Imagine the tall man in a gauzy white blouse and slacks, running barefoot with a bunch of other Anglo-Saxon hunks along this strand. That's the opening scene of Chariots of Fire, which was filmed on this spot more than 30 years ago ... the movie debuted 30 years ago in about a week. Now imagine the tall (and overweight) man in his North Face zip-off shorts and a yellow t-shirt, slogging along with a smile on his face. The latter image is the more accurate in reality, but not in my mind.


The beach behind me as I head out has the village of St. Andrews as a backdrop.


The sea was moderately wavy, at mid-tide. A tanker lies at anchor off Dundee.


The prints of my big, flat feet on the West Sands beach of St. Andrews, there being no sunlight with which to line up a "tall man."


On this day within a week or two of the 30th anniversary of the date on which the film Chariots of Fire debuted, what better place to resume my running regimen (after about two months with a broken foot and a major vacation) than on the beach at St. Andrews, Scotland — the exact spot where the famous opening scene of the movie was shot.

It's a gorgeous (for Scotland) day, probably 55 degrees and slightly overcast. I didn't bring my running gear on the trip, wanting to preserve my feet for the not-inconsiderable walking that Charlotte and I had planned. But miles of flat beach with some of the finest, powdery sand I've ever seen was too much to resist. C has a sore throat and is wanting simply to relax for a few days, so I'm going to run in the mornings and take day trips to Culloden, Pitlochy (home of a fine single malt), and the North Sea coast (hurt me!).

I will have lots of pictures upon my return, but I will post only the day's run for now. The beach lies just north of the village of St. Andrews, between the North Sea and the Old Course of the world's most famous golf links (hurt me again: I didn't bring any clubs).

Not wanting to hurt myself, I ran a mile north to a point, then back to the car, which I left along the golf course.

FYI the trip is going great and, of course, ending too soon (we fly back on Saturday, the day after the royal wedding, to which we've had to RSVP in the negative, not wanting to tire ourselves before the trans-Atlantic flight).

2; 2; 2; 70.5

Amazing! Congrats, Gary.