Welcome to Mandy’s Running Blog. Blogging is a new venture for a new chapter and a new decade in my life. In February 2016 I will be 50! Crumbs, how did that happen! I have been a runner all my life. I enjoy running every distance on every surface but my favourite place to run is in the mountains. Recently I have discovered ultrarunning and its mind-altering effects. For 2016 I hope to test myself like never before proving that getting to 50 is no barrier to running and improving. I thought I would blog some of this as I know runners look for race reports when preparing for new races. Maybe it will provide some inspiration for “older” runners too.
One of my goals for 2016 is to run a 100 miler. The 100 miles has been a mystical distance that I have wanted to attempt ever since running my first ultra, the Chuckanut 50K in 2012. A stepping stone to this goal was finishing the Gorge Waterfalls 100K in 2015. That was a huge, amazing, beautiful challenge. I made it to the finish line in the darkness with the noise of the cow bells leading me to the line. Those last steps were special and ended in a flood of tears. The race was so very difficult but so amazing. I have entered that race again this year (maybe I’ll improve!). I hope to do a 100 miler sometime after that. I also hope to do some Skyrunning events in Scotland and Canada. I am Scottish but live in BC, Canada.
The “new chapter” in my life is because I lost my mum, dad and brother over a short space of time in the last 4 years. I spent my holidays travelling from Vancouver to Scotland so I could be with my mum and dad as much as possible at the end of their lives. They both had drawn out illnesses. It was a sad time but with the passing of the sadness there is a freedom to travel and run. My mum and dad and brother will always be with me and now here goes….
Mandy's Running Blog 