Charlie Ramsay Memorial Relay

See yesterday's entry for more info.

The relay leg I had signed up for started from Lairig Leacach bothy and finished at the end at the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel. It included 8 Munros, the first 6 new for me;  Stob Bàn 977m, Stob Choire Claurigh 1177m, Stob Coire an Laoigh 1116m, Sgùrr Choinnich Mòr 1094m, Aonach Beag 1234m, Aonach Mòr 1221m, Carn Mòr Dearg 1220m, and Ben Nevis 1345m.

Three of us were doing exactly the same leg with others joining us on route. The predicted time the previous runners would arrive at the Bothy was 3:28AM. at 2:45, after minimal sleep I looked outside and could see headtorches descending the previous Munro (Stob Coire Easain 1115m). They arrived almost bang on at 3:29. Nicky Spinks (2 time successful Ramsay Round finisher in 2008 and 2014) was our leader, with her two border collies for added company.  That's her smiling in the photo.

The forecast, unlike the previous day was wet. Unbeknown to us, the organiser had ordered us off the hills with fears of lightning - there were thunderstorms in Fort William - but we had no signal at this point and the lightning wasn't where we were, so we carried on as planned. We were joined by two more runners at the 2nd Munro. This photo is at the top of the 3rd Munro Stob Coire an Laoigh. Don't be fooled either that the photo was in the dry, this was just one of the rare dry bits.

At Munro 5 we were joined by 3 more and Nicky said goodbye. At Munro 6, the two others who had joined us left us. Climbing up to CMD at this point was tough for me as the food I had brought wasn't that appealing but I survived. There was a group to meet us at Ben Nevis with plenty more at the finish.

A fine day out, but very tiring. In total 27.67km with 2,644 m climb, off 1-2 hours sleep

I needed 2 coca cola stops during the drive home to stay awake