GK Runderings

Trains, blisters and rainbows Distance: 56.14km (total so far 1415.26km) Total climb: 548m (total so far 25,564m) Steps: 64,774 (total so far 1,742,546) Also: Number of railway stations: 2 Number of trains per day at those railway stations: probably not much more than 1 Number of functioning toes: 9 We were aware that we were coming towards the end of our adventure, but didn't have much time to think about it. As far as today was concerned, it was another early start, and another long day. We were really in the wilds of Scotland now, and this was probably the emptiest day of them all. The first village we encountered was late in the afternoon, and before then all we had was the occasional individual house. The first part of the route was back onto the road - a very unused single-track road once again labelled as an A road. We had Loch an Ruathair on our left, but I was feeling a bit over-loched by now, and didn't give it too much attention. One thing that was a constant presenc...

The Bog Day! Distance: 61.46km (total so far 1415.26km) Total climb: 544m (total so far 25,016m) Steps: 71,318 (total so far 1,677,772) Also: Number of shoe changes: 2 Number of times taped feet: 2 Number of times fell over: 1 We'd been warned about today - today was the bog day. From previous experience of Rat Race events, I rather assumed that Scotland was all bog once you got north of Glasgow, but actually we'd had very little on our route so far - some small patches on Exmoor and the Lakes, but nothing in Scotland itself. Apparently, today was going to correct that. It was exactly what we needed in the middle of another 60km day! And anyone whose read the account of my trip through the Outer Hebrides will be very aware that bogs are not one of my favourite things. However, the first stage was to get that far. The first 21km of the day were road, heading north out of Lairg initially alongside Loch Shin and then further inland. It wasn't the most interesting bit of road, ...

The lonely glen Distance: 61.29km (total so far 1353.8km) Total climb: 678m (total so far 24,472m) Steps: 67,265 (total so far 1,606,454) Our first job was to return to the layby in the middle of nowhere where we had finished the previous day - a still slightly surreal place to start the day. We were given several pieces of information to set off with, none of them particularly reassuring. The first was that this was another 60km day - the first of two in this week. The second was that due to the total lack of roads in this part of the Highlands, we would need to complete 22km before the first ("elevenses") feedstation. And the final gem, which our leaders only found out about the previous evening, showed once again that the road system across the rest of the country which we take for granted simply doesn't exist up here in the Highlands. The road that led from Lairg where we finished to the location of our accommodation that night was closing at 7pm for all-night resurfa...

A distillery and the NC500 Distance: 51.2km (total so far 1292.51km) Total climb: 847m (total so far 23,794m) Steps: 57,378 (total so far 1,538,189) Also: Number of distilleries passed: 1 Number of drams drunk: 0 Today was on paper one of the shorter days this week - the only shorter one was the final one. However, it was still a solid 50km to get through. We'd definitely left the tourist regions behind by now, with one exception of which more later. Our path was through managed estates, forestry tracks and a fair amount of road, heading generally north. The first landmark we approached was Beaufort Castle - and I don't have a photo, as we were shouted at as we went past and told to get off the private ground. I thought nipping through the gate to get a photo might collect me a more robust Scottish welcome, so I passed and kept going. This part of the day was paths through managed estates, with a little road.  Once across the river Beauly we were climbing steadily, but the heig...

Not really the beginning of the end Distance: 55.51km (total so far 1241.31km) Total climb: 1660m (total so far 22,947m) Steps: 65,608 (total so far 1,481,811) Also: Number of lochs: 1 Number of monsters seen: 34 (including stuffed ones) Number of Shinty clubs visited: 2 The first day of the last week. When we got the 6 routes for this week, there was some hope that things would be getting shorter as we approached John O'Groats - and then we saw that wasn't going to happen. Still some long days to come. At least the weather in Fort Augustus had improved - we were back to short sleeves and shorts, which was a great improvement on our arrival! Today's route was mostly continuing along the Great Glen Way, until we diverted northward off that towards the end. Most of the day was spent alongside Loch Ness. When I say alongside, there was definitely a third dimension involved - the phrase "high above" might be more accurate. We had three big climbs up from the shores ...