Paul Stainthorpe

01 January, 2012

Team Full Stride

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Running has been part of my life since 2011. While growing up I hated running and would do anything to avoid it at school. Give me a ball and a racket any day. It’s funny how some things change.

I began taking my health and fitness more seriously when my son was born in 2010. I founded my own personal fitness blog called Father Fitness, this is where I share my fitness findings and event information. It’s more of a motivational tool for me and if I can help anyone else at the same time it’s all good.

In 2012 I completed Total Warrior. It was a 10km obstacle run and was really good fun. I’ve also completed the Newcastle Stampede in the past along with Bamburgh 10k, Hamsterley 10k, the Blaydon Races, Pier to Pier and over 50 parkruns.

Here’s one of my favourite running quotes:

“Encourage kids to enjoy running and play in athletics. Don’t force them to run too much competition.” – Arthur Lydiard

I personally run for my own health and fitness. I’m not interested in times and beating the person in front of me. It’s nice to improve and if you ever ran the same event the next year, you’d want to beat your time but it doesn’t really bother me.

I also run for good. In 2012 I ran the 12 Days of Christmas for the Percy Hedley Foundation. In 2013 I attempted (with good friend Lee Nyland), the 12 parkruns of Christmas for the Tiny Lives Trust. We managed 11 parkruns in one day so we were pleased with the amount of awareness we created. No ambulances are invited on our next attempt though. Did I just say next attempt?

My favourite running conditions are in the snow. The picture above was taken from Durham parkrun back in January 2013. This was my favourite ever run, my time was terrible but I was knee high in snow to be fair!

Running is something I don’t do all the time. It’s something that accompanies my weekly training. To be honest, some weeks a parkrun may be the only time I actually run that week! I don’t see anything wrong with that. I don’t like running snobbery. I believe if someone needs a goal with their health and fitness, a run or an endurance event may be perfect for them.

I’ve met some lovely people through running, some will stay in my life forever. Running is a community and this is why Full Stride was formed. I’m very pleased to be writing for Full Stride. I’d like to personally thank each and every one of you for contributing to this site.

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About Paul Stainthorpe

Running has been part of my life since 2011. While growing up I hated running and would do anything to avoid it at school. Give me a ball and a racket any day. It’s funny how some things change. I run for good. In 2012 I ran the 12 Days of Christmas for the Percy Hedley Foundation. In 2013 I attempted (with friend Lee Nyland), the 12 parkruns of Christmas for the Tiny Lives Trust.