A day of supporting all the Welsh Castle relay runners, well that and dodging the rain and floods! A very wet morning caused chaos with roads flooded, landslides and runners trapped in their homes. I received a phone call from my parents back home in Scotland. They were watching the news telling them how bad the situation was in Wales. People being airlifted to safety from flooded camp-sites, lifeboat people needing outside assistance.... It sounded awful and we were right in the middle of it all. Thankfully we stayed clear of the worst areas and managed to dry out a little in between the downpours.
The weather finally improved in the afternoon and we were able to dry out fully. We warmed up, just in time for an emergency call up to the team for Ian. One of the runners had pulled out at the last minute leaving a gap in the team. A little bit of careful arranging from the WADAC team management of Ian and Michaela, and Ian was all set to run the final leg of the day – a mountain stage and the longest leg in the entire race! Less than ideal for Ian in his current situation, but always the team player, he was not going to let anyone down.
Fair to say that Ian totally put his heart and soul into running his leg wearing his beloved WADAC vest. It was a delight to see him running again, but I know only to well how hard it was for him, especially as he ran the same leg so well, only two years ago. I was so proud of him.
By the time we got to the camp-site and sorted our sleeping accommodation for the evening (a van full of two humans and three huskies), most of the food on the barbecue was either cold, or gone! We manage to scrape together a meal, although we were all too exhausted to actually eat it.
By now word had also gotten around about the little puppy that had gotten his nose bitten off yesterday.....
Anyway we ended up having a lovely evening with fellow WADAC members, and the huskies were exceptionally well behaved, loving the attention but completely chilled and laid back about it.
(Photo courtesy of tzruns)
(Photo courtesy of tzruns)
