Running 184 miles in 3 days, starting in Gloucester, passing Oxford, Reading and Hampton Court before snaking past London’s iconic sights to the Thames Barrier. Here’s how – and why – three Marathon des Sables tent mates are running the Thames from source to sea.
I’ve spent a lot of time running the Thames. Living in Chiswick just a couple of miles from the river, much of my training is done along the scenic footpaths that shoulder the river. It’s a little place of calm in an otherwise busy city, I can be there in 15 minutes and then pretend I’m no longer in London at all. The bridges make for excellent ready-made courses: a quick 10k from Kew to Chiswick Bridge and back, a cheeky half to Hammersmith and back via Mortlake, or onwards to Putney for a longer Sunday run. It’s almost mapped out for someone training for a marathon.
But it’s not just in training that I’ve found myself alongside the Thames. My first ultra marathon was the Royal Parks Ultra, a 50km along the Thames from Westminster to Bushy Park. Before long before I added the Thames Path 100km to the list with a beautiful stretch from Putney to Henley. Most recently in 2017 I took on my first 100-mile ultra at the Centurion Running Thames 100 and that covered a course from Richmond all the way to Oxford.
I’ve also run from the Thames Barrier to Chiswick, a 20-something mile stroll that takes you from East to West via the iconic architecture of central London, past Battersea Power Station and out to the leafier trails of Hammersmith and beyond.
The Thames has been a constant in my running for the past 10 years and I’ve often wondered if I’d have fallen in love with the sport half as much had I not had this magic place to clock up the miles.
It’s fitting then that my Thames journey continues when, along with two tent mates from the Marathon des Sables in 2015, I will put all of those miles into one big adventure, running the Thames from source to sea (well the Thames Barrier at least). This 184-mile journey in three days will see us do an average of 60+ miles each day, and run from Gloucester to East London. It’s a huge challenge, probably the toughest I’ve faced in a decade of putting one foot in front of the other but it’s for a fantastic cause.
Running for a Noble cause
Tent 136 (from left to right) Richard, Richard, Me, Fabrice, Becs, Lucas, Sam and Matthew.
Myself, Rebecca and Fabrice will be running in support of another inspirational person, Sam Noble, who we first met as part of our team in Tent 136 in the Sahara. After bossing it in the desert, Sam has been in a bigger battle, with bowel cancer. Proof of what an inspirational human being he is, while fighting that hard he’s also spent the last few months writing an 18 poem anthology that’s been turned into a beautiful book, inspired by the many positive aspects of his life post diagnosis.
He describes it as an “evocative and uplifting read for anyone, not just those facing similar challenges.” So our run is not just a personal challenge – and lord knows all three of us love a bit of that – but it’s also to help raise money for Sam’s cause. We’d love people to support and donate what they can. All donations over £15 will get a copy of Sam’s poems and all the proceeds go to the very worthy charity, Children with Cancer UK.
The book will also include an audio download of a selection of the poems that have been kindly and freely voiced by some hugely talented professional actors including the likes of Robert Glenister, David Morrissey, Meera Syal and Callum Turner.
If you can help, please do. And if you can’t donate in return for a book, we’d love you to share this link in case you know someone else can.
DONATE TO CHILDREN WITH CANCER HERE: http://bit.ly/2Ny8DTY
Running the Thames: A quick overview
Running the Thames Source to Sea: The 184-mile route
The start times and running targets for each day look a bit like this. Day 2 is currently look a little scary!
Day 1: 60 – 65 miles – 06:00 – 21:00
Day 2: 72 miles – 06:00 – 21:00
Day 3: 52 miles – 07:00 – 19:00
Running the Thames: The map
How to follow the T136 do T184 challenge
For those who want to follow our journey, we’ll be posting updates on social media. Here are some of the places to get updates:
Facebook: Manvmiles
Instagram: Manvmiles
Twitter: KieranAlger
Strava: Kieran Alger
We’ll also be using Garmin’s LiveTrack so you can follow our dot as it meanders slowly along the Thames. Anyone who wants to do that will need to either follow on social media and keep an eye out for the updates with a link or send me an email address and get a link sent direct each day when we start out journey.
