The Marcothon in Thirty One Tweets

Moira Mcpartlin, ,

So what is The Marcothon? It all started in 2009, when a guy called Marco challenged himself to run every day in November. His wife then deciding to follow suit and run every day in December, dubbed it the Marcothon and before she it knew it there was a group of runners eager to embrace the winter conditions of December 2009. In 2010, the group was added to Facebook and attracted over 500 runners from across the globe.

The rules are simple you must run every day in DECEMBER. Minimum of three miles or 25 minutes – whichever comes first. The challenge starts on December 1 and finishes on December 31 including Christmas Day. It’s not a competition but a personal challenge.  If you have friends who are also doing the challenge the added support helps keep you going.

I Marcothoned for the first time in 2013 and loved it. I forced myself out the door in dark, cold, sometimes atrocious weather.  After the first week it became a habit – a good habit.
When I approached the start of December 2014 I decided I would record every run on Twitter and Facebook just to add another dimension. I ran in total over 1100 minutes which probably equates to over 100 miles in the month.  Here is my Marcothon in Thirty One Tweets
@marcothon day 1 run done. In london again for start so lots of running dark o’clock #runningindark
@themarcothon day 2 – 6.30 run regent’s park. Very quiet and dark, saw guy on unicycle. #runningindark
Day3 @themarcothon done at dark oclock to the fanfare of elephants in london zoo. Also saw wee dog in flashing green collar. #BeamMeUpScotty
@themarcothon day4 #runningindark not getting any easier

@themarcothon day5 longer run done in daylight up primrose hill with friend elke and @ClnBrd – good one! #runningfriends
@themarcothon day 6 crisp and sunny morning in regents park. Wait for me!


@themarcothon day7 done. Home and back to dodging potholes, cattle grids and low flying pheasants. It’s good to be home. #loveScotland
@themarcothon Day 8 done. Note to self – do not do usual convoluted run between 9 and 10. Met the postie three times this morning!

@themarcothon Day 9 done. Yuck weather, saw some sheep sheltering behind trees. Not so bad once I got going. #wimpysheep
@themarcothon Day 10 Done. Stuck to the valley and ran in the lee of the hill. Even got some sunshine. #whatwindbomb?


Marcothon Day 11 done. #darkcountryrun in rain, sleet then snow. Got a fright when lightening flashed and thunder rolled #madweather
@themarcothon Day12 Done! Road was too icy so I louped fence and ran up the hill. Hillrun before breakfast was ex-hill-arating. #coldwetfeet
@themarcothon day13 done. Busy xmas shopping morning. @ClnBrd dropped me off a distance from home. Ran back along the west highland way.


@Marcothon Day14 done. Low energy run in driving rain, under low skies. Now happy, Christmas baking in my cosy kitchen. #gladitsover
@themarcothon Day 15 done. Slithered out in winter sunshine. Climbed the hill for great big views of snowy mountains.#stunningScotland
@themarcothon day16 done. Past half way day! Still slippy. Fab view @Glengoyne distillery in Dumgoyne’s shadow #hic
@themarcothon Day 17 Done. Chased a couple of stray sheep up the road, away from my veg garden. They’re still mooching around. #KaleBandits
@themarcothon Day 18 Done. Rain running #Drookit!
@themarcothon Day19 Done. Met Glesga Boys hunting with a pair of hawks. The pair beat me home and circled the garden.#magical #runrabbitrun
@themarcothon Day 20 done. Out in the dark, a sliver moon, pink-glow city lights, a longhaul flew low overhead on final approach #morningsky
@themarcothon Day21 done. The challenged forced me out on this yuck weather day. Glad of @ClnBrd support. #notasbadasitlooks

@themarcothon Day 22 Done. Another #JustGetOutAndDoIt day with @ClnBrd, cleared up halfway round so ran further than planned. #PuddlePaddle
@themarcothon day23 done. Jerra and back with @weecountyharriers @OuchLibrarian and @ClnBrd I led the rear. #CoosTail

@themarcothon day24 done with fellow Ochilettes Elke, Jo and Buffy dog. Kippen/Gurgunock loop #RunChatEat
@themarcothon Day25 done. Happy Christmas on this glorious day. Now, where is that fizz? #SmugBd
@themarcothon day26 done. Shooting on the hill above me, a roe deer jumped the hedge in front of me and escaped. Hope the rest OK. #WildWest
@themarcothon Day 27 Done. Skating over icy puddles to get out and back before the annual pheasant shoot starts. #BoomBoom
@themarcothon day 28. V cold, crisp, sunny. Great 380 views. Coffee with often-absent neighbours on way home. #3ToGo

@themarcothon day29. So cold and still I heard pylons crackle. Minus 4 temp fair shifted my head cold #TheFlyingSnot

@themarcothon day 30. Trail run along the shores of a very frozen sea Loch Fyne. #1ToGo #Bonspiel

@themarcothon Done! Over the Atlantic bridge and back #HappyRunner

 Looking forward to Marcothon 2015!

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Published by Moira Mcpartlin

Moira McPartlin’s debut novel The Incomers, published by Fledgling Press in 2012, was shortlisted for the Saltire Society First Book of the Year Award. Over the next seven years Moira wrote her speculative fiction, Sun Song Trilogy novels (also published by Fledgling Press). The novels, set in 2089, reflect many issues we face today. Moira’s last novel, Before Now: Memoir of a Toerag, is written entirely in the Fife dialect and was published by her own imprint, Trilleachan Press, in May 2021. In 2021 she became a writing fellow at Hawthornden Castle. In 2022 she was appointed the Scriever for The Federation of Writers (Scotland), and in 2024 was the recipient of a Bridges Award, a residency at Cove Park, Argyll. Her short stories and poetry have been widely published in literary magazines and anthologies. Moira’s latest publication, A Thing So Delicate: The Hidden Voices of Scotland’s Mass Concrete Viaducts, is a collaboration with her husband, Colin. It is a hybrid about the social history surrounding the building of Scotland’s Victorian mass concrete viaducts. This includes creative nonfiction, prose, poetry, and photography. Moira is listed on the Scottish Book Trust Live Literature Database.

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