Distance: 13.1 miles. The furthest I’ve ever run.
Time: 1 hour, 56 minutes and 15 seconds. The fastest I’ve ever run any significant distance.
Furthest and fastest. The same cannot be said of the Scottish Government’s progress on Frank’s Law.
I’d describe it as inertia.
It’s not that I expected everything to be in place rapidly. Big changes take time and are fraught with complications.
But, despite very senior sources telling me when we launched our Frank’s Law campaign that a first step in the right direction was very close to agreement, we’ve not moved an inch forward.
At the moment, you get free personal care when you hit 65, no matter your circumstances.
One of the first life lessons I learned from my parents, who cheered me over the finish line of today’s Scottish Half Marathon, was pretty simple: giving everyone the same doesn’t make everyone equal.
Yet at the moment everyone gets exactly the same – as long as they’re the correct age. That’s fine, as long as you’re looking out for those who really need it. Of that, I am more sceptical.
Frank Kopel was just a few weeks past his 65th birthday when he died. For that short time he received free personal care.
For the previous six years he did not and the family shelled out thousands of pounds for help. Should a birthday really be what is used to assess need?
When things were most difficult during the run (between 11.5 and 12.5 miles, detail fanatics) a few things kept me going.
The wonderful support of folk cheering at the side of the road; the goosebumps as I thought about The Courier’s Fife chief reporter, Craig Smith, running the same distance for an incredibly personal cause; and not letting down Amanda Kopel.
I did my bit.
It’s time for Shona Robison – the Health Secretary from a household which supports Dundee United, where Frank is a legend and whose home ground has a Frank’s Law campaign banner beside its scoreboard – and her colleagues in the Scottish Government to do something. Anything.
Go on, ministers. Give us a sign. Give us hope.
Take at least one small step in the right direction.
You can show your support for Frank’s Law by signing the petition below: