Snowy Ben Lomond

29th December 2005
A small elite field gathered at Rowardennan on Thursday morning for a festive potter up Ben Lomond. Blair and Shona were fastest on the day, quickly vanishing into the mist. Next were Trevor, Donald and myself, followed by Fraser and Matilda. Quite icy on the path lower down, but nice crisp runnable snow on the summit ridge, with swirling clouds and atmospheric glimpses of Loch Lomond.

Ayr Turkey Trot 10k

26th December 2005
Results
Fairly cold grey day in Ayr, but calm windless conditions. Not bad for running. I've had a chest infection for over a week now, so I just watched and took a few photos. The race was won by Stephen Wylie of Girvan in 32:03. First lady was Lesley Chisholm of Springburn in 36:04.

Ben Lomond by Moonlight

16th December 2005
Went for a run up Ben Lomond last night with Luke and Sam (black lurcher). Set off at 6.45pm. Mild enough to start with through the forest from Rowardennan, but got pretty cold and icy higher up. Only took one crashing fall, tripping on the summit ridge path. Came back down the Ptarmigan Ridge. Felt quite exciting in the dark. No headtorches required, but tricky underfoot on the descent.

Simonside Cairns

11th December 2005
Rothbury, Northumberland
11 miles / 1900ft
Results
My 92nd race of the year, taking me past the 1000-mile mark for racing in 2005.
Races have ranged from Weston-super-Mare prom run in deepest darkest Somerset to Glamaig boulder and bog thrash in the wilds of Skye (where I got beaten by Steffen). Overseas ventures have included the Spelga Skyline horror show in Northern Ireland, Manx Mountain Marathon on Isle of Man, Defi de l'Oisans in France, Slovenian Alpine Marathon, and last but not least the mind-blowing (in more ways than one) Everest Lafuma Sky Race in Nepal.
Sunday in Northumberland proved bright and sunny, but with a tiring blustery headwind for first half.
The race was won by Nick Swinburn (NFR), closely followed by Tim Wylie (Tynedale). I finished in 1:28:38, a full 5 minutes off my PB for the course. Angela Mudge set a new ladies' course record of 1:24:19.

West District Cross Country

10th December 2005
Irvine, Ayrshire
Results
Mild, dry conditions, but quite windy. Pretty fast flat course at Towns Moor, Irvine