last weekend saw 5* completions of the charlie ramsay round. yes, that's right 5! i was lucky enough to be up there supporting simon on his second leg. just the two of us running into the sunset. it was a lovely still evening, with only three munros, a river crossing and a soggy 10km trail run stuck on the end. i think i was enjoying it more than simon at the time. he'd had a particularly hot run over ben nevis and the grey corries that had left him slightly down on schedule. we consistently made time on the ups but lost it on the downs. as we reached the second support stop simon was talking of a 24.30 schedule.
at 2am i left simon in the capable hands/legs of gareth and they headed up to the mamores whilst i headed back to the campsite. thankfully some of the other runners support had waited for me, otherwise it would have been a lonely 4m trudge back. everything about this round is on a larger scale and asks more of everyone involved. i'm eternally grateful to the other support crews for their help and conversation, especially on that walk.
back at the camp site, grab a few hours sleep, then back to glen nevis to see the first of the runners come in. i'd had a text from gareth about 8am stating that simon was now 40min down. no one was expecting him to come in anytime soon. despite this ant and tracy had gone up to find a way through the forest and pace simon home.
by this point jon and brian (who'd set off with simon on saturday morning) had arrived back, absolutely delighted with their own efforts. fantastic runs from them both made even more special by the appearance of charlie ramsey. then all of a sudden ant comes stroming down the road yelling, "he's gonna make it...". right on cue jess (jon's daughter) begins playing the bagpipes. simon comes into view.....blimin' fantastic! he'd made nearly 20mins on the final up and down!!!
by this point jon and brian (who'd set off with simon on saturday morning) had arrived back, absolutely delighted with their own efforts. fantastic runs from them both made even more special by the appearance of charlie ramsey. then all of a sudden ant comes stroming down the road yelling, "he's gonna make it...". right on cue jess (jon's daughter) begins playing the bagpipes. simon comes into view.....blimin' fantastic! he'd made nearly 20mins on the final up and down!!!
there may have been some tears and we lost gareth for a bit-but that's another story. it was a fantastic weekend in the hills, great to meet some new folk who i'm sure i'll bump into again and some seriously impressive running from 5 men in particular. it's also worth stating that simon, jon and brian have now completed all three rounds**. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that simon's next plans include some winter attempts...
**my account of simon's paddy buckley and some photos from his bob graham
***also, jane had a brilliant saunders with jenn. they were in kirk fell, only 42 teams actually finished, it was a tough course!