Marathon Man

My cousin Ali is always up for a challenge, so when he heard a couple months ago that another cousin Marilyn had gotten into the New York Marathon, he managed to get in too. Never mind that he had never run one before, or even a half marathon. His training consisted mainly of running home from work, in upstate New York. That's Ali, and I'm sure he never asked for any advice, or researched it, or checked out technique, or fancy shoes or gels. He just figured he was going to do it, and whenever he had some time to spare, he ran.

I'm very proud of my cousin, very. He left Grenada in the late 70's as a teenager, went to New York and by dint of hard work and ingenuity, built up two successful businesses. Entrepreneurial spirit in the Renwick family is thin on the ground, so this success of Ali's is doubly satisfying, and enviable.

Even better, Ali is still the same down to earth guy he was in Grenada all those years ago. He is loved by many. When I visit him in NY, I see the esteem and affectation with which people regard him, and which he returns in good measure.

I remember when I first got to know Ali well, as a young teenager myself. We shared a love of things mechanical. He would help me tune my mother's old Fiat 124 Special. He was known then as 'Soup Up' due to his mechanical skills and his little Ford Escort ran like a dream. I was quite proud to have an older cousin who was not only cool, but actually had time for me.

So Ali, this is my little tribute to you and what you have done in life's marathon. I also now use this opportunity to formally apologise for my jokes about your children (moffet et al).

This is Ali doing a half marathon practice run a couple weeks ago. He was so busy chatting at the start he forgot to put down his towel, glasses, etc and had to run with them!!

Finally not to forget my other favourite cus Marilyn, who also ran the marathon. Par for the course with Mal, who runs twenty miles with the casualness one of us might do a 5K...