polo – danger – los angeles girl

26 Jun 2026

so that happened this week.

but we won’t discuss the weather.

but what i will say is, with temps baking phones at just under 40 degrees, i was reminded of the marathon des sables in the sahara desert, which we ran through the sand in 50 degree heat, running over a marathon distance daily, and a double marathon distance on the ‘long day’.

and as i write this blog, i just remembered a few weeks ago my mate jamie, who runs the ‘ultra’ networking groups that i spoke at last year, invited me to attend his annual ‘ultra’ social event at the polo, which i have never been to before, so i leapt at the chance.

the polo was fantastic, very exciting, fast, and extremely skilled.

but the networking was off the scale, with some awesome connections made, and one conversation in particular made me laugh on reflection.

last year i did an ‘ultra’ talk in bristol, which i really enjoyed, but was unaware of the impact it had made.

so back to the polo.

i sat down outside our gazebo, laden with scoff and beverages, and the sun shone brightly on the beautiful green grass, a memorable day beckoned.

to my left was a lady who introduced herself, and explained that she had heard me speak, and her partner who was sat next to her had run the cardiff half marathon in october, fundraising for us.

none of which i was aware of.

we chatted, and i thanked them both, and as the riders skilfully rode at full pace past us the sound of dozens of hooves pounding the ground, my mind drifted to thinking about the power of storytelling.

my story at bristol ‘ultra’ had indirectly helped fund someone’s therapy, which made me smile.

at the end of the chukka, everyone was invited to do the traditional stomping of the divots on the pitch, and when we returned to our canvas seats, phil, the cardiff half runner, sat next to me.

interesting choice phil.

we chatted about running, and phil did the most dangerous thing a person can do whilst in my company.

he said he was looking for a challenge.

ha ha, i just know there are people reading this blog who are now smiling, some that are holding their heads in their hands, and some that are screaming “step away phil, you’re too close!”.

i warned phil this was a very dangerous thing to tell me, but he kept walking towards the light.

i qualified his running ability, and landed on marathon des sables as a potential challenge.

i told phil about the toughness of the race, and how it literally changed my life, and how running the long day, an 84.3k run was to provide me with one of my best running memories ever.

after running through the day and the night, i found myself running through a vast sandy basin, probably a kilometre wide, with tall mountains on either side, and flat for the last 10k to the finish line, which i could just see faintly shimmering in the distance.

as night turned to day, the sun rose over the mountains, casting long, mountain shaped shadows, and as i ran, now bathed in the warm glow of the emerging sun, i too cast an extremely long moving shadow, i vividly remember thinking was one of the most amazing experiences i had ever had.

at the end of the next chukka we all rose from our seats, and phil proudly told his partner “i’m running marathon des sables”.

i looked at his partner, and we both smiled, and i felt like a naughty schoolboy.

“i did warn him” i mouthed, unashamedly.

i am meeting phil imminently, and will report back on progress.

i have had a great week with some really exciting breakthroughs our team have been making with a.i. literally game changing, i’ll share more very soon, but we are all amped at what we are doing in this space.

next week i am in london to attend an event with a graffiti artist ’swoon’ who has exhibited in the museum of contemporary art in los angeles, so wish me luck.