Memories of Douglas Number 16

RUNNING MAN

Run For Home ( By Lindisfarne )

" Run for home, run as fast as I can
Oh oh running man, running for home
Run for home, run as fast as I can
Oh oh running man, running for home"

Following on from yesterday's Great North Run blip I thought I would mention a few other runs which my late husband took part in. He didn't start competing ( if you could call it that- he just did it for the fun of it ) until the age of 57 when he did his first Great North Run but in the end he ran in over 200 organised races - home and abroad.

He did 13 marathons - including The London ( twice ), Dublin (twice), Rotterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Madrid and Paris.

His overseas half- marathons were in Norway, Amsterdam, Iceland, Brussels, Istanbul, Jersey and Australia - together with over 40 in the UK.

When he retired in 1991 he decided to make the most of his free time and went out jogging 3 or 4 times a week and ran in organised races at least once a month ( usually more often). When the children were small it was a regular weekend activity for them support their Dad in whatever race he had entered.

We went all over the UK - lots of local runs but also to Glasgow, Cardiff, St Albans, Nottingham, Worksop, Leeds and more. After most weekends the children had plenty to write about at school when the teacher said " Write about what you did at the weekend"

Douglas loved to race abroad but because the children were at school it wasn't possible for us all to go with him on these trips. However when he got back we heard all about them.... at great length.

He particularly enjoyed The Dublin Marathon which he did twice. It was a circular course which you went round twice. The first time he did the race they were giving out chocolate bars to each runner part way through the course. Douglas wasn't that keen on chocolate so he looked into the crowd to see if there was a child he could give it to. He spotted a girl of about 7 and gave her the bar. She said " Do you want my mother to make you a cup of tea? ". Well Douglas could never refuse a cup of tea so he said " Yes ". He stood by the side of the road and a few mins later the girl's mother appeared. She was carrying a tray with a china tea pot, china cup and saucer, milk and sugar. So Douglas stood there drinking his tea and thinking how strange the whole scene must have looked. When he got his chocolate bar on the second loop he looked out for the same little girl... and she was there waiting expectantly for the chocolate. A nice memory I think.

Another good time was had when Douglas made the long trip to Australia to take part in The Gold Coast Half Marathon. My blip today shows a photo of him after he finished - holding his medal and T Shirt and looking mighty pleased with himself. He was age 71 at the time and he finished in 14th position for his age group. Well done.

When they were little the children used to get entered into various " fun" runs by their Dad - he never asked them if they wanted to enter. Neil wasn't bothered either way. Becky wasn't keen.... she saw no " fun" in it. However as an adult Neil has taken part in The London Marathon and 2 Great North Runs and enjoys running as part of his training for rugby and cricket. Becky, after years of hating running, has recently " got into it " and has started taking part in various organised runs around London. Her big test is next Saturday when she takes part in The Brighton Half Marathon. Those running genes are starting to come to the fore.


**** For anyone interested in news of son Neil this is his Facebook message from today.................

Hey, just managed to find some internet. Left Bangkok on Saturday night, had spent the day in a rooftop pool trying to get over my hangover! Had a 12 hour bus journey to Chaing Mai, which wasn't as bad as it sounds! Got here at 6 Sunday morning, Up at 10 to go and see tigers, which was pretty amazing. Chilled in pool in afternoon then saw a Sunday night market and had a few beers watching the Man U match. Off to ride elephants and do some rafting today. Everything's gone well so far, not been robbed which is a bonus, weathers unreal.