Trail Running Archives

Running with scissors, or kids

I find myself running with two 10 year olds. Twins. One has laces flopping about, untied, the other has no socks. They don't like shoes, shirts, hats, jocks, sunnies or sunscreen. Shorts, to be decent, are fair enough. 'Less moving parts' is their moto, as if it were written on…

Beau MilesDecember 11, 2018

Feature article Philosophy Trail Running Travel

Being Revenant

Forty hours of transit bore lightbulbs into my night. When dawn arrives, the view from my kitchen bench reveals a red-stemmed maple sporting new buds. One particular branch touches a window pane, announcing spring- and itself, like a Jehovah witness knocking neatly and cautiously on the glass. I’ve been home…

Beau MilesSeptember 13, 2018

Feature article Guiding Trail Running

The first, worst trail running guide

I sat on the cold brickwork, wondering if I’d get hemaroids. Flags flapped. Early light streaked across the cobblestones. There was a nip in the air. My stomach made creaking sounds under the weight of a huge banana, and milky tea was expanding four slices of marmalade toast. I felt…

Beau MilesAugust 1, 2018

A Mile an Hour Film Trail Running

To my body, the idiot

I’m back at the desk, blobbing about on my Swissball, working blood into my tight hips. In ode to my laps of the block I’ll get up shortly (at the top of the hour), and wander the halls, chatting to boxed-in academics, and myself. Slow walking and slow writing to…

Beau MilesMay 30, 2018

Trail Running

Me runnin’ shoes

Picture yourself as a kid, a younger less freckled (I’m a ginger and can map the years of dots like rings of a tree) version wearing your then favourite t-shirt. This t-shirt was rumoured to be worn by Zeus, or the Fonz, or both. It would get you the girls,…

Beau MilesJune 9, 2016

Trail Running

A fox, a castle, brown & bread

I’m following a fox. A crafty little creature that seems to like single track just as much as me. Such dainty marks. Then I’m not, all alone again on the trail. Whippy oak branches crack me across the chest and an unseen fur branch, clogged in snow, fills my ear…

Beau MilesFebruary 12, 2015

Trail Running Trials of Miles

Continuing AAWT washup

Today marks three weeks since I left the track. Flatly, I miss it. I still remember the lost trails, jungle thick re-growth, a shin twice as large as its opposite, driving rain, dusty heat- like yesterday. But it's waning, the vivid livingness of it - both good and bad. I…

Beau MilesApril 6, 2011

Trail Running Trials of Miles

The simple life of the track

The simple life is over. Consider ultra running; the principle concerns of life are a broken down version of necessity. On any given day, the guiding forces of existence are; how the feet feel, how the body feels, how hydrated you are, how your fuel supply is, where you are…

Beau MilesMarch 19, 2011

Trail Running Trials of Miles

Finish of Alpine Run!!

Yesterday afternoon at 4:45pm I ran into Walhalla, close to 700kms after leaving the fringe of Canberra, having left 14 days earlier. It feels good to be able to stop, to take a break from the headfirst drive, to sit. I am reflecting on the run now, drinking tea, watching…

Beau MilesMarch 18, 2011

Trail Running Trials of Miles

Australian Alps training grind

In any given day, you have to face your demons; when to run. If it's first thing in the morning, the first 5 minutes of groggyness is a complete con. You have to gee-yourself into action. It's a hard sell. Coffee, crap breakfast tv and a heaped bowl of museli…

Beau MilesFebruary 1, 2011

Trail Running

Running with scissors, or kids

Being Revenant

The first, worst trail running guide

To my body, the idiot

Me runnin’ shoes

A fox, a castle, brown & bread

Continuing AAWT washup

The simple life of the track

Finish of Alpine Run!!

Australian Alps training grind

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