Day 11 Having celebrated day 10 with a visit to Rich’s in-laws Ciaran & Janet Murphy for a lovely supper and some beers. We felt a little obliged to leave a gift for Janet but with such short notice we needed to improvise a little. So based on her love of staying busy we opted for a pile of dirty washing, which she accepted gleefully and delivered back to us this morning all clean and fresh. (SERIOUSLY BIG THANKS GUYS XX) It’s not quite as simple as running down the A9 once you hit the towns you need a map and your whit’s about you both of which I had neither of today so duly got lost twice this morning!! Then Rich came along to my rescue and after a short pep talk from him which went something like Are you blind or stupid? I felt confident of knowing the route and he set me on my way. It was not long after this that I wished I was lost again as I have spent most of today walking up a huge hill on a fast country lane which was really not the place to be running let alone with a fridge on your back. For sure lots of the roads I have run on people would never normally dare! You would have to be a little crazy. I just didn’t have the time or the resources to map this route out properly and we have paid the price a little and taken a few risks, but I am going to make a few changes to the route wherever possible along the way to make it safer. Your Local knowledge can help me greatly here if you all can take a moment to visit tonythefridge and check my route your opinions would be hugely appreciated. Yet again the locals were very supportive and generous to me today I feel so connected to Scotland every town all the way down the country have got behind me. I love the wonderful way they bring food and drinks and have cooked and baked for us their generosity is second to none. I am just not able to fully come to terms with all these people being so kind to me and the team. As we speak we are staying on Linwater campsite that is completely full due to the Edinburgh festival, not only did they make room they allowed us to stay free of charge thank you Peter & Jean. I stopped for a rest at the 20 mile mark yesterday and as I iced my feet I was visited one of my sponsors Paul Sewell of AWP Shoes, he has sponsored me for a little while now but it was the first time we have met. How nice to pop in and see me no press or PR going on just making sure I was ok. We were also visited by a smashing local lad who is known as the running fish, Gordon is a Park Runner and like me a fan and friend of Lord Smythe. But today was all about getting over the Fourth Road Bridge and crikey did that feel fantastic, I suppose it’s only really another mile like any other mile. But somehow it felt like I was coming home my thoughts drifted to my wife and kids and for a little while I felt really broken and had a few tears. Trust me there is nothing more painful than missing my family. Before you know it I was approached by lots of people on the bridge and my mind got back on task as I told the story of why I was carrying this huge Smeg my spirits lifted and I picked up my pace to run into the loving arms of my crew man Rich, who shouted out to me in his loving way as I approached “where the f*** you been?” The day started with a route change as the A9 was far too dangerous to run on the road was fast and busy so the team set me off on a B road Parallel to my start whilst they tried to work out the route ahead of me. Within half a mile I was climbing a hill that just seemed to go on and on!
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 08:35:14 +0000
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