If you’d told the Serge Pizzorno of 10 years ago that he’d one day be appearing on the front cover of Runner’s World, he would have laughed out loud.
‘I used to despise anyone that was keeping fit,’ he says. ‘If any of the bands on tour were in the gym, I’d be sat in the bar saying, “Come and have a drink with us” – but now the tables have turned and I’m running by the people outside the pub. I feel so smug about it. It’s kind of sick.’
Meeting the 45-year-old in Leicester’s idyllic Bradgate Park, where he used to go walking with his granddad as a boy, he certainly looks the picture of health: slender, stylish, energetic. Perhaps it’s because he knows that he’s played the rock’n’roll game to a tee: have a good time all the time – but get out before you become another casualty.
‘I feel like I’ve been to Monte Carlo, I’ve been to the casino and I’ve had a great time – and I’ve now managed to leave with a few chips left in the pocket,’ he says. ‘I’m not still in there playing with money I ain’t got.’
This volte face was prompted in 2020 by Serge becoming frontman of Kasabian, the multi-million-selling rock band that he formed in 1997, and realising that he needed to get in shape. ‘I knew there was no way that I could live the life I’d been living and perform my best on stage,’ he says. Running also helped him to deal with the ‘seismic moment’ when original frontman Tom Meighan was let go from the band after being charged with domestic assault. ‘There was a lot going on in my life at that time and I found that running really helped me to cope,’ he says.
Moving from guitar-wielding songwriter to rabble-rousing frontman, however, is no easy feat. Serge looked to his role models. ‘Think of people like Bowie and Jagger. When they hit the age I am now, they must have thought, “If I still want to be at the top, I need to be in good shape.”’ Kasabian’s live shows are testament to Serge’s newfound fitness. When his band play Finsbury Park in July, his step count will be through the roof. Not that he’ll know. ‘I like my running, but I’m never wearing a Garmin onstage. That’s when you know you’ve gone too far.’
So you came to running relatively late?
‘Yeah, it started in 2020. It was a crazy year and running really helped me deal with it. And since that time, it’s become a really important piece of my life. It’s funny because originally I thought I’m gonna do it in the country, nobody’s gonna see me. I’m gonna be undercover. I’m gonna wear cutoff jeans and Converse and an Iron Maiden top. Do you know what I mean? And I’ll run at night, or at 5am in the morning; no watch. Do it properly. Then slowly but surely the carbon plates come, Strava comes. I’m starting to look at HRV and how’s my cadence? It’s slowly but surely captured me and I’m just out now. I’m here. I’m ready. And it’s been a really beautiful thing. I’m not scared anymore, man.’
Further back, Forrest Gump was a big influence on my running career, too. I always think about that moment when he just starts running. It’s a really deep part of the film and I always thought, even as a kid, when I watched that film when I was 14, I wanna do that one day. He’s got that long hair and the big beard and he just runs in the desert and he’s on his own.’
Do you think one of the major benefits of running is the balance it brings to your life now?
‘Absolutely. Sometimes it’s just your time. You think, I’ve had a good time and I’m bowing out. Then when you start feeling good, that becomes the new addiction, doesn’t it? You’re like, “Oh, wow, I feel good, but how much better can I feel?” Then the sauna arrives, then the cooling mattress…’
You mentioned that you believe your years living a party lifestyle may have actually helped to prepare you for marathon running?
‘Yeah, that was an epiphany – realising I’ve been preparing for marathons by going out raving. Going out for weekends Friday, Saturday, then on into Sunday – it’s time on feet, moderating intake, replenishing hydration. Then there’s moments where you wanna go home, but you gotta keep going ’cause everyone’s still out. And the come down afterwards is similar, ’cause you feel weird after a marathon. You’re thinking, what am I gonna do now? So honestly raving prepared me for marathon running. I’m prime athlete!’
Serge is talking to us in his studio, next to his house, where he’s recently recorded his band’s ninth album, Act III. He’s clearly proud of the songs, describing the record as right up there with his best work. Among the keyboard and guitars is a dusty old PC on which he recorded songs for the band’s first couple of albums. It’s a reminder of how Serge masterminded Kasabian from his spare bedroom – a testament to not only his creative ability but his single-minded work ethic.
He’s bringing these qualities to his running, too: doing it his own way while eager to learn more about running form, training plans and the latest gear. He knows he’s an obsessive, telling us, ‘if I really committed to a proper marathon training block, Kasabian wouldn’t make another album. I’d be in Kenya doing altitude training’ – so he reins himself in to three runs a week.
But there’s also a sense that we’re still at the start of his running journey, that bigger things beckon. He clearly likes the idea of getting a Six-Star medal, though for him stepping up to ultras is lumped in with wearing a Lycra: a sure sign that your running habit has got out of control.
You’ve said you take care to make sure your running energises you rather than taking over... What does that look like for you?
‘Yes, I have to watch myself; I have to remember my job! Three runs a week is a really nice place to be. I try to do an interval run, a tempo and long on a Sunday. Ames (Serge’s wife, Amy) always has a great plan and a great coach, so I run with her a lot. But I’m a bit scattergun really. Sometimes I think I need more structure, but then maybe I don’t, ’cause as I said I have to watch myself. I guess I’ve got to a point where if I feel like going for a run, I’m just gonna go for a run.’
Is that sense of enjoying running for its own sake key for you?
‘Yeah, ‘cause there’s a danger I’ll get too into the metrics. You start looking at all the little things, which is fun to start with and they’re obviously so, so useful, but there’s also the actual art of it, the left and right metronomic feeling. You should just be happy with being able to do it – to think, I went for a run today and there’s no more information you need. It’s so beautiful. Just to be out there has given me so much, especially when I’m writing. Just having a time where nothing else exists and the ideas just flow. I just stop at the side of the road. People must think I’m mad, ’cause I’m just literally at the side of the road, singing into my phone, or writing lyrics down. Running just has a way of just clearing the slate, you know?’
How do you fit your running in around touring and the physical demands of performing as a frontman?
‘Running is a way of preparing for that and when I’m on tour, I run a lot less. I still like to get out, but just half an hour, super slow and on a day off – not before a show. It’s a great way to see a city.’
Is your running one of the few times in your life where you don’t have to be ‘Serge from Kasabian’? Is there an appeal in the anonymity?
‘We all hear those mad voices all the time. Life can be loud and there’s always something going on. Everyone can relate to that, no matter what you do. And there’s something about running that gives you the control of just calming all that down and escaping into the run. And the runner’s high really happens. For me it’s 6, 7, 8km and then… Ahhhh. And it’s incredible.’
Is your new album good to run to?
‘I think all the records that I’ve made are great to run to. I like sort of emotional, visual music and I can get quite emotional on a run. So I don’t listen to techno, I go for a bit of an odd playlist because I like emotional music. A lot of Radiohead – that’s my perfect running music; it just sends me where I like to get to. And I like music that makes you wanna strut down the street, you know? That if you were maybe at a low point, it makes you feel that now you anything is possible.
‘I also like to visualise a lot. So when I’m running, I imagine how the shows look. And you know when you spread your arms wide and see yourself running down The Mall for the finish line? I go to places like that so I like listening to music that plays into that.’
Do you ever listen to your own songs on a run?
‘I listen to the new stuff. Anything new I’m making, I get it onto my phone because once you’re out and away from the screens… I’ll be middle of nowhere and clarity will come. And I can hear exactly what I need to do – that line’s not right, or second verse needs to go or whatever.’
He may have spent a large part of his adult life indulging in the excesses of the rock star, but there’s always been something athletic about Serge. As a boy, he was a talented enough footballer to be on the books of Nottingham Forest and, in 2012, scored a sublime lob over ex-England goalkeeper David Seaman in a Soccer Aid charity match.
Briefly speaking with him about that moment – and another famous volley that he scored on the now-defunct Soccer AM – and he points out that people ask him about the goal more than the songs. ‘I once met Elton John at the Ivor Novello songwriting awards and he came straight up to me, shook my hand and said, “that was a great goal you scored”.’
Get him talking about running, however, and Serge can go all day. He has ambitions for the marathon, although he knows that he’ll never be as quick as his wife, Amy. ‘She’s my inspiration in life and as a runner,’ he says.
Is there a particular appeal in running for people like you who are obviously quite driven?
'Definitely. For me there’s definitely something appealing about how hard it is. It’s almost like when you’re starting out and the school career officers and everyone else is telling you that you can’t be in a band. As soon as you hear that, it makes you wanna do it even more! And running can be like that – those moments when every part of your soul is saying, “Stop! Just sit down. You don’t need to finish it. You’re not big and you’re not clever” – but you think, I’m finishing this. There’s something fantastic about that grind. You gotta get through it and it’s amazing where it takes you. I find that fascinating.’
So you have plans to run more marathons…
‘Yeah, I have marathon dreams now! I wanna get sub 3:30. Get that in the bag, then work from there. I think I will actually do it properly. I’ll respect the marathon, I’ll put the miles in the legs. I think maybe New York next year.’
Where do you find your running inspiration?
‘My good friend, the producer Fraser T Smith, is bang into running and that really helps because we work together and we don’t talk about music. We talk about running. He told me to watch old races on the treadmill so I’ll watch Mo Farah in 2012 on YouTube. And you’re sort of there and you almost feel like you’re in the race with them. I love doing that before gigs as well, watching a mad old race. I love a sport story.’
And you’ve mentioned that also you quite like a medal…
‘Honestly, the magpie in me… The allure of the medal is pretty weird. When I ran my first marathon in Copenhagen, I was thinking, I need that round my neck. They’re weighty, aren’t they? They’re serious bits of kit. So yeah, I feel like I just need them round my neck.’
Your wife, Amy, is an excellent runner, does that help and/or inspire you with your running?
‘She’s unbelievable. It’s amazing ’cause we’ve been together since we were kids and to so stay together for that long, you go through different phases together. And now we’re in this running phase together. Honestly, she’s an inspiration. She ran 3:01 at the Manchester marathon. Insane. Absolutely bonkers. I also know way too much about running because she’s so into it and I live in a house where Maurten comes through the door and everything you could possibly imagine. She’s also a member of Birstall Running Club and I’ve been on a few Sunday long runs with them. I don’t know whether I’d go as far as joining. No disrespect, it’s the best club in Leicester, but I like the solo thing. It is nice though – they’re beautiful people so I quite enjoy that every now and again.’
Are you into running kit and tech?
‘I’m a gearhead. I love the gear. That’s got better and it’s definitely pulled me in. Once the shoes went carbon – I love the style of them and the science behind it. And I love garments. Fashion’s such a big part of my life. It was the same with football kits growing up. Once the gear starts to get good, it’s fantastic. I buzz off it. And the science behind the carbon shoe is pretty wild. That has changed the game. Look at the sub-two recently. I hate to talk about the shoe ’cause it’s an unbelievable achievement that these lads have done, but the shoe tech is a massive part of it, right?’
It seems running has become quite cool these days. What’s your take on that?
‘Being cool has never interested me at all. For me, I just found running and I loved it. But yeah, I think it definitely has and there are two ways we can look at it: You can be narky and think, how dare you? Like when a football team gets new fans ’cause they’re doing well, you’re like, “Hold on a minute, where were you when nobody ran?” Or you can just think, you know what? It’s amazing people are getting out there. Especially with the crap they try and feed us and with the world against us health-wise, to get people out and doing stuff is phenomenal. So we’ve gotta be positive.’
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Rick Pearson is the senior editor at Runner’s World UK. He’s been with the brand since 2017 and loves testing PB-friendly shoes for on and off road. Rick is a sub-three marathoner, 4-something miler and once completed 100 miles in less than 24 hours. He occasionally likes to remind people of these feats on the Runner’s World podcast, which he co-hosts.
Rick’s running CV also includes racing a steam train over 14 miles (he won, narrowly) and a horse over a marathon (he lost, comfortably).
