A rowing boat being prepared for racing
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A Westie on Water?

I remember as a child being scolded by a Sunday School teacher for consuming a boiled sweet in church. While I was unsure at the time what blasphemy I had committed, I had not realised that this might have left me with a taste for the sacrilegious. That…
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Lairig Ghru Hill Race 2020

The Lairig Ghru Hill Race is badly named. I have no issues with the first half of the name. Right enough it follows the Lairig Ghru, but hill race? 640m in 43K?! It's a trail race. Putting the modest elevation aside, it's a stunning route, slicing…
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Preston Harriers 10M Road Race

Unlike the hills, for a road race I reckon you want an unremarkable course - flat, minimal changes in direction, laps maybe and just enough scenery to avoid tedium. ‘Unremarkable’ because ‘boring’ is the wrong word. With nothing else…
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Tinto Hill Race

I’ve been excited about this hill race since my mum ran it in 2014. I arrived with loose plans to beat her time (50 mins), keep up with JD in a race for once and not disgrace Westerlands Cross Country Club with my poor downhill running. I…

Ben Resipol 2018

I left my flat on my own at 7.30 to make my way up to Ben Resipol, collecting runners along the way; Alistair & Dan in Partick, Sam at Crianlarich and Highland Hill Runner Ally Beavan in the lay-by by the Corran Ferry to make a full…
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Via di Annibale Sky Marathon

James asked me back in April whether I’d been keen to run in the Italian Alps. Any excuse to stock up on polenta and fine Barolo wine seemed good enough to me. A few months later Ally texted me about a visit to the Alps to come visit Leyre…
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Aravis Trail

Seeing as I evidently couldn’t cut it racing it Scotland a change was needed. This nominally involved me jumping on the back of Leyre’s good work in getting a 3-year contract in the Swiss Alps and moving over with an eye on taking on some…
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SIPR, JURA & LAMM ft Porkpies

How many pork pies are too many? Well, the answer depends on who and when you ask. Ask Ally and he’ll probably stop at a meagre 6. Ask me on the other hand and you’ll get an answer close to 20. Excessive for one weekend you say? Well…