Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Virtual Planning
by Russell Turner - 20:26 on 11 April 2024
Today I made a long-delayed recce of my proposed Virtual London Marathon route, which I’d planned on Google Maps. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be a useful exercise.
The scenic Highland route, as I’d expected, was very quiet, with almost as many sheep as cars on a road which, while more downhill than uphill, is very undulating. That might be a challenge. A bigger problem was that my route ended nowhere in particular after 26.2 miles and would be too much of an anticlimax after all the effort.
The view from my start line.
To deal with that, I’ve rerouted the last few miles to finish in the village of Kiltarlity. It means I’ll have to run out and back for the last half mile, because the required distance is slightly short, but the Post Office cafe makes up for that. Although it usually stops serving hot food at 2pm, the management has very decently offered to have soup and bacon butties available until 3.30. That means I can begin the run at 9am – or even 9.30 – to be certain of finishing in time, rather than at 8am to get there before 2pm. I’m hoping for a 5:15-30 finish but it might be a six-hour course. I won’t know until I’ve done it.
The revised route. Let's hope I'm faster than Google's estimated walking time.
For a 9am start, Matchgirl The Chauffeur and I will need to leave The Rural Retreat at 7.45 to cover the 46 slow rural miles to the Loch Affric car park. Hopefully the weather will be kind and it will be worth the effort. With only £180 to go to reach my £1,000 fundraising target, the prospects of success look good.
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© Russell Turner 2008-2024
What an excellent cafe.