Andrew, Swim Review

Outdoor Swim Review – Loch an Eilein, near Aviemore (Andrew)

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I’ve reviewed Loch an Eilein before – see here – and covered how to swim from the top of the loch to the island. This is just a quick alternative if you don’t have much time and would like to swim out the island and back as there is good path from the car park, easy access from the bank opposite the island and it’s only a few hundred metres to swim to it and back.

REVIEW

Ease of Access:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

It can be busy and you’re likely to see people on the bank taking photos of the island so remember to hold in your gut and strand straight.

Water quality:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Very clear.

Swim Quality:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Very shallow around the foreshore and the island.

Other People:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

It can be busy.

Would I go back: 

Absolutely. You’re surrounded by the Cairngorms. It’s nice and sheltered. And did I mention the castle?

Andrew, Race Report

The Great Scottish Run 2023 Race Report (Andrew)

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If you examine the map above you’ll notice two things about this year’s Great Scottish Run:

First, you’ll notice the route is largely out and back with a large section using the same roads.

Second, you’ll notice most of the route avoids nearly evert park, tree or hint of a plant in the Southside in Glasgow, which is quite an achievement. Glasgow is know as the ‘Dear Green Place’. It has more than 90 parks and gardens. It has beautiful tree lined streets, particularly in the Southside and, yet, the Great Scottish Run chooses to run through some of the most deprived areas and avoid anything which makes Glasgow nice (unless you’re a Rangers fan and love to see a glimpse of Ibrox stadium).

It even finishes in Glasgow Green, one of Glasgow’s biggest parks. But it only uses a few hundred metres as a dash to the finish line. Can they not use more of it? Would you hire a Ferrari to just use it to park it in a Park? Of course not, so why run the Great Scottish Run and not use the very things that make running in Glasgow great.

Great Scottish Run, more like okayish Scottish Run.

At least this year, the route was the correct distance after previous races has seen record had to be scrubbed as the official distance turned out to be less than 13.1 miles. But to do that, they’ve had to add in a 50m detour down a road and then back up again. They couldn’t even add 100m in Glasgow Green. Instead we a Ferrari and a quick spin up to the next level in QPark.

Saying all that, and trying not to be too grumpy, the race is very well organised with groups released in waves to help spread people around the course. There’s three water stops and the route is almost flat.

But if you want to see a tree, try another race. Or try my race. Instead of running around the Southside, howabout running from George Square to Kelvingrove Park, then to the university, the Kelvin walkway, the Botanic Gardens, Great Western Road, Hyndland and Clarence Drive, over to Victoria Park, before back down Dumbarton Road, the banks of the Clyde and longer run through Glasgow Green. Easy.

Andrew, The Sound of Football

The Sound of Football: Elgin City (Andrew)

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Every fortnight we cover the best and worst football songs from every club in the UK from our book ‘The Sound Of Football: Every Club, Every Song’. You can buy it here

Elgin City

Nickname: The Black & Whites

Ground: Borough Briggs

Stadium Capacity: 4,520

Song: Samba Di Janeiro

Since 1917 our sovereign has sent a birthday message to everyone celebrating their 100th birthday. In 1993 Elgin City celebrated its centenary. However, instead of a warm message from the Queen, all it got was a blunt message from the League Management Committee warning Elgin that the club was being stripped of its Highland league title. While birthdays are normally celebrated with cake and a party, Elgin had celebrated its century by cheating to win the Highland League.

Elgin City had ‘won’ the league by four points. Controversy erupted when it was revealed two players should have been ineligible to play Elgin’s final game due to suspension. The player’s suspension was set to begin on Saturday, 24 April, but Elgin had requested its game be brought forward 24 hours. At a League Management Committee meeting on Thursday, 29 April, the league decided that by failing to mention that two of the players faced suspensions when it asked for the change, Elgin had brought the game into disrepute. The Committee voted unanimously to strip Elgin of its title. The Queen, we imagine, was not amused.

Further controversy followed in 2012. Elgin was elected to the Scottish football league in 2000 and had maintained a respectable position in the third division. But, when Glasgow Rangers were required to start again in the third division in 2012, Elgin spotted the chance to raise some additional money by opening its ground to Rangers’ large travelling support by selling nearly 6,000 tickets for its first home game. One problem – the ground only held 4,520.

When the football league spotted the mistake, the game was postponed on health and safety grounds.

Postponing the game meant Elgin missed the chance to go top of the league. Elgin was just two points behind Rangers and would have leapfrogged the Glasgow club if it had won.

Apart from these infamous events, Elgin is famous for winning the Highland League 14 times and being the first and, as yet, only non-league side to reach the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.

Elgin’s badge has the Latin slogan ‘sic itur ad astra’, which means ‘thus shall we reach for the star’. Sadly, the team doesn’t use ‘Reach’ by S Club Seven. For the last few years,’ it has played ‘Samba de Janeiro’ whenever they scored, but this ended in 2012. It was probably when it realised that Elgin, as the second most northerly club in the UK, had more in common with the Arctic Circle than the beaches of Brazil.

Andrew, Race Report

Race Report – Forth Road Bridge 10k (Andrew)

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The Forth Road Bridge 10k should be called the The Feast Road Bridge 10k because that’s what you get at the end of the road: a massive feast. Tables and tables laden with sandwiches, fruit, cakes, biscuits and everything you can possibly eat to finish the race with more calories than when you started. No wonder the race sells out within hours of going on sale. Not only do you run over an iconic Scottish bridge, you also get diabetes.

The race starts at the top of a hill and the first few hundred metres are downhill. Then a slight climb before another long downhill. If you like a fast start to a race then this is the race for you. However, do watch out, as the race is hillier than you might think. The Forth Road bridge is not flat and, as it’s exposed to the Firth of Forth, it can be windy too. But, with the thought of all that cake at the finish, it’s a great race to try and run faster to be the first to the buffet.

Andrew, The Sound of Football

The Sound of Football: Edinburgh City (Andrew)

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Every fortnight we cover the best and worst football songs from every club in the UK from our book ‘The Sound Of Football: Every Club, Every Song’. You can buy it here

Edinburgh City FC

Nickname: The Citizens

Ground: Ainslie Park (temporary)

Stadium Capacity: 3,500

Song: The Racecourse Red and Blues 

The Citizen’s created history by becoming the first-ever club to win promotion to the SPFL via the Pyramid Play-Offs,  after winning a second successive Lowland League title in 2015/16. In the years since they have consolidated their position in the SPFL. 

Our search for a song did lead to a fantastic song by Chris Rogers, which was runner up in the Edinburgh FC Song of the Year competition in 2000. After checking more closely, we realised the Edinburgh FC stood for Edinburgh folk club. D’oh! However, the song, an elegy to what it means to be a football fan, is well worth seeking out because who cannot relate to this:

“My father should shoulder the blame,

For starting me off on this way.

It’s never been glory or fame

That brings me back day after day.

Obsession was born in the 60s,

Never was broken again,

A lifetime of pity began with York City,

A nothing-each draw in the rain.”