"Since my last blog I’ve had a few really good races, including my best marathon performance to date at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.

Prior to that, I had to miss the Leeds 10k due to a damaged race chair, my steering snapped during Croft 10k in Darlington, which was really frustrating since Leeds 10k is my favourite local race and I felt in great shape leading up to it! However I moved on from this and my concentration shifted towards Seoul international wheelchair marathon.

I went into the race feeling the strongest & fastest I’ve ever felt in the race chair, plus I managed to recover from the time difference between the UK and Seoul in a rapid amount of time. This could be seen through the results as I managed to push a 1 hour 32 marathon which is 4 minutes faster than I’ve ever gone and pushing with athletes which I have never managed to stay with before over that distance. The time resulted in a Paralympic marathon A standard, which doesn’t mean Paralympic selection but it’s within some of the criteria needed to gain selection (selection can be quite complicated and isn’t very black and white).

I moved up the world rankings 11 places and achieved a time which allows me selection into several races on the Abbott world major marathon circuit. I think Seoul may just be one of the best cities I’ve ever visited, the food is amazing and the place is beautiful!

The following weekend I had the Great North Run; I was extremely fatigued from the previous marathon but still managed a 4th place finish on a course which doesn’t suit me (too many hills for my liking!). The best thing about the Great North Run is the crowds! If anyone wishes to try out a half marathon, I would look no further as this run has the most support around the course out of any of the half marathons I’ve done.

The last race during this part of the season was Berlin marathon, again feeling like I was pushing even quicker than I was in Seoul. I got off to great start in the front pack amongst the athletes who went on to finish within the top 10. However, this is wheelchair racing and often there are crashes. I took a corner quickly and another racer crossed my race line through the corner, forcing me into the barriers which brought me to a stop and damaged my chair. Luckily I had an Allan key with me and could repair part of the damage which allowed me to continue. Regardless of my effort to try catch up, once you lose the front pack of strong athletes you can’t really catch them as they work together and draft to maintain a high speed as they save energy. I pushed to the finish and helped out a few other athletes to personal bests. I was always taught to be careful how you treat people on your way up the rankings, as you will pass all the same people on the way back down!

I then finished a 10 day holiday in Miami with my wife, came home 4kg heavier and thoroughly relaxed ready to begin winter training! It’s so important to take a break, especially mentally. Many athletes burn out as you spend several hours a day training, but the rest of the time managing nutrition, recovery and analysing your training and performances. Your head can get overloaded with training thoughts so it’s good to just  step back, look after yourself and focus on something else for a short while.

Getting back into training was a little tough, arms felt heavy and cadence was slow but I managed 2nd place at the Dublin marathon, a brutally hilly course but I was happy to make the podium and this provided a great warm up before getting back to business with Oita wheelchair marathon in Japan mid November, shortly followed by the Singapore marathon. I am excited to see what progress can be made as I move into this new season and carry on momentum from a successful few months of racing."

What an exciting update this quarter, thank you so much Callum. Absolutely amazing progress and we can't wait to hear how you get on in Japan and Singapore before hopefully taking a rest over Christmas! We love the points you made about helping people along the way and also the importance of taking a break. We are huge advocates for positive mental health and wellbeing so thank you for sharing your wisdom around the need for that balance in your own field of sport also.  We wish you all the best of luck with the next races."

Callum Hall is 27 years old and originally from Yeadon in West Yorkshire. He was paralysed in September 2012 after stepping on a sea urchin in Greece. This caused an epidural abscess on his spine and resulted in paraplegia. Callum was passionate about sport, being a PE teacher and playing football before his accident. He took up wheelchair racing in 2014 after hearing about it from ex patients at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield. If anyone is interested in supporting Callum to reach the next level of his career then please do get in touch with us:
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