ACTIVE OUTDOORS: Enforced new take on Inverness Half Marathon was a learning curve!

Being on the other side of the fence is not something I am used to. The Inverness Half Marathon has been on my annual race list since I moved to Inverness more than 16 years ago.

The only occasions I have missed the 13.1-mile run are the couple of times I’ve done the 5K with my kids instead.

This year the grandparents were in town to help, while Meg and I had planned to run the half together – an all-too-rare opportunity to go for a run with each other.

However, those plans were scuppered last week when I did my back in. Movement is the only answer, it seems, so I’ve been gradually trying to move more and walk as much as I can – but running 13 miles on solid tarmac was not going to do it any good. I did accept that conclusion, eventually.

So, for the first time I turned spectator for the day. Having managed to crawl out of bed and helped to get everybody organised, I set off on foot. The couple of miles stiff plod to the leisure centre (and the ibuprofen) helped to ease the pain, though I might have been a tad grumpy about the whole situation.

There was a chill in the air as the runners gathered at the Bught for the start. One advantage of not taking part is that you can wear your warm coat and hat without worrying about getting your layering right for the race!

With grandad and the children gathered in the 5K waiting area, grandma and I headed off to see Meg at the start of the half marathon. In no time, the race was under way, and Meg filed past us as we watched from close to the start line.

We found a slightly better spot to watch the start of the 5K and clapped as the speedy runners at the front – most of them members of Inverness Harriers – zoomed past before looking out for our crew.

We saw Clara as she got into her stride but grandad, Matthew and Jennifer were nowhere to be seen. We must have missed them – maybe they were hidden behind the inflatable Pikachu character who was part of the Highland Hospice fundraising team.

It was after this that I finally, after many years, appreciated the difficulty of timing your day as a spectator so that you see your loved ones cross the finish line. Thinking that there was loads of time, I queued up for a coffee, but by the time I’d got it and headed to the finish line I couldn’t see any of them.

Eventually we met up – after they’d finished – but I’d missed Matthew and Jennifer doing their sprint finish and Clara storming home a good way ahead of them.

I did a better job of predicting Meg’s finishing time, and we all made it to the trackside to see her breeze past half a dozen runners as she made her way around the track at Queen’s Park.

While the standard finishers’ medals were running late due to a shipping delay in the Red Sea, the biscuit version from local bakers Harry Gow went down a treat, and a number of people seemed to have made their own medals to celebrate their achievements, too.

I must admit I enjoy collecting my medals from various events, but it does make you wonder if there are alternative and more environmentally friendly ways to mark these occasions.

There is always a great atmosphere at the Inverness Half Marathon and 5K and this year was no different.

While I would rather have been taking part, I did get the chance to see the men’s race winner cross the line, and cheer on the other runners who did a great job, many raising money for charities in the process.

Well done to you all and hopefully I’ll be back running myself before too long – but definitely not in a Pikachu costume!