Meet the Westie – Graham Kelly

* What do you call the thing you change the TV channels with?  Yir finger.

* Where did you grow up? Initially in Glasgow but also had a couple of years in Waterloo, Belgium (still trying to avoiding the growing up thing right enough).

* Have you always been a runner?  Nope – hit thirty and was piling the weight on so started running to stay fit for general mountaineering. Eventually the trails and hills took over from the initial road running.

* Why did you join the best small to medium sized hill running club in Glasgow? Main reason was to be able to take part in the Ben Nevis Hill Race back in 2006 but liked the club so stuck around.

* Why have you stayed? It is the least club like club I know …nae pressure to conform.

* How has joining Westies affected your running/health/happiness? Met some of the finest people I’ve had the pleasure to know. Whilst the glory daze of PBs are long gone my best results were as a result of being a Westie.

* What’s your favourite Westie memory? Being in the same room at the same time as Charlie Campbell and Manny Gorman at Charlies book launch – two legends of hill running, great guys and proud to know them as friends.

* Bumbag or backpack? Bumbag.

* What is your favourite race? Easy – Ben Nevis.

* Which race is top of your to-do list? The Mount Marathon event out in Seward, Alaska – if you don’t already know it do the YouTube thing.

* Which other sports do you play or have you played? Wee flirtation with cycle time trialling, duathlon and the odd adventure race over the years.

* Can you do the splits? Not intentionally.

* Have you ever ridden a motorbike? Yup – had bike all my life until a midlife crisis made me stop (you can push your luck). Bought my first car at age forty.

* What is your favourite ice-cream flavour? Chocolate mint.

* You’ve just finished a category AL race. Which junk food do you treat yourself to? Beer and nuts.

* What is your favourite snack to stash in your bumbag/backpack? Baby Bel Cheese.

* Who is your BWFF (Best Westie Friend Forever)? Nae chance in getting me to name just one !

* A friend is visiting from overseas. Which one place do you take them? The Cairngorms.

* Do you have any nicknames? Beardy.

* Any tattoos? Lots !

* Which shop would you max out your credit card in? Nearest travel agent.

* If you could be any kind of pie, what kind of pie would you be? Macaroni Cheese.

* What book are you reading at the moment?  Nan Shepard – The Living Mountain.

* What is the farthest-away place you’ve been? By miles probably the Blue Mountains above Sydney, Australia in terms of logistics to get there and back Urique deep in the Mexican Copper Canyons.

* Would you rather have a live-in massage therapist or a live-in chef? Massage therapist.

* One thing you know now that you wish you had known as a kid? Time is like toilet paper…the closer you get to the end, the quicker it runs out.

* If you could for a run out to earl’s seat with one person, famous or otherwise, who would it be? Alive – any of ma pals from the Born to Run community who live around Santa Barbara (drams in Dumgoyne Distillery after). No longer with us –  Scott Hutchison to have hopefully convinced him to stay.

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