Quick review of 2015

It's been a much better year for me running wise. I lost more than 2 stone between January and the end of March, which, along with the benefit of some new medication to control my asthma, made a great difference to my running. Race highlights of the year were 3 successful ultra marathons (Fling, Clyde Stride and Devil), and a sub 20 5k for the first time for quite a few years. I didn't achieve the other targets of a sub 1.30 half marathon or a sub 40 minute 10k, but at least a got a lot closer than the last few years, with 3 half marathons in the 1.32 to 1.33 range and a 41.27 10k.

Of course the overall highlight of the year was our wedding at Norton House in November. We had a wonderful day shared with many of our friends and family, and then enjoyed a stunning honeymoon in St Lucia.

The West Highland Way Race in June went really well. Weather was kind, we didn't experience any particular problems from an organisational perspective, and Sandra ran a superb 21.57 to smash her PB by well over an hour and achieve her target. Paul Giblin continued to astound us all as to what was possible with another course record; this time he ran 14.14.44 (on his own for the full 95 miles!) to take 6 minutes off his course record from 2014.

With 2 days to go I've run 1,761 miles for the year. That's higher than the last few years but I'd hoped to get a bit closer to 2,000. However a couple of marathons, the wedding, and an niggly back injury in the last quarter of the year slowed me down a bit. It takes me to over 45,000 miles since I started running; I'm eyeing up my 50,000th mile towards the back end of 2018, all going well.

So, we've almost arrived at 2016. Entries for the WHW Race are just about finalised and a lot of the marshals are already signed up. I'm going to be 50 in January (I know, hard to believe..) and to mark this special year I've decided to run my longest ultra marathon ever - I've entered the Cateran 110 in May. I'll do other races in the build up, such as the Alloa half marathon in March, but the Cateran will be my main running focus for the next few months.

For those interested in such things, a full list of my 2015 races and times is set out below. All the best to you all for a successful 2016.

Jan-2015 5K Parkrun Edinburgh 22.36
Mar-2015 6.7 miles Lindsays Borders Marathon relay, leg 2 47.38
Mar-2015 Half marathon Loch Katrine 1.32.56
Apr-2015 5K Parkrun Falkirk 21.28
Apr-2015 10K Round The Houses, Grangemouth 42.23
Apr-2015 53 miles Highland Fling Milngavie to Tyndrum 10.49.33
May-2015 10K Antonine Trail 46.14
May-2015 Half marathon Edinburgh 1.32.35
Jun-2015 8.5 miles Milngavie Trail Race (Mugdock Park) 1.03.35
Jun-2015 5K Sri Chinmoy Race (The Meadows) 19.58
Jun-2015 6 miles Mabie Trail Race 44.09
Jul-2015 5K Sri Chinmoy Race (The Meadows) 20.06
Jul-2015 2 miles Sri Chinmoy Race (The Meadows) 12.23
Jul-2015 38 miles Clyde Stride 6.19.00
Aug-2015 42 miles Devil O' The Highlands Tyndrum to Fort William 8.14.46
Aug-2015 10K Irvine 41.27
Aug-2015 3K Glasgow Green 11.48
Aug-2015 6.5 miles Harmeny Handicap Balerno to Harrison Pk 42.33
Sep-2015 2 miles Sri Chinmoy Race (The Meadows) 12.36
Sep-2015 Half marathon Scottish, East Lothian 1.33.33
Oct-2015 Marathon Kielder 3.43.22
Oct-2015 Marathon Loch Rannoch 3.41.35
Nov-2015 5.5 miles East League Cross Country (Alloa) 42.32
Nov-2015 13.5 miles Water of Leith Handicap Race 1.34.41