You take the Munro and I'll take the Low Ro
⬆intro next ➡Retrospective...
2010 At this point, of course, we didn't know Rob and Trionium at all, so although I was taking pictures, they were almost exclusively of Amanda and one other runner we knew there, so I didn't create any kind of public album; I didn't start blogging until 2014 either, so this is the first appearance of these photos outside of private emails from the time.
First time ever across the stepping stones! That's Amanda in yellow and our friend Hannah right ahead of her.
Sadly no more, the descent down the Burford Slope to finish.
We weren't there in 2011, though I don't know why. There's nothing else that we were doing that day, so maybe Amanda just hadn't quite come round to thinking that doing it a second time was actually possible.
2012. Aha, back again, and this time I did take a bunch of pictures of other people, and sent Rob a link for the website. This was Olympic year, so in true "Faster, Higher, Stronger" tradition, he had added a few miles to the courses for both Munro and Picnic (aka 'Olympicnic'). And from now on, we're doing it every year, it seems.
We didn't know Steve Winder then, either.
The stepping stones again. Considering how many times Amanda's done this now, you'd think she'd be quite relaxed and confident about it, but pyschology doesn't work that way.
2013. On a roll now! From 500-odd pictures up to nearly 1300 so I'm obviously starting to take my unofficial official photographer's role a bit more seriously.
It was hot, and this chap deliberately jumped in the river. Cool water and a cool photo!
We meet Claire! Well, when I say 'meet', I mean she thought I was stalking her and was most disappointed to learn it was only because she was just in front of my wife.
2014. The first full MM blog is here!
Although the runners tend not to see it (as a consequence of needing to watch your footing and being totally knackered anyway), there are some fine views on the route.
And here's Claire's friend and Dulwich clubmate, Joanne.
2015. The National Trust have changed the rules, so both the time and the start/finish point have had to move. Blog here.
A piper is always a feature of this race. Nobody knows why except Rob, and maybe not even him. I'll be honest, though: this is what I call bagpiping. Hit that link and be amazed!
Not as facetious as it might appear. The National Trust, in partnership with Surrey Wildlife Trust, use Belted Galloway cattle to graze the land and preserve this not-entirely-natural environment. Without management the land (like everywhere in Britain) would revert to forest, but traditional grazing beginning in prehistoric times created a much wider range of habitats for plants and wildlife.
2016. An eventful year for us. A fire in our garage meant we had to move out of our house for the best part of a year! We had just transferred from a serviced apartment into a rented house a few days before the Munro, but running up and down a few hills should provide a distraction. Blog.
A toast to our temporary new home!
Now this turns out to be a really sad memory. Ed Catmur, local lad and very fast trail runner, sadly died at the beginning of 2024 when running in the Pennines. We don't really know the full story - an inquest has been opened, but adjourned until August - but presumably he fell foul of bad conditions despite being experienced and knowledgeable.
2017. Blog.
Another stepping-stones angle. No apologies for being a bit repetitious, it's such a photogenic spot.
I clearly have an effect on women. If only I knew what it was.
2018. Organising the Picnic has always been a bit of a struggle and barely viable economically, so Rob's decided this will be the last time. This has really brought the
Although we can't start or finish there any more, we still run up and down the iconic Burford Slope. Hi, Nigel!
Another one done, but I'm not quite sure what tale Amanda is telling that has them so spellbound!
2019. Amanda and Claire are both marshalling rather than running this year., so that gives me a little more flexibility in choosing picture locations. Blog.
"Running? Who's running? We're just drinking."
Well, just because they're marshalling doesn't mean that they can't do the return half of the course after the last competitor has gone through. Why don't I know any sane women?
2020. Oops. Seems a global pandemic is interfering with the race schedule. Darn. We improvise a DIY alternative which you can read about here for completeness.
2021. No real MM, no virtual, no nothing.
2022. Back again and Amanda's marshalling again. Seems I never got to writing a blog for this, but realistically there's not a lot I could have said that I hadn't said before. Here are some pictures anyway.
Another iconic image that really could be from any year ever: Rob in his, err, 'special' shorts. These seem a bit more modest than usual, but it may just be the camera angle.
Amanda has a toy tambourine to cheer the runners on.
2023. Amanda's back running again, and there's another change in the route. Instead of running down and back up the pleasant grass Burford Slope, the National Trust have decreed that it is too ecologically sensitive and the runners must take the 'road' which is really a river of flint and chalk.
I got as far as a placeholder blog intro, but never progressed beyond that.
Not so nice by far, but the Trust have made it clear: this or no race.
Pete's got himself a threesome. I'm not jealous at all.
So that's the past, now head on to the present...
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