Doug and Palm were both keen runners but unlike some parents, they never pushed Kim or Neil into the sport. It was however inevitable that they would become involved. Kim took part in many fun runs as a young child and enjoyed them all. It was also on the cards that she would join the Dundee Hawkhill Harriers as a youngster where she was a reliable team member who helped them to gain team prizes in cross country and track where she threw the javelin for them.
She wasn’t as deep into the sport as Mum and Dad but she has inherited the determination the rest of the family have. That determination shows in the kind of events that she subsequently tackled as an adult. In 2002 she ran in the Brittania Asset Management 10kin Glasgow with Palm and she also ran it again with some of her friends. Some of the other events are:
Great Scottish Half Marathon 2 October 2016 2:0130
Glen Clova Half Marathon 12 Nov 2016 2:10:57
London Marathon 23 April 2017 4:58:31
Templeton Trail 6 Miles 2 June 2017 55:22
Great Scottish 10K 1 October 2017 54:22
That’s quite a lot of serious events and you can add into that the Great North Run in 2002 in which she and Palm both took part. Of course the London Marathon, back in April, 2017, is a big test of fitness and one which you only undertake if you really want to. Her Mum had done it back in 1981 and 1982, her Dad had also run in it several times but her reason for doing it in 2017 was a bit different. Her 40th birthday was coming up and she wanted to celebrate it with something special. The Glen Clova and Half Marathon events above were part of the preparation for it. In fact, the London event was the ‘something special.’ And it was. 2017 was the 37th running of the event and it had the biggest field of any previous version of the event – 253, 930 applied for entry to the race and 40,048 started compared to the previous highest total of 39, 140 runners. The race was started by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Prince Harry was also present. The women’s race was won in a new world record time making it the biggest, fastest and possibly the most glamorous London Marathon of them all. None of that takes away from the actual difficulty of running the race. Any race pictures, like the one above, show Kim running quite comfortably. A successful day: have a look at the smiles below.
Palm, Kim and Neil after the London Marathon
But Kim has also taken part in other testing events. Her running is good and she clearly enjoys being active but there is not a fix on any one sport. The photograph below is of Kim taking part in a triathlon – the picture at the top of the page is also from a triathlon. There was an article published some time ago that said the three hardest endurance events in the world were the marathon run, the Tour de France cycle race and the cross-channel swim. Kim’s triathlons had her swimming and cycling – we have already noted some of her running exploits. But there is more …….
Her Mum had done some cycling back in the 1960’s and even joined the Heatherbell Cycling Club. Kim has also done some cycling and the photograph below is of her after finishing an Etape – a serious cycling event.
One striking aspect of the pictures that we have of Kim after an event is that she is always smiling – having clearly enjoyed it. She seems to enjoy a physical challenge! One more photograph, from 5 September 2009, – her Dad has been involved with a cancer charity for many, many years and Kim took part in a fund raising event for that charity. Not a sponsored run, or swim or bike ride – but abseiling from the Clyde Crane!
But everybody has to have a day job and away from the sport, Kim is a chartered physiotherapist who after qualification worked for the NHS. This was followed a second degree and she became an animal physiotherapist as well. She has now set up her own Animal Physiotherapy business. When she sets her mind to a task she sees it through.