Bob Hayward & Nick Baldock have now run 26 consecutive marathons out of the 34 it will take to get to John O’Groats from Land’s End and in doing so have covered around 650 miles. This is all in aid of Podge the 13 year old boy who was so badly burnt in an attack last May.

Pain in the right hip for Nick and pain in the right shin for Bob that was the gift of today. Both injuries are the result of the 650 or so miles covered already and while they joke that their constant companions are, sweat, pain and a fanatical devotion to Podge – today the pain was the main companion.

When running in pain they forget that the ground is their friend providing a spring board for the short leap toward the next step, instead they fear the ground because each step brings another jolt of electricity in a joint or muscle. Stride patterns change, weight is shifted unevenly across the two legs, muscles across the body are tightened in a forlorn attempt to stop the injured leg from touching the ground. All this combines to exaggerate the effort required to run whilst slowing down the pace and increasing the pain levels overall. The run takes longer, takes more out of them and leaves them feeling a failure. The last few days have been like that to some extent although today was the worst for pure white hot, brain numbing pain.

Yesterday the rain got them, today in was pain.

The scenery changed again dramatically today, gone are the low clouds hiding the beauty of the Scottish highlands replaced by mashed potato high up in the blue sky. The sun cast shadows across an incredible sparse landscape. Nick has been describing the highlands as “bleak” and Bob has tried unsuccessfully to get him to expand on that phrase.

Bleak does sum up the Grampian Mountains they traversed today. However far to the left or right they care to look from Dalwhinnie they see mountains higher than any man made building covered in brown moss and heather with no trees, no sheep and no buildings. Up here even the electricity pylons are advertising in the lonely heart columns for friends. The stark, empty, steep ridges sweep across the horizon, one mountain so tall it casts shadows across others, the valleys between hiding lochs, trees and life.

The normal pattern of south westerly winds was also broken today by those same mountains. They forced even the wind down the valleys and passes they were running on and you guessed it, straight into their faces! Did it add to the pain. Yes, thank you, it did.

One bright spot, they heard from Marie and Podge today. He returned from a camping trip for burns victims and had a great time. Hopefully they will see them in a few days time at John O’Groats because despite the pain that objective is getting closer every day.