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MY 31 x 31 x 31 CHALLENGE. FUNDRAISING FOR VIVA!

July 2025

Once again I'm delivering 31 chocolate cakes throughout July - this time to 31 departments of Musgrove Park Hospital- my local hospital. I'm doing this to fundraise for Viva! again, and to help with my training for my next ultra. I chose the hospital because of my huge respect for the NHS and its workers. 

The ingredients once again are being sponsored by Lesser Litter - soo the cakes,  as well as being vegan, will be organic!

MY 100 ULTRAS CHALLENGE - 2025 PROGRAMME

Link to my fundraising for this challenge: Wonderful - in favour of Viva!, which is such a wonderful charity, working as it does for the animals!

Thanks for stopping by my blog.👍

I meet and talk to lots of different people on my adventures (training, really). If we only met recently, please check out this link for Early Childhood Development and, for plant-based nutrition for dogs and cats, put 'plant-based nutrition for dogs' in the search box.

I've done all my actual ultras - as opposed to my virtual ones - through https://www.actionchallenge.com

They are a wonderful company who cannot do too much for you. Highly recommended. 

This year - 2025, I've entered 3 events again - the Bath50, London Summer Walk (again a 50k) and the 2nd half of the Thames Path challenge.

Last year I did 3 events with them:

The London Winter Walk at the end of January (accompanied by my two granddaughters and one of their boyfriends!); Easter50 Challenge; and the Thames Path100 Challenge  (continuous). Read further down to see why I feel the need to do the 2nd half of this challenge again! 🙂

Here I try and detail all my ultra adventures - don't always succeed, as I'm not the most disciplined bloke in the world - both for my own amusement, and for anyone who is interested. I do ultra marathons for two reasons - one because they're bloody good fun, and, more importantly, they are also a means of fundraising for charities which are dear to my heart, and benefit the animals. 

I appreciate that times are hard - but these are also difficult times for charities, as I'm sure you'll appreciate. Through my ultras, I'm fundraising for Viva! who have been very active rescuing animals from Ukraine - and have an animal sanctuary in Poland. They also do sterling work exposing the horrors of animal abuse in farms and slaughterhouses. Here's a link for anyone who is in a position to donate, Wonderful * (whose services are completely free). Many, many thanks for the awesome support my efforts are receiving! And the animals thank you, also.

*If you have any trouble with this link, please email me at paulwyoud(at)gmail.com.

I have several people to whom I look for inspiration - and I found most of these on Rich Roll's podcast. Rich Roll himself, of course, is one of my heroes, being a vegan ultra runner and ironman extraordinaire. Through his podcasts I've been introduced to a whole range of endurance athletes and positive thinkers. David Goggins and Fiona Oakes, stand out - two of the most inspirational athletes around today.

Chocolate and banana delight - a guilt-free treat

Depending how thick it turns out, it may take longer than an hour in your fridge to firm up. 

Chopped into pieces and frozen, it lasts longer. But every bite is a guilt-free treat!

Ingredients:

200g good dark chocolate - 70% or more, and;

300g ripe bananas 

Method:

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water (don't let the bowl come in contact with the hot water

Break up the bananas, and add  to the melted chocolate, then blitz with a stick blender. 

Once blended, pour into a flat dish, lined with parchment, and place in the fridge for an hour or so.

And that's it! It solidifies to a sort of fudge-like mousse, which you can chop into pieces you can offer around. 

I’ve found it best to divide it into bite-size pieces and freeze. 

Couple of variations - but really you can play around with this recipe!

I'm a great fan of chilli chocolate, so I added a pinch of cayenne pepper to my last batch.

My granddaughter likes to pour the mix over a loaf of raspberries

PRESS UP CHALLENGES: 1 MILLION IN 10 YEARS.

April 2025

One more milestone reached, today - I've now completed 800,000 press ups - in just under seven and a half years! Just 200,000 to go - and I've two and a half years in which to get them. Averaging about 8-9000 a month at the moment, so I'll get there a bit early, I fancy.

I LOVE MEETING PEOPLE WHILE I'M OUT DOING MY TRAINING!

When I'm out training for my next ultra, or just getting the miles in - and I'm doing about 40-50k a week ATM - I often strike up a conversation with people I meet. 

This morning, 13th February 2024, returning home after a 10k walk, I met Garrett (sp?) and his lovely family. He asked initially about how much weight I carried in my backpack - about 3kg it was today. I told him I aimed to carry as much weight around as I would carry on one of my ultras. From there we went on to my health since going vegan - and from there into the whole speil. He wasn't able to take a copy of my leaflet, so I told him to search for 'No bread is an island'. I hope he sees this!

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE - How easy (and cheap!) is this?

[Posted originally in August 2011] There's a doubled-up recipe, plus cupcakes and Swiss roll - pics at the foot of this post. This is my up to date recipe - adapted from the original.

 Vegan Chocolate Cake (20cm or 8") (w. variations)

Ingredients:

200g sugar

200g self raising flour (or plain, plus 3 teaspoons baking powder)

25-30g cocoa powder (or 25-40g ground ginger, or 2 tsps vanilla extract)

Optional - good half a teaspoon baking powder, for a bit of extra lift

300g water
25g vegetable oil (I use olive oil)

Method:

Measure the dry ingredients* and mix, then add the water and oil. Stir, initially with a dessertspoon, and then with a whisk, and pour through a sieve*, into an oiled 20cm (8") silicon cake former.

*I now don't worry about sieving the dry ingredients, instead I sieve the batter as I'm pouring it into the cake former. This catches any lumps and you're good!

 

Place in the microwave (800w) for 8 minutes. In my experience, not only do you get a quicker cake, but the cake rises about 25% higher in the microwave.

No microwave?
Bake in the oven at 175C for 30-35 minutes.

No oven?

Then pour a little of the batter into an oiled frying pan, on a medium to hot heat, as if you were making pancakes. For a bit of fun, baking with your youngster, cut out circles of the (pan)cake, and sandwich them with - I don't know: jam, homemade fruit puree, homemade chocolate spread (recipe below). Or, why not invent your own fillings?

(It's also possible to make an excellent gluten-free version of this cake.)

Cost:
I'm amazed at how little this cake costs (these prices are from Lidl products):
Sugar 22p
S/raising flour 15p
Cocoa powder 15p
Veg oil 10p
Total 62p

Who says that it's expensive to be vegan? :)

The story:
Anybody who's taken a look at some of the bread conversations I've had on this blog will know I'm not a cake maker - bread's my thing.

Whenever anyone asks me if I make cakes I always tell them there isn't time - there's always another bread I haven't made yet!

However, it was the birthday of both my daughter and my son-in-law this week, and there are bound to be plenty of cakes when we meet up tomorrow. And none of them will be vegan.

Apart, that is, from the one I've just made!

I followed this recipe here:

And tweaked it slightly.

It was a bit of a faff, since each step is on a separate page - unless you sign up, which I didn't want to do. And it's in cups, which I've weighed off into gms for the next time I make it - which I will.

166g s/raising flour
30g cocoa powder
198g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
80g sunolive oil
250g water
2 tsps vanilla extract

Stir the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, mix together and pour into 2 18cm (7") lined cake tins. (I placed 354g of batter in each tin.)

Bake at 175C for 20 minutes.

I shall sandwich the cake with the vegan chocolate spread I made yesterday:

And probably spread a bit on top - just to finish it off!

Update, Sunday 31st July:

As I said I would, I 'iced' the cake with a little chocolate spread.

And it went down very well, I must say - much better than I thought it would. My mother-in-law said loudly, "But it's actually very nice!". Everyone at the party who had a taste thought it was lovely and moist - and I had to answer several queries as to the recipe and how it was made.

This was undoubtedly a success - and it's now firmly in my repertoire. This from a guy who'd only ever made one cake in the last 20 years prior to this!  

I'm beginning to wonder if we've been conned all these years into thinking that cakes naturally have to contain eggs and butter (or marge)? Clearly, they don't!

I have asked all my friends on Wildfood for  their opinion. There's a variety of opinions on there with some agreeing with me.

I decided to forgo the salt and the vanilla:  I never use salt in my sweet bread recipes, and I see no place for it here; I couldn't detect any vanilla flavour, but others may.

3 days later. I ate the last remnants of the cake - and it was as moist and lush as when it had just been made. I did think of seeing if it would keep into a 4th day - but who keeps chocolate cake for four days?

(Well, my mother might - she used to extol the virtues of her madeira cake - "It'll keep for a fortnight!" she used to announce to all and sundry. And every time we went home and we were served cake, she felt she had to make good her claim. The damn cake was always well over a week old! In every other respect she was a decent cook. Well, I suppose we all have a chink in our armour!)

3rd November.
After telling my colleagues at my Thursday care home about my cake-making, I was prevailed upon to make one for the residents.

Since we needed a large cake, I doubled up the recipe:
330g s/raising flour

60g cocoa powder

400g sugar

160g sunflower oil

500g water

I left out the salt - decided it wasn't necessary - and the vanilla extract  - didn't have any, and didn't miss either of them! The cake, took about 35 minutes to cook.

I have to admit I was pretty bowled over by the size and appearance of the cake when it came out of the oven:

If you're going to make a cake - may as well make a big one!

That's Melissa's hand applying the chocolate icing

10th November.

The cake tin for last week's cake was borrowed from the care home next door - but this time it was decided we should make fairy cakes:

The doubled up recipe actually made 2 dozen of these. Thought at first we hadn't put enough batter in each one 

But when they came out of their cases and were iced - the size was just right! OK, the icing's not very neat - but that didn't affect the taste one iota!

Friday 16th December.
I've been making this cake weekly since I first made it - and today I made a chocolate log with it:

The cake was too thick so I knew it would split. But using the hints I picked up from Eric Lanlard last weekend (cut off the first 2 cm from the edge you're starting to roll from and place it on the edge if the cake and roll up around it) and those I received from Jemma the chef at Longrun (trim the side of the cake - this is where it gets crisp and prevents even rolling), we managed it.

Next time I'll divide the batter between two Swiss roll tins - and then it won't split! To keep it vegan it was spread with jam. I need a vegan filling for next time.

Monday 26th December.
Wanted to make a couple of Yule logs for the family - but I'm far away from my scales, so I did these with the original cup measurements in the link above.

I used a coffee mug to measure with and made enough to fill two Swiss roll tins and make three large cup cakes.

One was filled with sweet chestnut puree (the puree was mixed with some sugar and soya cream) and the other was consumed as it was - everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm planning to cover the cake with melted chocolate. I'll post a pic when I do.

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT - A DISSERTATION

Hi! If you've happened on my blog as a result of meeting me walking around Taunton, welcome. As I probably said, I'm passionate about early education, wanting every child to meet their full potential.

If you find any merit in what you read, well, I'm currently fundraising for Viva!, the leadingUK animal rights charity. If you wish to donate, you'll find my fundraiser here. Thanks.

Sir Kenneth Robinson was, IMO, one of the greatest educators the country has ever produced - His TED talk is the most viewed of all time. Well worth watching!

In the year 2000, at the age of 63, I completed a degree in Education and Training at Plymouth University, gaining a 2:1 - which contrasts with my first brush with education, which resulted in 2 'O' levels!

Early development:

Its effect on human potential

Gender

"Feminists have pointed to the exclusiveness of language, whereby women are effectively excluded from any obvious participation in discourse by being rendered invisible." (Parsons, 1993) 

The overwhelmingly masculine nature of the quotes in this study bears out Susan Parson’s point. In a conscious effort to redress the balance, wherever possible I have substituted a feminine reference. Where ‘man’ can be taken to mean ‘human’ or ‘humanity’ or ‘human beings’, I have also made that change. 

Paul Youd, May 2000

“True science and the true study of humanity is humanity”

(Pierre Charron, 1601)

  

ABSTRACT:

This study concerns itself with the basis of all learning – early development. It examines the way that the brain develops and necessarily revisits the Nurture v. Nature argument.

It argues that all talent, ability – call it what you will – is learned. That there is no such thing as ‘inborn’ talent.

It posits the view that our society seriously underestimates the potential of our young children. It will show that children are born ‘with a rage to learn’. 

It contends that if we are to truly have a lifelong learning society – one of the goals of the present government – our education system needs to do two things:

It needs to take cognisance of the facts concerning early development and act accordingly. And it also needs to cultivate – not discourage – the inbuilt love of learning that is present in all our young children.

It examines the concept of ‘hot-housing’ the young and proposes that those who have suffered environmental deprivation in their formative years should be in receipt of intensive cognitive stimulation to compensate. And it reports on the results of the use of large flash cards as a form of compensation.

MY TALK TO JASON JENKINS 'GOODFELLAS' GROUP

 My name’s Paul, I’ll be 87 in September, I don’t take any medications, and I’m living my best life. I’m also the happiest I’ve ever been.

But it wasn’t always like this. I didn’t have a great start in life - I wet the bed until I was 11, I was dyslexic (although I didn’t realise this until my late 50s) I was expelled from school - because of the dyslexia - and I was sexually abused through my teens .

I was always socially awkward, found it difficult to make friends, and had very few girlfriends. 

Quick bit of history - I was called up to do National Service at 18, I signed on for 4 years to get an overseas posting to HK. I then emigrated to Australia, came back to the UK, joined the CS and took early retirement in 1993, when I was 55.

All through that time there was something I didn’t know about myself. I used to wonder what it was that people knew about me - straight away - that I didn’t know about myself. 

However, in retirement, I wanted to teach my hobby of breadmaking - so I did a stage one C&G course that took about 10 weeks. Enjoyed it so much that a group of us went on to do St. 2. Then we were invited to join the CertEd at SCAT. When I finished that, my tutor said I may as well go on and do a degree! 3 years later I got a 2:1 in Ed and Trng - to go with the 2 GCSE’s I left school with.

Doing the research for the degree, I discovered that dyslexia was linked to the autonomic system, which also controls the bladder. I’ve talked to many SN teachers, and they all agree that their pupils need to go to the toilet more often. Another effect of dyslexia can be the inability to make small talk, which is a measure of how comfortable you are around people. So suddenly I had an answer - and now everything fell into place, everything was explained, and for the first time in my life, I felt comfortable in my own skin.

My life changed again in the early 2000s, when I gave up meat to avoid mad cow disease (BSE). I started looking into the dairy industry - and the egg industry. And what I saw horrified me! The cruelty, and how we treat animals that are in our care, I found appalling! So I went vegan. Took me two years for all the blinkers to come off.

And you know what? My arthritis just disappeared, and I became pain free. 

I’d tried to run in my 40s, but gave up after 6 weeks, my knees were too painful. But when I went vegan, my osteoarthritis, which was most evident in my fingers which were becoming twisted and gnarled - and very painful - cleared up and I became pain free. Which was a real bonus, since I went vegan for the animals.

But I never thought about trying to run again, until, chasing round the dining room table, after my 6yr-old grandson, I found my knees didn’t hurt. And when lockdown came, 4 years ago, wanting to come out of it with a new skill, I began running. I laid out a 20 yard track in my back garden and started running round it. 3 months later, I felt strong enough to challenge myself to do 10k a day, over 10 days. In the event, instead of getting more tired as the week went on, I became stronger and finished up doing 110k - raising over £4000 for a local animal sanctuary. Then I discovered ultra marathons, and I haven’t looked back.

My biggest achievement has been the 106k round the isle of wight over two days last April. But I’ll never forget my very first ultra - SWC2C - when I was climbing Dunkery Beacon, the highest point in Somerset. My over-riding memory of that day was the weather - it was appalling. It was the height of summer, but there was a freak weather event and the temperature dropped dramatically. The rain was torrential, the wind was whipping across, and there were thunderstorms around. Conditions were brutal - and I heard later that several people had gone down with hyperthermia. Whilst climbing that muddy, stony trail, attempting vainly to control my poncho, I remember saying to my companion, “ You know what, mate? There’s nowhere else I’d rather be!” All my senses were on full alert - I felt so alive! And from that moment, I was hooked!

One of the people who inspires me is a guy called David Goggins, supposed to be the fittest man alive.

He has several mantras, which keep me going, when things are tough: 

'Be uncomfortable'; and more - 'Become comfortable with being uncomfortable'; 'Nothing happens in your comfort zone'; 'We can all do more than we think we can - much more'.

'When you think you’re done, you’ve nothing left - you’ve only used up 40% of your resources!'

And I’ve one of my own - You’re never too old to have adventures!

When I’m out there on the trail, I’m doing it for the animals. And no matter how hard it might be for me, animals have it far worse. So I just get on with it.

I’m always striving to be the best version of me that I can be.

Just this month I’ve challenged myself to visit 31 care homes with 31 choc cakes in 31 days as a fundraiser for Viva!, which is the charity I support. There’s a Viva! Hamper for the donor with the closest guess. And I’m getting so much joy out of presenting these cakes to the homes! I’m not paying for the ingredients, those are sponsored by Taunton’s Zero Waste shop, Lesser Litter.

And a lesson which has been learned again - in spades - is something we’ve all been told since we were kids - ‘It’s better to give than to receive!’ And as long as what you’re giving is yourself, that’s so true.

Everyone needs a purpose in life - something that drives them, and gives them some satisfaction. With me it’s working on behalf of the animals - that drives me, every single day!

My name’s Paul, I’ll be 87 in September, I don’t take any medications, and I’m living my best life. I’m also the happiest I’ve ever been!

[Note: I took along some chocolate cake to share (my ingredients this time!) - find the recipe here.]

85-YEAR-OLD VEGAN COMPLETES THE ISLE OF WIGHT 106K CHALLENGE

On Sunday 30^th April an eighty-five-year-old Paul Youd completed a 106k two-day endurance event around the Isle of Wight costal path with a finishing in of 26:48:16 and positioned 172 out of 248 finishers.

Video of Paul’s Finish

Isle of Wight Results

There are very few runners aged 85 and over that compete at such long distances.  

The RunBritain database reports that just a handful completed half marathons (21km) in the last 12 months.  Only one completed a marathon (42km).  And there are none reported competing at distances of 50k and more.

What makes this achievement even more astounding is that Paul has not been a life-long runner.  Far from it. He attempted running in his forties but gave up after just 6 weeks due to knee pain.  He subsequently developed osteoarthritis that became incapacitating.  His troubling joint pain meant he didn’t ever consider himself capable of any endurance activity.

In 2003 (at the age of 65) Paul made a life changing decision – he gave up meat due to concerns about BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy).  His dietary changes gradually moved towards a whole food plant-based diet.  He motivation was the observed improvement to his health.  At this point Paul had never really taken an interest in animal welfare but he started looking into the dairy and chicken industry and he didn’t like what I saw.  Then he went vegan.  

His running career starts just three years ago in 2020 after noticing reduction in his arthritic complaints which he attributes to eliminating dairy products.  “I was now totally pain free” he explained.  By the time he reached 82, he had become increasingly mobile and was inspired by friends to attempt a local parkrun. 

He decided he should do some training for the parkrun event.  As it was in COVID19 lockdown he measured out a 20-yard track on his back lawn, and, on the 30th of March 2020 and began to run round it starting slowly.  Soon he was running up to a mile a day, in quarter-mile segments.  He succeeded with his first full mile after 9 days, a first 5km after 22 days, and 10km after 8 weeks.  

As his stamina built up, he considered putting his new exercise regime to some good use. After hearing from a friend that animal sanctuaries were in dire straits because of the lockdown, he decided to help in fundraising for Dean Farm Sanctuary.

At the end of May, PauI announced his intension to run 100km over ten days (10 x 10km) in June as a fund-raising effort.  But something completely unexpected happened.  He had anticipated that the further he got into the challenge, each day would be more and more tiring.  Instead, by about the 4th day, he realised this wasn’t happening.  With each run left him feeling stronger.  Every day, instead of doing 10k he did a little extra. By the end of the challenge, he’d completed 110km over ten days raising over £4000 for Dean Farm Sanctuary.

Kitted with some new running shoes he ventured our doors and a vegan runner named Kevin Doherty suggested he joined the Vegan Runners club.  He found them to be an inspiring bunch of people and before long he was proudly running in the club’s distinctive vest.   In a social media discussion about fitness one commentator suggested he might attempt longer distances.

He looked at the website of the SW Coast 2 Coast Ultra which was almost on my doorstep. It was love at first sight!  He persuaded two other Vegan runners (Alex Laska and James Gibson) to join him, and they signed up as a team – called The Runner Beings.  Paul enjoyed the whole experience and after this success his ultra running progressed. 

Paul Youd is also a vegan outreach activist and will stop to chat with people on his training runs and hand out outreach literature to those who express an interest.

-----------------------------------------------  End of Press Release -------------------------------------

ARTICLE IN CLUB NEWS LETTER – SEPTEMBER 2021

Feature Read:  Couch to 110k in 93 days at age 82.  Paul Youd tells it as it is.

How I discovered at the age of 82 that I should have been a runner all my life!  Couch to 110k in 93 days! When the first lockdown began, in March 2020, I figured, like a lot of people, I’d like to come out of it with a new skill.  So, inspired by friends who did the local parkrun, I thought running was maybe something I could do.  I measured out a 20-yard track on my back lawn and on the 30th of March, I began to run round it.  I started slowly, running up to a mile a day, in quarter-mile segments.  I ran my first full mile after 9 days, my first 5k after 22 days, and my first 10k after 8 weeks.  As my stamina built up, I began to feel I could put this exercise to some good use, and hearing from a friend of mine, that animal sanctuaries were in dire straits because of the lockdown, I thought I would do some fundraising for Dean Farm Sanctuary, where she was a volunteer. 

At the end of May, I announced I intended to run 100k over ten days - 10 x 10k in the last 10 days in June. But something completely unexpected happened.  I had anticipated that the further I got into the challenge, each day would be more and more tiring.  Instead, by about the 4th day I realised this wasn’t happening.  With each run I was feeling stronger.  Every day, instead of doing 10k I did a bit more and by the end of the challenge I’d done a total of 110k over ten days raising over £4000 for Dean Farm Sanctuary. 

“I started looking at the dairy and chicken industry.  I didn’t like what I saw and so I went vegan.”

A bit of history:  I’d tried running in my forties but had to give up after 6 weeks because of the pain in my knees.  This time, at the age of 82, I had no aches, no pains, not even any twinges.  What had happened in the meantime was that I had given up all animal products.  In the early 2000s I had given up meat to avoid the risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (when Mad Cow Disease was rife).  I had never really taken an interest in animal welfare prior to this, but for some reason I started looking at the dairy and chicken industry.  I didn’t like what I saw and so I went vegan.  

Surprisingly, after several months on whole foods, the osteoarthritis I had suffered from for years completely disappeared!  Previously the joints of my fingers had become gnarled and twisted and were getting steadily worse.  It was painful to shake hands, change gears or just holding a kettle.  But giving up all animal products cured all that, and I was now totally pain free. 

Joining the VR community:   All my running up to now had been round the circuit in my garden, in my 10-year-old trainers.  On 7th October armed with some new Asics I ventured outside.  Around this time, I was invited by Vegan Runner Kevin Doherty to join the Vegan Runners Facebook page.  There I found I had joined an amazing group of people.  Not long after I signed up, I mentioned I’d love a VR vest, but was unable to purchase one, since the VR shop was closed.  Almost immediately I was offered one by James Tveeg, who had a spare he would let me have, free of charge.

  Within a few days, the vest arrived in the post, and I’ve been wearing it ever since (when running that is)!  And then when I reported that I was estimating the distance I run with a combination of driving it first and checking the mileage on my iPhone; Paul Millsom posted to say: “Pity I just gave my old serviceable Garmin 620 away to someone last month else you could have had it, Paul. 

 Maybe someone else who is upgrading might be generous?”, which was a lovely thought.  And straight away, Gabrielle Bassett posted: "Paul Youd, I have a Forerunner 205 you can have for free if you are ok to pay postage?”. “Of course,” I responded and a few days later, after Gabrielle checked that the watch was working OK, it arrived in the post. 

Preparation for the ultra - and outreach!   After my 110k 10-day effort I had asked on the FB Athlegan page, how I could keep this level of fitness, and someone suggested I might consider doing an Ultra marathon.  I looked at the website of the SW Coast 2 Coast Ultra, almost on my doorstep, it was love at first sight!  I persuaded fellow club members Alex Laska and James Gibson to join me, and we signed up as a team - calling ourselves The Runner Beings.  

During my preparation for the ultra I would often cut through and around a large estate near my village - always wearing my Vegan Runners vest and my VEGAN AF beanie.  Occasionally I’d stop for a chat with anyone who looked approachable.  Given my experience doing outreach with Anonymous for the Voiceless (I’m one of the organisers of AV Taunton, and have been a member since April 2018), I find it easy to strike up a conversation with the folks I meet.  I had a few conversation starters up my sleeve - the easiest being with families with young children, especially if they are running ahead as children often do.  So, I would say to the parent/carer, “You’ve got a budding runner there, don’t you think?”  Then I would add something like, “I found out in my 80s that we are all supposed to be runners - kids just love running, but something happens in their teenage years, and they don’t follow up with it.”  I began by handing out AV cards to people I met.  But then I received a supply of leaflets from the animal rights charity, Viva!  When they were done, I sent away to the Everyday Activism shop and was sent 100 of their high quality - free - leaflets.

As I started fundraising in earnest, I got Jacqui Ahmed Oates to include my story and my fundraising link on one side. 

 I found these were a brilliant resource to hand out to people. Here are some typical training/outreach sessions:  brilliant conditions for running, once again, bright sunshine for the most part, with a little wind, but nothing to worry about.  I kept my running nice and slow, with an average pace of 14:40, so the 10 miles/16km took me 2:26.46 and put me on 37k for the week.  I was out a bit longer than that, since I delivered about 50 Viva! leaflets - along with my chocolate cake recipe, and a link to the Vegan Cookery post on my blog (link below).  Plus, the link to vegan22.com and Veganuary.com in case anyone thinks they'd like to go vegan.  I was also held up by several conversations that took place, which finished up with me handing out an AV card.  

The first was to a young guy who was exercising his dog - he was very interested in my training and the vegan diet was '...up for trying anything, really.' the next was to an old friend I last saw at the school gates, 30 years or more ago.  He was walking with difficulty, pushing a walking frame, so he got the whole 'I cured my arthritis by going vegan' spiel and he promised to look at 'What the Health'.  

He was aware of, and full of admiration for, Fiona Oakes and knew that she was vegan.  When I left, I said, only half joking, ' Well, if you do go vegan, you can come and join us on the Ultra'

The third was a young guy mowing his lawn - which we both agreed was quite ridiculous given that we were halfway through December!  He said his wife had seen me running around and had noticed my Vegan Runners shirt.  He did a bit of running himself and was interested in my Ultra.  When I told him about Rich Roll's preference for Ultras over Marathons, since you get pitstops every 12km or so on an Ultra, he said, 'Well, even I might be able to manage that!'  He was aware of, and full of admiration for, Fiona Oakes and knew that she was vegan.  When I left, I said, only half joking, ' Well, if you do go vegan, you can come and join us on the Ultra'.  He didn't say he wouldn't!  Quite a departure from my usual route this morning.  I finished on 10.6km, which included a #notparkrun (walk) - 5k in 55:45.  

The nearby M5 motorway was closed, and all the traffic decanted onto the A38, causing massive tailbacks.  The A38 skirts the large estate where I do some of my training - I generally follow it a bit, then dive into the side roads and parks etc.  But not this morning!  Since I had a captive audience for my Vegan Runners repping I stuck to the A38.  Then back again and doubled back once more getting plenty of smiles and thumbs ups.  This last time I struck up a conversation with a friendly driver who was stationary, telling him that "This too will pass."  He told me I would get to Cornwall before he did.  I hopped over the road and gave him a leaflet, telling him about the ultra.  I gave another to a family of cyclists, after exchanging greetings; another to a couple of people from the village that I'd known since our kids went to school together; one more to a young mother, whose youngster was skipping and running ahead; then a couple more to two other couples I came across that I'd known for many years.  They were suitably impressed by my running, and one of them in particular was very interested in how my osteoarthritis had disappeared after going plant based.  

All-in-all it feels really good to get out there again!  I upped my walking distance again this morning, to 7.7k.  I felt really good and I'm feeling stronger - seems the strength work I've been doing is paying off.  My average pace increased slightly, without any conscious effort on my part - from 5kph to 5.3kph.  No hiccups thus far, and I'm starting to feel a lot more positive. Four weeks tomorrow I'll be on the starting line.  Three leaflets handed out - one to a youngish foreman on a nearby construction site, who was very impressed; one to a friend of my son's I stopped to chat with; and the other to an ex-neighbour I came across - he was stooped over and was shuffling along, poor chap. 

Out in my Vegan Runners vest this morning I did my longest run to date - 17k, beating the 16k I did last month and including a few hills reps.  I was aiming for 17k since that's a third of the distance I hope to cover each day on my Ultra.  My aim is to do 3 of these in one day sometime early in the new year.  

Towards the end of my run, I passed a gang of bricklayers I'd seen several times before and they'd always given me a cheery wave as I ran past.  This morning I stopped and told them why I was often to be seen out running - and they were well impressed.  I also threw in the fact that I'd tried to run 40 years ago, but my knees became too painful to continue.  But since going vegan (for the animals) my arthritis has completely disappeared and I'm now pain free.  I urged them to watch Game Changers, using my usual line of "It's about top sports men and women going vegan and finding their performance is enhanced - and not just on the playing field."  Later on in the run I said "Hello" and 'Thank you" to a couple of women when they moved aside to let me pass.  They were very friendly, saying they'd seen me running often - so I told them I was training for an ultra, and about Viva! the charity I was supporting.  They were quite chatty, asking about my Vegan Runners shirt, so I told them that the VR club is one of the largest running clubs in the UK - one of them said she was going to Google that when she got home.  One of women had done a 10k in the past.  I was able to do a bit of outreach, since they were curious, asking about my age, how long I'd been vegan.  One of them had arthritis so I told them about the benefits of whole food plant-based nutrition - they got the whole spiel!  As I left, they said they would check me out on FB.  

It's been my intention all along on these runs to portray myself as The Friendly Vegan Runner.  I make a point of greeting everyone with a big smile and 'Hello'.  If I come across any dog walkers - and I meet quite a few - I try and greet the dog first, generally complementing the walkers on having a lovely dog.  Any parents with children, I always greet the child first, if it's appropriate. Wearing a Vegan Runners vest, I feel as if I'm representing the vegan community - I want people to see vegans in a good light, as it were. 

My knee injury:  Observant readers will have noticed that my training consisted of both running and walking at different times. At the end of January 2021, I strained my knee somehow and although I rested it for a good fortnight, and only started back walking slowly, it stubbornly refused to heal.  At various times I felt I could run on it, but inevitably, the niggle would return.  I did the ultra, wearing two knee braces, just as a precaution, and I’m glad to say that my knees were absolutely fine. However, the problem still persists.  My physio tells me that ligaments can take as long as 18 months to recover!  Meanwhile I’m concentrating on walking plus strength and conditioning exercises.  

The day of the ultra: On the Friday evening my son Ben and I drove to Minehead and parked at the Northfield Hotel (not recommended, since I found I had to make my own bed!)  We then went and completed the initial registration.  Up around 5.30am we had porridge oats and dried fruit which we'd brought with us and set off for the start.  There were about 1,200 people starting that day in waves.  We were in the 7:40 group.  After a Zumba-style to warm up we were on our way.  A walk through the streets of Minehead and then on the path up to Dunkery Beacon.  The walk was initially quite easy and the path not too steep. 

The weather, which had been threatening, held off, and the first part of the climb was quite pleasant.  However about halfway up the rain and wind struck with a vengeance - and there were thunderstorms about.  I struggled to put my poncho on in the wind.  I had one hand trying to hold the hood over my head whilst the other alternated between holding it down at the front and pulling it down at the back.  Also being careful to keep my glasses clear so that I could see the slippery, stony track ahead.  I’ve described the conditions elsewhere as ‘brutal’ -and indeed they were - but I said to Ben and anyone else who would listen, “There’s just nowhere else I’d rather be!”  I don’t remember feeling so alive as I did climbing up that hill!  Needless to say, the temperature dropped, and it felt freezing.  

he announced to the crowd, “This man is 84 and he’s just told me it was a doddle!”

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur - it was just a case of putting one foot in front of the other.  When we got to the halfway finish point there were cheerleaders and an MC, encouraging the finishers through the finish line.  The MC was congratulating everyone for having come through those terrible conditions, and, as I went past him, I said, as an aside, “It was a bit of a doddle, really.” He called me back and asked me my age.  When I told him I’d be 84 in September, he announced to the crowd, “This man is 84 and he’s just told me it was a doddle!”  Which made everyone chuckle.  I told him that I was there with Ben and said: “I’ve been looking after him for 43 years and today he’s been looking after me.”  Which the MC duly relayed to the crowd. 

The next day a woman told me that when she’d heard that it had moved her to tears!”  That night we stayed in a hotel in Tiverton - a couple of miles away from the campsite.  We got a taxi there, but had to walk back the next morning, ready for a 6:30am start.  This is when my failure to buy a new rucksack, at the urging of Ben, came back to bite me. 

  For the last 10 km on the previous day, I had found myself bending further and further over to my left, to compensate for my ill-fitting rucksack.  I thought this wouldn’t be too much of a problem on the second day, but I was wrong. - As soon as I put my rucksack on, I began to bend over again.  I struggled on as best I could, with Ben carrying my rucksack for long periods.  About 2k after the first checkpoint around the 70k mark Ben asked me if I honestly felt I could continue walking almost doubled over for another 30k.  I thought ‘No, I don’t think I can’.  So, I pulled out at this point.  I got a shuttle bus to the next couple of stops, whilst Ben carried on walking.  I went to see the medics as soon as I could and was given an ibuprofen spray and some paracetamol, which pretty well sorted me out.  I was there at the finish line to greet Ben, and the MC suggested I present Ben with his medal, which I did to much applause.  

My impressions of the whole ultra-experience: I’m so glad I did it.  I’m still savouring the sheer pleasure the weekend gave me.  Everything was great!  The terrain - challenging at times, given the severe weather we experienced climbing Dunkery Beacon - the company, every one of whom had their own story - and the staff, nothing was too much trouble. 

But I've now got unfinished business - I intend to complete it next year. And I may run part of it

The food wasn't great - or even available at times, but, in the whole scheme of things, that was a minor issue.  Probably the best thing about the weekend was that Ben came along, too, so we spent a rare 48 hours together - which was pretty special.  I was also able to do quite a bit of outreach over the two days.  I did the whole journey in my Vegan Runners vest, and anyone who showed the slightest interest in my story received a leaflet.  I think I handed out about 50 all told, and they were all well received.  But I've now got unfinished business - I intend to complete it next year. And I may run part of it - it will be so good to get back into running again.  There remained one last bit of outreach.  On the train back to Taunton from Dawlish, I was still wearing my race number on my VR vest, which was noticed by a young guy, one of a group of three, who asked me, as he was passing up the train, what race I’d just done.  When the train started, I walked up the carriage, found the guys, and told them the story of the weekend.  They were drinking small bottles of Budweiser, and insisted I take one, “Because you’ve earned it, mate!”  In return, they each got a leaflet.  And that Budweiser tasted great, I have to report!  What next? Well, there’s the Chiltern 50 later this month - and I’m getting a new rucksack for my upcoming birthday!

Paul Youd

Further information

Paul featured in this Viva Magazine Report

Paul talking about activism on Youtube

Paul’s blog with chocolate cake recipe link 

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Paul Youd covers 58k  (from June 2022)

Despite injury set-back our most senior club member once again entered the Jurassic Coast and raised £1,251 in aid of Viva.  This time he succeeded in covering 58k of the tough undulating trail route.  He sensibly knows when to call it a day (or a night as it was 00:30 when he finished).

Figure 11 Paul Youd with his son

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A catch up with Paul Youd  (from Xmas 2022)

Paul Youd is the club’s most senior member and a keen activist and fund raiser.  Paul’s had an interesting year with some noteworthy accomplishments – not least his instigation of the rescue of Boris The Pig described in detail elsewhere in this publication.

Just to recap Paul only started running at the age of 82 during the COVID19 lockdown and he is featured in issue 2 of Vegan Runner News (September 2021) in an article titled Couch to 110k in 93 days at age 82.

This year he progressed with his ultra-run challenges and had some exciting news to share about a film to be released early next year. After three years of running Paul has accumulated an impressive decorative collection of medals from mostly ultra-events.

Paul remains active.  Every walk or run Paul does is also an opportunity for his skilful vegan activism. He will stop and talk to anyone who will listen about the transformation impact of going vegan.  Paul only started using Strava in late April and he will exceed 1000k by Christmas Day with over 5,000m of elevation – impressive for someone aged eighty-five who only started running 3 years ago.

Unfortunately, Paul is not registered on Run Britain.  If he were then he would be the only male in the V85 category at 50k distance.  Currently there are none.  There is still a bunch of V85’s but they tend limit themselves to shorter distances.  There are just eighteen who competed at 10k and over one hundred who have run one or more parkruns in 2022 in the whole of the UK.

Paul explains he is currently doing a Winter Walk Virtual Challenge of 250k from Russia to Lapland between Nov 14th to December 31st.  He has completed 139.4k at the time of writing in mid-December.  He’s raising funds for Viva.  This is his prime training motivation through the frigid winter days this side of the New Year.

In one of his favourite ultra-events (Southwest Coast 50k) this year Paul was accompanied by Tom Pickering who filmed Paul in action.  Paul will make an appearance in Tom’s exciting Film,”I could never go Vegan” (see above).  In November Paul joined Tom and ex-club member Sophia Ellis (who is got gold for bench, deadlift and total in the European ladies weightlifting championships this year) at the VegFeast event where Paul talked about his Vegan lifestyle.

Tom is planning on including footage of Paul’s endurance achievements as a separate project after his film is out.  He intends to focus on Paul and his Vegan Running advocacy. 

Paul’s schedule for 2023 includes three ultra-events: -

• the Isle of Wight Challenge. This is a 106k around the Isle of Wight on mostly coastal paths on 29^th to 39^th April. 
• Southwest Coast 50k on 5^th August –
• and the Chiltern 50k in September. 

Action Challenge Virtual  https://www.actionchallenge.com/challenges/virtual-challenge-series/

Paul can be followed on Strava https://www.strava.com/athletes/61166658

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THE FULL STORY OF BORIS THE PIG   Xmas 2022

“I’ve just accidentally bought a pig” –was Kevin Doherty’s attention-grabbing announcement on Facebook as he started an appeal for support on this spontaneous initiative concerning an innocent ten-month-old resident of Kingsmead Community School, Wiveliscombe that was destined an almost immediate premature death.

A few days earlier club member Paul Youd had become aware that the school had raised a pig with the intention of sending it for imminent slaughter – all in the interest of ‘education’. 

Kevin made a just-in-time intervention by personally contracting with the school to buy young Boris. So, although the school had planned an ‘educational termination’ for the pig, headmaster Mark Williams couldn’t justify refusing Kevin’s generous offer.

Paul and Kevin then had the dual challenges of raising the funds and finding Boris a home.

But let’s rewind and start from the beginning.

Paul Youd does, in his own words, a “fair bit of outreach FTA”.  Ha ha.  When he says ‘fair’ he really means a lot.  He modestly explains that he ‘plant seeds’ in people’s minds and occasionally he manages to help someone switch to vegan in a short leap.  Often, he is wearing his vegan runners club kit as an attention grabber and conversation starter.

One day Paul was at the check-out buying his beans and plant milk when he exchanged a few words with a Jennifer Glasby.  It was these few chance words at the checkout that changed the destiny of Boris from becoming bacon because Jennifer became… vegan.

Sometime later Jennifer’s now vegan daughter came home from school distraught to learn that Boris was living on death row.  Jennifer immediately consulted Paul about Boris’ pending fate.

Paul set to work.  On 20^th June he wrote an appeal to the school headmaster but there was no helpful response.  His communication reads:

“I’ve just heard that the school intends to send Boris, the much-loved resident pig, for slaughter.

Boris has been kept at the school for over a year, I understand, and is often petted by the children.

What kind of a message will this action send to your students? That it’s OK to kill some animals, but not others? After all, you wouldn’t do this to the school’s pet dog now, would you? What is the difference? Pigs are sentient - they are also intelligent, as smart as a 3-year-old child.

Please let Boris live - and thereby send a message of kindness to your students.”

The headmaster was defensive about the matter and explained “raising a pig teaches children about farming”. 

Paul spread the word across his extensive network and Kevin acted with urgency to prevent the execution which was then known to have been scheduled for Monday 27^th June.

The urgency prompted Paul to write to the headmaster again.

“I’ve now heard that Boris is to be sent for slaughter on the 27th. Will you be sending along some children to witness this appalling deed? I doubt that very much - pig slaughter is a horrendous experience. Most pigs in this country are lowered into a gas chamber full of CO2. The gas turns the liquid in the pig’s body to acid and the pig dies choking for air and burning inside from the acid. It takes several minutes for the pigs to die - and in their struggles to escape they often tear off their hooves, such is their desperation. Well now, you wouldn’t want the children to see that, would you?

But you’d happily take them strawberry picking, right? Tell me, what is the difference? They're both ‘food’ in your eyes.

Shame on you!  You could give your children a telling lesson in empathy and compassion - but you choose to teach them it’s OK to kill vulnerable members of our mammalian species. Therefore, they will find it easier to kill and torture other animals - and perhaps other humans, who knows?

I intend to broadcast this horrific act of yours far and wide - it deserves to be known by everyone, just what it is that Kingsmead Community School teaches its students.

If you do have a change of heart, please be aware that people are actively searching for a place in a sanctuary where Boris can live out his days in peace and harmony.”

Appeals to the school to release Boris to a sanctuary were rejected.  With just a few days to go, Kevin intervened with the generous offer of £500 to school funds in exchange for Boris’ freedom – an offer that the headmaster could not refuse.  

Meanwhile Paul kicked off the fund raiser with a target of £500.  This quickly attracted generous donations from several club members as well as other Facebook acquaintances.  

The next immediate challenge was finding Boris a new home.  Rhi and Matt Swain were a local vegan family who offered a home joining their rescued sheep and hens.  They found Boris to be very friendly – he loved tummy tickles and apples!  

But Boris was obviously bored confined to a barn.  With the help of some friends, Rhi & Matt put up some stock fencing so that Boris had outdoor space.  Now he ran and jumped for joy. And he responded to calls of his name and loved company.

By 29^th June Boris was looking wonderfully relaxed in his new home with Rhi and Matt.  (Photo below is when Kevin paid a visit.) ,

Over time Rhi and Matt considered that Boris ideally needed the company of other pigs, but they did not have the space to take on more.  So, the reluctant search began for a suitable forever-home sanctuary that already had pigs.

It was soon realised that Sanctuaries required that Boris be castrated before he could be accommodated.  So, with help from Viva on fund raising, an £800 operation was arranged.  As none of the local sanctuaries had room it was in October when Rhi and Matt took Boris on a 5-hour drive in a bought trailer to Millington’s Magical Barn near Leeds. 

 

Jake at Millington’s kept them updated of Boris’ progress.  He was reported to have settled in well (after the expected few early day scuffles with a few resident pigs)!  He was living his best life with friends and lots of volunteer love and cuddles, but Rhi and Matt still miss him like crazy.

At his new home Boris made friends with yet another Vegan Runner – Josh Ellis-Hill is a volunteer there and the two are well acquainted 

The common thread in this story is the Vegan Runners.  Boris’ plight was identified by Paul’s vegan convert.  Kevin did the deal with the school.  Paul kicked off the fund raising and wrote to the school.  A good number of club members donated a significant amount of the money.  Paul found the initial new home.  And today Josh Ellis-Hill has regular contact with Boris.  

 You may recall that Josh ran 31 marathons in 31 consecutive days earlier this year as a fund-raising effort for Millington’s – this was reported on the 1^st September newsletter and achieved donations of over £17,000 from 549 supporters.

So, although this was not a club organised initiative it was a spontaneous collaborative action involving club member activists and Boris is cared for today by a club member.  It’s something with which the club can be proud of being indirectly associated. 

The story was reported in Viva!Life last month.  That report addressed the fundamental issue of this story – that schools raise farm animals for slaughter in an attempt to ‘educate’ (i.e., The school described it as their “agriculture program”.

The good news is that Viva has started a petition against this practice.  You can sign it here.

And to conclude with Paul Youd’s take on this story: - “Never stop spreading the message!”

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