run // fitness

the run

Running, lost and clawed back. Lockdown 5ks to a 50k ultra, three years of injury, and London 2026.

  1. Running begins

    2019. Manchester, 2019. I started running.

  2. Lockdown miles

    2020. Alone, sunny, music. 5ks became 10ks. A good time, honestly.

  3. First 10k

    2020. Lockdown miles adding up: the 5ks became 10ks.

  4. Media City 10k

    2021. First race

    result
    TODO_YAMIN
  5. London Landmarks Half

    2021. First half marathon

    result
    TODO_YAMIN
  6. Sub-20 5K

    2021. One week before leaving for Florida

    time
    TODO_YAMIN (19:xx)
  7. University of Florida run club

    Jerseys on. Trips to Tallahassee and North Carolina.

  8. LifeSouth Half

    2022.

    result
    TODO_YAMIN
  9. Tomoka Marathon

    2022. First marathon

    time
    3:58
  10. Greater Manchester Half

    2022. The half, then the 10k an hour later

    result
    TODO_YAMIN
  11. Greater Manchester 10k

    2022.

    result
    TODO_YAMIN
  12. Srinagar, summer

    2022. Home. Learned to swim. A summer in the water.

  13. Manchester Half

    2022.

    result
    TODO_YAMIN
  14. Ladybower Reservoir Ultra 50k

    2022. First ultra, on my birthday. Rain, then sun, then rainbows.

    distance
    50k
  15. Manchester 24hr Run

    2022. Against homelessness. Most 5k laps of anyone: 24.

    distance
    120km in 24hrs
  16. Wilmslow Festive 10k

    2022. 10k PB

    time
    38:46
  17. Training for Manchester Marathon

    Steady 4:30/km, tempos at 3:50, long runs 35km+. Twice, 42km for a Sunday long run. The peak: faster and with more endurance than ever before, or since.

  18. Track sprints

    Sprint sessions on the track at the Etihad, that winter.

  19. Injury

    2023. Posterior tibial tendonitis, left ankle. A niggle, then a tempo run through pain, then a 21km through worse. Then stop.

  20. Manchester Marathon

    2023. The tape the winter was pointed at. Never reached.

  21. Physio

    posterior tibial tendonitis

  22. Still him

  23. Ibiza Marathon

    2023. The club trip happened. My friends raced. I did not run at all.

  24. Manchester Marathon

    2023. First time back. Last in my group. The pain returned.

  25. Manchester Marathon

    2024. Booked it, trained for it, broke again.

  26. Back with the club

    Welcomed back. New faces. The slow group now, having once led the fastest.

  27. The verdict

  28. Calisthenics

    Staying in motion while I could not run. Upper body, bars, physio.

  29. First bar muscle-up

    2025. Three in a row. Then I lost interest: I wanted to run.

  30. The drop

    Right after the muscle-ups came the down. The lowest point of the three years.

  31. London Marathon

    2025.

  32. Deferral

  33. Stop, properly

  34. Light

    2026. Strength returning. Running alone, sometimes with a couple of friends.

  35. 21km, again

    2026. First 21km since the injury. It held.

    date
    February 2026
  36. The old me

  37. London Marathon

    2026. Run, walk, run. The heat. The hardest race of my life, and the one I am most proud of.

    time
    TODO_YAMIN (around 5:40)
  38. Past the line

    My friends were waiting.

  39. Medal

  40. The road on

    Back to the grind. Legs, runs, 5-a-side again. Not as fast yet. The colour has not fully returned. He is out there ahead, waiting.