This was the second time Megan W has organised this event that I am aware of. Last time I attended was 2016 and I did it as the final 5 miles of a 40 mile run from Edinburgh. I had met Claire off the Linlithgow train at Haymarket and we covered the 40 miles to mark her 40th birthday. This year she was repeating the trek hoping to clock up 42 miles but aiming to do it an hour earlier as the kick off was 1pm, not 2pm like last time.
PB, Nick and Jack his son
I had hoped to join her but the week prior I picked up a sore throat which slowly matured into a cold before leaving the building. I reckoned a 42 miler wouldn't help it, so backed out of the warm up but felt reasonable enough to go along for the 5miles of trails and paths round Binning Wood, a favourite venue (and burial site of Ali B, my dad.)
raffle prizes sparkling, Mary's photo
We arrived plenty early as there was limited parking and being a short and fast course we felt a bit of a warm up was called for. Mary jogged round the woods in her jacket, while Nick and I had the good sense to take ours off and run in running gear. The course was altered from last time and felt even better, following some similar lines (being effectively 2 laps of the perimeter) but also some new trails and bits I'd never seen. Although it was a bit overcast to start with it, and a bit too cold to stand around, it was really pretty good running weather.
photo Mary
photo Mary - you can tell we are having fun!
Hadn't seen this pond before - good potential dragonfly zone for Summer
Megan gives us race chat
Stuart on the right taking pics
I carried the camera as the sun was coming out and everything began to look lovely. Just the B camera as there was lots of slipping mud. It was a bit slow to focus at times. There were lots of kids underfoot at the start which made things a bit tricky until the crowd thinned out. There was also a healthy mix of Dunbars and HBTs at the sharp end.
Stuart's photo
Me using my camera to bash the kids out the way
The HBTs came past in a tight knit group although I think
Phil dropped out with a sore leg or pulled something.
Nick up ahead in Dunbar top
The hill.
Just towards the end of lap 1 was a bit of a climb before descending to the finish. I was pleased to keep Nick in sight as he has been going well of late. He increased his lead in the second lap. I could make excuses about sore throats etc. but actually I was really enjoying the low key racing and trying to take pics at the sunny bits, more than kill myself keeping up with those ahead.
I said hello to Alastair when I ran past the burial area over to the right here. I also took lots of pics and was hoping he'd make an appearance in between the shoogles and blurry shadows. Nothing came out that you could post on the internet as positive evidence of the afterlife interacting, however Mary did find a couple of photos taken in sparkle mode on her camera and she has never accidentally or otherwise used that setting till today. (See raffle table photo above.) So that is positive proof (if proof were needed) of life (and a sense of humour) after death, I think you'll agree!
2nd lady Lisa caught up with me halfway round the final lap as we were approaching the muddy track with puddles and mud grooves and I let her have first choice of line. She seemed to slow down and I nearly went my length running on the less desirable wet grassy bit over to the left. OK no more Mr Nice Guy and I ran on ahead, surprised Lisa (clearly a better runner but without as much hubris) didn't keep up. I was glad to cross the line in just over 33 mins.
2nd 50, 1st 60, 1st 50
Santa, Wright?
Claire (and her crew) not only managed to arrive with about 3 or 4 minutes to spare, she also managed to come third in her age group which is pretty good for 40+ miles before 1pm, then a 5 mile cross country. She looked remarkably fresh. Well done: we should all run our age in birthday miles. Hmmm 57 for me next October. Might be a challenge.
So another great run in superb weather and lots of money raised (£1164) by Megan and her team (excellent homebakes) for Dementia Research, a fantastic charity. A real seasonal delight in these dark days! Lots of friendly faces and a great venue and course. Can't praise it highly enough!
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