JAMIE LAING: THE UNEXPECTED COST OF RUNNING 5 ULTRAMARATHONS

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2:41Hello everyone, my name is Jamie Lang, and this is Great Company.

2:50Hello and welcome to Great Company. It's PJ here, producer Jemima. Hi to all the owls, our wonderful listeners. Thanks for tuning in. Now, I'm in the studio by myself at the moment because this is a special little bonus episode that we wanted to bring just for you. Now, for those of you who might not be aware, back in March, Jamie completed a challenge for Comic Relief and Radio 1 where he ran from London to Manchester, 250 kilometres in five days. The ultramarathon man. And I don't think quite any of us appreciated how humongous this challenge would become. But we thought at Great Company, after Jamie had caught his breath, it'd be really great to get him back in the seat of the guest and find out a little bit more about that challenge, the physical toll, the mental toll, and how he's been afterwards.

3:37So don't forget to subscribe. It wouldn't be a Great Company intro if I didn't remember to tell you to do that. But we hope you enjoy this bonus episode of Great Company with Jamie, the ultramarathon man. You know when you did your run, I had my phone stolen. What do you mean stolen? Explain that to me. Someone took it out of my pocket. You got pickpocketed. I got pickpocketed. Ironic because I played Fagin as a child in school. King of the pickpockets. Can you just run me through when you noticed that it had gone? So I was looking at my phone. I was actually in the process of doing a story saying like, Oh my God, Jamie's doing so well.

4:19Go donate. and I put my phone in my pocket and then I got on the train and put my hand to my pocket because I wanted to play Wordle. Of course you did. Real insight into how boring I am and it wasn't there. Anyway, we're really digressing. Yeah, but I like this. So I had my phone stolen that week and then we decided that we were going to come and see you cross the finish line in Manchester and I had ordered my phone. It hadn't arrived yet. So I basically needed a chaperone at all times because I didn't even know. I don't have a watch. Oh, yes. When you lose your phone, it's a big thing. I don't know what time it was.

4:55Yeah, what did you do? Yeah, so we come and see you. And when we came up, Laura, who does our social media, was like, can you get any content or anything? So the only thing I knew what to do was to bring this iPad. No, you didn't. You filmed stuff on the iPad? No. Well, I only took one video of me and Jake on the train here. and it was you also got a burrito yeah so many random things are happening make hay while the sun shines Jamie when it pours around there I am with my burrito my burrito and we were so weirded out by me like an absolute mum like this alright go on Jamie if you're listening to this your mum is holding up the iPad like it's some sort of book in front of me isn't that horrifyingly like enormous to stare into Also, I'm not sure, especially with this iPad, how good the camera is on it I don't think it's very good at all So you took it all the way up, but you didn't film anything anyway No, I didn't film anything Because everyone told me that I wasn't allowed to have this out on the sideline Who's everyone?

6:05Producer Ewan, Jake Wait, so the team? The team The Jampot team The Jampot team But aren't you executive producer, don't you think, is some of the rules? So I'm confused here who's telling you what to do because well you kind of don't you sort of no i well i heard i heard and i thought and i also reflected on the feedback this whole thing is a shambles so you didn't get any contact so where did you put it in my rucksack so i had it and then i decided this is where and this is why um you've hired me is because i heard the feedback i put it away and then I saw lovely Melissa who was right at the front with Sophie and I said I'm going to get her to airdrop me that video and that's how we got it so this is a long winded way of saying that the video that people may have seen on Great Company Pod on the socials where it was me running into the finish line on my five ultramarathon run wasn't done on an iPad no it was airdrop for Melissa's phone yeah wow smart that was big that was big but anyway it just made me laugh just having this out again I'm like oh I haven't had this for a while I also went to see I went to meet a friend sorry we will get into this are you using that for your own benefit is this becoming your personal I also went I went to meet a friend and you took the iPad with you well I I was running late but she was later than me so I was really confused so I got my iPad out no no you got no you got great company's iPad out Jampot's iPad out yeah and I managed to connect to the McDonald's free Wi-Fi yeah near to where I was I was like stood outside the theatre trying to meet my friend.

7:45So you texted on the iPad? Yes. Anyway, this was really, basically, I'm real pro-iPad. What? This is the best beginning to an episode we could have ever asked for. This is so chaotic. No, it's not chaotic. None of this is going in. Come on. It is all going in. And I refuse to edit any of this out. I really do. You're not editing it. I know. I know. So welcome, listeners and watchers, to Great Company. I'm Jemima. I produce the show. Yes, you do. And I'm Jamie. I'm the host of the show, but not today. Not today. We thought Jamie has come back from a run. Yeah. And he's not the same. No. You've seen.

8:23Yeah, yeah. I'm actually not the same. He's lost his mind. I've actually lost my mind. I've lost a lot of weight and mind. Have you? I think so, yeah. So let's just quickly mention, what is it that you did? So for Comic Relief and Radio 1, I was asked to run five... Well, it wasn't asked. We decided to run from London to Salford, which is London, UK to Salford in Manchester in the UK. It's about 150, 200 miles. And I had to run it over five days. It was 250k. So it's like 50k a day, right? Yeah, 50k a day. So that's an ultra. So a marathon is 40k, 26 miles. 42k. And so you went, so anything above a marathon is called an ultra.

9:03An ultra, yeah. So I basically ran like 30 odd miles a day. Fine. And why? oh i mean why okay why why why why so radio one um which is the radio station in the uk which i'm a host on they came to me said would you like to do this and i was like yeah i think i would quite like to do this because it's a cool challenge and i thought it'd be fun and exciting and all these things and lots of amazing people have done it before and they said okay well let's do it um and then we decided what it was going to be and I also think that I had like I've spent like a lot of my life like doing lots of things for myself probably you know whatever that is and leading quite a sort of I don't know like I just haven't really done something for charity massively and I thought thought it was a great opportunity so um I said yes and I signed up to and when was that that you the the challenge it was in december so and it and then you did it in march and then i did it in march so you what was the so because one of the things that a lot of people i think when you did this were saying why didn't you train more and it was also one of the things that you were like i've not done enough training why like can you just kind of because there's there's context as to why yeah you only had how long did you have training wise for something like this.

10:24I've never, ever, ever run a marathon in my life. My body, I'm quite like sturdy. Yeah. Like I, like if I really went for it, I think I could be one of those people that like strap things to my head and pull like a lorry with my head. I reckon I'd be quite good at that. Was that an option as a, next one he's going to pull a lorry with his head to Scotland. Do you see what I mean? Jamie's not the same. anyway so i um i've never really i never run a marathon i did short distance like 100 meters and 800 meters i was really quick and i was a good runner like but nothing that big but i played a lot of rugby and i like ai'd this so i got a trainer who was like a sort of like a virtual trainer basically but there's a guy called will who would also help it he's an amazing guy actually he's incredible um and he said to me at the beginning right i'm the one who's going to plan your training regime for you but you don't have long you have two months to train and I went okay fine that feels like a long time two months yeah he went no normally people train a year for a marathon yeah and I'm doing five ultra marathons I would have thought I've heard the shorter I feel like for like the marathon people minimum four or five months yeah four or five months so so to do five ultra marathons like people train a long time and then we had the hardest geezer Russ Cook on Newlyweds, mine and So's podcast.

11:45And he said, he basically said, like, he said you're completely fucked. Yeah. If you're speaking to anyone who does any sort of ultra, or like endurance. Your boyfriend, yeah. Your boyfriend does it. Into endurance sport. And it's just like, that is the stupidest thing. This is what's really weird. I thought, I was just like, well, I'll be able to do that. Did you feel kind of, was there a point where you maybe realized that you, because on the first day, day one, we all went down to see you. And you did look. And also in the vlog, you can see that you are nervous. I was really nervous. What were you nervous for?

12:19Yeah, so, and I think I just, and I want to just caveat this as well, like before we kick it off. Like, you asked me one of the reasons why I was doing this, right? And like, one of the big driving forces, so Comic Relief raised lots of money for lots of projects around the UK and the world, and they've done that for years, and they're incredible, right? But one of the big things for me, they're always like, well, what is your why? Like, you need to find your why. And Russ Cook said that to me, the hardest key. He said, well, you need to find your why. And so for me... What does that mean, sorry?

12:46Well, you need to find a why you're doing it. To have going around your head as your... To keep going. To keep you going. To keep you going. Like, what is your why? Because if you don't have a why, then you're not going to be able to do it. Okay. So I guess for some people, it's I'm in memory of a person. Okay, fine. My why was because I really suffered with, like, anxiety in my 20s. Like, so bad. It was real bad. But for me, when I was about 26, 27 maybe, and been really suffering in silence, I went on a run and I went for like a 10 minute run. And it was like a moment of relief that I was like, oh, I had like a moment of like endorphins.

13:24And I was like, oh my God, this is like what I used to feel like. But then the anxiety came back in. And I was like, okay, running, obviously exercise is something. So there was that. And in general, in mental health, I really truly believe that mental health is like a lava going through villages and towns and cities throughout the world, throughout the UK. And I really believe in the metaphor of like one foot in front of the other. Like if you're having a bad day, just keep on going. So I'm going to run and raise money for all those people who have struggled, who are struggling, who know someone who struggled.

13:53For all of those people, I'm going to raise it for those ones. So that was in my head the whole time as I was going to go and do it. Was that pressure? No, it wasn't pressure, but it was like, but that was my why. it was like oh okay I can because I can feel that I know what it feels like and what Jessie Reyes said who was on the podcast for she said depression is like being stabbed with a dagger but you can't find a way of taking it out and I don't think I've ever been there but I felt and I think with anxiety when you have heightened anxiety for so long at some point it has to drop and then you feel low mood but I don't think it's depression yeah they're all quite different things especially like and some people have clinical depression and some people have depressive moments and or like seasonal depression or um situational depression yeah all those things but anyway so on the on the first day when I was setting off so I knew my why I knew what I was doing and I was really nervous because I suddenly the night before I was lying in bed with Sophie and I was suddenly like holy shit I'm actually doing this and my what's good about me is I have this weird protective like nature where on myself which is where I don't really worry about thinking something until it's like happening.

15:02I do that. So it's quite useful. But also stupid. Also stupid. Unless it's like, yeah, also stupid. But it's ignorance is bliss. You know, like I've definitely had things, some of the things I've done, which are like the scarier things I've done in my life, I haven't thought them through. Yeah. And I'm really glad I didn't because I wouldn't have done them. Completely. And I think that's actually like quite a good way to go through life sometimes. But it does also mean that sometimes when you do them, there are things where you're like, I had not anticipated these factors. So I was exactly like that.

15:37So I then arrive, so I wake up in the morning and I'm really pretty scared. I went the night before I go to a hotel to like meet the whole team. And there's a team about 50 people. And I walk into a room and I'm like, oh my God. And I was like, hi everyone. And everyone's there because I'm running. And I just suddenly realized the sort of scale of what I was about to do. And everyone said, so how much have you trained? And I said, I mean, like I've run 10 Ks and I did one. How much had you actually run? I ran 125 kilometer. Okay. And I was broken after it. And so I then suddenly realized the scale of it.

16:10And then when I arrived in the morning really early and it was, there was a lot going on and you guys were there and Candy Giddens team was there. And I was a bit like, oh God. And Sophie was there. And I was like, oh. And you're live on air. Live on air and everyone. And I was a bit like, oh, this is a lot. And so my protectant suddenly went, well, you're here now. you've got to go. And then the whistle gun went and you set off.

16:35They had said to me this, they had said, right, they said day one is going to be okay because you're going to get through it. You're going to, you'll get through day one. It's exciting. Day two, you're going to have a really tough time because you know what day one felt like. It's going to be awful. Day three is going to feel like the worst thing ever. Day four is going to get better day five you're gonna be on cloud nine fine every day was bad and every day got worse really there was not one day when i was like it feels better than yesterday it just got progressively worse and when you say worse what do you mean like physically mentally i can't even begin to tell you so gone so we set off right i say goodbye to you guys you're all there and i run off and here we go and let's go for it and i've got i'm like fresh and i'm like bouncing and it's like fun and I'm like, here we go and the sun is shining.

17:24I'm like, what? And all these exciting things along the way. All these exciting things. I'm running with this, like one of the pace runners. It's like, this is fun and I was bouncing around and I had my Garmin watch on that was giving my pace and I was like, this is frigging brilliant. And I was like, this is unbelievable and he kept saying to me, save your energy and I was like, shut up. You don't know what you're talking about. I don't know how much energy I got. Frigging great. It was easy peasy. And we got to about 15 kilometers in and I was a bit like, oh, this is all right. And I said to Dave, he was right, I said, do you know what?

17:55I was going to do 50 miles a day running. Should have done that. I should have done that. Because you did 30 miles. I did 32 miles. But I said, I was going to do 50 miles a day. And I was like, should have done that. Because I can do this. This is easy. And Dave said, okay, well, just hold your energy. So I then bounce on like Tigger, you know, like saying hi to people in the streets, like using up so much energy and then we got to about 25 kilometers in so the furthest you have a run furthest I have a run and I was a bit like legs are a little bit tired but it's okay got to 30 kilometers in and it was a complete shit show it went really downhill yeah I mean just think you can that's not you haven't run a marathon like just running a marathon it went so downhill I can't even at 30k Yeah.

18:50This is first day. Yeah. 30 to 40 kilometers. I was like, this is shocking. Yeah. I was in so much pain. Body, feet, legs, knees. It wasn't, it was, it was like. Nipples. No, nipples fine. Nipples, all upper body, absolutely fine. Perfection. Perfection. Everything lower, horrendous. Really? And apparently my saving grace was this Which I didn't realise And this is probably from running as a kid, right? Was that So I had my Garmin watch with told my pace, right? Yeah I ran at a cadence The same pace All the time What does that mean? So every They wanted me to run at a kilometre pace So every kilometre run They wanted me to do to Eight to nine minutes Per kilometre Per kilometre I ran six minutes anywhere between 6 to 6.30 minutes.

19:486 minutes 30. Consistently? Over five days. I never, my pace never changed. I never slowed down. I never spent up. Which apparently ultramarathon, this is what I've heard, ultramarathons like train their whole lives to do that. That's like what you have to do to be a good ultramarathon runner. Just maintain that. You maintain the same pace. So I guess for an amateur runner or someone who likes running, if you were doing a long distance race, you would expect to have a moment where your pace really drops and then... Yeah, or goes up or goes out. Mine just stayed the same the whole time. And that's also considerably faster than what they were advising.

20:25Yes. But so what happened was is that I then got into this muscle memory where I couldn't get out of that pace if I did it hurt too much. Were you trying to slow down? No, I just, I had to do it at that pace. Any slower would hurt, any faster would hurt. It was weird. Oh, as in so you... And my heart rate would be exactly the same, 1, 4, 0. You had a good heart rate. Yeah, 1, 3, 8 to 1, 4, 0 heart rate. Yeah. It stayed there So you get to 40k on the day one And then you've still got 10 more to go I got 10 more to go And I came out of They call it a pain cave And it lasted for 10km I got out of it And then 40-50km 40-45km was pretty good And then the last 5km I ran it really hard Again, terrible idea So I finished the first day, done, boom Anyone there to meet you?

21:10Elle, my assistant Ah, we love Elle We love Elle, she was there Lots of nice people said hi And people made posters and all these different things Which was amazing Fine But day one done, all good Felt good Felt pretty shocking, but yeah, it was fine I remember phoning Soph and saying Oh God, if I had to, I could do it again right now But then I woke up on day two Delusional Delusional, then I woke up on day two And it was like I'd been hit by an absolute brick wall Day two was really bad Day two was really bad. Like really, really, really bad. But all the days got worse. All the days got worse.

21:46Day two, I finished the end of day two and day two was really hot. So I think I got a bit of heat stroke on day two. Was day two the one where you got quite emotional? Was that the first time you got emotional on the radio? No, that was day three. Was day three? Yeah, so day two I finished. But I wasn't emotional then. And I didn't drink enough fluids, I don't know. I've never trained for this moment. So I didn't know you had to drink fluids and eat stuff. I didn't know any of this. And they kept trying to give me food. And I was like, I don't need it. Like, what are you doing? Yeah. And I guess you're burning a lot.

22:15I burnt like 5 ,000 calories a day. So I wake up on day three and we had stayed in a village on day two. And I had slept outside a clock tower, like in this hotel. The clock tower chimed every 15 minutes throughout the whole night. Oh, God. So I had to try and fall asleep every single time it chimed and finished. I'd had to try and fall asleep in the 15 minutes. so I didn't sleep that whole night properly because this clock was chiming and then when I woke up on day three I think I hadn't drunk enough fluids I hadn't had enough food I was pretty much heat stroked all that kind of thing because it was really hot the day before and physically I was like really sore I was like really like broken but mentally I lost the motivation I lost the why and that was quite bad you hadn't slept I guess yeah but that was bad because that was the scary moment because when I lost the motivation I was like why am I doing this yeah what's the point of doing this I can't like I just couldn't be bothered to do it and then I phoned Sophie and I was like I just don't think I can do today I can't do today yeah and she was like you've got to do it you've got to do it and then I got in the car to do the radio with Matt Emerson who is one of the greatest guys ever yeah and the the running has sort of started like a bit of momentum here at this point and like people were sort of getting in touch quite a lot and things and things were happening and I was on the radio and I was having no motivation I was really tired and I was like really thinking about I've got to now run for five to six hours my body is like hurting beyond you can possibly imagine but I don't have this motivation so where am I going to get it from and it was the first time in my life that I thought I was going to give up on something really I really thought I was going to give up I was like I'm going to give up now can't do this you never think you're going to give up and I actually was thinking about how I would make excuses to give up it was a very public platform it was really public and then I promise you this and this isn't just for the public, this is what happened I was on the radio and Greg James was talking to me and to Matt and a 12 year old girl had donated their pocket money and she was going through chemo and I was like oh my god and I was like are you kidding me there's this 12 year old girl out there who's going through so much more pain than me so much so many other things that i possibly can't even imagine yeah she's 12 years old and she's donating her money and i'm sitting here and thinking i can't do this yeah and whoever that little girl is i don't know her name i don't know i can't remember and i then that's when i broke down and got emotional and I couldn't even talk on the radio.

24:58And I was like, I've just, there are so many brave people out there who are doing incredible things. Like I can't let them down because she's donated and I made a promise that I'm going to do five ultra marathons. She's donated to do my five ultra marathons. So I've got to do it. So I was like, right, well, I've got to get on the road and do it. And I've got to go. And whoever that little angel was made me get up and go and do it and so I got up and I started running and I was slow and it was heavy and day three was pretty bad really pretty bad I guess your why kind of changed in that moment as well do you know what I mean like it suddenly it wasn't about you it was about other people it was like I don't want to let yeah but also I like my I'm so I'm so lucky like man i'm lucky but that's what i mean it was like a shift in your head of being like oh i've i've experienced stuff and i'm running it for people who've also experienced what i've experienced and that moment is going i don't even have a clue yeah there is so much there are so many bigger things going on in other people's lives and that's not to diminish what happened in your life and what happens in other people's lives but like there is so much shit going on so many people being so brave getting through things it was like you're kind of why yeah shifted i in a way and became I guess a bit more real yeah dude it was exactly that it's like exactly that and then you suddenly realise like you suddenly I suddenly realised I was like like I'm so lucky like I'm so like the chance of being born into my family in western society like all all these like emotions were coming I was like I was like what the hell yeah like what the hell am I thinking about even quitting and doing this and like and there are so many people out there who are having such a shit time.

26:47Yeah. Of course I can do this. Of course I can do this. Yeah. And day three was pretty bad and then the day three, halfway through day three, again, I thought I was going to quit. Got real bad at that point. Well, you went into that cave. I went into a huge cave and then day three, we ran into Loughborough University and it was just amazing and it was incredible. There were so many people there and everyone was holding signs and everyone was cheering and I ran in and Sophie was there which was just the most and Ed, my business partner, was there which was so incredible and we went back to the hotel and that's when I think I had some sort of weird like fit moment.

27:26What happened? Sophie thought I was dying. I don't know what happened. I think it was like Sophie said I was having a panic attack. I definitely wasn't having a panic attack at all but like my body, I was like shivering. I was so cold and I didn't really know where I was. Quite weird. But I came out of it Do you have any memory of it? Yeah, I remember it. So yeah, I was just like, I just didn't know where I was or what was going on. I didn't, and I felt really, I just felt really, I've never felt really weird. Is there any way to describe it? Really odd. I think my body was depleted of any energy.

27:58Yeah.

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29:39What's funny is We were back in the office And we were all Every time you came on the radio It was so sweet Were you listening to it? Yeah, it'd be on in the office And every time it was on the radio Everyone would just kind of be working And then we would just all stop And we'd just listen to you Really? Yeah, and it was really It was quite moot Like I'd like look around And like you'd like look at each other And we'd be like Yeah, just like And like acknowledging that we're all pausing To listen to you but that morning we were meant to have a recording for wednesdays and sophie came in and she was just like so overwhelmed with like having to see you so upset yeah and listen to you and she was like i need to so we so we like rejigged everything wow yeah and she was like i don't know should i go should i not go because i think had you said like don't don't worry like i didn't i didn't want anyone there it was too much like it was actually too much to even think about anyone being there i I was like, I just, and Sophie said, I feel like I should be with you.

30:33And I was like, please don't. So that's what she came in and she was like, I'm listening to my husband, like really struggling. And I really want to go and support. But also I don't want to, if he needs to focus on himself, I want to do whatever's the most supportive. And like, we had like a big old like discussion about it, like whoever was in. And we were like, just go, fuck him, go. And it was actually the biggest thing that I needed, her being there. like do you know what one of the big things that I like took out from this run is like oh god this is so cheesy but whatever because it is so cheesy Matt like Sophie is the greatest thing in this world I like I can't even express like love that I have for that person because I like I actually can't even articulate it Like If I was doing that without Cameras and radio And she would still be there And that sounds really obvious Of course she would But I've always known Sophie's like Loved me and I've loved I've always known that Of course we're in love and we're married But like Sophie like Just loves the raw me Like loves like the soul of me and she's like the biggest rock in this world to me like I didn't I thought I loved her like I loved her the amount I could but after my run I've yeah man like I like I guess you know the you that you were on that run was the rawest form of joke and it was a side of you that maybe you didn't know and she's still she's so great it's just changing yeah but she's so great and I'm like how did I get so lucky to get someone like that like she's she's such a she's just so great and so for me like coming out of that I was just like she's just the best thing in the world like honestly like I used to like have things right like so if you used to get annoyed at me or like get angry about stuff and the way I react is I'd get angry back at her yeah like I would never do that anymore yeah like never I would never get angry because she's angry or like oh that's unfair like never like I've changed my whole like being around it's really weird I mean kind of jumping ahead but like do you feel different uh yeah I feel I feel I feel definitely different like I feel way more like um like I I really not I just really like like I realize that the world's really lovely like I I think I used to I think we look at the world a lot and we see it's dark and gloomy and a bit horrible but actually people are awesome and people are amazing and there's like a group of people or like groups of people which aren't aren't very nice but actually on a whole people are pretty great yeah um everyone typically are pretty great doesn't matter who you are where you're from what your background is what you represent everyone's pretty great I think that's what I've worked out um and has that given you kind of a new sense of attitude you feel like brighter yeah I feel much brighter I feel much more content i also feel like um like supporting i made me realize how important it is to support people like supporting people is the it's so easy not to go and support someone like your friend goes and does something and like you can just like oh well done for doing that like supporting people is like the most important thing you can do whatever if they're having a bad day support them they're having if they're sitting their exam support them if they pass their driving test support them if it's their birthday support like like that's what made me really realize that that's what you should always do and and other people come first that's really important it's just interesting right the other side of it is that like my like we had like a the amol chat amol rajan yeah i want to ask you okay well you can ask me yeah well no you explain the amol and i'll i'll ask the question it was a weird synergy of everything because we had amol come on the podcast Amol Rajan.

34:43And we had a conversation about my dad. And, you know, I got very like, upset about a question he asked. He said, once you were told that your dad had three weeks to live, what would you do? And it really broke me down because I did have a lot of guilt towards my dad. And after that episode came out, my dad actually wrote Amol an email. Tell me about the email. well my dad sent Ammo an email just saying thank you for having that conversation with my son firstly which was which was pretty special and Ammo replied and it made me have an open conversation with my dad um to sort of just like without him having to like like me just say it he just he knew that I was like kind of sorry and things like that and then my dad turned up on the thursday yeah and it was just a really amazing moment um because he's never ever wanted to come on the podcast he's never ever wanted to be on radio he's never wanted to do anything like that just because he doesn't want to because he thinks no that's your thing yeah why would i want to be more of a shyer he's not even that shy he's just more like that's my son i don't want to be a part of that and he actually came on the radio and um he said an amazing thing which like i'll never forget he said if i was listening to that and someone do it i would just be so impressed and proud but what's even more is that that person is my son yeah and my dad then got very emotional I've never seen in person my dad get emotional ever Yeah Ever Yeah The radio one said Nick my dad Nick would you like to go on On air On air would you like to go on air And my dad sort of hesitated Because that's not what he would want to do he doesn't want to be a part of it And he sort of like in his own way Like mustered up the confidence and said no yeah I want to do that for my son which is just amazing so that was pretty special that's you inspiring people to do hard yeah be brave it was amazing and I think it's like transpired out of that conversation with my dad when he was on is that Jerry who's my radio host is a great guy oh we love Jerry oh he's so nice he came off air and he just basically said like I don't have a dad and seeing you two like this is just amazing and it made me realise that I said this on air, is that those people don't have parents.

37:25I have my mum. I have my dad. And they're there. And so that gave me this more boost of being like, I have you guys, the team who are here. I have my family. I have so much. And those people don't have that. And so again, that gave me more motivation to do more and keep running and do that kind of thing because it was running for those people. So it was a lot and it was amazing.

37:51And then Friday. And then Friday. And then Friday. Friday was... Were you excited on Friday? Friday was probably the worst day. Pain and pain and pain and pain and pain. But on Friday, my friend Toby, my brother-in-law ran with me, who's amazing, Tom Berry. And one of my best mates in the world, Toby, ran with me. And Toby's special. Toby's very special. He's the best man at my wedding. He was the person I've spoken about loads on this podcast and I've spoken about loads before, was the guy that when I was feeling really bad was the person I phoned up and he said the words don't worry we'll go through it together when I was really struggling and he then came and ran with me and again he always shies away from line light he never does it but he wanted to do it for me and so it was a very special moment to do that it was an incredible moment and so they ran with me and I had to run backwards down hills because my knees weren't working and it was just horrendous the whole thing do you remember that last kilometre?

38:48yeah you were so fast I completely get that I understand that thing of sprinting because you're like when I'm there I can stop it was so great like could you hear the crowds no it wasn't that it was um I got I got told by Will this trainer he said two two miles to go your brain will leave you yeah and I went what do you mean and he said well because when I got to about 30 kilometers in the day my body was like I was like wobbling quite a lot I didn't really know where I was Yeah, you didn't look, it was quite not nice to see. Yeah, I didn't really know where I was. I didn't know what was going on.

39:23I think I was depleted of any energy. And they kept asking what my age was, when my date of birth was. I didn't really know. I was like lying about my date of birth because I knew they'd make me stop. And I couldn't stop. If I had stopped... Hang on, what do you mean? So the paramedics were being like, oh, what's your birthday? When's your birthday? As I was running past them. To try and check. To try and check if I was okay. There's a lot going on. Like that you're like compass mentors. And I was just a bit delirious. Didn't really know. So you were just saying a date. I was just saying dates.

39:52Yeah. I was just like, oh, this is this. Oh, just so you sounded like you knew what was going on. And my knees had blown up. My ankles had blown up and everything had blown up. And I was just like, not a great way. And Will said, by the way, two miles to go, your brain will leave you. And I said, what do you mean? He said, well, you'll know you're near the finish and your brain will let go. Yeah. And I went, what do you mean let go? He said, well, your brain, your brain, the reason you had to do this has been clinging on to something. Yeah. And that's why you'd be able to do this. And I was like, it's going to be fine.

40:20Two miles to go, pretty much on the dot, I was suddenly thinking, come on, we're nearly there. We're nearly there. And my brain went. And I was like, and I felt really, I was like, I didn't really have like no energy, nothing. I was like, what the hell's going on? And it was like, you know when you hold onto a pole on like a tube or a train, when it like starts, it was like I had to grab hold of the pole in my brain. No, this is, get a hold of it again, Jamie. Like that. So I was like, oh my God, you're so right. because if you let go, then your body starts to give up. It's really weird. So did you find a way to hold on?

40:51Yeah, I just had to quickly engage my brain again. It was very weird. It's a really weird experience. And then, so that was quite a weird experience. And then with a kilometre to go, it was my three pace runners who I had, if I mentioned before, a guy called JP, who's not Josh Patterson, but a different guy, a guy called JP, a guy called Dave, and a guy called Gareth. And they sort of flanked behind me. and they were like, Jamie, this is your, this is your, yeah, it was unbelievable. Makes me like even emotional now. And I was running in, I was listening to my wedding song. Which is? Well, there was two, the one I proposed to Sophie, which was River Flows and You, which is a piano music and Ed Perfect, Ed Sheeran Perfect.

41:32And that was just playing on repeat as I was running in. And I had these things which went through the bone, so I could hear it through bone rather than in my ears. So I could hear people talking to me the whole time. and they flanked me like this and I decided and they went, right, Jamie, this is... It was just amazing. Yeah. It was like a really special moment. Yeah. By the way, I'm still emotional after this run to let everyone know because we're recording it not too long after. You can be emotional about this forever, Jamie. Well, maybe. I think I cried a lot. So I think it was like 30 years of trauma coming out on one week.

42:05Anyway, they flanked me and they said, they said, this is it, Jamie. You can do this. You've got it now. let the baby let the bird fly fly and it was this like moment of like it's so weird because it's just a run and it's like whatever but like for me personally it was quite a lot and it was this moment where you just went all those kind of things in your life that this is why people do these challenges I think because all those things in your life that you've like doubted yourself or you've maybe like not thought you can do it or lost confidence or whatever it is or people have like shut you down or whatever it is.

42:40Suddenly I was like, no, I've like done it. And it was like this huge release. And so I was like, they were like, you can go now, Jamie. They let me run. And I sprinted because it was just like this like euphoric moment of just like, oh my God. And so then I ran into this incredible crowd, which I didn't realize was there and seeing you guys there and like seeing Sophie there and seeing like my dad there, my sisters there and my friends there and everyone there and it was like this most insane moment of just like holy shit like we've like done this and not only that like raised this incredible money for these insane like people who really need literally saving lives it was just like a wild wild moment of just like everything and it was like a release of like emotion and it was incredible yeah it was it It was wild.

43:28Yeah. It was wild. How do you feel the next day? So since then, I haven't felt great. Well, let's just take a pause and just acknowledge what you did and how much money you raised. It was 2.2? So 2.25 million, yeah. Actually, I looked, it was 2.26. 2.26 million. Amazing. Yeah, it was amazing. Ridiculous amount of money. Ridiculous. I said as a joke, I'd like to raise 2 million. the sort of record before that was 1.3 from amazing molly king well i won't lie during the week i was like there's no way he's getting anywhere near to 1.3 i kept donating i was like i was like i'm gonna get this guy i'm gonna get this guy up i don't have a million pounds but i will oh my god yeah it was um but yeah it was so much money yeah but tell me since well since um i i have probably i haven't been that great what happened so that evening you do red nose day and then come back to london and then you went away for some some r and r r and r but i couldn't switch off okay and i think i think that's what probably happens again i think when you put your body through like something pretty traumatic like that it's pretty hard to switch off and with it there came like a lot of like pressure maybe and like people saying a lot of things and that was quite a lot to handle in lots of ways people saying some really lovely things but also with that as you said to me there comes negative things as well and I normally don't let anything affect me but for some reason I was letting things affect me a little bit don't know why

45:12Why do you think You So you obviously Cried a lot That week On the Well after You basically Opened the tap We were talking about this The other day Jamie opened the tap Of emotion And maybe isn't that Deft Not that used to Opening and closing The tap I can turn it on and off No problem Can you I cry all the time I don't You opened the tap Absolutely no idea How to turn it off I don't know how to get it off And the water was flowing Yeah A big time I don't know how to turn it off. You cried a lot that week. Yeah. The tap was open. I've really felt like you really, like, touched a lot of people.

45:45Why do you think that's powerful to see some, just like a person cry? I think the reason why it was powerful and it connected was, I think it was really raw and authentic. And I think that's what we're all sort of crying out for. Like, it actually was, like, really raw. And we talk about authenticity all the time, but, like, that was, that was, yeah. Like, we'd literally, like, cut you open. That was just raw. That was raw, raw, raw. And I think probably from, I think we live in this age, especially boys, like find it hard to cry. And boys probably cry a lot by themselves without telling anyone.

46:22I think a lot of people thought because boys don't really show that much emotion, that it was a good thing to actually show raw emotion and it's okay to cry and it's okay to be upset. But also it was like a vulnerability, I think, a step beyond. like boys yeah that there is for some people they do find it very difficult to be emotional boys yeah you know it's one of the things that we talk about but also lots of people do um but you were the vulnerability there's vulnerability like coming on a show and sharing things but that your vulnerability was like it was because also everything was so live everything was so live so real so on so it was just like as in you what like being given a second to just like, you know, radio is life.

47:07And so you're on and there's cameras around you. And it was like... It was a lot. There was a lot. Yeah. It wasn't edited. It wasn't edited. I think what it is, is that like... I think people are having a really tough time at the moment. I think life is really hard. I think dating is hard. I think politics is hard. I think financial issues... Paying the bills is hard. Paying the bills is hard. I think families are hard. I think school is hard. I think getting jobs is hard. I think everything is hard. And everyone has to hold up this weird Instagram front where everything's okay and it's all all right and we're all okay and da-da-da-da.

47:50And actually, we're not all okay. But, you know, also, I think with these things, right, is that, like, people, like, with that, like, people were labeling me, like, lots of different things. And I also think that, like, whatever I want to come out of this run, right, and people listening to this podcast, right? I really want... So if a mum is listening to this and their boys or daughter's having a tough time or someone's having a tough time or their partner's having a tough time, like, listen to this episode and just realise that it's really okay to not be okay. It really is. And that it's also okay to talk about it.

48:26And talk about it whatever way you want to. Talk about it on social media. Talk about it to your teacher, to your neighbour, to your loved one, whoever it is. like really talk about it and really realize that you can really get through anything you really can yeah like 100 you can get through it like if you really want to you can and you just got to keep putting one foot in front of the other and if you do that you'll get through it i promise you i also think you mentioned something earlier about um support yeah that's the network that maybe I think people connected to was seeing you down and you very raw and being uplifted by hearing support from other people and like the power the power of people basically the power of people and and lots of people like like I said like make sure you talk about and stuff like that to people and people like well I don't have anyone to talk to that there is always support out there you can reach out for support anywhere you really can and people are amazing they always want to help so that was incredible and I just want to say this thank you so much for the support from everyone I'm so glad that it reached far and wide in terms of like a great beautiful message thank you for the donations and if we can get to like a world and a better place where we can open up about our emotions and be like proud of our emotions that would be a wicked world to live in and I think the more we can do that the better so yeah yeah that'd be great kindness is king kindness is king and vulnerability is wicked and yeah all those things well well done jamie thanks buddy glad to have you back in your how your feet feet are sore but they're okay i tried to go on a little like i played some tennis this morning i can't really move still but but my brain and body are getting back to normal which is good okay well i'm looking forward to having you back in this seat interviewing with your newfound um raw emotional oh my god there's gonna be a lot of crying do you think yeah i can't wait strangers are gonna come and start crying with them and I'll be like oh god yes I'm still shocked with Amor must be like this guy's just crying all the time no beautiful okay Maima you're the best and thank you so much well done appreciate it shall we shake your hands we'll high five thanks buddy do you have a new phone that I do there we go how long until that breaks not long I'll probably drop it on the way out alright buddy listen we love you thanks everyone thanks so much for listening oh also subscribe don't say that so drearily no subscribe Subscribe, follow.

50:51Please subscribe to the show. Go and follow us. Go and check out us on social media at Great Company Podcast. You can send us an email, greatcompany at jam4productions.co.uk. And we'll see you next week. Because this is a little bonus episode. Yeah, this is just a little extra. A little extra. We'll see you next week for another episode of Great Company. Great Company.

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