The southern team shopping on their way north - Alwyn - Diana - John - Colin. Rob taking photo
Tony Payne was the brains behind the whole operation. He explained how Mark Elsegood's round of all the Munros in 64 days had set him thinking. Using transport between peaks this did not seem too hard, so he worked out the mileage required, and decided that he could beat it. Then he realised that the total hours required could be fitted into two and a bit weeks, (a realistic length of holiday,) so the idea of the relay was born with its ability to keep moving non-stop. I found myself warming to his enthusiasm and knowledge of the Scottish mountains, and his initial assessment of me was mellowed as he realised that I was fully committed to the project.
Ian Douglas worked in the same council offices as Tony at Lochgilphead. He was the only true scot among us and knew most of the hills well. He was clearly a quiet conciliatory type, but with a streak of single mindedness that would help him through the rough times. This showed itself in his clear distancing himself from the competitive element in us. Whilst he would move fast, he was there to enjoy himself, and as for moving at night that was very unlikely.
Rob Howard was instantly likeable with a vast range of tales to tell. Unfortunately most of these were about being in exotic places recording other peoples' exploits. As a photo-journalist he had no running experience before he asked to join the team in December. “But you can't run” had been Tony's reaction, but they had agreed that if he could prove himself he could join. A good result in a 2 day event in March had sealed his position. I was seriously concerned about his inclusion as I believe that fitness for this sort of activity is acquired over years rather than weeks. I did not know what his navigation was like, but knowing that it was a cause for concern to both the others and himself was not encouraging either.
Alwyn Nixon, I already knew from way back, a real fell runner with a liking for long events. I had no worries about him.
Ann, Alwyn's wife, I knew much less well. I was not sure quite in what capacity her membership of the team was. I quietly did not wish her to be a runner as it seemed to me that the fewer runners we used the greater the achievement, and I did not see her taking an equal share. Tony felt that on the contrary, the more runners were involved the harder became the logistics. In the event Ann failed to recover from a long illness and had to drop out.
Diana Sherpani who runs (at the time) Buffo Ventures, (holidays in Nepal,) from Windermere was our travelling support, non-running organiser. She was highly organised, enthusiastic and entertained us well at the meeting. With most of us having somewhat anarchistic natures, her fastidiousness was not easy to get along with, but we were all glad to have her along.
Two members of the proposed team were absent. John Redmayne was a road runner from Leicester with no knowledge of Scotland at all, but as far as I could gather with good hill skills. Diana's Nepalese husband was to be the expedition cook, (however in the event he was unable to go and Diana did nearly all the cooking).
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