The 2010/11 football season welcomed Inverness Caledonian Thistle back to the Scottish Premier League, bouncing back at the first time of asking following relegation to the Scottish First Division in the 2008/09 season. This would mean the return of the dreaded 'Split' system (or 'Splitus Daftus') operated by the SPL. Due to 'Splitus Daftus', the Highland Marchers would have to wait until the middle of April to know the destination of the 9th annual outing, however this did not stop the troops from discussing the potential routes and destinations open to them.
A fantastic start to the season saw ICT comfortably sitting in the top half of the table by November, but a dip in form around Christmas and New Year meant the Highland Marchers had no way of guessing for certain where they would be heading, such as the tightness of the league at that stage. With Kilmarnock, Motherwell, St Mirren and Hamilton all at their disposable, they knew this year may yet again prove to be tough. By taking into consideration the fixture list that was available pre-Split, the troops began to make a few calculated guesses and came to presume that HM9 would see the troops head 'away' for the last game of the season, with Hamilton Accies being the 'worst case scenario', and shorter trips to Aberdeen or St Johnstone (Perth) also an option.
Come mid-April, the post-Split fixtures became available and Hamilton was drawn out the hat as ICT's final league game of the season, yet this 'worst case scenario' was set to get alot worse, if that was ever possible. There was to be the added news that the penultimate fixture was indeed a mid-week fixture against Hibernian in Inverness. The challenge for Highland March 9 would therefore mean 162 miles of walking and only 67 hours in which to do it.
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Highland March 9 drew to a close amidst a whole host of emotions. There was pain, there were blisters, there were pulled muscles and there were aching limbs. Despite all this there was excitement, joy and a sense of achievement as the whole course of Highland March has been changed forever.
Coming into this years' event, the Highland Marchers thought they knew exactly how tough this was going to be. 162 miles in 65 hours, to put it blunt.
The route was plotted, revised, re-plotted and re-revised a thousand times over, and after much debate there was finally a route that, on paper, looked almost manageable. In reality though, it was mission impossible and come the 21st hour, all troops had as some stage or other called it a day and boarded the support vehicle.
The biggest surprise was the retirement of Brigadeir's Yompa and Gringo Jnr, who after completing every Highland March end-to-end since it's formation, found this year's event a step too far.
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 For the first time since Lady Madonna, Slater and Dunco teamed up on Highland March 6 from Falkirk, the Highland March will see two new recruits for this years outing; Troops that have never before experienced any stage of any previous event before!
William McMillan (aka BA/Flymo) and Mark MacRae (aka CapitalCaley) have laid their swords down to the toughest challenge the Highland Marchers will ever likely face for some time to come. A jaunt from Inverness to Hamilton, distancing some 160 miles, in just 65 hours! The former having been signed up since New Year, there has been plenty of time for this new soldier to put in some training and get used to the vigours of life on terra-firma.
However, CapitalCaley only threw his hat into the ring just a few short weeks ago, just prior to the announcement of the SPL's post-split fixture schedule. A tall figure of a man, he lays claim to having done 40-odd miles in one training session already, averaging nearly 4mph for the majority. A truely magnificent achievement in itself!
Returning for more punishment, are Gringo, Dunco and Chumba, who shall be doing this year 'relay' style challenge this year, whilst Brigadeir's Yompa and Gringo Jnr will be looking to continue their 100% completion of all Highland Marches to date.
Carbon Footprint also returns in the Support Driver capacity!
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