Summer was in Forfar today, or this morning anyway! This was one of the first mid summer long runs and there was a good turnout at the leisure centre, including Donald was back for his first Sunday run for a while on a new carbon fibre cyclo cross bike.
We headed out along the Bogside road in sunshine then along the main Perth rd for 5 miles from Meigle to Coupar Angus and onwards to Dunkeld en-route Brian turned off at Ardler and Keith just after Meikleour. We had a pee break once out of the village and regrouped as we hit the cycle path up the side of the A9 but that was it till we hit Pitlochry. We had covered the 45 miles at a good pace and we were ready for lunch, the sun was shining so it was an alfresco stop.
The route to Pitlochry had only two short climbs but things were to change after lunch as we headed up and over the Moulin, quite a climb on a full stomach - just under a 1000' in 3 miles so we had a wee break at the top.
From the top of the Moulin we had a good long descent through Kirkmichael then a left turn saw us clim a little more ten another gentle descent till we hit the Glenshee road where we had a brief stop to re-group and a short discussion on the route back.
We headed for the three cairns a steep climb of 380' in just over a mile but from there, with the exception of a short sharp hill it was a 900' descent into Alyth.
In Alyth the group split with half heading straight home and half to the Tav in Ardler for some rehydration and after 81 miles we certainly needed it!
We stopped for about an hour as it was warm enough to sit outside and cool down a wee bit before heading back to Forfar at a slightly slower pace.
We rolled into town having covered 96 miles at a cracking pace on a lovely day - the route is HERE if you fancy it.
Next week it's the Bothy camping trip so no long run but plenty of beer, mid week it is Roundyhill leaving the clubrooms at 7:00pm.
