Up Yer Kilt

Another road trip, another 5 hours in a car with Emily en route to Perth Ontario. This time it was for the World Record Kilt Run.

This was sort of a costume race, because all participants had to be clad in a regulation kilt to run. That way we were able to be part of the world record attempt. My friend Emily was the driver on this road trip to crazy, and we departed Hamilton at 5am, yet again another 'dark o'clock' drive.

Coffee, McDonald's, road kill, the usual, except this time we found a large fruit on the side of the road. I've driven past it many times and never stopped, but it's a tradition in Em's family to go and get treats. Little did I know that I'd develop an unhealthy addiction to something called the Mumble Crumble from the Big Apple. 

Fast forward another 3 hours and we arrived in scenic Perth. I should mention that when we registered for this race I thought Perth was near London, ON, NOT like 10 minutes from Ottawa :-) Damn, need to brush up on my geography.

  

In Perth we hooked up with Shannon, my bestie from Orillia, and Camilla and Kerri from Kingston.  

We ran amuck in town for a bit complete with  Big Ben, temporary tattoos and haggis tossing (that's Camilla throwing a haggis (haggi?) on the right). 

For about 15 minutes I was in second place in the contest.

What a beautiful town, a pretty place on the river Tay, home to Ian Millar, and friendly people who actually STOP to let you jaywalk! 
However I have to wonder why Big Ben has a butt hole?

There was a wedding in the park and the bride asked if we would pose with her for a photo, I'd love to see how that turned out!
You can just see the bride off to the left in this photo to the right. 

This is us in our 'Pride of Scotland' tartan kilts, which you could actually order for the race. That way you met the 'official' kilt rules for pleating and buckles and all that fun stuff. They are warm, thank goodness they weren't wool!

Part of the fun was that we ran at 6pm,so it was just sort of hot, not 'aaaa, frying' hot.  They had water stations every KM, which not only made the time fly but also kept you hydrated. There was also a Warrior Class, and they had to complete tasks like a javelin toss, rolling a huge tire, fording a stream. They ALSO had to carry a 5lb wooden shield and 5lb sword the entire course. Glad I didn't accidentally register for that!

I haven't run with Shannon since like 2007, so this was the perfect opportunity to get caught up as we looped around Perth (and around and around and around).

As we approached the finish like she yelled 'Race you' and took off like the tall gazelle she is. You can actually SEE her yelling as she vaulted off in the photo above. We are in the video at about 1:11:00 running in like freaks.

We got socks for finishing, this is my SECOND race in a row where there's no medal.....what the heck is wrong with the world?

One of the other great things about this race was the photos were included in the price of entry. I LOVE that, and I think Zoom Photo takes some of the very best photos out there.  They had them up and indexed by Monday morning too!

I did have a bit of feedback for the race director but I won't include it here as I want to give him time to reply and we can figure out the issues before I go complaining in my blog.  **update** All is well, great reply and resolution from the race folks.

This another one of those races that I wish wasn't so far from home, because I'd love to do it again next year. However, I now have the PERFECT thing to wear when I go see Gowan in December!

This weekend I'll be in Toronto for World Pride running the Pride and Remembrance run. Break out the rainbow tutu, here I come!