Warren is bringing the USA to the UK on his epic Route 66 Challenge to raise money and awareness for us!
Age? I'm 44, 45 in May
Years running? Forever! Although I've only been entering races for the last 3 years, with the 1st race being the Yorkshire Marathon in October 2014.
What exactly is your Route 66 Challenge? I have entered into the My Virtual Mission Route 66 Challenge, with the aim of completing the challenge in 6 months. I'll be running the length of Route 66 in America.
Every time I run, the distance is measured by my Garmin watch, I then upload this information onto the website to keep track of the miles I have run. The total distance of Route 66 is 2280 miles, and there are 181 days, so an average of approx 12.6 miles per day. I am trying to enter as many half marathons or above to help with the distance, and also for a change from my local area in Scarborough.
Number of marathons and half marathons run so far? 1 x 42 mile ultra marathon, 7 x marathons & only 3 half marathons!
Toughest run to date? Mentally, the Holme Pierrepont 6 Hour Challenge, 6 hours of 3 mile laps, although I find talking to just about everyone I passed or was passed by did help to start with, the number of people towards the end was only a few!! Physically I found the last marathon I did at Bolton Abbey, the 2nd in 2 days, the hardest. After about 13 miles I felt drained, legs did not want to go on! Although when I finally reached an aid station, a good feed and water got me back on my way again!
What inspired you to take on the Route 66 Challenge? I work at a small school outside of Scarborough for boys with special needs, and some of the boys here took part in a sponsored bike ride to raise money for the Bone Cancer Research Trust. The main reason for this was that the nephew of a colleague that works here had bone cancer himself. Our boys cycled from Newcastle to Edinburgh. This was a massive achievement for the boys that took part. So, they have inspired me to try and build on the good work they did, raising money for a charity they hadn't heard of, that helped a boy they didn't know, to treat a cancer they didn't know existed.
How have you prepared? Probably a little badly! I have always been running, mainly just to keep fit and healthy. Before the challenge, I would probably run 4 to 5 times a week, around 30 to 40 miles. I did increase the weekly distance in the run up to the 1st of January to around 60 miles.
How are the runs going so far? Mostly good. I had a bit of an ankle problem, so I had to have a couple of days rest and since then its been ok, although that has put me a little bit behind schedule, but I hope to make this up with marathons!
Distance to go? 1515.4 miles, although I am running a coastal marathon tomorrow!
Has it been difficult finding enough races to enter? So far this year I have been running a lot of races with a company called "It's Grim Up North Running", mainly due to the shorter distances I have to travel. They are a fantastic little running company, who have races for just about every distance from 10k to Ultra, and Diane and Cath are as friendly as any race organisers I have met. You can check out their website here.
To keep up to date on Warren's amazing work, visit the Virtual Mission website, then search for the Route 66 challenge. You can find his JustGiving page here.
Inspired? Check out our full list of events here. And remember, you can always chat to our friendly team about finding a unique challenge that suits you!