Episode 46: Live with Camino Ultra

Running on Joy

Joy is...Oscillations.

For this live episode Running on Joy went ‘on the road’ to link up with a group of very special people who have been of incredible support to the podcast the past year. Camino Ultra is a London-based ultra running and coaching crew that put on a unique series of 50k races within London. Since their founding, their mission has been to create and inspire runners to seek out trails in the city, to help skill runners to track and navigate away from the concrete, and to empower the belief that longer runs can help you open up to ways of self-discovery.

The Camino crew has been running ultramarathons around the globe for over a decade but they also appreciate how important it is to look for local-based events that don’t have the same impact on the planet we all love. Their intention has been to make it as easy as possible for people to join an ultra by staying local to their home city, with adventure, exploration, opportunity, and inclusivity at their core.

Running on Joy joined David Bone, Camino Co-Founder, and Patrick Insole, a regular Blueways runner and supporter, to explore one of their Blueways routes along London’s Historic Canals. In total, Camino have designed twelve trail routes that get emailed to challengers to complete in their own time. The routes cover all four areas of the city, giving the London Blueways subscribers a real opportunity to experience all the best that the city has to offer from a Blue perspective: think parks and green areas that are adjacent to rivers, lakes, ponds and canals. As an added bonus, they are collaborating with many of London's finest water spaces to also offer open water swimming opportunities on many of their monthly social runs.

So much went wrong in the course of making this episode: there was wind, there was drilling, there was the small incident of Francesca falling over a few minutes after meeting...somehow, however, all of these beautiful imperfections epitomised a lot of the equally beautiful conversations that unfolded over the course of the morning. It really gets to the heart of what Camino is about in the fact that, from the moment that the first smiles and hugs were shared, there was a sense of implicit trust, acceptance and belonging; there was never any question of not following where David led because, wherever he steered, felt safe.

During the 'walk, run, observe', this notion of safety came up a lot. What does it mean to feel safe enough to be vulnerable, to be open to connection, to let go of limiting assumptions, to challenge ourselves? Camino has a mantra of sorts: 'never do nothing'. With safety and with trust we can all take one small step on the path less travelled, one small step into the unknown, one small step into realising something new about ourselves and the world around us.

And so, as you immerse yourself in the full, imperfect soundscape of the Blueway (wind, drills, tumbles, children and all), see it as an opportunity: to slow down, to tune in, to pay attention and experience what it is to truly listen to what is being said.

Follow: @camino_ultra

Join: www.caminoultra.com

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