From 280lbs To Ultra Marathon Runner
My running story starts in 2015.
I was 20 Stone showing a lot of mental health.
Um, I'm not really seeing your way out.
That's probably something I should have told the run in general.
Mhm.
Before I set off in this race.
And as I have a fear of heights h
some of the embassy.
That was a lie.
Mhm.
Uh huh.
Hi, I'm James.
Or, as you might know me from the Internet in the morning coffee run.
I am a running blogger.
An absolute sucker for punishment.
The running channel have brought me here to Khamenei, the spiritual home of trail running to take part in an
epic mountain race.
Stay tuned to see how I get on.
But first, here's more about the race.
Mhm,
Yeah,
yeah, yeah!
Mhm.
Mhm.
So tomorrow is race day.
I've got everything laid out.
Got to be honest.
Even I've got everything laid out.
I still feel woefully underprepared.
I've done one mountain race, and that was, you know, 2,
2.5 years ago.
I've not seen a mountain in two years.
So tomorrow may as well be up Everest because I feel so unprepared.
But I've got the kit.
The kit is already I've tried.
I've tested, you know, all this kit out the shoes.
I've run every ultra this year in them, and I've done a PB and 50
K and 50 miles.
And I did my 1st 100 k, um, in the issues as well.
And they are just amazing, right?
So the bags packed, ready to rock and roll.
Just need to attach my that number to my top.
That's it.
Trying to get some sleep because tomorrow is gonna be a big old day.
So good morning.
It is 6.
30.
It's race day.
I did not very well, uh, and I
I think, but right now it's time to get
ready.
Don't get showered, Get dressed.
Some double check that kit.
That's good.
Yeah.
So his race day?
Yeah, behind us there is the first climb
trying to think about that, but yeah, everyone's making their way to start now.
Um, so we're currently in Switzerland and we're running
into France, which is pretty cool.
Um, the highest point of the race to 17 km
Is the border so even more epic to look forward to getting across that.
But let's just hope I stay on
target.
Stay tuned for even more bad jokes coming from me.
That's wonderful.
Thing called life.
Yeah, that's the guard.
Mhm.
Yeah.
Okay, let's talk.
Yeah, right.
Yeah.
Now, probably.
Yeah.
Running up.
Try not to get too carried away, because it's very easy to get carried away right now.
Just look over that left.
Yeah.
Mhm.
Mhm.
Sorry.
Already.
0.4 of them are.
Then I want to show you.
Yeah.
Tell that mhm.
That's the start line that shows you you're climbing.
Go ahead for the next 16.
Let's try and think about it too much.
But I want to think about is
those absolutely incredible views.
This is a sign of things to come.
This is going to be a very fun day
out of the town.
Now I into that truth proper.
Usually when you probably picture race, you imagine everyone.
It's pretty enough.
As soon as the gun goes.
These kind of races, he's up to picky moment.
Trudge up.
But as you can probably see, mhm, we have a 11
mhm.
And the UK is not particularly in summary.
I'm definitely feeling the heat when you got views
Yes.
And that so That's a bit quieter, I thought.
Uh huh.
You know, they're probably two people on here, Mom and Dad, You know my story.
But the rest of you, you're really wondering.
Hi there.
I'm trying to put this guy.
Um, sorry.
My running story starts in 2015.
I was 20 Stone showing a lot of mental health.
Um, I'm not really seeing your way out improving either
of those two things.
Uh huh.
And one of the best friends is an incredible marathon runner.
I always kind of made, you know, drunken announcements on birthdays.
I'm going to write a barrister before 30.
Um, but, you know, I started
Richard.
I want a run in the middle of night.
It wasn't even one k.
It was slow.
It is painful.
I loved it.
That's a crucial thing.
And since then, Messi will go.
Uh huh.
The taste of my amazing French there.
Um, yeah, that won't be around.
Really?
That's fine.
Um, and from then on, I sort of trained towards the opposite
half, because why do one k when you can do all of them?
Um, I finished that race and hated
absolutely hated Yeah.
And is that Why does everyone do?
Oh, let me pull.
Um, And then I got home.
My mom wrote me and said, You got something in the post for you.
Great over to us.
And I have had gotten entry under marathon,
and I can feel the dislike button being clicked now.
But that was the first time I ever entered the ballot because
I don't think anyone got in so well, click it thought nothing of it.
Obviously, my whole life had changed between those two points.
Um, and that was kind of it.
I focused on getting a bit of a marathon and my
mental health massively improved because of it.
Um, And then I told my friends that I was gonna do London.
I was going to do it.
A charity that's really close to my heart, which is my grandmother was in when she
died, many painful homes.
And, uh, he said, Yeah, you know, everyone does one marathon.
What do you do?
A bit more.
And I am very easily swayed.
I mean, this is an example of it.
Um so But when I started
mid 2015 at 29 in
2016 Iran.
Four marathons around the world.
Six, half marathons, 10,000 miles in a year.
It's safe to say kinda vindictive, ever since I, uh
yeah.
Oh, I think I've done 27 marathons.
Now I've done some ultras around the world, including the marathon does happen.
That does it.
Um, so, yeah, just keep going.
Still love it The adventure side of her and getting to be
and places like this
a technical head.
But my polls Uh huh.
Fold up ones that you pull out.
There's a little pin that catches and keeps it together.
And my left polls.
It's got tiny little teeth marks around where that pin is meant to come out of.
So I think my oh okay
has a little bit of a Jew.
Sorry.
Echo when you get home here in deep trouble,
Yes.
Yeah, yeah.
So if you ask a lot of runners, most of them say they've got some sort of
mantra.
Oh, yeah, something they can repeat when times get hard.
Mine is quite simple.
Always forward, forward always.
And, uh, I usually right on my shoes.
I haven't today because he's a let me shoes that I want to ruin, but they were always in
one.
However, if always on the other.
And I'm have already struggling each football.
Here's a word.
Yeah,
Station time.
Mhm.
Okay, One thing.
I have really missed his Spectators again.
The races and the support.
And that's it.
Absolutely amazing.
We are Hi.
In the middle of nowhere.
Really?
And it is lined with people.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we are finally running lots of uphill slog
and never got a bit flat.
I finally get my legs going a bit more.
Yes.
Yeah.
I mean, that's just some incredible views.
We're not even halfway through the climbing yet.
There's still only more incredible views to go.
You probably can't hear me now, but look, you can feel the cold air running
through That is absolutely
incredible.
Mhm.
That is pure glacier water.
I think my head in that right now.
Yeah, yeah.
Mm.
Yeah.
That's probably something I should have told the run in general before I set off in this
race.
And as I have a fear of heights Yeah, mhm.
Which is great for a mountain race.
I've been right so far, but then you see signs like
that.
Yeah, and more importantly,
groups by that.
Yeah, yeah.
Jesus.
Mhm.
Always good.
Who is right?
Yeah.
Uh huh.
Yeah.
Always, right?
Yeah.
Always.
Boyd.
No place for it.
Garage?
Yeah.
Something here?
Uh huh.
Some of the embassy.
That was a lie.
Mhm.
Mhm.
Yeah, I think that's the worst of it.
Done?
No.
Mm.
How is he?
The epitome of mhm doing what you can.
Pictures.
We've always been my motto.
Ever since I started running.
Hold me.
Would have just given up.
What?
Uh huh.
He would have missed all that lies ahead.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
I have really a Oh, don't much we're doing in the last bit
because this is a good example of it.
It's all a bit technical mhm
about.
We are mhm on the two k from the
checkpoint, which also marks the highest point of the
course very quickly forward to seeing what the views are like,
because if they're anything like these right
now, it's gonna be amazing.
Yeah.
Yeah, thanks.
What does it?
Yes.
Yeah.
Mhm.
Bones.
How are we doing?
Yeah, not bad.
I'm so glad.
The checkpoint that endless that last bit.
Yeah, to the end.
I really had a water now for last.
You get all so
much
So we got to the checkpoint and I'm now in Switzerland.
Remember that it's France, which is just
mind bogglingly awesome.
Um, it's at the highest point now, and it's kind of just all downhill.
Downhill from there.
Mhm.
So we have about 20 one k to go.
You wouldn't expect to see the finish line of the race.
But thanks for mountain race.
You can Xiaomi just must have been a holder, shall we?
Just there.
So basically, it's all downhill.
We get to that.
He says optimistically.
Mm.
Do that.
Every people at the last checkpoint, they said it's all downhill from here.
You're a liar, and I'm going to find you.
Oh, my days.
We're now into single digits remaining.
It was a marriage for this race.
Sorry.
Uh huh.
You're definitely going downhill fast?
Uh huh.
Just a lot of switchbacks and which are amazing.
Um, I just love sailing down them.
Um, I'm having to take a bit easy.
Yeah, because I can feel my back starting a twinge, which is just purely down to
going downhill.
Um, this amount of time.
Um, And again, not really training only mountains.
So there's that always the issue.
Um, yeah, Yeah, right.
Yeah, yeah.
Mhm.
Look at him go.
It's like a gazelle.
Her mountain goat is probably more accurate, isn't it?
Mhm.
Yeah, Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
I'm going 18 miles through now, so you should have about
5.5 miles to go to park fronts.
Um, yeah.
It's a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be.
I thought as I got to the top, the downhill part.
Mhm.
He's a greasy matter.
But it was not easy.
Breezy, maybe not easy, Breezy at all.
Mhm.
So we're now in and even more wooded areas, which
just feels like something from Jurassic
Park.
Like Sam, Neil's gonna, like, run down in a minute and be like
moving.
It hurts.
Basically, I'm moving in herds, my friend is period,
and I don't know.
All right, congratulations, you know?
So you're in the angry now, your house.
Uh, less than two miles to go.
We are now in civilisation.
Yeah, and come out of this.
Incredible.
Wouldn't have you back.
What feels like days.
I think it has been days.
Um Yes, I think we kind of this
is straight straight touch family.
So that's wrong.
I see our first.
We'll find her back in Germany.
And the support It wasn't like anything I've ever experienced in a race before.
