ESOA Champ

Busy weekend as we hosted an Interlopers Halloween Party of Friday and then another for Max and Hannah's friends on saturday. Hannah got her trophy !

Went to a CATI-O at Newhailes on Saturday afternoon and a Childrens Classic Concert on Sunday.

ESOA Championship

On Sunday we headed off to Selkirk for the East of Scotland Orienteering Championships. Colin came 3rd in the M40 category. Max came 4th in M12 and Hannah was declared the CHAMPION for the W10 category.

Berwick Law and Dunbar

On Saturday we got an early start to the summit of Berwick Law on a lovely sunny morning. From there we went to Tantallon Castle and then to the dunes of the John Muir Country Park. The surfers were out in force on the beach.

Drove on to Kelso in the evening for a riverside walk along the Tweed to round off a very busy day.

East Lothian Long Weekend

For the last weekend of the October Week school break we headed off for a few days in East Lothian and the Borders. On Friday morning we set off for Aberlady for a walk around the shore from Aberlady to Gullane. Had a nice lunch at the Old Clubhouse. Spotted some good birds and ducks on the way. Lots of Eider Ducks.

The afternoon wasn't quite so successful with both Dirleton and Tantallon Castles closed for the day. Had a nice dinner at the Open Arms Dirleton.

Pentlands Orienteering

Went to a newly mapped part of the Pentlands. Hannah wasn't on top form - Max was still suffering from a cold and Colin was slow after the previous day's exertions.

Manor Water Sheepdog Trials & Hill Race

We went to a place called Manor Water so that dad could do a hill-race and we could watch the sheepdog trials the sheep-dog trials weren't particularly good and it got a bit boring but we went for a little walk too. Max

The hill race was excellent. 5 miles up hill, past Dead Wife's Grave and on to the top of The Scrape at 719 m. Fabulous views over the borders hills and the sundrenched valleys around Stobo. Weather was perfect throughout. Great fun running downhill for 5 miles. Ran pretty well throughout with a time of 1 hr 36 minutes.

SOSOL1

The new orienteering season started with a trip to Dalkeith Country Park on a warm sunny autumn day. Hannah ran the yellow course and got most of the way on her own. Max came in fourth place in the Orange. Colin did fairly well on the Brown coming 14th.

Guitar Gal

Hannah got a guitar and will start lessons in a couple of weeks time. Went cycling on Saturday and Hannah had great fun at Alien Rock on Sunday.

Red Moss

Went out to a nature reserve at the edge of the Pentlands. Not much in the way of wildlife spotted but went on to an excellent well hidden bird hide on the edge of the lake. Saw all sorts of birds including buzzards and long tailed tits.

Cramond Island O

Travelled to Cramond Island for some orienteering. Hannah did well. Max really enjoyed it and went round two different courses. Colin got a bit lost!

Long Walk

Max and Colin went for a long walk as practice for the St Cuthberts Way walk they are planning for next year. They went a total of 19.5 km in a total time of 6 hrs 30 minutes.

Walked from home to summit of Blackford Hill, to Mortonhall, past Fairmilehead to have lunch at the Steadings. Then climbed Caerketton Hill and descended through Swanston and Braidburn Valley Park. Temperatures were high throughout so did very well to make it round with no complaints about anything other than the flies at a few locations along the way.

Caerketton Downhill Race

Max and Hannah ran in Scotland's only open downhill only race on Wednesday night. Max really enjoyed and came 5th of the 10 runners. Hannah did well coming 9th in an exciting finish.

Moray Marathon

Took a longer than expected journey up to Elgin to run in the Moray Marathon. Nice course running from Elgin to the coast - along to Lossiemouth and back. Ran well getting round in 4 hr 1 min 50 seconds - just missing the target of 4 hrs but beating previous time of 4 hr 20 by a good margin.

Ran into trouble between miles 19 and 23 when every ounce of my body was telling me to stop and have a rest. Recovered really well for the last 3 miles which I ran at a good pace - especially the last mile at around 7 m 45 pace.

Purple Thistle

Max and Colin travelled far north to Glen Affric for the Purple Thistle orienteering weekend. Beautiful countryside and fairly good weather. The courses were extremely difficult. Max came second on the junior course (of 2 competitors). Colin did very well on the Big Thistle course coming somewhere in the top half. Max is pictured rock climbing at the Day 2 finish.

Turnhouse Hill

Went out for a walk in the Pentlands with around 20 people from the office. Pleasant walk to the summit of Turnhouse in mixed weather. Hannah did well. A doddle for Max.

The Goodies

Family trip out to see the Goodies at the Fringe Festival. The show wasn't really aimed at kids so Hannah found it a bit dull in parts.

Portmore Loch Club Handicap Race

First handicap race of the season that I've managed to get to. Got a bit lost in the forest which seemed to get thicker and thicker. Managed to finish in third place thanks to a generous handicap.

Orienteering Blackford Hill

While Colin was at the half-marathon Cherry, Max and Hannah went orienteering at the local hill. Max really enjoyed his run getting round the orange course in 43 minutes, coming 6th of 13. Hannah went round the white in 28 minutes.

Haddington Half Marathon

Colin ran at the Haddington half marathon getting round in a fantastic 1 hr 42 min 50 secs easily beating personal best of 1 hr 47 and last years time of 1 hr 49.

Cherry, Max and Hannah went orienteering at Blackford hill and all did well.

Caerketton Hill Race

Max and Colin headed out to the steep hills of the Pentlands for a challenging hill run.

Max did brilliantly well in the Junior run coming in fourth place in a very demanding course. He won a £ 5 gift token for his efforts.

Colin came in 44 place out of 66 runners in 19 min 7 sec. This was a good improvement on a year earlier when he came 36 of 41 in 21 min 20 sec.

Hannah's Birthday Party

A nice afternoon at Gorgie City farm.

Mayar & Driesh

Max and Colin bagged 2 more munros. Glorious weather meant the going was quite tough in the heat. Very nice walk first to Driesh and then to Mayar. Got round the 14 km route in 5 hrs 15 minutes.

Max has now completed 10 munros.