Big Macs and Halfies

Sh*t.

That’s not exactly the first word I had in mind for my first blog post on The Run Bible, but believe me when I say it’s the first word that leaped into my head when I hit the submit button on the website of the Edinburgh Marathon Festival’s half marathon application page!

Writing for the Run Bible would imply that I run and have some sort of view or advice to impart on those who do run or want to start running. In part I suppose that’s true.

Let me explain.

My name is John ‘Big Mac’ McInally. I’ve been asked by the Run Bible to document my journey from the couch to running the EMF half marathon in May 2018. Big deal. People sign up for and run marathons all the time, right? Well yes, they do, but not all people come from the situation I’m in.

I’m 33 years old and at the time I decided to sign up for this marathon I weighed 23 stone bang on. Yep, 322lbs of pure Big Mac (me, not my delicious junk food counterpart). Not only that, but I have a whole host of health related issues including type 2 diabetes, terrible circulation in my lower legs requiring permanent compression and knees dodgier than a your uncle Frank’s mate Dave.

So what right do I have to be signing up, training for and (hopefully) completing a half marathon? Well, the same right as anyone else really. And there are a few reasons why I wanted to do this.

A few weeks before signing up for the halfie I decided I really needed to sort my life out. At 33 I was morbidly obese, feeling utterly crap and completely disconnected from my family and my purpose. With the help of some coaches I started to exercise daily as well as working on the key areas of my life. Whilst going through this I realised something that hit me like a tonne of bricks. My daughter, Elsie, who is 5 and has epilepsy has endured all of the seizures, the appointments, the specialists, the scans, the changes in everything she does and has just carried on as if nothing has happened.

That’s when I realised it.

How selfish I had been.

How could I sit there and think how hard done to I was when my daughter was the bravest, happiest little thing I’d ever seen, despite all this going on in her life.

Its then I decided to stop being the victim and do something for my little princess. That’s when I thought I’m going to do something mental and run this half marathon for her, to show her that I can do it for her and also for me, and to show all the nay-sayers and doubters that I won’t be beaten.

Not only that, I decided I would do this for Epilepsy Action, a charity that provides help, support and fundraising for epilepsy sufferers. People like Elsie.

So, that takes us back to the start of this post.

Sh*t.

Yep, I’d manned up enough to hit the button and sign up for this life changing challenge, and then immediately thought “WTF AM I GOING TO DO NOW?!?”.

Cue Mr Daniel Paton, long-term friend, running enthusiast and one of the co-founders of The Run Bible. Dan has been helping me by creating a training plan, pushing me with support and just generally being the Dan I know and love. Also cue my good friend Mike Cubin, another running enthusiast and current work colleague who is providing me with motivation and encouragement, as well as a good mickey-taking daily!

I would absolutely love for you to keep track of my progress through the regular updates I post on The Run Bible and if you fancy, come follow me on Facebook. I usually post my walks/runs on there and they’ll become more frequent as my training increases.

Connect with the Big Mac on Facebook here.

If you feel inclined to do so you can also donate to my cause by visiting my Virgin Money Giving page here:

Big Mac’s Virgin Money Giving Page

Keep your eyes peeled for my next update where I’ll go into more details on my training plan and progress so far.

For now, wish me luck!!!

 

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