A Good Plodder On-er

I was never sporty. I was the picked last at school sports. I was last in races, missing the ball in tennis and just a disaster in team sports. I had run one race, Sport Aid in Cardiff in 1986. One thing I could always do was keep going. When we went for long walks as a family my older brother would whinge and moan, my little brother would end up getting carried but I would just keep putting one foot in front of the other. This gave me the nick name of “good plodder on-er” which it turned out was prophetic. Despite this in 2010 I ended up impulsively entering the Great South Run. It is generally recommended to start with a 5k and work up but not me. I found I enjoyed the training. The repetitive action is a bit like a stim and I became either obsessed by (my husband’s description) or dedicated to running. I ran my first marathon in 2012 and of course my first ultra was a 2 day event, 50k both days.

My neurodivergence has positives and negatives. My autism means I like having a routine of training. I like to know a lot about it, think about it and be informed. I love being alone for long periods outside in nature. Autism also makes races hard, the volume of people at the start, not knowing how to talk to people what to say, what they mean and then worrying you went on about something and didn’t know when to stop. Having a common interest and being able to talk to someone whilst alongside them and not having any pressure to look at them is a plus and knowing you can leave the conversation by speeding up and slowing down is also a bonus. ADHD is probably why I started running, impulsively entering a race is pretty standard. ADHD is also probably why I get lost so often, forget things at virtually every race, lose things constantly and don’t know where anything is in my hydration vest.

Despite these challenges Ultra Running is something I mostly still love (and occasionally hate) and has helped my wellbeing.
I am slow, much more slow the last couple years but when I am on my own on the South Downs Way singing along to Muppets Rainbow Connection on repeat for hours nothing else really matters.