The Accidental Runner | Running Tales

Owen Jones never intended to be a runner.The self-described ‘accidental runner’ suddenly found himself immersed in the sport - after attending a spin class!That visit spiralled into taking on a marathon - Florence back in 2013, a race he describes as a tough run in a great place.Since then running has been central in his life, not least when it came to kicking addiction.A functioning alcoholic, Owen completed a host of races before kicking the booze to the kerb four years ago.They included a sub-four time at the London Marathon and an incredible trail race in Snowden, where the friend he was running with dropped out and he eventually got round in seven-and-a-half hours.But with the alcohol dependency increasing, Owen was forced to take on his addiction - something he wrote about in his first book, ‘Losing My Addiction’.These days he is committed to helping others take on their sobriety journey.Owen has always been a fan of trail running, falling in love with areas such as Snowdonia, the Black Mountains, the Brecon Beacons and the Wye Valley.But despite that he struggled with his first ultra, the 100km Race To The Stones along Britain’s oldest pathway, and swore never to run that kind of distance again.He lied… and two years later took on - and completed - the five-day Capital to Country Ultra through the mountainous foothills of Nepal.He loved that so much that he wrote a second book, ‘862 to Kathmandu’ all about the experience.Despite being, in his words a “properly average runner” for whom ‘slow is good,’ Owen is yet to DNF a race - although he is nervous under-training for his next event, in Morocco in November, could lead to a first.We’ll be talking to Owen on the latest episode of Running Tales, part of the Everyday Athlete Podcast Network.#runningpodcast #runningtales #everydayathlete #runtrimag #nepal