Always love a challenge! 100miles is my next step
Escape Rooms are a challenge for the mind, but along side keeping our minds active, we do love to keep physically active too. For me, I love to run, and I approach running in the same manner as an escape room. It’s a game really and all you have to do is play the game and find the best way to complete it, while also taking the enjoyment from it.
Next weekend, 23rd July, I am taking on my biggest running challenge yet. 100miles around the Lake District. 2 years ago I ran the Montane Lakeland50 which felt like a huge challenge then, but because of the attitude I took on the lead up and during the event, I loved every second of it, which is probably something you wouldn’t expect to hear. However, when I crossed that finish line, I swore I would never take on the Lakeland100 because all the 100 participants I saw on the route looked broken. When entries opened for the following years event, my mind took me back to the Lakeland50 race briefing before we set off. Run director- “How many of you have said ‘I am ONLY doing the 50’ when talking about the event to friends?”, everyones hands went up. It was true, in comparison to the 100, 50 doesn’t seem like a huge challenge. It’s that game aspect coming in to play. Consequently, when signing up to run the 50 the following year my cursor was drawn towards the 100 entry instead.
Training has gone well for the race, which was postponed for a year. Heading out for a hilly marathon is now the same as popping out for a jog. My perceived vastness of a marathon has changed because the end goal has been stretched. One of my training runs was 75miles. My brain has adapted to say, 75miles, well it’s only a marathon left to reach 100. I believe it’s my ability to break things down in an analytical and logical manner which make these challenges achievable, but also brings together two drastically different activities as my two passions, running and escape rooms!
100 miles is a brand new level of challenge for me which is why, for the first time while running, I am raising money for charity which you can find all the details about how to donate to the Samson Centre for MS and read my story here-> https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/steven-insua-cao
In addition to donations, Tom and I have committed to donate £10 from each booking made whilst I am running, which starts from 6pm Friday 23rd until approximately midnight on Saturday 24th July. You can book for the future or even buy a gift certificate knowing that you’ll be playing at some point but unsure when. You may think that 30+hrs of continuous running, my mind would switch off but I can guarantee you that my mind is constantly thinking, thinking about new games to design, how to break down the distance left in a way which seems achievable, the feel getting across the finish line and it’ll be a huge motivator for me knowing that each step I take could be another £10 going towards an awesome charity in Guildford!
You can book here but wait until I start running at 6pm on Friday 23rd July ->https://paradoxparlours.com/book
You can also track my progress via Lakeland100 website->https://lakeland100.com/
I’ll update closer to the date when I know my race number.
