Off the beaten track

Quite often I find myself on auto-pilot as I head out for a run. I'll maybe make a decision about the direction from my house but after that I tend to stick to 10 or so set routes.  I suppose a  lot of it is to do with knowing the distance. If you run you do not want to get lost - and mostly I have a plan about how far I want to run in that one outing. 

But then sometimes plans do not go, well, according to plan!

Just before setting out for a run on Saturday afternoon I happened to be chatting to our pal Douglas (he's a friend of Mr Outdoors and also helped us to build a super-lovely extension to our home. You can find him here) who lives on one of my usual running routes out through the village of Balmore. Douglas occasionally decides to get fit and most years he trains for the Deerstalker event (not the Mighty one but the shorter version. Although I do think he's being a bit girlie about this!) and so he knows a number of routes around his village. In particular he told me about a lovely wee off-road section that heads towards the nearby towns of Torrance and Bishopbriggs.

Of course, I couldn't resist trying this new route. So on Saturday I set out from home at a reasonable pace, headed for Balmore. The only thing is I imagined that home to Balmore was about 3 miles on road. The off-road route, according to Douglas, would be about 4 miles, followed by a 3 mile home again. It turns out that it was closer to 5 miles to the other end of Balmore. Added to this I decided to do more off-road than was strictly necessary. 

The muddy-ish path, which is very popular with walkers, added a nice diversion through fields and along the side of the River Kelvin.  At a crossroads near Cadder Golf Course there was a signpost for Bishopbriggs and/or Torrance and because I'm nosey I decided to check out both routes. First I ran through the golf course towards the Briggs before doubling back to then head to Torrance. This wee network of trails offers a great location for locals looking for 30 mins to an hour of pleasant off-road running. Access is via a path opposite Balmore Garden Centre.

But by the time I was headed back home from Balmore I realised I'd possibly run a bit more than I really wanted to.  I haven't been running more than about 8 miles recently so 13 miles was a a tad OTT. The last couple of miles were admittedly a slog, but it was fab to find a new off-road running trail. 

Maybe next time I'll put my sensible head on and cycle to Douglas's house, then head off road for a run and then cycle home again. Or perhaps I should just get myself a wee bit fitter?!

The Mighty One

Walking back from school on Friday with my daughter I bumped into a dad (sorry but I don't know his name so let's call him Dad Who Runs with Big Black Dog). As usual we got to talking about running. Dad Who Runs (w BBB) is just back to his running after a few months of doing less. He's pleased with himself for doing three runs this week.

Then he mentioned a race a couple of his pals are planning to do. "The deerstalker or something," says Dad Who Runs. "Do you know it?" he adds.

Oh boy, do I know this event. It's a fab one. It's called The Mighty Deerstalker (see www.themightydeerstalker.com) and is an alleged 10k off-road adventure style race at Traquair, near Peebles. More like 17k, the event takes place mostly in the dark in chilly march and includes lots of mad obstacles such as chest-deep river crossings, tunnels, wooden planks plus an awesome scree slope climb with only the light of your head torch to guide you. It is, however, great fun and is organised by the guys behind the Edinburgh Rat Race (see www.ratraceadventure.com).

If you can manage a 10k in normal conditions then you'll face a challenge with the Mighty Deerstalker but you'll have a ton of fun along the way. I did the first event three years ago and managed to come home 3rd lady (not bad for an old bird like me), despite getting lost and ending up running down the local high street at 8 at night covered in mud and wearing a ridiculous-looking head torch. (Oh how the locals laughed!). 

(I'm trying to find the article I wrote about the event - when I do I'll post it on my blog.

In the meantime, here's one I wrote for the Daily Record about adventure racing in general.)

Anyways. . . after finding out about the rather challenging side of the Mighty Deerstalker, Dad Who Runs seemed absolutely delighted. "Oh, I can't wait to tell my friends about this," he said, chuckling away. "They think it's just a 10k. But it's got river crossings and obstacles, you say? I really can't wait to tell them all this. Hee, hee."  I was delighted to have made Dad Who Run's day just that bit cheerier!