NCRC Q&A's - Chris Dunn
What’s your name? Chris Dunn
Insta Username? dunn_run
Age? 32
Where are you based? South Shields
What do you do for a living? Rep for a sport brand
When did you first really get into running? I had some mental health issues about 10 years ago and running was part of what helped me
Short runs or long ones? Short-medium trail runs for sure
What’s the Furthest you’ve ever run? 22 miles
What gets you smashing through the wall, that point in a training run or race when you’ve still got a good distance to go and things start feeling really tough, the point a lot of people Chuck the towel in at? Previous experience of not finishing races makes me finish now....it’s a horrible feeling and makes me push....and some friendly/forceful encouragement from friends on the trails
Training run or race day? Training run
Favourite race? Matterhorn ultras and Trail Outlaws Penshaw 10k
Medals, proudly display them? Or chuck them in a drawer with last years birthday cards? Proudly displayed in the shed
Keep track of your pb’s? If so, what are they? Just 5k (19:58) and half marathon (1:38) as markers but I’m not a pb chaser at all I just make sure I’m not far from those times for the distances
Do you do any other training alongside running? Weights, yoga etc? Not really, I’ll get on the bike if I’m injured, gym in the winter and I’ve been known to play football but that’s usually where I get injured
Have you suffered from any reoccurring injuries? Just constant hamstring trouble, need to work on that more in the gym
How’ve you gotten over any injuries? Rest/physio/black magic? I’ve tried all things but trusting a good physio and not coming back too soon seems to work....never trust a Facebook opinion always try and see someone who knows what they are talking about
Run with music or without? If with, what’s some of your favourite songs, albums or artists to run to? Very rarely but I have more during lockdown! I use podcasts mainly but some rock music is usually on if I’m working hard....Greta van fleet, Metallica, black sabbath and Don Broco are firm favourites
After a race, protein shake or straight for a beer? Beer 100%
Got any strange running experiences or stories? Nothing massively interesting just normal trail running stuff! Drinking beer during a race, passing out at the end of the great north run, the cleadon hills crow, falling down a river bank after a creative route choice and clambering for 20 mins to get back up.
Running goals for the future? I need to do a marathon and then an ultra to tick them off! Would love to travel abroad for a few more trail races after a few years at Matterhorn.