~ Field Notes ~

A long run in the Hindu Kush: What it’s like to run a marathon in remote Afghanistan.
seek challenge, endeavour better, tales of adventure, Kabul, hazara community, bamyan, buddhas of Bamiyan, big Buddha, Koh-i-baba mountain range, running, Hindu Kush, endeavour, Adventure, Bamiyan, marathon, Afghanistan Chris Shirley MA FRGS seek challenge, endeavour better, tales of adventure, Kabul, hazara community, bamyan, buddhas of Bamiyan, big Buddha, Koh-i-baba mountain range, running, Hindu Kush, endeavour, Adventure, Bamiyan, marathon, Afghanistan Chris Shirley MA FRGS

A long run in the Hindu Kush: What it’s like to run a marathon in remote Afghanistan.

In 2017, I visited Afghanistan to meet athletes redefining their future through adventure sports. These inspiring people - skiers, mountain bikers, marathon runners and parkour gymnasts, are pushing boundaries in the direst of circumstance, and I wanted to help them document the change going on in the country.

Daily security issues plague the capital Kabul and it’s assessed that the Taliban affects almost half the country.

But there are oases of relative safety in this place. Following the athletes’ example; I sought my own challenge and decided to run a marathon in a safe region that was not plagued by conflict.

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The 7 principles I follow for taking on physical challenges that intimidate me
ironman, resilience, silk road mountain race (SRMR), social mobility, determination, perseverance, motivation, neuroscience, BBC, physical challenges, intention-behaviour gap, BJJ, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, London marathon, life goals, mountaineering, mountain biking, Kyrgyzstan, bikepacking, world record, silk road mountain race, marathon, run, bike, Swim, IM triathlon, ironman triathlon, the Iron-nun, Madonna Buder Chris Shirley MA FRGS ironman, resilience, silk road mountain race (SRMR), social mobility, determination, perseverance, motivation, neuroscience, BBC, physical challenges, intention-behaviour gap, BJJ, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, London marathon, life goals, mountaineering, mountain biking, Kyrgyzstan, bikepacking, world record, silk road mountain race, marathon, run, bike, Swim, IM triathlon, ironman triathlon, the Iron-nun, Madonna Buder Chris Shirley MA FRGS

The 7 principles I follow for taking on physical challenges that intimidate me

82 years old and completing an Ironman triathlon. That’s a 2.4-mile (3.8-km) swim, followed by a 112-mile (180-km) cycle, and finishing with a 26.2-mile (42.2-km) run. Just think about that for a second longer.

It’s stories like hers that motivate me to keep going when the journey ahead seems impossible to move forward.

In the next few years, I'll be aiming to complete the Silk Road Mountain race, a 1700-kilometre continuous bikepacking race in Kyrgyzstan, and one of my biggest personal challenges since a mountaineering accident in 2019 almost permanently stopped me from doing things I love altogether.

There are the 7 principles that I use to fit training to previous adventures that I’ll use to get myself to the finishing line.

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