Episode 53 - Three Solo with Damian Hall
Damian Hall is an ultrarunner, coach and writer who has held records on many of the UK's long distance challenges including the Pennine Way, Paddy Buckley Round, Cape Wrath Trail and Wainwrights Coast to Coast. He has placed 5th in UTMB (2018), 4th in Tor des Geants (2023), and has won the Spine Race. He has competed in the infamous Barkley Marathons ultra twice.
Damian is also a founder of The Green Runners which is a global community of over 3000 runners who aim to highlight and take action on the climate and ecological crisis. Their 4 Pillars consider How We Move (travel), How We Kit-up, How We Fuel (diet), and How We Speak Out (activism). Damian talks us through the formation of The Green Runners, as well as talking about campaigns and activism, such as action taken against sportswashing. One of Damian's books is 'We Can't Run Away From This' which examines running's carbon footprint and ways to improve on this.
In September 2025 and on the back of his Lakeland 100 win, Damian set out in suboptimal weather for his Three Solo Challenge where he attempted to run the UK Big Three rounds (Charlie Ramsay, Bob Graham and Paddy Buckley rounds) linked together by public transport. The Big Three had previously been linked together by car by Mark Hartley (1990) and then by bike by John Kelly (2020) in his Grand Round. Damian's round would add the vagaries of Britain's public transport system into the mix. We talk logistics and sleep deprivation, deteriorating weather, and about how he made the eventual decision to bail due to worsening conditions on the final half of the Paddy Buckley round in Snowdonia.
Damian's website: www.ultradamo.com
The Green Runners: https://thegreenrunners.com/
Into Ultra: https://intoultra.org.uk/home
The round the world cycling book I mention is 'Coffee First, Then The World' by Jenny Graham.
Links to articles on topics mentioned by Damian:
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cvgxe2n05v3o
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv22vl99vwro
www.badverts.org/gamechanger
thegreenrunners.com/running-through-oil/
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