On Saturday 29^th July our Run Leeds team came together at Bramham Park to take on the Endure 24 event. For those that don’t know Endure 24 is a 24 hour running event, that starts at 12pm on the Saturday and finishes at 12pm on the Sunday. It involves running a 5 mile loop with the aim of completing as many laps as a team as you can in 24 hours. You can take part as a solo, pairs, small, large or even extra large team so there was certainly a challenge for everyone!

We had a large team made up of 8 people from across the city, including runners from Bramley Breezers and Crossgate Harriers. We had a few last minute drop out so we were lucky enough to be able to rope some runners in last minute. Despite most of the team only having only met once before at our pre Endure 24 team bonding run, the team all got on really well and had a great team spirit.

With 8 members in our team we needed to be organised to make sure that we had a good system in place so that each team member roughly knew when they would be running. We were lucky that Alex one of the team member’s fiancée took it upon himself to keep our trusty whiteboard up to date with predicted running times which allowed the rest of the team to plan their food, rest and recovery. Alex was a great help throughout the whole weekend, and he also stayed up half of the night to walk people down to the start to make sure people didn’t miss their starts and take coats and jackets. I’m sure I can speak on behalf of the whole team when I say the weekend wouldn’t have been as successful without him.

Every single member of our team was absolutely fantastic and it really was a pleasure to run with them all. We had Jess who tackled the midday glorious sunshine and took on the first leg for us. I have to say that Jess was truly brilliant all weekend, surpassing even her own expectations and completing 5 laps! Then there was Neil D. It was inspiring to see him set off on his first leg at a brilliant pace and come home just as happy as he set off. Neil was great at keeping spirits high throughout the whole 24 hours, and reminding us not to over think the run and to go to your happy place! Then there was Maris, Mr consistent knocking out solid lap after lap. I’m sure no one else’s hair looks as good for the whole weekend! Despite a few weeks off training Bethan as usual pulled some fast laps out the bag, and it was great to have a supportive friend there to keep me going. I have to mention the fact that despite having about 3 hours sleep after Endure finished, she went straight to her pre wedding photoshoot! Then there was Liene, who thought she was coming along to the weekend to just watch…little did she know that she would end up running 3 laps! I have to say a big thank you, as without her it would have meant a lot more pressure on other members of the team. Neil J the endurance man himself was also a massive help to the team, turning up and knocking out 3 speedy laps over a short period of time. A big thank you to Josh as well who not only had the fastest lap of the whole 24 despite completing a track session on Saturday morning, completed 4 laps in total! Then lastly Niks, Maris and Liene’s son. He was so supportive and patient all week, and even completed the junior race on the Friday evening. He also kept Alex busy playing football and rugby all weekend.

In total we completed 34 laps which equated to 170 miles in 24 hours, a fantastic effort by us all. The 30 degree heat certainly made the event that bit more challenging but I personally wouldn’t change anything about the weekend.

Coming from an 800m background I have personally never done anything like this before, and I was a little worried that I was going to be completing over half of my weekly mileage in 24 hours. Despite this I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend, and what was a brilliantly well organised event.

Roll on Endure 24 2020!