The Loch Ness marathon was a bit of an afterthought on my race calendar. After struggling the last few miles at the Stirling Marathon, I wondered if my Edinburgh Ultra run in October might be a bit ambitious. One way to know for sure was to sign up for a long-distance event a short while …
If I had to sum up this experience in one word, it would be phenomenal. That covers the effort involved to get race ready (which I covered in this previous post), the scenery along most of the route, the hospitality shown by Inverness for the Festival, the running community in general, and my experience of …
Never has a race so completely dominated my life for months as this one did. I’d done two 10ks, a couple of 10 milers, and plenty of 5ks, but at the time I signed up for Loch Ness Marathon, on 11th June, I’d not even run a half marathon as I’d had to withdraw from …
Although Dundee is my nearest city at just over half an hour away, I’ve never made the trip to Camperdown Parkrun until now. Montrose Parkrun is just so friendly, close by, and flat! I’d heard tales of a tough uphill climb, and a downhill that could be a little scary in frosty conditions, so hadn’t …
I entered the Auchterarder Half Marathon for no other reasons that I saw it online when I was bored and “Hey, a race!”, so I clicked submit. I knew nothing of this race other than it was the first event last year; well I was in and basically forgot all about it. Training since my …
The Forfar 10K is a cheerful local event organised annually by the Forfar Road Runners, and I’ve been attending it every year since 2014. It’s always set in August, and as a result, my previous Forfar 10Ks have been some of the most notoriously hot and muggy races I have ever participated in. Earlier in …
My participation in the Crombie 10K was certainly not planned. My legs were still stiff from the Dundee Half DRAM when the Crombie 10K happened across my newsfeed, but I’m always game for a good local race so I thought I’d investigate it further, only to discover that the event was taking place the very …
The Dundee Half DRAM and I have something of a history. It was my very first half marathon back when I was getting started in the longer distances in 2014. At the time it seemed arduous and never ending, the looming three-hour time limit the only thing propelling me forward. I bring up my first …
Seven Seconds Away… (cue Neneh Cherry) I signed up for this race the day after BHGE 10k. I’d been mulling it over for a while, but figured it would be a good re-introduction to half marathons. My one and only half prior to this point was the Great Scottish Run in 2005, back when …
I only went and won it. I’ve never placed in a run before. When I do a parkrun there always seems to be some really rapid folks ahead of me. This was a great experience. I could talk about the relatively small field and the fact it was listed as a fun run rather than …