Deerstalker '09

Well it's that time of year again - the Deerstalker! Saturday afternoon saw us driving down to Traquair House in the Scottish Borders for some running. This year Sylvia did it too, after deciding she could do it better than most of the people she saw doing it last year.

There were two events - the Deerstalker, a "5 km" (yeah right!) and the Mighty Deerstalker at "10 km". We had a few other friends doing it this year as well, including Mhairi.

If you're interested, there are more photos, our places etc at www.themightydeerstalker.com

The setting. The weather was much nicer than last year.

Doesn't she look nice! Let's see if she's still smiling at the end.

The start line for the Deerstalker. The race begins with all 500 entrants charging towards a wall of haybales. Oh, and did I mention that you're supposed to dress in tweed?

Nearly there, just the final bit of uphill finish to go! And still smiling.

The last obstacle. Now the final dash to the finish. The guy in the left of the photo doesn't look so great - do you think maybe Sylvia pulled out a cheeky Hopoate move under that net?

My turn. A head torch is required for the Mighty.

We had to run through this.

And that.

Nearly there... with an explosive exit from the net, I managed to overtake 3 people in the last 20 m.

Flatmate finishers.

Afternoon tea with Alexander McCall Smith

For something different than our usual outdoors adventures we signed up for an afternoon tea with Alexander McCall Smith - the Scottish author of a number of wonderful series of books, including the latest: 'Tea Time for the Traditionally Built' (http://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk/Pages/events.aspx).

We weren't quite sure what to expect when we turned up at the National Library of Scotland. It turned out to be a formal sit-down afternoon tea, complete with white linen, delicate tea-cups (with both traditional and red bush tea - which appears in his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series) and cake stands with cucumber sandwiches! It was the first time they'd allowed the drinking of tea in the reading room. Alexander came over and shook hands with both of us.

On leaving, we both got a goodie bag of red bush tea products and were grabbed for a short videoed interview on the event. It was for the history department rather than BBC though so don't look out for us on the news!