About

About The Determined Runner

I'm Martin, and I'm slightly obsessed with running.

I live in Aviemore, in the heart of the Cairngorms, and running has become a pretty big part of my life.

It all started shortly before my 40th birthday. I hadn't run since school, but with a local 10K coming up, I thought I'd see if I could actually run the distance.

It took me a while to discover that I actually liked running. I kept entering races without really enjoying the process, but eventually something clicked, and I became obsessed.

After a few 10Ks, I realised I wasn't exactly blessed with speed, so naturally I decided the answer was to run further! Before long, I'd progressed to half marathons, marathons and ultras.

It was during my first Glen Ogle 33 that the idea for The Determined Runner was born. I'd had to dig incredibly deep just to get to the finish, as I had with some of the races before it. Over time, digging deep to get to a finish became almost the norm.

And that's really where the name comes from. You have to be a Determined Runner to get yourself to a start line, and even more determined sometimes to get yourself to the finish.

Running, parkrun & adventure

Trail running has been my passion from the beginning. For me, it's about much more than running quickly or chasing times. Getting out onto the trails is a way of clearing my head, escaping the everyday stresses of life and exploring some amazing places along the way.

The Cairngorms are a pretty special place to be able to do that.

Running has helped me through some difficult periods too, including family bereavement, my own cancer battle and the recovery that followed.

I don't run the distances I once did. Post-surgery issues have made some of my old ultra distances difficult, but that hasn't stopped me finding new ways to challenge myself.

These days, a lot of my running involves exploring new trails, discovering new places and, of course, parkrun.

My experience with running & outdoor gear

Running has also given me the opportunity to combine my passion for the outdoors with my working life. I've worked in retail for many years, spending a large part of that time helping people choose the right running and outdoor kit for what they actually wanted to do.

Over the years, I've advised runners and outdoor enthusiasts from all over the country, and I've had the opportunity to see plenty of kit from the other side of the counter too. I've visited brand headquarters to give feedback on products, travelled around the country selling at pop-up shops at running and outdoor events, and given talks on everything from packing your race kit to making sure you have what you actually need for an event.

I've also written for magazines and eventually became a running buyer for an outdoor store. That role gave me an even greater insight into the products available and, perhaps more importantly, what makes a piece of kit genuinely useful to a runner rather than just good on paper.

Testing new gear has always been something I've enjoyed. It gives me the opportunity to use products in the conditions they're designed for and see how they perform in the real world. It's also something that has helped me enormously when advising customers - there's a big difference between knowing the specifications of a jacket or pair of shoes and actually having experience using them.

That experience has also carried over into my YouTube channel, where I've reviewed running equipment and shared my experiences of different products. The feedback I've received from people who have found those videos useful has been a big part of why I continue to share what I learn.

I'm not interested in telling you that something is the best just because a manufacturer says it is. I'd rather use it, test it and tell you what I actually think.

Running, parkrun & adventure

These days, a lot of my running involves exploring new trails, discovering new places and, of course, parkrun.

Over the past 18 months, parkrun has become a big part of my running. I've completed the alphabet challenge in 25 consecutive weeks, and I'm now attempting to complete my second and third alphabets within a week of each other, while also working my way towards running at every Scottish parkrun.

What I really enjoy about parkrun isn't just the 5K itself. It's the excuse to travel somewhere I've never been, meet new people and see what the area has to offer. There's usually a castle, a good walk, an interesting town or, importantly, somewhere new to find lunch!

I enjoy the planning almost as much as the running, working out where to go, where to park, what else there is to see and how to make the most of a trip.

The running might be the reason for the journey, but it's rarely the only adventure.

Why this website?

I’ve had a website before, and one of the things I enjoyed most was sharing running routes. Over time, I had a surprising number of people get in touch to say they had used the routes, and when I eventually stopped running the site, people told me they missed having them.

That got me thinking about bringing the idea back, but this time with everything I've learned since.

Through my YouTube channel, I've also had people contact me after watching my videos to say that they’ve found them useful for discovering somewhere new to run, or for getting an idea of what a route is actually like before heading out.

That’s really what I want this website to do.

I want to share routes that I've actually run and enjoyed, with enough information to help you decide whether a route is right for you, from distance, elevation and terrain to where to start and where to park.

I also want to share some of the places I discover along the way. Running somewhere new often becomes much more than simply running the route, and hopefully the parkrun adventures, exploring and everything else on the site will give you some ideas for your own trips.

There won't be a complicated rating system telling you whether a route is "good" or "bad". I'll simply tell you what I thought, what I enjoyed and what you might want to know before you go.

Whether you're looking for a new trail around the Cairngorms, planning a parkrun adventure somewhere you've never been, trying to find the right piece of running or outdoor kit, or just looking for some inspiration to get outside, I hope you'll find something useful here.

Most importantly, these are things I genuinely enjoy doing. I'm not the fastest runner, but I'm definitely determined, and I'm always looking for the next place to run and explore.

Welcome to The Determined Runner.