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We are delighted to hear from Ian Morris based in Darlington, UK and Renah Seay on Oahu, Hawaii.

Separated by geography but connected by LRC.

Take it away Ian & Renah

Renah: What’s your dream race to run?

Ian: My favourite race to date has been the Lakes in a Day Ultra, a 52 mile, 4,000m ascent, north-south traverse of the Lake District up in north west England. I’ve ran it twice, the first time in 2018 was probably my favourite ever race and also my only ever DNF! The 2018 race was ran in the face of Storm Callum, a southerly storm that lashed the route with torrential rain and a 50mph+ (with gusts well above that) headwind. It was a cacophony, an awesome spectacle of the might of weather in an amphitheatre of england’s rugged northern mountains. I’d been injured for most of the year and before I left the start line my longest run in the past 4 months had been 10 miles. The first checkpoint was the furthest I’d ran all year (the race was in October!). I made it through the first 30 miles of the race which takes in all the mountainous section of the route and dropped out happily at the major checkpoint at Ambleside. I’ll never forget the ferocity of the weather and the sheer angry noice of it, or running into the headwind on top of Helvellyn when I was working hard in a modified sprint technique with arms pumping and yet barely even moving forward, or passing a female competitor going up the steep path up from Grisedale Tarn to Fairfield who was on her hands and feet like Spiderman climbing a building because every time she stood up she was blown off her feet with the wind. My one and only DNF, but that T-Shirt (you get the T-Shirt at the start of the race!) is the one that I wear with most pride. Needless to say I went back the next year and completed the full race with a bit more preparation and slightly better weather!

Renah: Favourite ultra distance?

Ian: I don’t have a favourite distance really. I like runs with a point, so a 5 mile trail run that’s crazy technical or in breathtaking scenery is worth so much more than 30 miles of drudgery on the roads! I like ultras because of the challenge that they present, not the distance itself, if that makes sense?!

Renah: Fuel that you find helps the most for endurance running?

Ian: I gave up gels and lotions and potions a few years ago. I really like the Chia Charge bars that we can get over here in the UK, they’re made by a small company in Yorkshire (near where I live) and the guy that runs the company is very supportive of local fell and ultra races. I also generally carry a plastic bag full of mixed nuts, dried fruit, dates, pretzels, chopped up dark chocolate, etc. I love dipping into that and that russian roulette moment of what ends up in my mouth! I’ve just signed up with Precision Hydration and am looking forward to seeing how their products might be able to help me in the future.

Renah: Most helpful cross training workout?

Ian: I’ve just been through some physio for a tricky right calf and have been set a cracking hip mobility & strength set that I’m doing a couple of times a week as part of the programme that Georgie sets for me. I’m really feeling the benefit already and the two final drills – Runners Touch and Hot Salsa – have been a great challenge to learn and now develop.

Renah: What is your favorite run course near your home?

Ian: I love Swaledale (a national park of hills and valleys about 40 minutes drive from me) as it offers spectacular views, some really great technical running terrain and lots of history. On one of my lone exploration runs in the area in late 2019 I stumbled across a remote location that was obviously a camp for our mesolithic ancestors approx 10-12,000 years ago and have found a large number of lithic (flint) artefacts there over the course of a few runs in that area. They’ve been confirmed as mesolithic by a local archaeological group. It’s so cool, being in stunning, wild running terrain, running free in shorts and t-shirt and bending down to pick up a stone tool that was dropped there by another human being 10,000 years ago. I always wonder what they were like, what made them laugh and cry, and whether they enjoyed running around there too! For me that’s really why I love trail running. It’s adventure and exploration as well as a way to compete a few times a year!

Renah: What is one memorable happy moment that happened in the past year?

Ian: Blimey! It’s been a tough year in the UK with COVID. I am very thankful that my friends and family and safe, my job is secure, etc and at the same time the lock down restrictions have meant that apart from a window of a few weeks in summer 2020 I haven’t been able to get into my beloved hills. I tweaked my calf in December 2020 and Georgie has been nursing me back to proper running again since then, and just last weekend I ran a 12 mile trail route from close to home. Nothing particularly taxing or spectacular, but just being out running in the quiet countryside for a couple of hours was such a relief after about 10 weeks of tentative run/walk sessions. That was a happy moment!

Ian asks Renah

Ian: Tell me something about yourself that I wouldn’t find out by googling you.

Renah: I was in awe of the women’s marathon in 1984, I grew up in Los Angeles. That was the first time I really learned about the marathon distance and had no doubt I could and would run a marathon.

Ian: What’s the best running-related tip that anyone has ever given you?

Renah: Before my first distance race someone told me to drink water at every station. That was excellent advice actually.

Ian: You win a competition to be able to travel to any locations anywhere in the word to run any routes, with no limits other than you’ve got 7 days to do it. Where would you go and who would you take with you (if anyone!)?

Renah: South Island New Zealand and I would go by myself.

Ian: What’s your favourite item of kit, and why?

Renah: As a woman I’d have to say a really good running bra, but in general thin socks.

Ian: What’s your favourite running-related book or movie of all time, and what was it that spoke to you?

Renah: Book – What I Talk About When I talk about Running by Haruki Murakami. For movies I was really inspired by The Long Run movie from 2001.

Ian: What’s on your bucket list or race calendar for 2021?

Renah: I don’t have a bucket list race this year since most races in Hawaii are virtual, but I am hoping to run up Haleakala sometime this year.