Running Is A Mug's Game
TWELVE months travelling around the British Isles running in races the length and breadth of the country. That's the challenge facing Stubbington's Dave King, who has been preparing for this year-long project.
Dave, who is a journalist, will be writing a book about the challenge which is entitled "Running Is A Mug's Game".
Five minutes before midnight on December 31st , 2006, he will be competing in the 2km New Year Challenge in the village of Milford, Derbyshire - Dave will be literally running into the New Year.
Then in the early hours of New Year's Day, he will be driving south to Bodmin Moor in Cornwall to compete in the fantastically named Brown Willy 6 which is run among the peat and bogs to the highest point in the Duchy. It is the ultimate New Year's hangover cure!
That will be to the start to a wonderful 12-month running adventure. Throughout 2007, he will be travelling across the British Isles competing in more than 80 races; from mass participation events such as the London Marathon and the Great North Run, to smaller cultural races such as the Great Weston 5 in Oxfordshire which is held in conjunction with a May Day fete and the Grasmere Games in the Lake District - an event stretching back 154 years and which includes hound trails, wrestling, dog shows and a two-mile run.
The schedule will include obscure races such as the Man v Horse Race in Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, and Race the Train, a 14.75 mile run in Twyn, North Wales.
There are also challenges with names to test your mental strength - the Terminator, the Stickler and the Grizzly. And historical races such as the Blaydon Races and the Wenlock Games in Shropshire, widely believed to have been the inspiration behind the modern day Olympic Games.
Dave said: "My programme will feature races in England Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Events will include road running, cross country, fell running, hash running and orienteering."
The year of running will finish where it started, on December 31st , 2007, at Milford in Derbyshire for the New Year Challenge.
Dave added: "During the course of the year, I will be writing about the races, describing the places and people I have visited. Running is full of colourful characters and interesting personalities for whom running is part of their life and their culture. Each has a story to tell.
"As for the working title "Running's a Mug's Game", well for most runners the sport is not about winning, it really is about the old Olympic spirit of taking part and at the end of the run being handed a memento - a medal, a pennant, a t-shirt, a coaster or, more often than not, a commemorative mug, and I've got dozens of them.
"During the course of the year, I'm sure there will be no room left in the kitchen at home to accommodate the veritable feast of running mugs.
"It promises to be an exciting year. A 12-month running travelogue of the British Isles capturing a slice of life previously not explored, capturing the spirit of those who run.
"If there are any Stubbington members who want to join me on any of the obscure runs around the country, they will be very welcome. It will be nice to have the company."
You can catch up with Dave's schedule with his weekly blog which appears on the Southern Daily Echo website.
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/leisure/echoblog/mugsgame/
This is the provisional schedule of races:
December 31st : New Year 2km Challenge @ Milford, Derbyshire.
January 1: Brown Willy 6 @ Bodmin Moor, Cornwall.
January 6: Hampshire Cross Country Championships @ Havant, Hampshire.
January 7: Tadworth 10 @ Epsom, Surrey.
January 14: Stubbington Green 10km @ Stubbington, Hampshire.
January 21: Brass Monkey Half Marathon @ York.
January 28: Chernobyl 10km @ Preston.
February 3-4: Trailplus Marathon training camp @ Worcestershire or Watford Half Marathon.
February 11: St Valentine's 30km @ Stamford, Lincolnshire.
February 18: St Peter's Brewery Great East Run @ Bungay, Suffolk.
February 25: The Terminator @ Wiltshire or the Great North-West Half @ Blackpool.
March 3:
March 4: Cloud 9 Race @ Congleton, Cheshire.
March 11: The Grizzly @ Axeminster, Devon.
March 17: Rhyader Round The Lakes @ Powys, North Wales.
March 25: Bath Half Marathon.
April 1: Baildon Boundary Way Half Marathon @ Shipton, North Yorkshire.
April 6-9: Guernsey Easter Runs (four races in four days).
April 15: Fuller's Thames Towpath 10 @ Chiswick, Middlesex.
April 22: Flora London Marathon.
April 29: Nicola's 5 @ Canvey Island, Essex.
May 1: Great Weston 5 @ Banbury, Oxfordshire.
May 6: Black Death Run @ Taunton.
May 13: Hinckley Dog Half Marathon @ Leicestershire.
May 20: Great Manchester 10km Run.
May 27: tba
June 1: South Downs Way Relay: Eastbourne to Winchester.
June 9: Blaydon Races @ Tyneside.
June 17: Brading 10km @ Isle of Wight.
June 24: Llanelli Waterside 10km.
June 28-July 7: Republic of Ireland (including the Stryker 4 miles, Villierstown 10km and the Shangarry 5).
July 15: Race For Life @ Southampton.
August 4: Indian Queens Half Marathon @ Cornwall.
August 10: St Levan 10km @ Penzance.
August 12: Isle of Man Half Marathon.
August 19: Rathlin Run @ Northern Ireland.
August 26: Grasmere Fell Run @ Lake District.
September 1: Braemar Games @ Scotland.
September 30: Great North Run @ Newcastle.
October 21: Great South Run @ Portsmouth, Hampshire.
December 31st : New Year 2km Challenge @ Milford, Derbyshire