Runs Writes Code

Take a chance on me Happy! Photo: Debbie Martin Consani In 2007 I applied for a dream PhD scholarship at the University of St Andrews. It would mean switching fields from English to History, but Andrew and Malcolm took a chance on me, I moved from Cambridge to Scotland, took up running and found an entirely new life. In 2014 I ran my first ultra, having persuaded my coach, Ron, that since I have mastocytosis and inflammatory arthritis (both of which could progress) I wanted to run an ultra while I still could… I picked the Speyside Way, won it and fell in love. I fell for the novel challenges of the distance, the sublime scenery, the self transcendence and the community. Two weeks after the 2015 London Marathon (2.58) I ran the Kintyre Way and broke the course record. So when Scottish Athletics invited athletes to put themselves forward for consideration for the Anglo Celtic Plate I did. There is such depth of talent in Scotland, with a lot of experience, but Adrian d