Blogging at 20:00 on Saturday 12th October from N 55.24467°, W 02.56105° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:55.24467%2C-02.56105
Quiet camp last night and this morning I actually spotted some of the calling birds. Goldcrests, meadow pipits, chaffinches and coal tits, mainly.
After leaving and whilst en-route to the race venue I found a cafe in Bellingham that did cooked breakfasts. Well... it would have been rude not to.
Next up was a bit of a recce to see what kind of underfoot conditions I'd be faced with. In fairness, this turned out to be more of a bumble with the bins. Siskins in good numbers was the best sighting.
And so to the race. It was a big affair with huge logistics attached, and more marshals and helpers than the entire population of the Channel Islands.
It attracted some big names, too. It's not every day you find yourself next to Steve Cram on the start line: I didn't try to match his run pace.
It went as expected. I was mediocre in the 11K first run, made huge gains on the bike, and then wobbled on utterly shot legs for the 6K run finish.
At the coordinates shown now (pic) where I stayed when I did the Dirty Reiver 65er in April. Enjoying the evening sun in a full-circle kind of way.
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