Entries by james.callender

Stirling & Kilmarnock

What happened? Stirling – 4 laps of a golf course in the posh part of town. Kilmarnock – 3 laps of the fields by the Ayrshire Athletics Arena Who was there? Stirling – James C, James B & Niall Kilmarnock – James C, Scott & Niall Where was everyone else? Stirling – Disgracing themselves on

Tilli 10k 2019

The second year running of this perfectly-formed 10k and the word is clearly out – evidenced by the stacked field in attendance. I’d woken up on Saturday morning in Aberdeen with a bit of a cold which I resolved to ignore and maintain a PMA through a combination of lemsip, purposefully upbeat conversation on the

DAAA XC Championships 2019

A great turn-out for the club on Saturday’s DAAA XC. An exciting course that had it all – woods, rivers, mud, sand, stingy nettles, tarmac (a surprising amount) and, for quite a few people, a horse in the wrong direction. I started strongly and swapped places with the top four throughout. At the end of

Ochil Ultra 2019

[A belated report from Joe Waite.] Start line, nice top, very bright, crisp sky, red cloud, jog and chat, missed a turn, back on track, kilt runner, tap the top, slip, slide, Where’s everyone? Hills shadow, easy track, Mike’s Garmin, bleep, split, HR, jeezo, absorbed, boring brain, battery warning, thank god, breathe and step, glide,

West District XC Relays 2019

Dear Mr Callender, Herr Quinn has forwarded your useless report from Kilmarnock to the Race Report desk for my examination and/or reply. Unfortunately, we have no Ludicrous Gibberish desk, or it would have ended up there. What kind of lame, half-mad bullsh*t are you trying to sneak over on us? When Westerlands asks for a

Misurina SkyMarathon

The Parco Naturale Tre Cime is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site on account of its spectacular landscape. On first impressions it reminded me of Whitlee Moor – cold, windy, raining and full of Scottish cyclists. You could get a decent pizza though. The race was on Sunday, so on the Saturday I generally mooched

East End STAGs

I made my urban orienteering debut this Wednesday at the STAG Bridgeton Score event along with Ruth, Outi and Klass. During this time I learned the following: – I am not as good at reading maps as I thought. – It’s important to SLOW DOWN and THINK. Ideally not after you’ve pissed away the first

Ben Rinnes 2019 (A Group Cut-Up)

Dufftown had not escaped the recent heatwave, every step on the race was hampered by the weight of the sun. Imagine, you’ve just finished your first big hill race, it’s been a tough day, you’re exhausted and then some skinny guy called Sam approaches you in the shower asking for assistance with a full-body tick-check.

An Teallach Hill Race 2019

“And the course,” said the organiser at the race briefing, briefly glancing over his shoulder at the murk above, “Well, just go where you want, it’s a hill race.” A worthy piece of advice, and one that was taken to heart. If nothing else, An Teallach offers options; straight up the vertiginous gully or along

Kilpatricks Kaper 2019

What can be said about the Kilpatricks Kaper 2019? It was a beautiful summer’s evening; golden sunshine and breeze to keep the midges at bay. 94 runners went up the hill and 94 runners came down again. The marshalling team were ace; so professional that I was happy to spend most of the race reclining