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Doug Brown                           

WHEN DID YOU START RUNNING AND WHY?    I started running sometime around 1984.  Mainly it was just to keep fit.  (I needed to take up some kind of sport since my master plan of signing for Queen of the South with a subsequent big money transfer to Barcelona fell through).

FAVOURITE THING ABOUT DUMFRIES RUNNING CLUB?   Shared experience about running and the support you get from club mates during training.   Just knowing that you will have company for a run gets you out no matter the weather.

POSITIVE EXPERIENCES WITH DUMFRIES RUNNING CLUB?   Training weekends and club outings such as The West Highland Way , Hadrian’s Wall, Lake District and Yorkshire Dales are great fun.  Also it may seem a bit clichéd but I really do get a lot of pleasure from seeing club mates achieve goals that they have worked hard for.  (Being part of a successful Bob Graham Round team can be quite emotional!)

HOW DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE IMPROVED (SPEED/HEALTH/CONFIDENCE)?    Before I joined the club my first race experience was a Brampton to Carlisle 10 and the organisers were packing up the finish when I got there.  I couldn’t believe that anyone could run the whole 10 miles, let alone so fast and it nearly put me off running!  After becoming a member of the Running Club and benefiting from all the encouragement from others and the regular training, I gradually got up to speed and was soon able to cover the distance.

FAVOURITE PLACE TO RUN?    I really enjoy relaxed runs around Mabie Forest where you can just ‘switch off’ but any long trail runs with plenty of time to take in the scenery is great.  I love the solitude of the Galloway Hills.

 FAVOURITE TYPE OF RUNNING/DISTANCE?  My favourite type of racing is hill or fell of any distance but I have been most successful in the longer ones.

WEEKLY MILEAGE?   45-50 miles.

MOST SATISFYING RUN/PERFORMANCE?   My immediate thought would have to be completing the Bob Graham Round in 1996, but winning the 2000 ‘Heart of Granite’ in the Galloway Hills was very satisfying.  There are a few others that come to mind such as when I managed to run Ben Nevis in under 2 hours and I remember being dead chuffed when I ran 4.37 for the mile in a track race. (Just need to string 26 of them together!)

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