Out with the old...

In between jumping into the sea for the loony dook at North Berwick yesterday and running along the railway walk track between Haddington and Longniddry today, I decided to declutter my kitchen. This involved removing the medals that have  hung from a shelf after being brought back from various  races over the last few years. Their fate is to be put in a box to be hidden away somewhere. I know I'm a sad old git and should  put them in the bin but in my defence, I come from the marathon boom era of the 1980's when getting a medal still meant something. In those days, working class lads like myself did not run in marathons, we left it to the super hero's on the telly. The first London marathon in 1981 was a revelation... mere mortals like me were running in the same race as the racing elite. I remember how excited I got sitting in front of the telly and watching an American and a Scandinavian cross the finishing line together. Afterwards, I went out and ran about eight miles which was the longest distance I had run at the time. The following year I ran the mighty race in 3.22 and became a hopeless running addict. I still have  the London marathon medal, along with a lot of others in a box somewhere.

The current medals have clustered around certain events. The Dunbar races feature prominently and there are a couple of  North Berwick Law race medals. Loch Leven, Haddington and Jedburgh half marathon medals are in there. There's also one  from the Cape Wrath marathon (relay.) To keep a bit of balance there are a few triathlon medals and one for a cycle run. There's plenty of room on the shelf for a some new medals...  so watch this space.