Stride magazine - Summer 2023

Inside ENTER NOW for this year’s jogscotland virtual event, The Big 100!

Moving through menopause

I’m scared of bridges – so I ran across one 50 times!

Pages of your race photographs

Our fun, friendly jogging groups are perfect for people who want to get active for the first time, or more experienced runners. Nobody is “too slow” to join jogscotland –total beginners welcome!

Mums on the Run helps mums enjoy the physical, social & psychological benefits of being active outdoors. You can take your wee one to class with you in the buggy too!

Running has never been so easy!

Whatever your age, whatever your ability

Morning, noon and night • Towns, cities, villages Parks, pavements, trails, woodlands, beaches, schools and workplaces For more information visit www.jogscotland.org.uk or call 0131 539 7341 www.facebook.com/JogScotty • www.twitter.com/jogscotland jogworks

Our Junior jogscotland resource pack is full of games to help you show primary school age children that physical activity is fun!

Encouraging employees to be more active makes good business sense. Jogworks can help avoid some of the physical and mental health issues affecting the workplace.

Meet the Jog Crew

by Sue Gyford Stride magazine | Summer 2023

Hello, and welcome to the summer edition of Stride! I hope the long summer evenings have seen you out and about and enjoying getting active with your groups.

We’re thrilled to be launching this year’s Virtual Challenge, The Big 100, with the medals you see on our front cover up for grabs –turn to p8 to find out all about it!

It’s not always easy to keep up with our running – life can throw all kinds of challenges in our path. In this edition of Stride, we have many stories from people who’ve found ways to keep running despite some of those challenges.

There’s Catherine Rutter (p12), whose menopause symptoms left her virtually bed-bound, until she realised what was happening to her, and was able to get the help she so desperately needed. Now she’s back to being active, and is a vocal advocate of better education about menopause.

Diane Davidson (p20) used running to help her overcome her fear of bridges, and she did it in style – by running over the Severn Bridge 50 times!

There are few things more physically limiting – by design – than being in prison. Jog Leader Paolo Maccagno (p16) decided to use the lessons he learned from running marathons and hitting “the wall”, to help prisoners at HMP & YOI Grampian deal with the walls around them in a constructive way. Many of the runners in his group have now completed their first 5K and Paolo hopes to have given them a fresh perspective in the process.

We also have news from the first ever National Running Week, a new off-road leading qualification for jog leaders, and much more!

Enjoy whatever you have planned for the summer. Whether it’s overcoming barriers of your own to take up regular running for the first time, or notching up impressive distances as you continue on your journey take a moment to feel pride and gratitude for all those steps that you are able to take.

Sue Gyford, Editor

p20 Diane Davidson

Paolo Maccagno

Catherine Rutter

News and events

Welcome to our new members!

We’re always thrilled to follow the progress of new joggers, and there have been plenty of people graduating from Learn to Run and Couch to 5K programmes across the country in recent months – welcome to you all! JogForfar’s first ever Couch to 5K group, graduated with a run around Forfar Loch and celebrated with the splendid cake pictured – jog leader Rhona Guild says: “I couldn’t be prouder!” Also pictured are the Dingwall jogscotland C25K group who made it through 10 weeks of unusually warm weather to complete their 10 weeks – great work, everyone!

National Community Impact Team

We’ve been recruiting recently for a new post, working as National Community Impact Manager for scottishathletics and jogscotland. The job will be to head up our new Community Impact team, with the aim of making athletics and running more accessible to some of the communities currently under-represented in our membership – particularly people who live in poverty; people from ethnically and culturally diverse communities; and people living with a disability. The team will help establish communitybased activities, with a view to eventually creating links between these and our existing club and jogging group networks.

Scurry2Bridges

We love hearing about the many and varied challenges our groups tackle, especially those that bring them together as a team. So we thought we’d give a shout-out to all those who took part in the 100 mile Scurry2Bridges race, running as relay teams from Dundee, via St Andrews, to Edinburgh. We know there were teams from On The Run Cumbernauld (pictured), Jogscotland Carnoustie and Arbroath Road Runners – great work by you all and anyone else who took part!

20 years of jog leading

Congratulations to Christine Garvie (3rd left), who has celebrated 20 years as a jog leader. Christine marked the occasion with her Jolly Jeffing Joggers Dunfermline group, taking part in a four stage, 20K relay event on 7 March. They started at 9am from the very spot in Dunfermline’s Pittencrieff Park where started her first ever jogscotland session.

The Big 100 –Choose

your Challenge!

Entries are now open for this year’s jogscotland virtual event, The Big 100! We’re delighted to have our exclusive medals now available, online entries are open, so all that’s left is for you to Choose your Challenge!

This year is the centenary of our partners, SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health), so we’re asking participants to choose a challenge that involves the number 100. It could be something you achieve on your own, or in a team with other members of your jogscotland group, with your friends or family.

For example:

• Add up your exercise, and walk, jog, run or push a total of 100K, over a period of time.

• Get together with your jogging buddies and cover a total of at least 100K on the same day – perhaps 20 people from your jogscotland group could do 5K each, or 10 of you could attempt 10K. You could run all at once, or in a relay!

• Find and photograph 100 items on a theme while you run this summer – 100 trees, or blue things, or shops.

• Jog leaders identify a series of 100-themed locations in your town (for example, five different addresses where the street numbers all add up to 100) and challenge members to run between them all, taking a selfie at each to prove they made it. Make sure to use addresses which you know won’t mind being included and photographed!

We can’t wait to hear what challenges you choose. Proceeds will go towards our work to help improve Scotland’s mental and physical health by getting active.

Entries are open now, and you can complete your challenge at any time, but we’ll have a particular focus on celebrating your Big 100 Challenges after the school holidays, in the week commencing 4 September. During that week, we’ll share photographs from your challenges on our social media, and let the world know what you’ve all been up to, to earn your medals.

That also means you have plenty of time to start tallying up your runs if you want to take on a long-distance challenge, or to arrange a social running event if you want to take part with your pals.

Because we’re celebrating SAMH’s Centenary, you might want to also include some activities highlighting the benefits that physical activity can have for mental wellbeing, or add a fundraiser for the charity into your plans. There are some ideas available at https://www.samh.org.uk/about-us/ centenary/centenary-events.

SAMH Centenary

SAMH traces its roots back to 1923 and the pioneering work of Dr Kate Fraser CBE, from Paisley. At a time when women were expected to remain in the home and mentally ill people were routinely shut away in workhouses or prisons, often beside criminals, Dr Fraser’s dedication to using her medical experience to improve the conditions and treatment of people with mental health problems was truly inspirational and formed the earliest iteration of SAMH. It has been pioneering change ever since.

Read more about SAMH’s history https://www.samh.org.uk/aboutus/centenary/centenary-100-yrs

Our Menopause Friendly Campaign is launched

Moving Through Menopause

We are delighted to have launched the new jogscotland #MenopauseFriendly campaign, to help our joggers learn about running through menopause, and help our jogging groups become as menopause friendly as possible.

We want to change the script around menopause. We can’t alter the physical facts of it, but we can help those going through it. We want to create a world where jogscotland members going through menopause:

Can feel strong, confident and proud of themselves, even when they’re facing difficult physical and mental challenges.

Feel free to talk about their experiences without shame or embarrassment. Are informed and empowered, so that they can get the support they need from medical practitioners, friends and family.

As a result of those things, stay active through menopause and beyond, at whatever level suits them.

As our #MenopauseFriendly campaign launched on 22 November, we published on our website three pages full of useful information for joggers and jog leaders:

• Running and Menopause – introduction

• Menopause – advice for joggers

The findings really show the value of all the work our jogging groups are doing on our Menopause Friendly campaign. By giving friendly social support alongside suitable physical activity opportunities, we can help women keep active at this stage of life, meaning they feel better physically and mentally during a time that can be challenging.

• Menopause – advice for jog leaders

For those reading the print edition, just visit https://jogscotland.org.uk/active-living/menopause-and-running/ and follow the links.

The resources we are launching have been put together with the help of a small focus group of jog leaders with lived experience of running through menopause, our partners SAMH, and sharing information from the NHS Inform pages on menopause

continues over

Moving Through Menopause was commissioned by SAMH and produced by The University of Edinburgh. It calls for greater inclusivity in sport and wider society to support women experiencing the menopause to remain physically active. You can read the report at https:// www.samh.org.uk/documents/SAMH_Movingthrough-Menopause.pdf

The research found menopause was a barrier to being active, with 57 per cent of women who responded reporting a decrease in activity levels at this time of life. It also found that menopause negatively impacted women’s mental wellbeing, with 94 per cent of respondents reporting a change in mood, such as low mood, anxiety, mood swings or low self-esteem. Women who met the physical activity guidelines, as set out by UK Chief Medical Officers, had greater mental wellbeing than those who did not.

Participants in the study were generally aware of the benefits of being physically active to make them feel better but, for some, motivation and confidence to be active dropped during the menopause. Although a combination of factors influenced the participants’ behaviour, support from others was clearly a strong facilitator to staying active, and a lack of support hindered that.

Our partners, SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) have launched a major new study into how menopausal symptoms impact women’s experience of being active.

The jogscotland Menopause Friendly campaign can really help provide this support. Groups taking simple steps like offering flexible sessions to accommodate those with fluctuating symptoms, starting and finishing near a public toilet, and simply normalising the discussion of menopause at jogging groups, can make a huge difference to joggers’ ability to stay active. Read more about the campaign at https://jogscotland.org.uk/ active-living/menopause-and-running/ including how to sign up your group.

We were delighted to take part in the official launch of the report, held at the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh on 1 May. Our development officer, Jo Stevens, gave a presentation on work we’ve done so far, featuring lots of jogscotland members who had taken part in group activities as part of the campaign. It was brilliantly received by those listening, and we can only thank all of you who continue to work to make your groups as Menopause Friendly as possible.

Also at the launch was Catherine Rutter, a jogscotland jog leader who talked openly to TV reporters on the day about her experiences of menopause, and how physical activity and jog leading had helped her through it – you can read her story, in her own words, over the page.

Jo Anderson, Director of Influence and Change at SAMH, said: “We are grateful to all the women who took part in Moving Through Menopause, for being open in sharing their experiences and ideas for positive change, and to the team at the University of Edinburgh for facilitating this research. The recommendations set out in this report can make a real and positive difference to women’s lives, empowering them to become or stay active, while at the same time supporting their mental health and wellbeing.

“The need for change is clear and SAMH stands ready to play our part. This research is a solid foundation from which to expand our work relating to the menopause, and support women to be healthy and well in this critical life stage.”

Menopause symptoms left me bedbound, but exercise got me through…

By jog leader Catherine Rutter

Exercise is fundamental to my life. I threw discus for the East of Scotland as a teenager, rowed my way through university, and ran my way through my thirties.

I started the most amazing group gym classes just after my 40th birthday, and by 44 I was the fittest I’ve ever been. I realised how much I love heavy weights, and how amazing they make you feel.

However, unbeknown to me, my hormones fell off a cliff in lockdown. I was up and down for 18 months and ended up bed bound for four months. I had horrible mental health issues, digestive issues, dry skin, hair and mouth and insomnia. I couldn’t contemplate exercise and the thought of my friends at my gym classes broke my heart.

I finally realised what the issue was – menopause – and began HRT, which has been life-changing. But because my symptoms were picked up far too late, it took me a year to feel like myself again.

Thankfully things have improved and I’m now back at four gym classes a week. I’ve also organised a social jogscotland group once a month for people in my gym classes. When I couldn’t contemplate running, I still managed to lead Couch to 5K (twice!). I used a 500m loop on the Meadows in Edinburgh and stood in the middle calling out to them, to tell them when to run/walk etc!

It was fantastic for me to be out and the group all said they’d never have done it without me organising it and encouraging them.

My group gym classes have been the best thing I’ve ever done – it’s seven years now since I started them. The media now is heavily into ‘mid-life women must lift weights’ – for once I’m on trend! I feel so supported, and no one cares if I turn up and do a little bit or modify exercises. I have been quite open about my awful menopause experience and as a result there have been lots of positives. Everyone is talking about menopause, coaches have been super kind and helpful, and we’ve had an expert in to talk to those interested in menopause, HRT, exercise etc.

My mum (pictured below) has also been a great help – she goes to a seniors class gym class with the same personal trainer as I have, and has often supported me through my training.

I love the jogscotland Menopause Friendly campaign. When it launched, there was a Zoom webinar for jog leaders that I took part in, but I so felt awful I couldn’t imagine running again. Now I’m back, I know that one of the key things is that people feel comfortable turning up to a jogging group and doing what they can – a 10 minute walk and a chat with the jog leader and going home can make all the difference.

I’m a passionate exerciser and jogscotland jog leader - it really is my happiness. Because my own experience was so awful, I really want others to experience better – that was my main motivation. If your symptoms are bad, please hang in there and know it will get better. Movement is so important – if you feel awful try and get out for a 10 minute walk and if you bump into someone you know for a quick chat or a smile, even better. This can make the biggest difference to your day.

National Running Week

Scotland’s first National Running Week was held from 5 to 11 June, with lots of jogscotland groups getting involved! The week was organised by the charity Athletics Trust Scotland, to highlight its work, and celebrate the positive impact that running can have on our lives.

Jog Scotland Meldrum took part in a handicap 5K organised by Garioch Roadrunners alongside Garioch Gazelles and Insch Trail Running Club.

Toni’s Tigers completed their own 5K at Riverside Arena, the new running track in Ayr. They also celebrated with cake! jogscotland Kingswells had a 5K social jog with refreshments, and jogscotland Penicuik arranged a special session too.

As well as getting people moving, the week aimed to highlight the work of Athletics Trust Scotland, the charity for athletics and running. Events raised funds for the Transforming Lives Project, which will give the most disadvantaged people in Scotland the chance to improve their social, physical and mental wellbeing by deploying community leaders in the most underrepresented areas in our sport, and distributing grant funding to these communities.

It is hoped to make National Running Week an annual event, so keep your eyes peeled for news of next year’s week.

Read more about Athletics Trust Scotland: https://athleticstrustscotland.org.uk

20th anniversary celebrations

Congratulations to jogscotland Dunfermline, who marked the group’s 20th anniversary with a series of events in May. These ranged from a volunteer takeover at Dunfermline parkrun to a fun scavenger hunt run called 20 Landmarks in Dunfermline on the anniversary itself. From finding William Wallace’s Well and Stuart Adamsons memorial bench to Andrew Carnegie’s birthplace, everyone enjoyed the evening, finishing off with birthday cake in The Glen Tavern.

Runforever

By Jog Leader Paolo Maccagno

https://runforever.org.uk/

Every Wednesday I go to HMP and Young Offender Institution Grampian, where I have two groups of around 20 dedicated runners committed to improving their health through the inspiration and benefit that running can provide. The running programme that we’ve followed these first few months follows the NHS Couch to 5K and allows everyone to be able to run for 30 minutes, or approximately 5K.

On 7 June we had a celebration event, where prisoner-runners ran together in a team for 30 minutes. The event emphasised being a “finisher”, as marathon running does, rather than winning the race, and promoted running as a collective experience of a team. At the end of the run there was a celebration with party and cake shared with runners, members of the Runforever running club, prison staff and of organizations helping with the project - Shmu Aberdeen Community Media Organisation, Families Outside, and International Futures Forum

When I entered a prison for the first time in Milan in 2009, I went there to attend the theatre performance Maratona di New York by Edoardo Erba, which was held inside the theatre of the prison itself. The performance showed two men running in preparation for the New York marathon and talking to each other on existential topics like absence, void of meaning and trauma.

As I was walking out of the prison, I wondered in excitement: “What if I run marathons and take what I learn from the ‘wall’ of the marathon, to people spending their life within the walls of the prison?” I then realised how the parallel between the two walls could open a healing path for prisoners.

Since the beginning of 2013 I have been organising projects based on marathon running inside prisons.

Runforever is a non-profit organisation and running club promoting educational community projects exploring paths for humanising prison care and more generally health care. We started a new pilot project in February 2023, supported by initial funding in collaboration with HMP & YOI Grampian and the charities mentioned above, to create a running club that will serve as a bridge between inside and outside the prison. This specific focus addresses the urgent issue of prisoners tending to reoffend when back in the outer world and entering into a vicious loop of social exclusion and separation.

Differently from my previous experiences where I worked only inside the prison, this new pilot project works simultaneously inside and outside. The running club in fact welcomes at the same time runners from inside and outside the prison, overcoming risks of stigmatization. It addresses exactly the transition of prisoners in the outer community and issues of health and wellbeing in the wider society.

We also create links between outside and inside through a radio show –Runnningstories, created in collaboration with Shmu and the media unit of the prison, giving voice to stories of runners about their running experience and the impact on their health and wellbeing. It also organizes races for giving the opportunity of bringing families together and health wellbeing events for promoting a sustainable, healthy prison. The project is a small action participating in wider systemic change.

The running sessions always start with some time spent in the “dressing room” - a classroom in the link centre of the prison - where we watch inspiring videos from runners together. These videos have become a common language for all of us and a useful background for our running practice. Running enables the formation of a community of support between participants - prisoners, ex-prisoners, people with different health issues like mental health, addiction and alcoholism, members of prison and charity staff, educators, researchers. It helps build connections with their families. This contributes towards breaking the barriers and walls between them, as running clubs do: “And we will all be runners…”

New course for off-road jog leading

Read more about the module on the scottishathletics website

We are pleased be offering a new course for leaders who want to expand their skills in leading groups while fell, hill, off-road and trail running.

The new Fell, Hill, Off Road and Trail Module is for those who already have the Leadership in Running Fitness (Jog Leader) qualification, and want to feel better prepared to provide a safe and enjoyable running experience on typical fell and hill terrains.

This will include leading on public paths marked on an Ordnance Survey ‘Explorer’ or ‘Landranger’ map (including those shown on open access land), and the published routes of licensed fell/hill races. The course builds on Leadership in Running Fitness (LiRF), contextualizing the learning for an unpredictable environment, and covers preparing for, and managing, risk on different terrains in varying conditions.

As well as keeping a group safe, it will also cover the techniques of off-road running, including ascending, descending and coping with different terrains and conditions under foot.

The first course will be offered in Stirling on 16 July, for which bookings are already closed, but more courses will follow later in the year – keep an eye on our website and social media for details.

Coaching coordinator Alison Grey (pictured) said: “We’re really pleased to extend our range of options for jog leaders looking to develop their skills. Scotland has so many fantastic opportunities for hill and trail running, and this course will help leaders feel more confident and safe when leading their groups on challenging terrain.”

I’m scared of bridges – so I ran across one 50 times!

By Diane Davidson, Jed Joggers

I turned 50 in February of this year, and decided that my challenge to myself would be to try and run 100 miles.

I’d started running with Jed Joggers back in 2012 - my friend Joanne was setting up the group, so I went along with another pal to try it. For the first few years, I just ran with group, but eventually decided to try a half marathon… then a marathon… then Jedburgh Ultra… then the 50 mile Manchester to Liverpool race! I did each event with different members of the group, and every single one was an amazing experience. I certainly wouldn’t be doing what I do now, if this group hadn’t started, and I’ve made friends with people who I would never have met if it hadn’t been for Jed Joggers.

So, after doing 50 miles, the obvious next step was 100 miles for my 50th birthday! I also decided to tackle another challenge – my fear of bridges. I ran the Forth Road Bridge 10K the day my first granddaughter, Ava, was born, and every year apart from the Covid years, I’ve run it again and given her the medal. I’d hoped that running the Bridge all these times would help with me my fear of them, but it didn’t help at all.

So I decided it was time to step things up – and entered The Bridge 100 ultramarathon, which is basically running across the Severn Bridge between England and Wales, 50 times, including running right through the night! Training

wasn’t great as we had a death in family in Poland. My furthest run was 41 miles and time just seemed to run out for training. So I went with open mind that if I didn’t do it, there was no harm done.

I was very anxious before the race – I always am, it doesn’t matter if it’s a 5K or any other distance. It started at 9am, and was fine when we started out on the bridge because we were all together, but as everyone found their pace it was a bit daunting being on my own, and the noise of the traffic was unbelievably loud. The first 50 miles were OK, though – the weather wasn’t great, but I changed my clothes and shoes at 50 miles, so I was dry. Through the night the mind does play tricks on you, so I chummed up with another runner through the small hours to keep one another going.

It was quite eerie in the fog and the dark - this was definitely the hardest challenge I’ve ever done. Not only because of the distance, but once I was dropped off in the morning, there was no contact with my family until the finish. I have completed other races but always had my husband, daughter and dogs popping up en route for support, so it was hard not seeing them – they could only drop me off at the start and meet me at the finish.

I finished in 28hrs and 42mins, and I’ve never been so happy to finish a race – I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

The good news is that after running over the Severn Bridge 50 times, overnight, I’m definitely not scared of bridges any more – in fact, on the way home, I managed to get a space to run the Forth Road Bridge again – my husband couldn’t believe it!

Book corner

Jog leader with Anster Allsorts, George Findlay, dips into the ever-growing genre of ‘books about running’ and reviews some of his favourites.

Running Free by Richard Askwith

This is probably my favourite running book and I have returned to read it several times. Richard has a long-accomplished career, particularly in fell running. The subtitle of the book is “A runner’s journey back to nature” and this encapsulates the whole essence of the text.

Richard envisages a possible “Seven Ages of Running” which a runner may experience, not as a progression but in any order in their running life. The different Ages 1 - 4 see stages of runners being novices, converts, competitors, obsessives and adventurers progressing from C25k to ultra-marathons.

Richard sees himself in Age 5 with more mindful running for pleasure and satisfaction through the countryside, with his dog Nutmeg, taking in nature’s beauties.

Richard contrasts “Big Running” promoting consumerism, with running companies encouraging runners to have all the latest expensive clothing, shoes and equipment, to be a better runner and “Slow Running” for the enjoyment of the sensations of nature, running in the moment and experiencing mindfulness. His descriptions of landscapes, weather and underfoot conditions are very vivid and paint a wonderful picture of the joys of running in nature, forsaking the roads and without the need for timings, medals, T shirts and race photographs.

Richard runs in the moment, rather than for performance, in a more natural way. He outlines the physical and mental health benefits of running trails, hills, woodland, farmland tracks and fells, embracing the unpredictability of running free of the conventional constraints to a runner. As a trail runner, this resonates very strongly with me in my own running experiences, as I find myself aged 5 also. This wonderful book will make you reflect on your own “Age” of running and what it means to you.

Running Tracks by Rob Deering

Memories of events, occasions and incidents can be often triggered by a song or a piece of music, transporting you back to a certain time in your life. Rob Deering uses his love of music to associate certain tracks (hence the title of the book) with his memorable running experiences. Rob is a comedian who shares a running podcast with Paul Tonkinson. He listens to music in his earphones while running and the book follows his running journey from first runs to marathons, via particular songs.

There is a great variety in locations, including parkruns and holiday runs over his favourite routes and races. Variations in his pace and cadence during a run are often in time with the rhythm and beat of the music. Inner feelings, sights and landscape features are remembered through his running tracks and at the end of each chapter Rob gives similar tracks and runs to the ones described in detail. Like Rob, many runners will listen to music, particularly on solo runs as it can lift spirits, reduce tiredness and makes the time pass quicker, helping the runner get into their stride. The highs and lows of Rob’s runs are evidence of this. The book gives a humorous insight into his musical running choices, although I personally knew few of them, being of more advanced years.

Some of his runs are in Clissold Park, Stoke Newington. The very name transported me back to my short, easy runs in this park in the week before the London Marathon of 1997. For Rob, this is what music does. What triggers your memories of specific runs? • Running Free by Richard Askwith is published by Vintage Publishing.

• Running Tracks by Rob Deering is published by Unbound.

Amazing races

It’s been a bumper summer season already, with Jog Scotties earning medals at events including London Marathon, Edinburgh Marathon Festival, Manchester Marathon, Run Balmoral, and more. We’re delighted to include some of your photos here. Wherever you’re running this summer, however far and however fast – we’re proud of you!

David Syme

Jogging along by

The Devil on the Run

The first time the devil spoke to me was many years ago, on my third or fourth marathon – in Berlin, I think it was. Complacency was creeping in - I had done the distance, been there. For the race in question a group of us trained and travelled out together. With a few under my belt I tried to help first-timers overcome their anxieties. “We’ve done the hard miles in training, relax, enjoy the atmosphere, adrenalin will kick in, you’ll be fine.” Patronising, when I look back! That day the devil spoke. I had set off confidently and was enjoying the terrific atmosphere, but became aware that the adrenalin was losing its kick, I had lower back stiffness and my footfall sounded wrong. I gasped when I saw a distance sign of 20K! Less than half gone! The devil saw his chance and started speaking to me in a gentle voice: “You don’t need to do this, you know. That back pain could develop into a serious problem. You have nothing to prove, you’ve done this before. Today is not your day, just accept it. Don’t be pig-headed. Running is meant to be enjoyable, so if you are hurting, what’s the point? You’re just being stupid if you carry on like this.”

There are counter-arguments, of course, so I talked back to the devil with the usual arguments: “I know that it hurts, but the feeling of completion will be wonderful. I’ve paid the fee so I’ll keep going. I’ve started, so I’ll finish. No pain, no gain!” As I struggled along the course, the debate with the devil raged in my mind, and distracted me from any enjoyment of the event. I think this debate dominated my running from 20K to 35K, and it slowed me down. Once I reached 35K I knew there was only 8K to go, less in fact! That’s only 5 miles, I could do that in my sleep. The worst was over, and I plodded on to the finish. In the relief of completing the course I could hear the devil saying firmly: “All right you got away with it this time, but don’t ever, ever think of doing another marathon.” I gave the devil a weak nod of acceptance.

Well, that was a long time ago. Time is a great healer and on later marathons the devil’s voice was not heard.

The sad thing is that he is now talking to me in a very convincing voice on 10km runs!

Walk, jog, run with jogscotland

Get fit and have fun with our sociable, supportive jogging groups for all levels – beginners welcome! Affordable, friendly sessions with trained Jog Leaders.