Petite Feet Runaway

      We were a last minute support crew. A ‘caught-up-in-emotion’ during Rock DJ at a Robbie William’s concert kind of support crew. Some people get emotional over Angels but I’m a different type of person. The type of person you would like to run with over the Devil’s Staircase as the sun is going down. And that was Alan Crawford’s thought too. So Scott and I hired a car and with two weeks to go, we didn’t bother with any other preparations. The main success of the weekend was that I drove part of the way from Edinburgh to Tyndrum. I did not drive us into a loch or up the rear of a tour bus. My first attempt at UK driving may have got off to a jerky start but it was successful in the end. Much like Alan’s West Highland Way race this year to be honest.     Alan and Terry were running together and had the combined force of their Susans and the Gang of Giggling Ladies looking after them. When we joined the c...

Race: The Highland Fling Distance: 53 miles Date: Saturday 25 April Reason: Keeping Scott company Times previously run:  First ran in 2011, then again in 2012. Marshalled in 2013. Scott's first attempt. The weather forecast based on previous experiences running the fling told me that it would be a hot one. The actual weather forecast told me that it was going to be well cold and raining. Finally, the actual weather meant that there was a wee drizzle at the start and then almost the perfect temperature for the rest. So that is the important weather chat done. Hope you are all creating a lovely bunch of images already.     Scott's bib read MR ANTONIA We start at 6am, near the rear of a 700+ field of runners all hoping to finish the race in 15 hours. The cut-off allows plenty of time for walking and it should be light almost all the way. Well it better be because we have not packed head torches. For miles we are just a chain of runn...

Team logo     Divas such as Johnny Fling (aka, John Duncan) require crew of the highest standard for big races. Naturally, Scott (aka, Mr Antonia) and I were the chosen ones.   I wasn't actually too excited when he first asked as I didn't have much crewing experience. I also knew that I would definitely get insanely jealous of all the runners on the course who hadn't spent the last six months moaning about the cellulite on their bums and then consuming pizzas (for dinner number one of the evening) as a way of comforting said cellulite. John also has a roaring temper which was only going to get elevated once the sleep deprivation kicked in and I struggled to colour coordinate his running outfits. As the race date got closer we found out that we WERE the crew. Now that was an honour. Johnny Fling knows people so I felt pretty chuffed to be chosen. It also meant that I could unleash my whipping and organisation with ...

Pre-Steenbergen Rambling My arrival at 24-hour running has been a bit of a whirlwind. A year and a half ago I took a train to Wales to piggy-back on my sister’s crewing position for New Zealand runner Matt Bixley who was running the Commonwealth 24 Hour Championships in Llandudno. I had no idea this running existed. The runners go around in circles. All night. You had to wipe your hands with nappy wipes so that you didn’t give Matt unnecessary germs. Ok, maybe that was just a Matt thing… There were these three Scottish lassies running; Debbie Martin-Consani, Sharon Law and Pauline Walker. Who were these people? I cheered for them because they were from Scotland but I didn’t really understand their greatness. There was just one female representative for New Zealand at this race and I figured that maybe New Zealand needed some more lady runners for their team. So essentially I started running 24 hour runs because my country NEEDED me to. What a saviour. Less than a year ago I r...