Burns Weekend Orienteering

Colin and Max took part in a pair of orienteering events in Edinburgh City Centre over the weekend. Saturday was the street race taking in Pollock Halls and Southside and Old Town. Decent runs from Max and Colin with Colin having the edge.

On Sunday we both went on the green course in Holyrood Park. Colin came 6th and Max 13th of the 84 finishers.

Norwegian Orienteering

Max and Colin headed out to Corstorphine Hill for a Come and Try It event. The Green course was a Norwegian style with no map just a small map segment at each control indicating where to go next. Challenging but we both seemed to get on pretty well with it.

Nigel Kennedy

Colin and Cherry went to the Usher Hall to see Nigel Kennedy play the Four Seasons and other stuff. A very alternative take on the music with a lot of jazz influenced stuff. Generally very good although went on just a bit too long.

Greenmantle Dash

Colin headed down to Broughton for the Greenmantle Dash. A short sharp tough race involving a jump over a wall, a river crossing, a muddy marshy field then very steep up and down Trahenna Hill. Time pretty poor at over 26 minutes my worst effort in this race.

Portobello Promathon 2012

Max and Colin headed down to Portobello for this new year running event. A very big crowd this year - 386 runners - almost twice as many as in any previous year.

Colin performed pretty well coming in at 29 mins 29 secs in 193rd place. Max was a bit under the weather but did well to finish in 33 min 26 secs.

The King and I

Went to the Festival Theatre to see the King and I. It was OK but also very dated.

Christmas In Northern Ireland

Nice Christmas Celebrations in Northern Ireland with Maxwell, Michael, Lusi and MichaelAngelo.

Queens Drive 5k Race

Out for a race around Arthurs Seat on a very cold morning. Weather pleasant enough with sun shining. Maintained a reasonable pace round the course and finished in 25:13 just beating my personal best for the race from 2008. Nice to get one PB this year.

More Zurich

Stayed over in Zurich for some sightseeing in the City Centre and a walk in the hills above the city. The weather was cold but clear skys - although foggy on the lower ground.

Zurich

Colin had several days in Zurich at the CRO Assembly run by the Geneva Association. The event was held at the fantastic Centre For Global Dialogue owned by Swiss Re. A beautiful building in the suburbs of Zurich. 2 days with the risk community wasn't exactly inspiring given the global challenges and threats at the current time.

Tinto Hill Race

Last big hill race of the year at Tinto. Beautiful afternoon with clear skies and temperatures around 12 degrees. Pushed myself hard on the way up reaching the summit in around 33 mins. Decent run down catching up quite a few places in the home stretch. Faster than last year but 3 minutes slower than personal best - I must have been very fit a couple of years back.

Lloyd Cole

Max and Colin went to see Lloyd Cole at the Pleasance on Thursday evening. Lloyd is now 50 years old and was clearly self conscious about his advancing years and expanding belly. The first hour was mainly new stuff including work in progress. Good banter with the crowd made for a pleasant folksy hour of music. After the break and a pint he played through his fantastic back catalogue of hits. Lots of songs that sound like Number 1 hits but looking back at his chart history he only managed 6 top 40 songs with a highest position of 17. Forest Fire only managed 41. Great concert and Max, the only youngster in the audience, enjoyed it after some initial trepidation.

Orienteering at Deans Livingston

Max and Colin headed out to Livingstone on Sunday morning for the first orienteering in ages. We both had a go on the green course. Max headed off 1 minute before Colin but was quickly caught just after the first control. Colin then headed off in the wrong direction and Max was up about 30 secs by the second control. A neck by neck tussle for the next few controls until Max made a big error at 10 and Colin came home about 6 minutes faster.

Beautiful day and great to be out racing again.

Colin 8th, Max 13th of 45 on the Green Course. Colin now 1000 th in the UK Rankings.

Tori Amos

Colin and Hannah headed off to Glasgow on Sunday evening to see Tori Amos at the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall. Good support act Mark Hole warmed up the event and then Tori and her string quartet played. Not the easiest of artists to get into as she is very intense but heated up towards the end. Unfortunately had to leave early for the train home.

Prize Winner (second anyway)

Max received a couple of certificates for his orienteering efforts over the past year. Second in the Light Green SOSOL for 2010/2011 and second in the 16B class at the Scottish Championships.

Well done !

Winter Warmers 5 km

Hannah entered the British Heart Foundation winter warmer event for a circuit of Holyrood Park. It was never quite clear whether this event was a walk or a walk and run. Hannah was definitely there for the former but most participants had come for a run. We set off at a good pace and had plenty of people behind us on the way up the hill. Hannah didn't quite find the puff for a run down the hill but got round in a very respectable 45 minutes and raised £65 for BHF.

Sigur Ros Inni

Went to see Sigur Ros movie INNI at the Queens Hall. Screening was of good quality with the sound crisp and clear and good and loud. Film was really excellent with the arty images and really intense ending. Stand out track Festival attached.

Dun Rig

Colin headed out for a walk in the hills by Peebles. Weather ok at lower levels but from about 550 m was cloudy and very wet. Couldn't navigate the planned route so went beyond Dun Rig and then retraced steps. About 4 hrs total walk.

Survival of the Fittest

Max headed out for the 10 K Survival of the Fittest race in Edinburgh. Lots of tough obstacles to negotiate. He did really well getting round in just over an hour and in the top half of the generally very fit looking field.

Had a nice meal out at Cafe Rouge in the evening.

John Muir Country Park

With Max Senior visiting we headed out to Dunbar and the wide beaches and dunes for a walk of 4 or 5 miles. A bit windy but the weather stayed quite nice. Beautifil scenery.

Enjoyed a nice tea on Friday night at Zizzi's.

Manor Water Hill Race

Max and Colin headed down to Peebles on a very wet Saturday afternoon. Max did well in the Junior race and was faster than Colin. Colin still not fully fit struggled up the hill getting a fairly poor time.

Max finally got recognition for his performance. First of 1 in the long junior he should have got a prize on the day but eventually got a voucher in the post several weeks later.

Weekend in Helensburgh

Colin went off to Helensburgh with Warren, Tim and Ian. Stayed at the Hill House and enjoyed lots of beer and good food. The weather was horrible. We managed a short boat trip to Balmaha and a small hill walk in the drizzle.