I've always enjoyed writing, and I've always wanted to do it, so that's one of the reasons why I started this blog. I suppose I do enjoy it, because like Ironman racing, I keep coming back to it and doing more!
When I started running a bit more seriously in my late teens and early 20s in Aberdeen, a former top-class marathon runner-turned journalist would occasionally write about me in the paper. Those were good days. Literally every race I did for about 3 years was a PB and I was wondering where I could go with it. On the one hand I could say I got further than I ever thought possible, but on the other hand I didn't. Such is how it goes.
He didn't just write about me in the paper, but also about the local athletics scene, and everyone involved with it. He was very inclusive. A great guy. A modest guy, who has remained a fan and an enthusiast of athletics. Fast forward nearly two decades and he is still writing for the paper, and he was gracious enough to give me a few tips about it.
I did a 5K relay in Glasgow earlier in the year. It was a major, high-calibre national event, and our club’s A-team was spearheaded by a 1500m Olympian. The racing was top-class, and thrilling. Our A-team won the day. I’d never seen a single story about local athletics in any paper in Edinburgh, so I thought well, if this wasn't worthy of something in the paper, what would be?! I put together a story and got in touch with the paper. And they were happy to publish it, so it mustn't have been too bad...!
When the cross-country season wound down with the UK inter-county championships in Loughborough, just a few days before lockdown, I put together a summary of the cross-country season. The paper again seemed pretty receptive and I hope to continue with this in future. Often at races I will whip out my phone and take whatever photos I can of the races. I've become somewhat known as the club photographer. So I have some good photos I am able to use to support the articles.
The difficulty is keeping to the word limit. I always tell myself to keep these blogs short and stop spending so much time on them. And inevitably they still end up being long, rambling, cathartic essays. You can’t write like that for the paper. I summarised the cross-country season in 1000 words (not many words, and difficult to do) and then the editor said I had to cut it to 600 words - not easy!
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