Running Claire

Today's blip is a tribute to my friend Claire, a great runner and the most accident and injury prone person I have ever met in my life! This is her three weeks ago when she won a half marathon in the Nevada desert, having fallen and hurt herself badly two miles before the end, including very unpleasant injuries to her knees (she still has a bit of cactus in one), a graze on her shoulder, probably fractured sternum and possibly losing conciousness for a short time, she got up and kept going, and won the thing (she was already well ahead apparently), and refused medical attention until back in the UK as her insurance didn't cover her as she was injured during an organised race. Just before another race in Scotland she ripped the back of her legs to shreds on barbed wire, refused medical attention, and went on to run and win the race. Sadly she was born without the instinct to put her hands down when she falls, and it seems her son has inherited the same instinct, as he doesn't put his hands down when he falls either! Two favourite Claire stories from our days studying in Russia are the time she fell over in the snow, and all of us with her were really scared she'd hurt herself, and all she cared about was that she hadn't spilled her can of juice, and the time she was cooking (which was all very new to her at the time, she was a home student in Glasgow), and managed to set her oven glove on fire. She held it up, going 'look, it doesn't hurt'! I explained with some urgency that if she didn't take it off, it very soon would! As her wedding present I gave her a candle and holder thing - and a fire extinguisher to go with it, which came in very handy. I had lunch with her and another old friend from uni, Angela, today, and we had a great laugh, good to see them and catch up as ever, and to tell the stories again. Claire always has a new one for us!