It doesn’t happen very often but this week it has – I’m not sure what to do with myself! I suppose it’s a form of cold turkey, when you have an addiction to something and it’s then taken away. Now before you get too worried, I guess I should explain!

This past few weeks have been … well, let’s be honest … pretty manic. I’ve ticked off a lot of races but it has been at a price. One of my work colleagues summed it up the other day by saying I was doing to work of an elite athlete while at the same time doing 10-12 hour days in the office (I liked the “elite athlete” bit so thought I’d share that too!). Essentially I’m a bit burnt out.

Another problem has been that because of the constant racing, an injury I’ve been carrying for more than six weeks hasn’t had time to resolve itself. So with another two and a half weeks until the next race I decided to take a break from running – and it’s amazing how much you miss it.

Those of you who I speak to regularly will know how much I go on about running – it is a massive part of my life for a number of reasons – and not doing it is horrid. I can’t wait to hit the roads again this weekend, and I’m sure my mood will instantly improve and this blog will have been in vain!!

Anyway, I mentioned races and I’m now up to 22 for the year – since my last lengthy post I’ve ticked off the Mendip Mashup, Launceston Half Marathon, Magnificent 7, Gloucester Half Marathon and the Indian Queens Half Marathon.

It’s been a punishing schedule although I did manage a few days away in Tunisia to relax – OK, well that was the intention anyway but it didn’t really pan out that way. It’s also meant I never really got over a chest infection last month, so I’m now back on a strong course of antibiotics now to try and shift it once and for all.

I’m sure it will all be tickety boo though – I’ve got a week at www.fforestfields.co.uk coming up later in the month to coincide with Race the Train in Mid Wales and the combination of fresh air and time away from the office will no doubt have me back to full fitness.

I hope so because the autumn is going to be the busiest time of the year from a Run31 perspective – three marathons and four half marathons over the space of a couple of months is going to take its toll and I know I need to be putting in the miles in preparation for that, with the next marathon in Jersey on October 3.

It’s also going to be the busiest time from a fundraising perspective – or at least, I hope it is because there’s a long way to go if I’m to hit what I admitted all along was a hugely ambitious target. I still have the ambition to get there because I don’t like failure, but I am going to need all your help with lashings of luck thrown in as well.

The online auctions are now up and running (Cirque du Soleil tickets added £87 to the total if you hadn’t seen that already) and I’ve got a fundraiser planned at Saltash Sports in Cornwall later in the month.

But it’s getting to the time now when I need your help, whether it be financial or generating ideas and helping me to push them through. Oh and remember, you can also buy a Run31 T-shirt for £8 and £5 of that will go to the fundraising total. Just email me your order today at alan@run31.org.uk.

Right, I’m now off out to get some fresh air – although I definitely won’t be running in it I promise.

Until next time…

Right then people, I hope you’re reading this with credit cards and/or winning lottery tickets at the ready because I’ve got a truly stunning prize to offer for the second Run31 online auction. So here goes…

Later this month, a truly stunning spectacle is happening at Wembley Arena in London and I’ve got tickets for two seats which could have your name on them.

Cirque du Soleil tour the globe every year and their colourful, awe-inspiring shows always play to a packed house so it’s a show not to be missed – if you’ve not heard of them before, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.

The two tickets to be auctioned – with all proceeds going to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust – are for the show on Saturday, July 31 – doors open at 6.30pm and the show starts at 8pm.

It promises to be a truly amazing night for two incredibly lucky people, so don’t be shy, submit your bid today.

Remember, all you have to do is email auctions@run31.org.uk with the amount you’d be willing to pay for the tickets.

And for those of you who don’t know, this auction doesn’t work like some websites where you bid a penny and watching the amount rise – what you need to do is tell me the maximum you would be willing to pay and the highest bidder takes away the bounty!!

This auction runs until midnight on Wednesday, July 21 and the tickets will be sent to you once I receive your cheque in the post.

I look forward to receiving your bids…

The more observant of you (and I’m looking at a very select bunch there) will surely have noticed a new tab has miraculously appeared at the top of this page – one titled ‘Auctions’. Now, if you click on it – and I would urge you to do so – you will see yet another way you can boost the Run31 fundraising total.

Over the coming months, I will be auctioning off loads and loads of fantastic prizes through a series of online silent auctions – and the first prize is now going under the hammer.

If you are willing to part with a small, or ideally a large, proportion of your hard earned cash you could be in with a chance of winning this week’s great prize – two tickets to one of four shows at Theatre Royal Plymouth.

So click on the link today and you too can do your bit to help Run31 and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust….

Ah, flaming June, the month where the mercury soars and the tan gets topped up – well, that’s the idea anyway! It is also the month where I take a well-earned rest as I only have two races, albeit that one of them is a three-hour orienteering race across the Mendips in Somerset.

To be honest, a rest is very much needed and appreciated because I have been feeling the strain over the last couple of weeks, the first time in the five months of this challenge that my legs have really screamed out for me to stop. So, much as it pains me, I am actually listening to my body and trying not to run this week, ahead of my appointment with the sports physio on Friday morning – for that, we’re entering a whole new world of pain but more of that later in the week.

There have been some particularly tough races over the past few weeks which probably has contributed to my legs feeling somewhat tired. I have only had four weekends without a race since the beginning of February, and on those weekends there was marathon training to fit in, which hardly constitutes a rest.

It came to a head at the Plymouth Half on Sunday, where I went out with the intention of going for another PB. After passing through the two-mile point in around 12-and-a-half minutes, my calf started to tighten and I had to stop twice to try and loosen it off. It must have worked because I ended up getting round in 1hr 29m 3s which, all things considered, is a great time and the best I have run in three years of doing Plymouth. Does make me wonder what I could have achieved without stopping, although I was relieved to beat Borat in a sprint finish!!

The support out on the course was fantastic as always and the conditions were pretty much perfect for both runners and spectators. After the race, there was the fun of the Tamar Trotters barbecue – complete without rounders in the rain – and then the post-race reception, which turned into a great night.

At this point I must give a mention to two people I met on the day whose 14-year-old daughter has CF. They had seen my story in the paper and we chatted for a couple of minutes about CF, and their view that a cure may be only just around the corner with the great research currently being undertaken. Now their daughter has a tougher strain of the condition than I do – needing IVs at home as well as hospital visits – but I was really struck by their positive outlook (if only I could remember their names!!!!!).

I have never been negative about CF – my bad days with it are nowhere near as bad as other people’s – but it really made me think. Just how fantastic would it be at the end of this year to know that the money raised as part of Run31 had tipped the balance and helped the scientists finally find a cure, after all these years. We know they have the gene, so surely it is only a matter of time and maybe that time is now…

Which brings me neatly to fundraising – the doormat is receiving a steady stream of prizes for the raffle and online auction I am planning and I would like to thank all the organisations who have contributed so far. Great prizes have come through from the likes of Bristol Hippodrome, Liverpool FC, Wembley Arena, Plymouth Pavilions, Theatre Royal Bath, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Plymouth Albion RFC, Exeter Chiefs and more, but there is always room for more so get your thinking caps on.

Alternatively, if you don’t fancy donating a prize, I will also gratefully accept hard cash so just click on the link below and add your four-penneth to the fundraising total. Remember, you can also buy Run31 T-shirts for the bargain price of £8 so get your orders in today by emailing me at alan@run31.org.uk.

It’s 8.45am on Tuesday and while most of you are probably stuck in traffic on your way to work, I’m sat in front of the computer writing my blog. Why, you may ask? Well, to be fair, I’ve been a bit rubbish in keeping up with it so when you get even the slightest iota of inspiration you’ve got to run with it (it has nothing to do with the guilt of having had a whole day off to do it yesterday and not being able get the brain into gear, honest!!).
If I’m being brutally honest, I think my whole body has shut down to an extent over the last couple of days as it’s been something of a busy few weeks. I feel as though I haven’t stopped and drawn breath for a month and, technically, I guess that feeling is justified.
This coming weekend will be my first one without a race in six weeks and only my second third free weekend since the end of January!! When you sit down and look at it like that, you do start to realise why I may be feeling a bit tired but it has been an amazing adventure so far and there’s so much more to come.
However, I am looking forward to giving myself a bit of a rest from racing because no matter how much I promise myself I’m going to take a race easy it never seems to happen. No matter how many times the head has told the body to relax in the build-up to a race, there is something primeval instinct that kicks as soon as you’re lined up at the start.
It has yielded results, in that I have so far smashed my PBs over 10k, 10 miles, the half marathon and the full marathon, with the most recent success seeing more than a minute taken off my previous best at the Ivybridge 10k on Saturday evening. But all the racing takes its toll and it will be nice this weekend just to go out for a gentle two-hour run on Sunday (and yes I know that still sounds like hard work, but I won’t be pushing myself too hard – no, honestly I won’t).
Unfortunately I can’t completely relax as over the weekend I finally took the plunge and signed up for the Mendip Mashup, a race held high on the Mendip Hills towards the end of June which raises money solely for the CF Trust. Now, there are a number of race options so guess which I chose – yep, that’s right, the most difficult one. So on June 19, I will be running on my own for three hours across hills and tracks trying to find more flags than anyone else. There is the incentive that the winner wins their own weight in beer but, to be honest, after a three-hour run I’ll probably manage one sip and be sound asleep!!
On the fundraising front, let’s be blunt – things are moving but not as quickly as I’d hoped. Now I know a lot of that is down to me and I will admit that between the running and my new job, I’ve kind of taken my eye off the ball a bit on that front.
But at the end of last week, I sent out a pile of letters to sports clubs, record companies and major firms across the country in the quest for prizes for what I hope will be a major boost to the total – a series of online auctions and raffles to be held between now and the end of the year.
Now I know most of you guys on here have already been more than generous, both financially and with moral support, so why not persuade a friends – or 1000 friends – to sign up to the group and then, hopefully, the load can be shared as I edge closer to my target of £31,000. Including gift aid, we are currently tipping the scales just over £6,000 so there really is a long way to go – but I still believe I can get there. Alternatively if you know the identity of Friday’s Euromillions winner, or any lottery winner/millionaire for that matter, just leave my web page open on their computer!!
To start with, why not buy a Run31 T-shirt, now available at one good stockest – me!!! They cost a mere £8 (plus P&P), of which £5 will go straight to the CF Trust, but it will also have the added bonus of raising awareness of Run31. To get one it’s really simple – just email alan@run31.org.uk with your order and send a cheque to Run31, c/o 14 Brue Close, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0HY. I’ll then put the T-shirts in the post to you.
Right, I’m going to sign off and head for the other day job – until later, I bid you all a successful day…

It’s taken me a while to get these together and find someone who will print them but finally, thanks to Mike Claire Textiles of Lifton, Devon, the Run31 T-shirts are now on sale.
For just £8, you can do your bit to push me towards the £31,000 target while at the same time getting your hands on a quality T-shirt – you can see the design at http://www.flickr.com/photos/run31/4561573784/
After covering costs, £5 from the purchase price of each T-shirt will go straight to the Run31 fund and by wearing your T-shirt wherever you go, you can help raise awareness of the challenge and Cystic Fibrosis as a whole.
I am not taking payments online to ensure as much money as possible goes to the charity – but all you have to do to get your T-shirt is email me at alan@run31.org.uk with the number of items and sizes you want. Then send a cheque payable to Run31 to: Run31 T-shirts, c/o 14 Brue Close, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0HY. Delivery will be free in certain areas of the south west, but if the T-shirt needs posting, there will be a small extra charge per order to cover postage.
I have a stock of large and medium T-shirts, but any others may take a few weeks as I stockpile orders for the next print run.
So don’t delay, order your T-shirt today…

It’s a sleepy Sunday evening here in Plymouth and it kind of feels like the calm before the storm – a storm of fun, challenge and of course pain. Races number 9 (Taunton) and 10 (Tavy) are behind me and now it’s the big one, London. I know I can do the distance, I know I can run it well, but the fancy dress is a bit of a spanner in the works and I’ve no idea how it will go. All I can say is that I hope it will be fun – and hey, there is the obvious consolation that I could get a Guinness World Record, so that’s got to be something to look forward to.
The past couple of runs have been a complete contrast – two half marathons, two quite different courses, but I went into each of them with completely different objectives.
In Taunton last weekend, I went all out for a PB – and I got one!! So far this year, I had beaten my previous best times for 10k, 10 miles and the marathon, but the half was the one that had eluded me and I knew Taunton was a great opportunity. So I went all out, pushed myself all the way and came home in 1hr 26m 52s, beating my previous best by more than a minute. It felt fantastic and now, having broken all my PBs from previous years, I feel as though I can concentrate on enjoying the runs a lot more which was, after all, one of the main objectives of Run31.
This morning at the Tavy 13, I put that to the test and it felt great. It was a new race so none of us really knew the course, so I just went out with a colleague from the Trotters with the aim of getting him home in under 1hr 40m. It was perfect for me to take it easier with London next weekend, and we finished in around 1hr 38m, so everyone was happy. Plus it was a great course and a glorious day – what a perfect way to spend a Sunday morning.
Today’s run has helped me focus again on the fun side of the challenge and I am now really looking forward to the next few weeks. It was particularly welcome after a temporary setback in the week, which those of you who have been following very closely would have been aware. On Tuesday night, a Turkish computer hacker decided his next target was going to be run31.org.uk, and his attempts unfortunately proved to be successful. So those of you who visited the site on Tuesday would have seen a garbled message in Turkish, and probably been somewhat perplexed.
I have to confess I didn’t see it myself thanks to the quick action of my dad – who spotted the page – and my web expert and best mate Mr Kean, who managed to get up a holding page while he rebuilt the whole site, and within a couple of days he had managed to get the whole site back up and running, for which I am massively grateful. After this incident what I do want to do is reassure anyone who has supported me so far that all the donations you have given are safe – no money goes through the Run31 site and all the money which passes through my donations page goes straight to the CF Trust.
However, wherever there’s bad news, there’s always good news (every cloud and all that…) and that has again been the case this week. On the same day the website was hacked, I had an email from the BBC asking if I could supply them with a story and pictures to be fed into their London Marathon coverage for next Sunday morning. They were duly dispatched during the week and so if you keep a close eye out, you may just spot me on TV on Sunday. The BBC are also going to give me details of the reporters out on the course, so I’ll try and grab one of them on my way around.
It’s going to be an exciting week for sure – photoshoot with the Trotters on Tuesday night, hopefully pick up the first batch of Run31 T-shirts (I will post more about that when they’re through) and then first thing on Saturday morning, we board a coach for the capital. Then on Sunday morning I line up with the celebs, including Sir Richard Branson with whom I’ll be starting, and begin the long journey to Buckingham Palace. I’ll be sure to keep you all updated on my progress….

Well it’s been a while since I’ve managed to churn out a blog. My initial idea was to do this every week and, to be honest, it only takes me half an hour at a time. But every time I sit down with the good intention of clearing my to-do list something comes up and another day passes where I haven’t done what I’d planned. C- must try harder!!!
The truth is, although I haven’t been blogging I have been doing plenty towards the challenge – mostly on my legs and at varying speeds, as those of you following me on Facebook and Twitter will have seen. There was the Bath Half Marathon on March 7 (639^th in 1:30. 46), the Mad March Hare 10k on March 21 (8^th in 40.36) and An Resek Hellys in Cornwall on March 28 (45^th in 1:08.41). So that’s eight races down and 23(ish) to go – a lovely thought and it’s good to be ticking them off.
The Bath Half was painful as it came a week after Tokyo, the Mad March Hare was painful as it came two days after my monthly session with the sports physio, and An Resek Hellys was fantastic – a really tough course, including a stretch of beach and a very muddy two-mile stretch of coast path, but the legs felt great and long may that continue.
Over the next couple of weeks, the racing kind of goes into overdrive. I have a weekend off this week and plan to make the most of it by not running very far (although I did do almost 18 miles this morning). But then next Sunday there is the Taunton Half, followed by the Tavy Half and then the excitement of the London Marathon.
I have been looking forward to that since I ran in Tokyo in February and it was fantastic to get my race number (that’ll be 28774 by the way) through in the post this week. But included in the magazine was a section about world records – fastest marathon dressed as a fruit, animal, vegetable, you get the gist.
Some of them were quite obviously out of my range, but there was one I thought I could get – so I’m going to try. The registration forms were sent off and conditionally approved this week and all I’ve got to do now is get a costume by April 7 and send off a picture of me in it to the Guinness World Records team. Then on April 25, I’ll be lining up on the start line with Sir Richard Branson and setting off on the noble quest of running the ‘Fastest Marathon Dressed as a Leprechaun’ (sometimes, I do worry about my own sanity, or lack of it!!).
Aside from that I’ve been working hard to find someone to print some Run31 T-shirts, which I’m then going to sell. Aside from raising money for charity, they’ll obviously be great promotion for what I’m doing and get as many people as possible talking about the challenge. I certainly hope that once they are printed, you’ll all get in touch and be buying copious amounts of them…

It’s a funny old week to be sure. There’s been the announcement at my work of wholesale changes and my struggles to get back into the old routines after two weeks away crossing the time zones. But mostly I think it’s because I won’t be ticking off any more of my 31 races this Sunday.
It’s the first time in four weeks that I won’t be getting up early and joining hundreds of other people waiting for the starters’ gun to fire and to be honest it feels a bit strange – even if I only have to wait until the following weekend to tick off race number seven. But it will give me the chance to go for a nice leisurely Sunday run with my comrades from the Tamar Trotters, something I haven’t done for more than six weeks.
The past few days back home in Plymouth have given me the chance to reflect on my achievements of the past few weeks, with PBs over 10 miles and the marathon followed up by a 1hr 30m half in Bath (which, incidentally, was in my opinion the best running of the event in the four years I have taken part) and I’m now feeling happier than ever with what I have accomplished so far.
The main aim of this year was always going to be to hit the £31,000 fundraising target and that has not changed. But the physical aspect was right up there, and targeting which races to run quickly has now become an enjoyable by-product of the Run31 challenge.
Over the coming months, there will obviously be races where I can’t go flat out (I’m thinking particularly of the half marathons which precede full marathons the following week) but I will be having a crack at a few more PBs as the year progresses.
I’m also considering whether to make a few changes to the schedule, not so much to make it easier, but to incorporate a few races that it would be brilliant to run this year.
At the start of June, I have penciled in to run the Dartmoor Discovery – a 32-mile run which incorporates more than 4,000ft of climbing. Although I had planned two weeks of rest immediately after I am wondering whether it would take too much out of me at a point where I will only be around half way through the challenge, so I may well leave that one for another year.
As a result, I am looking at finding suitable replacements and having just run in Tokyo, the appeal of another big city marathon is … well … very appealing. They don’t come any bigger than New York, and if I can find £895 I will be on a plane to the States in November – anyone know anyone who might be able to contribute?? I am also looking for another marathon at the beginning of June and if anyone has any ideas, just drop me a line.
Talking of donations, I had a photoshoot yesterday morning with Nick Taylor of Saltash Sports, who has supplied me with two lovely pairs of Asics shoes and some Mizuno running kit to boost my effort – good timing too, since my current shoes are coming to the end of their lives, but they’ve served me well.
I’ve also reworked the sponsorship page on my website slightly, so you can visit that and see some of the backing I’ve received so far – oh, and if you fancy adding your company’s name to the list, there’s plenty of room for you.

So that’s that then – my first marathon for six years done and dusted and I managed to knock more than an hour off my PB (although to be fair, my PB was set at a time when I wasn’t running seriously so if it hadn’t bettered it I would have been gutted). I’m absolutely delighted with a time of 3hr 17m on what was a tough day to run.
The rain didn’t stop the  entire time I was running, although by the time I’d picked up my bags and met up with some friends there was glorious sunshine – typical.
Despite that, there was a great atmosphere among the runners and thousands (or maybe even millions) of  spectators lining the route through Tokyo.
In my opinion, it was a pretty good course – fairly flat apart from a few climbs over road bridges in the last 5k which took  their toll, a fact I knew at the time and have confirmed looking at my split times!
My legs don’t feel particularly great now  but I’m sure  they’ll be fine – they certainly feel better than they did when I was running! At around 20k, the muscles in my thigh were tightening so I tried to rub them and alleviate the pain, only to find I had no  feeling on  the outside of my legs, it was that cold.
When  I stopped running it took me around 20 minutes to stop shivering, although I think the thought of beer, food and a hot onsen tomorrow soon helped that disappear – assuming things aren’t too badly affected by the tsunami threat of course, as the TVs here are full of warnings about that at the moment!
I can’t adequately sum up how amazing a few days it has been in Japan so far. Thanks to a number  of Japanese runners – Akinori Kusuda (whose name I spelt wrongly in a previous posting), Toi Iwama and the Smile Running Club of Saitama – I have been made to feel hugely welcome, and it has also been great to meet Tristan Miller and all the RunLikeCrazy guys, supporting him in his bid to run 52 marathons this year. Our Japanese hosts have also been incredibly generous, with the running club donating more than 18,000yen to be shared between our charities and the prospective mayor  of Saitama, Fukuyo Nakamori, donating 5,000yen each to us.
Our  every move has been tracked by a film crew from the national broadcaster NHK, and I am looking forward to seeing their programme when it is  finished – even if it has been slightly surreal to spend a lot of our time here in front of cameras!!
I’m sure at some point over the  next week I will come back down to earth, but I’m not quite ready for that yet – I’m just going to enjoy the  rest of my time here and then think about running the Bath Half Marathon next Sunday!! It’s making me tired just thinking about that so I’ll stop now and go and clean up.
I will be posting some pictures on Flickr and/or Facebook at some point over the next couple of days, so keep an eye out for them. But in  the meantime why not visit my fundraising page and show how much you admire my efforts!! I’m sure that would make the pain in my legs go away a lot quicker – the address is http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/run31