George Darvell - Ambassadors during Lockdown

I’m George. I’ve been running for 3 years now, but really started getting competitive last year. I got into ultra running by accident really. My work holds a manual 46 mile endurance event, so I decided to give it a go, and ended up taking the win. I suppose if you’re kind of good at it then it makes sticking with it easier. From there I discovered I have a talent for suffering. I’ve gone on to race and have success from 50k to 103 miles.

What are your personal bests?

I’m still fairly new to the running game so I haven’t yet delved into the world of chasing pb’s. It’s something I’m interested in doing later on down the line, maybe a 5k and 10k time trial at some point. I’m more interested in running races from 50k to 100 miles fast at the moment.

What have you been doing during lockdown?

Unfortunately, and after a great start to the year with training, I picked up an injury during the first week of lockdown which stopped me from running for nearly 3 months. I honestly got quite down about the whole situation. My coach, Wes Judd (@wesjudd), played a huge role in getting me out of that rut, reminding me of all the solid work we had put in leading up to this point. I then did what any sane runner would do in this situation and pumped (invested) a load of money and time into a road bike, wahoo kickr and Zwift!

I jumped right into cycling, keeping up with my weekly workouts and getting those extra-long rides in. (Thank god for squirrel’s saddle butter!!) My biggest achievement during this time was completing a virtual Everest using the Alpe de Zwift. This was up there with one of the most challenging things I have ever done, both physically and mentally.

Did COVID-19 affect many events / training?

All events I had upcoming were cancelled due to COVID-19. After coming off a very successful 2019 race season, I had an amazing Calendar set up and it was really looking like it was going to be a special year in 2020. I was due to kick start with CTS (coastal trail series) Exmoor Ultra. I was then headed to Italy for the Lavaredo Ultra Trail, and then Chamonix for CCC.

How did you cope with training during lockdown?

Training has been tough these last few months dealing with an injury. I feel I’ve made the best of a bad situation. I’m now into my 5th week back running, nothing crazy just nice and easy miles, slowly building back up. My time on the indooor trainer has built a set of legs and lungs that I can now use to come back even better than I was before. It’s not often you get to reset the switch and start from scratch, so I intent to make the most out of this opportunity.

How have you found being an ambassador for XMiles?

Being an ambassador for XMiles is great. Not only do they stock all the nutrition I need for the long days in the saddle, and on the legs, but it’s great to follow the other athletes as they have been getting up to some awesome adventures during this time (I’ve had some serious FOMO), It’s really inspiring and motivational. XMiles is ahead of the game in regard to the items they are stocking. It’s great that I can now get a hold of gels that were before out of reach due to massive shipping prices. Spring/Unived etc.

What do you have planned for the future?

For now, the future is just about getting healthy again and surpassing the point I was at beforehand. All things going to plan, I want to start racing again this winter and really hope to be shredding some mountain trails by springtime.