David Howarth, 64, originally from Nottingham, joined MAC in 2023 when he moved to Matlock after 28 years living in Steyning, West Sussex. He lives in Matlock by himself but has a partner, Alessandra who lives in London, and two children who live in Bristol and Thonon-les-Bains (France).
When did you start running and why?
I watched the first London marathon in 1981 and thought I’d like to do that sometime. In December 1981 during a Christmas drinking session in Manchester I and a colleague made a bet we would run the Manchester marathon in 1982. I did, he didn’t. I ran two marathons before racing over any other distance (that wasn’t strange in the early 1980s as the marathon boom took off). I’ve been running ever since apart from time out with injuries.
Haha! And they say alcohol is not good for you. It turned you into a runner!
All time PBs?
5K: 21.29 (Brighton 2014 – I didn’t race a 5K until 2014)
10K: 34.48 (Blackpool 1986)
10 miles: 57.59 (Windermere to Kendal 1984)
Half marathon: 1.16.29 (Wilmslow 1986)
Marathon: 2.50.29 (Edinburgh 1984 – it wasn’t a downhill route then, and with an emotional finish on the track in Meadowbank stadium).
Fairfield Horseshoe: 1.29.03 (1986)
I see on Strava that running is only one of your many hobbies! Cycling and hiking seem to be your passion too?
Throughout my life I’ve cycled as a means of transport including commuting to work (and then I’d go for a run in the evening!). I started having Achilles tendon problems in 2012 and following a rupture in 2016 it was several months before I was able to run and even longer before I could run properly. I started cycling as a substitute and when I fully recovered from the Achilles injury I decided I wasn’t going to drop cycling completely. Audax cycling events are the cycling equivalent of fell races – small scale, low cost, friendly and minimalist. I’m a member of Matlock Cycling Club as well as MAC
I’ve hiked since I was a teenager. I love mountain environments and wild places – being in these places is the closest I get to anything that you might define as spiritual.
I have just 15 Munros left to climb in Scotland – that has been a lifetime objective, my first was 1974, aged 14. I’ve hiked extensively in the mountain areas of the UK and I’ve done a few trips in the Alps, some of them leading groups for Ramble Worldwide (in 2011 I got my Mountain Leader Award). Last November as a client of Mountain Kingdoms I went on the Three high passes to Everest trek in Nepal. That was incredible – I’d wanted to go trekking in Nepal for at least thirty years.
I followed your hiking challenge on Strava – Cape Wrath Trail, one of the most challenging, unmarked routes through the Scottish wilderness. Not for the faint hearted! Please tell us more about it.
The Cape Wrath Trail (CWT, Fort William to Cape Wrath) was something else I’d wanted to do for quite some time. I have described it as needing to scratch the itch and now retired I had no reason not to do it this year. Most of the 250 miles of the trail are on existing paths and tracks although there are a few pathless sections. There are no Cape Wrath Trail signposts as it isn’t an ‘official’ trail. I cannot rate it highly enough – it is simply incredible. My overnight accommodation consisted of six bothies, four wild camps, two campsites, one hostel, one B&B and one hotel.
On some days I would walk for 7-8 hours and see no-one. The scenery is second to none (ok not as spectacular as Nepal’s peaks, but the sense of wilderness, isolation is really special). I met others doing it, from USA, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Scotland and England.
One of the funniest moments was when four days from the end I turned a corner crossing a mountain pass and found myself face to face with a Belgian walking the CWT in the other direction. He’d had a difficult time on the terrain around Cape Wrath where there is a long pathless section. His advice to me was ‘Follow the sheeps’. Perhaps because I didn’t seem that grateful for this piece of advice, he felt the need to tell me his age, “I’m 62” he said. Before I could control myself, I top trumped him by blurting back “well I’m 64”.
I chose April to do it as the days were fairly long, but mostly because it is pre-midge season. Particularly if you’re camping the little sods can really make your life hell. I was very lucky with the weather. The first day it rained heavily, all day, but after that I had only the occasional shower to contend with and plenty of sunshine. I reached Cape Wrath after 15 days, exactly as per my schedule.
What’s your next challenge?
A lot of people have asked me that question. I have a bucket list swishing around in my head but for some reason I refuse to commit it to text. Since 1989 I have been going to Scotland once a year for 5-6 days with an old schoolfriend to bag Munros. Two more trips should see me completing them, so in 2026.
In 2027 I’m going to walk the Coast to Coast (St Bees Head to Robin Hoods Bay) as it will be 50 years since I walked it as a 17-year-old. That’s potentially an interesting angle (I have a diary from the 1977 trip – although it’s quite boring) and everyone is supposed to have a book in them – we’ll see. I want to do to some more cycle touring, maybe the Wild Atlantic Way down the west coast of Ireland and/or the North Coast 500 in Scotland which goes over the Bealach na Ba, supposedly the best cycling hill climb in Britain. Some European cycling tours and some more mountain treks in Europe.
What are your other hobbies?
Has your career panned out as planned?
Wow, that’s a heavy one. Need to change the tense – did my career pan out as planned? as I’ve been retired since April 2023. I’m not sure I ever had a career plan. I got a degree in Civil Engineering and qualified as a chartered Civil Engineer while working for North West Water (now United Utilities). I worked for them 1986-94 through the privatisation of the water industry which I didn’t agree with and was a big reason why I left to join the National Rivers Authority (which merged into the Environment Agency in 1996, poacher turned gamekeeper). I had an enjoyable career in the EA. I had several jobs, which in summary were mostly to do with facing up to water companies to try and get them to improve their environmental behaviour and performance. When they fail to even meet legal requirements you can imagine it’s challenging to persuade them to go further than that. There was a good culture in the EA and most of the staff were well motivated so it was a pleasure to manage people.
So to come back to the question, no, because there was no plan. I stayed in a job until I felt like I needed to do something different and then looked around to see what was on offer, and applied if I liked the look of something.
I look back on my career with satisfaction, and feel privileged to have gone to work to do something I believed in.
Best holiday you have ever had?
It’s hard to single out one, if I had to it would be from this list – Cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats (1989, just before the birth of my daughter), the Cape Wrath Trail, exploring California/Arizona with a young family (2001), The Three High Passes to Everest trek.
If you could invite three famous people to a dinner party, who would they be and why?
Nelson Mandela – The greatest statesman and leader, ever. Imprisoned by the apartheid regime, he chose to stay in prison on Robben Island rather than renounce his beliefs. And when he was released, incredible leadership as South Africa’s first post-apartheid president, showing no bitterness towards the people who imprisoned him.
John McEnroe – I played tennis in my teens and twenties and when McEnroe burst on to the scene everyone hated ‘superbrat’. Being contrary I openly supported him. His behaviour wasn’t great but he turned tennis into an art form. He could play every shot. At his peak he was untouchable. In later life he has shown his true genial, insightful and kind personality.
Jacinda Ardern – I wouldn’t want my dinner to be an all male affair, so here is another inspirational leader. What a contrast between how she took New Zealand through the Covid pandemic and our own botched efforts.
I’m sure we’d have some great discussions about the state of the world, sport, human behaviour and qualities and with such lively personalities I’m sure we’d have a lot of laughs. My only problem would be I’d be so in awe of them I’d find it difficult to speak.
Music or silence?
Horses for courses. In my house music more often than silence. I’m a 70s prog rocker at heart (Yes, early Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Camel) and more recently Indie bands. In wild places if I can’t hear the birds, the wind or water I love therapeutic silence.
What makes you happy?
What makes you laugh?
Monty Python’s Life of Brian – the funniest film ever made.
Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse characters.
I find situations funny, not jokes (there was an Irishman an Englishman and a Scotsman….yawn)
A must-read book and a must-see film?
Book – Enduring Love by Ian McEwan. The opening chapter will blow you away.
Film – The Shawshank Redemption. A non-sexual love story between two men and Andy’s retribution against the prison governor is so satisfying.
What’s your favourite local pub and what’s your favourite drink?
My local is the Newsroom on Smedley Street. Originally a newsagents, during Covid the owners started selling beer to keep afloat and conversion to a pub followed. Great atmosphere, quirky and friendly. Favourite drink – a good IPA.
Thank you for your time David. One of the reasons I love MAC is the people who inspire me to push my limits, set new challenges, be better than I was yesterday (in many ways, not just running!) or simply try and be less boring!! And you are one of them
