Many people have commented on Ed’s quiet, self-effacing presence and how you had to prise things out of him. My favourite example was on the morning of the 2014 National xc champs. We had gathered in Al Gibbons’s house and I asked Ed how he was feeling. He confessed to feeling a little tired. “Why so?” I ask. “I’m just back from a Nordic multi-day ultra race” he says. “Hang on! At this time of year it must have been snowy?” “Yes” he says. “Were you wearing tennis racquets?” “Yes.” “Have you ever worn them before?” “No.” I remember feeling astonished that anyone would plan to do (or be capable of doing) a multi-day ultra with no snow-shoe experience and then go straight to the Nationals. I don’t remember where he said he finished in the ultra but no doubt amongst the medals given he was in great form at that time. He made the top 200 of the National that day. I also had cause to be impressed by his quiet stoicism during the 3-day recce for his Bob Graham Round which I singularly failed to accompany him on. I crumbled on day one and took the bus for that day and the next 2 days but I remember chatting in the Wasdale Head Inn as he described how he was having to endure some discomfort. He was carrying a long term spinal injury of some sort, which he perpetually made light of, but he also showed us a painful looking stomach wound (I think) which was the result of a collision with something hard (I forget what). I know I remember thinking at the time that he was hewn from a very different rock. I wouldn’t have been able to run at all, never mind for three long days in the hills, with his back problem never mind the addition of the wound. Finally, I remember with affection his support of my own Bob Graham Round. I tentatively asked him if he’d mind being my mule for Leg 2. It’s a bit of a bum leg with a 2am start that requires taking a day off work and losing a night’s sleep but he agreed to it with alacrity saying ‘Leg 2 is a great run’. He of course found his way to my Round HQ in Cartmel Fell on his bicycle and then proved his worth on Leg 2 since my navigator fell off the pace and Ed took up navigating/witnessing duties. I’m only sorry he didn’t declaim the Housman Reveille as the sun rose over the Helvellyn Ridge as Matt Jones reports he did on their Round. My support team commented on Ed’s imperturbability and contented good humour in the face of some dodgy goings on as my Round played out. He will be sorely missed.