Cateran 110, Scotland, Norway and London Catch up!

Wow - it's been a busy fun filled couple of months! Finally, a chance to reflect on our adventures. In my last blog I mentioned we were on our way to Scotland for the Cateran 110 mile run and to celebrate with family Neil's 50th Birthday. Neil had a great run at the Cateran 110. 3 weeks after the trip to Scotland we returned to Europe to explore Norway and enjoy 4 nights in London. Between European vacations we participated in the Vancouver 100km event. I will highlight the adventures and Neil plans to do a race report of the Cateran - so stay tuned...his report hopefully will be coming soon!

At the start of the Cateran 110 The Spittal of Glenshee (which is also the finish). Neil is ready to go!

The crew (Graeme and I) stopped for some refreshments once Neil was well on his way. It's important the crew take care of themselves too!

Graeme and I stayed awake for the entire journey. We were fueled with several mugs of coffee throughout the night and day. Graeme was the official water boiler/coffee maker.

Neil at the finish of the 110 miles. He looks fresh as a daisy! Speaking with George one of the RD's.

 

The day after the run we met up with our niece Kendall and her husband Chris who were visiting Scotland for a week from Maryland, USA. We spent the week travelling around Scotland and celebrating Neil's 50th birthday. We are at Dunnottar Castle in this photo, a colleague of mine is having her wedding there next year - it's a spectacular place!

 

Once we were home we participated in the Vancouver 100 event. We did almost 50 km travelling from Cypress to Deep Cove. Our intentions were to meet up with our friend Craig who was planning on doing more than 150km on this route but he called it at 100km. I think that's plenty of km's on that course. It's one of my favourite events!

 

Mid June we returned to Europe where Neil was attending a conference in Norway. We seized the opportunity to explore Norway where my mother's side of the family is from.

 

 

 
 This photo was taken from a restaurant patio in Oslo, Norway at 11pm at night. It never got dark!

We travelled to northern Norway to the city of Tromso which is 350 kilometers north of the Artic Circle. While there we participated in the Midnight Sun Marathon (Half Marathon).

 

 We rented a car and explored the Northern coastline. It was spectacular with many quaint fishing villages. The weather was cool as you can tell by my beach wear!

  

 

We then travelled south to Stavanger where the conference was taking place. It was a colourful city with many waterfront restaurants. Stavanger is referred to as the Oil Capital of Norway. The city is often listed as among one of the most expensive cities in the world by various indexes. I enjoyed the window shopping!

 

The conference arranged a ferry ride/bus journey to hike Pulpit Rock. Neil and I joined in on this evening excursion. Pulpit Rock consists of a steep cliff which rises 1,982 feet above the fiord. The hike was more strenuous than I thought it was going to be for a bus load of people to undertake. Everyone made it back - Neil and I were one of the first which allowed us time for some refreshments before the bus/ferry return to Stavanger.

 

After Stavanger we had 4 nights in London which we always enjoy. Hyde Park is such a great place to run which we did every morning. We enjoyed a night out at the theatre with our nephew who lives there now. 

 

 We have had brilliant summer weather since we returned back to Vancouver. BC. The weather is  calling us to get back into some peak bagging. Bagger Challenge...here we go!