"Not another one!"

As Brenda from Bristol would say.

I put my blog "Running Late" to bed after 10 years for sound reasons, so why am I here barely four months later starting all over again?

Well, Running Late recorded my gradual immersion in the world of ultra running, starting at the relatively late age of approaching 60. I wrote about the events I did, the places I went to and my views on equipment, navigation, and I suppose anything else vaguely relevant that I was interested in. When I started the game was something of a fringe activity and after you had been to a few events you soon got to know quite a lot of the people involved. We were all finding our way, there was no Facebook (can you now imagine that time?) and blogs seemed a good way of exchanging information and learning from others.

Running Late is still there, I have no intention of taking it down, and I might even get around to cleaning it up and putting it in a bit better order, making things easier to find and so on if I find the time and inclination. But as a useful vehicle it had run its course. Things are so different now, both in the ultra scene and in my own circumstances.

In just over 10 years ultra running has exploded from a low key, low participation pastime  -  you could enter races like the West Highland Way and the UTMB easily; there were no ballots and I got into both of these via entries submitted several weeks after the entry process opened  -   to the big business, establishment sport we see today. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, it's just how it is. Any weekend you can have your choice of several events, specific equipment choice is huge (manufacturers follow the money), and getting a dozen views on any aspect of the game requires only a ten second Facebook post. I don't read as many blogs as I used to, and I'm sure the same is true for most people.

For several years after 2007 when I ran my first ultra (the Highland Fling, 70 starters compared with near to 1000 today), my performances improved. I was learning a new game and young enough (just about) to get better at it for several years. I've now reached the point where things are of course going downhill, but I hope maybe I might be able to exercise a bit of control over the rate of decline. I still love the buzz of taking part in a big event so it's not something I'm prepared to give up on just yet.

So that will be the basis of this blog. If you're my age (there aren't many of us still in the game I'm afraid) or maybe seeing it approaching not too far over the horizon, you might be interested in my quest to keep going as long as possible, and what I'm doing to manage it. 

So if you are, watch this space.