Before I started this challenge I had already run a few marathons (17 actually) and even some ultra-marathons (7 of those), so I knew how it felt to train for and run one, but completing the distance once a month every month for a year did teach me a thing or two…

1. I am more resilient than I thought
I have never really liked change and I used to get stressed and grumpy when things don’t go to plan. However, over the course of this challenge, literally nothing has gone to plan. Even before the dreaded Covid hit, I had already had to change my January marathon plans when work travel to Doha meant I couldn’t do the marathon I had booked in Yorkshire. Of course, it worked out well as it meant I could do Doha marathon, then our luggage was lost which I found super stressful. But my faithful sidekick Tracey has a much cooler head than me and we sorted it all out and ended up with some nice new kit courtesy of BA. By the time plan A, then plan B was cancelled for November, it was like water off a duck’s back, I had changed my plans so often, I have definitely learned to be more resilient – even the best laid plans change and often it may work out for the better!

2. Marathons are a really long way
Honestly, you would think I know this by now but there is genuinely a point in every marathon where I think, “crikey this is a long way”!! I am not sure if that will ever change.

3. You will lose speed when running 12 Marathons
You’d think with all those miles I was running I would get faster, but no, I definitely got slower. Maybe some of that was due to the lockdown snacking and the fact that running club wasn’t on so I wasn’t doing as many hard speed or interval workouts, but also there isn’t much time for recovery between marathons, so I slowed down. I did gain a lot of mental strength though for long, slow running.

4. I need to listen to my body
One of the biggest things I was worried about during this challenge was getting injured but thankfully I have stayed injury free and I think this is due to the fact that during the past 12 months I have started to learn how to listen to my body better and how to do what it needs – taking some rest days, stretching out the niggles, getting a massage, going to bed early. I do have the awesome Camilla Bates from Camilla Bates Physiotherapy and Jen Herbert from Fulcrum Myotherapy on speed dial though to help me with all this, and they have ironed out many a knot in my muscles and helped me address any muscle imbalances going on. Thanks guys!

In listening to my body, I also started to take multi vitamins and minerals to support all this activity. Huge thanks to Clarissa Escober-Doonan from USANA Health Sciences Inc. who kindly provided me with Usana nutritional supplements free of charge.

5. I also need to be kind to myself
I have suffered from anxiety for longer than I can remember, I overthink things and I worry far too much what people think. I am pretty good at managing it now, I have some great friends who I can talk to when I feel low and I have a toolbox of CBT style techniques I can call upon. BUT, after a marathon, when I am tired and sore, my mental health takes a dip. I don’t have the energy to use the techniques, nor can I go and blast a run to get some endorphins. Instead I mope about the house a bit then feel bad that I should be doing housework but I’m too tired to. Then it all becomes overwhelming. Then the anxiety kicks in and tells me mean things, including how much I hate pictures of me, which are now plastered all over social media.

BUT, over the course of this challenge I have learned to be kinder to myself post-marathon, to give myself permission to sleep a lot, to not do any housework or to feed the kids cereal for dinner. The aforementioned great friends have learned to keep an eye on me, to reach out and support me. And it’s getting easier each time – as they say, this too shall always pass.

6. There will always be someone else more amazing
I know people who run marathons for breakfast and then go out and train properly! Ok, not quite but I do know a lot of runners who have run the whole of the West Highland Way (95 miles) in ONE go, others who have done 200+ mile races and my own brother and sister in law each ran over FIFTY marathons in one year once!! We are all amazing in our own way though!

7. Runger is real
Weirdly I can’t eat much after a marathon, as Tracey will testify as she has watched me nurse a poke of chips while she hoofs down everything in sight. But give me a day or two and my goodness, the RUNGER is REAL, I literally cannot stop eating. However, I have learned to fill up on protein rather than sweets as, even though I want to eat tonnes of sweets, it really doesn’t satisfy the hunger and I don’t feel good for it afterwards.

8. Virtual races can be just as much fun as real ones
Like marmite, folk either love a virtual marathon or really hate them. I had done a few prior to this pandemic, mainly as an excuse for Tracey and me to plan an adventure and award ourselves a medal, but I can also see why some folk see them as a bit pointless. We’ve all had to embrace them this year though and in the end seven of my marathons ended up as ‘virtual races’. I loved the Lockdown Marathon in April as we all started at the same time and there was a live leaderboard. The virtual West Highland Way in June was really special – there was an immense community spirit around it and lots of camaraderie. Then there was the virtual London marathon which was such good value for money and so well organised with an app telling us where we would have been if we’d been in London, and 40,000 other runners hitting the streets at the same time, of which we saw several. Our own made up ‘not the New York Marathon’ virtual was amazing fun too.

9. I cannot pee for ages after a marathon – or in front of an audience
You need to read my Doha marathon blog for the full story behind this one but it took me 2.5 hours to produce a teeny sample – even after drinking about 8 bottles of water! And on the subject of my body, I have also learned I have good marathon running shaped feet – I have never lost a toenail which is a common woe of many a marathon runner and I think it is because I have quite square feet and my second toe is shorter than my big toe which is apparently unusual!

10. I love lapped courses
I really do! The first lapped race was Doha – 5.25km out along the corniche, 5.25km back, four times. I thought I might be bored but I LOVED it – I got to know the route and ticked off the main sights each time, I saw Tracey loads and we hi-fived as we passed and I just concentrated on the leg I was currently on rather than the distance I had run, it felt so much easier than an A-B which seems to go on forever! My February marathon in Pateley Bridge was 5 loops of 5 miles (plus a little out and back at the start), again it felt so much shorter than an A-B route. Then during lockdown I ran a marathon round the field next to my house, 23 1.1 mile laps, I changed direction every 5 laps and my family took it in turns to join me every third lap, the time and distance flew past. By the time I ran my August marathon in Milton Keynes, which was 7 laps of a lake, my love of lapped races was cemented (just not my love of 30-degree heat!).

11. Self-pride is the best kind of pride
It’s hard to explain what it feels like to finish this challenge, despite all the hurdles along the way, the feeling of reaching my goal was worth it all. I am so proud of myself, not just for the running (that was kind of the easy bit) but all the fundraising too, I am SUPER chuffed to have raised so much money for the Aberdeen Neonatal Unit, more than twice my original goal, which itself felt a huge target to start with, and while it is nice that my friends and family are all proud of me too, it is how I feel about myself that made it all worth it. I have learned that if you challenge yourself to do something that’s out of your comfort zone, make a goal and commit yourself to reaching it, the pride you will feel will be worth the journey.

12. I have the most AMAZING family and friends
I don’t even know where to start with this one – from Tracey who not only ran 9 of my marathons with me (including the lockdown one on her treadmill) but also helped me plan awesome virtual adventures when just about every plan I had made changed; to Rhona who donated every month and wrote hillarious limericks; to Vikki, Iain and Gina who trawled all the way to Pateley Bridge with me for one night away; to all my #dreamteam colleagues who have supported me every step of way in more ways than I can mention; to my besties, Alyson and Bex; who always pick me back up when I am down; to my other nct mummies who are always there with kind words and (virtual for now) hugs; to ALL the people who came out to cheer us on the virtual London and virtual New York marathons; and ALL the people who have sponsored me; and last but not least my long suffering family, Ali, Oliver and Emily, who have given me the time to train and race, have put up with the post race grumpiness/uselessness and still tell me I’m awesome. I really do have some pretty great family and friends. I LOVE YOU ALL!

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So, 12 marathons in 12 months – DONE. What’s next??

I’ve made it through the year to marathon #12 and I’d like to finish with a bang (since I was supposed to be running New York marathon and then Glen Ogle that I booked as a replacement was also cancelled) so I’ve planned a virtual run to top all virtual runs and I’d love to have supporters en route.

The plan

A New York themed Remembrance Day run on Sunday 8th November with Tracey. We’ll be dressing up:

And taking the Statue of Liberty on a tour of statues, memorials and Sculptures in Aberdeen before heading down towards Stonehaven via Cove, Old Portlethen, Downies and Newtonhill.

The route

You can view the route here: https://bit.ly/3oWH85w

The rough plan is as follows and we’re hoping to be in Duthie Park to observe a two minute silence at 11am.

How you can support

We would love to see as many people as possible (within social distancing rules of course) throughout the route, so pick a spot and come cheer us on!!

This Sunday, 8th November, 9.30am!!

I ran this one for Rowan, Callum and Matthew:

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The 40th London marathon was a race I always wanted to run, with it being one month after my 40th birthday. A few years ago I decided to see if I could train hard and get a good for age time and get in without relying on getting through the ballot. At first I needed to run 3:50 as I’d be 40 by race day, then the rules were changed so I’d have to run 3:45 as I was 38 when I ran the time. Imagine how DELIGHTED I was when I took 13 minutes of my previous pb to run 3.43.31 at Loch Ness marathon, I’d done it, I’d be running the 40th London Marathon.

Except… another rule change meant that only 3000 women would get a place instead of everyone that applied. Still, the previous year everyone had got in so I felt hopeful when I entered… I actually sobbed when I got an email to say that they’d reduced the time to 3.40.45 and I didn’t have a place 😦

Fast forward nearly a year, and with coronavirus getting in the way, the original race was postponed, the new race was cancelled (apart from elite runners) and the 40th race had gone virtual. I had the opportunity to enter again and I snapped it up, I could finally earn the 40th London Marathon medal albeit on my own route in my own time.

To start with I made plans with a few people to run together, then the rule of 6 was introduced meaning, in Scotland anyway, we were limited to running with just one other family. Obviously I wanted to run with Tracey as she’s been a huge support throughout this challenge but it was a shame not to be able to run with other friends who’d entered the race.

Tracey and I started to make plans and we decided on a Queen theme since we would have been in London seeing the Queen. We planned a route around Balmoral castle but then discovered we’d need mobile signal the whole time for the marathon app to work so we changed our plans. I’d always thought it would be nice to run from the neonatal unit to Stonehaven (ie Emily’s journey home from hospital) and we decided to combine that with seeing as many Queen related roads as possible. And of course, it’s the London Marathon, so we had to dress up…

We arrived at the start to find two of our lovely colleagues, Rhona and Regina, there to cheer us off which was amazing given it was 9am on Sunday morning. After much faffing with phones (we needed to start the official app and login to the live wall), we were off…

No sooner were we off the hospital grounds, we heard more cheers, here was another of our lovely colleagues, Janice, out of her bed on a Sunday morning to support us! Round the corner, more cheers, it was Emily from the Archie Foundation, she was excited we were going right past her house and was up and out in the rain to cheer us on. She also told me she couldn’t see me on the tracker, I checked and WHAT AN IDIOT, I had managed not to actually start it 🤦‍♀️ so now I was half a mile ahead of it. We also decided to ditch the live wall at this point as we couldn’t really get it to work.

Another corner, another awesome colleague, Sandi, this was so fun! Then we started ticking off the Queen-named roads and taking selfies at each…

On Queens Road we were cheered by some people we didn’t know, turns out they were out supporting someone else and we saw them several times over the next few miles.

With all Aberdeen Queens ticked off, we headed out to the Queen Mother Rose Garden at Hazlehead park and on the way got more cheers from a pal, Karen, who’d popped out to see us. We wasted some time taking pictures at the wrong rose garden (!!) then carried on our way down to the Deeside Way, a former railway that carried the Queen out to Balmoral Castle in days gone by.

After the previous day’s heavy rain, the railway line was VERY WET, before long we were wading through giant puddles, but we saw a couple of other marathon runners and this kept our spirits up.

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Just before Drumoak we came across a very large flood and a group of people advised us to jump into the field unless we wanted to wade in up to our waists, well two Queen of Hearts playing cards stumbling over a barbed wire fence is quite a sight, let me tell you!

We carried on our way, chatted to more marathon runners, were cheered on by strangers and as we crossed Park Bridge the app had just told us we were crossing Tower Bridge and there was a large group of people watching the swollen river. They became our impromptu bridge supporters and were super lovely!

Then it was up, up, up, through the woods, narrow tracks, and MUD. The Elsick Mounth resembled a flowing river and then a quagmire, it was very slow going:

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Coming down the other side, the glorious sight of our friend Claire and daughter Isla, cheered us right up and soon we only had a few miles to go before we got to Stonehaven.

Our route was planned to nip past my old house, Emily’s first home, and as we rounded the corner, one of my bestest pals, Alyson, was there to cheer us on with her kids and my kids. This meant I could take a picture with Emily outside the house:

We took in Queens Gardens and Queens Road and then headed down to the beach front where we got more cheers and folk taking our picture, we felt like celebrities!!

By now our watches told us we’d finished, Tracey’s app said she was finished but we’d mapped a route to the caravan park so we kept going, good job we did, Alyson was further up to cheer us again:

And three amazing friends, Annie, George and Karen were at the finish! Thanks for coming out guys!!

We chatted then we ambled back to the car and finally my app decided I’d finished, so my “official” London marathon time is a fair bit slower than we’d taken, although with all the chat, the selfies, the puddle wading and evading and the mud, we hadn’t exactly set any records but boy did we have fun. Tracey made this awesome video to sum it up:

Later on, I logged onto my emails and discovered that while I’d been busy running, many people had been busy sponsoring me and my total had gone up by nearly £500!!

This includes another lovely donation from the wonderful Rhona and Michael along with one of their legendary limericks:

Having forgotten to use the official selfie frame when I finished, I took this picture to show you where you will probably find me for the next few days at least:

ELEVEN done, only ONE to go!!

I made a wee video to celebrate making it to TEN (and because the BBC wanted videos for the Virtual London Marathon!)

ANOTHER REAL LIFE RACE!

I ran this marathon for Grace.

This race was supposed to happen in June but was never actually cancelled, instead the organisers took entries without payment and said they would monitor the situation and try to put the race on “before the end of September”. I hoped it would be September since I already had an August race, thankfully it was!

Having said that I was hoping the race would happen, when entries did open I was in two minds whether to enter. It’s an A to B race though a mountain pass, this means that start to finish is an awful long way round by road. Normally there is a bus to take you back to your car at the start but this wasn’t going to be running due to COVID. Leaving a difficult logistical problem of getting to the start in Braemar and home from the finish in Aviemore.

Thankfully Ali decided to head to his parents near Inverness for the weekend meaning it wasn’t too far out the way to pick me up in Aviemore on his way home, I organised a lift to Braemar and we were good to go!!

With Ali and the kids away for the weekend, I kept myself out of trouble by cycling to the pub with my neighbour and going kayaking on the Saturday morning: probably not the best prep for a marathon!

Early Sunday morning and Garry (aka Splasher the dolphin) collected me and we headed up to the start in Braemar. It was so good to see other runners and orienteers that I knew but there wasn’t much time for chat. After a socially distanced registration and kit check, 6 of us were marched down to the start and we set off.

To comply with covid regulations the runners started in groups of 5 or 6 at 5 minute intervals with slowest starting first. Four of us from my start group ran together for the first 10ish miles up past Derry Lodge and we enjoyed a steady pace with some chatting.

When I ran this race last year I had no idea what to expect and I struggled for the first 14 miles or so up to the boulder fields. It is so rocky all the way and hard to get going. I found once I hit the boulder fields though I started passing people and it gave me such a lift that I picked up my pace and finished strong, totally buzzing in pretty much dead on 5 hours.

So this year, the run up to the boulder field was going better than last and I was expecting that same lift at the boulder field as most people hate it and I quite enjoy skipping over them. I started to think I might smash last years time, even worried Ali might miss me finishing!

And then folk started passing me: the faster runners who had started later were now skipping past me. These people that I normally never see in a race as they’re well ahead from the start. It started to take the wind out of my sails. And then I got to the boulder field and found I couldn’t skip over them like I usually can, a niggly voice in the back of my head telling me that I only had two marathons of the challenge left to go and now really was not the time to break an ankle. And there was no one for me to overtake, no moral boost. And certainly not much hill fitness after a lockdown spent, well, not in the hills!

So, head down, trudge through the forest at the end, no more pictures, get the job done! And then, just as I hit Aviemore, the eventual race winner and running legend, Robbie Simpson, cruised past me, having started a mere TWO HOURS AND TEN MINUTES behind me. He gave me an encouraging shout out though, and I thought this might be my only chance to finish a race anywhere near him, but alas I still couldn’t keep up with him even for the last 800m!

So I staggered into the finish, 14 minutes slower than last year, but to a lovely welcoming committee of Ali and the kids.

I do love this race but it really is brutal, how the top guys cover that terrain so quickly is completely beyond me! But I’m determined to get strong enough to do better, maybe next year!

This one didn’t have a medal so I also entered a virtual race so I could get a medal for my hanger:

Since running has kept me (mostly) sane through lockdown this medal seemed an appropriate one to run for!

TEN marathons now done and just two to go!

AN ACTUAL REAL LIFE RACE!!

I ran this one for Luke and Thomas:

I had been due to run one of the Engima races in July but we weren’t able to travel down and the races were still all cancelled. However, it looked like August races might be ok and a trip south looked like it might be on the cards so I asked Foxy to transfer my entry and kept everything crossed I might be able to run my first real life race since February.

After a glorious but busy week staying with my brother and sister in law in Buckingham and spending some socially distant time with my parents, the day of the race dawned and I could not have felt less like running a marathon! Covid restrictions meant that no one could come with me to the race, so I had to go it alone. Also, the weather forecast looked like this:

The race is 7.5 laps of a lake in Milton Keynes, but since I’ve come to realise that I like a lapped race, this didn’t bother me. we set off in waves, 6 of us starting together and I ran the first lap and a half with a chap called Ian from Hull.

From early on in the race, I realised I was struggling to breathe normally, like I couldn’t quite catch my breath, I think it was the extreme heat. I slowed and let Ian go on ahead and set myself in for the long haul, taking some pictures as I went:

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At the end of each lap I stopped at my bag, drank some coke, ate some salty crisps, doused myself in water and grabbed two more bottles to drink on the next lap. It was SO HOT!! 🥵

After lap 2 I grabbed my phone and FaceTimed Ali, he was out for a run himself and he chatted to me round lap 3. It was nice to have some “company”. There were only 25 other runners in the race and apart from passing a couple of them I hardly saw anyone.

During lap 4, the “hump” lap, I did a Facebook live, keen to show people that I didn’t find marathons easy, despite how it might look! When I watched it back later I was amazed at my inability to string a sentence together and a couple of people had messaged to say they were worried about me. I really was finding it tough!!

Around this time I caught and passed Ian, who was finding the heat really tough. I got my head down and got the job done – delighted to pip in under 4:30, not that long ago that would have been a huge PB and I did it on a very hot day when I really struggled!

Social distancing meant that I was directed to collect my medal from the ones laid out on a bench. No hugs, no high fives, it was very surreal. And because of the waves I had no idea how I had done compared to anyone else, turns out there were a couple of pretty speedy ladies there so I was third lady and 5th overall out of a field of 26:

I collected my medal and lay down in the shade, unable to move:

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The medal is a £10 (X) note featuring Alan Turing who cracked the enigma code at the nearby Bletchley Park.

I tried to wait for Ian to finish but after half an hour had to head home. He must have really struggled in the later stages as he finished in 5.10.

It was so nice to do a race again, albeit with wave starts, limited numbers and social distancing. 9 down, 3 to go!

I ran this marathon for Charlotte who also happened to be celebrating her 7th birthday that day:

After enjoying the virtual West Highland Way, I decided to enter another long distance ultra: the 100km/62.5mile Race to the Stones. This time I planned to finish with a marathon rather than start with one.

The week the virtual race started I should have been in France, I wasn’t. I also wasn’t the only person to have a holiday cancelled but I was quite grumpy about it, so with restrictions lifted a bit, we decided to book a cottage in the borders: at least it was a different set of four walls even if I was still hanging out with the same three other people (husband and 2 kids). I probably wouldn’t have done any running during this holiday, but I had to get to 36 miles before the marathon so I explored various parts of Dalbeattie and surrounding areas, generally looking for stones to match the theme of the race!

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For marathon #8, Vikki planned us a Stoney route around Bennachie finishing at a stone circle. We set off and within a mile found ourselves being challenged by a farmer who wouldn’t let us use the road running through his farm, grumpy old man! We tried various options to get past but had to admit defeat so we went to the stone circle where we were due to finish, and then got back in the car and drove round to the Bennachie centre to start again from there.

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The route was tough, taking in Mither Tap, Oxen Craig, Black Hill and Millstone Hill but it was a glorious day out with great company.

We got back to the car and hadn’t quite run enough so had to do an out and back, my watch was behind everyone else’s so I had to go further to make sure I had recorded a marathon, here I am running back to meet everyone, very pleased to be finishing number 8:

There was a photo competition running for people doing the Race to the Stones, so we spent a lot of time trying to get arty shots but we didn’t win!

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I ran this marathon for Owen and Tyler, two brothers who both spent time in the unit, but eleven years apart.

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By now I had pretty much lost track of what race I was supposed to be running and whilst looking for a new challenge (because apparently running 12 marathons in 12 months is not quite challemge enough!), along came the virtual West Highland Way race. This is an iconic event in the Scottish ultra marathon calendar, it’s always a brilliant weekend, but I have never run it, so I jumped at the chance to join in the virtual version of the race which meant 95 miles in 9.5 days. Obviously I kicked it off with a marathon and naturally, Tracey joined me!

This time we decided to do a coastal route from St Cyrus and the weather was, well there is only one word for this type of weather….

We blethered our way from St Cyrus down to Marykirk then up to Inverbervie before stopping for a well needed chocolate eclair. We then headed back along the coast, on beaches and very overgrown paths, leaving our legs quite tingly! And when we got back to the van we made it up to 27 miles for ease of counting WHW miles! And Rhona and Michael wrote another limerick!

The hardest part about this marathon was that when I had finished it, I still had 64 more miles to run over the next 7 days, but at least I got to enjoy it with friends (one family at a time!), even virtually with Rebecca in France and I persuaded Oli to join me too. Tracey and I hooked up again one week later to finish the job off (except we accidentally overshot the “finish line” by 3 miles!):

Despite the awesome t-shirt and buff I got for the race, I needed a medal for my 12in12 rack so I also entered a virtual race raising money for the NHS.

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7 down and 5 to go.

I ran this marathon for Jessica and Rosie:

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I should have been running the inaugural Loch Ness 360, but instead I pushed my May marathon back as far as possible in the hope that lockdown would be eased enough that I could have a friend join me for virtual marathon #3. Finally on the 28th May, Nicola Sturgeon announced we were moving into phase 1 and two people from different households could meet up, with physical distancing – HURRAH!

So, on Saturday 30th May I met Tracey in Stonehaven on a glorious sunny day and we ran the VE day virtual marathon. It was so good to see her in real life! We plotted a big cirular route, taking in the war memorial, the castle, Elsick Mounth and back down into Stonehaven.

There isn’t much to say except it was AWESOME to have a real life running buddy and we blethered and bimbled and got the job done. Oh and at the end we decided to try and find a trig point (more on that in a future blog), which was trickier than we thought as it was in a thick gorse bush. And social distancing in a gorse bush is very tricky, but it did give something for Rhona to limerick about!

Six down, six to go!!

I ran this marathon for Claudia, Ben and Matthew. Claudia was born a few weeks before Emily but spent a bit longer in the unit and in hospital. I have happy memories of hanging out with her mum, Karen, in hospital.

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By April the nation was in full lockdown, nobody was allowed anywhere unless essential and exercise was limited to once per day. Needless to say, Manchester marathon was not happening. Even though there was no official limit for how far away from our houses we could roam, I was keen not to venture too far and started considering laps of my garden. There were lots of stories of people running marathons in their gardens – I have quite a large garden so I mapped it out… it is 0.07 of a mile – so a marathon would have been 367 laps. I’m mad but not quite that mad! So, the field next to my house became the next plan (we did get permission from the farmer!), it is about 1.12 miles round so 23 laps for a marathon:

The ever supportive Tracey agreed to run “with” me via FaceTime, although she planned to do her run mostly on her treadmill with a wee bit outside. We entered the virtual lockdown ultra to give us the race feeling, which meant we had to start at 8am and check in via the app, then there would be a live leader board throughout the day. It was very nice to start a “race” two metres from my front door and there was no queue for the loo!

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Now, you might think that 23 laps of a field would be interminably boring, but I genuinely loved it! I changed direction every five laps to mix things up and every third lap either Ali or one of the kids joined me. At the end of every lap I came right past my house where I had lined up snacks to have, sometimes putting in a request to Ali to have ready at the end of the next lap. The route passes one other house and the lady who lives there sat in her garden and we had a little chat each time I passed. I had several lovely chats with Tracey and more lovely chats with another friend, Jo, who was also out for her long run. My neighbours were out in their gardens too so cheered me on. In what felt like no time at all (but was actually quite a long time!) I had reached my last lap and the whole family joined me:

At the end of lap 23, I had about 0.15miles to go so I nipped off to do a very short out and back and came back to find this awesome finish banner:

Another marathon in the bag! And I was in the bath within about 15 minutes of finishing, perhaps I should do all my marathons around the field!

During lockdown we challenged the kids to also run a marathon by running a minimum of a mile a day, some days they ran 2 or 3 miles. Oli had finished his a few days previously but Emily had three miles to go which she did by running three laps with me. She was super proud to finish her mileage log:

I’ll finish with more poetic wizardry from Rhona and Michael! And some more pics!

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