The Salopian no. 157 - Winter 2015

56 OLD SALOPIAN NEWS
James Humpish - the making of a runner
When joining Shrewsbury School
in 2008, I was far from the fittest
Third Former. Coming 103rd in the
New Boys’ Race and 500th in my first
Tucks run, the original plan was not to
involve myself with the Hunt. I think
at the time the feeling was mutual;
the Hunt probably didn’t want too
much to do with me either. The Benjy
course is about 2.25km and at the
age of 13 I could take that on in just
about 16 minutes – the length of time
it would take most to do the course
in a brisk walk.
By the time I had
left Shrewsbury
in 2013, I had
brought my
Benjy time down
to 8 minutes and
12 seconds (I
can remember
every one of
those seconds
vividly) and I
had participated
in Shrewsbury’s
first ever half marathon, finishing in
the top 100 out of approximately 3,000
(a position better than my New Boys’
Race!) in 94 minutes.
What had happened?
The answer to that question is
incredibly hard to pinpoint. I can
remember towards the end of my first
term signing up to do regular sessions
with the RSSH, who were just about
to begin their reformation under the
newly-arrived Mr Middleton. But I’m
not exactly sure why I did. I can just
remember the first session having to
run 4 kilometres continuously, with Mr
Middleton there to make sure I didn’t
lag, and finding it incredibly painful
and rather embarrassing. But for some
reason I didn’t give up. It was also
before the time when sport was made
compulsory in autumn 2009. If I had
wanted to, I could have dodged sport
for just a little longer. The inspirational
tutelage from Mr Middleton must have
had a lot to do with it. The feeling of
going just a little bit faster than last
week must have had something to do
with it as well. Having the support of
my friend and the 2013-14 Huntsman,
Ed Mallett, must also have helped a
great deal too.
Some improvement came quickly,
which in retrospect isn’t too surprising
as it couldn’t have got a lot worse! By
Fourth Form I could run for a nice
little while, having learned some routes
that would later become symbolic of
my time at Shrewsbury – the Berwick,
the route to Haughmond Hill and Lyth
Hill all became routes I could do in my
own spare time by the end and served
to relieve the tension I was building in
tackling A-levels. As I developed and
grew older, I tried to deal with running
and how to get to grips with it. I think
the trick to it was that it wasn’t really
a physical challenge. It was obviously
physically demanding, and my current
physique is incredibly grateful for that.
But it was a challenge of character.
It required as much emotional and
intellectual strength as it did physical.
The final time I ran a Benjy, it felt
surreal because I didn’t have to think
about my direction in the slightest,
only my speed, because the reactions
to the route were second nature. I’ve
worked out I must have done the
route near enough 500 times in my
five years at Shrewsbury.
I really loved the Hunt and the spirit
of it and I’d really love to be able to
give a full account of why I joined
and why I grew to love it, but I don’t
feel I can. It just happened. I felt
better about myself after a run and
more so when I had improved my
time. I liked the effects of running
much quicker than I liked running
in itself. I think it might not have
been until Lower Sixth that I enjoyed
running for the sake of running.
Then I don’t think it was until Upper
Sixth that I actually realised I’d actually
gained some competence in running.
In January 2013, Mr Middleton took
me aside and I thought he was going
to give me a target for my final
running season; something relatively
straightforward like a sub-9 minute
Benjy. In actuality, he had taken me
aside to tell me that he was making
me the captain of the 2nd VIII. I was
no longer a distant follower in the
Hunt, but I was actually taking a lead
in it!
As months became years in the Hunt,
strangely I had learnt to love crosscountry
running and it had learnt to
love me. I was never going to be the
greatest runner in the world, but to
make it something I could do when I
had once been its antithesis had been
something that transformed my whole
attitude to sport.
I ran the half marathon in my last
week at Shrewsbury – a fitting
conclusion to my time at the School.
I had thought then that that would
probably be my final formal running
event and from then on I could
comfortably retire from competitive
running and keep it casual.
Since leaving Shrewsbury, I’ve been
a student at the University of York,
studying Philosophy, Politics and
Economics. It’s a fantastic city for
running – there are some great routes
out into the countryside and following
the Ouse has taken me on sights not
unlike the ones the Severn took me
once upon a time. But there was
something missing in the way I was
running; I wasn’t pushing myself the
way I used to.
Quite late into the game – about two
months in advance – I decided to run
the Yorkshire Marathon. The most
I’d really ever run before registering
was about 25 kilometres – and that
was only because I had got lost
once. Supporting the Jane Tomlinson
Appeal, in October 2015 I ran the full
42.2 kilometres (or as I prefer to think
of it – 19 Benjies!) in 4 hours and 12
minutes. The speed it took me to do
the full marathon was in fact, I think,
run consistently at a speed above my
New Boys’ Race.
Seven years since joining the RSSH,
a few people have taken an interest
in my journey as a runner. I think my
determination to run stemmed from a
hope to be a little healthier and a little
fitter, but as I got into it, it became
more of a race. Every week I wanted
to race the person I was the previous
week and not worry about what
everyone else was up to.
The Hunt has allowed me to go from
the Third Former who barely finished
the New Boys’ Race to a passable
marathon runner who’s at a quandary
as to where to
take his running
career next. The
Hunt let me look
at my past record
on running and
has prompted
me to always run
hard, and run
well, and may
the devil take the
hindmost!