The Ever Present Chris Finill- Season 14 Eps 12

We welcome legendary runner Chris Finill to the podcast. Chris, a long-time member of Harrow Athletic Club, takes us through his remarkable journey, from being inspired by Olympic champions living on his childhood street to his transition from track events to ultra-marathons. We discuss his famous streak of consecutive sub-3 hour marathons, the debate over modern shoe technology, his experience running across the United States, and what it takes to tackle the hardest races in the world.

Chris was born on the same street as Roger Bannister and was babysat by Olympic gold medallist Judy Grinham, giving him an early connection to sports. His early running motivation included running to the shops to beat his previous time.

Chris met Roger Bannister in 2004 at the 50th anniversary of the Four Minute Mile, when Roger Bannister was given the freedom of Harrow.

Chris's early focus was on steeplechase, which he ran regularly for his club for 20-25 years. He has been a member of Harrow AC since 1974. The club started as a closed club (Old Gaytonians, from his school) and eventually became an open club. Harrow AC recently won the National Athletics League, the highest domestic competition for a club.

We discuss with Chris the research into whether his run of 24 or 25 consecutive sub-3 hour London marathons was a world record.

Chris believes the claim that modern plated shoes make you 4% faster is "ludicrously high" , noting that athletes only need to believe they are a minute faster to want them.

When discussing nutrition Chris emphasises that a runner's diet is what they "averagely eat" day-to-day, year in, year out, not just race-day fuelling.

Chris thinks the 24-hour races have been his hardest, especially when running at 4 AM after being on your feet for 16 hours.

Chris became curious about running beyond the marathon in his late 30s and began running 100Ks and 24-hour races. In 2011, Chris and a friend ran from the West Coast to New York over the course of 80 days. The idea was inspired by James Shapiro's book Meditations from the Breakdown Lane. The transcontinental run required immense commitment, including Chris having to threaten to resign from his job and his wife driving the support car for 9,000 miles.

After an unsuccessful attempt at the Bob Graham Round seven or eight years ago, Chris plans to attempt the Joss Naylor Challenge to get "closure with fell running".