Scotland 2 Sahara Blog
S2S t-Shirts & Jackets for Sale
If you would like to purchase an official S2S T-Shirt or Jacket contact Karen at yamaatrust@live.com
Tech T shirts £15
Cotton T shirts – £10
Jackets £15
All proceeds to the Yamaa Trust
December 10, 2010 Karen (Yamaa Trust)
1000 miles done!!
My sympathies to all those back in britain. it sounds like the weather over there is even worse than here in france (although the eiffel tower is closed today as they cant salt it, as the iron would rust.) today i brought up 1000 miles for the trip, celebrated with a hot blackcurrent and some shelter in the van. today treated me to a mixture of raining cats and dogs through le mans, followed by heavy snow (which was much preferrable). i actually enjoyed the afternoon knowing that the forecast is for the snow to dissappear as of tomorrow and sunshine is immenent. fance is a fantastic place, both in terms of the food (especially the baking) and the friendliness of the locals. i wore a kilt to run a couple days and the number of folk that stop and ask what you are doing is phenomenal. Most will manage a few 100 yards running as well. It’s no suprise that i keep picking up a few injuries. the latest being a pretty sore left iliotibial band, which im certain is caused by having to run the opposite side of the road to what im used to. i’ll cut back to 30-31 miles a day to let this recover, im sure it will, but its stinging every step at the moment. There is some great stuff going on at the mo for the yamaa trust. chris goodacre did his first marathon on sunday, in malaga romping home in 4 hr and 6, way faster than me that day. i cant pretend that every day is a joy. the last couple with fairly unfriendly weather and a load of pain have been testing but 1000 miles are done, and the desert is a bit closer. the support ive had both in the camper, and from everyone in cyber space has been amazing, and please do continue to blog/ FB (Scotland 2 Sahara)/ twitter (@scotland2sahara) message me. I do genuinely enjoy myself usually for about the first 22-26 miles a day then its real hard work. Had a load of great messages from ross county fans recently, thanks loads, and to the club for their support, who will soon have a Mongolian supporters club. cheers
andrew
December 8, 2010 Andrew Murray
en francais
so far 27 days, 878.5 miles, scotland and england finished, and i’ve made a start on france. arrived in dieppe which looked a bit like newhaven- SNOWY. An almost insatiable appetite for all things pastry has powered me through montville, Rouen and to Iville. Yesterday was a beauty. Plenty snow, and blue skies. Absolutely stunning for the film crew and myself, although at least -5/celcius at the start. today started with more pain au chocolat, and snow, followed in the afternoon by an unpleasant headwind. Had the kilt on much to the amusement of the locals. watched chelsea throwing a couple points away. looking forward to warmer times which the forecast predicts as of tuesday. a massive thanks to iain, susie, carrie and richard for campervan duties done to perfection for the last wee while. my injuries have calmed down a fair bit, and ive only lost a kilo, which would be a dissappointing result for folk cranking out 850 miles, but is great for me with more than twice that still to go. thanks to all for all the support, its a great motivation to keep the legs moving even when the weather is terrible. plenty great comps with prizes coming up on Scotland 2 Sahara (facebook) and by following @scotland2sahara on twitter
December 4, 2010 Andrew Murray
london baby
2 cracking days in london. spent last night doing a fun run and catching up with loads of friends around clapham common, and at the duck. respect to all for turning up despite tube strikes and sub zero temps. a massive £1380 raised on the night for the Yamaa Trust, including Dundas and Wilson matching their employers contributions, thanks guys. fasntastic to meet loads of folk there id never met and hear some great stories. ran today with steve and arnaud from team tribesport, who escorted me into london (arnaud doing his first marathon), and to the houses of parliament, where my local MP Ian Murray, Anne Mckechin, CAthy Jamieson, and loads of others all dug deep,and had some kind words to say about the challenge, and the yamaa trust. Also met the Mongolian Ambassador and first secretary who were enthusiastic about the challenge, if not the blizzard outside. some great photos to follow. A massive thanks to Susie, Jenna, Dave, and all that have helped so much in the last few days. HAppy st andrews day, andrew
November 30, 2010 Andrew Murray
LONDON (almost)
22 days in 710 miles completed. i’ve taken a fairly convoluted route down, partly to see the sites and catch up with friends, and partly due to mist and snow making certain roads tricky. the last 10 days have been loads better injury wise, with the achilles miles better, partly due to dan broadhead and expert podiatrist from patterson medical who sorted some formthotics for me. have averaged about 33.5 miles each and every day through england and have a great couple days to look forward to. TONIGHT the DUCK in clapham junction are staging a 5/10km fun run and cheap drinks/ pizza night, and it’ll be awesome to catch up with plenty friends. Tomorrow i’ll be joined for a bit by 10 Members of Parliament finishing at the houses of parliament where i’ll be honoured to meet the Mongolian Ambassador who has been keeping an eye on my progress. Had a day off the snow today, having got some good pictures blasting through it further north. Hope everyone is wraped up warm, it got to about -7 one morning and i had to resort to trousers! I had the kilt out in the snow the other day to much consternation from the locals. Other good news today was that i passed the exam i sat when running through edinburgh, as did iain my brother who we’ve been planning my stag do with this week when he’s been supporting me. (details top secret!!) I’ve been knocked out by the generosity of everyone, and by the messages of support from Islay to Indonesia. Thanks also to VIVERGO FUELS who have come on board as a major sponsor. By this time on thursday i’ll be on a ferry to france, accompanied by Susie my sister who is taking brilliant care of me. will write more soon, cheers, andrew
November 29, 2010 Andrew Murray
Check out the gruelling start to Andrew’s challenge, aired on this week’s BBC Adventure Show
Andrew’s coverage starts at about 38 minutes, 30 seconds in: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wkbns – seeing the wind in action as andrew pushes on through is amazing. Just a snippit of the kindve conditions he’s facing every day on the challenge – wait until the coverage of the snow blizzards is added!
Dont forget you can show your support by donating via JustGiving, or even via a quick text text:
TEXT TO DONATE details: Text S2S to 70700 to donate £5. Text costs £5 plus network charge. Yamaa Trust receives at least £4.45. Obtain billpayers’ permission. Charity No CR61899.
November 29, 2010 jennaanians
The Story So Far
12 days in, and there have been some incredible highs and lows. (and thats only the terrain). ive run 371 miles in 12 days, eating 81600 calories which include 50 weetabix, 34 bananas, 16 bacon rolls, and 1.4 kg of jelly babies. I’ve run down from John o groats, all the way down the cursed A9, through dingwall and a meeting with the mighty Ross County, the great glen and loch ness (with a sure spot of the monster), past ben nevis, the west highland way, stirling, edinburgh, and the Scottish Borders. I’ll cross into england tomorrow. Since the first day, and its severe weather warnings, gale force headwinds, dodgy bowels things have been a bit better. Running the A9 north of Inverness was no fun at all, but great to see Loch Ness, the great Glen, and run past Ben Nevis in a snowstorm. Coming over the awesome west highland way, and then being joined by 160 others running a section through surely some of the most beautiful terrain was absolutely amazing, and raised £5000 for the Yamaa Trust. I doubt that section will again see 50 kilted commandos, the A team and a piping Batman storming down it. The following day hitting the hills down towards Crianlarich in the frost was immense. Several of the next few days have been misty, cutting through back roads, and having some top support from characters including a council truck in Aberfoyle, who said “ram running to morocco, but i’ll do a hunner yards and there’s a tenner for those Mongolian lads.” Certainly the least enjoyable part of the trip has been having to sit exams in Edinburgh, although this was of course directly followed by a relaxing 30 miler down to Gala. Today and yesterday was spent in the Scottish Borders. Superb catching up with so many friends, chatting to Craig Chalmers and the Melrose lads, and popping into the Borders General Hospital, and the Teviot in Hawick and getting a massive send off from both. Great to have so many staff putting in some hard miles also, and there was no shortage of presents and enthusiasm when i went visiting Melrose Primary, Lilliesleaf Primary, and Hawick High. Those miles haven’t been at all easy. I never expected that mileage to be a doddle, but ive done an almost identiacl amount before without injury. At present i’ve got massively swollen, and very sore achilles tendons, and am in a fair bit of discomfort by the end of the day. That said, its absolutely worth it, seeing the fundraising total rocket up, and it’s inspiring hearing all the plans people have to raise money for the yamaa trust. I’ve had the BBC guys with me loads, and there will be some great footage im sure, which i think will show how difficult running from John O groats to morocco in winter is. Huge thanks to lots of people for their help, including Jennie, Mum +dad, dave, ian R, Elise, Phil, Susie, fiona, mike+julie, Sarah + Peter, Rab, Rab, Mike and Donnie. thanks loads also to all sponsors for first rate kit, and their backing. The messages that pile in from Facebook and Twitter etc are a brilliant pickup at the end of a day, thanks loads and keep them coming. cheers. andrew
November 19, 2010 Andrew Murray
S2S ULTRA & 7 mile runs – this sunday!
A quick reminder to all about the S2S event this sunday!
Start times:
- 28 mile race: 0830 at kinlochleven, ice factor car park
- 7 mile race: 1230 at bridge of orchy train station
The 28 mile race is now full – but plenty of spaces in the 7 mile race!
When you cross the finish line, there will be a chance to buy raffle tickets, and then we will retire, unofficially to a Tyndrum pub where the raffle will be drawn (more detail on the day).
November 12, 2010 jennaanians
gales, sore achilles and great highland hospitality
well, it has really been an incredibly tough 4 days. I must admit when i stood on the start line, at he end of the pier in john o groats with massive waves breaking over the harbour wall i didnt expect anything different. some of you may know i ran the indo ultra (a 230 km jungle race) a week before starting (and manged to place first, in a small field) so knew i was still recovering a bit from that. the combination of a severe weather warning (gales and rain) meaning a fierce headwind and an unwelcome cold/ diarrhoea virus was a tricky start, although the weather and the virus have mellowed since then. running along the A9 getting puddled by each passing lorry is far from pleasant running conditions, and im delighted to have now left the A9 behind. the amount of feedback and support ive had has been phenomenal, thanks to everyone that has sent messages on FB/ twitter/ texts, and in particular thanks loads to Dave for manning the van, fi mitchell and mike +julie for food/ warmth and banter, and Ross county for the strips, support, and help. Mostly due to my crap planning, im not going to make it up the Ben Nevis the day before the ultra as id miscalculated the route distance. my left achilles is also giving me a shedload of grief, so im going to just put in a couple 27/ 28 milers prior to meeting up for the S2S ultra and 7 miler. I’m even having to do a bit of walking my achilles is such a nuscience. Plenty places left for the 7 miler. please email karen on yamaatrust@live.com to let her know if you can make it, which would be great. 28 miler is full. Had the BBC guys along, and im certain you’ll have some sympathy for me when you see the headwind/ conditions from up north on another preview they are showing on the next adventure show. thanks for reading
andrew
November 11, 2010 Andrew Murray
Get your bids in!!
Some brilliant events and products up for auction – get bidding!! (bids can be added as comments, or sent directly to Karen at the Yamaa trust: yamaatrust@live.com)
CURRENT BIDS -
- Gobi Challenge - £875
- Al Andalus – £450
- Scottish Ultra – £100
- Something for the weekend – £100
- UK Gears PT-1000’s – £70
- Signed Aberdeen Football Shirt – £50
- Medical by Marathon Medical Services – £35
- Tailored Training programme by Mandy Miller – £100
NO BIDS CURRENTLY PLACED ON:
- Glenmore24 -
- Moonlight Challenge -
- 50 Mile Challenge -
- Any Round of the Welsh one day ultra marathon series -
- Running Hamper by Delimann -
November 10, 2010 jennaanians
