Scottish Championships

Max and Colin head up to Auchingarroch near Crieff for the Scottish Champs. The difficulty of the course always ramps up a notch for a Championship and it proved to be a very tough and rugged course. Max came second on M16B and Colin came second last on M45L.

Rosemary Elizabeth Ledlie

Rosemary sadly passed away at the age of 72 on 18th May 2011. She was a fabulous mother and loving wife. The funeral took place on 21st May with large numbers of friends and family paying their respects.

Explosions in the Sky

Max and Colin went to see Explosions in the Sky. That's not fireworks but a band from Texas playing at the Picture House in Edinburgh. Loud !

Loch Leven Half Marathon

Colin headed off to Kinross for the Loch Leven half marathon. 4th time in this nice race which takes a scenic and slightly hilly route around Loch Leven. Terrible performance coming in by far the slowest time ever on this course or this distance.

Grease is the word

Hannah and Colin went out to the Playhouse on Friday night to see Grease. First time either of us had seen the story having never seen the film. The music was pretty good but the acoustics weren't brilliant.

Happy Birthday Max

Colin and Max went for a speed walk from home to the summit of Arthurs Seat. 1 hr and 1 minute to make the whole journey which was pretty good going.

Meadows 2 Mile Race

Colin and Max out on a sunny evening to race in the Sri Chinmoy 2 Mile race. Colin came in with a decent time of 13:44 followed closely behind my Max at 14:42 with a PB at both 2 miles and his 1 mile split.

The Garden's Looking Good

Another lovely sunny Sunday. Enjoyed a bbq of saugage in rolls on the patio.

Ben Lawers Range

Colin headed out on a sunny saturday morning for some Munro bagging. Set off early at around 7.45 and got to the hills for a 9.45 start. Headed up the hills at a good speed and knocked off the first 4 munros in about 3 hrs. After a bit of a rest the last hill proved a bit of a slog and was reached after 4 hrs. Took a lower route following a track to the south of the range at about 600m then contoured round to follow the path the last mile or so back to the car park. That's 63 munros now completed.

Bangor

Visited Maxwell and Rosemary in Bangor as we stayed over 3 nights and spent the days at the JK events.

JK Day 2 - Tyrella

Drove down to Tyrella area for day 2 of the JK in a great area with lots of very complex dunes. Colin ran an absolute dog of race with a massive miss on the first control. Really struggled to get the map for the first 4 or 5 controls before getting into the groove. Finish 95 of 107 - oh dear ! Max came in 4th of 8 in a long 16 B course.

JK Day 1 - Sprint

Excellent Sprint course at Stranmillis College in Belfast. Great crowd and atmosphere on a gloriously sunny afternoon. Spent some time beforehand at the museum with Hannah and Cherry staying on there a bit longer. Colin ran a decent steady pace with not too many mistakes. 69 of 100 in age class. Max came in 39 of 58 runner in M16 class.

Hunters Bog Trot

Colin raced in the Hunters Bog Trot a short sharp race in Holyrood Park. Hannah came along to eat ice-cream and support. Felt like a fairly good run but time was slow compared to previous two runs in the race. Haven't been on very good running form for quite a while now.

Boghall Handicap Race

With feet still a bit fragile after the weekend Colin headed out on the Carnethy Handicap race from Boghall. Lungs in fairly good condition for the climb but feet definitely not so I saw an awful lot of runners go past me. Trundled in in second last place as the sun was setting. Nice evening out even if seriously off form.

SOSOL at Cademuir

Max and Colin ran in the last SOSOL of the season at Cademuir Hill in Peebles. Hannah and Cherry came along for a walk. absolutely glorious sunny day. Max came third but will be pipped at the post for the Light Green championship in which he will come second. Colin did ok on a long hard course.

Source Code

Super saturday outing to the cinema to see Source Code. Excellent film. Edge of the seat all the way through.

Nice & Cap Ferrat

Stayed over for an extra night after the conference and walked from the Centre of Nice to the Villa Ephrusi Rothschild at Cap Ferrat. Took in many sights along the way on a lovely sunny day. Nice centre and seafront, old town and Castle on the hill, past the port and round the headland of Mount Boron through to Villefranche Sur Mer and then to the villa and garden on Cap Ferrat. A good 8 hours walking.

Actuarial Directors Conference - Cannes

One of the occasional perks of the job - a trip to Cannes to attend a conference with actuarial directors from around Europe. Stayed at the Majestic Barriere Hotel on the front. Not a bad view from the hotel room.

The Might Deerstalker

Went off on Saturday to Traquair House for the Mighty Deerstalker Run. The race started on a pleasant saturday evening at 5.45 pm. The course went through lots of mud and water before climbing the first hill. Fast run down a mountain bike course and then through town and a 100m walk along a freezing river as darkness descended. The second big hill then followed with what felt like a pretty dangerous climb up a steep scree slot. Down through the forest and through waste high drainage channel to finish at Traquair House. Felt pretty strong throughout and came home at a decent pace. Great fun race although I do think it's an accident waiting to happen with some of the runners our for 4 1/2 hours on a freezing cold evening after running through freezing water at several points along the way.

522 place of 1673.

SOSOL - Palacerigg

Max and Colin headed out to Palacerigg Country Park near Cumbernauld. Snow was still on the ground and temperatures low. Max had a poor slow run and was near bottom of the field. Colin had a good first half and then fell apart in the second half with some big misses.

KB5

A cold snowy day for the 5 mile race in South Edinburgh. The pavements were all covered in slush making the going very tough. Enjoyed the race but with a slow time - part conditions part form to blame.

Night O at Blackford Hill

Hannah joined Colin for her first orienteering outing in a few years. A gentle jog and walk round selected controls. Lots of bats in the woods. Some fierce snow and winds on the hill by the end.