Details

Name: David Bone

Occupation: Co Founder Looming.Tech

Running Coach/Race Director with Daz Strachan at Camino Ultra

Home Town: London

Twitter Account: (if applicable) @bonedazn

Website/Blog: (if applicable) http://www.caminoultra.com

Questions

 What is your running background?

Really came back to running in 2005 in the London Marathon. Once I’d done Brighton to London Ultra ten years ago I have never really looked back. In recent years I’ve been run-coaching with lifelong friend Darren Strachan. We love Spartathlon and our dream is to coach runners to be able to run their best ever race here.

When did you first start running Ultra marathons and why?

With life-long friends Darren “Daz” Strachan, James Ellis & Jamie Holmes – we ran ultras to raise money for Contact (Hemihelp) – https://contact.org.uk/ and every time we ran we knew we needed to go further. Spartathlon was a dream race from very early on.

When or where (at which events) are we most likely to see you?

Love all forms of running. So you can find me at Hackney Marshes Park Run, full London Met League Cross Country series for my club Victoria Park Harriers, through to marathons and as many Ultras as I can get to – either running or pacing/crewing our Camino athletes.

What are your personal key running achievements to date?

Each 24 hour track event has been special. 2019’s World Champs in Albi France was a pretty good race – finished 5th in the Open event which equated to a Top 60 (out of 400) world  placing.

What was your hardest race experience?

I think that each big ultra has one or several darker moments – Arc of Attrition this year had a few. I ran an Anglo Celtic Plate 100 km and was injured early on – it’s probably my closest Scott Jurek moment when I finished almost all that race in some kind of pain

What is your typical race strategy for an ultra?

For something like Spartathlon it is respecting the conditions. As a coach the biggest mistake that I see is “going off too quickly” – it is easily done because the adrenalin levels are sky high and you get pulled in to what other runners are doing. In Albi I ran several laps with Camille and Courtney and I was in heaven – behind me Nathan Flear was pacing the perfect race. After 6 hours I began to go backwards because the pace had been quicker than I was capable of maintaining and Nathan went from strength to strength – so strategy is “be more Nath”.

What does a typical training week look like?

In recent years I have really studied the whole big miles science and dialled it in to what works best for me. I don’t believe that for me I need to be doing 150 mile weeks but I do think it’s important to hit a consistent 100 mile mark. So I will run 3 weeks of circa 100 miles and one “cut week”. A typical week will see a good spread of different running (one eye on the specificity  of Spartathon – tarmac + downhills + heat) – with care around the long run(s). Always trying to run with friends where possible – no intention of grinding out too many solo miles.

What one tip would you pass onto people running an Ultra marathon for the first time?

I love the idea of ultras being for life. So you need to really use the running as a way of understanding your mojo and the other pillars (rest, nutrition, sleep). Improve in one area and it almost always helps the other areas. Enjoy your running. Get yourself surrounded by positive and supportive runners who can give you the right advice re ultras.

Can you tell us one interesting fact about yourself?

I started writing a book with James Ellis……………x

Spartathlon Questions

 Have you taken part in the Spartathlon before?

Yes 

How did you get on?

I finished in 2017 as part of the Four Muskateers – 34 hours 40 minutes with Darren Strachan, James Ellis & Jamie Holmes

If you have participated before, what tip would you pass on to those taking part for the first time?

We train so hard and we often have really good routines that work well for us. For me there’s a good coffee. The morning of Spartathlon your routine will be spun out of control. The coffee in the hotel will be basic. So my top tip is to own one of those flasks and the day before source your perfect coffee or bring the best Exhale (exhalecoffee.com) – flat white with oat milk – have it in your flask and enjoy every sip as part of your breakfast. Same tip applies to food!

What are you looking forward to at the Spartathlon race?

I love the Spartathlon race and the positive community. It’s been such a freaky past six months that I will be grateful if we are all together – enjoying the whole week – with our international friends – this includes crew (my crew of Jeff Strachan) and family too. 

What are you not looking forward to during the Spartathlon race?

NOT KISSING THE FOOT ☹

How will you prepare specifically for the Spartathlon race?

By the looks of the weather in Greece and the weather in London it could be a triple bin bag thang

Will you be bringing any support crew to the race? (If so, please introduce them briefly)

 The greatest living crew – Jeff Strachan. Jeff has been top crew at events all around the world and no-one pulls out more stops – who else converts their luggage into a cool-box for their runner or makes ice bandanas or sources and cooks/bakes the best nutritional food – Capt Jeff is the BEST.