Friday Spotlight: RichieClare
Turn your spotlights on and get your questions ready because today's highlighted athlete is ready to throw down! I've been waiting a long time to feature this runner. He's the reigning champ of unique Friday Spotlight comments and now it's our turn to hit him with a lot of great questions and bits of knowledge! Roll up your sleeves and crack those knuckles, we've got some reading to do! Ladies and Gentlemen.... u/richieclare!
Let's roll!
###The Runner:
First Name?
Richard
Age?
38
Where are you from?
Manchester, UK
Occupation?
It's complicated. I work for a church so my job is pretty varied and doesn't have a snappy job title. I do some admin, IT support, conferencing, websites, media, AV tech stuff and also work with children under 11. Filling in forms is a nightmare.
###Running Q&A's:
What are your PR’s?
5k = 22:08
Marathon: 3:54
What is your distance PR?
26.2
What’s your highest recorded weekly mileage?
52 in March this year
What’s your comfy pace?
Anywhere between 9-10min/mile. I'm trying to be more scientific and running with a HRM is slowing my easy runs down
How long have you been running?
On but mainly off since 2013. Got serious in summer 2015.
Tell us why you began running?
My brother started running and got attractive and I got jealous. He bought me some shoes for my birthday and I started C25K to help me lose weight and I also wanted to develop some spiritual discipline. I figured the physical discipline of running would help my spiritual discipline.
Most memorable running moment?
I have 2 moments which I think I've mentioned before. The first time I ran 10km was memorable. I went out in pouring rain with the intention of doing a maximum of 5km but decided as I was running I should just keep going. I probably weighed double due to the amount of rain water I was carrying. Gave myself a little fist pump as I hit 10km then stopped running for months (I was sore).
Another moment was when I ran during my lunch at work. I worked next to an online clothing retailer and there would often be models coming into our building for lunch. I was going out and they were coming in but I felt too embarassed to run past them because I'm fat and ugly so I decided to bypass them and jump over a small bush. I managed to get my feet stuck in the bush and faceplant in the mud. I decided then that I'd try to not be self conscious when I run.
Do you have a running mantra?
It's going to sound lame but running has actually changed me quite a bit and a mantra that I've tried to develop which running has been a big part of is "Don't be scared".I try to spend some of the time praying especially for Manchester and the streets I'm running down so I've ran through some areas that I probably shouldn't but I figure anyone who is shady would have to catch me first.
When I think about if there is a route I should take and get worried about its sketchiness I tell myself "Don't be scared". Fear, especially of people, is incredibly destructive and I've tried to combat it. Not so long ago I was running and saw a large group of men drinking and being loud. Perhaps it was stupid but I decided to not be scared. As I ran past one of the men saw me, said something drunkely that I didn't catch and put his hand out. Being British and social awkward is a bad combo so I instinctively went to shake his hand. He took my hand and pulled me into a big bear hug then let me go to carry my run whilst he and his crew cheered loudly.
When I first considered running a marathon I had to constantly remind myself to not be scared. When I first started asking stupid questions on runnit I had to tell myself to not be scared. When I think about what I might want to do and experience in the future I have to tell myself to not be scared.
What time of day do you prefer to run?
I like around 4pm but never get to run then so I normally wait until the kids are in bed and head out around 8pm. I'm trying to transition to running early morning so it doesn't impact family/wife time so much but 6am is hard. I'm ok once I'm up but getting up is tough.
Any big races coming up?
Nope. I'm at church on Sundays when most races are. I'm stalking a local running group on facebook as there are races around on other days but I'm not sure how to find them. Signed up for my hometown marathon in April 2017 but that's currently it.
What are your short-term running goals?
Find some races. I'd like to get a 10k & half raced so that I have some official times for those. I was hoping to go sub 20 at 5k by the end of the year but I'm not going to improve that quick so will settle for sub 22. I'd like to get my basic weekly mileage up around 40 but not quite finding that consistency yet.
What are your long-term running goals?
I'd like to run 3:30 at Greater Manchester Marathon next year and then I have my eye on a 50 miler in 2018. I think I prefer distance over speed. I'd also love to travel and run but don't currently have a valid passport or any money.
What’s one piece of running advice you’d give to the younger version of yourself?
I basically didn't move until I was in my mid 30's so I'd tell beginner runner me to slow down and run more. I was a very inconsistent. I'd run hard 3 times in a week then do nothing for a few months. I'd also give myself the same advice as I still give myself "don't be scared". I limit myself by saying that's not the kind of thing I would do. It was a big step to admit to myself that I like running because I'd never done it before and it wasn't something I ever saw myself doing until I did it.
What is something you need to work on to become a better runner?
Consistency and miles. Running in the morning I think will help me with that. I probably should do some core work regularly and I tell myself every week that this is the week I start doing some form drills.
What is your current shoe choice?
I don't have a lot of shoe experience. Currently running in Mizuno Ultima 7's and Nike Dart 12's. Everytime I go out and run though I wish I was in Kinvara's.
Trail? Road? Track? Or Treadmill?
Road mainly. When I started running it was initially to lose weight so I also joined a gym. I'd go to the gym and pound the treadmill pretty hard as a warm up. I started to get interested in how fast I could run 1km and found I was enjoying the running more than the weights. I ran a 4:45km and then was curious about how fast I could run on the road. That's when I began to enjoy running for the sake of running rather than just to lose weight. I enjoy the canal path too and there's always some other runners I can make awkward eye contact with.
What is your ideal running weather?
I live in Manchester so I basically get to run in drizzle. My ideal weather is blue sky and frosty but I also love running when it is pouring down.
Do you have any social media accounts you’d like to share?[Facebook, Strava, Twitter] Strava I sometimes post running pictures on instragram
###Just For Fun:
What’s your spirit animal?
I'm not sure what a spirit animal is but I did some online quiz and got a deer and a wolf. If I could be any animal I'd like to be a chimpanzee. I like bananas and it seems like fun jumping around in trees.
What hobbies and interests do you have besides running?
I tend to pick up interests in phases. This running phase has lasted quite a long time but before I ran I was briefly interested in minecraft, electronics, baking and bass playing. Before I was married I was the second best Mario Kart player in my house and was one of the first people to own a SNES in the UK. Computer games these days just take too much effort. Although I live just round the corner from Manchester United football team I actually support Manchester City and enjoy watching them.
Do you have any hidden talents?
I wasn't sure about this so I asked my wife and she said "being generally lovely and super freckly". Not sure she was taking it seriously though.
Biggest pet peeve?
I'm my biggest pet peeve. I'm constantly annoying myself. I especially like to replay conversations or interactions with people in my mind and wish I wasn't so stupid. I'm also painfully average. I'm ok at lots of things but don't excel at anything. Mediocrity is a terrible thing to be born with.
Dream job! What would it be?
I've worked for my church for almost 20 years so to even think about what other thing I might do is really hard. I couldn't do what I do anywhere else and I get a lot of freedom to shape my own days and experience new things.
Favorite Quote or Poem?
I like the line "We are the Unicorns. We're more than horses" from I was born a Unicorn by the Unicorns. I like to apply it to other people and remind myself that most people have interesting stories to tell and the world is full of fascinating things.
What is your biggest character flaw?
My boss would tell me it is my unwillingness to delegate but I also love to procrastinate. I could always do with more personal discipline.
What songs have you been listening to recently?
I listen to a lot of music and have pretty eclectic tastes but rarely listen to a song from start to finish. I like moments or parts like the kick drum pattern in All the Single Ladies or the intro to Thunder Struck by AC/DC. When I was younger I was a music snob. I've since learnt to love all kinds of music except Country and Western but I still like music that's obscure. My favourite band is Soul-Junk and everyone should go listen to 1956 for a good intro to them. My favourite song at the minute is Vienna by Ultra-Vox but that will have changed by tomorrow.
What are some of your favorite non-running subreddits?
The only non running sub I occasionally read is r/movies. I don't really enjoy the reddit experience but enjoy the runnit community.
###One Last Question:
What is the origin of your username?
It's just my name. It's easy to hide behind internet anonymity and say outrageous things or act terribly and not be accountable. I decided to use my real name so that I couldn't have secrets from my wife and to remind me to act online like I do in real life.
Well wasn't that a fun interview? Each week I feel like I say this, but RichieClare takes the cake on helping me get the Spotlight up this week because the guy not only answered his questions quickly but also had his nomination ready the day he was nominated. To top it off, he returned everything back to me fully formatted which makes posting this much much easier. I'm positive that if I ever visit Manchester I'm going for a run with this guy. What a cool cat with a great attitude. You're a cool dude RichieClare! Now get ready for all the questions headed your way.
####Thanks for reading everyone!!!
#As usual please tag u/RichieClare's username when asking him a question in this thread!
If you don't the running Gods will give you incurable shin splints for the rest of your life and you'll die a sad lonely wanna-be hobbyjogger.
If I see that you've failed to tag him after asking him a question, I'll try my best to respond to your question by tagging him myself. So be aware. Tagging his username alerts him that his attention is needed. This way, he doesn't have to sift through all of the comments one by one, which can be a rather daunting task when there is a lot of traffic to the thread. Please don't forget that all of our Friday Spotlight athletes may need time to respond to your comments and questions so give them some time to reply.
Previously Featured Spotlight Runners:
Posted Sep 16, 2016, 12:18 PM UTC