To answer this question I need to take you back to the 4th of July 2003 when my dad unexpectedly passed away aged just forty-nine. During his life he combined his love of the outdoors and his selfless nature to participate in challenges for charity, one of which was hiking the West Highland Way in just three days.
A typical family weekend with Dad – a Munro followed by the Drovers
To mark the 10th anniversary of his passing, together with two of my closest friends we set off on the 4th July 2013 to emulate this, whilst raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. One of my friends had to pull out of the challenge during the first day after a recurring injury became too painful for him to carry on. On the morning of the third and hopefully final day my second friend was unable to start due to his foot swelling so much he could not put his boots on. That left me with some thirty-two miles still to complete on my own. Now for anyone that has known me over the past few years and the distances I have ran and cycled you’d think that’s nothing to me. That maybe the case now, but back then I wasn’t as physically or mentally fit as I am now.
Start of the West Highland Way, 4th July 2013
The most significant point of that third day and one that has influenced my life ever since, was after I emerged from the climb out of Kinlochleven. I had just hiked a tough 16 miles on my own, I was wet, cold, everything ached, and the view ahead was like looking into Mordor. It was as far to go back as it was to go forward and I felt completely beaten; I was the personification of misery. Thinking back I believe it was the no glossing over it view ahead that made it all seem so unachievable. I was letting my mind defeat me, my chimp brain was winning. I reminded myself why I was doing it and I thought about all the donations and kind words of encouragement that I’d received and that got my feet moving forward again. I broke the remaining distance down into manageable chunks and rewarded myself each time I completed one with a sweet, a drink or a new playlist to listen to. I spoke to myself aloud; “each step is one step closer”, “the quicker you go the quicker you’ll finish”, and on the descents I would say “oooh free miles” as I felt gravity doing the work for me. My mood lifted as did my energy and focus, and I started to vividly imagine my dad was with me which was really emotional. I had no GPS smart watch or fancy mobile phone back then and was working just from a map. At one point I realised that I was a few miles behind where I thought I was but after shouting a few expletives I kept reciting the same mantras in my head and beasted my way to the finish. I was so much in the zone in fact that I walked past the finish then had to walk back.
6th July 2013 became a very significant date in my life as I finished the
West Highland Way as a team of one after a huge physical and emotional journey.
Since then I have completed countless running events from 5K’s to ultramarathons, cycling sportives, duathlons, and other testing endurance events. Just like my dad I completed some of these events for charity and was humbled and honoured to have been invited by Great Ormond Street Hospital to attend their Halloween Patient Party in 2017 to meet with patients and their families to see what difference my fundraising made. The 6th of July 2013 – 6713 – was the day I had to dig deep and truly find my inner strength and has positively influenced my life in so many ways ever since. My hope is that people connect with me because they either already have their number, they’ve had their dig deep day which has inspired them to pursue a healthier and more energetic lifestyle, or they want me to help them find their number, have their day.
I was at a gig in The Shed in Glasgow; 2018, and the band did a cover of It’s My Life, by Bon Jovi. I’d heard the song loads of times but the lyrics really resonated with me that night….
It’s my life
It’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to live while I’m alive
Mahatma Gandhi said “the future depends on what we do in the present”…. My present on 14th September 2018 was when I left my career of 20 years, changing my life to make positive changes for others through CLUB 6713.
What are you going to do today?” Get in touch and let me know.