My Olympic Year 2012

What a year of sports it has been! Not just for all those Olympic and Paralympic athletes, the Games Makers, London, the UK, but also for little old me (and not to forget Tam).

I have completed my biggest sporting challenge to date, the WHW Race, proudly received my Goblet and raised over £1000 for Ardgowan Hospice along the Way. All this only made possible by the tireless efforts of my support crew.

I also completed the Triple Crown, finishing both the Highland Fling Race and The Devil O The Highlands in 2012.

I was awarded a Meritorious Award, the Harkness Challenge Trophy, by my club, Greenock Glenpark.

And to round off my sporting year, I managed to skate to a new PB of 1:38:33 at the Berlin Inline Marathon. I got under 1:40 for the 1^st time despite a spectacular fall in the last 5 miles. And I had only been back on skates for the previous 4 weeks. What could I do if I skated regularly?!

I am sure Tam will blog himself, but I just have to briefly mention his great achievements this year. It was his most successful one to date, Scottish 100K Champion and Winner of the Devil O The Highlands Race. Can this be topped?!

 

There are so many fantastic memories from all these races, encounters with fellow runners and fellow supporters, the changing scenery, from the heat of the Devils to the pouring rain of the WHW Race.

But in my mind I often go back to the WHW Race. Strangely I seem to have forgotten that it poured non-stop for the first 14 hours! I remember how focused I was and how I knew it was “now or never”. How high my spirits were for most of the time and how my support crew did their best to keep them up. How I ticked off one milestone after the other, looking forward to the next meeting point. I remember my lengthy stop at Auchtertyre and my only little tantrum when my support crew could not find the exact shirt I wanted. The hike across the Devil’s staircase with Thomas when it was getting dark and he thought it was so romantic! The arrival at Kinlochleven in the middle of the night when all of a sudden you were in a buzzing place, lights, people, chatter before climbing up to the Lairig Mor. This is where my high spirits left me for a bit as the pain in my feet was pretty terrible. But Lundavra came and my whole support crew joined in for the last few miles. There was laughter, singing, chatting, hallucinations (only me) and a great sense of achievement from everyone! And I think this will be my lasting memory, how we all covered the last few miles together to get me to the finish.

And finally Thomas also managed to get the video clips from my finish uploaded. So here it is: My WHW Race Finish - my biggest sporting achievement in 2012.