2023

It has been an amazing year. The momentous thing that happened this year was meeting Dione Crawley of Dione Studios; she said she could get me back running. In 2022 I was condemned to only doing short runs due to a back problem. That was a very dark day. After one treatment with Dione, my back was a lot better, and I am now back running long distances without pain. That meant I was able to enter the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon my great passion. Fate was to deal a cruel blow, I contracted Covid several weeks before the event and was not well enough to take part. That was a big blow but knowing that I can enter again in 2024 made it easier to bear.

There was a whole host of other things that happened in 2023. I continued doing lots of things that I love doing, volunteering at running events organised by Endurancelife (North Cornwall, Classic Quarter and Dorset), Extreme Energy Event’s Pilgrim Ultra, volunteering at parkrun and at the Cancer Research UK London Winter Run (dressed as a polar bear). Being an Ambassador for the National Running Show and the National Outdoor Expo. I attended both those events at the NEC. I also had a stand at the Cornwall Running Show, promoting the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon, events in Madagascar and the 1% Club which is a group of encouragers and enthusiasts, all with different levels of fitness, each looking to be active as many times as possible every week and help do something for the planet.

I continued to volunteer with the children’s charity Go Beyond helping on their activity breaks in Cornwall and Derbyshire. I have as much fun as the children do.

In 2022 I took my first tentative steps into the world of stand-up comedy with two short slots at new material nights in Toast, Falmouth. This year I have expanded on that and have had 33 performances at 19 different venues in 13 different villages, towns and cities. Plymouth was the most visited, Bath the furthest away and Camborne the nearest. I love learning my craft, performing and sometimes getting paid. I already have some good bookings for 2024.

I started two business netwalking events, both monthly, one near Truro and the other at various locations in west Cornwall. I also managed to take part in some netwalks in Falmouth. Online I hosted monthly events for Yourpartnerships and took turns hosting a monthly event for the Federation of Small Businesses. I also attended lots of networking events and sometimes gave talks. One was in a church. My business, Trailrunningman was reaccredited as a Good Business Charter member, and I was thrilled to be asked to be an ambassador for them.

I continued my involvement with Coastline Housing’ both as a paid member of the Customer Experience Committee that reports to the Board and as a volunteer with the Customer Voice group. I enjoy both roles as I feel I make a useful contribution and effect change. I also continued to be an active member of the Health and Environment Public Engagement group (HEPE) which is part of the University of Exeter’s European Centre for Environment and Human Health. Again, I feel I make a useful contribution and a difference. Towards the end of the year, I was invited to co-author an article on Green Social Prescribing which appeared in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal. As a result of that I was also part of a podcast produced by the BMJ. I also continued to be a public member of the Central Advisory Committee of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) a real-world research service supporting retrospective and prospective public health and clinical studies. CPRD research data services are delivered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency with support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), as part of the Department of Health and Social Care. The committee oversees access to the data.

With a lot going on I often felt that I was doing things that were not central to what I wanted to do and was not doing some things that I really wanted to do. I felt that some structure in my life would help and have often found that restrictions can lead to greater creativity and productivity. I was mulling this over for several weeks when I spotted an advertisement for a part-time job driving special needs children to school. I love driving and thought this would be ideal for providing structure while leaving enough time to get things done. I applied, got my private hire and hackney carriage licence and started in September. I was provided with a brand-new top-of-the-range Skoda Superb estate, automatic with heated seats. However, that has now been swapped due to the requirements of a new route and I am driving an 8-seater minibus based on a manual Renault Traffic van. I was right the structure and restricted time has made me more creative and productive. I have been much more active in trying to find a publisher or agent for my running book; I have collected an impressive range of rejections. In 2024 I will probably self-publish the book using Amazon Kindle Direct. I may also publish my novella that way.

I have posted on my Electric Car Driving Experience blog every week and have enjoyed researching material to include alongside my own personal experiences. I originally had my Renault Zoe on an all-inclusive monthly subscription; however, the company went into administration in September 2023 and signalled an increase in the rental and a decrease in the inclusive charging offer making it far less attractive. Long-term customers were offered the opportunity to purchase their vehicles; as it was a fair price, I have now bought my Zoe.

I did manage a holiday in 2023, a trip to Italy to visit friends I first met in South Africa. The trip was extra special because both my daughters joined me for part of it. I have seen them often during the year, but this was the only time (until Christmas) I had seen them together. I have looked after my younger daughter’s dog at her house on several occasions and visited the older one in Southampton several times. On one occasion we took the train up to London to attend a private premier of a short film produced and directed by a friend’s son. On that day we managed to visit three BrewDog bars, two in London and one in Southampton. That was a first.

Another first was grape picking at the Camel Valley Vineyard near Bodmin. That was a wonderful way to earn a few pounds doing something that turned out to be both social and relaxing. Something I will do again.

Another new thing was becoming a charity trustee again. In the past, I have been a trustee of several charities but have had a break of about six years. The new position is with a local charity providing residential places for people who wish to detox and stabilise their drug or alcohol addiction. Most of the places are provided for people from Cornwall, but people do come from other parts of the country to access these specialised services.

In 2024 I am looking forward to continuing those activities, particularly my comedy career and volunteering at Go Beyond, within the framework of my driving job. I will be devoting more time to self-care, my wellbeing, running and creative writing.