We’ve just come back from a short break in the lake district which was wonderful. We missed the tourists and had a great time driving on empty roads. The trip reminded me how in the eighties alongside martial arts competition we also used to compete in the Karrimor mountain marathon. At the time this was a sort of pre-requisite for anyone taking black belt. As a group we entered for four years and trained for five but got stopped by injury on the fifth. Being all town boys it was doubly hard for all of us but in truth It was one of the best things I ever did and very challenging for all. Not only physical, the race was also a spiritual, yet painful, journey. Terry Barnet, Gordon McAdam, Alex Turnbull, and John Harvey were just some of the seniors who competed. My constant training partner was Willie Mohan an ex para and police riot training officer who’s still incredibly fit and strong, and also a great raconteur. At this time there were no Mp3 players only walkmans but you only had to ask Willie a question and he’d talk all day. The laughter helped take your mind off the pain. If you’d like to test yourself check out the link http://wapedia.mobi/en/Original_Mountain_Marathon