DavysRun

📖 The Scoop

During my military service I suffered from two stokes, in the early 1990's and in 2011. This was very unfortunate and due to being born with a hole in my heart. Following years of recovery with the best team in the military, I went from starting to walk unaided, to being able to jog up to five miles. For the average recovering personnel, physio was key to ensuring a smooth return back to normal military routine. Physically this was done so quickly and before I knew it I was back running and although downgraded, I was on track to re-join my unit, albeit in a less demanding role.However something never felt right, I wasn't myself, I didn't like this person I had become. I couldn't process information as quickly and accurately as before. This was the new me and I had to adapt quickly to this and following months of rehabilitation at the Defence Military Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court, I learned how to apply new strategies, how to cope with my mental health and deal with the demons in my head.On reflection my confidence and self-belief came from the moment I stood on the start line of the Glasgow 10k (Ten Kilometre Race) in 2012 with my older sister, Nan. Without her I never would have had the courage to stand there amongst the runners, due to my panic attacks and anxiety at that time. Still now I feel that was a pivotal point in my recovery. Even then and moving forward throughout my new lifestyle, Davy Davis was the only person I could really open up to; after all he was my best friend. He supported all my running ventures and to quote,' wee guy, are you aff your nut?' makes me smile to this day.Davy joined the Army a few years before I did and soon we became the best of friends, sharing countless stories of our upbringing in the heart of Ayrshire, to what was going to be the next move in our career. We had a love of cars, the outdoors and mountaineering in particular, something he embraced that led to him settling in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute. Once his duty was done and his military career came to an end, he stayed there and made loads of new friends through his passion for motorcycling and was always out and about with fellow bikers. I never met anyone who had anything bad to say about by friend, my brother, my inspiration. As my rollercoaster year went on, I decided to do a charity run and go public about my recovery journey. My experience with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and the demons in my mind, always act as a reminder of how I overcame tough times. One of my latter training runs was where I used to live, Helensburgh. What made this an extra special run was meeting Davy and his wife Lynne for lunch in Logie Baird restaurant afterwards. I also dedicated that training run to Davy and thanked him for doing his push-ups. This was for the challenge that i had set myself earlier in the year and that was to complete the Great Scottish Run by raising awareness of mental health. This was the last time I was to see my best friend alive.

Genre: Fiction / Sports (fancy, right?)