A Tale of Two Shirts

Back in October I, along with countless others, was eagerly awaiting the outcome of the London Marathon ballot. I'd already missed out two years in a row so I managed to convince myself that this time I'd be the one getting the "You're In" magazine.  Sadly I was mistaken.  I now have a hat-trick of "Sorry" magazines and a trio of London Marathon branded winter training tops.  To say I felt a bit deflated is an understatement.  I had already missed out on a place in the Paris Marathon but was determined that I wanted to find a spring marathon for this year to keep me running during winter, and to mark my 40th birthday in April.

I know that I could have applied for a charity place to run London, but having had to raise money to take part in the TrailTrekk I knew how much pressure was involved in raising large sums of money, and I didn't want that on top of having to find the time to train for a marathon.

Rather than sticking a pin in a map to find my next big race I asked running forums, Twitter, Facebook, Uncle Tom Cobley and all, for their recommendations and came up with a short-list of four marathons which kind of fit the bill.  They were, in alphabetical order; Blackpool, Brighton, Edinburgh, and Milton Keynes. I had a good look at all four, price, route, and importantly, the logistics required for me to run them and the family to come along and watch.

Blackpool would have been done in a day, with no need for a stopover, so was winning hands down on cost and logistics, but the route looks tedious*.  I had heard good things about Brighton but it ain't cheap and I have very few favours to pull in around that neck of the woods, so it would have been a hotel.  Of course all of the hotels know that it's the marathon, so prices were already creeping up.  That left Edinburgh and MK, two cities that I have strong links with.

The majority of my family comes from (and still lives in) Edinburgh, so finding somewhere to stay would not be an issue.  I've been visiting Auld Reekie all of my life and I felt like I knew the route quite well and could visualise how the run would pan out.  Milton Keynes, however, is the town I grew up in from the age of 10 until I went to University.  I still have friends who live there that we could potentially stay with but, and this was the clincher, there are huge sections of the route that I used to play on, cycle on, fish along, when I was growing up.  As a race to mark my 40th birthday there could be no other, with its obvious links to my past.  I duly signed up to what will be my second marathon and my first of 2017.

I know that I said that I didn't want a charity place for London, but I decided to try and raise a bit of money for Bliss, a charity that I have fund-raised for in the past following the premature birth of our first son.  The difference in my mind is there is no target.  I can run, put my head into running the best marathon I can, and not have to worry about constantly asking people for money, or worrying about having to find the money to top up the donations should I not raise enough.

Mr Ambassador.

Having signed up for the Milton Keynes Marathon I have subsequently been selected as an ambassador for the race weekend.  Being an ambassador does not come with golden chocolate balls but it does entail writing blogs like this one and encouraging others to take part**. I also got a snazzy t-shirt to wear on my training runs and, for full disclosure, I got my entry fee back as well, which is nice.  On top of all that, having decided to raise money for Bliss, I have also received one of their running vests to wear on the big day.

Come race day this will have my name written all over it.

So between now and the 1st May, I will be blogging my training progress, and sharing my thoughts and reminiscences on the route, especially the section between miles 8 and 17.  I am very proud to be an ambassador for the town which shaped me growing up, I'm excited about running past so many landmarks and landscapes that have played such a large part of my life, and I am once again humbled and thankful for the work that Bliss do to help families of children who are born prematurely or sick.

*I could be wrong.

**Hello Iain, Duncan, and Hannah.

Interested in joining the fun of the MK Marathon, or 1/2 marathon? Click on the link for more info.