THE five Scots curlers who won a silver medal for Team GB at the Winter Olympics are swapping the ice for their running shoes as they prepare for a half-marathon.
David Murdoch, Scott Andrews, Greg Drummond, Michael Goodfellow and Tom Brewster will take part in the Bank Of Scotland Great Scottish Run in October, and helped launch the event in Glasgow yesterday.
It incorporates a half-marathon and a 10k run, with tens of thousands of athletes and charity runners completing the routes that take in some of Glasgow's famous landmarks.
Both the men's and women's curling teams captured the attention of the nation with their performances at the Winter Olympics in Sochi last month.
As full-time athletes, the curlers are used to training every day, but team skip Murdoch thinks they will be relying on crowd support to get them round the half-marathon course.
He said: "Some people may not realise it, but curlers have to possess a strong fitness level and our training incorporates a lot of intense cardio and weightlifting, in addition to work on and off the ice.
"We warm up and warm down before and after each game and you need to be as fit as possible when you are on the ice sweeping and curling intensely in tight matches for two hour-plus game periods.
"However, training for a half-marathon is a different ball game and we are all slightly apprehensive about making the move into long distance running.."
The curlers were joined at the Glasgow Green launch by Susan Partridge, the first female finisher of last year's race with a time of one hour, 10 minutes and 40 seconds.
She said: "Last year was particularly special for me and I was thrilled to be the first female finisher alongside Haile Gebrselassie, who clinched the men's title.
"I am excited to come back this year to defend my position."
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