The finish!

The last couple of days of the trip were a lovely wind down. Because there's quite a lot of farmland in the area I was mostly using trails and roads and although the terrain isn't so charming it was really nice to be able to estimate timings with some confidence. 

The penultimate day was 20 Miles and it goes to show how strong I'm feeling that I considered this a short day! Infact, the daily mile ages haven't felt too intimidating for most of my journey; more daunting is the prospect of over 10hours covering that distance. If 20 miles takes an entire day you know the going is seriously character building!  This particular day was over in 4 hours and it was nice to have a relaxing afternoon, contemplating the finish the following day.

The final day consisted of 12 miles along road and a final 3 along the spectacular cliffs up to Duncansby Head. The weather was damp but spirits were high! When we got to the start of the trail I was already buzzing. I was torn between admiring the scenery or sprinting to the end. I compromised a little but by the time I could see people in the distance I found my fast legs which have been missing for the past few weeks! Rob called to me to go ahead and I was really grateful as I wanted to race to the end.

Although I could see people from a few hundred metres away it was hard to see exactly where or who I was aiming for.  It was only in the last 200 metres along the path that I could make out a bit of a scene - Mum, Peter, Emily, Emma, Maisie and her mum were all waiting with a huge banner, balloons, fizz and a ribbon for me to run through! I hadn't expected this at all and when Emma presented me with a beautiful tankard with 'watershed survivor' engraved I felt pretty emotional! It was promptly filled with champagne.

The ending didn't have quite the feeling of relief or enormous feeling of achievement that I had expected. I think that's because each day of the adventure had a bit of this and each day was so different from the previous one and held its own challenges. Mentally I'd had to think of the journey day by day, otherwise it wasn't manageable. The adventure was all about the journey and not the final feeling at the finish anyway. How sad would it have been to get to Duncansby Head and think, 'thank goodness I'm done'.

Because the last few days were much easier than anything during the 4th week or earlier, I'd had plenty of time to let the tough days filter out of my mind. 1 week on from the finish my memories are of wonderful rugged scenery, beautiful ridges, tough climbs and the peaks (in both senses) which they brought. I know there was horrible weather, I know my ankles hurt and I was really tired and grumpy some days. I know I got cold and struggled to read the map efficiently some days. Some days stretched well past when they should have but what I'll actually remember is the sense of achievement every day, the people who were there with me helping it all happen and the minor celebrations each day as I succeeded in getting closer to my destination.

Although I'm the only one to have run the whole journey (which turned out to be 659.7 miles And 40,405m of climbing), it was far from a single handed effort.

I'm hugely grateful to all the following people:

Peter Wright for inspiring the whole trip, helping me plan, encouraging and advising me as well as supporting during week 4 and carrying my camping equipment to 2 wild camps. This feels like a major understatement for all his work!

My mum for being on hand all the time I was away, coordinating support drivers and runners, and supporting the final week.

Tom for putting up with me in the run up to the event and for supporting the first week and for keeping in touch and saying all the right things when I was tired.

Emily and Emma for supporting in the last week, being massively cheery and spreading the cheer and for making a scene at the finish.

Stuart for his part in organising the trip.

Maisie for all her help with fundraising and for coming to cheer me in at the finish.

Gary Tompsett for teaching me to navigate and for lending me his GPS 

Aunty Fiona and uncle Richy for their time supporting and doing an immense job of feeding me and everyone who came to join me.

Richard Bannister for his generosity in changing his plans to help me out several times so he could run with me and for his banter.

Colin Meek for all his advice and for joining me on a particularly tough day

Stuart Chalmers for running with me, especially the day after the Devil race.

Elizabeth Adams for her company, her help during the wild camps, especially for pandering to my needs and preparing my food so quickly and for the new socks.

Ruth Howie for her company and incredible patience during one of my worst days.

Rob Reid for making the last week so fun and for giving cause for a celebration for his 70th.

Brian and Amanda Macfarlane for supporting for a week

Paul McArdle for a very restorative massage when I was staying at home and after the event.

Lorna Sinclair for her company during a run as well as a massage in the evening!

Kay MacWilliam, Helen and John Bennie, Fran Young, Angela Barron and Jane and Willie Turnbull for coming to join me, either for social or running.

Arnold Clark, OMM, Cotswalds and all the accomodation along the way who gave us discounts. 

John o'groats guest house who gave me a bottle of prosecco on my arrival and who were wonderfully impressed by my trip, despite all the heroes who they see regularly arriving at John o groats

Finally thank you to everyone who sponsored me and helped me raise over £8000 for Funding Neuro, too many to mention but I'm very grateful to you all for your generosity.

Last week, end in sight!

After the toughness of Sunday I was dreading the sight of another bog and couldn't face the prospect of more unending grim terrain.  However, I did at least have a long afternoon to myself at Inchnadamph Lodge, eating chocolate and relaxing and when Monday morning arrived I was feeling a bit more enthusiastic. Colin Meek and Rob Reid were joining me and this was to be my last Munro day.

The weather was actually quite bright in the morning and there were patches of blue sky.  We had a lovely climb up Conival and the cloud that had enshrouded it cleared as we got to the summit. It is quite a dramatic ridge and very satisfying to get views from the final high point of the trip.  

The Munro was of course the easy part of the day. After that it was a frustrating and lumpy section of ups and downs over rocks and streams. It was great having Colin with us as he remembered this section and was able to pick up the vague path that he had followed when he ran this section of the watershed.  

As we got to the final section which was just pure bog the weather changed very suddenly and it began to rain. We all made the daft assumption that it was a passing shower but instead it got heavier and heavier and also included sleet.  By the time we realised that perhaps waterproofs would have been sensible we were all soaked through.  It took us all a while to realise that even though we were sodden we still need to stop and put extra layers on. It was too late by then. All three of us were shivering and had it not been a mildly serious situation we could have laughed at ourselves and our utter inability to undo zips, put on gloves and clip up clips with numb and useless hands.

Colin did an excellent job of navigating us down to the road, my brain had turned to mush and I would have really struggled without him. The last descent down from the ridge we were following was pretty exciting in the weather.  The path had turned to a furious stream whilst the stream we had to cross had turned to a violent waterfall.  The final river crossing was very precarious with the bridge being largely submerged and the river twice its normal width.  

And then came the final straw. My mum and the van were nowhere in sight. Having a mobile signal was of limited use as from speaking to my mum all I ascertained is that she doesn't know East from West.  She did manage to rescue us within half an hour luckily.

Tuesday was due to be an easier day with the last Corbett of the trip. This should have been followed by a large bog section. I've crossed numerous bogs in the last month but this one was actually marked on the map!! I couldn't face it, if this one actually warranted being marked on the map I was not going to attempt it, especially after the precipitation of the previous day. It meant a 12km detour but it was well worth it in my mind. 

Bog to avoid!

Ben Hee was a lovely climb and we had an easy afternoon running into Altnahara. We met up with Emily and Mum who between them had reached our prearranged point successfully.  Our final pick up point was at Crask Inn and I foolishly asked them if it was hilly.  Never trust a car driver to assess the height gain/loss of a road. I was told it was 'undulating'. A 250m pass later and we cruised down to the Crask Inn.  Although, relative to what I've done the last few weeks, it's a small climb but it was a real sting in the tail to the day.

During this last ascent I caught myself noticing Rob's new trainers. They looked infinatly more satisfying than the previous day's pair which were more porous than a pair of flip flops! But what I noticed about the new ones was a curious red streak which was growing and oozing from within.  His foot was bleeding heavily and leaving a horrible trail on his new shoe!  Rob was oblivious luckily but I was horrified. Hard as nails is Rob! 

The Crask Inn made everything good again. It was such a quirky and friendly place we had to stay for dinner.  The hosts were brilliant and their home grown products were delicious.  They were also generous enough to donate to Funding Neuro.

Wednesday was a real treat, following a path (yes, a path!) for the entire day! It was beautiful and better still it was the first day in over 20 days when I haven't had to put my waterproof on for some part of it.  It was brilliant to be able to run for nearly the entire day and we ploughed through the miles.  We had a great surprise on arrival at the hostel as Peter Wright and his bike had caught up with us.  Rob treated us all to dinner as it was his 70th birthday. It was great to help him celebrate.  

I was slightly anxious about Thursday however as there was no way around the knockfin heights. This is another substantial area area of bog and so indistinct and rolling in terrain that it's very tricky navigationally.  The day got off to a very promising start though, with clear blue skies and a woman stopping abruptly outside the hostel and giving me £10. She'd seen my funding Neuro tshirt and as she's the local Parkinsons nurse felt compelled to give me money, without even knowing what my challenge was! 

The knockfin heights turned out to be fine.  It's amazing what a couple of days of sunshine and a wee breeze can do to the ground. I almost escaped with dry feet.  Rob was a little disappointed that he couldn't experience the trampoline like ground which Peter had described! 

I realise that the chief thing, beside the weather that had improved the experience was my expectations. Unlike Sunday I had appreciated it would be a slow and tough morning and as I had anticipated this I was pleasantly surprised.  I'm back to appreciating the wonders of the watershed! 

I had a real bonding moment with my compass too. I'm pretty confident with my navigation now but as it was featureless terrain I was keen to keep checking our direction. There's few things more disconcerting than a little piece of plastic filled with magic liquid telling you to go 180 degrees in the opposite direction from where you expect. Luckily me and my compass have a very good relationship these days and with confirmation from the GPS we had a very successful traipse down to the track where we ran along to our collection point.  

Week 4

Sunday night had a bit of a party atmosphere with everyone who had come to join me running and supporting.  Peter Wright arrived and my Aunt produced a feast for us all.  All good preparation for the most daunting week ahead; 24 munros to climb and 2 of the longest distanced days as well as 2 wild camps!

Kay McWilliam joined me on Monday around the south side of Loch Quoich.  This started with an 18km run in to the 3 munros we had to climb.  John Bennie had checked out the start of this trail for us the previous day and had returned with mud up to his waist so I didn't have high hopes for the path.  Perhaps he was unlucky or maybe my expectations have sunk off the bottom of the scale but I thought it was a pretty good path and largely runnable!  

The weather was once again dreich with low cloud cover but we were pleasantly surprised after the first Munro for the cloud to lift and we were treated to beautiful views and sunshine for the rest of the afternoon.  It was heavy going as the descents as well as the ascents were very steep so progress over the tops was slow.  If you happened to be watching the tracker closely and noticed a little dog leg then rest assured, this was deliberate! It seemed the most sensible descent from the third Munro to go  back the way we went up.

Amazing drystone dyke along the ridge!

The final section of the day was the toughest.  With the end in sight, literally, we encountered another one of those 'paths' which is hidden by undergrowth and guarantees tripping, slipping and sliding. I can't believe how patient Kay was with the whole experience, I didn't hear her swear once!

Finally we arrived at my Aunt and Uncles van where we were duly treated to soup, coffee and cake.  It was such a nice evening and lovely sitting out and admiring the views.  

Loch Quoich in the sunshine!

Returning to the same spot again the following morning with Richard Bannister couldn't have been more different.  The cloud was back down and it was drizzling. I felt really low, the previous day's weather had been so lovely and made the day much more enjoyable, I couldn't believe it was so different and miserable.  

Loch Quoich the following day

We were doing the South Glen Shiel ridge that day and although the cloud lifted and we had great views of all the days climbing in front of us, the relentless 40+mph winds all day sapped our spirits.  

Peter Wright met us at the end of the day and his endlessly cheerful charachter picked us up a bit.  When we arrived at Lochcarron hotel I promptly received messages telling me my support runner was no longer available for the next few days. I felt incredibly low at this point and instead of having a shower and doing some stretching I found myself sending emails and making phone calls, all to no avail.  With the weather still looking foul outside I headed downstairs for dinner feeling sorry for myself.  By the time I at down, Richard had changed his plans for me (again) and arranged support for the weekend! What a hero! And then I was able to catch up with a phone call to Tom and concluded that all the worries I had were down to a lack of sleep.  

Wednesday was our longest scheduled day with 40km and 3 munros, completely unconnected by ridges.  This meant a lot of ups and downs and the 1st Munro in particular was very craggy and slow going.  I had a little moment on the knife edge ridge, the first one I've had the whole trip but I suddenly felt very unsure of my footing on an exposed edge. Luckily Richard was there to save the day! 

After the munros we had 20 very undulating kilometres to the camp spot and we both found it incredibly tough. Richard had raced the Devil of the Highlands (and come 9th) at the weekend and I was on day twenty-something so neither of us were at the cutting edge. It also took far longer than we'd anticipated and by the time we got to the last 5 km, which included a very slow, frustrating and arduous bog trot we had both really lost our sense of humours.

The weather was very changeable and I felt like we were being laughed at from above.  It was almost comical the way it changed from clear skies to rain every time I took my jacket off.  I can't describe the feeling of relief and delight when we finally spotted Peter and Elizabeth with the campsite all set up and the jet boil bubbling away. We had our dinner within moments of arriving and went to straight to bed, it was 9.30pm after all.

The next day, despite 4 munros, felt comparatively easy. Once again it was a grim looking start but the weather did pick up for us and navigation was made easy by being able to see.  Richard was catching a train home that evening so we had a little time pressure and I ended up finishing the day with 10km along the road.  I know it's really against the spirit of the trip, and my principles, but I LOVED it. Tar-mac is such a treat after weeks in a bog!

Friday was the 2nd most daunting day of my trip with 6 munros and, by my very poor estimating, 35km in distance.  Elizabeth and Ruth were joining me for this. Another dreich start turned into a pretty good day, again we could see the ridge that we were following which was such a massive help.  It was the most runnable day I've had in a while with quite a few paths connecting the tops and easier, rolling hills than I've been up recently.  We saw a record 7 people today, including Scott, who was a Speed of Light Leader with me a few years ago! 

Once again the final killer decent ruined my mood a bit and my poor ankles were knocked about and strained again and again.  Ruth and Elizabeth were suffering too but managed to contain their emotions a bit more effectively than I did.  

My guesstimating of the distance led Elizabeth into completing her first ultra marathon distance at 45km.  She didn't put pins in my bed or anything nasty in my food so I assume she's secretly very pleased about this.  My mum was with Peter to welcome us in which was great and Mum made us a cracking dinner. I was in a little trouble for pointing out that she didn't need to try too hard to impress us starving runners.

Saturday, on paper, looks like the last big day of the trip. It included 4 munros and finished with a wild camp, beautifully serviced once again by Peter and Elizabeth.  Beinn Dearg, Meall nan Caepraichean and Eididh nan Clach Geala were all beautiful hills and felt very different to others that I've covered this week. They were much more stoney and viewed from the final Munro, Seana bhraigh, looked like they had been concertina-ed together.  

It was wonderful to look North from here too because the change in the landscape was very visible, much lower hills; The end is almost in sight!. The view to the East was also spectacular, I could see Beinn Eighe, an Tealach ridge and Suilven, all looking very impressive.  

Much to my surprise neither the weather or my tired body prevented me from completing my goals for the week.  I'm very chuffed to have managed all the Munros and not compromised the route too much.  I was fully expecting to have a great 10 hour sleep, even in a tent, as I was utterly knackered.  Sadly the weather had other plans.  The wind was so strong all night long, I can't believe the tents remained standing.  We were all very disturbed by the weather and none of us achieved the necessary hours of sleep.

What should have been an easy recovery day actually felt like a nightmare, one of those awful ones where no matter how hard you try you make no forward progress. Had I known it would be so tough my expectations would have been lower but I was so excited about a very short day that 5 1/2 hours felt very disappointing.  

I realise now that I've been playing mental games with myself. I didn't consider a big week at all, I just had to think day by day. I've fooled myself into thinking that after Sunday I'm rolling all the way to Duncansby Head, I think I may have just made this week the hardest of all....

More photos to follow.

Next few days...

There have been a lot of ups and downs in the last few days, metaphorically as well as literally. I've climbed another 9 munros in 4 days and got another big chunk of the watershed completed. 

I've been really touched by the number of people who've come to join me, supporting and running.  It's made such a difference and I've been throughly spoilt.  My Aunty Fiona and Uncle Richy have been incredibly generous and have done a superb job of feeding me up.  Whilst I've had lots of people joining me there have been huge dinners served for all and I was also treated to dinner at the Eagle Barge Inn.  Aunty fiona did a bit of boasting on my behalf and the lovely staff immediately gave me free pudding and sponsored me!

Kirsty maguire, Helen and John Bennie, Fran Young, Stuart Chalmers, Kay McWilliam and Richard Bannister have all joined me for sections as well as bringing lots of brilliant home baking and food.  I'm so chuffed that they've all been able to join me and appreciate the huge lengths they've gone to.

Kirsty joined me for Friday and Saturday which included a bothy camp.  One of the less wonderful things of these few days has been the weather and with the forecast news Kirsty had brought it seemed prudent to get off to a 6am start to avoid the worst of the wind and rain. It seemed to work and we arrived at the bothy at lunchtime, not too soggy and having had great views of the watershed from below the cloud line.  It was made extra special by a rainbow over the top.  The geographical feature was very clear to see but it was as tiresome as expected to cross to the bothy!

After such an early start we both had an afternoon nap, rolling our mats onto the mouse shit covered floor.  We spent a very relaxing time making hot drinks, playing cards and eating.  At one point I thought we were going to have company as the door seemed to be rattling a lot.  When no one appeared I assumed it was the wind but when I had to go outside later I found the doorway blocked by a large cow!  

I was still pretty tired so went to bed at 9.30.  At 11.30 I woke to the unmistakable sound of mice snuffling around in plastic bags.  I thought I'd been cunning leaving my porridge out for the morning but it sounded like I was being beaten to it!  I lept out of bed, probably the quickest I've moved since I started my adventure, and ran to rescue breakfast.  Luckily I was in time and I left our rubbish for them to clear up as well as my pot, which they crapped in.  

The walk out from the bothy was tougher than I'd hoped and the boggy terrain wore me down a bit.  It was still quite a short day however and we ran to the Great Glen Hostel where I was staying for the following 3 days. It was great to have a base for a short while, especially such a friendly and comfortable one.

Sunday was made special by all the company and the sunshine. It was a lovely stretch of the watershed and a wee chunk of Scotland that I would probably never have discovered without this journey.  The sun shone and we had an enjoyable morning.  

By the time it clouded over and the path had long since thinned out I was feeling a little less exhilarated. The supposedly easy final section, leading to the van was absolute hell and was easily one of the toughest sections I've encountered, all be it a short one.  Stuart Chalmers was with me at this point and he was tired after running the Devil of The Highlands the previous day.  That was lucky for me as I needed something to slow him down.  

We had to clamber over a large section of fallen trees which had been felled over a bog. It was agonisingly slow and awkward and once we thought we'd past that challenge we came to the worlds worst path along the riverside.  The grass was waist high and very tussocky so every time we lifted our feet we didn't know whether we were going to slip, trip or fall into bog.

I've developed a new found empathy with toddlers recently.  I can only assume the last time I had such trouble staying upright was when I was learning to walk, with the possible exception of a weekend or two when I was a student.  It's so frustrating slipping and stumbling and generally working every muscle to keep yourself standing that I want to (and have) screamed frequently! 

Day 15-19

Day 15 has been by far the toughest. We had 3 munros to climb, Meall a' Bhuiridh, Stob a' Coire Odhair and Stob Gabhar; although it wasn't the most height accumulation or mileage for the day the terrain on the ridge was hideous.  It was all very rocky and being very damp didn't help; I found my trainers slipping every time I put my foot down and my feet consequently bashed into other rocks, my ankles twisted and I pulled other muscles trying to avoid falling.  

The weather was driech and we weren't out of the clag at all.  This was mentally exhausting as we were constantly taking bearings and checking distances. The constant clambering over boulders and  tramping over scree sapped morale. On top of that I was hungry all day which affected my concentration.

It was lucky Richard was on the ball with navigation as I made some very stupid mistakes. I was taking bearings and then heading north, instead of the direction of travel line, amongst other things. The most careless thing I did was stare at the GPS and direct us to what I thought was a spot height. Once we were there I looked at the map to see where we needed to go - we should have turned back 600 metres before! 

When we finally started descending down to glencoe ski centre where we were staying that night the going remained tough. Towards the bottom of the hill I fell again and I snapped. I stood up, jumped up and down on the offending rock and swore incessantly. Nothing happened, the rock stayed still, the cloud remained low and Richard pointed to the ski centre where there was cake.

Cake usually fixes everything, especially with a coffee but this was a desperate situation. Cake was followed up with a baked potato and then a burger and chips and washed down with beer. Finally things looked more positive!  We went through our hill list of the day and discovered that the spot height we had inadvertently taken in was actually another Munro, Creise! 

We began the following short day with a fry up and trotted along a flattish path to the Moor of Rannoch Hotel. Even the weather wasn't so cruel today, it's always so changeable that I've become very efficient at taking my waterproof on and off without removing my bag.

There was a short, boggy section during which I had quite a spectacular fall. I knew it must have looked impressive because Richard didn't get his camera out and asked if I was ok! Although I landed on my head I had planted my face firmly in some very soft mud so was fine to trot onwards.

When we arrived at the hotel around midday we had the best greeting we could hope for: 'come in, don't worry about the mud. Shall I get you tea or coffee? Do you have any washing?'  We were shown to luxury rooms and then were able to spend time lounging on the sofas. Sofas! I didn't know how much I missed a sofa, it was such a treat to lounge around with my feet up!

The rest of the day was spent eating gourmet food, playing games, having a bath and generally relaxing. It was just what I needed.

It was such a rench leaving the hotel the following morning, especially knowing we were headed for a wild camp.  

We climbed 4 munros and they were much easier going than most that we have done but it was a big day. It took nearly 9 hours and as a sign of how tired I was, I slept for 9 solid hours on a less than satisfactory mat! 

The following morning was easier than going into Rannoch and only took a couple of hours. My Aunt and Uncle were there to meet us and cooked a multi course breakfast in their campervan. 

Richard headed off after this for a short taper before his race on Saturday. It's been brilliant having his company and I'm very grateful to him for helping keep me on track for almost 10 days.

I had a very relaxing afternoon though was slightly distressed to see hill tops and sunshine and not to be out utilising the good weather. Of course it wasn't to last. Kirsty, who is joining me for 2 days arrived in the evening with the forecast for the next couple of days and it was grim...

Days 9-14

Day 9 was the first day that Stuart and I went our own ways.  It was also the 1st Munro of the journey and I was lucky enough to have Richard Bannister with me.  

The navigation should be a bit more straightforward from here onwards, in many respects. Having done a lot of compass work in preparation for the trip it hadn't really come in useful whilst we'd been running on roads or through forests.  I was looking forward to setting a bearing and trying to stick to it.  

We've had a relatively gentle start since Peel Fell; although the borders had a lot of climbing within them, most days were shorter than 15 miles.  By the time we were running through the central belt on roads we had a far greater mileage but there wasn't so much climbing.  From this point onwards there is both.  

Stuart and I had reccied the first part of day 9 so I knew what to expect.  Having run along the side of Loch Lomond on the West Highland Way numerous times and felt it was tough with all the undulations, I can confirm, going a little further east onto the watershed is substantially worse! 

The ground here is incredibly boggy and tussocky as well as the hills being very rolling and indistinct.  This makes it hard to gauge progress although that's maybe good as it's incredibly slow through the terrain.  

I've been trying to keep a daily tab on how many times I fall over but Richard and I lost count between us and felt we had to re-define a fall so we could keep track; A fall includes hands as well as knees on the ground.  And we still lost count...

On the plus side the weather was beautiful.  Apart from a couple of heavy showers we had great views. Ben Lomond took far longer an expected to appear but it finally did so, revealing a snake of people up the path.  After hours of only Richard for company it felt almost city like!

What looked on the map like an easy finish to the day was interrupted by an innocuous looking kilometre under some power lines, leading to the road.  This was an awful tramp through particularly lumpy heather and managed to put a dampner on the day.  

The following day was considerably tougher with 4 Munros; Ben Chabair, An Caisteal, Beinn a' Chroin and Cruach Ardrain.  Stuart Chalmers joined us for the day and to make it a bit tougher for himself he ran to the Inversnaid bunkhouse, where we stayed, from Bein Glas farm!

We were in cloud for most of the day so had to keep a close eye on the GPS and maps.  It was really nice to share the navigation and discuss route options - should we stick to the path or avoid extra descent by cross-countrying it a bit?  The paths always led us astray, despite being so enjoyable to run on.

Occasionally the cloud lifted and we could see where we were heading but it was mentally exhausting getting round this loop.  It was the biggest climbing day of the trip so far with between 2000 and 3000 metres of climbing, depending who's watch you believe! 

Day 12 has perhaps my favourite day to date.  Although the first 5 miles were through difficult terrain the midges kept us going and we got to the Munros quickly.  

This day we had Beinn Dubhcraig, Ben Oss and Ben Lui.  From the top of the first Munro the cloud thinned out so that we could see our route spread out in front of us.  For the rest of the day the cloud swirled lightly around us and we had plenty of blue sky and sunshine which was very energising.  

I've had to turn away from Ben Lui a couple of times in the past because of the weather; it has a very exposed descent and would have been precarious without good visibility.  In the conditions we had however, it was stunning.  

It was only when I got to a shower I remembered the midges from earlier.  My skin was like a midge graveyard and a crowd of them had managed to work into the seams of my clothes and nibble little lines around my limbs! 

Over the weekend we had more company.  Angela, Ruth and Lorna came to join us.  Angela didn't fancy running with us but it was lovely to have her company in the evenings.  

We had another stunning day (apart from the hail!) and it was remarkably easy going over Beinn Achaladair and Beinn A' Chreachinn.  The descent was the only point I felt Ruth and Lorna got a real sense of the watershed, running over bog and bracken.  We also had to make a big river crossing to get to the support van and Ruth managed to fall in, much to our amusement.  It was such a tricky descent that I lost count of our falls again but I'm pretty sure that Ruth won.

Lorna was kind enough to bring her massage couch with her and gave me a great massage at the end of the day.  Just what I needed.

It was just Ruth and I running on Sunday. Richard had originally planned to do 4 days of the watershed challenge.  I'm not sure if it was my company or the lure of the Watershed but he decided to come back for another 4 days and used Sunday to go back home and collect more kit.  

It was a very easy day and a great chance for me to get my head around the logistics for the next few days which will be unsupported.  These last few days have been what I hoped for from their journey - a brilliant mix of climbing and terrain.  It's never been too much of one thing, though I'm ready to get onto a new map sheet after being in the same one for 3 days now!  Navigation has been pretty successful which is encouraging.

It's not the greatest selection of photos I'm afraid, I've had real trouble doing this at all and Tom has had to help from home, without access to my photos! Just downloaded the blogger app so things may improve now.

Days 6-8

Days 6-8 of the watershed goes through the central belt. This creates a problem if we were to stick exactly to the route as there are farms, houses and Cumbernauld in the way! The route we took instead 'follows' the watershed but sticks to nearby roads. This meant we were able to cover bigger miles and the going was a lot easier.

Having been on such remote terrain it was strange to be so close to civilisation all the time. The biggest positive about this is there were very few midges due to the pollution! 

The best bit about heading through the central belt was the opportunity to see friends and family. Emily and Emma as well as Stuart's wife Linda came to join our support crew of Amanda and Brian and this was a real boost. We even stayed in our respective homes for a few nights which was great recuperation and an opportunity to do some washing. 

I enjoyed running through 2 OS maps, It made me felt we were making great progress. At this stage we headed north where as a lot of the first 5 days we were heading west. Luckily this didn't feel too indirect at the time as we focused on such small sections at a time but when you look at the whole picture, we hadn't moved towards Duncansby Head much!

However, it wasn't all easy. We had various sections which were very recognisable as the watershed; on day 6 we crossed the southern part of the Pentlands. Somehow, being central and a popular walking area I expected this to be straightforward but it's evidently not a popular area. There were very few paths and particularly unpleasant tussocky heather and bracken to trip us up.

As we passed through Kilsyth we had a big entourage cheering us through so we stopped for coffee and cake with my mum, nephew, Amanda, Brian, Linda and Maisie from Funding Neuro.

We experienced our worst weather at this point, not only was the rain belting down but it was very windy and both Stuart and I were cold and demoralised by the time we were collected.

Having run for a week together Stuart and I were realising that we weren't very compatible as running partners and a few nights at home allowed Stuart to make the decision to do his own thing. 

I will continue running the watershed and I aim to stick to our original plan as much as I can. 

We've finished section 1 already! It might not have been a week yet but the 'Revier March' as Peter Wright refers to it, extends from the borders to the central belt. It feels like the end of a section for me anyway, partly as we've done a very hilly chunk in the borders and now for the next few days we're farm dodging along roads with far less climbing so will be a different type of toughness. The last thing that changes for this section is our support driver. Tom has been with us for the first week but now he's off home and I expect that will make the next few weeks a little harder.

This has been such a long anticipated trip and so thoroughly thought through I hadn't really had any time to think through how I might feel on the trip. Would it be exhausting? Will the sun shine at all? Will we navigate successfully? Needless to say it's a big mix of the above and best of all it's been really enjoyable so far. 

The terrain has been far better than I had dared hope and has been largely runnable. The 1st 3 days crossed forests which I was dreading as we knew there had been substantial changes in the area. Although I'd reccied the 1st section with Emily earlier in the year, a crucial turning had disappeared and meant we spent a long and anxious time wading through felled trees with precarious branches sticking up and mud baths in between, it was a soul destroying 40 minutes covering very little ground and combined with the continuous rain we saw throughout the day was very demoralising.

The plus side of the first day was that there were 2 access points for us to be cheered on at and I was grateful to see the van so I could put on new trainers - within half a day I managed to destroy a relatively new pair.
We ended up being out for around 10 hours which was far longer than expected and fairly dispiriting. It was around 3 miles longer than planned and although not necessarily harder than anticipated, we definitely saw it at its worse. 

Day 2 was a slightly cheerier start and was much shorter than the first day. We had a lot more forest to contend with though and within the 1st couple of hours it burst our bubble of hope for an easier day. We had to use Stuart's gps as we needed the 1:250000 detail to decipher little forest breaks where we could get in to the forest and try and navigate through. It was a difficult approach to the forest through very tussocky ground, covered in heather and we both managed a few falls. 

It was no relief to get into the forest as Stuart's GPS started misbehaving and the breaks weren't as clear or as simple as they appeared on the map. 

Over this section we couldn't follow the true watershed too closely as it's impossible to cut through the forest unless on the paths or breaks. Since we weren't on the watershed anyway I suggested deviating from the planned route and cutting into very clear paths. 

I think Stuart may have come up with numerous ways to kill me as we clambered over rotting wood, slipping and sliding, ducked under branches and generally tumbled through forest for quarter of an hour. Luckily for me it paid off and we found ourselves on a very easy fire track. The sun burst trough in celebration and we were toasted throughout the afternoon. 

The fire track wasn't too direct but saved us a lot of time and we ran straight to our accomodation at the Samye Ling Buddhist centre. The grounds are lovely but I was quite keen to rest my legs so didn't explore too thoroughly.

Day 3 was the last day with any forest and it started promisingly in the sunshine. Tom ran the first few kilometres with us which was particularly good as he found the bridge that both Stuart and I were searching for at different points of the river.

After that navigation was straightforward and the paths were the same as printed on the map which made for an easy morning. There was a slightly dicey moment where tree felling was happening right on the path that we had to cross and it really is the most terrifying machine that can slice straight though an entire tree without problem. We were enough of a novelty for the workers to stop and chat rather than reprimand us.

There were some more overly exciting trail breaking before we finally left the forest behind and got onto an open ridge. Originally we'd planned to leave out some of these smaller peaks as it seemed prudent to save our legs a little at this stage. However, it didn't take long to realise that the ridge was much easier on our ankles and there was a very fine dry stone wall to keep us on track. 

A lot of the watershed coincides with historic borders which are still marked with fences or walls and this helps navigation a lot. Pleasingly there had obviously been a quad bike in the area which had also followed the watershed, this made the going even easier for us. Curiously the quad bike trails jumped from one side of the wall to the other numerous times along the way, I can only assume that quad bikes fly in the borders.

On Thursday we were similarly rewarded with an easy to navigate ridge and largely manageable underfoot. To get us from our starting point onto the ridge we followed a decent path up beside the grey mares tail falls. This provided us with stunning scenery and was easy going, apart from the climbing of course, until we reached loch Skeen where we had some classic watershed bog to wade through.
Despite a lot of climbing during the day the weather turned out far better than expected, it was a pleasingly straightforward day and morale was high. Wildlife was scarce but for the 1st time since we started we saw other people! 5 in total, it almost felt like we were missing the true watershed experience with human contact like this. 

The final day of the Reiver March had an awful weather forecast. Heavy rain and high winds were not appealling. The start of the day also involved more modified forests with a windmill farm for added confusion. We had the most dreich first couple of hours, improved only by the fact that we followed a decent path which coincided with what was on the maps. 

I think we got a little cocky with this however and stuck to the path longer than we should have. By the time we realised this we were on the wrong side of a small valley and it was hard work correcting our mistake. If there's one thing I've learnt this week, it's not to trust paths. The sad truth is, on an adventure like the watershed, they're very unlikely to lead you to where you plan on going. Although this isn't true of the ridges, through forest and field we've been led astray too many times this week! 

After this minor correction we followed tractor trails for the next few little peaks. I kept a close eye on the GPS and took careful bearings and we had a very successful afternoon. The weather improved substantially and we didn't have to wear waterproofs all day long! We finished in a shorter time than expected and in high spirits as a result.
During our first five days we've accumulated 94.8 miles and climbed 5094 metres. Despite falling numerous times the watershed has so far been more enjoyable and manageable than I imagined. Even in the rain it's been mostly lovely and we've not been too hounded by midges yet. Let's hope it carries on as well as this.