Mission Statement

Welcome my little blog, my name is Martin Hookway and this blog is a way for me to log my personal thoughts & views as I am attempting to complete personal & physical challenges each year with other like minded people.

The next Challenge's:

LONDON MARATHON (21st April 2013)
EDINBURGH MARATHON (26th May 2013)
YORKSHIRE MARATHON (20th Oct 2013)

THE ADIDAS THUNDER RUN 24 hour Race
#PROJECT100in24 (27th to 28th July)

I will be running as usual with GPS with Runkeeper & tweeting as I run on @TEAMB_O_B as long as I have phone coverage so all your support will be gratefully received.

I am currently funraising for Rainbow Trust so please dig deep if you can to help this amazing charity.

Rainbow Trust is a Children’s Charity that provides emotional and practical support to
families when their child has a life threatening or terminal illness; immediate
help is available for families 24 hours a day. Support is offered from diagnosis
through treatment and, should a family become bereaved, we continue to support
them for as long as they need us. They help family members cope with the present
and prepare them for the future.
So please dig deep & help this great charity, just think £10 is a meal at KFC so by donating £10 you will not only be helping yourself but you'll also be helping others ;o)

Cheers for taking the time to read my blog, its greatly apreciated, fingers crossed it will bring a smile to your face. My challenges never quite go to plan... ENJOY.

Thursday 29 November 2012

Unexpected Milestone

So I lay here in bed (27.11.12), residing to the fact that I am injured while tweeting my apologies for not being able to make the Painbarrier Team Event I was supposed to be running in on the weekend. I was feeling pretty crap about this (I say was as things soon changed, plz read on)... The Pain Barrier was to be the fun run to finish off my year & I was really looking forward to it... BUT I raced in my last HM on Sunday & pulled my Hamstring. I had planned to tame my running over Christmas so I could spend all my spare time with my family & to allow my body to fully repair but now this is a MUST!

As I'm on Twitter wallowing in self pity a few friends cheer me up by commenting on my achievements this year, thanking them I open my Runkeeper App & looked back at my previous runs to put it all into perspective. In my head it feels like I have been a runner for EVER! In reality I see I have only been running for 18 months.

I ran for the 1st time since leaving school on 27th April 2011, I was cycling as a hobby but was loosing confidence on the bike due to a few near misses, these brought up old fears from when I was hit by THAT car in 2010. Soooo I put on an old pair of Reebok gym shoes & I went for a very painful run, I ended up running 5 miles due to bad planning, I hurt from start to finish, my lungs felt like they were going to burst & my legs were screaming obscenities at me for the whole 50 mins it took me to drag myself around the streets. I bitted a bobbed from then on but only ran to keep up my fitness (or what fitness I had left, I was turning lazy again). It was not until May 18th 2011 that my running mate Ian talked me into coming to a race, the Askern 10K. I was petrified on the night, all I saw was seasoned athletes but I before I knew it I was huddled in with a few hundred runners & the klaxon went off. I ran this in 49:04 & it all fell into place, I LOVED IT! I still used my bike but running had become a passion now & I loved adrenalin I got from racing.

Fast forward 18 months & you get to here, 19 official UK Road Races (plus countless more races & runs) including a chance to run for BrooksUK (a running shoe company for you none runners), I also not only ran around our stunning country with some truly inspiring friends as part of RelayGB but, along the way we fund raised for BraintumorUK & we may even have set a World Record while doing so (still awaiting confirmation), I've ran my 1st Fell Race in the form of the "Hardest Event on the UK Fell Calender" (apparently) The Red Bull Steeple Chase, I've ran around Arthur's Seat (again & again & again...) for 12hrs with some new found Scottish friends (just to say we have done it, no other reason) & not forgetting highlight of the year in my first official Ultra Marathon, The Round Rotherham 50, a 50 miles trail ultra marathon.


I have acquired a few shiny medals along the way as well as a load of T-shirts & mementos inc socks & a Thermos flask (Sorry Russ, I promise you'll get a medal next year) but none are as prized as my Round Rotherham felt badge & my RelayGB bling.

The moral of this quick post is to drag my head out of my arse & stop feeling sorry for myself. I've achieved far more that I ever thought I would on that painful run back in April 2011. I have "The Bug" for sure, why else would I be already planning for next years challenge to be on foot again.


Its already taken over the fridge
In 2013 I have 50 miles to beat & I hope to beat it in style. I have a place at the London Marathon (April) who I am running for the children's charity Rainbow Trust & currently have over £400 of the hoped £2000 I hope to raise for them. I also have a place at the Edinburgh Marathon (May), then I am running in the Adidas Thunder Run 24 (July), a 24hr race around & around a 10K course (you see, the Arther's Seat Challenge never put me off). During the TR24 I hope to be able to run 100 miles. This is PROJECT100in24, but 1st I need to rest up, enjoy Christmas (& when I say enjoy, I mean REALLY ENJOY Christmas) "hic" then in January I will start building the miles back up before the BIG training kicks in in February.

Thank you all for your support guys, you have been amazing. Over the 18 months I have met some truly inspirational friends & would like to thank you all, you all know who you are so I'm not going to embarrass you, but thank you LOTS.


Wednesday 21 November 2012

VLM 2013 TweetUp

Just a quick post as a lot of you are lucky enough to have a place for VLM 2013. I mentioned a Tweetup over the weekend of VLM & have already lost track of everyone who is running or coming down to support so am posting this to so we all can see who is running & what wave (when we know), who is supporting (& where they plan to be) & obviously who fancies meeting up prior to the run or after for a well deserved beer. Just post your comment below this post & lets get the VLM train rolling!