Matt Richardson Interview | 7 marathons in 7 days
We are bringing you an exciting insight into ultra endurance, friend of Onventure, Matt Richardson will be providing us with daily updates of his conquest to complete 7 marathons in 7 days at the Great Barrow Challenge in mid-July.
Matt isn’t exactly a novice runner, he has been competitively running for the best part of 20 years, he is well on his way towards joining the 100 Marathon Club and a normal week for Matt would see him comfortably tick off 100 miles. All of this whilst juggling his busy family and work life.
We wanted to allow you to get to know a bit more about Matt and fire 10 questions at him about his running journey so far, top tips, training do’s and don’ts and race day prep and plan’s. Let’s crack on:
1) What drew you to running?
“I started running when I was about 16, primarily as a way of building up fitness and stamina, in readiness for joining the military.
I played a lot of football when I was younger so I also ran a bit more when football and all the hassle of training, games, travel etc all became a bit too much like hard work.”

2) When was your first race?
“Great North Run 2004 and full marathon was London 2008”
3) How do you structure your weeks training?
“Minimal, I don’t really like too much structure, more so as I have 3 kids and work shifts, so my training needs to work around these, and invariably I end up doing a 5am or 10pm 15 miler and that pretty much my days training done.My running is purely distance based, at one pace with no intervals, or other particular technical forms of training. I prefer to keep it simple and just plodding along to get the miles in.”
4) What has been your biggest mistake in training or a race?
“Nutrition – I find it really hard, as I have run so many races with only a coffee before I start and then water during the race, but with the increased frequency of races and climate change increasing temperatures over the last few years, nutrition has become so much more important, as during a race I am using up more energy to keep my body functioning and I am losing a lot of water through sweat.
Just something simple like a few Haribo sweets and a salt tablet is more than sufficient to top up my energy reserves in addition to taking on board plenty of water, but I have found it hard to shake the habit of 18 odd years of not fuelling myself pre or during a race.”
5) Does nutrition impact your performance and do you have drink and nutrition plan during a race?
“Haha well you might of gathered from my previous answer, but no, I really have no nutrition plan.
Bearing in mind the upcoming 7-in-7, I have had to think about it a bit more and have started having a banana for breakfast, which has tended to work for me over the past few weeks.
It is worth noting that I do eat very late at night so I do have plenty of fuel in my system, and although only a small breakfast works for me, it absolutely wont work for everyone and its all about trial and error with this type of thing.”

6) What is your favourite race of all time and why?
“Bungay Marathon, without a doubt. I just like the course, its well supported and ultimately, its supporting a local club.”
7) Do you have a preferred trainer brand?
“Asics have been my preferred running shoe for over a decade and being even more precise, I go for the Nimbus shoe…although I am currently running in Brookes trainers, but that is not out of choice, more out of stock availability when I needed to replace last pair of Nimbuses. I do already have my next pair of Nimbus’s and just getting my money’s worth out of the Brookes for now!”
8) Have you always been focussed at joining the 100 Marathon Club and how many more marathons do you need to complete to gain your membership to the exclusive club?
“Yes, it always been a target and ambition, not many people can get in the club so its pretty exclusive, and you only see old people wearing the 100 Marathon Club vest and it perked my interest when I saw an old fella wearing one at one of my early marathons. Having a 40 odd year old rocking a 100 Marathon Club vest is my goal!. I need to do another 25 marathons to apply to join the club and then my 100+ race results will need to be verified before I can get my hands on the hallowed vest.”
9) What keeps you motivated to chuck on your trainers come rain or shine and get the miles in?
“Just to stay fit and keeping my mental health in good order, as when I get out for a run, I can rationalise everything, which is helpful when your someone who catastrophises everything.
I have had mental health issues and my default it to go to worst case scenario for everything that happens in my life, so running allows me the time, space and energy to think things through properly and rationalise my thoughts, which is extremely valuable to my mental health. I am also motivated to be a role model for my children, in terms of staying mentally and physically fit...and I am pretty much addicted to running!“
10) What do you think will be the hardest part of completing 7 marathons in 7 days?
“Weather and maintaining the resilience to suitably manage each marathon, I will need to temper my pace bearing in mind that between races I will have around 19hrs before I go at it again the following day, so recovering and making sure my legs are fresh and ready to go again for the race start at 9am the next morning.
Regardless of how hard each marathon will be and recovering well, I am doing this to raise much needed funds for a fantastic charity that is very close to me and my family, so remembering why I am taking on this challenge will give me a boost of energy whenever I need it!
Just to close off these questions, I just want to say a massive Thank You to each and every person that has already donated and supported WAY so far and for all those that donate over the coming weeks.”

Matt is completing his 7-in-7 in aid of Widowed And Young (WAY) a fantastic charity and one that is extremely close to his and his family’s heart, so if you can spare a few pounds, please donate to Matt’s Justgiving page. We know that Matt is extremely grateful of all of your kind donations, and it will drive him forward on each of his 295,000 odd strides he takes during his 7 marathons.
Thank you for reading
Sam Richardson
Team OnVenture
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