Cervical Disc Herniation, Learning To Race-Walk And My Return To Ultrarunning

It is January 2023, when I develop an insignificant pain from the left side of my neck to the tip of my shoulder; it feels as if a string is being pulled from each end. I treat myself to a massage and the therapist finds the muscles in the area tight, but following the treatment I feel as good as new. A month later the pain returns, so I re-visit the therapist. In a bid to prevent the pain recurring again, I start weekly visits to the local pool, to include some front crawl swimming to my exercise schedule.

By March I'm in Italy competing in a 6-day running event, which goes really well and I don't experience any pain whatsoever with my neck or shoulder, but by the following day that same dull pain returned.

Back in UK I booked an appointment with a physio to get another opinion, and he suggested taping up the area with kinesiology tape for two days to 'give the muscles some extra support' and allow them a chance to relax. To my surprise it worked and within two days the dull pain had gone.  

Later in April, I was running the 250-miles Thames Ring event, which apart from a bad first afternoon with stomach problems, I managed to turn it around and complete with a personal record for the course. A few weeks later, when I visited the pool for a light swim, I decided it would a good idea to swim breaststroke, to see if it would open my back and perhaps shake off the niggling shoulder pain. After a few laps doing front crawl I decided to do 100 metres breaststroke and whilst lifting my head out of the water to take a breath, I felt a sudden shockwave travel from my neck all the way down to my legs. The sensation was weird but not painful, so I repeated the movement a few times; naively thinking I was helping by 'releasing' whatever was trapped. When I walked back to my car, I noticed pin and needles in my left arm and that my left leg felt really weird, as if the messages my brain were sending it were delayed. The next day I tried to run and it didn't feel right, my left leg felt weird, and from time to time my leg would collapse. 

Not sure what to do I decided to try the local chiropractor. I explained the history and she said that my left side was indeed tight, but that after four sessions with her I would be back doing my usual running. Brilliant I thought! At this stage the pins and needles sensation was on and off, and the leg collapse would cause me issues a few times a day.  

After two sessions with the chiropractor, I spoke to my wife who reminded me that I was covered under her health insurance policy, and urged me to phone their dedicated team for neck and back problems. Initially I was reluctant to call as the chiropractor had assured me there weren’t any major problems and that I'd back to 100% in another two sessions. However my wife reminded me I had nothing to lose by seeking another opinion, so I phoned her health insurance and explained the history to another Physiotherapist. To my shock, they expressed concern that I had possibly herniated discs in my neck, so they would book me in with an orthopaedic surgeon as soon as a matter of urgency.  I was warned that if I were to lose control of my bowels, or experience any numbness in my genital area, that I should go straight to emergency, as she as confident that the hernias could be affecting my spinal cord. 

Within days of that call I was with the surgeon viewing the results of my MRI. The doctor confirmed I had two large herniated discs in my neck, along with spinal cord compression. Initially his aim was to avoid surgery, but he confirmed that it would take 18 - 24 months to heal naturally. When I received this news I felt numb and overwhelmed at my prospects. I left his office without asking many questions, only knowing that we would talk by phone once a month to check if my symptoms were getting worse, that I wasn't allowed to run at all, but I could walk my dog. I walked to the train station and I cried my eyes out. Eventually I rang my wife, and then called my manager to advise him that I should probably see the work doctor before I was allowed back at work (I drive trains for a living). I was completely depressed for the next few weeks, and to make matters worse the work doctor didn't want me near a train until I was better. Which potentially meant 18 -24 months away from work as well – so not only was I unable to do the thing I loved, but I was also worried about our finances.

 

Nasty Herniations 

Over the next 3 months I did some reading into my condition, and from what I read, a nutritious diet and quality sleep would aid my recovery.  The only thing I could maintain control of was the quality of food going in my body and the sleep I was getting. Summer went by and my symptoms slowly disappeared, so the surgeon booked another MRI but warned me that herniated discs recover very slowly despite the symptoms disappearing. To my disappointment the next MRI showed no reduction to the size of the herniated discs.  Up to this point I had been leisurely walking the dog for an hour a day, but I checked with the surgeon to see if I could do longer walks and increase the speed, and he said that it was fine, but to stay on easy terrain like roads and avoid the coastal paths. Luckily, the work doctor also allowed me to start a phased return to work, which gave a sense of normality back to my life and alleviated some of my worry around financial pressure.

Around this time I started a new type of fitness journey - I began researching race-walking techniques online, buying a few books, and messaging friends that race-walk for advice. During September, I noticed a massive improvement in my walking speed and that my one-hour walks were getting longer, and apart from the odd looks and laughs I was getting from the locals I really loved the experience. I started reading the 'Back Mechanic' by Dr Stuart McGill, who describes walking fast as ‘balm for the spine’, which was music to my ears but at the same time I was still worried that I could potentially be derailing my recovery by doing too much, which might lead to an operation - something I wanted to avoid all costs. The operation, called a Fusion, where the discs are removed and a plate is then screwed to your vertebrae next to your spinal cord!

 The 'Back Mechanic' is an amazing book - it explains how the spine works and how to look after it, with advice on posture and suggested exercises including lots about walking. If you are one of many suffering from back pain, then I cannot recommend the Back Mechanic enough! But even if you are not suffering from back problems I would recommend this book to help you avoid any problems in the future.  I read the book 3 times and was really keen to speak to Dr McGill, however he is retired and rarely takes on any consultancy work. However, when searching through his website backfitpro.com, I did find a list of specialists who had trained with him, and that is when I came across Joel Proskewitz who had worked with Dr McGill for over a decade and taught his courses all over the world. It didn't take long before I was writing to Joel's PA to see if he could help me out in any way, shape or form. I received a call from Joel to book an appointment but before that could happen he wanted to see my recent MRI images. During the appointment Joel explained my MRI scan in detail, something the surgeon perhaps didn't have the time to do, he also explained why my herniation was dangerous. He said in a way I had been a lucky, as some surgeons would have operated straight away. We went through all my daily activities and thankfully he confirmed that nothing I was doing would make the herniation worse or derail my recovery. Joel was super professional and he didn't waste one second of our appointment. Although he could not offer a fast track to my recovery, the conversation made me hopeful for the future.

For the remainder of the year I continued speed walking, increasing everything gradually- the dog was happy, and the locals continued to be entertained by my new hobby of ‘mincing’. By the time we went on a family holiday in December to Disneyland in Florida I was covering about 80km (50miles) per week and had improved my half marathon time to 2h44 on an undulating course. I had also walked two marathons, with my best time being 5h42, which made me start to wonder if I could perhaps compete as a walker in 2024. In Florida I was the official bag holder whilst my family visited the rides, as I decided I will never ride a roller-coaster again for the fear of injury.

As we started 2024, I counted down the days until my MRI in March.  Sadly, that January, I saw that the organisers confirmed my favourite race, the 490km Authentic Phiddipides, would no longer exist due to difficulty in finding enough volunteers for such a long course. I remember going to bed really depressed, it really was the end of an era for me, and I fell asleep remembering all the beautiful experiences during my three participations.   Around that time, my friend, Mijaela got in touch to see if I was keen to take part in a 24-hours race in her hometown of Russe, Bulgaria in April, with options of 6 and 12 hours. Well of course I wanted to but I also had to wait for the MRI results and surgeon’s advice in March, and I was aware that I was still far off the 18 – 24 months recovery time. 

In the meantime I carried on learning to race-walk and March quickly arrived. As I drove to see the specialist, I reminded myself to lower my expectations this time to avoid another bout of depression, and that I was doing so great with race-walking, that I had waited 10 months and could wait more! Walking in to the surgeon's office, my hands were really sweaty and my heart was pounding, he had his back to me and was taking a picture of his computer screens with his phone. He turned in his chair wearing the biggest smile and exclaimed: 'How did you do it? I am sending this picture to my surgeon friends, I have never seen it happen before'. In the last few months I had got quite good at understanding the MRI images of my neck, and I could see that two images were identical, but that in one of the images my discs looked great. 

Dumbfounded, I asked him how much it had improved by, and when I needed another MRI. 'That's it, it is all gone, you're free, and you don't need another MRI'.  I couldn’t believe it and asked whether I could start running again, and about taking part in the Russe 24 hour race in 6 weeks. After I explained what it involved he told me that a walking race would not be a problem for my neck, but that he wasn't sure why anyone would want walk in circles for a whole day! As for running, I could go ahead but build it up slowly.  When I got in the car I cried again, tears of joy this time. I never expected that, I would have been happy with 50% improvement. My wife was away in New Zealand at the time so I sent her a message with the great news and also told my brother and sister back in Brazil, followed by an email to Joel in London to book a follow up appointment.

 

Whoop whoop! Discs have healed!

I continued race-walking and in the following weeks travelled to London to see Joel. We spent an hour discussing everything that had been going on, my future plans around walking and returning to running, and then another hour at his gym selecting a few exercises to help me with my spine health and endurance. Joel also gave me the thumbs up to walk in Russe, and progressively return to ultra-running.  I spent the night at a friend's house celebrating with a few beers, and the next morning made my way to Paddington to catch my train back to Cornwall, on my way there I got two messages from friends within a short space saying the Pheidipides was back on with a new organisation in charge, who decided that the race was too good to let go of and that they planned to have one in November 2024. I hadn't run a step in 11 months but I decided there and then that I would do everything I could to be at the starting line again. 

At the end of April I arrived in Bulgaria, super excited to race again, but this time as a walker. The vibe was superb in Russe, with an army of enthusiastic volunteers and a great looking track, perfect for walking. There were 30 of us doing the 24, but I was the only walker, which was a bit weird at first but I soon got accustomed to the constant overtaking.  My race was going really well, I reached marathon in around 5h50 then double marathon in less than 12 hours. I started wondering if I could walk 100 miles in 24 hours but by about 19 hours my hips become too sore to walk efficiently so I had no choice but to walk at a pedestrian speed for the rest of the race - in the end finishing just shy of 154km and coming top 10, and beating many runners. I was grateful to Mihaela for the hospitality and for inviting me to her home town, as well as to race director Viro, for accepting my late entry. I remember being half asleep in the back of a taxi to the hotel and feeling really happy inside. I returned to the UK wondering how to start running again and then signed up for the Gloucester 24 hours, which would take place at the end of August. 

 

Waiting to start my first walking race!

In May, I settled for running 1 day and walking 1 day with a day off per week. By June I was running 2 days and walking 1 day and by July, 3 runs followed by 1 day walking. We travelled to Spain in August for a family holiday, where I started race preparations, running twice a day but I erring on the side of caution and dropping the mileage. I was excited again coming to Gloucester, which marked my return as an ultra-runner and it was great to catch up with some of my friends there. Looking back, Gloucester went pretty stress free although I did worry (for no reason) that something bad was going to happen to my spine. I managed to stay on the track for the whole race and covered 107 miles in total. However, I was rusty and I didn't feel confident enough to tackle the over 300 miles in Greece later that year just yet, so I decided to enter the North Coast 110 miles early in Oct, a race I knew well and could really test me.   In preparation for the North Coast I dusted off my trail shoes and started to split my running sessions between road and trail, as well as some walking sessions.

 

Gloucester 24

Soon enough we were off on the north coast of Devon, early on a Friday morning with the beautiful winter sunshine that followed us all weekend. It was late on the first night when I started to feel crappy, mainly my stomach felt unsettled and my legs wouldn’t cooperate. I could have walked pretty fast on the trails but the downside is that once you start walking it becomes difficult to run again. 

I arrived at the check point in Coombe Martin and decided I needed to sleep a little for a reset (I didn't fancy walking the remainder 40 miles) and lay down for 30 minutes on a mat in the village hall, followed by a warm meal. I packed my bag with enough food and drink to last until the next checkpoint and it didn't take too long before I started to enjoy the race again. Eventually the sun came up and I was running well and slowly passing the people that left me behind during the night; the last 10 miles felt pretty remarkable even passing the people on the 50km race. I was greeted by the Justin Nicolas at the finish line who congratulated me on my finish and my return to trail racing. Immediately I felt the confidence to travel to Greece, all my fears had disappeared and I really wanted to be there. Besides the challenge of running 490km I was also desperate to see the small core of volunteers that have helped me in my last three participations. 

 

Beautiful North Coast of Devon

The Authentic Phiddipides Run 2024 (or Double Sparta as I like to call it)

 

If you got this far into this post, you will be happy to know that I spare you from all the details about what went on during my 2024 participation in Greece (more details from this race can be read on my previous participation blogs of 2019 and 2022). What I can tell you is that I saw my favourite volunteers on the way to Sparta and on the return to Athens, and that they were as wonderful as always and they demanded I come back in 2025.

 

On our way to Corinth

Arriving at the Kinetas check point (roughly 58 km left to the finish) on a Sunday afternoon, myself and Tateno from Japan (we had been running together since we left Sparta, nearly 200km), decided we needed a little reset - a 20 minutes nap and something substantial to eat. 

As we left the check point, we found a nice rhythm and a diminishing desire to walk. I dared to ask Tateno how he felt, but it was obvious we were both high on endorphins by now. It kind of became uncomfortable to walk and running felt somehow easier, even on the uphill. My good friend Jean Louis Vidal describes this sensation 'as finding your moped' and once you find the moped it is wonderful, like a drug!

The last 20km of the race is the section I usually hate, running on a busy motorway with pollution and a dusty hard shoulder full of rubbish. I reminded myself that I shouldn't even be taking part and that I should savour the moment whatever the route looked like. Our pace was electric and it didn't take long before we had only 8 km left that, so I suggested we made a quick stop to buy a can of Mythos beer and drink it on our way to the finishing line. We were joined by Vasiliki and her dog Smudge (they had escorted me again two years ago) and soon enough we crossed the line together in 90 hours and were handed more Mythos by the race director, Alkis. 

 

Cold Mythos in hand!

That was a wonderful moment for me for sure. And I was so grateful to share that with Tateno too, we were in total sync for 245km, which is pretty difficult over those distances, but I will remember those last 50km forever. I met Tateno in 2022 at the 3 Peaks race here in the UK and recommended he added the Phidipides to his ‘bucket list’ - I would never imagine that two years later we would be finishing it together. Thanks again Tateno!

This marks the end of my season, a season I didn't think would exist, but one I'm really proud of. I just want to thank all my friends and family who supported me during this time. Shit happens all the time but I am happy I managed to turn it around and learn lots in the process. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and an injury free 2025 season!

Other info:

For anyone interested in improving their spine health, or who is suffering with back problems, please read The Back Mechanic- Stuart McGill. 

If you want to take back fitness to another level I recommend the title 'Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance' also by Stuart McGill. I recommend this to any trainer and therapist too. 

If you are suffering with disc problems and no one has managed to help you yet, or worse, you are thinking of having surgery, then Joel Proskewitz is amazing. He can also help you prepare for surgery and take the right steps to recover from surgery. Joel also runs The SpineXchange, ‘a community of fellow spine patients dedicated to achieve spine health and recovery objectives’.

If you are interested in learning how to improve your walking I recommend 'The Complete Guide to Competitive Walking' by Dave McGovern.

Anyone looking for a 24 hour track event in 2025, check out the Danube 24 in Russe, Bulgaria. I really enjoyed my participation there this year. Nice food, great looking track, awesome volunteers and portaloos by the trackside.

 

The Authentic Phidipiddes Run 2022 - From dream to reality...

'Like a tree that grows stronger with more branches and roots, you need to find more and more ways to be inspired' - Yannis Kouros

It didn't take long to decide to return to the Authentic Phidippides Run, having completed the race in 2019. Due to the pandemic, the 6th edition of the race was cancelled in 2020 and I had to wait until 2021 to return; where with a bit more experience, I was very pleased with a 5-hour personal best of 85h40, finishing 6th overall. 

As I said before, I love the route and the history behind this race, and more importantly I love the amazing volunteers who are so good to me every time I race in their beautiful country. It won’t come as a surprise that I decided to participate for a third time in 2022, the Phidippides experience is like a drug, with several runners returning year in year, including the talented Lucasz Sagan who continues to smash his own course record. The last 18 months have been huge for me as an ultra-runner and like a bottle of wine, I feel like I'm improving with age. Suffice to say, I had high hopes of doing well at this year's Phidippides, with my dream being to make it back under the 80 hours mark.

The route follows the footsteps of Phidippides, an Athenian soldier sent to Sparta to request King Leonidas’s support in the fight against the Persian invasion in 490BC. The race starts at the base of the Acropolis and follows lovely coastal roads, then through the Greek countryside to Sparta and back again, climbing Artemesio mountain twice and covering 490km in the process.

Race day arrived and I led a small group of runners from the hotel to the start, a mile away. One of these runners was Didier from France, and we quickly formed a bond having many things in common; he speaks Portuguese with his Portuguese parents, his wife is Brazilian, etc.  It’s 6am at the start line, I say a quick hello to my Greek friends and we are off.  Didier and Francesca who I met the night before form a little team and run together; the first few miles are easy and uneventful; it’s probably my least favourite part of the route.

At around the marathon distance in the area of Megara we had our only diversion of the route due to roadworks and I managed to make the only navigation error during the race missing a small tunnel that crosses a larger motorway. Using my watch map I quickly rectify the mistake and we are back on track within 10 mins.

The sun is out and is lovely on the skin but the strong headwind seems to annoy me and Didier. Francesca has to stop for the call of nature and is now trailing 5min behind. George who completed every single edition of the race is now with us too and as we pass the Corinth canal at around 80km where we stop for quick selfie. The headwind plus sunshine are starting to take their toll and I'm looking forward to a pit stop in Examilia, one of 6 larger check points on the way to Sparta. We were there for about 15min, inhaling a plate of hot pasta and some canned peaches, and a quick sock change.

Corinth Canal with George (AEK)

The night is fast approaching and with the coast left behind the wind has died down a bit and I'm feeling re-energised. The head torch is on and we are enjoying the miles, eating, drinking and chatting away making our way towards the mountain, passing Nemea where I see my race 'mums'. Eventually we pass Lyrkeya where the long mountain climb starts; it is now me, Didier, George, Francesca and another Greek runner. I feel quite sleepy  and trees are taking weird shapes like I'm on an acid trip, so I opt for a couple of caffeine pills which does the trick and make our way to the village of Karia, that sits half way to the top of Artemisio mountain. More climbing and more walking and we finally make our way up the rocky road which is very close to the summit. I tell the others that the descent is much quicker despite it being all dirt tracks.

Nestani checkpoint is at the bottom of the mountain at around 105 miles and I get there in good spirits having covered a third of the race and my hallucinations have also disappeared. After some hot food, Didier, George and I are out of Nestani, leaving Francesca there to sort out her blisters.

It is about 15 easy, flat miles to Tegea, the sun has now come up and my circadian rhythm has woken me up fully. I'm ready for a day's running. Once in Tegea, I opt for sandwiches and a flan. Now, only 30 miles left to Sparta and our halfway point! The flat section is over and it is now a lovely undulating route with beautiful scenery on both sides, despite the road being busy and fast. We are finally at the last 10km into Sparta; Didier is positive he is stopping in Sparta complaining of an issue in his ankle. The downhills are becoming a problem and he is worried of the possible long term impact of attempting to run back. The 3 amigos arrive in Sparta together dodging the traffic in the bustling city centre, in about 37hours11min. I touch the King Leonidas statue for the 5th time and tell myself that this is just as special as all the other times.

The Three Amigos

The famous King Leonidas Statue

        

I'm not that keen to stay in Sparta for long, I rush George to finish his food and after our goodbyes to Didier we are back on the road to Athens.  We cross Francesca on the outskirts of the town; she is now alone but seemed in good spirits. A quick hug and I warn her to keep an eye on the road signs as the town is busy with people and cars on a Friday night.

It is about 10km uphill back to the motorway, so it is mostly power walking for us, we are high-fiving a lot of the runners, running in the opposite direction. Back on the motorway and with every hour covered it gets colder and colder. I'm wearing 3/4 tights, baselayer, top and a waterproof jacket, buff around my neck, beanie, cap and gloves. I'm running lots to keep warm and eventually notice that all the plants next to the road are frozen (apparently it was 0C)! The sky is absolutely stunning, so many stars, so clear. I keep rubbing my arms to get the blood pumping and to be totally honest, I'm getting a bit worried about the temperature. Arriving at an unmanned checkpoint, George spots a roll of bin bags and uses his teeth to cut the arms and neck and make me a gillet. I immediately feel better and cosier, although, the legs are still cool, I keep running well and eventually make it to Alepochori check point, seeing Maria and Lena for some well-earned hot food. George seemed a bit annoyed as I left him a few metres behind and I explained to Lena to translate to him that I'm just worried and trying to keep warm. We shake hands, I tell him that I appreciated his help with the gillet and I leave by myself, using a foil blanket as a skirt to insulate my legs. Plants are still frozen but I am running  strong and feel warmer with my bin bag gillet and space skirt as insulation. Eventually, I'm back in the lower ground, bursting through the Tegea checkpoint and waking up Lointa; Beth is in the kitchen and I'm up for some soup and sandwiches.  Lointa checks the tracker and says I'm 3rd. I can't quite believe it but I did pass a few runners returning from Sparta. Just as I leave, the 4th runner is entering the checkpoint.

This is the point where I decide to put my racing hat on. The 15 miles to Nestani are flat and I ran pretty much all of it with a quick stop at Zevgolatio; where Alkis and his wife have been cooking omelettes that tasted insanely good on top of bread. Now in racing mode, I arrive in good spirits at the bottom of the mountain for more hot food, clean socks and quickly depart before the 4th runner has seen me. The sun is now out again but it still feels cool. It has been over 50 hours of racing and still no sleep.

Power walking up Artemesio feels good and I'm enjoying the views the higher I go. During the decent, the official photographer is following me with the drone, so I'm trying my best to look cool and relaxed, I also stop for a quick selfie with Dimitris, one of the organisers. After a couple of hours descending the mountain, my brain is starting to melt a bit, probably because of the of lack of sleep, so I lie on the floor in the unmanned Lyrkeia checkpoint  for 5 minutes, getting strange looks from a boy sitting on the steps of the mini market across the road.

I keep running but looking back thinking that at any time I will see my opponent.  I eventually reach the “Shepherd’s” checkpoint, who unfortunately wasn’t there this year due to work commitments in Athens. However, Pantelis had a little bowl of spaghetti  for me and the Shepherd’s sister made me a sugary frappe. I press on towards Nemea feeling better, looking forward to seeing my race mums again. Nemea came and went and I'm now starting the third night on my way to Corinth. The road there isn't great; fast and busy with cars and the point where last year I was attacked by a dog. At some point on that road, a car stopped and it was Spyros who came to cheer me on. He offered me a cold can of Mythos and I couldn't refuse, tasted amazing and definitely gave me a lift.

It is always a good time for Mythos!

I'm still running and my body is in good shape but my brain started to go into overdrive as I'm getting close to Examilia - to the extent that I forgot I was in a race, questioning why I was running, where I was running to. Confused, I thought I was going to a party but questioned why I wasn't dressed up for it, which of the kids I should pick up to the take the party and why I didn’t have any beers to take with me... then I'd concentrate and repeat to my myself, you're running Phidippides, get to Examilia and sleep, 4th guy will be struggling too, don't worry, don’t fuck this up and end up not finishing.  I finally got to Examilia had lots of hot food and crashed on the sofa and was covered with a blanket: '20min sleep please, no more and could you wake me up with a coffee?'

I'm out of there with my brain in better shape and no sign of the 4th runner. I figured out from the tracker he is 10km away, a nice margin but nothing safe. I cross the Corinth canal again but no time for selfie this time, I’m  now about 80km from the finish. Back on the coastal roads but it is still pitch black, I'm feeling really sleepy now (no shit Sherlock) and although I’m no longer hallucinating I’m literally sleep running. What worried me, was that I'd wake up 2 meters into the road. Although the road was quiet, there is always the risk of being hit by something. There seemed to be lots of stray dog and their constant barking would give me a little shot of adrenaline and wake me up momentarily,  silver lining hey!? Arriving in Kinetas checkpoint with roughly 60km to go, I again opted for what would be my last 20min sleep and to be woken up with a sugary coffee.

Resetting the brain!

I'm now eager to reach the area of Megara (a mere marathon to go), the sun rose again and I noticed the sea was really choppy which reminded me of Cornwall but luckily the wind was sort of sideways, so I was still running well. A support car drives past me and asks what I need in Megara 'I can eat anything but a black coffee would be great'. Bingo! Black coffee is waiting for me and I have a little sit down to enjoy it, dunking chocolate cookies.

Coffee and cookies

I'm no longer worried about my position, as the margin has increased but it will be tight to go under 80hours, I can't afford slips ups or bad spells. I got through the diversion without a mistake this time and continue to enjoy the views of the choppy sea to my right, eventually arriving at Eleusis with a half marathon left.

As you leave that town, it is absolutely horrid for 4 miles running on the motorway, you can taste the pollution, dead cats and rubbish everywhere, so I do my best to not let it beat me up like it did last year. I maintained focus to achieve my sub80 and soon enough, the horrid section is done!  Now 2 miles up the motorway, not as unpleasant but steep, so I alternate walking 20 steps and running. My emotions are bubbling up, tears stream from my eyes, I feel my destiny is in my own hands.  I made to the top, turn right leaving the motorway behind and now only 10km to the finish. Vasiliki, Smudge (dog) and another volunteer are there, I have a swig of Coke and start running towards the Acropolis. Vasiliki and Smudge follow me, we are running together, the traffic is mad, we are crossing red lights (ok in Greece) and the pace is increasing with 3 miles to go. Illias driving the organiser's car, is now blocking the traffic so I can keep running, total madness and I realise if I push a bit I can do sub79. Why not, I ask myself - you have a chance, so take it! Vasiliki and Smudge are still running with me, it feels very quick but I’m probably running 9 minutes per mile.

Quick right, then left turn and I see the finish line - Mr Diamantis, race director is waiting for me. Quick glance at my watch and the job was done for an unbelievable personal best of 78h56min (return leg of 41hr45min). Diamantis offered me a handshake but I opted for a big hug instead and I take the opportunity to thank him and his army of volunteers yet again for a fantastic event. I then sit underneath the big bull, like I did in 2019 and 2021 sipping a bottle of coke and enjoying the endorphins.

Phew! It is over!

Just chilling!

Lots of other runners have asked me my secret for such an improvement in the last 3 years doing this same race. Well, I can tell you, I'm not any quicker than 3 years ago, in actual fact I'm probably slower. Don't ask me to run an all-out marathon these days, I'd be rubbish! But with consistent training I feel much stronger maintaining lower speeds for several hours. I haven’t done any interval training for 18 months. In my opinion, if you want to race long distances, train slow and leave your ego on the side.

With my buddy Smudge. Don't tell Monty! Sssh

I'm now on the sofa drinking coffee and cuddling my dog looking back at an exceptionally great season completing:

The Arc of Attrition 100 miler - Jan
The Devon C2C 117 miler - May
The 3 Peaks Ultra 430 miler - June
The Peak District 100 miler - July
The Royan 48 Hours covering 312km - Sep
The Authentic Phidippides 304 miler - Nov

Luckily this year I suffered no injuries or setbacks. With so much shit going around the world, ultrarunning offers me a temporary escape from my worries and fears, a chance to disconnect and meditate by putting one foot in front of the other. It is definitely excessive, probably not good for my body but great for the soul. 

Also, very importantly I had the pleasure of running with some amazing people during my adventures this year, listening to each of your stories and battles has inspired me to achieve my own dreams. Thank you! 

I will definitely not race as much next year (to my wife’s delight) but the season is already defined. In 2023 I am taking on the:

 

6-day Racing World Championship in Policoro/Italy - in March

Thames Ring 250 miler – April

Gloucester 48 hours – August

Mark Cockbain’s LonLans 250 miler – October

 

One last thing - huge congratulations to Lucasz Sagan, winning the race once again and to Francesca winning first lady!

Feeling a bit out place with the two superstars!

The amazing volunteers!

 

The Authentic Phidippides Run 2019 - 490k

To set the scene, it is 2018 and it is the following day after Martin and I have finished Spartathlon. We’ve just finished a lovely lunch with the mayor of Sparta, and are now sitting on a coach stuck in busy traffic, trying to get back to our hotel back in Athens. Martin turns to the side to alleviate his cramped legs and moans. I tell him, 'If we ran double Sparta we wouldn't have to sit on this bus, we would run back and find the nearest bar to drink Mythos!’ - Fuck off, was the reply I got.

The Authentic Phidippides Run is now in its fifth year, it follows the journey made by Phidippides, an Athenian soldier, who in 490BC ran from Athens to Sparta to deliver a message, hence why the race is 490km long. This year the race had a record number of entrants with 41 competitors from all over the world.

Fast forward, and it is Friday 15th Nov 2019 and we are both ready to begin the hardest and longest athletic challenge of our lives. Over the last few months we've exchanged thousands of messages planning and dreaming about this race. It was back in May this year, when after running 350 miles from Inverness to Yorkshire in 10 days that, that over a pint of Guinness we agreed that we had what it took to attempt the Authentic Phidippides Run, or double Sparta as we called it.

3, 2, 1 and we were off, it is now real, and each step takes us closer to our dream, we have no crew, and are both entirely reliant on help from the race organisers. I carry all the essentials for this race in my race pack. It is 6am but there are already lots of cars on the roads trying to avoid the capital’s rush hour. The first few miles are uneventful, as we look around at the other competitors trying to gauge who looks like they can finish this beast of a race.

The weather is hotting up as we pass the marathon mark in just over four hours. You now feel you are out of Athens at last, and the coastal roads are beautiful with the gorgeous sea to our left. After another 15 miles my tummy starts to ache and I have a strong desire to vomit, which does then alleviate a bit of the discomfort. This wasn't the dream start I was hoping for, I suggest to Martin to plod on in front of me as I don't want to delay his progress, but he replies, 'You are obviously having a bad patch but let's get to 50 miles together'.

Stunning sea view!

Once at the checkpoint at around 50 miles I find my first drop bag, I have a pot noddle, a snickers bar and tell Martin I'm going to lie down and I insist he goes on ahead alone. I use my backpack as a pillow and snooze for 30min in the shady veranda of the checkpoint.

Topping up

I'm out again on my own and immediately feeling better, running feels good again and my tummy problems are now behind me, the sun is going down and I'm looking forward to the cooler evening. Jean-Louis from France now joins me and we shared a few miles together, I remembered him from last year's Spartathlon, he is an experienced 6-day racer and a very talented long distance runner, he is also 63. He shared a bit of his wisdom with me and explained that in a race this long it is fundamental to stop for naps every few hours to trick your body into thinking it is rested resulting in a better race experience, probably faster overall time instead of death marching like a zombie. I'm a good listener (wife raises eyebrow here), and everything makes more sense, my 30min snooze did me a world of good and I'm running well again…

I'm enjoying the night time running, drinking cups of sugary tea and eating dry toast, the combination of which seems to be creating a comforting layer in my tummy. Every competitor is now covered up head to toe but I love the cool breeze, although I do get told off a few times and told to cover up: 'Don't worry, this is like summer in England, I'm used to it!'.

The sky is stunning, in the middle of the Greek countryside you can really enjoy the view of the stars and satellites moving across, I might even have spotted a shooting star or two. After running well for the last 25 miles I start to naturally fade and at 75 miles checkpoint I have a bowl of soup, some bread and another 30min snooze on a yoga mat in a busy village hall.

My alarm goes off and I'm out again in the pitch black, re-energized and running towards the mountain, which will mark 1/3 of the race, approximately 100 miles in. The roads undulate a lot now and it is definitely cooler, so I’ve put on a layer with long sleeves, gloves and a buff for my bald bonce. Spanish runner, Fernando, catches up with me, and we immediately form a bond, (sorry Martin). Unbeknownst to me though, Martin is now running ahead with Danish runner, Henrik.I feel awake and try practicing my Spanish with Fernando, we are running all the flats and downhills whilst power walking the uphills, life is good. There are hundreds of stray dogs along the route, some of them can be quite vocal but two dogs decide to follow us for what seemed like eternity. We weren't complaining though as they created a nice barrier between us and the other dogs that were not so friendly, and they kept up with us until the start of the mountain section. I really hoped they would find their way back.

For those that have run Spartathlon, the mountain section will be familiar, it is a series of about 6 to 7 hairpin turns on the road, then straight up the steep mountain, which usually takes around 30mins. For the Authentic Phidippides Run this section is quite different, it is essentially the Spartathlon Mountain on steroids. The race director or whoever designed this course obviously took pleasure in making us suffer! I’d say this course would add an extra 2hours to the well-known Spartathlon route. We started the long climb, quickly realising there definitely wouldn’t be any running here, as we tackled hairpin after hairpin, I was still not sure how far we had to go up. Luckily Fernando was a decent walker so it was great to have him as a pacer up there. After over 20hrs of moving, I was hallucinating mildly and seeing all sorts of shapes and forms in the trees alongside the road.

Mountain View with 'lake' aka fog! Simply stunning.

As we climbed, I noticed a slow moving head torch at the very top, it looked like a little star in the sky, and I mentioned to Fernando that that must be end of it. After another hour or so we reached that point and to our despair that wasn't the fucking end of it, that was about 2/3. The road ends near this point and we had reached the rocky off road path, where there was a small checkpoint and where I grabbed a bit of Coke as I was feeling quite sleepy.  After even more climbing, and as we neared the summit, the sun was trying to make its way up from behind the mountain range; it was even colder now I put my jacket on. The view was absolutely gorgeous, and I imagined this massive lake at the bottom of the valley but soon realised it was in fact a thick layer of fog. I felt lucky to be there, and as we descended, Fernando complained about the rocky terrain, his feet are ached however I felt more and more awake and every time I looked behind he was further away. I was now flying down the mountain and even passed another competitor, my plan was to make Nestani, have a big meal and sleep for an hour.

Nestani came and went; I caught up with Jean-Louis and asked where the checkpoint was. In the middle of the village he replied. ‘Oh Fuck!’, I had missed the arrow painted on the ground.  He stressed that I must go back as there was a timing mat to register our passage. Fuck, fuck, fuck! 'It's 1.2km back there Rodrigo'. I tell myself to not get angry, in the great scheme of things this is nothing, don't make a big deal of this I tell myself.

I'm finally back at the checkpoint and Fernando is enjoying his meal. I have some noodles, and cookies and set my yoga mat and blanket out for another sleep. Fernando is keen to stay together so I tell him I will set my alarm and wake him up. I'm out like a light, lying down felt great.

Alarm goes off, I'm up and Martin is in front of me, I'm confused, he couldn't possibly have been to Sparta and is on his way back already could he? He had sent me this message whilst I was sleeping:

'How you doing? Get back to me when you can. I went indoors for a sleep after the mountain, got up and collapsed and they pulled me out, low blood pressure and dizzy after pushing hard all night, gutted but it was the right call. I am at the 170 km cp. Not sure how I am going to get back to Athens yet'.

‘They said I can continue with you, as I'm feeling better’. I'm trying to make sense of everything that has happened, I introduce him to Fernando and after some more food we are out of Nestani on the that last 50 miles before we reach Sparta. Day 2 isn't as hot and I appreciate that, we make good progress to Tegea, the roads are flat so we didn't have many excuses to walk. I'm doing my best switching between English and Spanish. Our next bigger checkpoint in Tegea was great; they had real mattresses on the floor and the best soup we had eaten so far and lovely volunteers. I really enjoyed Greek yogurt with local honey. Martin and I had a lie down for 20min while Fernando sorted out his knackered feet.

We felt rejuvenated after a decent meal and a little rest - 30 miles or so now to Sparta. We are again on undulating roads, each taking turns to lead with the head torch. Fernando faded with each mile, and to be fair every time we walked he made the effort to regroup with us, and we passed a couple of Italians in the process.

We tick off check points, eating a variety of foods like pumpkin soup with mashed potatoes, black olive paste and soft cheese sandwiches, apples, bananas, biscuits and cups of tea. It is now dark again and the race leader passed us on his way back to Athens. I shout 'stay strong, you're looking great' and he runs up the hill giving us a wave followed by the lead car. As we make our way to Sparta we cross other competitors and figure out we are about 12th or so, not that it matters much at that stage.

There were no emotions coming into Sparta, the roads were empty, this is not Spartathlon I, halfway means nothing I tell myself. We got to King Leonidas statue in 39h59, Martin refused to touch it, and I looked up at the great king and tell him I need his strength to make the journey back. We have a photo with the race director and enter the checkpoint. I find some pot noodles and rice pudding from my drop bag. While I'm eating, Fernando is shaking like mad and the volunteers put him in a massage bed and cover him with foil blankets. I tell him to sleep for a bit, stay strong and continue the journey back once he feels better. Facilities weren't amazing for a nap and Martin and I were super keen to get out of Sparta, we knew 10km up the road we would find a lovely and quiet checkpoint with real mattresses.

Sparta at last!

My Spanish ‘affair’ was over and it was just me and my running b’friend Martin once again, we both feel ok but sleepy after a 14-hour shift. The mattress and blanket at the checkpoint on the outskirts of Sparta felt wonderful and for the first time I removed my trainers and slept for two hours. Our host was lovely and even turned the light out for us. We woke up and whilst having some food the volunteer's father offered us some Ouzo he was sipping, we declined and opt for sugary tea. It was around 3am as we left and we agreed to put in another 12-hour shift before our next sleep. As we walked uphill out of Sparta I suggested to Martin that we start running again so we would remind our legs that we were in charge. We both felt strong taking turns in front, passing the same checkpoints, again eating the same pumpkin soup with mashed potatoes, olive paste and cheese sandwiches, we even found the first of many pain-au-chocolat we would consume on our way back. The volunteers were wonderful, looking after us and giving us lots of praise and encouragement, it is impossible to not get your eyes filled with tears at these times. The sun was out again and we ran strong all the way to Tegea, except I experienced a strong pain in the arch of my feet which worried me massively, was that going to be the end of my race? Luckily, the Tegea checkpoint wasn't too far away, and again wonderful soup with rice, greek yogurt with honey awaited us.  I sat down on the mattress, removed my shoes and socks and massaged the troubled foot; it must have worked as we left in good spirits, with full bellies and running well again. Our next goal was to make to Nestani, just before the mountain passage by 3pm for a 2-hour sleep before entering our third night of running.

Tegea had the best soup for sure!

We managed to scare one of the volunteers who was having a nap on the roadside, he didn't know whether we were coming or going and made us both laugh. A few miles later another volunteer started playing Brazilian music on her phone when she saw my flag; I even attempted to samba after nearly 200 miles of movement, Strictly Come Dancing Greek Edition! (Editor’s note: Rod cannot samba at the best of times).

We reached Nestani around 2.30pm and this time I didn’t miss the signs for the checkpoint - we were very pleased to have covered nearly 45 miles since our last sleep in less than 12 hours. That was a great shift but by now we were ready to sleep again. Martin wanted three hours but being a control freak I demanded only two, I wanted to start climbing the mountain whilst it was still daylight. We basically split the break in 15min to eat, 2 hours sleep and another 15min to eat and get ready again. More pot noodles and rice pudding, and I set up my yoga mat with a sleeping bag I found. I removed my shoes, used my backpack as a pillow and used a blanket to raise my feet. I slept very quickly but woke up in only an hour with all the noise, Martin said he couldn't sleep but told me to carry on sleeping. Once the alarm went off I was up and noticed Fernando sleeping nearby, it was lovely to see that he'd made it back as he didn't look great in Sparta.

It was around 5.20pm as we left, we wrapped up as it felt cold outside and it would definitely get colder up in the mountains. We climbed and climbed as it got dark and we couldn't see much, we could only hear the bells of some nearby goats. Towards the summit a pick-up truck had its headlights on full beam and loud Queen songs were being played from the stereo. We realised that it was actually a ‘check point’ and the lights illuminated a pile of food and drink for us. More and more climbing and we made the summit for the second time, but somehow it felt better than the first time round.

We started the descent, running well and found the first of many checkpoints that were unmanned. Basically you'd find a sign with the checkpoint number, the mileage and two sacks tied to a tree or post, one as rubbish bag and the other with drinks and supplies, and if you were lucky there were also a couple of chairs for a rest. We weren't surprised when we caught up with another competitor from Italy, since our bad patches in the first day we felt that our 12hrs shifts and naps were working a treat. His crew were very complementary, topped up our bottles and kindly made us cups of coffee. Once the caffeine wore off I began feeling very sleepy, so we didn't talk much and I closed my eyes for 10 seconds and ran, I kept doing that as the road surface seemed smooth. We had left about 5pm the previous afternoon and it was now past 3 o'clock in the morning. 

At some point that morning we arrived at the checkpoint in ancient Nemea, and met our two race 'mums', it was quiet and they treated us like two sons returning from the war. We had a big meal, I changed into some new underwear and we got ready for our last sleep of the race. As I tucked myself under the blanket I noticed from the corner of my eye that Martin was being rocked from side to side like a baby by the two ladies, he was even making purring-like noises as he drifted off to sleep. What a wonderful view, I had such a big smile on my face as I fell asleep.

One of our race mums in Nemea.

An hour later and as we were leaving, we gave our race ‘mums’ a big hug. As the sun rose, the carriageway we were running on got busier; we passed the Italian who overtook us whilst we slept and a French runner. The hard shoulder was narrow and I didn’t enjoy the experience. I kept shouting at Martin to tuck in, ‘this fucker is going to get clipped by a car and I won’t finish because I will have to look after him’, he ignored me and we didn’t talk much. It was a distraction though and we made good progress to Corinth, we had a big meal there and left the checkpoint fairly quickly forgetting my running hat in the process, only realising a mile or so up the road. The sun was relentless once again and I wore a buff which I’d soaked with cold water to give me relief from the Greek sun. As we passed the Corinth canal again, we were both running strong and passed another Italian who seemed to have gotten lost. It  was at this stage of the race, that everything started to hurt but I refused to walk, I kept going saying the same thing over and over to myself ‘imagine you are going to get sick in the coming months and this is your last race, how much are you prepared to keep running and enduring the pain’. I once read ‘suffering is the pre-requisite to joy’, and at that stage of the race this couldn’t have been truer. We passed Ludo from Belgium and a Japanese runner who was sitting on the side of the road. After 20 miles of good effort we started to fade and sat down at a checkpoint for some food, the Japanese chap didn’t waste any time and passed us, whilst Ludo joined us.

The three of us left together and despite the meal I felt very weak, every bit of running felt like a struggle, a lot of the check points were now closed, instead the organisers would drive up and down past us offering supplies. I was trying to eat everything I could get hold of to try and perk me up. We had made it to the last marathon, but our spirits were low, and the thought of death marching for eight hours or more to Athens didn’t appeal to any of us. As we left I made the conscious decision to lead, I wanted to be in charge of deciding when to walk, probably because I was fucked. It was dark and the roads towards Athens were busy again, so it was great that we were together as team. As the miles went by we seemed to pick ourselves up and the running sections became longer than the walking, we even stopped to buy chocolate milk, ice creams and for me to go on bookings.com and book a hotel for our last two nights in Athens. A memorable moment was when a support car stopped in the middle of this busy road and fed us takeaway Souvlaki and chips. He commented, ‘I feel sorry for you eating soup and croissants for the last few days, you deserve some real food’, it sounded even better in his Greek accent, that was surreal especially as busy trucks kept whizzing past us.

 

Someone is happy to eat chips and souvlaki.

The mood was good again despite Ludo and I having a disagreement about the route. Running in the opposite direction it seemed like a completely different route. Martin wasn’t too keen on getting lost, so he got onto google maps, as he didn’t have any confidence from seeing me and Ludo arguing about the route. As we climbed the busy motorway 7 miles away from the finish I keep trying to reassure Martin that we weren’t lost as he was still trying to use google maps. Then we noticed ahead, an escort car with its hazard lights flashing and the Japanese runner who had passed us earlier was tucked in behind it. I could only assume he got terribly lost and the organisers found him and were now guiding him back. All three of us got a boost that we were on the right path and we followed him as he was running strong.

Out of the motorway and now five miles away from the finish we kept chasing him and his escort vehicle, it was exhilarating, it felt like we had just started the race, any pains and aches disappeared. The pace was incredible, the Japanese didn’t give an inch for miles, but just as we edged closer to the finish he started to walk, we encouraged him to run with us a few times but he was having none of it. We continued running, and as we turned to the left we finally saw the finish line, with that we all held hands and we enjoyed those last few metres coming home joint 7^th, with a time  of 90hrs21min, having covered that 490km from Athens to Sparta and back just like Phidippides did many years ago. What a wonderful and humbling experience but I was so glad to see the finish line. As some of my friends face life changing struggles at the moment, I do not for one minute, take the ability to run for granted. This was a race that makes you feel truly alive, and I was grateful to have made it onto the starting line, and even more grateful now that I had my medal. As modern life gets too complex to understand, ultra-running is a bit of an escape, my reset button. The simple art of putting one foot in front of the other for days on end may not be good for your body but it sure does a world of good for your soul!

Job done!

I would like to say many thanks to the race organisers who put together a magnificent route and race. A million thanks for all the volunteers who tendered to our needs, no volunteers = no race. Also, special thanks to all the other competitors for the camaraderie, especially Jean-Louis, Fernando and Ludo, who I had the pleasure to share many miles with. A massive thanks to Martin Bacon - just over a year ago we dreamed about this race, not sure we had the ability to conquer this. But with a strong desire, careful planning and a lot of guts we finally have our medals. Thanks to everybody who sent me messages of encouragement and luck before and during the race. And last but not least a HUMUNGOUS thank you to my wife and daughters who support me and put up with my obsession for endurance.

 

Finisher's Ceremony.

Time to have my feet up now; I’m not racing again until 31^st Jan next year when I will tackle the Arc of Attrition again here in Cornwall and later in May I will be running the Grand Union Canal race again.

Race Video: https://youtu.be/3Q4qL5cTtak