Imagine walking down the high street in a town where you know no one and everyone you pass is smiling, shouting "hello", and waving madly at you. It just wouldn't happen. But it does on the canal. It's as if being on the water gives people permission to connect with one another. In its time, the Grand Union must have carried millions of grinning, shouting, waving people up and down the country - all the way from Brentford to Birmingham. Between the 20th and 23rd of May next year, I plan on doing a lot of grinning, shouting and waving as I run along the tow path doing my 60th birthday challenge.
I knew I wanted a challenge to celebrate my 60th year. And I that it probably had something to do with running. “It’ll emerge”, said Matt, who trains me (TrainStrong), as we sat among a bunch of outsize maces and Herculean stones in the Commando Temple gym having our pre-training "power chat".
The Commando Temple in Resolution Way, Deptford is a gym like no other. It’s all corrugated iron and concrete. Its walls are painted with ghoulish images and inspiring epithets like “Training for the Zombie Apocalypse”. And it’s rammed with tyres that belong on outsize JCBs and weights that you’d only expect a Gladiator to pick up (a retired Gladiator does, in fact, train there). But there’s nothing scary or macho about the Commando Temple. It welcomes anyone who is prepared to work hard and have a lot of fun. Everyone’s relaxed and friendly. Including Red, the owner’s dog, who drifts around, occasionally sniffing curiously at a client who’s hanging upside down on the rings or bear-crawling across the floor.
I’m not that good at waiting for things to emerge. So I ignored Matt's wise words and dedicated a lot of time to googling potential challenges - from hill running with a 15k backpack to racing a train. None of them quite hit the mark.
It came to me when I took the Gyuto monks out running one morning. Most of my Spotify playlists are music, but the monks are great because they just chant. Allowing you to think your own thoughts – or not think at all - and dictate your own pace. I ended up on what I’d always thought of as “the Brentford canal”. I’d walked there many times, but strangely, have never, in all the 20 years I’ve lived in Ealing, used it for running. It’s a great route, with long stretches where you don’t see a single building, boat or even person. A rarity when you’re smack bang in the middle of a busy London Borough.
At Brentford Lock, I glanced up and saw a signpost. “Grand Union Canal,” it read. “Birmingham 137 miles.” Wow. I’m running on the Grand Union Canal,”. I thought. "Now there's an idea." Clearly, I wasn’t going to run the entire distance. But I knew I’d found my challenge.
A couple of weeks later, I was back at the gym and Matt was setting out his suggestion. “Tough enough to be a stretch. But achievable,” he said. It was this: Four consecutive days. On two of which I would run 14 miles and walk 5 miles. On the other two, run 10 and walk 6. A total of 70 miles. The most I had ever done in one go was 13 - followed by several days rest. I had an instant private mental meltdown (I like to think my expression didn’t change at all). “Think about it,” he said. I did. And here I am.