Harrier PRO Trail Team: Meet Kallum Pritchard

From Rookie Mistakes to Course Records and Hard Lessons 

This week, we’re introducing Kallum Pritchard, the third member of Harrier’s brand-new Pro Trail team. A trail and ultra runner originally from Derby, Kallum now trains in North West London, where the trails are scarce, but the dedication runs deep.

His introduction to trail running? Diving straight into a 50-mile ultra at just 18 years old. With no idea what he was doing, he ran hard for 20 miles, hit a brutal wall, and had to walk the rest. It was a tough lesson but one that shaped his approach to running. A decade later, he returned to the same race, this time stronger and smarter. He won that race.

As the first of our Pro Trail team introductions, we caught up with Kallum to hear about the journey that’s got him to where he is now - a prolific winner who shows no signs of stopping

KALLUM, WELCOME TO THE HARRIER PRO TRAIL TEAM! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ON BOARD?

"I'm a big fan of Harrier as a rapidly growing British trail running brand with a great reputation for putting out good technical trail running gear at a very reasonable price. I'm looking forward to working with the team on future projects, developing the new PRO kit, and testing it at some of the top British trail running races"

YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY SINCE YOUR FIRST 20-MILER. WHERE WOULD YOU SAY YOU ARE NOW?

"I've improved a lot, over the last, I'd say two years. And that's predominantly since I left the Marines during COVID. Since then, I've been able to focus more on my running. I don't have to be in the gym every day and have that kind of build and strength. I can be more focused and tailor my training to running. So since I've been doing that and also joining a running club full time, it's improved quite a lot. I can actually enjoy the trail more and enjoy races"

IN A DECADE OF COMPETITIVE RUNNING, WHAT SETBACKS HAVE YOU FACED ALONG THE WAY?

"I think last year was a good example. My fitness had really picked up because I had a year's worth of coaching at the running club. At the start of last year, I won the Country to Capital. I then came second at the 100 Hills and then went on to set a course record at the Manchester to Liverpool 50-miler. At each one of these races, my fitness was just improving so massively.

And after each of these races, I felt invincible. I ran the next day after each race. So I had no time off at all. And it was working. So I'd be doing a 50-mile race on a Saturday, still running on the Sunday, doing a hard session again on the Tuesday. And it was working. So I got to a point where I was feeling invincible. My fitness just kept going up and up and up.

Then I did the Thames Path 100. I tried to do the same thing I'd done in all the races over the months before that. And yeah, realised I wasn't invincible, and I spent four months of last year unable to run. That then had an impact on my mental health as well. Not being able to have my main outlet meant I was just grouchy for months. 

So I'd gone through a lot of training and improved so much, felt invincible, had no rest after these big races and then learned the hard way that's not actually doable, no one can do that. Last year was a big learning curve. It turns out you do have to rest after running a hundred miles."

WHAT DOES TRAIL RUNNING BRING TO YOUR LIFE OUTSIDE OF FITNESS?

"There's a big social aspect to it. I use the time to meet up with friends I haven't seen in a while - people I used to serve with in the Marines. It’s not, “Let's meet up for a pint. " but “Let's meet up and go for a run on the trail” instead. Just having that rather than going to the pub to meet up with friends is something I quite like about the sport. And if you can run somewhere nice, it just makes it a lot better"

IS THERE A PARTICULAR RACE THAT STANDS OUT AS A DEFINING MOMENT IN YOUR RUNNING JOURNEY SO FAR?

"The Robin Hood 100 a few years ago was the first race where I'd actually had some coaching before it. So I'd gone from doing races, not really knowing how to train, to actually having a tailored package. I had proper training and guidance for the Robin Hood 100 and won that race, setting a new course record. I wasn't expecting that at all.

That’s the difference between having a good build-up with knowledge and guidance. It's made a hell of a difference, and I advise that to a lot of people who are in this kind of sport, any type of sport like this really, is just to get some help because I needed it and it's paid dividends since"

AND WOULD YOU SAY, FOR THAT RACE, THE COACHING GAVE YOU A SIGNIFICANT PHYSICAL EDGE, OR WAS IT MORE ABOUT MENTAL CONFIDENCE KNOWING YOU’D PREPARED WELL?

"Both, I think. I knew the coaches and some of my friends were looking at my tracker, and I was getting WhatsApp messages coming through on my watch. Every now and then, I'd look down, and it'd say, “slow down” or something like that"

AND DID YOU NEED TO SLOW DOWN, OR WERE YOU JUST THAT MUCH FITTER?

"Probably looking at my heart rate, to be honest, which is always naturally quite high. I did listen to them and slowed down a little bit, and it worked out okay in the end.

I tend to go balls out at most races. I go hard, and I pay for it because halfway through the race, I’ll just have nothing. Equally, sometimes, I can actually hold the pace the whole way"

IF YOU COULD GIVE ADVICE TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF WHEN YOU STARTED RUNNING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

"Slow down and train. But I still get excited at races now. I'll tell myself I'm setting off at a seven-minute mile, and I'll set off at six-minute miles. So I give advice to other people a lot with races and stuff like that now from my experience, but I wouldn't say I follow it myself a lot if I'm being honest"

Kallum bagged an amazing 2nd place in his first race as a Harrier athlete earlier this year - the Centurion Hundred Hills 50km. Click here to read the full race report.

Keep an eye out for future newsletters in this series, where we’ll be sharing more about Kallum’s training and nutrition, his approach to races, and those all-important race debriefs.