S4 Eps 7 - Young Hearts, Run Free - G2E with Gillian McGale - 19 Nov 2021

Welcome to Episode 67 of the Young Hearts, Run Free podcast! Joining John & Steven this week is Gillian McGale. Gillian recently completed the Glasgow to Edinburgh (G2E) Ultra Marathon, a monumental journey that crowned a rise through the running distances that started way back in 2012. Now, we first invited Gillian on to speak mostly about her G2E experience. Turns out though she had much much more to talk to us about other than that! She has quite some story to tell us..... From humble running beginnings running laps of George Square in Glasgow, to finding a running dreamland in Vietnam via a couple of stops at the Highland Fling running has become an absolute staple part of her life. That does not tell the full story though. The episode also discovers some of the reasons that Gillian possesses mental resilience that most of us can only dream of. We touch on a harrowing part of Gillian's life where she lost her 1st husband to suicide, we find out about raising money for and awareness of mental health and how perseverance mixed with a spade load of determination has allowed Gillian to reach the heady heights of competing in some of Scotland's most high profile ultra-marathons. Gillian is one in a million and there are laughs galore as she regales some of her experiences and thoughts on running. An athlete with an attention to detail as strong as Gillian's we've yet to meet. We even have a new shoe reveal for any fellow 'shwankers' out there! So prepare to be inspired because this episode is a belter.