Author: MarathonMannUK

A colleague of mine (or rather, a man who works for the same company as I), Fraser Corsan, is an interesting man.   You may have heard of wing suits or seen them on TV, specially modified with triangles of fabric sewn between each arm and the body as well as between the legs.  It means that if you jump out of an aircraft wearing one, you don’t drop like a stone but rather are able to glide by spreading your arms and legs.  Granted, a parachute is still required to save you from a deadly appointment with the ground but it must be the closest thing to flying like Superman that exists in real life.  When Fraser took up wing-suiting, there was only a total of around 15 people word-wide doing it and now, with over 1,300 wing-suit jumps to his name, he is among the most experienced wing-suit flyers in the world.  The term “legend” is sometimes rather liberally applied to inspiring individuals but it certainly applies to Fraser.

So, one day he and a collection of supporters decided to engage on an audacious  project to raise money for the services charity. SSAFA by attempting to beat no less than 4 world records.  The 4 Project Cirrus goals were: The highest altitude jumped in a wing-suit (37,265ft), the longest flight time in a wing-suit (9 minutes 6 seconds), the highest speed flown in a wing-suit (234mph) and the furthest distance flown in a wing-suit (19.01 miles).

The training and planning was meticulous and you couldn’t fault the preparation.  What you can’t plan for of course is the weather and on the week when all the years of planning came together, no one could have predicted how unfavourable it would be.  It was clear to the team before any planes took off that there was no way Fraser could even be flown to a sufficient height to be able to have a realistic chance of beating any of the records.  The team put a brave and positive face on things, but you could tell their bitter disappointment.

I am unlikely to ever be the fastest man at anything but I have goals like us all.  In my blog “Old men will dream dreams” back in November 2016 I set some ambitious targets for 2017.  Now as we approach half way through 2017, things have not gone my way.  There has been flu, colds, a foot corn, a sprained ankle and now a new foot injury that I thought would take a few days to heal and now, I’ve been out for three weeks.  As far as running training is concerned, I have never really been able to get started. I was planning a 200 mile month in June and in total, I think I have managed around 2.

It would be tempting to start re-doubling training efforts and doing extra mileage to try and reach my goal of 1,500 mies in the year.   I can still train for my Marathon in October but the whole PB goal was based on a 6-month build-up.  I could beat myself up at not being able to achieve these things but having to sit-out the last couple of weeks has made me realise something really important.

When I volunteered as the official photographer at Temple Newsam parkrun a few weeks ago, I saw hundreds of people enjoying turning out on a wet summers morning to do a parkrun.  They were all having a great time of it (even if painful) but it didn’t honestly matter if they were finishing in 18 minutes or 48 minutes.   It just brought home to me how much I actually enjoy going out for a run and this, regardless of how fast.  Being injured, I can appreciate what a gift being able to run is and how all the goal setting and striving for personal bests is secondary to that.

I have decided that dropping 2017 goals is not going to make me miserable.  All of the reasons that have stopped me running are nothing to do with training or fitness and that I couldn’t do anything about them.  I will not take down these goals because I still strive to achieve them some time but, they are not the be-all and end-all because being able to do what I love is more important.

As a final act in the saga of Fraser Corsan’s record attempts, closer examination of the flight records reveals that after all, on one of his jumps Fraser reached a maximum speed of 249mph which exceeds the world record by 15 miles per hour.  Fastest man in the world?  Usain Bolt, eat your heart out!  As for me?  I still may be able to reach some of my goals this year but if not, Que Sera, Sera.

“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

What do you do if you can’t go running?  That is, apart from drink wine, eat cake and watch a film (all of which I have to say, I did last night).  One idea is to sort through old running tops; the sort you get at the end of most mass running races, that you maybe wear a couple of times and then stuff in an already over loaded, running draw, never to see the light of day again.  My wife told me I had over 40 of these things stashed in various drawers around the house and that it was probably time for a clear out.

Now, running t-shirts are just things right?  True, but as I went through them they invoked some incredible memories and I started sorting them not by their quality or practicality but according to how valuable the memories were.  This is why we like taking so many photographs and why some people call them “memories”.    Today, photos play a different role in society than they used to because of the ubiquitous access to high-quality digital photography.  Today, almost everyone carries a powerful digital camera in their pocket and people will take pictures willy-nilly to record pretty much every enjoyable moment of their life.  After all, it costs nothing, unlike the day not so long ago, when developing and printing a roll of 36 exposure 35mm film would cost you several quid.  I have heard it suggested that by taking so many photos, we might actually be eroding our power to remember, because we rely so much on the pictures we take on our cameras and smartphones so much, causing us to neglect to store the memories in our heads.  I am not so sure because like my t-shirts the pictures aren’t the memory itself and don’t have any meaning, unless there a a powerful real memory to unlock.

This is why I never delete photographs and have them all backed up to multiple locations (cloud and otherwise), but should I get rid of t-shirts?  The answer of course is yes I should because it reaches a point where the degree to which they clutter, overrides any nostalgic benefit.  50 odd running tops take up a lot of space and it probably isn’t worth sacrificing all those drawers for an occasional browse down memory lane.  After all, I have my photo library and that isn’t going anywhere.  Talking of photos the picture shown in is of Helen and I after smashing the Edinburgh Marathon in 2011 and this leads me to the last point.

There are some things that I can’t bring myself to get rid of simply because they represent extra special memories.  I will keep my London Marathon tops for example, recent ones (which are practical) and some of my first, given out when I was starting my running journey.  After all, I need something to run in.

‘See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.’  Isaiah 65:17 NIV

The phrase “off the beaten track” might have its origins in the time where explorers, or frontiersmen may have created paths through the forest by cleaning away the undergrowth and other obstructions.  Being off that beaten path meant you must have been in real unexplored territory or worse, completely lost.

You might think that the Leeds Country way is the complete opposite of this concept because it is by definition, a way cleared for tourists, walkers and yes, even runners to enjoy safely, the Yorkshire countryside.

You would be wrong.

Returning to Leg 1 of the LCW relay after three weeks and its nearness to civilisation, it’s very on-the-beaten-track-ness seems to have gone back with the onset of summer.  Entropy has taken over!  The decision to wear long running tights was a good one.  They are not completely nettle proof but have saved my legs from being raw after wading through them waste deep.  In places you might think that surely a path doesn’t go through there!

This might be a little woosy-ness on my part because these “jungle stretches” were probably a few percent of the total route that does go through some stunning countryside.  But, as the Boy Scouts say, you should “be prepared”.  So my advice to anyone doing the Leeds Country Way Relay:

Firstly, reccy your route and then do it again, in even this simplest of routes near home I had to look at my GPS a few times.

If you are going out at this time of year, wear running tights/leggings.

Above all have fun doing it.  I am told the beaters will be out before race day so it will be a joy to run and probably not so difficult to navigate.

“When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭27:20‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

http://bible.com/113/act.27.20.nivuk