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.
Completing the planned 21-mile first stage to Slochd by 3am Thursday morning, all troops were back on the road for 05:20 and making their way to Aviemore along the A9. Upon leaving the tourist town, only 4 troops remained as the others faltered with injury and fatigue. By the time Tromie Bridge was reached, only Yompa and Gringo Jnr remained to cover the old Highland March favorite; The Pass of Glen Tromie.
What was described later as a "ball breaker" by the former, it was agreed between the duo that it was highly unlikely that Hamilton would be reached on time, so with dignity and respect, and a certain amount of pride, Yompa and Gringo Jnr called it a day, and thus ending the tradition of the Highland March "End-to-End".
The Highland March Diary will be available in the coming days, complete with an online gallery of pictures taken during the event.
We would all like to thank everyone that made Highland March possible, from the staff at Europcar for providing us with a cracking v-Hickle, to Carbon Footprint for once more doing a fantastic job in his support role. The propriators of the Slochd Hostel, Glassie Farm Bunkhouse and Carron Bridge hotel for fantastic facilities and a warm welcome. Mrs Yompa for allowing us an after-march gathering, and members of the CLAN for their efforts and collections.
We'd also like to thank Bryan Munro, Tabitha Walker and all the staff and players at Inverness CTFC for their continued support, as well as the staff at Hamilton Accies.
Finally we'd like to thank Scottish Military Fitness for their sponsorship towards our accommodation fees. It was a shame there was no time to arrange any military personell to join us this year, but there is always HM10... BRING IT ON
|
