Runner has red hot go, despite broken leg

A broken leg didn’t stop Mt Barker runner Darren McDonald from an impressive result in the recent Perth City to Surf event.

The 36-year-old veteran long-distance runner narrowly missed out on a top 10 finish in the main 42km marathon on August 26, despite suffering a stress fracture in his shin during training.

“I actually thought it was just physio and the guy said no, no I think you’ve broken your leg,” he said.

“He tested it out and got X-rays and said ‘guess what? You’re not running this year’.”

But run he did, finishing 13th overall with a time of 2:52:53 – just three minutes outside the top 10.

“I said to my wife I’m not sure if I’ll actually be able to finish it or not, and actually expected to run about four hours,” he said.

“It sort of got a bit frustrating. I thought well, perhaps if I didn’t break my leg I actually would have had a crack at finishing in the top 10.”

McDonald paid tribute to fellow Great Southern competitor and National Party Upper House candidate Sam Harma, who finished 35th.

The pair finished second and third respectively in Albany’s Port to Point event last November.

“I told him he should probably start concentrating on running because I know how good he could be,” he said.

McDonald said the result had inspired him to concentrate on running and crack the top 10 next year.

keir.tunbridge@albanyadvertiser.com