Diary of a fell runner: Be inspired to do something new in 2019!

By Chris Pilkington

‘Be an inspiration to yourself, not just to others. Create your own journey’

At the beginning of 2018 I planned a few runs, a couple of holidays, and focused on a couple of blogs – and what a year it turned out to be. I personally think 2018 has made me; I found out what I am good at, what I enjoy, what helps to free my mind and achieve my goals. My year consisted of trail running, fell walking, fundraising, event organising, family and friends, St Catherine’s Hospice and time away. What I have learnt about this year is to keep smiling, enjoy every minute, just run, just walk, just ride, it’s mind over matter, let the journey begin….

Fundraising and running for St Catherine’s Hospice

To begin my year, I started to trend myself #bookofpilx and begin a journey for everyone to follow and hopefully inspire and motivate people on my way. I decided to get in touch with my local hospice and set a plan up of these blogs for the website. St Catherine’s has inspired me to support them and represent them as much as I can whilst also raising vital funds through the journey. I am involving a couple more charities this year and linking them all together on my website and Facebook page. My friends Gareth and Tracey have opened a whole new world for me by setting me up with a web page which has blown my mind. To end the year with all the tools needed to grow in 2019 with the help and support from the local community means that 2019 is the beginning of a new chapter in the #bookofpilx.

Fell walks with family and friends

Last year I managed to fit in Coniston Old Man four times with surrounding fells including Swirl How and Wetherlam from various directions and paths, Priests Cave and Dove Crag near Patterdale, Hodge Close and Tarn Hows, Rydal Caves, Pendle hill a good few times, Langdale Pikes and Jacks Rake, Hellvelyn and Striding Edge from Glennridding, and Malham Cove in Yorkshire for our festive family walk.

Trail races

My trail races over the year went from March through to December and were; Cartmel, Hawkshead, Staverley, Coniston, Ambleside, Keswick, Coniston, Hellvelyn, Ullswater, Langdale, and Forest of Bowland, totalling 122 miles and climbing 17,674ft. To complete all these and come 4^th overall in the 2018 Lakeland Trail series just shows that consistency is key and when you dedicate your year to running and still have the same social life, it is a massive personal achievement. This has made me hungry for more.

 Moving forward into 2019

My personal goal for this year is to complete my first ultra-run in Ambleside in June which is 35 miles and climbing 7,000ft. Hopefully after doing this I will enter more and see how much ground I can cover in a limited time and look to make my runs even longer and enter a 50-miler and then a 100-miler. The core of my training will consist of lots of running, swimming, yoga and strength workouts in the gym. I’ve also encouraged my dad and sister to take part in Hawkshead 10k; both fell walk but they have never done a running race before.

My blogs this year will be focusing on my training, events, fitness, health and hills. I will be looking at the stress-free way to train and time-management, how I get motivated and I have set myself a goal which will be focusing on running, walking or hiking over 1000 miles this year and climb over 150,000ft which is about six times the height of Everest.

If you’ve never run three miles, if you have never hiked a mountain, or if you just want to set yourself a goal it’s never too late. Get involved with your local events and motivate yourself to do it and involve family and friends and enjoy it even more. Like Joss Naylor quoted, ‘It’s a hill, get over it’.

When I started running trails and fells at 30, I never knew what would come of it and the feeling I get from it. It’s good for my health, it gets me out, I like inspiring people, I have got my family involved and it’s made me a better person by focusing on something and looking forward to an event every month. I am extremely organised and plan my year out as everyone needs a social life and always remember to never pressure yourself and make time for you, your friends and your family.

To visit Chris’s website and read more of his blogs, click here.

If you would like donate to St Catherine’s Hospice for Chris’s efforts, please click here.

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