1
00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:32,080
All right. 
Today I'm joined by Mark Cobain 

2
00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:44,080
of the Hard Stuff Race Director.
I've just run one of his races, 

3
00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,840
200 miles, probably a world 
exclusive. 

4
00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:52,800
The first time that the 
interviewer has ever is the race

5
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,600
winner, run 200 miles and 
interviewing the race director. 

6
00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,560
So if I'm not 100% 
encompassmentess, I'm not going 

7
00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,320
to apologize because I won the 
race anyway. 

8
00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,400
Let's get down to business. 
The thing that everybody's 

9
00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:15,400
talking about, Mark, how do you 
pronounce your surname? 

10
00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:21,080
Corbyn. 
So the but. 

11
00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:27,440
I don't mind. 
The Cock Slam is always a a good

12
00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,000
thing to go with anyway and I I 
think that confuses people as it

13
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,280
is Cobain. 
It's actually a Scottish name. 

14
00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:40,520
Yeah, as, as I would say, Cobain
as well, but all right. 

15
00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:47,640
Mark, can you tell me how you 
started running? 

16
00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,280
How I started running, but I 
just, it just progressed from 

17
00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:57,360
marathons really. 
And then you get your fastest 

18
00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,120
marathon time and then decide to
go on to going the other way and

19
00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,640
trying to go longer instead of 
going faster. 

20
00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:05,760
Well, for me that was the best 
option. 

21
00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:12,040
And then we got into ultras. 
And then at the time, and I was 

22
00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,440
a lot younger than I am now, 
there wasn't that many ultras 

23
00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,720
around in the UK. 
So I've heard about ultras 

24
00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,320
abroad. 
So you've heard about races like

25
00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:27,040
Bad Waters, Sport offline and 
MD's, those kind of races. 

26
00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,360
You know, you've read it, you've
read about them in magazines 

27
00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,680
because there wasn't any real 
online information about 

28
00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,120
anything. 
So I thought that looks 

29
00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:40,240
interesting, sounds interesting.
And then I think I've started 

30
00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:45,680
training for MD's that was the 
first thing and gradually built 

31
00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:52,000
up to 50 miles and 100 miles and
then went out and did that and 

32
00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,400
then completed that, enjoyed the
adventure. 

33
00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,840
And then you looked at the next 
thing and the next thing and 

34
00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,000
then the next thing and it's 
just a just a progression. 

35
00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:06,720
So you I wanted to take off a 
list of races I had in my head 

36
00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:11,320
which were like the big races 
around the world, and I've 

37
00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:16,880
eventually managed to do that. 
Yeah, just continue to. 

38
00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,200
Is there any races that you'd 
still want to do? 

39
00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,560
Well, I mean, the last race I 
tried to do was the last race 

40
00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,960
that actually ended was Trans 
USA. 

41
00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,680
But then I was injured a few 
months before the race and that 

42
00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:34,880
was it. 
Just knee, knees completely. 

43
00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:37,040
Well, right knee completely 
went. 

44
00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,400
I don't have any College in your
right knee, so that was the end 

45
00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,080
of it for me. 
So then to kind of keep in with 

46
00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,880
the running scene and the people
like you that, you know, I would

47
00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:54,200
meet adulterers in the extreme 
kind of area of ultras. 

48
00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,480
Then I thought, well I'll I'll 
try and organize some races in 

49
00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,600
the UK and from all the races 
that I've done around the world,

50
00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,800
I'll try and add in some of 
those elements that made those 

51
00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,880
races difficult and try and add 
like an X Factor. 

52
00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,480
So that's why I came up with 
some difficult races which the 

53
00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:18,920
races are more about actual 
fewer running, so they're low on

54
00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,560
frills but mainly focused on 
running ability. 

55
00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:28,360
So because that's what what 
interests me is I set set a 

56
00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:34,080
challenge and then see if 
anybody can complete it and then

57
00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:35,960
it makes it interesting for me 
as well. 

58
00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:40,240
So that's that's why I really 
got into organizing the races. 

59
00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:46,720
If you were in full fitness now,
out of all your races, which one

60
00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,640
would you like to do most? 
Oh, I'd like to do them all. 

61
00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:52,320
I mean that's. 
Yeah. 

62
00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:59,240
I think as a general rule in my 
head, I think back when I was 

63
00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,520
reasonably fit, I wouldn't 
organize something that I didn't

64
00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:05,840
think I would have had a good go
at, you know. 

65
00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:10,920
So I try not to make it 
completely impossible and it 

66
00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:14,040
would have to be something that 
I think I'd have a good go at 

67
00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:16,640
and I would enjoy. 
So I think all the ones that 

68
00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,400
I've come up with would have 
interested me. 

69
00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,440
As I said, they've got a bit of 
that X Factor and it's the 

70
00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,120
really difficult challenges. 
And for me, if you go away from 

71
00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:31,280
something and you've spilt your 
guts to finish, you're going to 

72
00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:32,760
remember it for the rest of your
life. 

73
00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,040
And that's that was the aim with
this series of races that I came

74
00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,040
up with. 
I don't want a lot of people 

75
00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:40,880
turning up and going home with 
the medal. 

76
00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,600
I want a certain few that have 
gone through that, you know, 

77
00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,440
pain, pain, zone and push beyond
the limits to go away with an 

78
00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:51,880
achievement that they, you know,
they'll never forget. 

79
00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:56,000
And hopefully you've done that. 
You've got something out of it, 

80
00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:03,360
yeah. 
Out of all the either organizing

81
00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,080
an event or running an event, 
what's your biggest running 

82
00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:15,120
achievement? 
It's hard to say really because 

83
00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,560
you go into each one as a 
challenge and at that point in 

84
00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,200
time it's the next biggest 
thing. 

85
00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:28,320
So achieving that, you know you 
feel that and then you go, you 

86
00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:29,800
go for the next one and the next
1. 

87
00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,680
So it's hard to say because 
you're at a certain level 

88
00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,360
throughout your running career 
and it's kind of progresses on a

89
00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:43,840
on a on a scale going upwards 
exponential scale and so each 

90
00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:45,560
one in its own sense is an 
achievement. 

91
00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:48,360
So I wouldn't really single one 
out, but I'm quite proud with 

92
00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:54,280
the like the Bad Waters, Sparta,
Athlons, the Himalayas, Yukon 

93
00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:56,320
articles. 
Through that kind of stuff. 

94
00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,720
I've been across numerous 
deserts but they're all 

95
00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:04,080
completely different and all 
have that different element so 

96
00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:05,440
it's really hard to pick one 
out. 

97
00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:12,120
Well, I've been awake for three 
days, run 200 miles. 

98
00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:18,360
I'm sitting here feeling a bit 
spaced out, so I'm going to let 

99
00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:20,560
you go. 
And thank you very much. 

100
00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:21,880
Yeah. 
Well done, Mike. 

101
00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:25,880
I just want to say that Mike has
completed all of the challenges 

102
00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,280
that I've put in front of him 
and I think it's phenomenal for 

103
00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,040
somebody to do that. 
So hats, Hats off the mic.