Adventures Up North

My planned weekend destination

I decided to make the most of a request to work in the far North of Scotland again by going for a fortnight and spending the middle weekend being a tourist. My plan was initially to take my bicycle over to Orkney but the weather forecast curtailed this plan. In fact, the weather significantly altered the whole weekend. 

I arrived into Kirkwall in the darkness of Friday night and spent a good part of the night listening to the wind howl and the rain pour down. Unfortunately (for me) I'd volunteered to help out at parkrun in the morning, so I was forced to don rainjacket and get myself down there. The weather kept so many people away (there were even white caps on the tiny boating pond) that I was actually able to run as well as volunteer afterwards (it was one way of keeping warm I guess), and it also meant that the celebratory cakes (someone's 50th run) were shared amongst a rather small number of us hardy people.

Whilst there, I received a phone call from the ferry company to say that they were cancelling all ferries that evening and the next day, as it was predicted that the weather would only deteriorate, and so my only option of returning to the mainland at all was early that afternoon......still, I guess it means I am still keen to revisit the island to actually see something of it!

Safely back in Wick that night, the North Highland Harriers (NHH) came to my rescue for something to do on the Sunday. They were staging the Caithness half marathon (starting halfway between Wick and Thurso) which was doubling up as the North of Scotland half marathon championships. The championship status of the event meant that I could just mosey round and enjoy myself without any pressure to chase some of the speedsters going for regional titles.

The Caithness Half Marathon route

The weather on Sunday didn't seem nearly as bad as predicted.....yes it was windy, but the rain had stopped.....and the seemed to be quite a buzz around registration. We were then all walked across the main road to the start (up a side road......though this was actually slightly delayed as the roads were open so we had to let some cars go by). I didn't really recognise many people in the field, except for a few of the NHH that I'd met at one of their evening runs during the week (but then again, not being from the area, it is rather unlikely that I'd know many people).



A lonely run

On a windswept course

I started near the back of the field and so spent the first mile just getting my legs moving and working my way through the pack, passing several ladies in the process. I spotted a couple of NHH guys away in front but just settled into my own pace, though I confess to getting rather frustrated by one runner in particular. Every time I managed to pass him, he'd then up his pace, sprint past me, cut in and slow down again......as if he was doing a weird kind of fartlek session. After almost falling several times as he did this, I decided to take things into my own hands and put it a slight burst to pass him and get away, but unfortunately this also meant that I pulled away from the two NHH guys I had been reeling in and hoping to run with. 



Another solo section

The first four miles were rather isolated windswept ones, heading mainly uphill out into what seemed like the middle of nowhere, and I wondered exactly what I'd let myself in for. The fifth mile however, turned sharply right out of the headwind and headed downhill back to the main road. I knew that there was a short section where we had to run along the verge of this road and so I was very glad to close up on my friend Kenny and tuck in behind him as we ran along facing the traffic.

Catching up to Kenny

A friendly marshal waved us off onto a minor road and we decided to help each other out, running the next few miles side by side, chatting whenever possible (it wasn't the flattest of courses, but it seemed easier when you had someone to run with). There was a hairpin at about the 7.5 mile mark and I remembered the map at registration showing that we had about 4 miles to run straight along this road heading back towards the start, and hence we then had the benefit of a tailwind (though the benefit of a tailwind never seems as good as the detriment of a headwind).

Into the final 100m

We each felt like we were flagging in places and although Kenny pushed on and dropped me a couple of times, I managed to get back to him with about half a mile to go. He had previously mentioned that his kids would be waiting for him at the end and that they'd never seen him race......which was a great excuse for me to give up and not even try for a fast finish so that he had a clear run in (the man ahead was long gone.....).

Spoils of the day...swopped for more cake!!

Still, I have to say that I was pretty happy to finish in 3rd place overall about 9 mins clear of the next lady. I was actually quite happy with the weather as it had led to slow times (and I couldn't have run a fast time anyway) and hence the speedsters had stayed away......and the smaller field also meant that there was more of the "all you could eat" cake for me at the finish.....happy days!