31 May 2026 — The Great Manchester Run nearly didn’t happen at all. Not because of fitness, not because of injury — but because of the Metrolink, a porta-loo queue, and a kind woman who let a slightly panicked me join the back of the last green wave at 0827, eighteen minutes after I was supposed to have started. Did it matter, not really... everyone’s race is on an individual chip time, but you are not following pacers and every blip on race morning feels like a mountain to c

This week I stumbled through Alderley Parkrun in a blistering 27:35. Last week, same epic quest was almost four minutes slower: 31:32. On paper? Progress - Strava was throwing a party. “ Solid race effort. ” “Heart rate elevated throughout.” “ Good speed when it counts. ” Elevated throughout? Yes, indeed. Because I was convinced I was going to die... This week felt like climbing Everest without oxygen. The kind of hard where you start making deals with the universe at 3km. “J