Shortcuts: there are none

Gold Coast Commonwealth Games (in the Queen’s Prize pairs, with Chris Watson).

A few years ago, he took up running, initially to get fit.

You’d think there are few sports more different. But Morris realised that things he’d learned in shooting applied to running.

Morris says he was never immensely naturally talented at shooting. ‘‘It was only really in my late 20s and early 30s [when] I started to train more that things just started to make sense and crystallise,’’ he says. ‘‘I feel the same way about my running.’’

He says when he started running, he did not have any natural talent either.

‘‘I went out the door and I ran and I sucked. I ran 2 kilometres, it took me maybe 15 minutes, and then I collapsed on the sofa for another 20 minutes convinced I was having a heart attack.

‘‘I don’t have this massive aerobic capacity waiting to use, if I did I probably destroyed it smoking when I was young.

‘‘And so the thing that came to me is, if you want to do this thing and experience some of the cool things that running can bring you, you’ve got to put the time in.’’

That was not going to be a quick process, he realised. And yet, because it was something he really wanted, and that he enjoyed, he stuck to it.

It’s taken time, effort and patience, but Morris has reached a place where he enjoys running, and it’s taken him places he never would have imagined.

And now he’s reaping rewards. He’s knocking on the door of a sub-three hour marathon. And in February he broke 24 hours for a 160km trail race, coming 14th at the Tarawera Ultra. In other words, he’s no slouch.

I’ve never met anyone for whom running comes easy. But it does get easier, the more you run. And the easier it gets, the more you’ll enjoy it.

That’s another truth.

The easier running gets, the more you’ll enjoy it.

Eugene Bingham and Matt Rayment are hosts of a trail running podcast Dirt Church Radio. Learn more at dirtchurch radio.com or get in touch via email dirtchurchradio@ gmail.com