Leaving my job in Inverness and re-locating to London has brought a temporary halt to my blogging efforts. However, in between lugging my worldly possessions hundreds of miles from one corner of the country to the other, my round-Britain trip re-visiting numerous county tops has continued in earnest. In the last week I have re-acquainted myself…
Author: heightsofmadness
Agony and ecstasy
I like this picture from Cioch Mhor. I think it neatly sums up the nature of hill running: the agony and the ecstasy.
Cioch Mhor hill race
Contrary to popular belief, the winner of the Cioch Mhor race is not the fastest runner, but the man who has the least regard for his testicles. Today’s race crossed a succession of barbed wire fences. It’s nothing to worry about for the veterans. They have had children. I wouldn’t mind being a father one day. No…
Dores and back
The Highland Cross theme continued today with a 20-mile cycle, during which I was blissfully unaware that a vast plume of volcanic ash was coming our way from Iceland. I laboured to Dores, but then felt comfortable on the two-mile climb from the eastern shore of Loch Ness to an altitude of 250 metres. The…
Beinn Bhuidhe Mhor
Highland Cross bumf has arrived, asking some honest questions. Have you prepared to walk, jog or run across 20 miles of rough terrain? No. Are you prepared to then climb on your bike and ride for a further 30 miles, many of them up and down steep hills? Definitely not. I’m being a little dramatic….
Knockfarrel hill race
Perhaps I’m being unnecessarily hard on myself, but the more I run the worse I seem to get. Take today’s effort: the Knockfarrel hill race, a 5.5-mile run up to the Pictish hillfort and Cnoc Mor overlooking Strathpeffer. I ran last year’s race with precious little hill training in my legs and naive to the demands of such…
283 Munros in 100 days – at 66
Now here is a man that deserves respect: Gerry McPartlin, a 66-year-old retired GP who is attempting to conquer Scotland’s 283 Munros in a continous 100-day journey. Starting at Ben Lomond on April 10 and compleating on Ben Chonzie, he will cover 1,000 miles and climb some 400,000ft. It is a test of endurance that would examine…
Moray Roadrunners 10k road race
The last time I was in Elgin to run was the Moray half-marathon in September: a distastrous 87-minute slog after my right calf went ping a mile after the start. Today was far better. Despite wind, rain and an undulating course around Elgin, I finished the Moray Roadrunners 1ok road race, part of the Northern…
Cioch Mhor
Cioch Mhor today, a 482m hill below Ben Wyvis. Starting from Tulloch Castle in Dingwall, we followed a track west, then up a dead-straight road to Drynie. Soon we were on Tulloch Hill, climbing steeply along farm tracks. Eventually the gradient eased, with the path snaking to the trig pillar atop 339m Cnoc a’ Bhreacaich. From…
Wind turbines
If it were possible to lift the Monadhliath and drop it in south or middle England, it would be a National Park, visited by tens of thousands of people every year. Unfortunately, these hills are in the wrong place: sandwiched between the Cairngorms, an actual National Park, and Loch Ness, a would-be World Heritage site. That is why it…
Craig Dunain – more pictures
Further images from Craig Dunain race
Craig Dunain hill race
And so the Highland hill running season is underway: Craig Dunain, a 5.5-mile dash to a 900ft summit, a glorified cross-country for purists, a useful test of early spring form for the rest. Things started going wrong for me 24 hours before the race. ‘Jonny Muir should lead the charge’, wrote the Inverness Courier’s esteemed athletics…
Heights of Madness 