Ever since i went to work at Technip at Westhill Aberdeen nearly 10 years ago i have had people saying to me when they know i stay in Peterhead "you drive that distance every day thats not real". Its always been an ambition of mine to say to just one person " Well actually i haven't only driven there, i've run it as well". So last Sunday along with Ros my wife, daughter Steph and 12 other friends at Peterhead Jogscotland we took on the challenge to do just that run all the way home!! We left Peterhead on Sunday morning at 7am by mini-bus and drove to Westhill arriving at 8am and we started the long run home at approximately 8.15 after getting our photograph taken by the Security Guard at Technip who must have thought we had lost the plot- and he probably wasn't far wrong1!!! ha ha. Our route took us from Westhill to Blackburn Roundabout at the A96, through the village of Blackburn and onto Hatton of Fintry, the back road to Newmachar past Newmachar Golf Course. At Newmachar we went onto the Formartine and Buchan Walkway, which eventually 6 hrs later would take us all the way to Peterhead via Udny, Ellon, Auchnagatt, Maud, Mintlaw and Longside!! When we left Westhill the weather was quite foggy but we didn't mind a bit as it kept us quite cool, and visibility was still quite good which was all important till we got onto the Fomartine/ Buchan Walkway as we were most of the time running on country roads.
At about 10am the fog lifted and the day turned out really hot, and we were really gratefull to our back up team of Stewart Strachan, Andy Davidson and Marshall Birnie in the van (who took turns at running as well as driving) who kept us fed and watered along the route.If it hadn't been for their efforts i think the outcome could have been very different. Our main stopping place during the challenge was at Ellon (22 miles into the run) where we stopped for about 30 mins to take in food as well as the usual drinks (no alcohol i must add ha ha). When we stopped at Ellon Leah and her wonderful family were there to support us, and this in turn gave us a great boost!! The most challenging bit of the route we all agreed was the 7 miles from Ellon to Auchnagatt, on that part of the route there was very little access points for the mini-bus, as a result by the time we got to Auchnagatt we were all beginning to get a bit dehydrated/weary it was so warm, and we were really grateful to Andy who met us about 1km out and gave us some water to keep us going till we got to Auchnagatt!! At Auchnagatt as well as the 15 of us who started the challenge, we were joined by Margaret, Jennifer and Bonnie who run with us all the way to Peterhead which was 18 miles, which in itself was a great achievement. After Auchnagatt our next leg took us to Maud Station and although it wasnt in our plans it was great to stop over for about a 15 mins to regroup again, we were also joined by the Press and Journal photographer who took our photo. At Mintlaw we were met by Elaine Weir, Elaine Lemon, Marilyn, Katrina, Debra and Valerie which was just great and spured us on to the end, we were also joined by 4 younger joggers along the route Cameron, Shelly and Ewan and all did magic as well. We finally arrived at Catto Park Pavilion Peterhead at 6.15pm 10 hrs after we left Westhill. After 10 years at Technip i have finally completed my ambition to "RUN All THE WAY HAME TO PETERHEID WHAT A FANTASTIC FEELING IT WAS"!!! A week later i am still waiting for that sentence " You drive that distance every day" -you know what my reply will be!!!!! ha ha.
It didnt start off as a sponsored event until i learned about and met Leah Ligertwood. Leah was born 2 years ago with Celebral Palsy and is off to the USA in August for a major operation which will hopefully give her full use of her legs. I only met Leah a few weeks ago at a wedding in which she was the flower girl, but from that moment i just knew i had to try and support the family as her operation is costing £40,000 which the family have to pay for themselves. With the generous donation of colleagues at work we are hoping to have raised about £1300 for the family. I know a lot of you have made donations to the appeal already and came along to support our Leahs Royal Wedding Fun Run last week, and we really appreciate your support which was just fantastic!!
As i approach my Big 50th birthday (i know you dont believe it!!) I hope our Big 50 (Miles) Challenge will inspire YOU some of you to go that "extra mile" when getting more active through jogging. I never started jogging till i was nearly 40, i never dreamed I would complete a Half Marathon let alone a 50 mile run in one day, just shows you what you/we can achieve if you are willing to put in the effort. All the leaders at Peterhead Jogscotland are committed to help you each and everyone of you achieve your goal whatever that maybe a 3,5 or 10km or even a London or New York Marathon we promise we will help you to achieve that goal, as so many of our members have at Peterhead Jogscotland over the last few years!!. Remember if you have any questions or queries just ask, we cant help you if we dont know!!!! To see all photographs from THE BIG 50 (MILES) CHALLENGE simply click here
Thursday, 28 April 2011
The Big 50 (Miles) Challenge
Ever since i went to work at Technip at Westhill Aberdeen nearly 10 years ago i have had people saying to me when they know i stay in Peterhead "you drive that distance every day thats not real". Its always been an ambition of mine to say to just one person " Well actually i haven't only driven there, i've run it as well". So last Sunday along with Ros my wife, daughter Steph and 12 other friends at Peterhead Jogscotland we took on the challenge to do just that run all the way home!! We left Peterhead on Sunday morning at 7am by mini-bus and drove to Westhill arriving at 8am and we started the long run home at approximately 8.15 after getting our photograph taken by the Security Guard at Technip who must have thought we had lost the plot- and he probably wasn't far wrong1!!! ha ha. Our route took us from Westhill to Blackburn Roundabout at the A96, through the village of Blackburn and onto Hatton of Fintry, the back road to Newmachar past Newmachar Golf Course. At Newmachar we went onto the Formartine and Buchan Walkway, which eventually 6 hrs later would take us all the way to Peterhead via Udny, Ellon, Auchnagatt, Maud, Mintlaw and Longside!! When we left Westhill the weather was quite foggy but we didn't mind a bit as it kept us quite cool, and visibility was still quite good which was all important till we got onto the Fomartine/ Buchan Walkway as we were most of the time running on country roads.
At about 10am the fog lifted and the day turned out really hot, and we were really gratefull to our back up team of Stewart Strachan, Andy Davidson and Marshall Birnie in the van (who took turns at running as well as driving) who kept us fed and watered along the route.If it hadn't been for their efforts i think the outcome could have been very different. Our main stopping place during the challenge was at Ellon (22 miles into the run) where we stopped for about 30 mins to take in food as well as the usual drinks (no alcohol i must add ha ha). When we stopped at Ellon Leah and her wonderful family were there to support us, and this in turn gave us a great boost!! The most challenging bit of the route we all agreed was the 7 miles from Ellon to Auchnagatt, on that part of the route there was very little access points for the mini-bus, as a result by the time we got to Auchnagatt we were all beginning to get a bit dehydrated/weary it was so warm, and we were really grateful to Andy who met us about 1km out and gave us some water to keep us going till we got to Auchnagatt!! At Auchnagatt as well as the 15 of us who started the challenge, we were joined by Margaret, Jennifer and Bonnie who run with us all the way to Peterhead which was 18 miles, which in itself was a great achievement. After Auchnagatt our next leg took us to Maud Station and although it wasnt in our plans it was great to stop over for about a 15 mins to regroup again, we were also joined by the Press and Journal photographer who took our photo. At Mintlaw we were met by Elaine Weir, Elaine Lemon, Marilyn, Katrina, Debra and Valerie which was just great and spured us on to the end, we were also joined by 4 younger joggers along the route Cameron, Shelly and Ewan and all did magic as well. We finally arrived at Catto Park Pavilion Peterhead at 6.15pm 10 hrs after we left Westhill. After 10 years at Technip i have finally completed my ambition to "RUN All THE WAY HAME TO PETERHEID WHAT A FANTASTIC FEELING IT WAS"!!! A week later i am still waiting for that sentence " You drive that distance every day" -you know what my reply will be!!!!! ha ha.
It didnt start off as a sponsored event until i learned about and met Leah Ligertwood. Leah was born 2 years ago with Celebral Palsy and is off to the USA in August for a major operation which will hopefully give her full use of her legs. I only met Leah a few weeks ago at a wedding in which she was the flower girl, but from that moment i just knew i had to try and support the family as her operation is costing £40,000 which the family have to pay for themselves. With the generous donation of colleagues at work we are hoping to have raised about £1300 for the family. I know a lot of you have made donations to the appeal already and came along to support our Leahs Royal Wedding Fun Run last week, and we really appreciate your support which was just fantastic!!
As i approach my Big 50th birthday (i know you dont believe it!!) I hope our Big 50 (Miles) Challenge will inspire YOU some of you to go that "extra mile" when getting more active through jogging. I never started jogging till i was nearly 40, i never dreamed I would complete a Half Marathon let alone a 50 mile run in one day, just shows you what you/we can achieve if you are willing to put in the effort. All the leaders at Peterhead Jogscotland are committed to help you each and everyone of you achieve your goal whatever that maybe a 3,5 or 10km or even a London or New York Marathon we promise we will help you to achieve that goal, as so many of our members have at Peterhead Jogscotland over the last few years!!. Remember if you have any questions or queries just ask, we cant help you if we dont know!!!! To see all photographs from THE BIG 50 (MILES) CHALLENGE simply click here
