How did this happen?

So how does a 41 year old former social rugby player and proud owner of a dad bod end up signing up for one of the toughest ultra marathon bucket list challenges out there? The short version is that my wife went out and left me to my own devices for too long while I was avoiding working on my ILM diploma. Instead, Linds came home to find that I had all but signed up to run the rat race from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coast of Panama!

The longer version is a little more complicated, a little more steeped in my wellbeing and the effects of the pandemic. I love sport, I always have ..... but running has mostly been an unfortunate side effect of playing sport other than the occasional Tough Mudder. My nickname in rugby was ‘the warty-pig.’ That should tell you everything you need to know about my grace and mobility as a runner. But, like so many of us I had reached a point 9 months into the pandemic where cabin fever was setting in and I found myself retreating deeper and deeper into my own head and more regularly.

I needed something to break the cycle, something that would stretch and challenge me physically and emotionally and snap me out of my funk. So, partly a mid life crisis and partly my rebellion against the Groundhog Day that had been forced on us by 2020 I went all in! A 250km race spread across 7 days of some of the toughest terrain and most humid conditions in the world. I booked my ticket, I changed my diet, I started training and I invested in snake proof ankle guards. I researched the country of Panama. Fun fact: Panama is home to the Banana Spider, the most poisonous spider in the world whose venom can kill you pretty quickly and/or give men Priapism (a very painful erection!) I roped in one of my rugby pals ...... sorry Nick, and I’m hugely grateful to be sharing the long journey with someone. I have one year to get into the best shape of my life, to turn the Warty Pig into a graceful gazelle. I guess it’s better than buying a sports car ;)

Im also going to raise money and awareness for my charity, Sported - an organisation that supports young people through grassroot sport and physical activity. It’s a cause that’s clearly very similar to my own reasons for taking on Panama. Covid has shone a light on the importance of positive physical activity for all of us, and shown us how hard life can be if you don’t have ‘that thing’ that gets you outdoors and excites and inspires you.

This will be my weekly blog, my long journey from couch to coast to coast, and hopefully my transformation from Peter Griffin to Bear Grylls. It will be honest, it will be silly and it will probably hurt a lot along the way. 363 days to go!