Stirling's skyline

I love the view of Stirling’s skyline, especially as you drive towards it from our village, and yesterday morning it was particularly stunning. We had left the house just before seven o’clock - as Alex and Ross were competing in the Edinburgh Half Marathon - and it was great to be up and out so early on such a beautiful day. As we drove along the carse, we were spoiled with the sight of the surrounding hills and the skyline ahead of us; all of which were draped in a hazy blanket under the rising sun. The photos I took don’t really do the scene justice (possibly because I was leaning out of the window while the car was still moving!) but I’ve posted one here anyway. I’ve, unfortunately, missed the Wallace Monument, so the outline isn’t quite complete! Gemma’s pretty nifty with her all-singing-all-dancing camera and she took some photos too – if she ever gets round to sending them to me, I’ll replace my crappy snap with one of her better ones.

Apart from looking pretty, the Stirling skyline makes me feel good for another reason. I used to help out with the organisation of the Stirling 10k Road Race and was privileged enough to hold the position of Race Director for a spell. I loved being involved with this fantastic event and am proud of my small contribution to raising its profile and, in turn, having it selected be a Scottish Athletics Grand Prix event and the venue for the Scottish 10k Championships. I absolutely love the fact that Gemma designed the logo that’s been on the front of the Stirling 10k t-shirts for the past five years. We had put our heads together and come up with the idea of an athlete sort of merged into the Stirling skyline. It worked well and, consequently, the drawing has been printed on to over 5000 t-shirts. I still get a buzz when I’m at a running event and I spot an athlete sporting one of our t-shirts – especially when it’s at an event that’s a wee bit further afield. The Stirling 10k will be celebrating its tenth anniversary this September, so the new Race Director may well change the design of the t-shirt logo. However, I’m sure I’ll still see some old shirts from years gone by kicking about at running events well in to the future – a simple thing I know, but it makes me feel good!

(p.s. We all had a good time in Edinburgh. Unfortunately though, Ross had to pull out of the race due to an injury, but he ran a good seven miles before he had to stop. There’s always a positive slant; it meant that Alex had one more supporter there to cheer him in at the finish – and finish he did, maybe not in as good a time as he would've liked, but still in good style!)