In 2015 I tried to learn to run and more often than not, ended up injured. I found the habit and the motivation but in my first Abbey Dash I limped across the line finishing in 01:12:10. It was a good effort but one that cost me for over a year with weak and aching knees.

In March of 2017 I felt strong enough to try again. I started slow, stuck to a training plan and felt stronger every day that I ran. I set myself a goal to run the Dash again in under 58 minutes and did it in 00:56:58.

So what’s next? My first priority is to keep running through the next 4 seasons. For 2018 I’ve decided to gradually increase my long run distance and I have already entered the next Leeds Abbey Dash, sticking to 10K race goals. During my first recovery run after the Dash I set myself the challenge to run 1200km in the coming year. To build up the miles and aim to beat the next Dash in under 52 minutes.

More recently I changed my pace tracking to miles and increased my challenge to 800 miles.

To further support Age UK in their efforts to provide for the elderly please encourage my challenge by donating and helping me raise £200. To help the fund raising along and increase my own motivation, I will donate £10 for every month I am behind target during 2018 up to £100.

The target will be set from the average miles needed each week to complete the challenge and I will update this page with each monthly target and actual miles covered. Between November 6th to December 31st of 2017, I covered 96.35 miles of the my goal, leaving 703.65 miles to go up to and including the next Abbey Dash. All running is logged via RunKeeper.

I will post regular updates on my progress so you can see that I’m not slacking off. Thank-you in advance.

Monthly Targets
Jan 2018 (wk 01-04), Target = 64 miles, Actual = 65.14 miles. (161.49)
Feb 2018 (wk 05-08), Target = 64 miles, Actual = 69.05 miles. (230.54)
Mar 2018 (wk 09-13), Target = 80 miles, Actual = 68.31 miles. (298.85)
Apr 2018 (wk 14-17), Target = 64 miles, Actual = 64.11 miles. (362.96)
May 2018 (wk 18-21), Target = 72 miles, Actual = 72.08 miles. (435.04)
Jun 2018 (wk 22-26), Target = 88 miles, Actual = 88.05 miles. (523.09)
Jul 2018 (wk 27-30), Target = 50 miles, Actual = 50.08 miles. (573.17)
Aug 2018 (wk 31-35), Target = 82 miles, Actual = 82.59 miles. (655.76)
Sep 2018 (wk 36-39), Target = 64 miles, Actual = 64.29 miles. (720.05)
Oct 2010 (wk 40-44), Target = 80 miles, Actual = 80.81 miles. (800.86) 

Completed: November 4, 2018 at the Leeds Abbey Dash.