About Me

Welcome to 'Path of the Storm'. This blog started as a kind of diary about my trail walking with my beautiful collie, Storm. She was to have been my constant companion as I walked trails throughout the UK. Sadly those days were few and far between as she became seriously reactive. At almost 12 years of age, we finally lost her and this blog took on a new rhythm, while her spirit lives on encouraging me to tread new paths with my new girl, Sienna, a chocolate and white border collie. Sienna came to us from a loving home, where her owners had to give her up for issues of their own. I am looking forward to creating new paths with her.

Meanwhile I took up running and I hope to include Sienna in those endeavours. My daughter is also a runner - in fact, she introduced me to running, by asking me to accompany her to Parkrun. That was three years ago now and I have absolutely loved it. Sienna however was trained to do agility and so is more like a sprinter than a trail runner - or hiker for that matter. I am currently trying to build her stamina while working on her leash manners - she does like to pull like a steam train! 

My daughter is busy training for an Ultra race in Girona, Spain this May, so I am supporting her in that endeavour. That's another 'bug' I have caught! I'd like to do an ultra myself - just to say I've done one. I've chosen to do the Dava Way. It's run in November (it starts in the dark and probably finishes in the dark too, given that Scotland has rather short days in November), and goes from Grantown on Spey to Forres. While that is in the Highlands, the run itself is not too hilly - it's run on a disused railway track, so definitely looks doable. Sadly dogs cannot accompany a runner (trip hazard, so they say), but she will certainly be there with me, just not on the actual run. Then just recently I saw a video about the Kingdom of Northumbria ultra, which happens in February. That also looks doable. Will I end up doing two? Anyway, the Dava Way is pencilled in for November 2027, by which time I will be 70!

Between than and now, I hope to do:

1. The Washington Trail 10k (for the third time), on April 26th

2. The Durham Coastal Half Marathon (postponed from last year due to health issues), on 28th June

3. The Kielder Marathon (also postponed from last year), on 4th October. I might 'downsize' to the half marathon (which I did in 2024), depending how I get on with the Durham Coastal half.

4. I'll continue to do Parkrun each week as I am able. Sienna can and does accompany me on those and is rapidly learning to walk when I walk and trot when I run (my run is not fast enough for her to actually run) and to turn right and left on command. She certainly seems to enjoy it and has even been in the papers once.

In addition, I am also renovating an Edwardian house. We have lived here for some time and it's high time we decluttered and redecorated. I am installing a new bathroom - well, I'll get a plumber in to put in the actual bathroom, but I have redesigned the room and I'm also working on other areas of the house. When relatives pass on to the next world, they leave behind a lot of 'stuff'. Consequently, our house has become the repository for all that 'stuff' and I know first hand how hard it is to clear it away once they have gone. I don't want to leave that for my own children, so I'm working on it - and there's a lot of work to do!

So if this blog goes off on a tangent about decorating, or dog training, or running, then this might explain it! But it is all part of my personal 'path' and will concentrate for the most part on the walking and running with my gorgeous girl, Sienna.