About Me

I am currently living in Cardiff where I am close(ish) to completing a PhD in gravitational waves.

Running & Me

I began running during the second year of my undergraduate degree in 2002. It was a complete accident too. At the time, the front door of my house had 5 steps straight in front of it that immediately led upon to a hill. One day, when I was off to the pub, I left the house a little quicker than usual and my momentum forced me to run to catch my steps, but rather than slowing my step and walking I carried on running all the way to the pub and quite enjoyed it. In fact, after a couple of pints and one football game watched I decided to run back from the pub too. It was then that I decided to go for a proper run sometime. I immediately enjoyed running and felt that I was reasonably good at it. I loved the mental battle to keep running that little bit further when one's instinct is, well, to walk.

I started running from the Sussex Uni campus to Brighton Pier. I think the first time took me about 40 minutes but I soon got it down to near 30 minutes. I don't remember if I broke that barrier but the point is I improved. That is another great thing about running, you very quickly notice the improvement in your physical fitness, which is very satisfying.

Over the years running became something I would do now and again, but not regularly or seriously in anyway.

What Happened?

When I first began running back at Uni I was very keen to do a marathon so I applied for a ballot place in London 2003. I didn't get one and then kind of forgot about it. However, several of my friends were completing half marathons etc and I began to wonder why I hadn't ever got round to doing one, so I applied for the London Marathon 2009. I was rejected again, but with the rejection came the guarantee of a place in the Edinburgh 2009 marathon. I realised if I didn't take this chance I might never do one.

I registered, trained hard and completed it in 4:01. I am not a overly serious about running, but I do enjoy training for an event and I aim to run in several half marathons a year. I will be back in Edinburgh over the years to come to try and beat the 4 hour barrier and maybe reach my ultimate goal of a 3:30 marathon.