The plan was to enjoy football, enjoy coaching, enjoy making a difference. The best laid plans of mice and men... I thought I could genuinely help, I was an okay footballer, a half decent hospitality manager, with my basic coaching badge tucked under my arm, I thought it would be possible to help a talented bunch of individuals become more of a team, more of a force and achieve something to be proud of. I think I missed a few tricks. I never wrote 'believe' on an A3 piece

Paddington Takes The Air Even though I've been here before, I still get sweaty palms. After all it's just like preparing for take off, statistically very unlikely to crash after you've left the ground, statistically very likely to finish, but you never know? After all, just like flying, 10 marathons (or more for some astounding people) is not quite the norm is it? Day 10, is a wonderful bit of theatre, just like any performance, there are a few nerves jangling. Apparently

The Best of Paddington Bear Day 9, pretty cool eh? With the training I've not done, I'm over the moon to still be here. What's even cooler is, today I've completed my quickest marathon for the week (or nine days to be factually accurate). What's even more amazing is that I've not done any stupid stuff, no pranks on Dr Katie, no stupid asides, no lateness, pretty much been on time for everything, maybe the last few years, I've grown up? Now that would be something. You kno

Paddington Goes to Town Matt Damon, appears to me to be such a good guy, he may not be? I guess I'll never know. I like how he plays characters, Jason Bourne, Linus Caldwell, Mark Watney, Benjamin Mee and Will Hunting to name but a few. Yesterday, I thought I felt my hamstring begin to go, so for a long while I walked, probably about 12 miles, it was a long schlepp and boring. There's only so many times you can try to sing to kill a few minutes, or maybe kill a song for a

The Adventures of Paddington Indifferent. That was my description of today. Some bits I felt I could almost run, others I had to walk, some were a struggle to even raise a jog. It started off so well. no aches, no pains and felt comfy to run. Stu and I were 'bimbling' away, chatting inanely and the yards and miles rolled by all the way to Hawkshead. It was nice to chat to someone, other than myself, who I cannot seem to get a coherent conversation from, and not notice th

Paddington Marches On It's hazy, although some details crystal clear, the emotions, raw and unfiltered. Another nightmare. I'm in a house, I'm downstairs, with a child, not sure who's child but a young person, maybe 5 or 6 years old. The kettle is on, we're at the kitchen table, warm sunlight is streaming in but it doesn't feel like the afternoon. The click of the kettle, the muffled tick of a clock, light chirps of birds, but then a shocked, short shriek and a very defini

Paddington Abroad Have to say I wish I was on holiday in France at the moment. The quads were 'crying out' for help this morning and the doubts about finishing today resurfaced. You sort of need a plan a, b, c and maybe even d for this event. In my opinion you can only look as far as the day you're on, there's a lot can happen over the course of a marathon. Quite a long time ago, I was lucky enough to work with Steve Winch, he was hard working, funny and the team loved him

A Bear Called Paddington Abandoned, alone and scared. A little aging loner, low on energy, short on strength, limited in training and terribly, terribly worried about embarrassing himself. Excuses at the ready, not enough training, tweaked hamstring, a pulled achilles. What is blatantly clear is that out of the few Brathay 10in10s I've done, this is the most terrified I've been. Just like Paddington I feel alone, scared and looking for a 'family' to own, or rather want me

Deliberate, definite, focussed. Except I'm not. For years I've tried to work out how to be more consistent, more on the level, less fluctuating in my efforts. It's still not something I've worked out, not for the lack of trying. Happy times, when I felt like I was part of something special, static moments of grateful existence, family holidays, special places of work (when everyone is with you), special efforts and rewards and, the Brathay 10in10. Looking back, each of tho

Urghh! Aargh! Yukk! My daily chore, twice, sometimes three times a day. Who likes sticking their hand in a plastic bag and wrapping...

A few weeks ago, the teenager and I had a blow out. A real bluey. A shouting match, which neither won. About what? Well, on the...

Someone once said, that if you stop challenging yourself you stop growing? Who knows? Two years ago, enticed by the advertising as the 'World's Toughest Mountain Race', I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. I deferred last year as it was giving me sleepless nights. Like a year is going to make any difference? I've had more than a few sleepless nights. Anxiety levels have been through the roof. For the last 12 months, there's been a genuine fear that I simply couldn

What's that phrase, poor preparation leads to p.p. performance? I know myself too well. Earlier in the week, I'd cleared my diary so I...

Doesn't everybody have an Aunty Dot or at the very least know an Aunty Dot? I bet she got invited to the wedding? Most month's on waking...

Many years ago, when running became a ‘thing’ for me, I decided to try and raise funds for Brathay Trust through (in part) writing this...

Searching for human acknowledgement...

Diary Day 10 of the Brathay 10in10 (ten marathons in 10 days).