The Grande Depart!
An early (5:15am) departure from Peebles to head up to Edinburgh in the car & collect Calum (#1 son). He then dropped me off at Edinburgh Waverly and for his trouble has got use of the car for the next five weeks.
Incredibly you can get a direct train from Edinburgh to Hayle (about 20 miles up the coast from Land's End) provided you are prepared to sit there for 10.5 hours. As my new found Aussie team mate pointed out, you'd expect to at least get to Singapore for that much sitting.
I'd opted to go first class as part of a considered decision to arrive relaxed and set about the challenge of trying to eat £90 worth of free food to justify the first class premium in ticket price. Despite being two bacon rolls to the good by Durham, I probably came up short by about £50. However, I almost certainly recouped that in smugness, as the three standard class carriages were more than full, to the point there were poor folk sitting in the corridors. The mood in standard class was further diminished, when the overcrowding forced the closure of standard class catering. Happy bunnies they were not!
The journey in "Carriage A" was fine though, with a variety of passengers sitting next to me over the trip. When I wasn't talking to them, much time was spent looking out of the window and reflecting on the changing landscapes, wildlife & architectures and thinking about how we will get to experience these shifts over the five week journey that is to come.
The arrival in Hayle was unremarkable. I had expected to be able to hail a taxi at the station but alas not. Seemingly there are only two taxis in Hayle and they both drove past me (with their fares) as I walked down into the town. With the town's taxi fleet all busy, I had to hail the bus to get me to Hayle Premier Inn, which is functional if not inspiring.
This place is "home" for the next three nights. Registration is here tomorrow and for the first day of running we get bussed to Land's End and run back to Hayle, then do a further 10 miles or so, before being bussed back after the run.
Over the RunBrit WhatsApp group I'd arranged to meet one of my new running buddies, and fellow early arriver, Greg from Australia, at 7pm for dinner, and we subsequently bumped into a bunch of the race crew. A pleasant, low-key, fish & chip supper was enjoyed down in town, sharing stories and discussing how strictly the 15kg overnight baggage allowance might be enforced?🤔
Tomorrow, will be a low key morning with the main focus being a large Premier Inn Breakfast, before registration at 3pm and group briefing at 5pm. Excited to meet the rest of the group & get the adventure underway.
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