Salcey Forest, conquered by a Running Roman on 7 March 2024
Paul and Aimee booked on this Big Bear Events' Elephant Challenge literally the day before, so Paul decided to add to the madness and also do it as a Roman, despite there being no Roman connection!
It's a 6 hour event where participants run the 3.5 mile lap around the forest as many times as they want to.
Our Roman managed an impressive 7 laps!
Running Romans distance completed: 24.5 miles
Worcester: conquered by the Running Romans on 3 March 2024
Worcester was a Roman 'small town' which may have been called Vertis, meaning 'a bend in the river'. The town stood at a junction of the Roman roads which linked Worcester with Droitwich, and the fort at Kingsholme near Gloucester to that at Wroxeter near Shropshire.
Paul and Aimee decided to do an impromptu Roman run there on what turned out to be a beautiful spring day!
Running Romans distance completed: 8 miles
Illogan, Cornwall: conquered by the Running Romans on 28 January 2024
Illogan has the only known Roman site in Cornwall (the remains of a Roman villa uncovered at Magor Farm in 1931).
As four of the Running Romans were in the area for that weekend (Aimee and Paul were doing Arc of Attrition (Arc50) with Sara and Andrew as their support crew) we just had to fit in a Roman run while we were there!
It was fantastic to be joined by some locals including two brain tumour survivors and a supporter wearing full Roman costume!
Running Romans distance completed: 5km
Resorts World, Birmingham: conquered by the Running Romans on 18 November 2023
Okay, so it's not a Roman settlement!
This was a 5K fancy dress Fun Run during the Running At 40+ Annual Awards and Christmas Party which took place at Resorts World, Birmingham.
It was a privilege for the Romans to run with Jo Pavey, British long-distance runner and five-time Olympian, who completed the Fun Run dressed as Harry Potter!
Two of the Romans (Paul and Aimee) were surprised to jointly receive the 'Runner of the Year 2023' award during the evening celebrations, which was a real honour!
Running Romans distance completed: 5km
Hadrian's Wall: conquered by the Running Romans 21-23 October 2023
The Running Romans ran 'The Wall'!
We had an absolute blast! Yes, the 3 days’ of running had their low points, it was very tough going at times, especially with the terrain - we were often slipping and sliding through tons of mud or running through what seemed like a swamp and we even had to divert around floods a few times. And the elevation was definitely challenging, especially on Day 2! We were also slowed down somewhat by the countless kissing gates and stiles! But we were so fortunate with the weather!
The original plan was to run coast-to-coast and cover 100 miles. However the tricky terrain meant it wasn’t possible to run as much as we would have liked each day, and also it became apparent that people were very keen to talk to us and so it was important that we took the time to stop to spread awareness about The Beyond Recovery Project. So we revised our target to at least get to the official end of Hadrian’s Wall at Segedunum and we did achieve that.
We finished the run at 17:40 on Day 3 - absolutely exhausted but elated and very proud.
Running Romans distance completed: 89 miles
Alcester: conquered by the Running Romans on 7 October 2023
Alcester is a Warwickshire town with a deep heritage, rooted in Roman times.
Sitting on the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow, it is about eight miles west of Stratford-upon-Avon. Alcester was founded by the Romans in around AD 47 as a walled fort. The walled town, possibly named Alauna developed from the military camp. It was sited on Icknield Street , a Roman road that ran the length of Roman Britain from south-west England to south Yorkshire.
Running Romans distance completed: 5km