Ultrarunning is a chance to support others – John Hammond

We are all drawn to ultra-running for a reason, for some its escapism, for others its adventure and finding one’s limits.  For some, ultra-running is hand in hand with fundraising.  For ultra-runner John Hammond from Liverpool, it has become a stance; a chance to support others in strife and difficulty.  

John takes up causes that he can’t look away from and, in doing so, he has raised more than £100,000 for poorly children (sometimes terminally ill) supporting them directly and supporting their families, and also fundraising for a multitude of other worthy causes and for a great many charities over the last decade.  Ultrarunner Magazine was privileged to interview John and find out about the man with a heart the size of Liverpool itself.

Is it right to say that you started doing marathons and built up to ultras?

“Yeah that’s right, I ran my first marathon back in 2011, I used to do the odd half marathon and then me and my two mates signed up to the Liverpool Marathon and we got through it in one piece.  One of my mates has never ran since but the other guy carried on for a little while and we decided to do three marathons in three months then three in three weeks then we did three in three days, all official races.  My mate tailed off a little bit then, but I kept going and took the step into ultra-marathons.”

So, when you stepped into ultra-marathons what kind of races did you take on?

My first ultra-marathon was in the Brecon Beacons, it wasn’t an easy step into it, it was forty-six miles, two twenty-three-mile lap’s.  I’ve done it a couple of times since, I must admit I loved it, I still do love ultra’s, I treat them like an adventure, a day out, you go out and you’re getting the mileage done whereas on the road ones you’re just clock watching.  Obviously, it’s a bit different for people who are going to win ultras, it’s not really much of a day out for them if they are going for a good result but for the likes of myself its more about enjoying it really.