Aberdour shinty player delighted with marathon run in Rome

If you had told 23-year-old David McDougall when he started running during the lockdown that he would go on to complete a marathon in just 2 hours and 43 minutes, he would have never believed you. 

But that's what he managed to accomplish in the run through Italy's capital, finishing in 59th position overall. 

He told the Press: "Running the Rome Marathon, I ran it in 2:43, which is averaging eight sub20-minute 5K runs in a row!

"That was my fifth marathon. I started running in lockdown just as a way of keeping fit. I'm a shinty player for Aberdour but the season got cancelled due to Covid, so I started running to keep fit and realised I kind of enjoyed it."

When he first started, David's goal was to run a 5K in under 25 minutes. Now, he has completed five marathons - and says he is only just getting started.

He continued: "I've gone from trying to break a 20-minute 5K to running eight of them in a row, so that's something I'm quite proud of. If you had told me then that I would do this just a year or two later, I wouldn't have believed you. 

"Running in general has been massive for me, for physical health but mental health as well. Having something to focus on in my final years of university, having that sort of distraction - to just go out and go on a run and completely forget everything - that’s just invaluable."

David uses the marathons to keep him motivated. In December he will be travelling to Valencia in Spain to complete the marathon there, and after that, he hopes to run somewhere further afield, perhaps in America. 

"You can do whatever you set your mind to," he added. "It’s maybe a bit of a cliché or a bit cringe, but I think it’s true. I had no idea that I'd reach this level of running and I have no idea what level I will reach, and I think that’s the beautiful thing about it really.  

"I’ll just keep plugging away. I don't know how good I'll become, nobody knows how good they’ll become."