Alness, Centre of the Universe, 3.2miles

I've picked up a bit of a cold which has the potential to hang about or if I'm lucky get lost. In any case, I went out tonight to take it easy and not stress my lungs or heart.

Thoughts have been back to schooldays and the people and places of my youth. I grew up in the Highlands, an hour beyond Inverness, a town called Alness, which if you work it out is in fact the centre of the universe.

It's not a big place, but it had it all. Drama, heroes, scandals, fun, sun, snow, hills, rivers, salmon, swimming, football, rugby, pubs, clubs. And when I was a lad it had a Mace.

You never really appreciate things when you're young. Its just taken for granted that this is how life is and what the deal is. On reflection it was a great place to grow up. It wasn't the most prosperous of town's but that's another lesson in itself.

So, tonight on my run I was poaching for salmon on the Averon, playing football in Burnside with Eric Black and Andy Neil, listening to Ska at Rapson's, playing pool at Dingers, drinking in the Comm and 3G's, getting a taxi to Chequers and finishing the night with chips'n gravy from the Chinky. Classic.

So, the 3.2 miles passed quite quickly with all that in my head. RIP Iain.