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Milngavie run and social

Balloon Trouble Bursts JD's Bubble!

Wednesday night saw the Hutchinsons hosting their annual run and social event...well, the Hutchinsons minus John! Fiona put on a marvellous evening for 18 running Westies and 4 helpers, aided in no small part by Margaret's sterling work in the kitchen.

But first, the run - a "guess the time" competition with a short or a long course around the reservoirs and past Baldernock church before taking the chosen route back to Milngavie. Maps were issued, string was placed along the intended route, and random numbers were then generated to represent the runners' estimated times. Watches and gizmos were surrendered before the headtorch army set off on the dark and sometimes icy roads to test their pace judgement.

The added complication came at Baldernock Church where I was stationed with a balloon and party hat for each competitor (or team, as many chose to pair up or run in packs). These items were to be conveyed intact to Fiona, and all were....except for JD's balloon. The pleas to the judge cut no ice, so despite being close to their estimated time, JD and Matt couldn't be the winners.

Pauline and Helen saved the need for any argument, being closest to their estimate (only 1 minute out, according to Drew and Charlie's timing) and were the only people to run within their estimated time for the night. Captain Chris made the best estimate of the solo runners, at around 5 minutes outside his intended time.

Despite a few Westies planting their posteriors on the icy roads (Niall, James...), all returned safely to mountains of food and plentiful drink, and prizes for all.

Great to see such a large turnout of active Westies old and new, and once again, a huge thanks to Fiona and John for their work in planning and hosting this excellent event.

Posted by Johnston Orr on Thu 8 Dec 2011 | 7 comments

Category Social Run

Comments

  1. John Hamer said...

    Fabulous evening. Wonderful fun, despite the challenging conditions. Thanks, Fiona and John, for all your work in planning the route, and for the outstanding catering.

    Thursday 8th December 2011 10.11pm

  2. Johnston said...

    Not forgetting Mr Hamer's excellent home-made bread!

    Thursday 8th December 2011 11.13pm

  3. Helen Mac said...

    The icy conditions made for an interesting run (yes we did do some running!) along some familiar and unfamiliar roads. Having decided to run as a two team foursome, in the end Vicki and Elsie set off a minute or so ahead of Pauline and myself. We all eventually joined up with the two Peters, Colin and Claire and Pat somewhere out in the floods at the far end of the reservoirs. From there we had a very sociable slip-slithering time. Six of us followed the long route around the boundary of Milngavie before returning to Sandfield Avenue with balloons and party hats intact. Huge thanks to Fiona and the absent John and all the support for yet another excellent social 'do'. And thanks to Pauline for her expert judgement on our running time!

    Friday 9th December 2011 12.29am

  4. Pauline said...

    Thoroughly enjoyed myself, good to see everyone and my thanks too to Fiona and team. Thanks also to Helen for powering round and keeping us within our time. There were definitely points at which I was starting to flag and if Helen hadn't been just that wee bit ahead and running so strongly I'd probably have given up. It was very much a team effort!

    Friday 9th December 2011 11.29am

  5. Paula said...

    What a great evening. John hammer, james and i managed to take 2 wrong turnings which added plenty time onto our guess!! But it added to the fun. Very icy conditions slowed us even more as footwear was not appropriate! Yes i also landed on my rear and suggested getting time deducted for the number of falls you had. Thanks to Fiona and John for planning etc....Fab!

    Sunday 11th December 2011 12.59pm

  6. Dave said...

    What's all this talk about team effort??? This looks like the perfect occasion for the manipulation, skullduggery and downright cheating for which this great small-to-medium sized club was once famed!
    And icy conditions without a visit to A&E? Pat, what were you doing?

    Tuesday 13th December 2011 10.41am

  7. John H said...

    Glad that everone had a good time and the route lived up to expectations ( and people got lost, fell over, got muddy and wet , but found their way back).

    Will start planning next year

    Wednesday 14th December 2011 11.49am

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