I have set myself a challenge…
So, here’s the challenge: I am going to run up a mountain every day from my doorstep, in London, from the 1st to the 7th of September. I will be running a route involving at least 2000 ft (609 m) of elevation gain each day.
In doing so, I also hope to raise a bit of money for Pembroke House, a local charity I have been involved in.
Mountains do not feature on maps of London, but luckily in South East London, there are a few diminutive hills. If I go up and down one of these local hills enough times — 23 times up One Tree Hill to be precise — I will have reached the equivalent of the minimum height of a British mountain, which is 2000 ft.
The inspiration
2020 has been an extremely challenging year with the pandemic dominating the headlines, posing risks to the health and livelihood of millions. Throughout the past few months, we have all seen glimpses of positivity as many offer acts of kindness or take on personal challenges (and sometimes combining both).
As a keen runner, I have been interested in seeing what others in the running community have been doing since lockdown. With racing off the cards, some have been turning to challenges such as FKT (fastest known time to complete a trail) or other forms of solo challenge in the past 3 months.
We saw really impressive FKT achievements on both the Capital Ring and the London Loop. Up in the Lake District, Sabrina Verjee became the first female to complete the Wainwrights, on the same weekend that Kim Collinson beat the Lakeland 24-hour record by adding another peak. Later on, Beth Pascall set a new female FKT record on the Bob Graham. And then who can forget the duel on the Pennine Way between John Kelly and Damian Hall, who set FKT records within 2 weeks of each other? On “flatter” ground, Dan Lawson ran the length of the UK and set a new LEJOG record, only three weeks after Carla Molinaro smashed the female record.
As I am writing this, John Kelly has just completed the absolutely mind-boggling “Grand Round” — running Paddy Buckley, Bob Graham, Charlie Ramsay each under 24 hours and cycling 400 miles in between.
But what really sparked my interest of setting a personal challenge was this YouTube video of Jeanelle Hazlett covering the elevation of Everest twice (58,058 ft) over 5 days in British Columbia, Canada.
In my head, a climbing-based challenge is more realistic than a distance-based challenge. Since the pandemic lockdown, I have been running consistently, but only covering on average 30–35 miles per week, and with only one 50-mile week (as part of the Centurion Running One Community virtual event in June). But it seems to me that, with a bit of planning, I should be able to cover quite a bit of elevation over a relatively short distance during the week. Of course, a hilly mile is not the same as a flat mile, but I have always preferred hilly routes anyway, where I can also pace myself better.
Reality check
My first thought was I should be able to “everest” over 2 weeks, until I realised that translates to 2073 ft (631 m) per day for 14 days. I have done quite a number of 2000+ feet runs before, but doing that continuously for 14 days does not sound like something I can do without some serious training.
So for how many days should I be able to run that distance/elevation continuously? Maybe a week? I figured out that, starting from home, I could do a hill-repeat route covering 2000 ft over just over 8 miles. Doing that 7 times and covering 60 miles during the week sounds challenging but not entirely crazy.
2000 ft is a nice round number, and is also the official minimum height of a mountain in Britain. So I came up with this “A mountain a day” idea.
By the end of 7th day, I will not have “everested”, but I will have run up a “fourteener”, for you Americans out there!
But really, why?
I love running, but I did ask myself that question a few times.
I am extremely grateful that I have been able to run consistently, free of injury, since the start of lockdown. Considering that not everyone has been able to carry on with their passion throughout this period, shouldn’t I just be content? Yes, I, like many others, are happy to just be out there running. Running should not be about chasing goals. However, I believe this challenge will be a great experience for myself to understand how I will cope with the up and downs (physically and metaphorically speaking!), and to hopefully become a better runner.
Also, being able to work from home full-time means that, logistically, this is more achievable now than ever. I can simply get out of bed early, run, and not have to worry about the commute to work.
Giving back to the community
Finally, I think it would be a good opportunity to raise awareness of a charity I have been involved in recently. Pembroke House is a charity based in Southwark, South East London. The community centre delivers and supports projects that provide opportunities for people to connect with each other and with local services. Lately, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, it has been running a very successful food hub, where volunteer cyclists help distribute food to local households in need. Please visit my JustGiving page and consider a small donation to the charity.
Many people have inspired me in the past. This attempt of mine is not inspirational by any stretch of imagination — some people probably run this elevation every day. I do, however, hope it will help spark an idea, your own idea, to do the thing that you have always wanted to do.
Update: 2020–09–07
I completed the challenge on the 7th of Sep, after climbing 14460ft (4407m) over 65.8 miles and, in the process, raised more than £800 for Pembroke House. See my JustGiving page for a record of the runs.
It was a great experience, and I was extremely lucky to have received a huge amount of support along the way. So what did I learn?
- I have new found respect for anyone taking on proper, real challenges (unlike my own).
- Challenges can quickly turn into chores. You are just out there on your own doing something that feels rather pointless. The key is to make it part of what is “normal” and strive to be better at whatever you are focusing on.
- It felt incredible to have friends from the running community out there supporting, and I look forward to joining others in their own challenges.
- Stretch and foam-roll regularly to stay injury-free!
Thank you all for your support, and One Tree Hill for putting me through the challenge!
