Mark Picken

He was great. I'm still chuckling about the Fruit Shoot joke.

Thanks Tom

Great work to get it done 💪🏻

Awesome 🙌

So, for the last year all my training has been on the road, working on speed for half marathons and shorter races.

I did 4 trail / coast runs in the last month in prep 😬

And it was my longest run since the Arc in January 2024.

A strava map showing my route on the Lighthouse Marathon. I got lots of personal records on my third run on this route.

A view of the coast path heading to a rocky area. The sea is on the left. In front of me is another runner.

The sunsetting over the beach and sea on the last part of the Lighthouse Marathon.

Lighthouse Marathon ✅

- 14 miles on brutal coast paths,
- 8 miles on road / trail,
- 4 ish miles on dunes.

Over 1,000m of elevation gain.

Slipped down a bank on mile 5. Stacked it coming into St Ives on mile 13.

Perfect weather and fantastic scenery

Hope you had a good one.

I slipped down a gassy bank on mile 5, and stacked it coming into St Ives tripping on the tiniest rock ever 🤣

The blood pouring out my knee looked good though 💪🏻🤣

Perfect conditions though.

The Arc is a beast. This one feels more relaxed, if that makes sense.

The good thing is that most of the first half is unrunable! 🤣

Thank you!

Cool! Looking forward to it.

My running kit laid out on the kitchen floor. It looks like the amount of stuff you’d have to carry for an ultra marathon. It includes running vest, gels, cap, buffs, running jacket, head torch, first aid kit, reusable cup.

A glass of red wine to help relax into the evening ahead of tomorrow’s coast path marathon.

Kit check for tomorrow’s Lighthouse Marathon.

26.2 + miles on some of the most brutal coastline in west Cornwall.
Going from Pendeen to Godrevy.

And a glass of wine to relax into the evening 🍷

Currently walking around the house in my new trail shoes ahead of Saturday’s Lighthouse marathon.

My Inov’s, which I got 4 and a bit years ago, have served me well. But they are full of holes.

There’s a very limited chance they will survive the section of coast from Pendeen to St Ives 👀

“Nautilus, Nautilus, very Nautilus.”

(*Wrong substance obvs.).

Sorry to read this. Sending condolences. Take care.

A golden topped apple crumble straight from the oven.

Sunday crumble using apples straight from the tree in the Trelissick orchard 🍎

National Trust approved scrumping!

And the story of Morgowr once featured on the late 90s post-pub TV staple, Fortean TV.

Owlman - Wikipedia

More on The Owlman of Mawnan Smith:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owlman

A large art installation of the planet Mars inside Truro Cathedual. In the background is the cathedral ceiling, windows and arches. Mars is large, round and rusty coloured.

The Owlman of Mawnan Smith. The artwork is up in a tree and looks like a very large owl, with its wings outspread.

An artwork of Morgowr, the Cornish sea monster. It looks like it’s coming up out of the sea and about to eat the boat in front of it.

A small piskie with pointy ears and wearing leg warmers sat upon the top of a cabinet. It has a grin on its face b

Weekend pics 📸
- ‘Mars’ at Truro Cathedral,
- Kalan Gwav at Trelissick featuring The Owlman of Mawnan Smith, Morgowr, and lots of piskies.

“I Swear”. Wow! Incredible film. Very funny. Very moving.

A runner in a bright yellow top running through a farm field. In front is the light of his head torch, which is illuminating the way. Above is the moon and dark skies.

Moonlight and torchlight trails at running club tonight.

Taking in woods, farm fields and lots of hills.

A giant wooden sculpture of a vixen set in woodland. The vixen is on its hind legs looking like it’s about to pounce with its front paws. The sculpture is made with lots of pieces of wood and has a real texture to it.

Heligan half-term trip to see the Lowarnes sculpture.

It’s huge! 🦊

It's on my list to get sorted asap!

Snap!

My 2018 MacBook Pro is on the way out too.

Fan constantly going, it gets too hot, and the battery (replaced in 2022) is also going 😬

A copy of Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief. It has an elongated cover with painted artwork on the front.

The inside of the promo copy of Hail to the Thief. The artwork folds out to create an art-style map. Underneath is a key with blocks of colour.

The lyric sheet in the Hail to the Thief promo. It’s laid out like an old hymn book with the words aligned left with lots of space.

Listening to the archive Radiohead interview on Steve Lamacq’s show while sorting dinner.

Earned some kudos from my 15 year old daughter by digging out my promo copy of Hail to the Thief.

A tray of golden pumpkin seeds cooked with honey, chilli flakes, salt and olive oil.

Rainy half-term afternoon.

Taking the seeds from the girls’ carved pumpkins and cooking them with honey and chilli flakes 🎃

I occasionally come across football stories that make me want to dig out my boots again, even at 50.

This article was one of those moments.

We had our first double-decker experience last summer on a TGV going from Lille to Nantes.

We got a ridiculously cheap first-class upgrade and sat upstairs.

Brilliant views. Loved it!

Just the most marvellous triptych of Boris Johnson arriving at the Covid inquiry (Getty Images)

- car exit arse scratch (classic Boris)
- Honey Monster dipping for line in charity 5k race
- man caught entering apartment building of mistress

Sad times 🤣

Stepped out of the virtual office and went for a run while the team I'm working with went into business continuity mode for the AWS outage.

Strava is still down due to said outage 🫠

A slopping farmer’s field with a scattering of brown cows. Hedges line the top of the field. The clouds are grey and low.

A golden pastel de nata sat on a brown paper bag. The sea is in the background.

2-hour coast path run training session before the rain came.

Only one field of cows to navigate. Pastel de nata at the finish.