I'm in!

Last week, I was selected to take part in the Brathay 10 in 10 challenge (from here on, fondly referred to as the TiT): 10 full 26.2 mile marathons in 10 days in aid of the Brathay Trust. We'll be running the same route each day around Lake Windermere and on the final day, we'll be joined by several hundred other runners in the big Brathay Windermere marathon. I ran it earlier this year and found that, predictably enough, it's beautiful, hilly and one that I doubt I'll tire of.

I followed the progress of the 2009 TiTs with a mix of admiration and jealousy - spending 10 days running in this superb scenery in the company of others who loved running just as much. Some of them battled through real injuries, with one ending up on crutches (though he didn't take them out for the marathons), and the physios did an incredible job at holding them all together. There was also a real mix of speeds, with Tango cruising through day after day to a world record time, and the back markers doing an equally impressive job, spending hours out there every day. I was seriously impressed and deeply envious.

Still, it took me a couple of months to decide to enter, since it's not an event to undertake lightly. The physical demands of 262 miles in 10 days will be considerable, and the mental strength will be just as important. This is my first year of multi-marathoning, last year I ran 7 and I'm hoping for 35 in 2009. Windermere was the second day of my first double - two marathons on consecutive days - and I found it as much a mental struggle as a physical one. While the first few miles were awkward with tired and stiff legs, you already felt like you were more than half way there, and by 20 miles I found a second wind and really enjoyed seeing how much I could push myself over the finish line. I've got a few more doubles lined up this year, and a couple of triples, all in the name of the TiT, but more because I can't see a great marathon pass me by without trying to get into it!

So training had already sort of started for the TiT, and if I ever wanted to do an event for charity, it would require a step up in the level of difficulty to justify people putting their hand in their pocket. The Brathay Trust might not be a big name charity, but it does particularly admirable work in developing young people. Plus, selfishly, this looks like a corker. It all added up so I sent off my application and my running CV, spent several nailbiting weeks waiting to hear from Scott at Brathay and finally was over the moon to be accepted. Just a small matter now of getting both my speed and endurance up......