With over a decade of experience helping beginners to international elites, Robbie Britton is one of the world’s leading ultra-distance running coaches. Whether crossing Iceland, completing the Kom-Emine in Bulgaria, setting an FKT on the 650km Jordan Trail all on foot or 1100km on a bicycle, Robbie Britton is not afraid of a challenge! We caught up with Robbie to learn about his new book and see what’s next on his list of epic adventures…
You have a new book out called 1001 Running Tips: The Essential Runners’ Guide. What do you hope readers will take from the book?
Hopefully a little bit of advice around a few areas in thier running. It’s written so that all levels of runner might take something away, be it about adapting your training, sports nutrition, psychology or running longer distances. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but at the very least some of the tips will help runners think about their own training and racing and ask questions that will help them improve. Maybe the odd laugh too, I enjoy making people smile and have tried to bring humour into the advice that’s in the book too.
You’ve done some amazing things as a runner including running across the Icelandic Highlands, and winning a medal for your country in the 24 hour Running Championships. Have you always loved running? How did you start out?
I’ve always enjoyed the freedom moving on foot, or on a bicycle, gives you. As a child it’s the doorway to adventure, but even as an adult I don’t drive, on foot and on a bicycle is how I get around when on my own adventures. Even just running around the woods when I was younger or cycling my bicycle to a mate’s house that seemed a million miles away, was something I enjoyed and I’ve always enjoyed cross-country at school, even if I wasn’t near the front. It felt like hard work was rewarded and that’s something I enjoy.
And now? Yes, I do love running but not just for the simple joy of putting one foot in front of another to see how quickly you can go, but also the places it takes you, the people you meet and the quest for self-improvement it brings. Work hard, be smart and, with a little bit of luck, you’ll get better.
My first marathon actually came in 2009, as a university friend was signed up to Windermere marathon and it seemed like a great idea. Before that football was my sport (or rugby, American football and anything else I could try out) and running was just a part of all the other sports I played, but from that first run in 2009 the tables certainly started turning.
Thinking about sustainability, have you taken any steps towards making your own running more sustainable?
You can’t be friends with and work with people like Dan Lawson and Charlotte Jalley (of ReRun clothing) without it having an impact on how you think about your own impact on the world. What I like to say is that, whilst I’m not perfect, far from it, I’m trying to improve my own carbon footprint and impact those around me in a positive way. The book has a section on sustainability and it’s a theme that pops up a few times, but I also appreciate that I already have the medals and t-shirts that I wanted from my first race, my biggest events etc. so I don’t want to tell people what they should or shouldn’t do, but just help people have a think about it. I really ask myself if I need new kit, or if I can repair damaged kit in crashes or falls, a lot of my shoes have got holes or repairs, but like everyone else I’m still drawn like a moth to a flame by shiny new shoes and nice running vests. I just stick with my old ones for a lot longer these days.
In the last couple of years I’ve been trying to think about events I can get to without flying, or just being a little more selective in that manner, but being based in Italy makes this an easier choice for sure. Actually investigating ways to get to a race last year in Sicily in various different modes, buses, trains, ferries, bicycle etc. was an exhausting task. The time and price differences of all the more sustainable options, compared to the two hour and €6 flight was quite depressing. In the end I did decide to fly there and get a bus back from the finish, but got ill and didn’t even travel. Was that hypocritical? I mean, in the end I took the most sustainable option and stayed in bed, but I’d settled on the flight and was looking at carbon-offsetting, just because I didn’t want to get to the start-line exhausted. It feels like we need to make sustainable transport the easier and cheaper option, but flying often is, even within your own country and that is a hard pill to swallow when you’re travelling to race.
So I’m trying, but not always succeeding to make better choices, and hopefully that counts for something. If we all tried, but only improved 50% then it would still be a good job right? Or am I kidding myself?
What do you think about Trees not Tees and what we’re doing?
I love it, I really do. It’s simple and it gives people the option to make a better choice. There really isn’t a reason for a race director not to offer a Trees not Tees option and that’s part of the brilliance of what you’re doing. Honestly, who can think of ideas against it? If someone really wants a t-shirt to celebrate the race they’re super proud of finishing, then they can choose that option, but I think it needs to be the added extra, rather than the standard. Having to answer “Do you really need this t-shirt and do you promise to actually wear it?” in an application form for a race is better than 99% of forms that only give you the option of selecting a size and no place to say “Actually I don’t want or need another plastic t-shirt, thanks.”
What changes would you like to see the running events industry making towards sustainability?
Good question. I don’t think I know enough to give a good answer here, but more events actually giving runners the option to choose a tree instead of a tee is a good start. In bike packing events we have “no-fly start lines” where you’re only allowed to travel by public transport to the start line or from the finish. It’s a bit harder to police in a mass start event, but even just having organisations think about the ways to make this a more appealing way to get to the race, with bag drops or checking timing for local transports links or adding (re-usable) signage etc to make sure people have time to get from the train station to the start can have a positive impact. Make sure that being sustainable or environmentally friendly is the easier choice if we can, then people don’t need to be told, they just automatically make that choice.
What does running mean to you?
My profession is endurance coaching, so running is more than just a hobby for me, it’s a huge part of my life. Running has taken me to a really great place in life, in general, and helped me lead a happy and content existence. The more I can help others do this through sport, the better. So running, or endurance sport in general, for me, is a way of life. It something that brings me a lot of joy and I try to share that with others.
What’s next for you running-wise?
Depends when you read this. I’ve got a cross country race (regional champs) this Sunday, but after that it’s a bit more wide open. A half marathon in February has been postponed, so there are some local trail races we have entered and I’m looking for a 100k road race that I can travel to on my bicycle or public transport. We’ve got options in the local town of Biella, but also one in southern Germany I can reach by train. Then there’s a nice long bike race, again in southern Germany, in May. That’s called the Mittelgeburge Classique, is 1100km long with ~25,000m of up and down, plus the journey there will be a mixture of biking and trains too.
Photo: Valencia Maratón via Fast Running
