Ian spent years cycling before he ever joined a running club and the Harriers was his first club. He joined the club at a time when there were one or two useful runners about - namely Malcolm Mountford, Mick French, Allen Aukim and Ian Ellis.

He soon realised that he'd got a bit of talent when it came to running and it wasn't long before he was pushing the likes of Malcolm in races. His 'purple patch' came in 1989 when he achieved all of his PB's which were:-

• 5 Miles - 25mins 51secs in the Staffs Knot
• 10k - 32mins 29secs in the Stone St Michaels
• 10 miles - 54mins 18secs John Oultram
• 1/2 marathon - 1hr 11mins 45secs at Uttoxeter
• Marathon - 2hrs 56mins 47secs at Snowdon!!!

It was during 1989 that Ian picked up an injury which sidelined him for a number of years and it wasn't until 1994 that he started up again. By now Ian had moved to Streetly and joined Aldridge Running Club and he moved once more in 1998 to Stornoway where he is today. Stornoway, if you didn't know, is in the Outer Hebrides on the Isle of Lewis.

Ian is now a member of Stornoway running club, an active club with about 60 members - about an even split of juniors and seniors. They enter races like London, Prague and Tromso marathons and can boast that they have the Scottish O/45 800/1500 metre champion in their midst!

The area around Stornoway is quite active throughout the year as far as races are concerned. There are cross country's, road races, handicaps and track events to keep them busy but travel to 'away' races can prove difficult. A ferry to the mainland costs £80 per car and £20 per passenger return and the ferry doesn't run on Sundays for religious reasons and so two nights accomodation is needed in addition to the ferry costs.

They sometimes manage to organise day trips to races which involve getting up at 5.00am for a 6.15am ferry crossing. Almost 3 hours on the ferry to the mainland at Ullapool on the west coast of Scotland, into a hired minibus and off to the race. When they finish it's a race of a different kind to get the ferry back - with some of their members having to get changed in the minibus on the way back to save time! Ian tells me that they really appreciate a beer on the way home after all the rushing around.

Ian is still very active when it comes to running and this year he became a vet. To celebrate the occasion Ian went over to Inverness to take part in the half marathon and finished in a time of 1.19.49 (38th overall and 8th V40). He's also recently done a handicap 10K in a time of 34.39, which was third fastest.

If you're reading this now, Ian, we wish you all the best with your running and if you're ever in the area don't forget to pop in and have a beer with your old clubmates.