Global Sport Stories

Complete not compete, a term that I came across this week. Not one that I had heard before, yet one that really resonated with me.

It gives rise to endurance events that of course are increasing in popularity, and the premise of less “in it to win it” and a more personal sense of accomplishment. 

I was introduced to the phrase via an inspiring 24 year old embarking on completing 128 marathons in 128 days. This feat would be nothing short of an indescribably incredible achievement but more upon that later.

Over the course of this year I don’t plan on doing much competing, instead more completing – fueling me to join along with the local run club after a shift at work on Tuesday. The experience was new to me – running with a large group of people – and in all honesty I’d have to give it mixed reviews. 

I think due to the fact I have been running for a year or so now and am no stranger to running by myself, perhaps I didn’t reap the full benefits of the social aspect. To add to this, I bumped into a friend there so I wasn’t technically turning up on my own. This almost certainly would represent a much different experience, probably make or break.

The group became quite spread out over the 5 kilometres which I suppose naturally caters to differing paces, however it lost the community aspect I felt. That being said, everyone regrouped at the end to share a drink, offering a nice touch which of course you would be without if you went out and back from your door. 

The experience also worked perfectly as if I had gone home and gone on a run myself, motivation would have been severely lower. Instead I wasted no time in getting 5 k’s into my legs, which ultimately I should be grateful for the organised structure of the run club for providing.

So in the end, I’d say the jury’s still out on run club for me, however I can appreciate it’s a great way to begin your venture in running if you haven’t previously done so.

With that short review of run club over that nobody asked for, the slightly slower pace adopted the night before ensured there were no aches and pains for Wednesday’s short venture south for a surf at Saltburn. The popular surf spot on the fringes of the North Yorkshire moors made a refreshing change to surfing at Tynemouth. The last time I’d surfed here was just over a year ago and I’d like to think my abilities have come on leaps and bounds since. 

The conditions were lovely (for England) despite being bitterly cold (obviously). As you can see below, the waves were rolling in beautifully. It reminded me of pictures I had seen in northern Peru – the self proclaimed birthplace of surfing.

Ironically, I can comfortably say this was the best I had surfed since Peru. Don’t get me wrong, I could count the amount of clean waves I caught on one hand – but even that marks quite significant progress.

I had a few more days in North Yorkshire, in which time I tried out a wild swimming spot, interviewed a crazy endurance runner and got myself on another 5k. In other words, a very fruitful couple of days off. 

The term ‘complete not compete’ came from a running context, however,  when it came to the wild swimming spot I was both competing and completing. At a Baltic three degree water temperature, completing a “dip” was hard enough. I then competed with myself to better this time – my record was three minutes. I should point out there was a sauna right next to the lake – not a chance would I be doing more than one dip otherwise! 

That night I then spoke to Lewis, the man aiming to ‘simply’ complete, not compete, in 128 marathons in 128 consecutive days. I plan to write a separate piece on what Lewis is aiming to achieve in which I will go into more details, however what I do want to say is what an incredibly humble and aspirational individual the guy was. The motivations behind his project provides a fresh perspective on the joys of exercise and the power it has to captivate a community.

With the interview fresh on my mind, I could’ve had no complaints with the next morning’s 5k. At just over an eighth of what Lewis had to do everyday, for 128 days, Molly and I battled our way through what Storm Eowyn had to throw at us. 

Returning North to Newcastle brings us to Sunday. Since last week’s 12k I’d had the desire to run further to test where my limits were currently at. The goal today, half a marathon. 

We (myself and others who may find themselves wanting to run half marathons for fun on a Sunday) are lucky in Newcastle, as the distance from the city centre to the coast, via the path along the Tyne, comes to roughly 20k. Therefore, if you top that up a little at the start or the end, you are able to finish your half marathon in lovely Tynemouth, ideal for a post run dip. 

And that’s exactly what I did, after one hour fifty four minutes making my way from Sandyford to King Edward’s Bay – subsequently beating my prior best time of two hours, not that I was competing with myself…

In fact, the reference to the time is solely relevant to provide guidance on the state of my fitness. All in all I would have to say I’m happy. My legs felt drastically fresher come the end of the run than what I can remember in past attempts, plus I’d knocked over five minutes off my previous best – surely that’s reason enough to be positive.