Don't run it alone.

Back on Saturday 5th November 2022

I ran 80km

Bondi to Manly, Sydney

Around 13hrs

This newsletter is not about the event itself

It's about a lesson we can learn from it

I guess this is one of the reasons people do these sort of challenges

To test themselves

But also to find some higher sort of 'answers'…

Self actualisation, as Maslow would put it

The race is great fun for around 12km…

Then I start cramping and the mood changes

More a case of managing the cramp and surviving the run, as opposed to enjoying it

68km to go

1,300m of elevation still

Yea baby… long day inbound

As I am running north, into the city, around 12kms in, I bump into another runner

Ben

We have a chat for a k or so… is this your first race, how are you feeling, who are you here with, bad, cramps, take salt, etc etc

Nice guy

But I have to stop to stretch, and he runs on

I think that is the end of it

Another 6kms of running, coming into Sydney city centre

From a path on the left (the wrong way) runs Ben

He has run the wrong way for a while…

We ran the remaining 62kms together

And here is the lesson that I learned that day

Find a friend, a mate, a buddy

And life's challenges will be easier

Or, in most of our cases, we don't need to find new ones

We can lean on the friends we already have

A problem shared is a problem halved

Life's challenges are always easier when you're in the trench with someone else

Back to the run…

Ben and I seemed to work in opposite swings

When I was struggling, he pulled me along

Chewing my ear off, shouting or grunting 'you got this brother' in and Aussie snarl

When he was struggling, I seemed to pull him along

Something similar but more British sounding… 'cmon mate, in the bag, all the way'

That sort of thing

(here we are running the home straight to the finish line)

When our thoughts would go dark, or we would think of the pain, the other would be there to snap us out of it

Tell a joke

Get us going again

Having Ben, or Benny Boy, made a big difference

Made the painful experience a fun one

And I guess that is an analogy for life…

There are always going to be ups and downs

But having close friendships helps

We are all human, and all want similar things

Connection, fulfilment, family, fun, security

So… the lesson in a nutshell?

Don't rely on yourself

Don't bottle it up

Don't fight on your own

Use your mates, share your problems

Or if you have no problem, just make an effort to make regular contact with your friends and have some fun

I am not sure I would have made it without Ben

Don't suffer in silence

Have a chat

You never know, someone may be experiencing the same as you…

As me and Ben literally did for 80kms that day in Sydney - cheers Benny boy !

Each ‘race’ in life has it’s own rules, but many are played in a similar manner

Property is one of them…

It is one of the longest races you will ever run

Not a sprint

Not even a marathon

More like a 80km ultra

Average UK house price now? Circa £300k

10 years ago? £203k

20? £166k

30? £53k

50? £12k

Simply, time, and staying the course

The people who benefited are not the smartest (such as I)

They were just the ones who started

And the ones who had the right people around them

A good broker, for example, someone who has been down the road before, someone that can show you the ‘tricks’, using leverage, using a UK limited company, buying locations

Your Ben, essentially

So if you are thinking about starting, or are already on the course and finding it tough…

Don't run it alone

Callum

PS next week, we will have a look at some of those ‘trick’ namely, what leverage, or a

mortgage does to a portfolio, and the power of using a UK limited company