Dr David Butterfield completes
"Run the Date" challenge once again

In November 2021, Dr David Butterfield (Fellow in Classics and Praelector) completed the “Run the Date” challenge: each day of the challenge increases the distance that the participant has to run on that day. For example, on November 1st last year, David started the challenge by running 1km, then 2km on November 2nd, and so on, up to 30km on the 30th.

Although David says that he was surprised he managed to complete the feat the first time, he is not one to make it easy for himself - he accepted his brother’s objection that the challenge should take place over 31 days as opposed to 30 in order to properly count. So in October 2022, David sought to surpass his achievement from last year, and added a further 4km to give a total distance of 500km (311 miles).

We asked David to give us the 'run-down' on his progress this year:

Did you change the way you approached the "Run the Date" challenge this year, having successfully completed it before?

Not really, as there isn’t much wriggle room given the constraints of the challenge and its relentless crescendo of distance. Last year I didn’t think I would complete it, as I wasn’t used to running distances every day, and I feared that the total ground covered meant injury was likely. But I surprised myself that I managed to get through it. So I know that something close to this is doable – at least by a younger me.

What has been the best part of this experience for you?

Without question the opportunity to spend a lot of unbroken time in nature, which whatever the weather or season always presents itself with open-handed honesty. Despite the relative uniformity of the countryside in Cambridgeshire, it is possible within a few minutes’ running from town to see deer and foxes, several birds of prey, herons and egrets, voles and shrews, a cheering chorus of songbirds, and many meadow flowers whose names I don’t know. It makes me profoundly happy to be out and about as a guest in such beauty.

Conversely, what has been the biggest challenge for you throughout the month?

The biggest challenge is not getting injured. A lot of the fields broke apart with fissures and cavities during our incredibly hot and dry summer. For the most part these rifts still yawn open – often six or eight inches wide – so without keeping a constant eye out, your foot could fall straight in and that would signal the end of play pretty rapidly.

Although I have rolled my ankle a few times this month, my legs are used to these kinds of mistakes from running (and falling) on the fells in Cumbria, so I have been lucky enough to avoid anything causing lasting harm. It is just having to deal with the ever-increasing muscle strain for now. Paradoxically, it's a blessing to have no rest days, as that would be when the body could pull rank and say “come on, now, this just isn’t on.”

What sort of time of day do you tend to run, and what is your listening material of choice?

I have mostly been running in the morning, so that I can relax for the rest of the day, and also run in daylight. Although music is my first love, I have been listening exclusively to audiobooks (only with one earphone, mind!), which helps distract from the pain and/or mileage. On the challenge so far I’ve learned a good deal about mediaeval philosophy, anthropology, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and the abject inhumanity of communism.

Do you have a favourite route, or do you switch it up each time?

My main constraint is that I don't like running with people about, including other joggers. So, although I would happily run around an empty Cambridge, or follow the Cam’s flow down the towpath if that route were deserted, the reality is that I have to get out into the farmland and countryside around the city. I do a lot of running in the north (near where I live), the west (near Queens’), and the south (near Queens’ nursery), usually as a big loop, taking in various villages (17 so far).

I like to cycle to the edge of the city so that all of my running is done in fields, or along lanes, or through woodland, so that I don’t waste any distance in town. As a result, I use five or six rural ‘gates’ in and out of the city, but once I am loose, I try to run different routes each time, so that the scenery is of interest. I have a lot of latent chat about small details of our immediate countryside and village landscape, but I don’t really know who wants to hear it!

Are you running in aid of a particular cause this year?

I’m not good at asking people for anything, so this is not a sponsored run. The cause I would like any well-wisher to support is the open-access Classics website I edit as part of a pro bono team, called Antigone. Anyone wishing to aid its mission of making the Greeks and Romans open and freely available to curious readers worldwide can make a one-off donation on the website.

How do you plan to celebrate when you’ve finished the challenge? Have you got your sights set on any similar endeavours in the near future, or are you having a well-deserved rest?

First up, I will say the sincerest thank you to my wonderful wife and three little ones for helping me along at every turn, and for giving me the generous leeway to do strange things like this. I may also have some beer, which is very much missed.

Given that time does nothing other than pass, I may need to move away from endurance challenges and try to do something that is more short and snappy, but still properly hard. Like running a good 10k. I also want to play more squash, now that Queens’ is rebuilding a good community for the sport after pandemical interruption.

What advice would you give to somebody who wanted to complete a similar challenge?

Choose a challenge that makes you smile at the prospect of completing it. If it isn’t something you could enjoy doing, you are in the wrong game. Train so as to be confident that you could do half of it. Then commit to it by actually starting it, taking each stage at a time and with some humility and uncertainty. As you go, you will gain confidence each day that, if you really do want to complete it, you will – barring injury, that is. And if you do an interview about it mid-course, you probably need to make sure that you do finish it…

David completed the challenge on October 31st 2022, rounding off his achievement with an anticlockwise loop of the city taking in Newnham, Romsey, Teversham, Fen Ditton, Milton, Impington, Histon, Girton, Madingley Cemetery, Coton, then across Barton Road to Newham.