Well Fraser & I gave what should be our final Nepal Presentation last Friday in a great teepee venue at the Keswick Mountain Festival. It seemed to go down well, we think, although trying to cram everything into a 45 minute slot was not easy. Still, had time for quite a few questions at the end, if you attended we hope you enjoyed it. It was the start of a frenatic weekend involving two Italian Meals, wine & great beers, a demanding 5 peak walk on Saturday in heavy rain & rounded off by my first Trail race in The Lakes. The Borrowdale 21K (Half Marathon) was a bit more demanding than I’d expected it to be. I knew about the Watenlath Hill but not the earlier hill between Grange & Rothwaite. My thanks to Robin Dow of South London Harriers for yelling out to me & another runner who missed a turning in Grange & then giving me advice about this SECOND hill & the route as a whole. Robin finished a place ahead of me despite taking a time consuming fall leading to cramp a mile out from the finish. It was a stunning course that made me make a mental note to return for a more leisurely walk around it later in the year. The technical descent from Watenlath kept me constantly on my toes & quite often nearly on my ass so thanks to all the kind walkers for putting up with us & stepping to one side to allow us to pass. I was a bit dissapointed with my time of 2:03:32 until I realised I’d come home 26th out of 182 Starters so clearly the steep & tricky terrain had taken it’s toll on us all. Good prep for the big two in June but still apprehensive especially since my neighbour Frank told me last week that the Coed y Brenin Marathon includes both a 2 mile hill & total race ascent of over 5,000′, no beers with Fraser the night before that one!