The view from the track just before it petered out One last hurrah. One last bit of effort. One last long day out. One last blast of summer sun. It felt good parking up in Aberfeldy with warm sun on my back despite it being the end of September ready to return to the last stopping point on the A to Z of Perthshire. Today would take me to Z and a finish. The start and end points of the run were separated by 300 metres removing any pressure of transport or time. Also, the majority of the day’s run would be on ground covered previously so, in theory, they would be no navigational issues ..read more

  The decent run of days continues as a welcome silver lining to the gloomy conditions that we all live under at the present time. I felt a special sense of progress, personal and ill founded as it turns out, as the day before I ran this most recent stage of the A to Z of Perthshire I COMPETED IN A RACE !!! After a gap of six months – the longest period without competition this century – I ran in the Penchrise Pen Hill Race down at Hawick. It felt brilliant to be pinning a race number on the front of a brown vest again. It also felt good to be somebody that does rather than some ..read more

After reaching “T” of the A to Z of Perthshire, it was time for a review of the remainder of the route. There would be a zig eastwards on a nice wee road, a bumble over a couple of hills, a westerly zag over a familiar trail and an extended loop of the Aberfeldy marathon course to finish. Originally, I was hoping to incorporate the final stages into a mini holiday using The Moulin Inn as a base camp. COVID has scuppered this and with limited time (and money) I shall finish in a series of cheap and cheerful day trips – I can’t complain given the scenery and running on offer. The next letter “U ..read more

or Rannoch to Tummel Bridge I was in the Bow Bar on the evening of March 12 and confided in Andy Wadsworth , Trotter , cyclist and good guy , that I was very nervous about the next stage of the A to Z of Perthshire  - specifically getting to the top of Schiehallion in the snow . By the next day, like many others , I had something more serious to worry about .  One of the boys was showing COVID symptoms and the whole family were plunged into self isolation. By the time we had completed the seven days, lockdown had started and I had made the decision to go and live with my elderly m ..read more

Earlier in the week I commented to a friend (the great Ivor Normand) that despite the distances we run and places I go I have reached the stage of trying to avoid adventures. The days of a devil may care attitude and dumping the car somewhere and heading off with a couple of mars bars and a map (often the wrong one) are now over. This latest stage of the A to Z of Perthshire had a potential for great adventure. It was to be the longest run of the year thus far and involved a drive to connect in with a once a day bus at Rannoch to be transported to the start. Also, I wanted to run a slightly ..read more

Recently I read Silence by Erling Kagge .  Written by the Norwegian polar explorer , I expected a tale of loneliness and a verging on insanity tale of his experiences in the polar extremes. The book touched on his solo South Pole expedition , however its value was much more and touched a chord with many aspects of the running different objective.  Erling was quick to point out that you did not need to venture to the ends of the earth to experience silence and, happily for those of us looking ,  it can often be found closer to home. Earlier in the week I drove the twenty miles down the ..read more

Water is a defining element of Perthshire and its winter monsoons define its rivers and lochs. The next section of the Perthshire A to Z , while yielding only a single letter, would keep water in the forefront of my mind. The rain of the previous week had eased but continued to fall. Nonetheless, after a gap of a few weeks it was good to get back  This section eased me back in with ten miles – 60% of which were off road – between Old Blair and Port na Craig.  Easy was the theme of the day as I had plenty time leaving Blair Atholl with a generous 2 and ½ hours to make the returning train ..read more

Autumn clock change and the onset of early darkness is a bit of a challenge for every runner and a sure sign that the depths of winter are approaching. The transition from long summer days in simmet and shorts to wrapped up running through the winter gloom is continually a difficult adaptation. Im lucky – shift work and more days off by doing longer working hours allows me the opportunity to almost always run in daylight.  Its just that “daylight” in November and December can be very grey. Every good day for the rest of the year is a bonus and after some challenging weather last week, I wa ..read more

After a couple of stages which had been fraught with logistical challenge, I to M was a totally breeze. Indeed, I was so confident that I could pull this run off without any risk of becoming a Hitchcock style murder victim that I invited guests.  Even better, we arrived on time so Don Reid, life long Westie , top trail runner Lucy Colquhoun,  Otto and Isaac left the Iron Bridge after parking 50 metres away at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre.   I was confident this would be a run that Don, Lucy and the dogs would enjoy and the wee warm up to the John Muir Trust shop on the High Street gave a ..read more

I really must buy some new maps. Not that there was a geographical issue with the 1984 version of OS sheet 43 Braemar to Blair Atholl. It is always the memories that floor me. Using maps from a by gone age take me back to my days as a race snake in the mid eighties where distance and height was no object for a day out. Sheet 43 has a number of good days on it. These included a  trot over my favourite munros Ben a Ghlo and Cairn Laith. Also there was a great long day leaving Aviemore around 09:30 and making Blair Atholl for a leisurely pint before boarding the 17:40 train – causing much amus ..read more