A night-time run up Wyvis with Neil (pictured). Full moon – the summit ridge bathed in a silvery light. Amazing experience.

A wild day on Wyvis today. Some real navigation work required along the plateau, and spindrift made the return heavy going.

This photo is of Fran and Neil at the halfway boulder on the descent. A bit weather beaten!

I’m the one in the red jacket – it was a bit wet at times and I didn’t want to get cold like I did on the Highland Cross.  Thanks to Bob Baker for this photo, which was taken near the bottom of the path on the descent to the road.

After a summer of fairly good quality training I had high hopes of a fast-ish time this year. In the event I finished in 2:17:04, which although 6 minutes ahead of last years time was a bit slower than I had wanted.  Maybe the weather slowed me a little, but mostly it is just that I can’t get enough oxygen to the muscles for the ascent!  The descent was quite brisk, and I finished stronger than usual – the result of better distance training this year.  I placed 178th out of 480 finishers, which I suppose isn’t bad for a 49-year-old average-ability runner.

I forget so quickly just how brutal this race is - much harder than a marathon, for instance. At least with a marathon you spend the first half of the race feeling fairly comfortable, until the pain sets in later on. But with the Ben Race it is just pain right from the word “go”, with heart rate consistently above 162 throughout, rising to 185 by the finish line, and no opportunity to get into a rhythm at any stage in the race.  The constantly varied terrain makes sure that your legs are trashed by the time you get back down to the easier sections of path and then the road.  The only bit I enjoyed this time was stopping at the end.

So why do I do it?  Hmmm.

A tough day; cold, increasingly wet and windy as the event progressed. This photo was taken at Athnamulloch, after about 2hours of running.  At that point I felt good, although arms were getting cold in the wind/drizzle.
The run was my fastest ever, at 2:59:14. I lost time on the cycle ride, but still managed a PB of 4:39:25 at the finish.

A cold day on Sunday, but a fairly good result despite that.1:37:10 is only a minute slower than my last half marathon three years ago.

Now that is something which you don’t often see in Inverness on a Saturday morning!  Apparently they travel around the villages of Sindh providing some light entertainment in return for food and drink.  We were just lucky to be in the right village on the right day!

Saint Nenuram is a Hindu saint, and I had the opportunity to visit his shrine at the Ashram in Islamkot, Sindh.
Nenuram founded the Ashram, and every day at sunset, anyone who came to the Ashram would be given a free meal – irrespective of who they were. Even though it is some years now since Nenuram’s death, his disciples continue this tradition. They made us very welcome. Some lessons here for those of us who follow Jesus.

The most risky thing about a visit to Pakistan is the roads.  Driving standards generally are poor, and so are the standards of vehicle maintenance.  The general policy is to drive down the middle of the road with fingers at the ready on horn and lights, and then move out of the way of oncoming traffic at the last minute.  Mistakes can be costly, and even if you are careful you are still at the mercy of others. I don’t like the fatalistic approach taken by most locals – in the UK we have had that drummed out of us over the years!

In the meantime, here is a link to a short video which we produced whilst there, introducing the project and something of the desert environment:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT8ZdP3xmoc

And here is a photo of Emmanuel and Manshad – who work for PVDP in Mirpur Khas.  Emmanuel is the one who put the video together – thanks Emmanuel for all your hard work last week!

Emmanuel and Manshad - media gurus

Looking S from Fitful Head to Fair Isle

A cold day on Shetland Mainland, but with 3 hours to kill before the flight back to Inverness, Fran and I decided to run up to Fitful Head and make best use of the time.  A strong wind, but not as violent as on other recent Shetland runs.  And what great views from the top, with the wind at our backs trying to push us towards the cliff edge.  Only 283m high, but in a situation like that the height is pretty irrelevant.  My 50th Marilyn of this year.