Love Trails Festival 2019
Love Trails Festival kicks off on Thursday 4th July based in the Gower Peninsula, Wales. There will be four days of running, live music, workshops, talks, yoga, fitness and lots more. I've been working with Love Trails Festival again this year and this year you'll find me taking part in the following; Thursday 4th July - Speaking at "A Night of Adventure Tales" Saturday 6th July - Leading the Running Adventures Ultra Run Sunday 7th July - Leading Run to Coasteering I'm looking forward to meeting lots of other likeminded runners and enjoying some great days of running. There are still a few final tickets available on the Love Trails Festival website. Use code LTFAMBASSADORTOM for 10% off.
RunUltra Instagrammer Awards
I was recently taken aback but really excited to be included in the shortlist for the RunUltra Instagrammer of the year award, I'm blown away just to be featured alongside some huge names in this list. I love sharing my ultra running adventures on Instagram and I'm always motivated by seeing everyone else's photos and stories. I'd love it and would be very grateful if you could spread the word and maybe send a vote my way! (You don't need an Instagram account and by voting you do get entered into a draw to win a brilliant Suunto 9 watch). The voting link is - https://www.runultra.co.uk/Information/Awards-Shortlist If you like the photos and are on Instagram, feel free to give me a follow too - https://www.instagram.com/tomwake/
A Summer of Ultras
Pitch black mornings and evenings, crisp clear skies filled with a lingering mist, golden leaves floating down from their branches. Autumn is well and truly upon us and, other than the slightly unseasonably mild temperatures, you can tell that we're heading towards Winter. Running becomes more of a struggle; harder to get out of the door at 5:00am, uninspiring routes lit by street lamps, legs unforgiving after recent marathons, fewer upcoming races. It's time to get motivated for 2019 and the year ahead. The Summer of 2018 was all about the ultra marathons for me and as I start planning upcoming races I wanted to take a look back at a few highlights and a year of pushing myself to go further and faster than ever before. Over the past few years I've found that my "running year" has followed a similar structure; Christmas - April - train for and target a
Love Trails Festival Ambassador!
I'm really excited to announce that I'm working with Love Trails Festival this Summer as an ambassador! The UK's first running and music festival is back for another year following the hugely successful festival in Dorset last year and if you've not heard of it before - where have you been?! This year it's going to be located in the beautiful Gower Peninsula, South Wales in July and you're in store for an amazing weekend of trail running, music, DJs, talks and workshops from top trail runners, running and adventure films, food and beer! I'm going to be spreading the word about the festival over the next couple of months and I'm really looking forward to being involved, meeting and hearing from lots of like-minded runners and enjoying stunning South Wales trails. If you're planning on coming along make sure that you say hi - if you want to find out more, check out
Running in the Lake District
At the end of January I had the opportunity to visit the Lake District for three nights. Over the years I've had a few trips to the Lakes, but I've never visited since getting into trail running; my preferred running terrain. I wanted to use this chance to take in the trails, check out the lakes, countryside and try out some fell running. For years I've been fascinated with the Bob Graham Round, a running challenge in the Lake District, where runners attempt to complete a 66 mile, 27,000 ft circuit of 42 of the highest peaks within 24 hours. I thought that this would be a good opportunity to check out some of the route. Keswick Keswick was my base for the trip having booked into a B&B that was located just outside of the town centre. The town is perfectly positioned on the edge of Derwentwater and with easy access to the Northern and Eastern
Running in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui, Thailand
I visited Thailand for the first time just a couple of weeks ago in August. Myself and Pip spent two weeks travelling between Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui for our honeymoon. After some careful planning and secret-keeping - Pip didn't know where we were going until we were at the terminal ready to check in, we were off for an adventure to a continent that neither of us had visited before. Whenever I travel I always pack my running kit, being able to quickly throw shorts, vest/t-shirt, socks, trainers and Garmin (this is important for my Strava heatmap!) into a bag makes it so easy. The main reason for packing my kit isn't necessarily to continue training whilst away, I find that running is a great way to explore different places and seek out parts of towns, cities and countryside that you might not otherwise have chance to explore. My kit was
Stour Valley Marathon
The Stour Valley Marathon, starting at Nayland, Suffolk, is an off-road trail marathon that takes in the footpaths of three walking routes in Suffolk and Essex; St Edmund Way, Stour Valley Path and the Essex Way. Last year I was very lucky to get one of 50 places in a special edition of the race, marking race organiser Kevin Payne's 50th birthday on August 1st 2015. It was the day after the night when I proposed to my, then girlfriend, now fiancée Pip, so it turned into quite a weekend! I loved running this trail marathon and as soon as entries opened for 2016 I entered straight away. Pip fancied doing it too, but was a little nervous about doing it due to the short-hand instructions and navigating yourself around the course - most of it is fairly obvious, although with tired legs and a tired head, I did take a wrong turning last year! I
Sean Conway and The World’s Longest Triathlon
Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Sean Conway, a UK adventurer, currently completing the "World's Longest Triathlon", a 4000+ mile ultra triathlon around the perimeter of the UK. His latest challenge, On The Edge, started on April 1st 2016 and has seen Sean cycle 3350 miles around the UK's coast from Dorset's Lulworth Cove to Scarborough. He then began his run along the East coast and is currently 19 days into the run, heading down to Brighton from where he will begin his swim back to Lulworth Cove. I caught up with Sean in the seaside town of Felixstowe, where he was planning on spending the night, after missing the foot ferry over to the neighbouring town of Harwich. He'd set off earlier in the day from the sleepy village of Orford, making his way past Hollesley Bay and along the beaches of Shingle Street before getting the ferry from Bawdsey over