My 13 in 13 Challenge is the second part of a charitable campaign to raise awareness about sudden cardiac death and to raise funds for the charity CRY.

Part One was a 365-day long commitment to hit the roads every day for a year and also served as training for the 13 in 13 Challenge. Clocking up 1,160 miles running (plus a further 1,534 miles walking), the aim was to build up the tolerance in my legs for running a half marathon every day for 13 days and hopefully stay injury free.

The year included 22 half marathon distance runs (or longer) and finished the final weekend of March with my first ever back-to back runs of that distance (i.e. two in two days), as a trial for what lies ahead.

The last 3 months also included some conditioning work four times a week to prepare the legs for what I was about to ask of them.

April 2024 was always scheduled as being a lighter month to taper, recover and give my legs an opportunity to rest before the embarking on the second part of the challenge. However, despite pulling back significantly on the mileage, two minor injuries and a bout of food poisoning meant a frustratingly long pause to my training and almost 3.5 weeks of inactivity. With the 13 in 13 Challenge possibly now in doubt, I scaled it back up at the start of May far more than I would have ideally liked, but I arrived at the 10th May in one piece and now the Challenge is officially on!