What I learnt from my first mountain marathon

1. 4 years old is actually rather old for a pair of Innovates. If you make comments like ‘I’ll wear them til they fall to pieces’, you’re likely to end up regretting it.

2. Should the soles come off your shoes half way through Day 1 of a mountain marathon, just tie them back on with your shoe laces and they’re ‘good’ for another few hours.

3.You know you’ve got a great team mate when, after Day 1 (7hr) they’re prepared to run an extra 12km on hard tarmac (in hill shoes) back to the start line so as to pick you up a new pair of shoes

4. Salomon XTs are really not meant for hillrunning but are significantly better than no shoes at all

5. It is actually possible to sleep on bubble wrap instead of a roll mat.

6. It is also possible to get sunburnt in Scotland in April. Funny how I have to learn this fact every year…

7. Even if you’re trudging through wet bog for a day, you can get really dehydrated if you only drink one bottle of water.

8. Navigation isn’t just about knowing where you are. Elsie’s route choice was truly phenomenal and I learnt loads from her this weekend! After the Saturday, we had an 8 minute lead on the next female pairs in our class. They started before us on Sunday but chose to contour round on the nasty ground above a forest, while we snuck ahead by taking the ‘smarter’, Elsie-endorsed route which involved dropping down a bit on a better path. Awesome to watch! I aspire to that level of comfort with a map.

9. If the weather’s sunny and you just want a good day out, why not combine a mountain marathon with some Corbett-bagging like Graham did.

10. Friendly marshalls and organisers really make an event and I couldn’t have picked a better atmosphere for my first mountain marathon than the Highlander.

We came first female pairs in the C-class so that’s another triumph for the Westie women. I think I now have a very rose-tinted view of mountain marathons (sunny, ceilidhs, friendly marshalls). Can’t wait til my next one!