Journalism under lockdown

Buy a paper. If you take nothing else from the ramblings you're about to read, buy a paper. Hopefully the nonsense that will follow will go some way to explaining why.

Got that? Good. Now, if you're sitting comfortably, I'll begin.

I'm about to go on holiday for a fortnight and furlough could potentially extend that to a month. In a different universe, I'd be heading off to some lovely, hot, scenic part of Europe with my fiancée. Thankfully, we hadn't agreed where to go before someone shouted “Double bat and chips, garcon!”, so it's Costa del Solway instead.

There's worse places to be...

Four weeks off from The Galloway News will be the longest break I've had since I finished uni nearly 15 years ago – and I need it. The last two months have been the toughest I've experienced during my journalism career and I'd imagine many of my fellow reporters feel the same. It has been interesting, frustrating, fulfilling, challenging and many other things. Different doesn't quite cover it. Neither does tiring as this week has confirmed I'm physically and mentally exhausted.

I'd guess I was like most folk when coronavirus began to spread. I didn't think it would affect us, it was the usual exaggeration in the media (yes, I'm aware of the irony there) and it'll never make it to the UK. I laughed at people taking seemingly ridiculous precautions – the hand sanitiser, the elbow rubbing, the face masks. Then, quicker than Donald Trump downing a shot of Domestos, it all become too real.

When it hit Scotland, the start was quite exciting from a journalistic point of view. The story was developing at a frightening rate with changes being measured in minutes, rather than days or hours. Working from home was followed by the schools being closed and then the full-on lockdown. It was incredible and fascinating to follow and report on. There'd been nothing like it before – and hopefully won't be again any time soon.

Yeah, even I draw the line at eating that

That was the fun part. The problem that was about to rear its ugly head was how you fill a paper. You have few, if any, council meetings and no court. All events are cancelled. Sport's gone. Schools news was up the spout as kids were being taught at home. The majority of your community pages are lying empty because women's rurals, rotary clubs and all the other organisations have had to cancel their meetings. Don't laugh – these are an important part of a local, community newspaper like the one I work for, as proven by the e-mails and phonecalls you get when they're not in.

Everything was fine to start with. Stories on lockdown rules, articles about the events that were falling by the wayside on an hourly basis. You had the stories about the fantastic community efforts to make sure the vulnerable and isolated weren't too badly impacted – people willing to pick up shopping, collect prescriptions or even walk dogs. You also had stories about how people were trying to lift the mood in their community – wearing dinosaur costumes for their daily walks being a particular highlight.

How can you not like this?!

But at some stage you reach saturation point and you run out of such stories – and your readers get bored of reading the same thing, just with different towns or names, every week. And I'm not looking for sympathy, but it also gets pretty tiring writing articles like that for weeks on end. I got a real thrill when I was able to write a rare story not about Covid-19 and if I don't have to type the phrase “coronavirus pandemic” until 2056, it'll still be too soon.

Every week, almost as soon as one paper was finished, I began to worry about how on earth we were going to fill the next paper. In fact, it's probably the most forward planning I've done in my 13 years at the paper. I'd often have my stuff filed a full day ahead of deadline, meaning I could move on to looking for stuff for the following week. I was constantly panicking about how we were going to fill another paper in seven days time – even though we still hadn't got that week's edition done and dusted.

Despite that worry – or perhaps because of thinking ahead - I would argue that the papers we have produced under lockdown in the past two months are some of the best in my near decade and a half at the Galloway News. We have had some fantastic stories about how our community is coping with lockdown, incredible fundraising efforts, how businesses have adapted to ensure they can continue trading and, latterly, how ready everyone is for the restrictions easing. Our weekly updates from care homes have provided a great way for friends and relatives to see how their loved ones are doing when they can't physically see them themselves, every time we've appealed to our wonderful readers for photos they have responded in their droves and we've still managed schools news – with a difference.

A 101-year-old woman doing a zipslide is one of the fantastic fundraisers we've covered

And as much as our readers have helped us through this difficult time, we have been able to help them. Aside from our care home updates, we have also provided details of how people can contact local groups willing to help out those who are shielding or self-isolating at home. You might assume everyone is on the internet these days but they aren't– especially in our circulation area. Having these details in the paper allows people to see them who may otherwise have been unaware help is at hand.

We've somehow managed to produce these fantastic papers while everyone (barring our photographer) is working at home. I have no idea how we've managed it – maybe it's because our computer system seems to work better on home broadband rather than the office network. On a personal level, at times I've struggled at home and with the silence of being on my own, at others I've probably powered on for longer than is healthy without a break (stop laughing at the back). Plus I miss the biscuits other folk bring in.

I seem to be treated as some sort of god for bringing these into the office just before lockdown

Of course our sales have fallen as not everyone can get to the shops. That's a shame because it means people are missing out on the tremendous papers, although unsurprisingly our web traffic has gone up - and if you would like to boost it further by visiting www.gallowaynews.co.uk that would be grand. However, a good chunk of people are still buying it and hopefully that will continue. I'm not exactly going out on a limb to suggest we're nearer the end of the print media story than the beginning, and the Covid-19 pandemic will probably have brought the final chapter close, however we're still here, we do still have a role to play.

And while some papers and journalists are biased, not all of us are. Running a negative story about your preferred political party does not automatically out to get them and favour the other lot. And another paper in the same publishing group favouring one political party does not mean all journalists and titles in that group have the same stance. After all, you don't accuse your binman of being a rabid Nationalist just because the council has an SNP administration.

And for that reason, buy a paper – particularly your local paper. We're important. We're a trusted source of news. We help people in the community – whether it's by fighting your corner, telling you what's going on or something as simple as contact details for local groups. We've seen during this pandemic how important papers are at holding people in power to account – Mr Cummings will testify to that. Don't let anyone tell you that papers are irrelevant these days because the evidence clearly suggests otherwise.

Dominic Cummings - big fan of the print media

So support these efforts, support important journalism and buy a paper. As we finally begin to exit lockdown and look forward to the “new normal”, please remember that newspapers kept going through it all and will be around for a good while longer. The reporters were there for you, are there for you now and will continue to be there for you.

Although I won't be – well, not for the next month anyway.

Season of my life

Ask a St Mirren fan for their favourite season and you'll probably get one of two answers. If it's someone older than 45, there's a chance they'll go for Fergie's Furies. Any younger and it'll almost certainly be the Millennium Champions.

Thankfully, my mid-forties are still a reasonable bit away so it's the 1999-2000 campaign for me. It was so magical, so memorable, so unexpected that it's miles better than the other two title winning seasons I've been fortunate enough to witness. Only the mad, emotional rollercoaster adventure of The Great Escape in 2017 comes close.

I was a teenager at the time and had little memory of our previous stint in the top flight. The intervening period was hardly a golden age – if I have grandkids it's unlikely they'll want to hear about the time I saw us being humped by Falkirk at a snowy Fir Park in the B&Q Cup Final. What made things worse was every Monday morning you had gloating Rangers fans enjoying their side's march to nine-in-a-row and wondering how anyone could support anyone else.

What I witnessed during the Millennium Champions year went against all that. From nowhere, the team suddenly became an unstoppable, freescoring behemoth. Old scores were settled, big wins were recorded, last minute winners and opposition players being sent off were an almost weekly occurrence and it ended with something those Rangers fans never got to witness – an open top bus parade.

What perhaps makes it even more special is the players involved. For pretty much every one of them – aside from Tom Brown, who had won the Scottish Cup with Kilmarnock a few years earlier – it was pretty much the only honour they ever won. Compare that to the class of 2006, which contained future UEFA Cup finalist Kirk Broadfoot and English Premier League star Charlie Adam. Neither did it have young players who'd go on to fame or fortune elsewhere – whereas midway through the 2017-18 season Lewis Morgan was already Celtic bound.

Given the squad make up, it's perhaps little surprise the Buddies were supposedly second favourites for relegation. There was a glimpse of what may be ahead in pre-season with a shock win over Rangers, but friendlies mean little when the proper action starts. A clearer sign of intent came a few weeks later when a 6-0 shellacking was dished out to Raith Rovers. It was finally revenge for an even heavier defeat just after relegation in 1992 and similar payback would be meted out to Airdrie and Morton in the coming months.

The goals were flying in and the club was the highest scorers in Europe - one of these claims that was easier to get away with in the infancy of the web. Mark Yardley - a ridicule of fun in previous and future seasons - was a man transformed and seemed to score every week alongside strike partner Barry Lavety. I am not unashamed to say Basher is one of my favourite ever Saints players (if not the overall winner) and it was joyous to have him back from Hibs doing what he did best. The fact he - and guys like Barry McLaughlin and Steven McGarry - would have been on the terraces if they weren't playing was an added bonus.

It may just be the rose-tinted glasses effect, but even in the early stages of the season it seemed as if the crowds at Love Street were huge - and not just in the home end. It's hard to think of clubs like Falkirk, Raith Rovers, Dunfermline and even Livingston bringing bigger supports to Paisley and the atmosphere at derbies with Morton has rarely been matched since. I don't really know why that was the case – although given the current situation I imagine younger readers are still recovering from the shock revelation that football matches not only used to take place, but people were allowed in to watch them.

Saints boss Tom Hendrie embarked on a rather bold 3-4-3 approach - one that, funnily enough, didn't really seem to work when we found ourselves at a higher level. For the most part it was Ludovic Roy in goals with Barry McLaughlin and Scott Walker either side of Tommy Turner at the back. Turner's Love Street career had looked finished the previous season after a dispute with a fan while being subbed, yet here he was playing at the back, captaining the side and loving it. His stoppage time winner at home to Raith Rovers was a particular highlight.

In midfield you had Hugh Murray - whose goal at Forthbank in 1998 kept the club in business - usually playing alongside Tom Brown or Sergei Baltacha (I think). If I had to put money on someone to deliver an inch perfect cross it wouldn't be Ronaldo or Beckham, it would be turn of the centry vintage Iain Nicolson or Ian Ross (the latter moved further back due to a horrific injury to Chris Kerr). Their delivery was outstanding, helped in part because they had the giants of Yards and Basher to aim for. Junior Mendes did the running for the big pair, with Steven McGarry also getting his fair share of goals.

Helping drive the team on was the media saying this run was all well and good, but it couldn't last. Not even a stunning win over Dunfermline at Love Street could prove to them the bubble wouldn't burst - and there was a wobble during December and January when Ludovic Roy got injured. Once he was back, it was pretty much normal service.

Nowhere was the team's never-say-die attitude and that desire to prove the doubters wrong more apparent than on a return trip to Kirkcaldy in February 2000. Man Utd might have scored two late goals to beat Bayern Munich in the previous year's Champions League final, but they hadn't gone behind just five minutes from the end. Saints did - only to equalise through Yardley and then grab a winner through Mendes seconds later. Scenes! Limbs!

There may have been a poor defeat to Dunfermline the following week but that was put right in style seven days later with an 8-0 hammering of lowly Clydebank, who had a trialist keeper. Of course, in true Saints style we then drew 0-0 with them a fortnight later while wearing Morton tops at Cappielow. That one is best forgotten.

Back then, there was no transfer window and you could sign players up until the end of March. There seemed to be quite a few occasions when I got home from school to find out we'd signed someone else - who'd have thought news of Gary Bowman's arrival could provoke such excitement? But before the deadline the club upped the stakes by bringing in three new players. Jens Paeslack would certainly prove one to watch, while Ricky Gillies followed in Basher's footsteps by returning home. Also coming in was Paul McKnight from Rangers, who most of us had never heard of.

We entered April top of the pile with six games still to go. Airdrie were dispatched before a home game against Falkirk, the Bairns crying to everyone - including the media - about just how unfair it was they wouldn't be promoted because their ground didn't have 10,000 seats. The fact they had spent money on their squad that could have been used on upgrading Brockville never seemed to get mentioned. Saints, meanwhile, had forked out for a new stand at the Love Street end.

There was early drama when the Bairns' Kevin McAllister fell over the outstretched leg of Ludo Roy. The ref's whistle went instantly and the majority of Saints fans readied themselves for a red card and penalty, only for joy and relief when wee Crunchie was booked for diving. Ludo then went on to have a cracking game as Falkirk were arguably the better side, but 10 minutes from time Saints broke, Steven McGarry took a break from winding up Scott MacKenzie to find McKnight and he coolly slotted the ball into the bottom corner for one of my favourite wins in Paisley.

A week later it was off to Livingston and another nerve-shredding afternoon - not that I was there. I was on holiday in the Highlands and in these days before Twitter and Livescore, it was a case of following on the radio hoping for news of a goal, while also praying no news was good news. After McGarry's opener was cancelled out, big Yards forced the ball home for a 2-1 win that ensured a play-off spot at worse.

My holidays ended with a mad dash home to Ayr with Saints fans packing the away end at Somerset Park (although I'm not sure that was what caused the pie van to go on fire pre-kick off). A tense first half was goalless, although Ayr did have Neil Tarrant and manager Gordon Dalziel dismissed. If Saints won and Dunfermline didn't we were champions. Unfortunately, the Fifers were 2-0 up and cruising at the break. Not only was there no party, at this rate the gap at the top was coming down to just three points with two games to go.

Junior Mendes had other ideas and put Saints in front early in the second half. Ayr equalised soon after but for the rest of the half the Buddies battered the Honest Men without finding a way through. News started to filter through that Caley Thistle had somehow equalised against Dunfermline. All that was needed was a goal...

In stoppage time, Saints had a free-kick that the Ayr goalie made a mess of. As he went to recover it, the ball - and the goalie's head - were booted. 99 times out of a hundred it would have been a free-kick but, for some reason, this was the one time the ref waved play on. The Ayr defence tried desperately to scramble it clear but it eventually went to a man in a red shirt at the edge of the box. After playing keepy uppie, with thousands of Saints fans screaming at him to shoot, he finally decided to do just that - and an exocet flew into the top corner. To quote Dougie Vipond on the end of season video: "Paul McKnight had done it again."

I'm fairly certain that's the most I've ever celebrated a Saints goal (terracing rather than seats helped). Me, my dad and brother ran about all over the place as fans flooded onto the pitch. Even now, I'm getting teary eyed just writing this. Play eventually resumed with a few thousand Buddies gleefully singing "Championees". Except we weren't. Because Caley Thistle hadn't equalised after all and had lost 2-1. The fact we were still going up as Falkirk had secured a top three place meaning no play-offs seemed irrelevant. Only St Mirren could make promotion feel like a disappointment.

The next week just dragged and dragged - but it passed in an instant compared to the first half of the final home game against Raith Rovers. In front of an expectant home crowd, Saints struggled (stop me if you've heard this one before) and needed Tommy Turner to hack one off the line to stop things getting even worse. A win would be enough but that seemed very unlikely likely after a nervy 45 minutes.

A repeat in the second half would mean we'd need to head to Inverness looking for a result. Clearly, Mark Yardley couldn't be arsed with that and crashed one in five minutes after the restart. Steven McGarry added a glorious header from Shuggy Murray's cross and Barry McLaughlin headed in the third before we'd even reached an hour. Party time in Paisley.

If the first half had dragged, the final half hour flew by as we got ready for the celebrations at full-time. More than a few tears were shed as a glorious season got the finale it deserved. Having seen so many teams celebrating trophy wins on TV over the years, it was incredible to finally experience my own team having achieved some success.

The Saints were back and the bubble hadn't burst – until a week later, when a makeshift team that was probably still drunk got tonked 5-0 at Inverness. No Buddie cared – all that mattered was the open top bus on a sunkissed Paisley the day after. Sadly, that was to be the last time the Millennium Champions played together, as, amongst other things, Junior Mendes headed to Dunfermline and Barry Lavety leaving due to injury.

The majority of the top flight season is best forgotten – and as that's not what this is about, that's what I'll do. Instead, as we mark 20 years to the day since the title was won against Raith Rovers, I'll think about that win over Dunfermline, destroying Morton at Cappielow, going crazy in my living room as we turned things round against Raith Rovers, those Paul McKnight goals and the party in Paisley.

Favourite season following St Mirren? Millennium Champions mate.

How Stevie Mallan changed my life (maybe)

"The depression that I had been living with for the best part of the 1980s packed up and started to leave that night, and within a month I was better.Inevitably part of me wishes that it had been something else that effected the cure – the love of a good woman, or a minor literary triumph, or a transcendent realisation during something like Live Aid that my life was blessed and worth living – something worthy and real and meaningful. It embarrasses me to confess that a decade-long downer lifted because Arsenal won at Spurs in the Littlewoods Cup (I would be slightly less embarrassed if it had been an FA Cup win, but the Littlewoods!), and I have often tried to work out why it happened like this."

So wrote Nick Hornby in “Fever Pitch”. It's something I can relate to – except for me it's not a cup win for Arsenal at Spurs, it's a midweek league win for St Mirren at Queen of the South.

Towards the end of 2016 I was getting increasingly frustrated and down with life. On the face of it, there didn't seem to be much reason for that. I had a decent job which, for once, wasn't driving me too mad. I had a nice flat, loving family and no money or health worries. What did I have to be depressed about?

For some reason my love life – or lack of one – was becoming increasingly annoying. Why this was manifesting itself now is not clear as it was no more or less existent than usual. Perhaps it was because more and more of my mates were getting engaged, getting married and having kids. It was getting to me to the extent I'd constantly be losing sleep as I began to convince myself I was heading for a life of loneliness.

What I had probably wouldn't officially be categorised as depression, however in hindsight I know I should have sought help – be it by speaking to someone I know or a professional. The closest I got was when I looked at the health and wellbeing section of the work intranet and I ticked off the majority of the symptoms of depression, only to do absolutely nothing about it. That was stupid and I'd strongly advise anyone who finds themselves in that situation to take a different approach.

It's far better than the alternative. On a few late nights when I was driving home from meetings the demons would come out to play and I'd have some dark thoughts. It didn't get any more serious than “Would anyone really miss me if I'm gone?” - which was probably based on my belief that if I fell down the stairs it would be days before anyone came to check on me – but that was probably bad enough.

Not helping my fragile state of mind was the fact St Mirren were bad. I'm not talking about losing the odd game here and there, the sort of run of form that would have Manchester United fans calling for their manager's head. I'm talking about so bad it was bordering on being impressive. The team was on the verge of breaking the club record for most games without a league win with a run that stretched back to April.

This run had extended to early December and a failure to beat Queen of the South at Palmerston would see the record matched or beaten (I can't recall which). I don't normally do away or midweek games but as I live and work in Dumfries, this was effectively a home game. Given that Stephen Dobbie had effectively bodied Andy Webster into retirement when the sides last met, I was all set for history to be made.

Unsurprisingly, Dobbie opened the scoring. Kyle Magennis equalised with a scorcher, only for Dobbie to score again. In the second half, Ben Gordon equalised with a shot that seemed to hit off about seven folk as well as the pole in the middle of my vision and trundled into the net in slow motion. And that seemed to be that. Another game without a win. A new record.

And then Saints got a corner in stoppage time which, as is often the way, was cleared. The ball ended up with Stevie Mallan who, Hibs fans may have discovered, is a bit handy from long range. He hit it. It hit the post. It went in. This was such a shockingly seismic turn of events that at least two video clips of the goal stutter at exactly the same moment, as if the very fabric of the universe was being torn apart by the prospect of St Mirren winning. My pressbox celebrations weren't that much more restrained than the ones on the pitch and in the away end.

It would probably be pushing it to say that the sadness I'd been battling “packed up and left” that night. However, it was maybe the night it decided it was time to look out its bags, just in case.

I'd already planned a date with someone for a few nights after the trip to Palmerston. It was the first time we'd met in person and it seemed to go well in the romantic location of a drive-thru Costa. A second date the following week was the most I'd laughed and smiled in a long, long time. Just to prove things were changing for the better was that between these two dates, St Mirren won again. The sadness had been served with an eviction notice.

And so, aside from a return to form in January (that was Saints getting crap again rather than something going wrong with the relationship), things went from strength to strength. For the first time in years I was enjoying my personal life. I had met someone who was amazing, who I enjoyed spending time with and – even more remarkably – who felt similarly about me. The dark days of December were increasingly becoming a thing of the past. I was having great weekends, going places I'd never been before – despite living in Dumfries and Galloway for a decade. I was enjoying life.

And while this was going on, Saints were going on a remarkable run of form. Remarkably good, rather than the almost record-breakingly bad run that had added to my troubles. Midweek nights alone were often spent following progress online as Jack Ross' overhauled squad won another game that would have been a damage limitation exercise months before. Hibs, Dundee United and – perhaps most gloriously of all – Morton were demolished, the latter coming the same night I'd driven home from a meeting, the sort of drive that would bring the demons dancing out just months earlier. It also came just a few days after I'd been reduced to tears in the early hours of my birthday as Sergio Garcia finally, finally, FINALLY won a major – but that's another story.

The Great Escape

Things came to a head in May, exactly six months on from that night at Palmerston. A draw against champions Hibs would complete probably the greatest of escapes and ensure Saints survived – and thanks to Rory Loy's goal that's what happened. There were celebrations in the away end and in the pressbox once again. And two days later - so exactly six months on from when we first met – me and my girlfriend (a phrase I was still getting used to using) booked our first holiday together. The depression, if that's what it had been, wasn't being asked to pack its bags to come with us. Instead, it had been shot twice in the head, thrown in a bag with some concrete bricks and chucked in the Nith.

Just over a year on from that night in Dumfries, Saints were back at Palmerston. There was no Stevie Mallan this time but the Buddies were now challenging at the right end of the table. As if to prove just how much things had changed, this time they decided a headstart of two goals, rather than one, would be far fairer on Queens. Having provided this inside the first 10 minutes they decided it was time to get the finger out. Gavin Reilly scored twice before half time to level things up before Gary MacKenzie completed the fightback from a corner. Job done – and by early April the job really would be done as Saints romped to the title and promotion.

Champions

There were no exuberant press box celebrations this time (although I did nearly put my foot through the wooden wall when Reilly rattled in the equaliser) but I, like Saints, was in a much better place than I had been 12 months earlier. The relationship was still going strong, we had met each other's parents and were spending more and more time together. Work may not have been as good as 12 months ago but everything else was great.

I used to think Hugh Murray's goal against Stirling in 1998 was the most important I'd seen from a Saints player, however from a personal point of view I'm becoming increasingly convinced it was Mallan's at Palmerston. It seemed to be a turning point for but me and St Mirren. That goal was two years ago today – Saturday I'll be celebrating my two year anniversary with my wonderful, lovely , amazing girlfriend.

As I said, I've no idea what I had can officially be classed as depression or I was just feeling a bit down. Whatever, if you find yourself in a similar situation then please, please, PLEASE talk to someone. If you can't speak to a friend or relative then contact the Samaritans, CALM or one of the other many similar charities who do incredible work every day.

Don't just wait in the hope a midfielder will fire those dark thoughts on their way.

An award winning run

I'm in there. Somewhere.

I'd done a half marathon. I'd completed a couple of races in Dumfries. So surely a half marathon in Dumfries should be a doddle? Ah, if only life was so simple.

The race was at the end of September and had the added danger factor of any injuries picked up having a negative impact on my trip to Toronto a couple of weeks later. It also had the bonus of being within walking distance of my flat - although walking a couple of miles before and after you've run 13of them  is probably not a good idea. So I took the car, leaving ridiculously early to ensure I'd get myself a parking place.

Before that came the traditional attempt to freak myself out. Before the half marathon in Kirkcudbright I'd had a look for some details on Google and almost scared myself out of doing it. The obvious thing this time around was not to do that - so I did. I discovered it was a harder course than Kirkcudbright and the last few miles were pretty tough. Smashing. Oh, and I found the previous year's time of someone I knew and discovered they were much faster than I'd been at Kirkcudbright. Brilliant.

If only I could have been this calm...

What was the point in taking part? I was clearly going to make a fool of myself, struggle round the course and barely finished. The fact I regularly ran further than a half marathon distance at a good pace seemed irrelevant. This was a disaster waiting to happen. I went to bid the night before disheartened - and not just because St Mirren had lost. Again.

The weather wasn't great the following morning. Actually, that's not true. For running it was probably just about right - not too warm with the odd shower - however I could have done without the heavy rain ahead of the start which darkened my mood further. And, after arriving ridiculously early, I then freaked myself out further when I went to get changed and discovered I'd left my Lucozade and banana in the car. These were my comfort blanket. 10 minutes away from these was going to lead to disaster.

Where did it go?!?

Things brightened up when it seemed I was going to be able to listen to my headphones while I ran - podcasts with Chris Waddle and Dario Franchitti my preferred listening on this occasion. After the confidence-sapping exploits of the night before, my aim was just to get somewhere close to my Kirkcudbright time and under the two hour mark. Unlike the 10k earlier in the month, I'd at least eaten relatively properly the night before.

Off we went in the late September sunshine and I soon settled into a steady pace alongside a runner who, its fair to say, was a good bit older than me. We seemed to trade positions every half mile. When you're running in a race you soon think you must have missed a mile marker because there's no way it's this long since the last one. For once it was true as the six mile point had blown over in the wind.

Shame I couldn't run as fast as he drives.

Once we got some water just after half way I pulled away from my unplanned running mate - even though it was straight up a rather steep hill. Up to this point it had, literally, been all downhill and I assumed this was the extent of the uphill stuff concentrated into one go. For some reason I forgot that as the first few miles were downhill, and the last few miles were the same route in reverse, I still had some tough stuff to come.

Thankfully he wasn't singing Diamond Lights

Much to my surprise, I finished the Chris Waddle podcast around the 10 mile mark. I hadn't expected this. Given that it was only around 75 minutes, I was well on course to smash my Kirkcudbright time despite all my reservations. And the rain had cleared. This was going well.

Unfortunately, the penultimate mile was back uphill. Except it wasn't really a hill you could see, it was just an incline. Instead of thinking I was struggling with a hill, I thought my legs were getting rather tired (probably true). The 11th mile seemed to last forever and I was worried I was about to be passed. Eventually it ended and it was time to put the foot down. The end was in sight - metaphorically if not literally - and it was time to pick up the pace.

I almost, almost caught someone from the club but he pipped me by a few seconds. I didn't care though as I was still struggling to comprehend what was on the stopwatch. Going by the big clock I was somehow 10 minutes quicker than I'd been in Kirkcudbright. I couldn't believe it - and neither did many of the folk I talked to who knew what the courses were like. But it was true.

I was stunned. But I was also knackered. After showering and managing to get my car out of the car park (difficult considering I was trapped by the finish line) I went home and sat. And, for about an hour, did nothing. I was absolutely shattered. Eventually a big pizza and some cheesecake sorted that out.

Er, maybe not *that* big

It was my last race of the year. I'd smashed even the most optimistic targets I'd set for myself. Other stuff happened - track sessions, winter handicaps and the like - that aren't too exciting so I won't go into them. Instead, I'll round off this running journey with two more things.

First, the trip to Toronto. I had no injuries so all was fine. But more than that, it meant I could go running in a different country. Three mornings - including the first and last of my week long stay - I got up early (well, I was awake with jetlag) and ran a mile or so down to the edge of Lake Ontario and ran a few miles each way. It was tough - mainly because I kept stopping to take photos of my new surroundings. I covered about 1,000 miles in my first year of running but the 20 or so I did that week were my favourite. The sunrise on the final morning was amazing. And it made more space for breakfast.

The incredible sunrise in Toronto

Then came the embarrassing bit. The running club had an awards night and many of the prizes were voted for by members. The first I knew of it was when an e-mail arrived and, for a laugh, I wondered if I was on the shortlist - only to see I was nominated for two trophies. I could feel my face going red just reading it.

Not to worry, this surely wouldn't go any further. I didn't even mention it to anyone but my family. I went to the awards night fully expecting to have a good time - then was rather embarrassed to get the award for best male performance. Other people had taken part in proper, tough events and I was getting a prize because I'd knocked 10 minutes off my Kirkcudbright time in Dumfries. It didn't feel right - not that I turned down the trophy...

I feel like such a fraud!

So I'm still running (though a few niggling injuries have caught up with me just now). I got fancy new shoes for Christmas. I knocked another five minutes off my half marathon time in Stranraer in March. Going to jogscotland was one of the best things I did and I'd advise anyone to do the same. Happy running!

A runner runs on his stomach

Double fish and chips? What could go wrong?

There's a story about Jack Charlton's time in charge of the Irish football team. The night before a big game, he took the team to Harry Ramsden's, where they feasted on the sort of meal that would make the guy from Man Versus Food shudder. Then they went out and played the game. Unsurprisingly, they lost, much to the annoyance of the usually placid Roy Keane.

Despite the unsuccessful nature of this experiment, I decided it was worth further exploration. Not for me a nutritional meal involving pasta and protein the night before a race. Nope, the evening before the Doonhamer 10k in Dumfries I was out with a friend in a burger restaurant, stuffing my face with a three course meal. Plenty of carbs but not a lot else.

Can't see a problem with having this the night before a race

The 10k was my first race after my injury woes had wrecked my holiday plans. The running club had covered the course on the Monday night and it was relatively flat, apart from a challenging bit towards the end, but seemed to last forever. By this point I'd been back running for around a month so it shouldn't have been too much of a problem - until I decided to gorge on food the night before.

Unsurprisingly, I wasn't feeling my best as I got ready. I still felt pretty bloated and breakfast, water and Lucozade doing nothing to help the matter. All they did was ensure that I made many trips to the loo before the race itself. I'd been hoping, if I got a really good run, for 8 minute miles, which would see me home in around 48 minutes, but my physical state combined with how Monday's run had been did not leave me feeling too confident.

Another howitzer from Hitzelsperger

After the success of listening to a Graham Hunter Big Interview podcast during the Kirkcudbright race, this time I opted for another one with Thomas Hitzelsperger. Fortunately headphones were allowed and after several attempts to take a group photo of the club members (there were around 50 of us so it was quite difficult) it was time to get underway.

The route was along the River Nith in Dumfries, crossing over several times. At various points there was music which was nice, even if it did drown out what I was trying to listen to. Again I took things easy at the start - glad not to befall the fate of one club member whose shoelace came undone - and settled into a rhythm alongside someone who seemed to be going at a similar pace.

This river would be crossed many times

We hit a problem at one of the river crossings, which used a rather narrow footbridge. At this precise moment an old chap decided he was in desperate need to cross the bridge, which threatened to hold us up before we just managed to edge him out (thankfully without pushing him over the bridge, although it was considered).

At half-way it was time to take on some water and, with the previous night's burger working it's way through my system, time to pick up the pace. Gradually I began reeling in other folk from the club who I thought were much faster than me, yet I was able to pass them and pull away with ease. The hill towards the end wasn't really a problem, partly because it was quickly followed by a hill back down, and then it was on to the finish line at the park.

As I came on to the home straight I upped my pace again, determined not to let anyone pass. Despite not being very long it seemed to last forever, however as I came towards the line I was shocked to see the first part of the clock show the race time as 46 minutes. Surely that couldn't be right?

These things are fairly reliable, you know

Incredibly (although perhaps not surprisingly, it is a clock after all) it was indeed correct and I crossed the line in 46:30, well below what I'd optimistically aimed for. I was 59th, comfortably in the top third of a field of nearly 200, and finished ahead of lots of other folk from the club.

So there you had it. Burgers, chips, chocolate brownies and onion rings the night before a big race can work after all - but I had no intention of repeating that approach for Dumfries Half Marathon at the end of September a few weeks later...