TheRunnerBird
Jul 27, 2017 · 5 min read

Here come the dads…

#OtherRunners: Scenes from other runners lives

We know by now that This Girl Can….what about the boys….or, more specifically, the dads?

Steven and I were at high school in South Manchester together, in the same form in fact (do they still call them forms?) Thanks to social media and common interests such as Manc music, writing, kids, etc, we’ve kept in touch and even met up last year when our little boys ran the Mini Great Manchester Run. Steven is a writer and runner with not enough time to do it all but does it all anyway, so we still have a lot in common. He’s a great supporter of this blog and I was thrilled to talk to him about his own running group, The Wednesday Night Club.

Enjoy reading…

About you:

I’m a 35 year old husband and the father of two boys (5 and 2), who lives smack bang in the middle of Mancunian suburbia. I work for a car leasing company but write fiction in what little spare time I have. I’ve written a novel called Suburb, and I’m currently working on a late draft of a novel called Running and Jumping which focuses on an Olympic rivalry over an eight year period.

How long have you been running?

Semi-seriously since 2008, which has included: one marathon, four half marathons, two 10ks, twenty something Parkruns and thousands of miles up and down the Bridgewater Canal.

What do you love about running?

The simplicity.

What do you not love about running?

Not having the time or mental strength to do it better. I feel like I’ve got a sub-four hour marathon in me but can’t commit to the work required, especially the non-running core strength side of things.

I also have mixed feelings about technology. This is a personal view and I know often a controversial one and I’ve got friends who have had great success with running to lose weight by having that continuous improvement information always available but I think people are missing out on the simple beauty of running when they strap on an iPhone and monitor every kilometre split, uploading every run to numerous social media platforms. And I think if the technology helps you get started, that is great. But the technology is not running. It’s an addition which is not vital. My suggestion would be if people run four times a week, leave the technology at home for at least one of those runs. The silence, the peace, the space to think without a computerised voice in your ear will feel refreshing and brilliant.

What is your goal?

My life goal is to write novels for a living. There are some obvious comparisons between training for long distance races and writing novels. Both start out with a strong feeling of what is possible, both get hard in the middle and you’ve got to dig in and push through the difficult times to get to the end, and finishing is one of the greatest feelings you can have. Also, the more you do both, the better you get.

Running wise, I’d like to run another marathon.

What is your biggest achievement?

The Wednesday Night Club. Like many of my friends, I’ve got two young kids and not enough time. I want to run every day but it never works out that way. I found that I wasn’t running regularly at all and speaking to friends about it I realised we all had the same problem. Normal (good) running clubs start at 7pm, which is right in the middle of kids’ bedtime. So I started my own club. We run at 8pm every Wednesday night (hence the name) and there are about ten of us in the group at the moment. We usually get between four and six runners week, with people varying depending on working patterns and childcare issues. As a group we have not missed a Wednesday since we started in the first week of January 2017. That first run was a 3 miler but now we run somewhere between 5 and 8 miles each week. The ability within the group ranges but it’s not about going the fastest we can go. It’s simply about being out and running.

The guys are a mix of neighbours, nursery, school and ante natal group dads. In the first few weeks I was the only person who knew everyone but people have become friendly in their own right and if I can’t run a group still goes out, which is what I hoped would happen when I started it. A couple of weeks ago we had our first night out. It was a Friday and arranged on eight days’ notice. Nine people said yes! We’ve not had nine to a run yet!

I am someone who comes up with lots of ideas that don’t ordinarily go anywhere so there was a bit of fear when I started the group that it might last three weeks and then tail off but credit to all the guys that run, people have really taken to it and it’s become part of people’s weeks now. A couple of the runners are new to the area and have said it’s been a great way to meet people and have something social each week to look forward too. For me, it’s brilliant. I get an hour a week where I get to run, see my mates, and not have the stress of the kid’s bedtime.

Any embarrassing stories?

Luckily no.

What other activities do you enjoy?

I really like cycling and swimming but I don’t get the time to do either properly. I’d love to learn how to swim crawl properly and there is a little voice inside me that thinks doing an Ironman is a good idea (that voice might still be drunk from my teenage years). I’m also writing this after playing in a football tournament having not kicked a ball for seven years. Despite my aches and worrying about how my seven miler is going to go tomorrow, I didn’t realise how much I missed it until today.

Biggest tip for newbies?

Buy a pair of trainers and go running somewhere green and lovely. That’s the best place to run and you’ll quickly understand what is brilliant about it and why so many people love it. As mentioned above, I think technology can be a bit overpowering in running and people miss out on the wonderful feeling of just running for no other reason that’s it’s amazing to be able to do it.

Another runner/athlete/”influencer” you admire and why?

Alastair Humphreys: He’s an adventurer by trade who has cycled round the world, walked across India, ran the Marathon Des Sables, been part of a crew who rowed the Atlantic ocean. His current project is his Microadventure, which is about getting people into the outdoors to experience the feelings of adventure around their busy lives. He books are excellent adventure books and his social media output is pretty good too. Runners should check out his videos about why he runs.

What inspires/motivates you?

The fun of doing it.

What do you do on rest days?

Write. Eat chocolate. Watch Netflix.

You can connect with Steven via:

Twitter: @stevenkedie

Instagram: @steven_kedie

Facebook: Steven Kedie — Writer

Steven’s first novel Suburb is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Suburb-Novel-Steven-Kedie-ebook/dp/B00D9D31CO

runnerbird

the journey to 26.2 and beyond

TheRunnerBird

Written by

Mother. Runner. Writer. Manc 🐝. Yogi.

runnerbird

the journey to 26.2 and beyond

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