thought that that they might do. Yeah.
00:46:39
Steve
Yeah, yeah. um I mean, I always, before I start coaching athlete, I get to know them in terms of their lifestyle, all the other responsibilities they have. um So, i mean, we've all, and more most of us got, you know, a job, family, other interests, um responsibilities, as I say, um that have to fit into their lives as well as the running. So,
00:47:01
Steve
if they don't have a good race, then we can look at what might've gone wrong. What, what might've got in the way. um you know, there's always something, something happening.
00:47:12
Steve
Life, life happens to everybody.
00:47:12
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:47:14
Steve
So we'll look at that and say, okay, well in, in the context of all of that, actually to miss it by a minute, wasn't too bad. Um, and shall we go for it again in another month or depending on obviously if it's a marathon or if it's a park run, you need to,
00:47:31
Steve
a longer time to reset for a marathon. um You know, and to, um I would encourage them to go for it again. um And if there is if if there's stuff that we can change, if we can put different things in place that will help them get over what got in the way this time, then we'll do that.
00:47:51
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:47:51
Steve
um Yeah. So,
00:47:53
ukrunchat
Yeah. So it's all about kind of hi hindsight really and looking back and thinking, right, and what can we change?
00:47:57
Steve
yes.
00:47:58
ukrunchat
Yeah, that's really good advice.
00:48:00
Steve
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:02
ukrunchat
and Do you still get the same buzz from finishing a race as you did?
00:48:06
Steve
Oh yeah.
00:48:07
ukrunchat
ah Yeah.
00:48:07
Steve
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I, I, yeah, I, I think, um, I think any race you finish, I used to say any marathon you finish um is a triumph, is a success.
00:48:19
Steve
now ah Now I would say for me at my age, any race I finish is is is a success. And, you know, oh, I wanted to do this at parkrun I'm actually a minute outside it this week.
00:48:30
Steve
But you've still done it and um you still order the finishes by descending order of number of parkruns done. So...
00:48:39
ukrunchat
Yeah, you can't stop doing them now, can you? That's it.
00:48:41
Steve
No, I, because other people might catch me up. Oh, yeah.
00:48:45
ukrunchat
Yeah, exactly.
00:48:46
Steve
Yeah.
00:48:47
ukrunchat
Yeah, brilliant. um I mean, looking looking back over your whole career, and there's obviously so much we haven't talked about, what are you most grateful for?
00:48:58
Steve
I'm, Grateful for my parents giving me a robust body, which has stood up to most of what's been thrown at it over the past 54 years. I'm grateful for, um yeah, the the inspiration from other runners. um i've i've I've been an athletics fan, um you know, as or as long as I've been um a participant. And I just love hearing the stories about about runners. and And that inspires me, you know, to keep going.
00:49:27
Steve
um So I'm sorry, I've forgotten your question there.
00:49:31
ukrunchat
What are you most grateful for?
00:49:33
Steve
nice Yeah, so so it's that. yeah and and it's um Yeah, just the communities. I mean, as just say, I was a member of, I still am a member of, ah sorry, walking club.
00:49:45
Steve
um on the on the running side, I'm a member of Basingstoke and Mid-Hance Athletics Club, um and obviously Alice Holt Park Run is my home park run.
00:49:58
Steve
um In addition, i'm in Southampton Athletics Club, and all of those communities have been incredibly um supportive um to me in in their different ways.
00:50:10
Steve
So I'm grateful for all of that. I suppose um Yeah, Harry and Gabsy, my two children, they were once I inspired them. Now it's more the other way around and they inspire me.
00:50:23
Steve
So yeah, those ah those are all the things I'm i'm grateful for. um And I'm just grateful to have managed to achieve as much as I've done. And some of it, some of it I feel like I've been in the right place at the right time. So it's been a little bit of luck, but obviously there's been an awful lot of hard work um along the way.
Introduction of Steve's book and closing remarks
00:50:42
Steve
ah So, yeah, i'm I'm grateful for it all.
00:50:42
ukrunchat
yeah I mean, what would you say is your secret to running longevity, really?
00:50:45
Steve
and and um
00:50:49
ukrunchat
Because you've managed all this you know very long distance running and and come out okay the other side of it.
00:50:56
Steve
like
00:50:59
ukrunchat
Is there a secret or is it just being sensible?
00:51:02
Steve
I think there are lots of secrets, um but they're not really secret. They're just common sense. I think the professional approach that I talked about ah before, I think that is so important.
00:51:10
ukrunchat
Yes.
00:51:12
Steve
I think if you, and and you don't have to be a professional to have a professional approach. and
00:51:17
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:51:18
Steve
It's just, you if you're gonna do a long run on the Sunday morning, well, Don't go out and have eight pints on the Saturday night. um Get to bed early. Eat something that you know is going to um fuel you for the Sunday morning.
00:51:31
Steve
Arrange to have drinks. got you you You know, all of that professional approach to give yourself a chance of of of um hitting the targets you want to. um I think that is a major thing. and And I'm amazed that some people don't, you know, they they have a compelling target, but they don't do what's necessary to um to get them there or to give themselves a chance of of of getting there.
00:51:55
Steve
um And I've ah often said to people, you like a park run, um you know, bit tongue in cheek, you know, I think you could do with a more professional approach to, or, um you know, if they've I don't know, stayed up all night and then tried to run a 10K personal best. um
00:52:12
ukrunchat
like We've all been there, haven't we?
00:52:14
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:52:14
Steve
Yes, yes, I'm afraid so, yeah.
00:52:17
Steve
um Yeah, and I suppose there are, um
00:52:24
Steve
yeah, there are there are probably lots of secrets and they're probably secrets that I've, that I learned 40 years ago that I've now forgotten. and So, yeah.
00:52:32
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:52:34
ukrunchat
Yeah. Oh, well, it's been wonderful hearing some of your stories today. Thank you for coming on and chatting to us. And we are, of course, going to have you back on to... and just do maybe a few more episodes where we just dive deeper into some things we've touched ah upon today. But you do have a book out, don't you? Do you want to tell us about that?
00:52:52
Steve
I do, yes. I have a book out called ah The Run of Life, which is available at all good bookshops and obviously on um Amazon. the The Run of Life is...
00:53:04
Steve
Its subtitle is How Any Runner Can Reach Their Mountaintop. And it's um stories from not just from my running career. i I do pop in and out of the book, but it's from all sorts of other running careers and other sports people. I mean, there's a book on um mental health that focuses on Ronnie O'Sullivan.
00:53:22
ukrunchat
Mm-hmm.
00:53:22
Steve
um, and his struggles with, with mental health and how he is, you know, at some points in his career, overcome them. Um, there are stories about all sorts of runners who, some runners you'll have heard of, some runners who you won't have heard of, who runs, I've coached friends of mine, um who have met various, uh, challenges along the way.
00:53:43
Steve
um I have had a lot of, and it's been out for ah year and a half. um I've had a lot of good feedback um from all sorts of, as you've said, I ah love the book. It's really inspired me.
00:53:55
Steve
It's taught me things. um I just hope that, it it and it doesn't preach. it's it's It's just about ideas and inspiration and um what what has helped me in my um running life and in life in general.
00:54:09
Steve
um A lot of people have said it's not just about running. It's it's about life. It's about any any walk of life or any run of life where you want to set a target and where do you find the determination to push through and achieve that target?
00:54:24
Steve
That's really what the book is all about. The run.
00:54:27
ukrunchat
Yeah.
00:54:27
Steve
yeah
00:54:28
ukrunchat
ah yeah Well, if you're interested in that, be sure to check that out. So that's The Run of Life by Steve Till.
00:54:33
ukrunchat
Right. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Steve. It's been lovely chatting about running. I think we said at the start we could chat running all day. So we'll get you back on soon and talk some more.
00:54:33
Steve
Thank you.
00:54:42
Steve
That's great. Thank you very much, Michelle. That's great.
00:54:44
ukrunchat
yeah And I hope that everybody out there listening has enjoyed this episode. we will see you on the next one.