1. Do you have a nickname?
Not properly but my uni mates started calling me Neil, thinking it would wind me up (which it didn’t) but has now seemingly stuck over the past 18 years and I answer to anything nowadays.
2. What is your favourite piece of running kit/equipment?
Hilly marathon socks - never blister in them no matter how many miles or different terrain.
3: What’s your favourite race?
My favourite races are rated by quality of food: Lakes in a Day ultra has great feed stations (Danish pastries, pizza and cheese toasties and cake and custard) and FRA national relays includes a free meal and is also really fun to race as a team rather than just individually.
4: Any PBs that you’re proud of?
My first sub-20 parkrun in 2018 was an achievement that I had wanted for quite a while, followed by a sub-4 marathon at Manchester in 2019, but my best performance was probably in the Yr Wyddfa 50 Ultra in 2026 when I finished in the top 40 and smashed my 50mile PB over a lot of elevation and some very technical terrain.
5: What has been your worst running injury?
Stress fracture of my tibia during Lakeland 100 in 2024, which resulted in my retirement from the race at 90miles.
6: Improving Dasher to keep an eye on
Paula Hollings consistently finishes as one of the top females in local fell races and I genuinely believe she has much more improvement to come over longer distances after finishing her first Tour of Pendle in 2026.
7: Where is the most exotic place you have run?
I’ve run in some amazing places, including the Andes, Rockies & Alps but the most exotic was probably Gili Meno - a small tropical island off the coast of Lombok in Indonesia, which is only 5km to run the whole circumference of the island.
8: Highlight of your running ‘career’ so far
Finishing 1st in a parkrun in Canada in -20C and knee-deep snow.
9: Any hobbies we don’t know about?
I love all sports and I regularly cycle and swim and play golf but I also used to play hockey, cricket, rugby, football, tennis, badminton at decent standards before running took over. I am a Blackpool FC fan (for my sins) and am close to becoming a member of the 92 club (watching a match at every ground in the football league).
10: Interesting fact about yourself
I’ve travelled to 70 different countries, across 6 continents, yet my favourite food is still broccoli.
11: Most interesting job(s) past or present
I have had several very different jobs, with the most extreme change going from working in investment banking in London to working in a drug and alcohol addiction clinic in Blackpool sandwiched with a year travelling the world in between.
12: Dasher you admire and why?
Paul Thompson’s running history is something to behold and he’s a top bloke to run with and spend time in the pub with too.
13: Any future running ambitions?
I would like to have a crack at a Bob Graham and run the Coast to Coast and Pennine Way paths at some point.
14: Which song on your playlist makes you run faster & further?
I don’t listen to music when running but I will often sing anything that gets stuck in my head for hours on end during an ultra (and no doubt annoy any other runners running nearby).
15: Which person past or present would you most like to run with?
It would’ve been cool to have lined up with some of the fell running legends from back in the day such as Joss Naylor, Kenny Stuart, Billy Bland etc. and watch them fly down the steep descents whilst I was still trudging up.
16: Best thing about Darwen Dashers.
Relaxed, supportive and very welcoming club with a great post-run pub aka The Sunny.
17: Any running, or other superstitions?
Not a superstition as such but I am notoriously last minute for everything and, ironically, whenever I am early something seems to go wrong so my tardiness must work for me.
18: Your perfect, indulgent, post run meal
An ice cold full fat coke and vegan sausage roll and slice of cake, followed by a pint of cask ale and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps in a proper northern pub.
19: One piece of advice for a new runner
Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and don’t doubt yourself.
20: Sum yourself up in 5 words
Multiple pre-race toilet trips.
