| News From Ron Wild (The Haggis Hunter) |
| This is my 10th newsletter in just over 2 years since leaving Barlborough in 2007 and it will probably be the last. I in that time I’ve ran all the local races and given you all an insight into their merits. The beautiful scenery is obviously one of the main attractions with a diversity of landscapes ranging from races that start on the beach on the Moray Firth to the forest and mountain trails of the Aviemore half marathon. When you couple that with the friendly nature of the people, the availability of sandwiches and cakes at the end of many of the races make for a very enjoyable experience. One of the downsides however is the distances required to travel to some of the races. For instance, the first two of this season’s X-country races would have meant clocking up 550 miles and almost eight hours of travel, equivalent to travelling from Clowne to Dover and back! Some things don’t change no matter where you are, one familiar aspect of my time down in Northeast Derbyshire were the committee squabbles of the four competing teams in the X-country league, well they can be found up here too. The first race of the season clashed with the Loch Ness Marathon and 10k, automatically ruling out some of the best runners from some of the teams. Coincidence, bad planning? I don’t think so. One race that had previously been dogged with bad weather for the last few years was run this year on one of the hottest days of the summer. The Portsoy10k, aka ‘Follow the Herring’ is a very attractive race which finishes in the harbour at Portsoy amid the International boat festival, a well attended event, sometimes frequented by Royalty. The harbour is completely filled with stalls and sideshows over two days with several pubs doing a roaring trade. The village is also famous for its homemade ice cream, which probably ran out on such a hot day. Another race which I ran for the first time this year was the Speyside 10, starting at the town of Abourlour it is a five mile out and back course alongside the River Spey and through the one of the spiritual homes of Malt Whiskey, Craigellachie, part of the Malt Whiskey trail. With Keith and District running club being quite small with only a few of the runners actually living in Keith I thought it would be a good idea to get the club to socialise a bit more. So every month over the autumn and winter months I am organising a ‘breakfast run’ from our house. So far we have had two runs, with between five and seven people attending. Both runs have been blessed with excellent weather and it gives the members a change of scenery for the winter months. The star of the show though has been Susan’s cooking and baking. Bacon rolls and kedgeree followed by chocolate and raspberry muffins have stolen the show with one guy just turning up for breakfast even though he did not go for a run with us. I know it sounds like something Dave Keeling might do but Julie can rest assured it was not him, not this time at least. Good Luck with your half marathon. Ron |