The ultra running collie Oscars - people i need to thank

To get to where we are today has been down to peoples support, advice, help or just ...whatever. so here's a roll call of some of the people along the way (so far)

my wife and kids for supporting us through the highs and lows and allowing us 'out' for hours and hours, if not days at a time

steve 'coniston 14' jones for mugging me into my first ever race

kev 'modest' mckay for all the top quality advice, support and total positivity (even when i ran badly)

charlie 1 for being my buddy and running with me in the early days (luckily he didn't have to run ultra mileage)

steve 'i'm putting on weight' mees for opening up the derbyshire peaks to me and his patience in showing me how to read a map and use a compass

laura 'gosh' hey - running brought us together but getting caught kissing pulled us apart

steve 'yes mate' hall for making me run faster than i want to on club night

dave 'coach' owen for saying well done when you've finished the session (even if you haven't done well)

michael 'honey monster' honey for fixing me up when injured

judith cooper for the massage pain trying to keep me injury free

steve 'zodiac' daniels for general mad ramblings and funny stories

simon, kirsten and kate bailey (all quite 'handy' runners) for getting me thinking about fell running in the first place

all the forumites for having great craic with and running with at various races (fellrunner, t rex, safety pin, phil / col / mark (safety pins mates), nurse gladys, froghopper, nottso, britnick, luna man (who inspired me to set up this blog, so blame him), run gary run, still dreaming, clairster, warfdale plodder, pete waywell, mrf, jim noone, caterpillar girl, valley runner, ru and many more (sorry if i've forgotten anybody)

charlie 2 for being the best running buddy i could ever wish for. without him running ultras would never have happened

sainsburys for the 'all butter flapjack' that keeps charlie motoring

From 42 down to 3

it's funny how life can be. there you are one minute running your heart out across 42miles of fantastic countryside then a few days later its back to normal running routine for a while.

but do you know what? this morning me and charlie headed out in the darkness of the early morning for a short, yes a short, trot out. across the newly mowed fields. and it was bliss.

i felt so elated to just enjoy a no pressure run out and to smell the morning air without a care in the world. moments like these are what i believe running is all about. bliss bliss bliss.

September 24th 2008

it's been 4 days since we ran the high peak 40 and 18 days since running the bullock smithy (53 miles). i was flawed running the two so close to each other whereas charlie spent the next day brushing up on his football dribbling skills in the field. just watching him made me feel even more exhausted.

we did the bullock smithy in 14hrs57minutes landing back at the finish at 2.57am! and the hp40 (or should i say high peak 42 after taking a wrong and costly turn near the end) in 9hrs23mins. the thing is whilst you can tell i'd run that distance, charlie flies round like a spring chicken.

his secret? he's fed flapjack all the way round. sainsbury's all butter flapjack to be precise. stop feeding him it and he stops running (well almost).

2008 has been a great year so far for both of us. we've done some spectactular runs, seen some awe inspiring places and not got lost too many times.

our longest this year has been the bullock smithy but perhaps the best was the highland fling in scotland. 53miles of fantastic running. charlie even got his own medal (i kept the champagne).

other races we've loved doing are the wuthering hike, osmotherley phoenix, wharfdale marathon, kipling kaper, that's lyth.

the summer hols were spent coastal running in cornwall and mountain/fell running in the lakes - its a toss up between who has the best beer but i'd put my money on cumberland ale everytime for post run refreshment.

we're having a few days off then training starts for snowdon marathon..the only race i run without charlie (charlie sulks at thought).