Hi, this time I'm joined by my support crew in life as well as
running Annette, and I'll start off by getting Annette to give a
brief introduction to herself her running her support.
So I yeah, my name's Annette, I am his wife.
I am doing a PhD at the moment. I in the past I have done some
running, I've done an ultra marathon or two.
I done a few kind of smaller 10K races and things.
I suppose I probably spent more time doing support like
recently. I haven't really done much over
the years. It's probably.
The question that I get asked whenever we're talking about you
two other runners is does my wife run?
Yeah. And that's the question I ask
when I talk about like other people as well.
Do you run? Yeah, not really, no.
The answer that I gave is she has run and she would.
She'd be the first person to understate what she's done.
She's done D33, The Dirty 30, 2/3 of the liquid 50, and.
Start liquid. I think the reasons you stopped
weren't because it was too difficult, it was because we
were bored rather than nothing else.
Yeah, I think it was also because it was, I mean it was
like 4:00 in the morning and there was nobody, there wasn't
really anyone else about. So it was just me.
I think if there was someone I was there with, I think I would
be more likely to do it. And also the navigation was a
little bit kind of tricky and I kind of got to play now.
Yeah, go bored. That's it now.
But yeah, I mean, when I've done them, I like enjoy doing them.
I just tend to like if I have to do a a training run or
something, I just, I get bored more than anything.
Running was one of the few things I enjoy doing as a social
activity, which is kind of opposite to everything else.
I would have said that you you like running races, you just
don't like training for them. Would that be right?
Yeah, I think so. I think I enjoy the atmosphere
of races and I guess pushing myself and seeing like other
people doing well. But yeah, the training, you
know, going, the idea of going out for several hours just
doesn't really, which are strange things to say because
I'm quite happily being by myself and entertaining myself.
But when it comes to running, I don't know, I just get bored.
It's it's like the opposite to anything else I do.
In the main thing that I see you doing is support crew for myself
and you've done for others. Tell us a bit about that.
Yeah, I think the hardest bit for being with support crew is
the lack of sweep, OK? It's all through the night.
And I think you have to the fact that, yeah, I just want to, you
know, I get really tetchy when I don't get back my standard 8
hours sleep. But somehow you have to meet
this person in the other way at 3:00 in the morning and pretend
everything is absolutely fine. When, you know, we spent the
last hour trying to find this random car park in the middle of
nowhere and your GPS doesn't work because there's no
satellite or anything. And you have to turn up and say,
hey, how are you? Keep going, just curl up and go
to sleep and not be there. But I think you kind of to
underestimate a little bit how like valuable the support is,
you know that kind of ability to pretend that it's OK to you know
to the person you're trying to support.
And I think the other part of support is just being kind of
like organized and quite you know organized is fine.
So I think as long as you have a plan, as long as the the run
over every year Sporting has has some kind of plan I think that
kind of really. Helps.
The thing that I always get told at the end is not not the lack
of sleep, because that's the obvious thing, it's the lack of
facilities like toilets. Yes, yes, that just the the like
the actually toilets is lately is probably the biggest the
biggest issue that I have. You know you're you're turning
up in a field where normally there wouldn't be many people.
So you could like you know go and have a quick a quick loose
stop. But you know suddenly there's
like 20 other cars and vans who come with another three people
in each one and suddenly you're you know you're desperate for
the loo and or that they'll have loos but they're only for
runners which is another thing. So sometimes you just have to be
a bit sticky and diving. OK.
I guess that's was something for the race directors out there.
Look after the support crew, not just the runners, because the
runner need to look after the support crew as well, because
they're doing their bit for the runners.
Yeah, I think sometimes it's yeah, I mean you have some races
in this, there's like 4 port or lose for runners and there's
nothing for the support crew, which is fine if you can
disappear off for you know, an hour or two, whatever.
But sometimes we have a small child.
It's easier said than done. And trying to find the toilet
and making sure you're back in time.
Yeah, it's like a small thing. But it's actually, yeah, that's
that's something else that's added to the equation in in
years gone by you've supported me.
You've been in in the middle of nowhere at 3:00 in the morning
on your own. But added to the complications
now is we've got a four year old that needs to be in the van that
can't be, can't be moved because she's asleep.
But the van has to move to 10 miles, 15 miles to the next
checkpoint. Yeah, I don't think we've really
done it overnight. Once that she's been born, have
we? No, For that reason, really.
Logistics wise, we haven't worn that one out yet.
Out of the running that you have done or even yeah, running or
support, what's the what do you feel that's the biggest
achievement that you've done? The achievement, I don't think I
could put my finger on one thing, but I think it's like
every race. But I think even short races,
yeah, short races as well, long races.
You kind of get to a point maybe about 2/3 of the way through
when you're just, you kind of go beyond the point of personal.
I mean people can't like, hate them all, but it's it's that
point where you make the decision, you have to make
almost like a conscious decision to say I'm not going to stop,
I'm just going to keep going. I think like every every race or
piece of training you do and I think that is probably the
biggest achievement is just every single time you have to
push through that personal limitation, whatever that is,
whether it's mental or physical or you just have to keep going.
So I think in that sense the achievement is keeping going
rather than like I I mean you might think oh completing your
first what was the first one D33D33 then finishing that was
the achievement. But I I don't I don't think it
was it was more of the you just kept going beyond what you kind
of thought that you could do and that's.
Appreciating yourself, be on your point.
You knew you were capable. Yeah, I think so.
And I think you do that every, every time you train or you go
out, you know, it's like your achievement is, well, I didn't
get bored today. So, you know, achievement was I
went out and got but for running, I think that's as big a
feeling of achievement for me as actually, you know, completing
it and saying oh, I did this or I did that.
Mixing that with what I asked you about, for the support crew
side of things, what's the the most challenging, biggest
achievement support crew wise they've done?
I I mean the biggest ones are for for me are for when you pick
a run somewhere I've never been before.
There's lots of weird places with lots of traffic.
So like some of the the ones you've done in England where you
know the roads tend to be a lot busier down there.
So there was 1 checkpoint that was kind of which wise maybe
like the biking way or something and it was.
Yeah, coast to coast in Newcastle, is that what you're
thinking about? I think it probably was that
one, because that was just driving.
That was a big achievement. But yeah, there was one
particular checkpoint that was that I wasn't really sure where
it was. Well, that goes to most.
But yeah, it was kind of like this really steep Rd. that was
like, you know, don't go this way.
But I kind of had to go my way because I didn't know which
other way to go. And then, yeah, there are no
GPS. So I just kind of had to, you
know, no mobile signal or anything.
Yeah, I had. I had to find this checkpoint
where, you know, to meet you and, I mean, I made it
eventually. I find it just fine when I was
my potluck more than anything. But yeah, I think the, the
biggest, the biggest achievement is being able to do that.
And yeah, just pretend. Yeah, everything's fine.
It's fine. I think anytime you've been
supporting me, you've been there when I needed you every time,
apart from once. Yeah, once.
I can't remember what happened there.
I think I just messed up times and then thinking I'm sure he's
like supposed to be here but now.
But then I realized that you'd just.
Which race are you thinking about?
I came out of the West Island way, or whether it was.
The The first time that I did the West Island Way, you were
with Vicki and Rona and you'd all went for chips in the Cafe
Glencoe. That was oh that was the one I
was very that was very very different one.
It was Bridge of Orky I I kind of and and you went to I think
you wanted to brush your teeth or something.
I think I misjudged like how long it was going to take.
Yeah. There was the cafe one as well.
Yeah. OK, that was we did, we did kind
of meet you, but I think we got a phone call saying, eh, where
are you? Like, oh, we're in the cafe
having some food. Yeah.
For for that one, I I didn't use the energy to get annoyed at you
guys for not being there. I told somebody else's support
crew to ask you to meet me at the bottom of the Devil's
Staircase 3 or 4 miles later, and you did.
So it was all good in the end. There was only a short period
that, yeah, I mean, I had to do with that.
We kind of felt guilty anyway. So you getting grumpy I was
would have just kind of I don't know.
Yeah, made it worse use your energy and made us feel even
worse. OK so maybe there's two I've
missed you. But actually I'm quite impressed
that we've managed to keep up the like some of the ones, the
longer ones downside, especially when like the end of the, yeah,
coast to coast and I was driving through Newcastle and I was just
like just trying to get to this random place somewhere and
traffic going everywhere, just following this little blue arrow
on the map and hoping. Moving on while.
Running is less stressful than driving.
Tell us, have you faced any injuries while you were running?
Yeah, so one. The Dirty, dirty.
I mean, I I've never really had a proper injury.
But one mistake I didn't. I didn't realize it'll happen.
Yeah, when I was doing the 3030, my feet were really sore, like
20 miles in. And then I realized after the
race I had forgotten to put the the insoles in my shoe.
Yeah, not not the fancy ones that you are in, but no, just
just the standard insoles. Yes, about.
My feet were a bit bit sore, but I think I'm quite lucky that I
haven't. How you have been running, or
probably more relevant, June support?
What kind of things do you have to eat?
I think that's two different things.
When I'm supporting I just eat. I just try not to eat too much
of what? You were supposed.
To be eating and eat too much. When I used to run like there
was a few things I went through phases of really liking.
So So like cheesy, the cheesy twists that you get from the you
know, the baked department, that kind of like pastry cheese
things. Things that you shouldn't,
probably, although it may be OK when you're running.
And actually one of the few things I did or do, like when
I'm running, which I absolutely despise at any other point in
time, is like busy drink. Ah, I didn't drink them while
I'm running, but any other time they're absolutely vile and
disgusting. And then we will touch them.
I. Remember we both did a race
around Lochmik and the race about 7 miles and six miles into
it. You've got to run into the water
to the end of the boat here and then down a pint of lager.
Or if you don't drink alcohol, you've got to drink, busy drink.
And can you remember what you said about that?
That was like the worst bit. I was like, I can't do this race
because I don't want to have the fizzy drink.
I was like, I will refuse to have the fizzy drink because I
think the alternative was you had to go in wait, you have to
go and wade out into Locknick or something.
Well, you had to do that and then come back and down the
drink, or I wish I did. Oh, exactly.
OK. I remember just like I I don't
want to do that. But yeah, I I think I eventually
I was like, right, OK, I've got to the point, you know.
You know when you get to the again, kind of going back to
that, you get to the point in the race where you're just like,
I'm going to do this, you know, I can't give up now.
So I yeah, so I got this drink of dragon.
I was like, was it like, the best thing ever?
I think you got to the end and said something like this is the
devil's juice. It made me go or something.
Like that, Yeah. Yeah.
So I'm trying to like, yeah, maybe I did get a burst of, I'd
like drunk bad coffee in it. I was like, oh, that was
actually like, I got a really good time.
But that one is because I kind of zoomed up the hill
afterwards. While you're running, or again
supporting in the middle of nowhere, do you listen to music?
Podcasts. Nothing at all.
I guess going back, I used to listen to music.
I tend to listen to music rather than a podcast, because actually
I went through a phase of trying to listen to a book.
But I just find them so slow and I got so frustrated with, you
know, why can't you? Kind of.
Maybe it just wasn't an interesting book.
I kind of find talking a little bit too slow.
I don't know, like music's probably more what I'd listen
to. I think when I'm when I'm
supporting, I tend to do more reading and writing and things
like that. What about when you're driving
between places? You're also not reading and
driving there. No, no, I suppose.
Yeah, it's probably on Music on. Because it's just general radio
noise. Yeah, I think because I'm
driving, it needs to be something.
I can't think about what I'm listening to.
So I'm listening to like a podcast or something.
I tend to want to think about it or have an opinion about it or
whatever. Whereas if you just put
something kind of music or radio on, you don't really just kind
of here in one ear at the other, but white noise.
When you do class yourself as a runner, what kind of distance
would you want to cover your ideal race distance?
Ideal race? Distance or just a general sort
of run? So I like a race that kind of
takes, I guess takes a day. So if you, the shorter races are
a little bit too intense, I think like you can't, you can't
kind of enjoy them. It's it's a fitness exercise,
you know, you're trying to do a time but longer ones you can
kind of enjoy the scenery a bit more.
You know you can do a bit of walking, you can take picture
and that's kind of it's it's more of an event rather than a,
you know, it's a day out sort of thing.
Yeah. You just enjoy the fresh air and
the exercise and the achievement rather than the I must get the
best time or push myself until I can't breathe anymore.
You've given your answer to that one.
The next question, I think I'd really know the answer.
Treadmill running, yes. Or.
No. Well, yeah, Again, again, that's
like, let's have this idea, you know, you kind of walk like
watching Netflix or listening to something that I think you can
maybe try doing treadmill and let's do podcasts because the
treadmill bits really boring, but the podcast's interesting.
So but, but yeah, I'd I'd rather go for a walk outside in the
fresh air to be honest. Thinking about either supporting
or racing, do you get nervous? I think.
With the going back to the kind of finding checkpoints in random
places in the middle of nowhere, or in busy places, I think that
makes me nervous. I guess I get a little bit
nervous because I might miss you.
But then I'm also nervous because I have to try.
So do I get nervous before an event?
I don't think so, because at that point you can't really do
anything about what's going to happen.
Dumb. You've either done what you need
to do or you haven't done what you need to do.
So I don't. I think it's just, I think, I
think it's like excitement, like even if it was something that
you couldn't even comprehend finishing, it's still, you know
anything that you do is an achievement if you're there
putting 1 foot in front of the other.
So never to do it. I don't think so.
I think I'm probably excited or or why?
Why am I here? What am I doing rather than
nervous? Thinking about you're saying
that I've done racial side in England, you've done fierce
places in Scotland. Is there anywhere in the world
that you would want to unnecessarily race but just go
to run or go to Explorer? Yeah, I think explore is word.
So it's just like where are we going on holiday this year?
Where would you like to go explore?
I think so. I kind of like I kind of think
about in terms of mountainous and flat because I like
exploring flat places because it's so like less exertive.
So in that sense I think some of the kind of the longer trails in
America that really would be really nice.
And then some of the ones one they're kind of like the old
like religious routes and stuff that people would take
pilgrimage type routes. So I think kind of those would
be really interesting to do partially because they're set up
with hostels and things along the way.
But then at the same time, I think if you're thinking about
exploring then going somewhere like New Zealand or or kind of
the fuels of Norway. Yeah, I think doing the The West
Island Way with one of your friends that you promised you
were going to do six or seven years ago.
Yeah, we still haven't done that.
Yeah, I think it's taking a nice relaxed walk with a friend along
with that way. Right.
It's a bit of a a drink day outside.
We're sitting in front of the fire is absolutely roasting
here. So I think we'll call it a wrap
there. So thank you, Annette.
Thank you. And we'll see you next time.