Richards Journey From Couch To 100 Miles.

In September 2020, Richard Wilcox had a nightmare that motivated him to change his sedentary life and obese body to become an ultra runner. Ultrarunner magazine had a chat with Richard to find out all about his incredible journey from the Couch to 100-miles.

Richard has always struggled with his weight throughout his life. When he left the forces, he suffered from PTSD and he used food and alcohol to self medicate. Spending much of the last 20 years reaching 18 stone, he felt body-conscious. Richard explained his weight had become a bit of a family joke when they went on holiday, “Grandad is sitting down for a rest again”.

In September 2020, he had a vivid dream that he was out with his wife, on a mobility scooter. He dreamt that he was so overweight that he couldn’t fit into a shop because he was way too wide for the shop door. Unsurprisingly woke up in a sweat. This was the sign that he needed to change his life forever.

After trying several diets over the years which he didn’t find easy or enjoyable. After some research, he came across a diet which suited him. This specific diet allowed him to eat all of the things he likes such as meat and cheese than simply cut out the carbs. After one month Richard lost his first stone.

While looking for inspiration, he came across a video on YouTube called the ‘Unbreakable’ by journeyfilm which is about the Western States 100 mile race. By this stage, he knew Ultra Running was a sport but hadn’t taken any notice of it in the past. When he thought about people running 100 miles, it blew his mind and he immediately knew he wanted to do that too. Ex-soldier Richard has always had a love/hate relationship with running, having been made to run throughout his Army career. Although it helped him with his training to fight ready when he became a boxer, it was never his favourite discipline.

He was 17 stone on the day he watched “Unbreakable” and decided to set himself a challenge of running a 100-mile event within a year, despite him knowing, nothing about ultrarunning. At that point in time he couldn’t run, he could only walk, so he spent the first month just walking. He said that his first official run recorded on Strava was in October of 2020 and he managed to run for an hour which was an immense achievement!