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Alan Murray

Like many a runner my journey to where I am today is a well worn path! I ran a lot in my teens and early 20s and really enjoyed it. I was never a particularly fast runner, but I still thought I was pretty decent. Like many people, distractions in my late teens and early 20s when I attended University and moved out of the family home, meant that the running fell by the wayside. Into my late 20s, early 30s, I got married, had 2 great children, undertook a pretty stressful job (including running my own business for a while) as well as completing an MBA in early 2010! As my MBA finished and the kids became less of a handful, I decided to use some of my new found spare time to get back to the gym. I was pretty dedicated to this (as many people who know me can testify, when I get an idea in my head I go all out to achieve it) and really enjoyed running on the treadmill. I participated in a number of sporting events during this time such as The Rob Roy Challenge, Edinburgh to St Andrews cycle ride and Tough Mudder, which all led to a marked increase in my general fitness. This evidently led me to return to running outside, usually while I was waiting to pick up one of the kids from the numerous clubs they were attending. I found I was hooked on he endorphin rush and just loved running outdoors. I ran numerous Great Scottish and Great North runs as well as a number of Edinburgh ½ marathons and 10-mile races. This was around 2013 and while I was enjoying running, I felt I was stuck in a rut, my performances had started to plateau, tipping under 2 hours for the Glasgow ½ in 2012! I needed to ‘up my game’ so thought about joining a running club. I did my research and liked the look of Carnegie Harriers, as they were local, and I had seen many CH runners out and about in Dunfermline over the years. The question that kept popping into my head was “am I good enough to join a club like Carnegie!?” After many false dawns I decided to head down to Pitreavie and join a session, but no one was there, so I left disappointed ☹. Many weeks passed before I decided to try again, heading along to a training session at The Glen with trepidation, I needn’t have worried!! The Harriers were there, where I was made to feel very welcome. As that first session progressed I really started to tire, but never really felt out of place alongside the other runners. I joined as soon as I got home, and the rest is history!!