Double weekend with Saturn Running

After two weeks of being in Scotland, it was time to head south to a) warm up, b) go to work, and c) disperse the stress created by work with some running.

So Friday and Saturday, I spent two days at Saturn Running, on days 1 and 2 of their Ten in Ten Series - it was fabulous to be back and catch up with many friends.

On Friday, I ran with Sarah, and as it had been three weeks since our last chat-athon, and an eventful three weeks at that, there was a lot of material to cover. So we did an chat-tra (an ultra spent chatting) to make a good indent in the agenda (to be continued; there's always more to chat about). It wasn't too cold, but was quite grey and cloudy, and it was nice running weather. We were powered mostly by giant flumps - making it Flump Friday. The medals for the Ten in Ten are butterfly themed, which was very appropriate, and they are very pretty. Mini ultra completed (27.2 miles).

On Saturday morning, I realised I had brought two left feet of my toe socks rather than a pair, which made getting ready to run an interesting, but not impossible, feet. I ran with Sarah, Gavin and James, which was good fun. Highlights included a good dose of northern abuse/ banter/ motivation from James, being pooed on by a bird 1.5 miles from the end (good luck?), more flumps (is it possible to turn into one?), orange and blackcurant mocktails (sadly, lacking vodka) at the aid station, a dog dressed as dinosaur, and it still being warm enough to run in a vest (albeit with arm warmers, now with bird poo on). Another mini ultra completed. All followed by nice coffee with Gavin and Sean afterwards, and thank you Gavin for the lift to the airport.

Thank you Saturn Running and Team for a really fun couple of days! Well done to all runners, and good luck to those continuing with some/all of the ten! 

The Dava Way 50km, 09.11.2024 with Moray Way Ultras

My first Scottish event as a Scottish resident 😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

The event was run by Moray Way Ultras, and started at Grantown-on-Spey, to then follow along the Dava Way (the route of the old Highland Railway line) to Forres. The railway line is about 24 miles long, so the route had an extra about 10km around Anagach Woods and along the River Spey by Grantown-on-Spey at the start, then another couple of miles around Forres at the end, to make it up to being 32 miles.

It was a leisurely Saturday morning 03.15 am start to drive over to Forres, where there were buses waiting to take everyone over to the start at Grantown-on-Spey. It was still dark, and got colder as we headed along the winding roads towards the Cairngorms and away from the coast.

There was plenty of time once we got to the start and registered, to warm up and wake up with a coffee from the Grumpy Mule coffee van, and have plenty of safety wees, and meet Liz!

At 7.30, everyone went out to the car park, and it was off!

The first few miles were freezing and foggy, and it was beautiful by the River Spey.

It soon started to warm up when the sun came out, and it was the most beautiful day. 

The route was lovely. I've done parts of it before on some runs with Andrew, and also on the LDWA Laich o'Moray 50 miles last year, and on the Speyside 100 miles this year. Speyside is a beautiful part of Scotland, somewhere I'd never been until about a year ago, and I am it's new biggest fan!

The Highland Railway was opened in 1863, to link Inverness to Perth, and closed in 1965. From Grantown-on-Spey it crosses the Dava Moor, passing the Summit at 1052 feet, the "halfway hut", then dropping down to the coast at Forres, crossing the River Divie on the old railway viaduct. Lovely views crossing the moors on a sunny day like this, and plenty of miles through magical forests. 

The event was excellent. Really well organised and friendly, and the marshals and volunteers were amazing.  A great medal and goody bag, too! Thank you to Moray Way Ultras and team - looking forward to trying out some more of their events next year! 

A marathon in Glen Affric, 03.11.2024

First big run in Scotland since the big move! 

A marathon distance run, starting and finishing at the Affric River car park. Driving there, it felt like the middle of nowhere, so it was quite unexpected to find ourselves in the middle of a massive film set - The Woman in Cabin 10 !

It was my first time in Glen Affric, and I absolutely loved it. We'd just missed the peak of the autumn colours, but it was still outrageously stunning, to the point it was difficult to know what to look at, in the kaleidoscope of yellow and orange leaves, mountains, water and skies. Especially striking, were the rowan trees with a pop of red from their berries to be found by each river.  

We found a route around Loch Affric on the Walk Highlands website and combined this with 16 miles along the Affric Kintail Way.

The route included some excellent bogs and river crossings (with several new contenders for my Bog Calendar 2025) along the trails, plus about 3000 feet of ascent. A good workout, but surrounded by amazing scenery, the miles flew by.

It was my 85th "non-official" marathon/ultra distance run, and it was wonderful! 

Photo Albumn.....

October Running

"I'm too sexy for this shirt", marathon, with Saturn Running, 05.10.2024

For lots of reasons, I didn't feel up to a big run today, but I did want to celebrate (northern) James' 300th marathon. So I made myself go, had a good run, and a brilliant time celebrating James' achievement. The run was from Staines, along the River Thames, and it was really beautiful and peaceful in the sunshine with the leaves starting to turn autumnal.

"Jelly Cat Run", marathon, with Saturn Running, 06.10.2024

Back to Staines for another celebration, for Amanda's 100th marathon. There was a lot of cake, a chat-athon with Sarah, more cake, some running, and lots of celebrating.

"Oktoberfest Friday, 29.5 miles with Phoenix Running, 11.10.2024

A misty, sunny, chilly morning, and 29.5 miles completed, for my 350th official marathon/ ultra.

The Palma Marathon, Majorca, 20.10.2024

Return trip to Palma, after Sarah and I had such a good time out there last year, and this time Amanda came along too!

We caught a flight from Gatwick late Friday morning....which actually turned into early Friday afternoon once the plane had been delayed due to fog (which was fine - just meant more time for chatting). On arriving, we caught the A1 bus into Palma, and checked into the Hotel Artmadams ... and got the exact same room as last year! The hotel is sort of a fusion of hotel/art gallery, and it had some new pieces since last year, and a new exhibition. 

Saturday we picked up our numbers from the race Expo, bought some matching running tops to wear back home, and then did the guided walking tour that the marathon organisers put on for participants. We had the same guide as last year! A very interesting and informative tour. We fuelled up with poké bowls at Poké Mania, and caught an early night.

Sunday, the marathon started at 8am, and it's a about a 20 minute walk to the start from the hotel. We got there around 7.20, braved the portaloos, which were actually not bad, and then got stuck in the queue for the new wardrobe (aka drop bag) system, missed the mass start, and everyone was starting in dribs and drabs. 

Once we finally got going, all was well, and it was an excellent run. It's my third time here, 2012, 2023 and 2024, and I've loved every one.

There are 9km, half marathon and marathon distances as part of the event. The marathon is two loops, first going west along the marina and back, then east along the coast, and back for a wiggly meander around the old town. It's a lovely route, with plenty to see. The aid stations are well stocked with water, isotonic drinks, bananas, and gels, and the volunteers are brilliant. The event also has great crowd support and music on the way around. It was pretty hot, up to 29oC! So a toasty and altogether enjoyable run. Great to see Bushy, Jasvir, Martin and Dawn on the way round, and to catch up with Zophanie at the end. 

The rest of the time there, we spent refuelling, sightseeing, and chatting and it was the best fun - thanks Sarah and Amanda for a wonderful weekend!