This time last year I was 2 stones overweight, so in March I wrote out a training plan and got to work. Once down to my racing weight I ran a 10k race and 2 half marathons. In total in 2009 I ran 871 miles (about the length of Great Britain).

looking back it was a mixed year. On one hand great satisfaction because of my running, on the other  deep sadness at my father dying, and the challenges and joys of being a parent to teenagers. The thing that kept me strong through everything was running.

In 2010 I’ll run the Edinburgh marathon, and get faster times in all distances, setting a few records on the way.

I’ll look back at a successfull year, be able to speak and write Spanish in 2010 and to teach English as a second language. Some nice surprises are welcome too.

Enjoy my local winter pictures:

If you enjoyed this montage, please rate it & comment on >>YouTube

This event has been held Annually on New Years Day for the last 23 years.
Runners (and Walkers) are mainly from Langholm (the muckle toon) and near by towns but have been known to travel further to run the 8.5 mile course through beautiful countryside.

Last years event attracted 62 walkers and runners and the fastest time winner of the bottle of whisky was in 57 minutes, 27 seconds. The course record is 46 minutes, 49 seconds.

This years results: Only one runner got inside the hour, the winner in 58 mins 30 secs. second equal did it in 1 hr 5 mins. Fourth (and first female) finished in 1 hr 8 mins. In total 46 runners and walkers took part.

MY Story
Woke up feeling good. A quick look out the window I saw a covering of snow. Even the 30 minute drive on snowy roads didn’t put me off, I was looking forward to this. Once at Langholm I found the starting area and was quite surprised to see other runners, even if it was only 5. A few more arrived and we wished each other a happy new year. The others asked who I was and was I from Langholm. Obviously wondering who this fit looking guy was :rolleyes:. I asked how does this work, and the answer came, “you time yourself”. The aim is to finish for 11 am, some walkers had already set off.

A group of women were raring to go and I set off with them, recognizing a few talented faces. I soon realized they weren’t going fast enough so I picked up the pace. However I slowed when I realized I didn’t know where I was going and there were no marshals, mile markers etc. A girl shouted to me to keep going so I took off like a hare .

I passed two walkers then at a fork in the road I took the wrong road and run for another 1.5 miles before realizing my error so turned back adding at least 3 miles to my morning. I ended up running off road unsure if I was on route, so decided to give up and run back home the way I’d came. Fortunately I met another runner who assured me we were on the right path and he had started late. So we ran together as I memorized the route for next new year 2011. Also we both slipped painfully as did most going by the slip tracks.

At the finish no-one was waiting as it was half past 11. I thanked my good friend (who’s watch stopped at 1:18, mines said 1:54) and drove home bruised but happy.

Note about the above picture:
The photo was taken at Gretna to give some idea of conditions, actually snow was much thicker at Langholm on the first January.

1.  I’ve slept through an earthquake while my house shaked

2.  I’ve seen Pink twice in concert

3.  I’m a ‘black belt’ in kung fu

4. I passed my driving test at the 4th attempt

5.  I became a dad at age 25

6.  I became a single parent at age 28

7. I stopped driving for 10 years due to becoming a parent

8. I was named Ernie after my grandfather, who appeared (in spirit) at the foot of the bed in maternity

9.  My great great great uncle, Kirkpatrick Macmillan invented the bicycle

10. My great great grandmother Mary Marchbank was the first girl on a bicycle

11. I’m going to be a great uncle myself soon, in 2010 infact

12. I grew up in the countryside in a small Scottish village

13. I’ve never tried drugs, don’t smoke, and only drink occasionally

14. I don’t have any tattoos….or maybe I should say, yet?

15. I was in hospital as a child with suspected meningitis. The whole class sent me cards and letters, it was really nice

16. When I was 13/14 I kept and bred tropical fish, I was quite an expert. I also collected 50 types of cactus plant.

17. I was an Infantry soldier for a couple of years

18. I once jumped from a cliff top into the sea.

19. I have grown my own vegetables

20. I was vegetarian for a year but missed Christmas dinner too much

21. I take a multi vit and mineral suplement, vit C powder, and glucosamine tablet every day

22. I learnt to play chess aged 11, and have since taught many friends and family

23. I went on a day trip to Venice whilst on a school ski-ing holiday in Italy

24. I’m proud to be Scottish

25. I’m learning Spanish

26. In 1981 (the week Charles and Di got married) me and a friend spent 4 days cycling to Girvan and back. A total of 205 miles, we were 15

27. I’ve ran 9 x half marathons so far (at Nov 2009).

28. I’m currently training for the Edinburgh Marathon 2010, my first full marathon

29. I’m qualified in Massage, acupressure, sports injuries, and nutritional therapy

30. I proposed to my girlfriend on Christmas day during dinner in front of my family. You could say I’m romantic.

Today Is The Beginning . . .

This half marathon starts from Carlisle castle, runs through Carlisle city centre, through some villages, then finishes at an all weather running track in Carlisle. The medal was a nice one and finishers also recieved a technical t-shirt from sponsors New Balance.

I ran 1:40:38 in tough conditions. This one as promised was for Dad.

This was billed as the oldest race of its kind still organized by the same club. I still have a lovely medal and good memories from doing this as a 25 year old.

I give myself 6 – 7 months to train with this one race in mind. In March I could manage 10k in 60 minutes. By Sept 1st I could manage 10k in 42 minutes, so training went well.
The only hiccup was a cold/infection that meant virtually no runs in the last 2 weeks. It probably meant I lost a bit of endurance, but not much.

THE RESULT
I was 105th in 1:42:15 (7:48 pace average).
I was originally aiming to match my 93 minute PB (June 1991), but on the day I’d have been happy to get around in sub 95 mins. I’d even have put money on getting under 100 mins. However I’m not disappointed, it was a respectable enough time and I learnt a lot (mainly, start slower, and run your own race – see later >>)

INTERESTING STATISTICS
1st Male = 72:50, 1st Female = 84:41, 1st Male 40 = 79:16
There were 220 finishers, about 2/3rds of those were over the age of 40. I finished in 1:42:15 and in 105th place. Of those who beat me, 21 were actually aged over 50, 9 of those were over 55, and 3 of those were over 60 (at least one was 65).

A LITTLE STORY
As I said, I was aiming somewhere between ‘dream time’(sub 90) and ‘no thanks time’ (over 1: 40), and I believed I’d get close to my PB (93 mins).
The first mile was downhill and I hit it in 6:52 which I was excited about as I knew that was the exact pace for an 89:57 half marathon.
It was at this point that another runner struck up a conversation with me. Alistair turned out to be an experienced vet 65 years old, but alas there was no M65 category in this race. He’d won 9 out of 10 races this year and ran in the Inverness Marathon.
By mile 2 (14:15 oops) realizing I’d slowed I left my friend and picked up my pace. By mile 3 he’d caught up with me and suggested we help each other. An old ultra runner’s trick he said, take turns to shelter from the wind and it could save minutes. I went along out of politeness and we were having a great chat too. At 4 miles (29 mins) I realized we were running at 7:15 pace (a 95 minute half marathon) and settled for that. However my new friend suggested changing the lead every 2 lamposts. In hindsight I think this constant change of pace took it out of my legs, but I’m not making excuses (much lol).
By 7 or 8 miles my legs felt heavy and I slowed leaving my much older friend to push ahead. He finished in 79th place in 1:37:34.
THE END / MY VERDICT
I’d been waiting so long to do this race (18 years) that I was just glad to get it out of my system and ‘move forward’. So no disappointment with the time as I know it’ll improve. A slight disappointment however was that the organizers didn’t provide medals to all finishers. I’d have gladly paid extra for this. Instead we got a mug and a bottle of lucozade.
The 2 Best Bits: YouTube – Dumfries Half Marathon 2009

I was laughing from page one, roaring with laughter by page 9. It’s a long time since a book made me laugh out loud but ‘Pull Up A Sandbag’ by Jonathan Smiles did many times. Well written collection of anecdotes. It was almost like being there, sometimes painfully lol.