Not fundraising for Viva!, at the moment, since I'm a long way between ultras - my next one is the Windsor50, Easter 2026. However, if you would like to donate direct, here is the link. Viva! is such a wonderful charity, working as it does for the animals!
There's been quite a bit of interest in my story by the vegan film-making community. First of all came "I Could Never Go Vegan", by Tom and James Pickering, a full-length feature film exposing all the myths about veganism, available on Prime TV and Apple TV; Then came 'More Like Paul', a short documentary telling the ups and downs of three years of my life, now released on YouTube; Finally, IT'S POSSIBLE', a film by Kelp and Fern, about my Bath50 ultra marathon (2025), also available on YouTube.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.👍
I meet and talk to lots of different people on my adventures (ultras, training, outreach - really, life is an adventure!) If we met recently, please check out this link for Early Childhood Development and the link for plant-based nutrition for dogs and cats is 'plant-based nutrition for dogs'.
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 coming year I'm entered into the Windsor50, at Easter, with Kathryn again, and James Shipway; the Summer Walk, in August; and the 2nd half of the Thames Path again, in September, with both Lynda and Jason Bray.
This year - 2025, I've entered 3 events again - the Bath50, London Summer Walk, and the 2nd half of the Thames Path challenge. [Reports further down this post.]
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! 🙂
Not an ultra, but during the month of July I set myself the goal of delivering 31 chocolate cakes to 31 departments of Musgrove Park Hospital in 31 days in July. As of today, the 28th July, I've completed the task. I'm doing this for several reasons - firstly, I'm fundraising for Viva! again; secondly, I love the NHS and wish to show my support for the staff: and thirdly, I need to keep up my training for my next event - The Summer Walk round London.
Here I'd like to show my appreciation to 2 NHS workers, Shazzie and Emma, who selected the wards (grouped in 3s, since I could get 3 cakes in my rucksack at a time), and guided me round what is admittedly, a maze! It was a complicated job, and they did it to perfection.
This is where 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.
