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Page 1 of 14  May 2009 will be widely regarded as the worst month in ICT’s short history, as they suffered the hell of relegation for the first time ever from any league. The Highland Marchers had walked from a 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock, to a must-not-loose affair against Falkirk, in Inverness, on the final day. The debatable dismissal of ICT stalwart, Ross Tokely, meant playing over an hour of football with 10-men. An hour that seemed to go on forever as ICT once more fell to a 1-0 defeat, and thus relegation from the SPL by just goal difference alone.
Relegation, however, would mean a return to the Scottish football league Division 1 and no more ‘Splitus Daftus’ (SPL Split)! This therefore allowed the Highland Marchers to know their destination and plan their route for the forthcoming eighth annual event, almost as soon as the fixtures became available in the July.
Alas, the fixtures were drawn and a third successive homecoming for the Highland Marchers, this time from Ayr – some 20 miles further than the length of Highland March 7.
Routes were discussed, mileage was debated, and support vehicle options became another issue.
One option for the route was to simply take the same directions as Highland March 7 between Kilmarnock and Inverness, and just add on the distance between Ayr and Kilmarnock at the start. ‘Fair enough’ you might think, but we’re walking earlier in the year this time around and have the added bonus of excess snow-melt after a harsh winter and less daylight hours. This ruled out any chances of doing Glen Tromie again due to the potentially swollen rivers, and thus a detour around cycle route 7 and more tarmac, meaning this option was a non-starter.
The second and more favourable option was to head due North via Prestwick Airport and head through Symington, Kilmaus and Dunlop, North still as far as Johnstone and onward over the Erskine Bridge to Dumbartonshire. We would then reach the route taken on Highland March 5, only this time in reverse. That, therefore, would allow a re-visit of the West Highland Way and Great Glen respectively, all the way to Inverness in time for the final match of the season against Dundee.
For the first time since Highland March 4, CaleyD would not be available for the support driver duty. We had instead the company of a new Support driver in the form of Mr Carbon Footprint (Carbon). Carbon, Yompa’s Brother, had joined the Highland Marchers previously for a couple of days at the end of the second outing. An outing that saw Inverness Caledonian Thistle crowned Scottish First Division Champions for the first time. ‘Could history repeat itself?’ we thought, considering ICT had come from 15-points behind Dundee as Christmas, to leapfrog said Dark Blues in the latter reaches of March.
Although preparations seemed to be coming to a head, bad news was to come only a fortnight before the off, as Gringo endured the agony of a ‘grade 1 groin strain’ when compensating for a painful foot injury, of which was also picked up through training. It was not truly the end for Gringo though, as he was to join for the week anyway and offer his services in a support capacity. Gringo, in a support role... Something the Highland March has never seen, and will probably never see again for some time!
The mad crew to once more attempt an End-to-End were confirmed: Chumba; Slater; Dunco; Gringo Jnr; Yompa; and new recruit, Heather.
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