Aly's Story - Ponderings From My Journey

Just like our run my overview needs a start and that start has to be Malcolm, for without him there would be no tale to reflect upon. I am fortunate to have a friend whose vision in all things running matches mine, there is no divide - we love to plan and we then love to run our plan!

The planning and procrastinating was such fun, evenings spent with maps and trail guides, measuring daily distances (accurate to within 10 miles!) booking 49 nights accommodation - quite a challenge even before we set off.

Our journey has been memorable, the sights and places, the wildlife, the flowers, the wonderful natural phenomena - Couldron Snout, High Cup Nick, High Force, the valleys and mountains, the website sky, the Spring moving with us up the country, the gale force wind on Cross Fell, the Cheviot Hills, Dunrobin Castle, fording the estuary on Sinclairs Bay; all have added up to an experience I will cherish forever.

Laughter has always played a big part in each day, we have had fun - even when Malcolm became stuck in a bog on the Cheviot Hills and then shortly afterwards got an electric shock - boy did we giggle, well one of us did!

The people we have met along the way, to name but a few; Clive - the Ashby 20 guy we met at Porthleven, Jude and Dave -the cyclists from the Wirral who we met in Lower Slaughter and again at Chipping Campden (on both occasions we were sitting down - honest we did run!), Carolyn and Mike - who we met at the end of a tough days run in Yorkshire, Carolyn becoming our Fairy Godmother near her home at Drumnadrochit! You were all the very nucleus around which our trip took shape and turned out to provide some of my warmest memories - thank you all.

To my friends and family that have always been there, I can only thank you and say my success was down to you.

Thank you's also to all who have kindly given to our chosen charities, Marie Curie and Macmillan nurses.

To Jessica and Matt whose devotion knows no bounds - few would happily have stayed in a matchbox in Tyndrum with us and appeared to enjoy the experience. Also to Jessica for her PR skills which are second to none!

Charles, I love your clouds.

To Barbara, a remarkable friend who has always inspired me, a lady whose kindness is boundless.

To 'Miss' Joanne and Dave - friends in a million.

To Gary and Mary, for their unflappable support and raising the bar in the catering competition!

To new friends Gill and Bernard, who took me under their wing.

To Pam and Frank - who made Uttoxeter to Youlgreave a day to remember rather than to forget.

To Chris and Justyna, it was a pleasure to meet you and we loved the Toblerones.

To Linda, Barbara and Harry - what a great conclusion to our trip.

To Chris, whose devotion never ceases to amaze me, whose belief in me is unwavering. Thank you for never doubting me and being selfless in helping me to achieve my goal.

To the many who appeared throughout our trip to support us or run with us. You all helped to make my dream come true - a million thanks to you all.

Much love, Aly xx

Malcolm’s Reflections.

So we did it – phew! Before we started my big fear was injury or illness meaning we had to abort without finishing which would have been soul destroying, and considering the pounding our legs took over 7 weeks without a day off, it’s a minor miracle that neither of us did suffer any serious injury. We ran on some very difficult surfaces, from rocky paths to bogs, from boulder scrambling to river wading and we went up and down some very steep inclines (down being much harder on the knees etc than ups). The back problem at Lands End car park was an horrendous scare, but after that I got away with only some sore and blistered toes.

So, been there, done it, got the tee-shirt (courtesy of Chris, who presented us with commemorative tee-shirts he had got printed). The signpost at John O’Groats says 874 miles to Lands End, so our 1204 miles clearly wasn’t the most direct route. But for anyone wanting to experience the incredible beauty and the wonderful variety of beauty of this island then I honestly believe our route couldn’t have been surpassed. Spring is far and away my favourite season, when everywhere looks at its best and we had primroses, bluebells, brilliant yellow gorse and soft green beech leaves with us from start to finish.

I think my favourite area was the Cheviots in the Scottish Borders – an area I had only ever passed through by car. The Cheviots are uncomfortably boggy underfoot, but the stunningly beautiful views from the hilltops make the difficulty of access an irrelevance. An early return to the Borders is a must. But there were so many other fabulous places en route – Malham Cove, High Cup Nick, Couldron Snout, High Force, Loch Lomond, etc, etc, that it seems churlish to select a favourite. We loved all of it from start to finish (well there were perhaps a few boring bits but I’ve blotted them from my memory). It was a long time to be away and I was ready to come home at the end, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It was a fantastic experience.

And finally some thanks:

To everyone who has donated to our charities;

To Charles for the website;

To everyone who ran bits with us, everyone who came to visit us en route, and everyone who has taken an interest via the website.;

To Carolyn from Drumnadrochit for her totally unexpected kindness;

To Hilary for the bunting;

To Gareth and Judith, my partners at Atkins Bassett, for letting me go and Trish and Shelley for covering my work for 7 weeks;

To Katie for being proud of me and for making me feel proud;

To our wonderful back-up supporters; Jess and Matt; Jo and Dave; Barbara; Gill and Bernard; Gary and Mary; Chris Brassington; Pam and Frank;

To Chris Wren for his fantastic support, encouragement, assistance and inordinate patience from the very inception of this idea, throughout the months of planning and during the trip itself.;

And to Aly for putting up with me for 7 weeks; for waiting for me (mostly); for sharing with me an unforgettable adventure and for being such a good friend.

Final Day 49 - Thursday 28th May

Keiss to John O'Groats - Turned out to be only 9 miles to John O'Groats - now that's a more sensible distance to run. Sprint finish (naturally) and arrived there at 10.15am! Done it - 1204 miles. Back to work then!

Day 48, Wednesday 27th May 2009

Lybster to Keiss
Only 21 miles today, most of it again on the A99 but with the last 3 miles along the beach at Sinclairs Bay. The first 1.5 miles along the beach was fantastic - perfect sand, no stones, no seaweed, no people. However, we then reached a fairly big river crossing the beach and were unsure how deep it was. As it looked fairly deep and fast-flowing and as it seemed a shame for either of us to be drowned with less than 20 miles to go to John O'Groats, we sent Linda in first. When she got to waist level we started to worry, but she made it across and we followed her route (we knew there was a reason why we let her join us). Greeted at the end by Kev and Louise, who had run the first few miles with us at Lands End and had driven up to run the last few miles with us to John O'Groats - blinking glory-hunters!

Day 47 - Tuesday 26th May

Helmsdale to Lybster - 24 miles.

All our route today was along the A9 and the A99 - not really our thing. There were however several redeeming features, namely sunshine, no wind, hardly any traffic and panoramic views over the almost becalmed North sea.

Given that there wasn't anything else to do but keep running, we finished nice and early and went for a refreshing swim in the sea at Lybster harbour. It was most invigorating (which in gaelic is "blea din frea sin"). Only 35 miles to go - looks like we might make it!

Day 46 - Monday 25th May

Dornoch to Helmsdale - 29 miles
Despite a lack of sunshine, an excellent day. Chris drove us back from Dornoch to Skelbo where we had finished yesterday afternoon. Lo and behold the tide was out and there at our exact starting point were 48 grey seals on a sandbank, overseen by a heron. Our route followed the main A9 road which we had to run along for short spells, but mainly we were able to avoid it by a combination of coastal footpaths, tiny roads and several miles along deserted sandy beaches - brilliant. Went past this stunning fairytale castle straight out of Disneyland called Dunrobin.

We saw a number of what Aly thought were common cormorants (or shags) but Malcolm was unable to verify what they were as he could not remember what a common cormorant was like.

Day 45 - Sunday 24th May

Alness to Dornoch - 28 miles
Nice bright morning with all road running but on pleasant country lanes. Reached Tain after 12 miles, where we met up with Linda, Barbara and Harry, and soon afterwards were also joined by Chris who had driven up to join us for the rest of the trip.
Linda ran with us to Dornoch, a delightful small seaside town with a cathedral, a world renowned golf course and beautiful sands. As is our wont we immediately went into the sea for a paddle (Harry went in after us and promptly fell in headfirst but came up smiling!). Although we were staying in Dornoch we had another 5 miles to go to try and equalize the daily distances, and this took us along the coast to a spot called Skelbo on an inlet where there was a possibility of seeing grey seals. Unfortunately the tide was in and there were no seals to be seen.
Went past 1117 miles which was what we originally estimated to be our total distance, but unfortunately we still have 4 days to go. We did however see our first sign for John O'Groats - 85 miles!!!

Day 44 - Saturday 23rd May 2009

Beauly to Alness - 28.5 miles

Left Beauly's pretty lanes and views over to the estuary as we climbed, rucksacks making their prescence known immediately! What appeared to be a short woodland trek on our map ended up as a gorse and fir tree endurance test. Trek path eventually discovered and made our way through. A local lady said the trek had not been used for years and was amazed we had managed to navigate our way through - "that's end to end explorers for you!"

The day felt tough and long with our sacks; the climb close to Strathpepper, along a ridge gave us glorious views all around and our spirit and energies were revived. (tea and scones in Dingwall helped too!)

Looking forward to Chris, Linda, Barbara (Linda's mum) and Harry joining us tomorrow!

Day 43 - Friday 22nd May

Alltsigh to Beauly,

29 miles today, most of it uphill, or so it seemed (2000 feet ascent). Thought we had to carry all our kit, which would have been very hard work, but Lo! A fairy godmother (called Carolyn) appeared out of the blue. We had met Carolyn very briefly at the end of one of our days in Yorkshire and she had told us that she lived in Drumnadrochit, which was on todays route, and that she would look out for us. Better than that however, she came and collected our bags from Alltsigh and delivered them to Beauly for us. What an angel!

First half of the day was still on the Great Glen way, we left it and headed north on a route we had devised ourselves. This included going through the grounds of Deaufort Castle, which we weren't sure was a public right of way. Sure enough, it wasn't. We had to wade through a river, but we made it and were very pleased with ourselves.

Pretty good weather all day with glorious sunny evening, warmest we've been on whole trip.

Day 42, Thursday 21st May

South Laggan to Alltsigh ( Loch Ness)
Our second day on the Great Glen Way with the last 12 miles along Loch Ness. All our fair- weather supporters have now deserted us so we have to carry all our kit on our backs for the next 4 days. Came across a sheep on the Caledonian Canal which panicked and charged at Aly, catching her on the hand with it's horn - it was a bit like a Scottish version of bullfighting! Staying tonight right on the shore of Loch Ness with fantastic views along the loch in both directions.

Day 41, Wednesday 20th May

Fort William to South Laggan - 24 miles.
A new experience today, breakfast at "Morrisons"! Super route today up the Great Glen towards Inverness. The Great Glen contains 4 lochs ( including Loch Ness) which are linked together by the Caledonian Canal (built by Thomas Telford) which allows fairly large ocean - going boats to get right across Scotland. There are a number of flights of locks on the canal and some swing bridges, one of which Aly was allowed to wind open, to her great delight ( little things...) Wonderful scenery all day, with a mixture of sunshine and the odd shower. Went past 1000 miles in mid-morning - blimey!

Day 40, Tuesday 19th May

Kinlochleven to Fort William.
Hurray! - a rest day! Only 16 miles today after 113 miles in the last 4 days. Jessica and Matt went back to Barwell. Nephew Chris ran 7 miles from Fort William to meet us and then 7 miles back to Fort William with us. Ben Nevis was cloud capped but still looked awesome. Had to decide this afternoon between climbing Ben Nevis or drinking tea in a cafe. It was a close run thing but the cafe just shaded it.

Day 39 - Monday 18th May

Tyndrum to Kinlochleven - 29 miles. (973 in total). Our third day on the West Highland Way, but after being completely shattered yesterday, for some reason we both felt good today and cruised the 29 mile route. The main difference today was that the underfoot conditions were good and we were able to keep running without having to stop to pick our way over boulders. Went through the magnificent but eerie Glen Coe and over the Devil's Staircase.

Malcolm's trainers, nearly new when setting off from Lands End got binned and replaced by sparkling new white ones (the original pair started as white but were seriously brown when they hit the bin.)

Day 38 - Sunday 17th May

Rowardennan to Tyndrum - 27 miles. Beautiful weather yet again, wonderful scenery yet again - this trip is so boring! Lunch was provided by Jessica and Matt, who had to set off from Barwell at 5.30 am to be with us, but to be fair, we're worth it.

Day 37 - Saturday 16th May

Lennoxtown to Rowardennan - Spirits restored after yesterday's depression! Rain forecast for everywhere but naturally we had sunshine. There was one heavy shower at lunchtime but we managed to be in a cafe at the time and so didn't care. Got to Loch Lomond for our last 8 miles, through woods full of bluebells - stunning.

27 miles today, 917 in total (past Hairy McNairy's distance, Ha!)

Day 36 - Friday 15th May

Linlithgow to Lennoxtown - Not a bundle of fun today, 29 miles and all but 4 along canal towpath with little in the way of interest except the Falkirk Wheel, a remarkable piece of engineering enabling canal boats to transfer from the Union Canal to the Forth & Clyde Canal 80 feet below. No rain but overcast and windy all day - a long slog. New supporters joined us today, Malcolm's nephew Chris and girlfriend Justina.

Day 35 - Thursday 14th May

West Linton to Linlithgow - In accordance with the meticulous planning, yet another beautiful sunny day. Set off through the Portland Hills (the last of the Borders Hills), with views across to Edinburgh and Arthur's Seat (next sight of Edinburgh and Arthur's seat will be on Jessica's hen party in July, although I haven't been officially invited yet). Decended into Scotland's industrial heartland between Edinburgh and Glasgow, but contrary to our fears our route protected us from the built-up areas by way of 5 miles of country park and 12 miles on the Union Canal, including an elevated section over a viaduct, (see picture) quite wierd in a way.

28.5 miles altogether, a longer day than for some time, but relatively easy going. Jo & Dave who have been supporting us valiantly for the last week have to go home tomorrow. Oh my God, who's going to brew up and supply sandwiches for us now?

Day 34 - Wednesday 13th May

Traquair to West Linton - Woke up to a beautiful bright and frosty morning. Set off in good time to say hello to the "Bear Gates" at Traquair House and stunning tree lined view of the House and friendly Bears! The weather really made today, visibility could not have been better and everything appeared bright and fresh (including Malcolm and I). Peebles was a lovely Borders town and an encounter with a town optician (to replace Malcolms favourite glasses case) was nice too. He didn't have a case but gave Malcolm new glasses for no charge - "I think you're mad, have them and sod off" he said to us. Thank you, eccentric a tad, but kind too.

Jo and Dave met us and provided a lovely lunch enjoyed on the grass

Day 33 - Tuesday 12th May

Melrose to Traquair - Another lovely day, this time heading West along part of the Southern Upland Way. Again a riverside start along the Tweed, followed by a 2 mile climb to a hill called The Three Brethren, with fabulous views in every direction - a full 360 degree panorama of stunningly beautiful hills, valleys, woods and forests.The Southern Upland Way was an excellent path, firm underfoot and not a bog to be seen (or fallen into). We saw a deer and a pair of red coated hares and we thoroughly enjoyed our third day in Scotland and passed the 800 mile point, two thirds of the way.

Since starting our epic journey we seem to have kept pace with Spring. In Cornwall we had bluebells in the woods, 2 weeks later in the Midlands we had them again and today, nearly 5 weeks on, we ran through a wonderful wood full of bluebells and have effectively extended Spring by moving north at the same rate as the seasons.

Day 32 - Monday 11th May

Jedburgh to Melrose - We like it in Scotland, not only is it beautiful but it's warm and sunny. Our route today followed part of St Cuthberts Way, a super long distance path from Lindisfarne to the Scottish Borders. We started along the banks of the River Tweed, famous for its salmon fishing and finished with the climb over the Eildon Hills before descending into Melrose, where we had our first ice creams since Porthleven in Cornwall - God, that seems a long time ago!

Had a great evening meal cooked for us by Kate & Pete, friends of Jo & Dave, (not Messrs Price & Andre!) who live near Melrose. Picture shows us in delightful mixed woodland just out of Jedburgh. MPB