Great Scottish Half 2023

On the 2nd of October 2022 Lottie and me completed the Great Scottish Half marathon for the first time - she was 17 that day. 1 Year later on the last day she would be 17 - Lottie and my good pal Craig toed the line at the Great Scottish Half Marathon once more.
We all had our own personal goals - each ultimately to finish.
Craig was recovering from a pretty rough chest infection and wasn't sure how things would go.
Lottie quietly had her own goals in mind. I was her pacemaker :-)
I also wanted to make sure I raised a bit of awareness for Brain Tumour Research and the memory of my pal Liam who sadly died in June from a brain tumour. So I proudly wore my @braintumourresearch vest

We started together and early into the run Craig began to pull away and as agreed he was to run his own race.
Lottie started strong and determined - I didn't know until later - she had a 2 hour 10 minute goal in mind.
We lost sight of Craig after the first mile and I was hoping he would have a good day.
About mile 9 Lottie began to show some discomfort and I could see she was suffering a bit. It was hard to tell but it seemed she was going through pretty bad cramp and lactic acid build up in her left leg - causing her real pain.
We stopped to assess things - stretch it out, a bit of massaging and deciding how to deal with the final 4 miles.
A bit of a walk run strategy for a few hundred yards before Lottie's strength and courage burst through. Her 'A' goal was in doubt but beating the previous year was a real possibility - so plan B it was.
I was so proud of how Lottie dug deep within herself and overcome any doubt that niggled at her through the pain she felt.
She had come this far and wasn't going to be beaten. I nearly had a tear in my eye (don't tell anyone)
And as she still had humour to flip me the bird when we crossed the arch bridge - she did the same last year :-) Looks like it'll be our running ritual.... 😁
We passed Karen at The Clutha Vaults just before Glasgow Green and that was lovely and gave Lottie extra grit and a spring for the finish line.
You'll see in the video how Lottie managed a sprint finish and we beat last year by 2 minutes. FABULOUS!!!

Craig was waiting at the end for us - he had a tremendous and unexpected 2 hours 1 minute finish, He was delighted and frustrated all at the same time. He'll be back next year to get sub 2 hours. As will Lottie and me. But first we've got the Inverness Half in March 2024 to tackle.

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