Some Lessons for Everyday Life from Running 100 Miles Across the Country

The observant among you may have already noticed that I currently have a slightly less ‘professional’ looking profile photo.

This actually is for a reason and is only temporary, as I wanted to share some lessons from my recent 100 mile run across the country which I believe may be applicable to ‘normal’ life.

For a bit of context and background, I ran 100 miles, including the length of Hadrian’s Wall and all the hills involved in crossing the Pennines to get from the Solway Firth on the west coast to the North Sea in Tynemouth on the east coast. This took me just over 29 hours and involved running/walking through the night and being on my feet for all but short periods of sitting down at a number of checkpoints I’d organised along the route.

Having completed this feat on Sunday 13th September, I thought it would be sensible to now look back on it and see what lessons I have learned about myself, about others and about the human ability to rise to a new challenge. Having thought these through, I wanted to share them with you in case they could be of use to you or any you know in your daily lives (either at work or at home... or both at the same time, which is increasingly the norm in this post-COVID world!)

In no particular order, the biggest lessons I learned from this challenge are summarised below:

1. Plan to Succeed

One of the comments made by one of my support runners was that he hadn’t seen such detailed and thorough plans, timings and mapping details on professionally organised races he has entered. This planning was absolutely key for me. I had data from previous runs I’ve done, information about the route itself (its elevation changes, what surfaces would be run upon etc) and all sorts of information on calorific needs, hydration needs etc to keep me going along the route. I combined all of this to create a plan for the 100 mile run which estimated my time of arrival at each checkpoint, approximately how much drink and food I should take on board during each section and how long it would take me to finish. The key point was time to finish, as this meant time to sit and relax in the glow of achievement. Over the 100 miles, I managed to predict my finish time to within 29 minutes - which in my opinion is strong recognition for quality planning and data use.

This is something which is obviously as useful in business life as it is in running - if you fail to plan, you should plan to fail. However, I would strongly suggest that this be read only in conjunction with my next lesson on measuring what matters.

(picture below of one of my many spreadsheet plans)

2. Measure What Matters

On the run, I had an idea of what pace I had planned to run at during each section. I also had a plan for roughly how much food I would eat at each checkpoint and how much fluid I would take on board. I have previously bogged myself down in timings and calorie intake on ultra marathons, but this time I decided to concentrate on measuring what mattered, and to me on this run there were only two things that mattered; distance covered and fluids consumed.

Putting it simply, the time I got to the finish was considerably less important than me getting to the finish, and the only way I would get to the finish was if I remained well hydrated (something I have struggled with in the past). I therefore ate what I wanted when I wanted, ran at the pace that felt comfortable and stopped for the amounts of time that felt right. As it happened, this meant I consumed about the amount of food I’d expected to and finished very close to my anticipated time, but these were secondary measures so I largely ignored them.

I think this is a really strong lesson that managers of both projects and people should take note of. If we try to monitor progress against too many metrics, we become obsessed by the metrics themselves and not the end goal - if, however, we concentrate on the key goal and measure only the metrics which we know will directly lead to our success in achieving it, we can all enjoy the journey a lot more and be more likely to achieve the goal in the end.

(picture below of just one of my boxes of food and drinks taken to each checkpoint)

3. With enough training, a very ‘normal’ person can achieve things which seem to most people to be almost super-human

I have gradually built both my fitness and confidence from a point 15 years ago when I was unable to run a couple of miles outdoors without feeling like I was about to collapse to the point where now I know I can propel myself forward at a decent pace for over a full day and night. This has come about in slow increments as I have sought new challenges to always extend what I feel I am capable of, but it has led me to a point where almost anything now feels possible. Obviously in this case this training was for a physical act, but I fully believe that the same can be said for application to mental and developmental challenges.

(picture below of me walking into the water at the end of the 100 mile run)

4. With the right motivation, you can achieve what you previously thought impossible

I was running to raise money for Cancer Research UK, as my brother was diagnosed with inoperable cancer 2 years ago and I wanted to show what the human body is capable of and to provide a positive outlet for his friends and our family to channel our energy towards. With this motivation, not only did I complete the run, but we also raised over ￡8,000 for the charity - a sum which I genuinely believe will make a real difference.

(picture below of my Dad, brother and I in more carefree times)

5. People are looking for a cause. If you can find or create one which appeals to them, they will follow you and support you in working towards it.

Again, in this instance the cause was very physical, obvious, openly appealing (my brother is a lovely guy with a beautiful young family and simply doesn't deserve to be in this position) and had a clear end goal. However, I believe again that this should be applicable to all of life, be that a new business venture or a team goal. If you can find something that ignites your "why" and appeals to that of other people, you will gain supporters and followers for your cause.

(picture below of some of my support runners and myself entering the Quayside in Newcastle - admittedly my wife and kids had little choice in the matter!)

6. People are inherently amazing, generous and continually surprising - you just have to give them a chance to show it.

On this challenge, I knew I would struggle to run the full distance alone as I would come up against a lot of internal challenges slowing my progress. However, when I mentioned in a couple of online running groups what I was planning to do and why, volunteers for support runners and even a support driver to run my checkpoints came flying in. I had company for all but 8 miles of my 100 mile run, including numerous people throughout the night. These people all gave up their time to help me in achieving my personal goals, but again I believe this was largely because of the cause being something they felt they could unite around.

(picture below of myself and Gareth on the beach at the finish - I'd never met Gareth before organising the run, and yet he came out in his car and managed all of my checkpoints overnight, before then running and walking the final 30 miles with me to the finish line)

7. A positive mental attitude and a true motivational cause can push you through serious physical pain and suffering.

Having got wet feet during the night and having not changed my socks early enough, my feet suffered as the sun came up, cracking badly on the balls when I had around 15 miles to go. However, there was never a doubt in my mind that I was going to finish the distance, and (with a quick patch-up from another of my amazing support runners) I was able to get back on my way again and finish. This level of "mind over matter" is invaluable when approaching challenges in everyday life and at work, as I now have a point of reference for what 'hard' really feels like. If I can conquer 100 miles in 29 hours under my own steam, I can push through tough projects and times at work.

(picture below of the feeling when putting my socks back on caught on my split feet)

8. No matter how strong you feel, you should listen to the voices of those around you.

Around halfway through the night, the rain was falling pretty hard as I came into a checkpoint run by the amazing Gareth. Upon sitting down, he offered me his coat from the back of his car to keep my legs warm. At first I politely declined, as I didn't want to get it muddy and sweaty from my legs and I also felt pretty warm already. However, when the team around me pointed out how cold I would get quickly in the rain now that I had stopped, I reneged and gratefully accepted the warm, 'high-vis chair-skirt'. Not only did this keep me dry and look incredibly snazzy, it undoubtedly helped keep my leg muscles from seizing up while I got some valuable calories on board - all things I would have missed out on had I ignored the good advice of those around me.

(picture below of my attractive 'high-vis chair skirt' in action)

9. No matter how much you know, you can always learn from someone else.

I have run ultra-marathons before. I've been on my feet for long periods and felt I knew what to expect from how they would feel. However, when the balls of my feet cracked due to the dampness combined with continual pressure, I was stumped for how to solve the issue - blister plasters simply fell off the tattered skin and I didn't want to cover my whole foot in tape. However, this was where my friend and support runner Paul's experience of having walked Wainwright's Coast-to-Coast barefoot paid off - he knew that a liberal application of iodine would help to kill off any risk of infection in the wound, but also help dry out the skin and toughen it up. The effects were almost instantaneous and I was able to keep going. Without his knowledge I would have been sunk, which I believe is a strong lesson in humility about the limitations of your own knowledge.

(picture below of my interestingly coloured iodine-soaked foot!)

10. A Bad Workman Blames His Tools, But a Good Workman Acknowledges His

Over my many years of running, I have built up quite a considerable kit inventory (much to my wife’s chagrin!) Whilst I knew that it would be me putting one foot in front of the other for 29 hours that would get me to the finish, I also knew that having good kit would make it considerably less uncomfortable than if I had bad kit. In this I can definitely say that I had the best I could have hoped for and I came through the run with very few physical issues at all.

There’s an obvious lesson for business here as well; if you don’t get the right equipment to do the jobs you want to succeed at, whilst you may still eventually achieve your goals, it will likely be unnecessarily uncomfortable and difficult along the way!

(picture below of my most essential pieces of kit - my running shoes and running poles)

11. There are few things that a hot meal or a cup of tea can't make feel a lot better.

My checkpoints were my lifeline on this challenge. I had a hot meal just before dark (in the form of a self-heating ration pack, which was considerably nicer than it sounds!) and at each stop in the night I was greeted by a steaming cup of tea from Gareth's flask. The uplift these each provided to my spirits and my body cannot be underestimated and provided me with a strong lesson for the future - when something feels too hard, stop, take a breather and make a brew. It will almost certainly feel more achievable afterwards!

?(picture below of one of my checkpoint stops while Gareth made me a brew)

12. If you act positive, you will feel more positive, those around you will feel more positive and the cycle will continue.

I worked on a mindset for this challenge that I would enter each and every conversation I had on it by trying to be the most positive person in it. My view was that if someone was also in a good place, our good moods would lift one another higher, if they were in a low spot, I may make them feel better, which would also lift my own mood. This approach was thoroughly successful and, barring a couple of sections in the night where I simply wanted the next sit down to arrive a bit quicker, I never had a down moment. This is now something I will try and take into my working life more. I have at times cultivated a reputation for being the sarcastic and sardonic grumpy old man in the corner, which has served its purpose at times in my role, but it can sometimes bring down my own mood as well as those around me. For a while I would like to try taking my learning from running into work on this point and see how it fares.

(picture below summarising my mood throughout the run, along with that of my mate Andy)

13. It's time to stop doubting yourself - if you have a dream which you want to achieve, find a way to work towards it.

I ran Hadrian's Wall over 3 days back in 2010 when I had been injured for about a year and, upon finishing, I vowed that I would be back to "do it properly". I have worked towards doing that on and off over that decade, building up my running distances and my ambition to the point where I felt it might just be achievable. It took my big brother's diagnosis to get me off my bum to actually set it up and do it though.

So the question is, what's holding you back from committing to that thing you've been thinking about?

(picture below of me loving my journey along the wall)