“Running is the greatest metaphor for life, you get out what you put in”

Oprah Winfrey

Running is the perfect way to loose myself; to get away from the stresses of life, listen to the rhythm of my feet, push the limits of my fitness and fuel my greatest thoughts.

It gets the blood pumping; it stimulates the brain, releases endorphins and helps me discover new places on my travels.

Throwing my running kit and Garmin watch into a bag takes next to no space and gives me a reason to head out and explore a new place as soon as I arrive.

Watching the scene change as the sun sets, climbing up high to view the vista, running a sandy beach at sunrise, absorbing the sights, smells and sounds of a new city. It’s my form of bliss.

I’ve run in some ridiculous places over the years and had some interesting interactions with the locals; in the Rwandan mountains I was stopped by the AK-47 laden military for not having the right paperwork to run in a national park, in the Malian desert the locals just laughed at me as I ran through their village in 42c heat, in Gambia is was followed by 50 children all laughing at the silly white man passing through their village, in Los Angeles I sheltered in an old ladies car with her as a torrential thunderstorm hit the city and in Canada I gave a radio interview while running through a snowstorm up a mountain!

My first half marathon was in Reading in the UK. I thought I’d do it and not want to ever run again…but the brain is stronger than the body, it overlooks the pain and seeks the next challenge – how about a full marathon, all 42 kilometres?

London became my goal; training through the UK’s dark and cold winter from October to March produces a mental psyche that defines you. If you can make it to March you’ll make the start line in April no problem.

There’s nothing like the feeling of crossing that finish line for the first time - the sense of achievement, the months of training, the sheer delight of that celebratory beer!

And once the pain has subsided you have options – give up marathons gracefully, try and run another but faster, run a greater distance or take your running off-road and onto the trails.

Since that first marathon in 2006 I’ve done three of them. The quickest here in Brisbane in 2012, the longest in South Africa at the ultimate human race -Comrades (89kms) and most recently trail-running has become my passion.

So if you’re thinking about your first ever race, be it 5km or a half marathon, just get outside, put one foot in front of the other and just keep on going.

Marathons so far...

London, England 2006, 2007
Snowdon, Wales 2007
Marrakech, Morocco 2008
Knysna, South Africa 2008
Comrades, South Africa 2008 (up)
Nairobi, Kenya 2008
Home to Petersfield 2008
Gold Coast, Australia 2009
Comrades, South Africa 2010 (down)
Gold Coast, Australia 2010
Brisbane, Australia 2010
Melbourne, Australia 2011
Cairns, Australia 2012
Brisbane, Australia 2012

"Every day in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better be running"

Abe Gubegna