"The Road to Paris" is complete! Todays run of 12.15 miles from my flat in Worcester to Finstall Park, the home of Bromsgrove Rugby Club sees the end of my challenge. I have really enjoyed this journey, it has given me a goal, a focus and a motivation in a time where everything is uncertain. I have recieved amazing support from my girlfriend Kathleen, friends, family, work colleagues and everyone involved at BRFC. I am so appreciative and humbled by the level of support. My friend Will from Bristol came and surprised me at the finish outside the club which was incredible and a really awesome gesture! Over the last 67 days I have covered 811 miles, the distance from Finstall Park to the Stade de France in Paris and back again and I am incredibly proud of my achievement.I have achieved this through running or cycling every day which has been tough at times but I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I never thought I would be running half marathons when this challenge started and i...

The last cycle of the challenge completed today, 13. 21 miles on the bike after a day at work. This leaves me just over 11 miles to go! Really enjoyed the cycling as part of this challenge, my bike has been absolutely awesome and gave my legs a bit of a break from all the running.  Tomorrow at 08:00am I leaving my flat to run the 12-13 miles to Finstall Park, BRFC's home. I am really looking forward to the run and the completion of my challenge. Thanks for all the amazing support, I really appreciate it and so does Bromsgrove Rugby Club and the NHS! All the best, Ed

65th day of the challenge and the penultimate run completed. 6.22 miles in the rain which was good, this just leaves a cycle tomorrow and then the final run on Saturday morning. I am really looking forward to finishing the challenge and when it is done I am going to try and do some more rugby specific running sessions and some more weights sessions. Another day at school today which was good fun, I taught a variety of lessons to my 'pod' of 8 pupils, it feels great to be back in a routine and to do a full week at work for the first time in months! Cheers, Ed

After a day at work today I ran 6.61miles around Northwick, Claines and Blackpole. It was really nice to not have to run in the heat and their was a bit of light drizzle which was refreshing, I am so close to finishing my challenge now, with just under 30 miles to go. My plan for the rest of this week is to do another 5-8 mile run tomorrow, roughly 10 miles on the bike on Friday and then the final distance to the club on Saturday morning. Cheers for all the support so far! Ed

26.34 miles on the bike this evening after a day at work, meaning I have just 36 more miles to go to complete the challenge. As I have previously mentioned I am saving 12-13 miles for Saturday morning when I am going to run from my flat in Worcester to BRFC. Had a few issues with the gears on my bike today, they seemed to be struggling to get into the right place, I was heading out towards Kempsey and turned back because I didn't think they could handle it and I didn't want to break anything. However as I got back into Worcester they seemed to have sorted themselves out so I turned back and looped over the river and Upton and back to Worcester, a nice route! Almost there!

Really easy 3.1 miles with KP this evening around the racecourse. Need to get a longer cycle in tomorrow afternoon to get the miles down in preparation for Saturday's final stage. I will be doing the majority of miles on my bike this week but I will still alternate between running and cycling each day. I was back in school today and welcomed back a 'pod' of Year 6 pupils that I will be teaching over the next sevens weeks. it was very strange to be back in school with more kids and logistically it is quite complicated but enjoyable none the less. Another round of golf followed my time in school today, played pretty well too, I've now caught the golf bug as well as the running bug! All the best, Ed

Out on the bike again this morning and covered 16.07 miles. Had to fix a puncture before my ride as my tire was completely flat when I first looked this morning. Bit of a random route but was good to explore some different parts of Worcestershire.  It's another glorious day out there, the weather really has been amazing over this lockdown period which has made the cycling and running much easier, it wouldn't have been great in the rain! Back to work for me tomorrow as we welcome back 75 year 6 pupils, it will be good to see them again but will still be very strange being back in work full time. The school day has been set up differently with staggered start times, break time and lunchtimes and small pods of pupils designated to one teacher. I am playing golf again after work tomorrow too which I am really looking forward to. All the best, Ed

60 consecutive days of running or cycling and today I ran 7.53 miles in just over an hour. Really enjoyable run and felt good throughout even if it was absolutely boiling out there! Plenty of people outside enjoying the sunshine on the racecourse and around the river at Diglis so had to do plenty of dodging but covered a good distance. Like I said on a previous post I am now going to control the amount of miles I do so I leave myself just over 12 to do next Saturday morning. All things being well I will have completed my 'Road to Paris' challenge this time next week! Cheers, Ed

59th day of the challenge and I cycled a steady 12.05 miles through the Worcestershire countryside, another beautiful morning. I have just 89 miles to go. I have planned a route for the last day of my challenge, a 12-13 mile run from my flat in Worcester to Bromsgrove Rugby Club, I am planning to do it on the morning of Saturday 6th June. I am going to control the amount of miles I do this week and leave myself 13 to for that Saturday. This will be a really cool way to finish my challenge. Have a great weekend. Ed

Steady 6.32 mile run this morning, it's already very hot out there, even before 9am. As I have around about 100 miles to go I need to start thinking about how I am going to plan my last day. I am going to have a look online to see a suitable route from Worcester to BRFC, I think I could take on a 15-17 mile run which would be a good way to finish my challenge. Thanks for all the support, 58 days of cycling or running in a row has been a great way to keep me focussed in this strange time and I have really enjoyed it. I might think about doing a challenge each summer when rugby finishes to keep my fitness up. When lockdown ends I might see if there are any local triathlons I can enter as this is something I have wanted to do for a while! Cheers, Ed

700 MILES. Todays steady 7 mile cycle took me past the 700 mile mark in 'The Road to Paris' challenge which is a great achievement. I have covered over 700 miles in 57 days which is an average of over 12 miles a day of either running or cycling. I now have just over 100 miles to go to complete my journey! I am in the process of planning the last leg of the challenge which I think I am going to do as a longer run, but I still need to plan a good route to run so I end up at Finstall Park, the home of BRFC. There isn't pavement all the way from my flat to the club so I need to find a suitable route. The support I have received so far has been absolutely incredible and I am so appreciative of all the money that we have already raised. I know that both BRFC and the NHS will benefit greatly from the support. Thanks again, and don't forget you can donate here:  https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/the-road-to-paris 

Headed out for a run after a day at work and ran 5.86 miles at 8 minute 20 pace so pretty slow but it is still incredibly hot out there, serious amount of sweat! I am very close to the 700 mile mark now which is another amazing milestone to reach, I will then be into my last 110 miles to complete the challenge which is exciting. Thanks for all the continued support! Ed

55th day of the challenge and I cycled an easy 26.32 miles, absolutely amazing day out there. Another lock down bank holiday weekend and half term at school this week, however we remain open for the children of Key Workers. Johnsons press conference last night suggested that schools are due to open on June 1st. It is going to be a really different educational experience for pupils, parents and teachers but we will make the best of it.  Time for a round of golf! Ed

54th day of the challenge and I ran an easy 5.75 miles on the usual racecourse and Diglis route, loads of people out running and cycling. I think I am going to try and complete the challenge by running the last 14 miles in one go, which is the distance between my house and Finstall Park, I think it would be great to actually finish the challenge at the club. I've still got quite a way to go until I get down to the last 14 miles but I think it would be a good way to end the challenge. Going to do another longer bike ride tomorrow as well as starting to prepare for the potential of over 100 Year 6's starting back at school on June 1st, a lot to get my head around! Cheers, Ed

23.88 miles on the bike today in pretty bad conditions. The wind was incredibly strong and it nearly knocked me off on a couple of occasions, still managed to cover a decent distance in just over 1 and a half hours. The next milestone of 700 miles is in sight. Not much else to report to today, another zoom quiz awaits tonight, I think that's the 10th in a row! All the best, Ed

52nd day of the challenge and I completed another half marathon, 13.65 miles in total! Pretty enjoyable run and I completed it in under 2 hours, 1 hour 55 minutes which I am really pleased with, I averaged 8:51 per mile which is good and I had pretty consistent splits too. I've also shared a picture of how I am recording my miles which a mate created for me, 176.73 miles to go! Going to try for a longer cycle ride tomorrow, maybe something between 20 and 30 miles, hopefully it is not as windy as today.  Thanks for all the support! Ed

Nice and steady 14.93 miles on the bike this evening, a slightly different route around Worcester which was a nice ride. The next milestone to reach is 700 miles and then I can start a 100 mile countdown to the finish, I am trying to think of how I can make the last day a bit more exciting, potentially try and do a duathlon, starting on the bike for a certain amount of miles and then straight into a run. I'm not too sure yet but it might be nice to finish the challenge with something a bit different, potentially ending up at the home of BRFC, Finstall Park. If you've got any ideas then let me know. Cheers, Ed

600 miles! The 50th day of 'The Road to Paris' challenge has seen me move past the 600 mile mark which is another awesome landmark reached in my challenge to cover a total distance of 810 miles.  Today's run was a very tough one, it was very hot and my legs felt very heavy after a walk up the malvern hills this morning (see picture below). I ran a different route around Worcester today and I felt like I had run a lot further than I actually did but I am still really pleased with another 10 miles knocked off my challenge. Thank you so much for all the support so far it really is awesome. With just over 200 miles to go in my challenge, I hope that I can keep raising more money for BRFC and the NHS.  You can donate here:  https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/the-road-to-paris

Steady 5K (3.19 miles) today with KP after a day in school. Weather was absolutely incredible today, boiling hot out there so managed to get out on the field with the kids in school which was great. I am now in the process of preparing for the potential return of Year 6 pupils on the 1st of June and delivering home learning, which is very interesting for my practical subject of PE, we are planning some activities that pupils can do from home. It really is an interesting time for education and I feel that this current situations is going to have lasting effects on how education is going to work. Very close to the 600 mile mark now which is great!

An easy 19.18 miles on the bike this morning through the Worcestershire countryside. Great to see Bromsgrove Rugby Club smashing the 'Round the World in 80 days' challenge with over 1000 miles covered yesterday and a total of 8172 miles. Hopefully we can raise loads of money for our great club and the NHS. On a personal note I am now closing in on the 600 mile mark which is a great achievement. It's crazy to think that this is our tenth week of being in lockdown now. In regards to my job as a teacher there has been lots of push back from the unions about the 1st of June return date for Year 6, it does seem a bit premature but we can only act upon what we are told. It doesn't seem like the other years aren't going to be back this academic year which is going to be very strange and I wonder if this is going to have any lasting effects and change the way education, among lots of other things, works in this country. Back in school for my 1 day a week tomorrow, so...