Huge congratulations to Rutherford Cross’ Jonathan Donnelly who took part in his first (and very likely to be his last!) Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday 29th of May to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Scotland.
Conditions on the day were great, with little wind, some pleasant sunshine and thousands of spectators cheering participants on.
Jonathan had undertaken a fair amount of training and restricted his social life in the last month which left him feeling reasonably confident about the challenge ahead. The first 19 miles went to plan, in fact if anything they may have gone a little too well! Unfortunately just before the 20 mile mark cramp set in for the first time and this proved to be a recurring theme from there until the end. The last six miles were incredibly tough and involved numerous stops, a lot of walking and very few smiles. However with a time of 4 hours 3 minutes, just missing his target time, the marathon was completed. According to Jonny, his legs will probably still be in shock for days to come but a huge feeling of satisfaction was taken from getting over the line.
Jonathan was inspired to raise money for Alzheimer’s Scotland, having watched an elderly relative suffer from the condition for many years. Alzheimer Scotland offers care, information and support to people with dementia and carers in Scotland. To make a donation to Jonathan’s Just Giving page please click here.