A DEDICATED runner is determined a freak injury caused by a stray water bottle will not prevent him from reaching the finish line again.
Derek Cowan was well on course to complete his third marathon in a record time when he suffered, what he did not know at that stage, to be a broken hip.
Incredibly, the 47-year-old managed to hobble on for the final four miles to reach the finish line of the Edinburgh Marathon in Musselburgh.
Since then, he has undergone surgery and spent more than six weeks on crutches, admitting that being forced off his feet had taken a toll on his mental health.
He said: “I could not do anything.
“When I was walking about I needed both hands for crutches and I could not carry anything.
“Going from being a really active person, a postman out and about in the fresh air, running straight after work, doing a lot of gardening, to go from that to absolutely nothing was mind-blowing.”
The father-of-three described the last six weeks as “sheer hell” as he has been unable to work or enjoy getting outdoors.
He had signed up for the Edinburgh Marathon aiming for a time of under three hours and 30 minutes.
Thousands of people took to the start line in the capital before making their way along East Lothian’s coastline and then onto the finish in Musselburgh.
Derek, who described running as “my head space”, said how everything was going well until about five miles from home.
He said: “Round about mile 21, I was hitting the wall but getting through it and I was going to be alright.
“A water bottle came flying towards me and I sidestepped it a little bit.
“I did not fall but I just jarred my leg.
“I managed to avoid the bottle and kept going and that is the only thing I can think of that caused it.”
As the finish line came closer, the pain in Derek’s hip only increased.
He told the Courier: “I started getting slower and had to slow down in the running.
“I managed to run for about two miles through the pain, getting slower and slower.
“After two miles, round about mile 24, I had to stop running and just started walking.”
Eventually, the pain got so bad that Derek was crying on the route and, reaching the closing stages in Musselburgh, it took the assistance of strangers to get him over the line.
The following day, still thinking he had suffered a muscular injury, he was given the bad news by the NHS that he had in fact fractured his hip.
Surgery and physiotherapist appointments followed with Derek now signed off his work.
However, he is determined not to let that be the end of his running journey.
Instead, he is already targeting next year’s Scottish Half Marathon.
Derek, who completed the 26.2-mile run in three hours and 58 minutes, said: “My wife has pretty much banned me from marathons, which is really understandable, but I need to get back to running.
“I think that is what is going to help my mental state when I am going through the recovery period: having that goal of getting back to what I love, running.
“I don’t think there will be anymore marathons.
“I had put my name in for the London Marathon ballot before this happened but, thankfully, I got an e-mail saying I was not successful.
“If I had been successful, I might have felt I had to do it so I was quite happy with that and my friends and family are happy with that.
“I am definitely going to get back to running, though.”
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