Episode 67 - Damian Hall

Kia Ora Whanau. Most of us, at a certain time in our lives will undergo what noted developmental theorist Erik Erikson described as a psychosocial crisis. These happen for us at different stages of our life’s journey however for Damian Hall, it was between the stages of Integrity vs. Role Confusion and Generativity vs. Stagnation. This is commonly referred to as an (ahem) mid-life crisis. Like most people who undergo such a crisis, Damian looked for a change or challenge. In Hall’s case, the journalist trained for and completed a half marathon. I mean, you could construct a very common narrative around that, right? Hiker and football enthusiast trains for half marathon, does well, enjoys self, gets fitter. What is not so common in this story is that from there Hall went on to represent Great Britain at the Trail Running World Championships, completed UTMB four times (placing fifth in 2018) and has numerous FKTs to his name, including the Paddy Buckley round. We discuss Damian’s start in running, how hiking the Kepler fist gave him an insight into ultra distance racing, the contrast between the big European races and more laconic British affairs. We unpick the innocuous word “bimble”, and how whilst sounding like the gerund that one uses to describe how a hamster walks, may actually consist of tearing hither and yon around the moors and mountains. If this isn’t enough we also tackle climate change and how to navigate using your voice as a well known sports person to highlight issues your care about and also how to weather the accusations of hypocrisy having the temerity to fly to overseas races rather than kayak. Finally, and most importantly, we touch on why, and how in so many ways, Blur are a far superior band than Oasis. Shots fired. Enjoy.