This time 10 years ago, we were fortunate enough to be in the great city of Chicago, and ok this day back then, I ran the Chicago half marathon. All kitted out with my Scotland flag as a cape…

What a big chunk of medal I got for that race! It’s one of my all tune favourite events, and I had lots of Americans coming up to me during the race telling me that their granny was from Scotland etc.

Today I travel down to Brighton for what was meant to be me running the marathon (booked in early 2020, before my injury sidelined me for 10 or 11 months). But in June I sensibly dropped down to the 10k race instead.

I’m quite relieved actually… as I know how hard and gruelling running a marathon can be, so only having to do a 10k is so much less pressure and I know I’ll be able to do it.

My hamstring has been good over the last 4-6 weeks, and I’ve been training easy, up to a 10k distance. I’m not sure how the day will go, I’ll probably push it a bit, but not too much. The main aim will be to enjoy myself and take in the event.

For a laugh, and because I’m running in England… I thought I might as well wear my Scotland flag / cape again. Might as well eh? Let them know where I’m from. 😂

I’m all packed and ready to go, I’ve got my trainers, my gadgets, my running gear and everything else I need.

I’m glad to be meeting some lovely runners from Ellon at Heathrow.

I’ve got to know the amazing Jen and Glynis over the last decade or so, the bots, they’ve welcomed me into their running group of friends, and I can’t wait to see them and get to know them all some more (7 of us in total).

We met through running / this blog, and whilst I’ve probably been forced to take the foot off the pedal with running, Glynis is on a big run streak, away up at 1,350 days streak! … and Jen ran the Glenmore 24 last weekend – and ran 100.47 miles! They’re both amazing (and the loveliest people too!

We’re all flying to Heathrow today, then bussing it to Brighton, to collect our race numbers etc, before the races (most of them are doing the marathon!) tomorrow.

The bots team colours are purple and light blue, so I’ve got my outfit sorted for that too.

As a wee gift for them all, I got them a little red bracelet – for good luck and success. See the thought behind it above.

Let’s hope the red bracelets bring us luck and success. I’m looking forward to a great weekend of adventure, running and fun (and back to a little bit of normality too!).