Thursday 20th October 

#83 done this morning in Welshpool with Paul Bowes.

After commenting last week on Strava on one of his runs, he offered to drive me to Welshpool and run with me 🙂

Really enjoyed it, beautiful scenery filled with autumn colours.

Route is flat and very easy to run on.

Was very quiet and peaceful, nice to get away from traffic and everyday noise, no wonder it’s one of Paul’s favourite routes.

We only came across the odd runner and dog walker.

We ran past Belan Locks and Berriew Aqueduct and 9 miles from Newtown we turned back. 

I stopped a few times in the first part of the run to take photos and had to sprint to catch up with Paul.

We completed it in 1:43′ and didn’t feel at all like I ran 13 miles even chatting all the time with Paul. 

I really enjoyed the route and the company and I think Paul enjoyed his walk too 😀

I will keep this route in mind for next year’s London Marathon training, I think it will be perfect 🙂
1087 miles done and 223 left ! Next run will be on Sunday or Monday 
Fundraising is slightly behind target pace at £1010 

Monday 24 October 

#84 done and just reached mile 1100 of challenge 🙂

Ran with Nick Pollock for the second time this year, he kept me company on run #28 back in April.

He was in charge of route and it was a good course, challenging at times with plenty of climbs and little hills and some off road running too 🙂

I decided to up my mileage a little to gently get me ready for London marathon next April.

So I started from home and ran a 2.5km warm up to the Quarry where I met Nick.

I also did the reverse after we completed the half as a cool down which means I ran 26km ( 16 miles) today.

I only ran one half last week ( I know I’m lazy!) and I felt it today, always find it hard going after a longer break!

We started in the Quarry and ran along the river, crossed the Castlewalk bridge and to Underdale and again along the river and came out by the Lord Hill column, Sutton Rd and up the Bayston Hill Quarry, back in Meole Brace, Roman Rd and down Copthorne and in the Quarry. 

My Garmin said we were two hundred meters short so I pointed to the hill towards the swimming bath and said to Nick : “shall we? ” and he said “might as well!” and completed the 13 miles at the top in 1:40′ 25″

Got one toot on km 10 from Jordan and on my cool down saw Owen and Jodie.
210 miles to go and next one will be on Thursday 

Friday 28th of October 

Ran #85 this morning, a bit late in the week because of work commitments.

Was an easy and relatively flat course, just tweaked a bit the “footprint course”

Was a beautiful warm morning, perfect for running and for taking photos along the way 🙂

Started from home towards Ditherington, onto Castlefields along the river, past the weir where a lot of people were watching salmon jumping upstream.

Forgot to charge my Bluetooth headset and had to run without music from km 5, but it didn’t bother me at all.

Carried on along the river to the Quarry where an International Angling competition was taking place. Ran to the Dingle , took a selfie with a horse 😀 ( not a real one!)

Then along Smithfield Rd to Coton Hill and back where I started and repeated this 10,5 km loop. 

On km 20 I got a toot from Mike T. 

Loved it today, didn’t go particularly fast but not slow either, and really enjoyed running through the crispy dry Autumn leaves and listening to the rustling sound!
Only 15 runs to go, numbers are getting smaller and smaller and only 196 miles to go !

Next one is on Monday and I’m planning of running Shrewsbury parkrun course, then the 7 Bridges course and the Shrewsbury parkrun course again to complete the 13 miles.

If anyone wants to join me for a mile or two message me by Sunday when I will know more about what time I will start.

Monday 31st October 

#86 ran this morning with Les Ritchie.

Met up in the Quarry by St Chads Church, got there as the church bells started to ring 11 o’clock.

Plan was to run first the parkrun course, then the Seven Bridges and finish with parkrun course once more plus some extra bits to make up the 21 km.

Somehow we were over 1k short after the first two sections even though we added an extra part from Castlewalk bridge to the weir hoping to see some salmon jumping upstream.

Weather was perfect for a run, sunny and cool and we kept a steady pace chatting away for most of the run. I also kept stopping to take photos and would sprint to catch up with Les.

Les was struggling with a heel injury so on km 17 after a selfie and a handshake by the monument he carried on to where he parked the car and I turned round to finish the last 4K.

On km 19 by the Quarry pool I saw Emma and crossed the Porthill bridge to run on other side of river and then cross back on the Kingsland bridge to make up the missing mile and finish more or less by carpark.

1127 miles done and only 183 to go, no injuries to report but legs specially hamstrings are taking longer to recover.

Also still ahead of schedule and at this rate I will be running number 99 on 15th of December.

Thursday 3rd November 

#87 done and dusted, thank you Matt Guilder for route and company 🙂

We met at Radbrook Professional Centre at 9.30 this morning.

Was very cold morning, had to wear hat and gloves, first time since run number 35 in early May.

We agreed to run at a 5’/km pace to finish the distance on 1:45′.

We ended up completing it in 1:42′ and added almost an extra mile cool down at the end.

The route was good and challenging and not dissimilar to the one I ran with Nick on run 84 but in reverse.

We ran to Meole Brace and to the Bayston Hill Quarry and down London Rd and to Ditherington, Smithfield Rd, Frankwell and up The Mount and back to Radbrook.

Was nice to have company again, time flew by and didn’t feel I’ve run 13 miles at all.

Been lucky recently having run with Rob, Paul, Nick, Les and Matt in the last 6 runs 🙂

Only 13 Halfs to go, scary !!

1140 miles done and 170 left.

Fundraising is at £1053 and £87 short of the pound per mile run target so if you have anything to spare and would like to donate to Cancer Research Uk please visit 

http://www.justgiving.com/Rik-RoadRunner 

Time to say my thankyous : 

1. to all who encourage me and wish me good luck, like and share my social media posts
2. to all who sponsored me so far : over £1053.19 plus gift aid raised so far 
3. to Gareth Connell from Purity Lifestyle Studio in Wellington for free massage on my calves
4. Joe Williams from UKRunChat for free entry at Shrewsbury Half Marathon and for posting my blog on UkSportsChat website 
5. Up& Running shop in Shrewsbury for big discount on new Running Shoes
6. Susan Bowes for selling her extra M.Drayton 10k and Derby Half entry and donating the money to Cancer Research uk
7. My Family for patience and support and for listening all day to my numbers and stats
8. My brother at La Lanterna restaurant for putting a poster up to raise a bit more 
9. To Joe Brocklehurst for looking after my legs for a discounted rate and also a complimentary treatment 
10. To Sandra ( my mother in law) for helping me raise from family and friends 
11. To Gareth Mapp at Lifestyle Fitness for letting me put up a sponsor form on notice board to raise cash from members and staff and for sponsoring my Adidas Bounce running shoes. 

RRR (beep beep)

Website: http://www.rikfitness.co.uk
  
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Instagram: @RikRoadRunner
Twitter: @RikRoadRunner
Email: riccardo@rikfitness.co.uk
http://www.justgiving.com/Rik-RoadRunner