In Memoriam...

Malcolm Macdonald, a dear friend, passed away this morning.  It's particularly relevant here because he was my mentor when I started running.  As a veteran of many marathons, including more than a dozen London Marathons, he was always very supportive and gave freely of his advice and time as I trained for my first one last year.  He also (quite literally) took me to the start, listened patiently as I talked away my nerves, kept me company as I queued for the loos and (not-quite-literally) held my hand as we made our way through the crush to the start.

We didn't get to run together often but when we did it was always a relaxed and enjoyable experience.  The photo above is from one session we did accompanied by my wife, her horse and the dog.

Just a few weeks ago, even though he was very ill, Malcolm insisted on me visiting so that he could give us essential advice for my first London Marathon.  As usual every word was golden, especially the parts about getting there/back and how best my family could get round the course to support me.  Even then, he was telling me that he hoped he had "one more marathon left in in him" and nothing would have pleased me more than to have been able to share that with him.  But it was not to be...

It's a sad day for us and our thoughts are with his family right now.  I'm going to miss my Obi-Wan and his steady, practical advice.  Run free, Malcolm, wherever you are...