Colin Ross' Wedding

Myself, Brian Scally and Alan Swann headed over to the States for the wedding of our pal Colin to Jill from Bath, Maine. We spent some time in Boston, as well as Portland, Maine's largest city.

Photos on my FLICKR website here

Westies v HBT "Grudge Match" Hill Race

The long-running Westies v HBT grudge match series was brought back to life in the wintry Ochils on Sunday. A great course had been arranged for us by HBT, starting in Tillicoultry and heading up to King’s Seat and back down again. The promised rubbish weather fortunately didn’t materialise and was mild at the bottom and decidedly wintry on top, with a good few inches of snow and a biting wind to contend with. Us Westies that ventured east were well outnumbered by hosts HBT and Ochil Hillrunners, but we were rewarded by a fine race and some excellent post-race socialising upstairs in The Woolpack pub, with soup, sandwiches and plenty of spot-prizes of beer. For the record Westies men got a lovely pair of pig's ears for 3rd team (of 3!), Dave got joint best finish - a head-first dive to prevent being beaten on the line by a HBT woman, who executed a lovely sliding tackle on him – and Drew got best looking Westies award (honest!). David Riach was first home for us, followed by Chris, Rob, JD, Dave Calder, Jane, Jason, Alan, Elspeth and Drew. Hamilton did his bit by marshalling. A good day out – our turn next year.
Photos and results on Chris'Blog

Tinto Hill Race

There was a fantastic turnout of 216 runners, including 16 Westies, for this cracker of an end of season race in deepest Lanarkshire. The weather was pretty foul, with very strong winds and even hail just before the start, though during the race itself we only had to contend with the gale-force winds. I set off at what I thought was a decent pace, trying to stay with Shona and Steffen initially till Shona pulled way strongly, leaving Steffen, Graham Kelly and myself to have a close fought battle up to the summit. We turned together in about 28 min and managed to get away from Graham with Steffen pulling away from me. half way down Don made his usual sprint past me, leaving me for dead, and Scott followed soon also. I didn't lose too many more places and finished in 41m 45s, 2 min down on last year (57th of 216 starters), though in the windy conditions everyone else seemed to be slower. which was some consolation. Shona had a great run to finish 1st Westie, and possibly 2nd/3rd female, putting the Westies men to shame. Well done to all Westies and a big thanks to the organisers. Results now on Carnethy website

New Lanark Trail Run

One of my favourite trail-type runs - from Crossford up the River Clyde walkway to New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde and back. Great autumn colours and the waterfalls in spate - fantastic! Photos on my FLICKR website.

Westies Loch Ossian Weekend

Another successful Westies Weekend at Loch Ossian Youth Hostel, attended by a variety of polar bears, gorillas,gonzos, bouncy bunnies, puppy dogs, spidermen catwoman, grumpy bears, big bad wolves and last, but not least, a rare sighting of the Westies Gay Alpha Male (don't ask!). Lots of weather, lots of hills and only one (rather fast) run round the Loch by Nigel; lots of food and drink too. And, of course, lots of Music Man rounds til the wee hours on Sat night. Thanks to everyone for all their efforts.
Photos here