The big day! 29 miles of the Southern Upland Way, 10 hours, 1100m ascent
An early start since the event kicked off at 7am. David had stayed overnight in a tent, as had Elaine’s sister. When the rest of us arrived the the Navy contingent were already making breakfast.
St Mary’s Loch was hidden in mist and though the ground was wet it didn’t look like rain.
A great day. We milled about in the crowd at the start receiving the uplifting speech from the organiser and at 7.15 am we were on our way, making such good time that folk were warning us not to go too fast. The runners were supposed to set off at 9am but there were people running past us right from the beginning.
When we got to the top of the first minor hill, a shoulder of Hawkshaw rig, there were a couple of soldiers recovering by having a cigarette. I had thought that the army groups taking part would stick together but we often passed guys on their own, presumably left behind because of being too slow?
By now of course I was forewarned that Traquair was not at the bottom of the hill so I arrived in good fettle to find our support team, have a sandwich and change socks. We had quite a long rest and by the time we were away again I think we were fully recovered.
At the three Brethren we met a film crew who interviewed Joanna. The walk was going swimmingly well as far as Gala after which we were walking a route we had not tried before. The organisers decided to use psychological warfare against us during the final 5 miles.
We passed a chap who smiled, waved, congratulated us and said we had just 5 miles to go. Fifteen minutes later another said exactly the same thing. We walked past a sign saying Melrose 2 miles and 10 minutes later another saying the same.
By the time we finished, I was finished, unable to do anything more. A great achievement. I had worried that I would not be able to complete the challenge in 12 hours but managed with plenty of time to spare.
