Raccoon Runner

Keen, not talented runner getting bitten by the ultra bug. I love running but am all about the banter – hence the raccoon costume! I completed my first 100-Miler in November 18 and am always looking for a new challenge.

Tamie Slade

I started running in July 2016 having been inspired by meeting the running great, Sally Gunnell, and wanting to tackle a half marathon before turning 40. I completed Cardiff half marathon in October 2016 taking me 2hrs 31 mins and I haven’t looked back.

Since then I’ve become a member of Weston Athletics Club, and RunMummyRun. I am now completing a half marathon a month this year to raise money for charity, as I chase after that 2 hour time.

April 2017 sees me adventuring into trail running, learning how to fuel correctly (nutrition) and introducing double runs into my training.

I am no stranger to running having grown up with an athletics coach as a dad, but its only now in my older years I value the freedom, the fight, and the passion running gives me.

Stacey Marston

I’m an enthusiastic runner, although a very average one! I’ve been running for about 9 years and in the last few years I have been running with a club, Bournville Harriers in Birmingham, where I also joined the committee first as Social Secretary and I am now the Chairperson.

I love being part of a running club; I’ve made so many friends and taken part in some amazing team races, like the Cross Country and Road Relays, and team trips like the 24-hour Thunder Run; the Ljubljana Marathon and Half-Marathon in Slovenia and a forthcoming visit to Ireland. As Chairperson I also get to be involved in organising our club events and races, as well as taking an active role in promoting the club in the wider community.

I’m a very keen parkrunner, having run over 150 parkruns at a number of different events; I also love volunteering at my local Cannon Hill parkrun and junior parkrun.

I have recently started a book club for runners; The Runner’s Bookshelf, on Facebook, since like many runners I spend my free time when I’m not pounding the pavements, reading biographies of runners, training guides and other books on the subject!

I’m passionate about the benefits of running for health, particularly mental health, and for the social benefits that running in a group can bring. If I can encourage or persuade someone to lace up their trainers I jump at the chance! I have successfully converted both my parents and my husband into runners (although they’re not as obsessed as I am!)

I think the sense of achievement of completing a major distance challenge or getting a new PB is amazing, but I also enjoy running for its own sake and nothing beats a long Sunday run along our local canal towpaths chatting away the miles in a group. I’ve gained so much from running personally that promoting it comes naturally to me. Being part of the growing Birmingham running scene is brilliant and having the National Running Show in my home city is so exciting; I can’t wait!

Amy Gomer

Hello fellow runners/aspiring runners! My name is Amy and I have been a “runner” now for around 5 years after completing my first half marathon for charity in 2012 in 2:10! Having completed the race the words “never again” left my mouth… to then find me 24 hours searching for my next race!! Yes, I have the “running bug”!

Since then I found a love for running, health and fitness, and have now completed 16 Half Marathons and 2 full marathons where I have now qualified for a good for age place in VLM 2018.

Running is now a huge part of my life, whether it’s 7am before work, a weekend or if I’m on holiday; I find joy in running and exploring. I enjoy sharing this passion with my friends, family and helping people start their running journey.

I love running because it’s simple. You can put on your shoes and go. Wherever you are. Whatever the time.

While running is a simple act, it also introduces so many complex things into life. It introduces a routine; purpose and structure–everything from meal times to bed time. If you’ve got a long run to do at 6am, 9pm bedtimes are a good idea!

Another OBVIOUS for most, is that it burns calories. If you love to eat (or love cake like me!!), running is the best!

Those are all internal reasons;

However, the external reasons are the most sentimental to me… Running connects us to nature and to the community. You’ll be amazed by the truly wonderful people running can bring into your life, and you can find yourself on runs, in the middle of nowhere, just you and the world. This amazing world we live in, sometimes it’s amazing just to breathe deeply and truly admire nature.

Finally, the most enduring connection of all. Running connects our minds with places you may have never been before. Pushing yourself to run 26.2 miles, when by mile 18 your body is screaming stop, but you have to just keep going. Training your brain and realising what you’re truly capable is amazing. I remember training for my first marathon and completing a 20 mile run (the furthest run I had done at the time) – I felt on cloud 9 and on top of the world, I will never forget someone saying “alright, you haven’t won the olympics” – it hurt me a lot, I was so proud and no one would take that away!

Believing in yourself and what your body can do is amazing, and has taught me a new way of living and to overcome daily stresses.

I cannot wait for this wonderful expo to meet like minded individuals and celebrate running!

Pete Clark

Asthmatic since childhood, a heavy drinker & smoker since his early teens, Pete began running as a way of losing weight, getting fitter, and combatting his mental health problems.

Starting out as somebody who couldn’t run a mile without stopping to get his breath back, Pete shed pounds whilst increasing his stamina, & ran the 2007 London Marathon in just under 5 hours, vowing to never run another marathon again.

However, as he grew stronger & fitter, Pete joined a local running club, gave up smoking, cut down on his alcohol consumption, and became addicted to the ‘runners high’. After following an online training programme, he crossed the finish line of the inaugural Brighton Marathon in under the 3:30 barrier – over 90 minutes faster than his previous marathon finishing time.

Vowing to break sub-3 hours for a marathon, Pete ran in many races, over all distances from 1 mile to 26.2, both in the UK & in his beloved Italy, improving his personal best times along the way, before finally, 6 years after his debut over the ‘classic distance’, he returned to London & achieved his dream, crossing the line in 2:54.

For the past decade Pete has been very actively involved with the local running scene in both the West Country & Midlands, being both Captain & Chairman of one club, and in the last few years has turned his attention to taking part in several Masters/Veterans events.

Now a shadow of his former self and a veteran of over 28 Marathons, including a marathon a month in 2015, Pete races across all distances, is a staunch advocate of the importance of exercise, especially parkrun, for all generations, and still occasionally finds time to coach/mentor others who wish to run, whatever the distance.

All in all, not bad for somebody who watched the television coverage of the very first London marathon and thought, “I wouldn’t mind having a go at doing that…”

Dr Doug Richards

Inspired by watching the very first London marathon, I discovered running relatively late in life as I approached my mid-30s. Initially it was just a means of getting fitter but I was soon hooked and ran my first marathon within a year of my first one mile run.

After several city marathons, and an 80-mile ultra along the South Downs, a holiday run in the USA triggered a desire for combining running and travel and this has led me to all corners of the planet. To celebrate my 50^th birthday, I completed the Marathon des Sables, the self-sufficient 140 plus mile run in the Sahara desert over 6 days.

Since then I have run multi-stage events in various locations around China and Sri Lanka, as well as trail races in Siberia, Myanmar and Jordan. I have run in a game reserve in South Africa, where nothing separated the athletes from the wildlife, and I have run on the one mile thick polar ice-cap in Greenland. During the course of the next year, I plan to run in the Australian Outback and then, to celebrate the year of my 70^th birthday, I will run in Antarctica in March 2018, thus completing runs of at least a half marathon on each continent, as well as both ice-caps.

It hasn’t always been a straightforward journey and at various points in my life I have suffered severe bouts of anxiety and depression. I cannot overstate how much my running has helped me to deal with these episodes and I am privileged to now be both a Run Leader and an England Athletics Mental Health Ambassador to help others discover the benefits that running can bring to both physical and mental wellbeing.

When I retired just over 5 years ago, I was encouraged to write about my running experiences and the way it had helped me overcome personal health difficulties. Feedback from people who had read passages  of my story led to what had initially started out as a personal record for my family, soon becoming a best-selling book ‘Running Hot & Cold’ that, I am proud to say, won the silver award at the 2016 Running Awards in London. At the request of my publisher, a second book is now in preparation as I look forward to further adventures ahead.

Andrea Wolstenholme

Until early 2015 I was one of those people who genuinely thought they couldn’t run, not even for a bus!

A good friend persuaded me to join a ladies beginners running group where I discovered that actually I could! Not only that but I love it which is an even bigger surprise. I now run 4 to 5 times a week either in a group or on my own. Running off-road is my absolute favourite.

This year I am aiming to run 1000 miles as well as completing a range of distance events up to half marathon. I am part of a great group of runners as well as on the core team for our local parkrun and coach U11s at our club. Having been vegan for over 20 years I am also part of Vegan Runners UK. I love to share my passion of running and support new runners to achieve their goals and believe in themselves. Running has definitely changed my life.

Richard Bazeley

Richard has been running 8 years and completed multiple marathons and half marathon races.

Having taken on some of the worlds hardest races like China’s Great Wall Marathon he knows what it takes to train and prepare for any race and how to reach that finish line. His highlights include that he carried the London 2012 Olympic Torch, broke a Guinness World Record for the fastest half marathon dressed as an animal and was part of a team of 5 men who have taken the Cotswold 24 Hour Relay title twice consecutively.

Richard gives back to his running community by volunteering for parkrun, and is often seen at races wearing a pacing flag helping others attain a new PB. His YouTube channel showcases many of the races he has done with in race videos.

Philip Jefferies

I previously ran a lot in my younger days, when I was in my mid twenties around 1987 I ran in a number of Half Marathons, including Swindon, Bracknell and Reading. However due to work I drifted away from running and only really found it again in 2013.

Rapidly approaching my 50th Birthday, I realised how unfit and out of shape I had become from my non active lifestyle. In may 2013 I turned up at my local parkrun and huffed and puffed my way around the 5km’s in 38 minutes. My Asthma meant I had to stop and take some puffs of my Inhaler on a number of occasions. That convinced me that my 16.5 stone body needed to get back into some sort of state.

Now almost 3 stone lighter and now heading for my 52nd Birthday, my parkrun PB is 23 minutes, I have ran 3 Marathons, countless Half marathons and often get asked to be an official race pacer at events around the country.

Running has not only helped me to lose weight, but it has improved my health over a wider spectrum, my Asthma is now under control, and I am a fundraiser and social media contributor for the charity Asthma UK. I am also on their grant review panel to assess funding requests from researchers and scientists.

I now try to encourage others with the same condition as myself to get active, and improve their health, one of the most enjoyable aspects of my running these days is when I am acting as a Pacer to help runners achieve their goals and ambitions and hit new PB targets, a big boost for me.

I am running in the 2018 London Marathon once more for Asthma UK.

Paul Addicott

A family man who loves to run, and share the experience. Pacing has revived my love of running, and would sooner pace others to reach their goals, then race for my own. Pacing this year includes London and Berlin marathons, amongst a list of 18 events. Personal challenges include race to the stones 100k, and Kalmar Ironman. This is only the beginning… enjoy running, embrace it, and get out there.

Paul Willis

I love a challenge and am always pushing myself to achieve new things. From getting serious about running 5 years ago, I’ve built up from 10k’s and half marathons to completing 2 Iron distance triathlons, multiple marathons and a couple of Ultra marathons.

In 2018, I’m attempting to complete the Cape Wrath Ultra, an 8 day, 400 kilometre race through the Scottish Highlands as well as completing at least one marathon per calendar month so its certainly shaping up to be a year of record mileage.

I love chatting, reading and sharing tips and ideas with the running community, whether that’s on social media, at my local park-run or at events such as the National Running Show.

Chris Toddington

Ultra-runner 100k RTTS non stop next up . MDS 2019/2021 . Been running for as long as I can remember, only the past couple of years I’ve gotten into serious distance running . Have some serious goals such as Marathon Des Sables , Bigfoot 100 , keys100 and cape wrath ultra to name a few .

Simon Caddy

I’ve been a fully qualified fitness professional since 1999. I ran at times for fun with friends, but when I got injured in 2013 and was told I wouldn’t run again I proved the doctors wrong and have since completed several marathons and even a couple of ultramarathons! I now lead a running club in Cardiff for Run Wales and help others develop their love of running too!

Lee Davitt

Been a keen runner for 10, specialising in endurance events . I Started Dvt runclub and coaching 2 years ago, now we have a registered affiliated club with the Welsh athletics under clwb rhedeg dvt running club. Coaching is my passion, helping others achieve their goals puts a huge smile on my face. I am a qualified running coach, I also do gait and bio-mechanical analysis and I am completing my sports therapy massage training.

Stu Gee

I am a level 3 personal trainer, fitness instructor and owner at EssGee Fitness. I compete in OCR and competing in world championships 2018, also road race to marathon distance and triathlon all distances. I also am a member of Team Mud Monsters and work on course set up and preparation for this award-winning race.

Chris Ford

Hey guys what’s up I am Chris Ford aka Fordy! After getting proper out of shape after the birth of my second little princess over 3 years ago I decided to take action and dusted off my running shoes and hit the pavement once more!

I was never a very good long distance runner but for me having a young family and a super busy life Running was the only thing I could do to shed the pounds and help me deal with the day to day stresses of life!

I immediately signed up for a 10k and once I smashed that I just kept on going.

I love to encourage everyone to get out there and run if they can as it is so awesome! I started the Fordy Runs YouTube Channel at the end of 2017 mainly to track my London Marathon training but it’s ended up growing from there.

I have since started the Fordy Runs Facebook Group which is a small but growing running community which I set up for runners to find other runners who in the past went to events/races on their own to hopefully meet up or at least know someone at that event and also support each other with our training for any event we are doing. Alot of us in the group have since met up at various races and at the 2018 Great North Run 30 of us will be meeting up which is just amazing….last year I ran on my own!

I am just an Everyday Runner like all the guys and girls out there just hitting the pavement to stay fit and have fun doing it!

Allie Bailey

I have run over 60 races, from half marathons to 100 mile ultras, and my race sheet for 2018 is looking pretty interesting. In 2017 I gained my first podium place at The Ox 50 where I came first woman, repeating this at the Cotswold Ultra 44 mile race.

In October 2017 I finished my first 100 mile race in under 24 hours. I am passionate about empowering women in sport and especially about endurance racing. In January 2018 I became the first woman to cross the largest body of freshwater in the world on foot, taking part in a 100 mile multi-stage event on Lake Khovsgol in Mongolia.

I have also trained people to run marathon and ultra distance. Having suffered from mental health problems for a lot of my life, I am a passionate advocate of running as therapy and will be supporting Mind Hackney as my charity of choice in 2018.

Sharif Owadally

I love running. It took me 10 years after my first run to realise it. Now I can’t stop!

It started by being dragged around the local park, that then progressed into a Parkrun, I got convinced to run the Robin Hood half marathon and then people started suggesting I run the full. Excuses, stress fractures and any other niggles kept me from doing this but then the way I think about running changed. I stopped thinking about why I couldn’t do something, and started thinking about how I could do something! I ran in different locations, I stopped stressing about distances and times and sets and repeats and exact numbers. I started to relax about my running and enjoy it! I started to believe in myself and about what I could achieve.

I ran my first marathon last year…and followed this up with 8 more!

I ran my first ultras this year (The 50k Beer Ultra and Race to the King) and plan on a few others in the near future.

I’m big on encouraging others to run and to enjoy the benefits of running. I’ve taken several Couch to 5k groups and love to volunteer at events to help people along (I spent most of my July marshalling at the London Relay).

When I’m not running you’ll often find me following Nikki Love on bike carrying her food 🙂

Abby Davies

I started running in 2015 when over a glass of wine, me and some family members decided we were going to run a half marathon in memory of my cousin. Before I’d even ran a mile, I took the plunge and decided that if I was going to do a half I may as well do a full marathon and without a second thought, I contacted a charity and was offered a place in the 2016 London Marathon.

My first parkrun in May 2015, I turned up in a cotton t-shirt, leggings and ill-fitting trainers. Seeing everyone in Lycra I wondered what I’d let myself in for, but I persevered. There were tears, tantrums, happiness, doubt and everything in between before I reached the finish line of my first ever marathon. After 5 hours and 39 minutes all I wanted to do was sign up for my next!

The 12 months from when I initially signed up were life-changing and running had changed me for the better. Since that glass of wine, I’ve clocked up many miles that has included two marathons, nine half marathons, 12 10k events, 57 parkruns, 40-day run steaks and many more ranging from 5 miles to 20-mile races. I’ve ran in different countries including Ireland, France, Italy and Lanzarote and find it’s one of the best ways to explore and enjoy different areas. I’m not stopping there with races planned well into 2019.

Running has taken me on a journey. It has helped me manage various situations and I continue to use it to my advantage. When I’m feeling down the fresh air, how confident running makes me feel instantly makes me feel human again and gets rid of the grey mist hanging around.

Come rain or shine, I can usually be found spending my weekends on a long run or at a parkrun – local or as a tourist – and I have now taken part in 14 different locations across the UK and including one in Italy! I love running, the way it makes me feel, the community and seeing how far I can push myself.

I am by no means a fast runner, but I am a runner and my love of running continues to grow with every stride.