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Update 17/06/14 - The Tough Mudder & The Ythan Challenge

Saturday 14th June - arrived in Edinburgh on Friday night with Charlie Robertson & Colin Smith ready to tackle the Tough Mudder, after a meal and a cheeky wee pint we were off to bed. Woke up to drizzle which soaked the ground just perfect and headed off to Dalkeith Country Park to take part in this 12 mile, 20+ obstacle challenge, it's not a race (there's no chip timings) everyone is there to help one another to complete the course. This was the muddiest race I have ever taken part in, how I didn't lose my running shoes I don't know. See the photos for an idea. After about 3 hours the course was completed and we were given a pint of Ginger Beer Grouse for our efforts, along with a t-shirt and the much coveted Tough Mudder headband!! No time to waste and it was back up the road to home, shower then bed. MND t-shirt No.1 didn't make it back to Ellon I'm afraid, it was wrecked and was binned due to being rather muddy!!

Sunday 15th June - Up bright and early and off to do the Ythan Challenge in Ellon, a nice short 13km run over rough terrain, through the river Ythan twice and hey ho, another muddy bog!!!!!! :-) Ah well used to it now, just bring it on. Glad I had a spare t-shirt supplied from MND Scotland. Had a massive help from my friend Sandy Ingram who was my pace-setter and managed to keep me going all the way to the Esslemont Estate and back to the Meadows Sports Centre. I was pretty tired but the last 4 hay bales and soapy bouncy castle at the end proved too much and he managed to cross the line before me. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I felt a great deal of pride and achievement in doing this and managing to raise a lot of money for MND Scotland. 

Update 18/05/14 - Baker Hughes 10k

Nice cool conditions for a run, Jackie was supposed to run with me for support but backed out due to lack of training (or was that she just had her hair done??!!) :-) A pretty uneventful run but at least I managed without damaging myself this time. Finished a disappointing 43:11 but at least I'm getting better and hopefully be ready for the BIG weekend next month!!

Update 28/04/14 - Balmoral 10k

Foggy / rainy drive up to Balmoral only to end up with lovely sunshine, perfect running conditions. Hit a slight snag after 1k, my troublesome right calf muscle gave up the ghost slightly. I wasn't going to give in so slowed the pace and took littler steps, it seemed to work as I still finished in under 50 mins at 48:06!! A trip to the doctors then physio during the week to try and get sorted for Baker Hughes next month.

Love the new style MND t-shirt :-)

Update 24/03/14 - Garioch 10k

First time I have ran the Garioch and wasn't expecting it to be so hilly, finished in 42:55 about the same time as the Balmoral, so that shows you how tough it is. Throw into the equation that ther was hail, rain, sun and wind and it wasn't so bad a time!! That'll do for the first run of the year, onwards and upwards. :-)

Since I've just turned 50, I thought I would set myself a big challenge this year and keeping with the 5 theme I would do 5 runs / challenges.

My BIG DOUBLE CHALLENGE for this fundraising event is to take part in TWO challenges in the same weekend. On Saturday 14th June the "TOUGH MUDDER, EDINBURGH" event which is a 12 mile assault course / challenge, where I will be enjoying wading through a giant ice bath, crawling under barbed wire and possibly even electrocution - fun, eh??   To see some of the obstacles go to the following website  http://toughmudder.co.uk/content/2014-scotland

After shooting off back home I will be up (and possibly ready) on the Sunday morning for the "YTHAN CHALLENGE, ELLON"  http://ythanchallenge.org.uk/ This is a 12 km multi-terrain obstacle course, one of the first challenges that appeared on the scene 14 years ago.

I have already done the Garioch 10k; and since I am now a "Super Veteran" I finished 3rd in my category :-), I will also be taking part in the Balmoral 10k on 26th April and the Baker Hughes 10k on 18th May. I will be joined by my wife Jackie for the Baker Hughes (for support!!). Adrian Mitchell, Charlie Robertson, Colin Smith, Dave Smith, Ferry Arief and Kris Trybus (all from Siemens) on the Balmoral and Colin Smith, Kris Trybus and Charlie Robertson on the Tough Mudder.

I am trying to raise money for MND Scotland (Motor Neurone Disease) in memory of a dear friend and colleague Kerry Milne, who at 29, passed away nearly 3 years ago with this awful disease that doesn't yet have a cure. What MND did provide was specialist care to Kerry as well as ongoing research funding to find a cure, counselling and education. Kerry was a very warm, caring and funny person and is sadly missed.

I hope that you can donate to this cause and I truly mean that it doesn't matter how large or small the amount that you give, it will be greatly appreciated. I hope there will be lots of laughs, tears, mud, water, and anything else that might get thrown at us!! Hopefully photos will be included to keep you up to date.

Many Thanks

Gordon