Methven Hornet

Seeing as the photo was taken prior to the first game, and the defence lasted until the final 16 minutes, I'll go with the defence. Next time, though, I'm going dressed as the guy I saw leaving the ground. He was in his late seventies/early eighties, dressed in a kilt, shirt, tie, jacket and a suitable bunnet - very smart - and was immediately surrounded by lots of very pretty, young French women wanting their picture taken with him.

[Whisper it] I'm half-English. ? It's just that I've always felt strange about wearing sports kit where I haven't earned the right. If they sold a supporters shirt then I'd go for that. And I did by my wife's shirt.

Sadly not, I'm the cheapskate on the front row who wouldn't fork out £47 for an official Scotland WC shirt, preferring a plain blue Adidas top at £16. I joked at the time that my wife had spent £30 for a badge. The laugh was on me when this image was spread across social media. ????

Just back from France where we had one hell of a time, experienced the whole range of emotions associated with being a football supporter, before, perhaps predictably, being sent home "Tae think again". And it was all going reasonably well until the last 16 minutes of the group stages... Highlights:- Being at a festival of sport that highlighted and celebrated female excellence. Quirky accommodation in Nice, Rennes and Paris/Parc de St Cloud. The banter and the friendly rivalry and camaraderie between the Scotland and England supporters at the match and on the transit buses. Five Scotland goals, especially that goal by Methven's finest in the Japan game. Being photographed and used in SFA marketing/propaganda. Being mentioned in a BBC interview ? Lowlights/incidents/other:- Being bit by aggressive mozzies in Nice and Paris. VAR Paris public transport officials. A near six hour delay of the outbound flight (positive: €500 in compensation). Best bits:- That goal. The honour of supporting such an incredible group of women. The absolute best: being presented with the match shirt from the England game by a world cup footballer.

I don't know about Gibraltar, but for the other three their better players will be playing in the Italian, Scandinavian and French/Spanish footballing systems I would think.

And having your dreams completely crushed, time after time. But, yes, England do look extremely strong. The good news is that the main player we're going to see, Lana Cleland, someone we've known almost since the day she was born, came back from quite a bad injury for Fiorentina against Juventus at the weekend.

A very strong team, but Scotland should have improved (hah! Where have I heard that before?). So, Nice on 9th June for the rematch.

But I'm pinning all my hopes on the senior team - the women. Games in Nice, Rennes and Paris in the World Cup, and we've got tickets all the way to the final (if needed ?).

We tend to blow qualification very early and then come good later on, so we could be on good form by that time. But, no, I wouldn't be confident.

No. No, we really can't.

On the strength of yesterday's 10 mile run yesterday I've been persuaded to enter the 10 mile race in Strathclyde Park next Sunday. I'm really not ready. ?

Did a parkrun sandwich this morning at Perth. 8k before the parkrun, the 5k itself then 3.1k to make it up to 16.1k/10 miles. My time suffered after a promising improvement three weeks ago, but it was the fastest 10 miles I've done for some decades.

Good luck.

Aye, you wouldn't find a shinty game being abandoned because of gale force conditions.

For those who are interested in these things, Fort William were on their way to a first win of the season after going 1-0 up against Wick Academy this afternoon. Then the game was abandoned owing to rain and (very) strong winds. It was possibly a gust who scored the goal.

Tomorrow it is back to our home parkrun at the North Inch in Perth especially for Christmas (mainly because my wife doesn't want to travel far on Christmas morning) https://www.relive.cc/view/g16460896870 ps above video from last year includes warm-up. ?

Yes, we had planned to do our local one at Perth on Christmas Day but Camperdown Park at 11 is a possibility. ?

Dogs seem to enjoy it so much. As usual, the run director's instructions were all but drowned out by the excited barking at the start.

I achieved my highest ever finish in a Parkrun: 21st (out of 31 ?). At one point it looked as there were going to be more volunteers than runners.

I shall have to try that one (next spring/summer ?)

Hey! I'm only half soft Jock, I'm part soft Nigel as well. ? And, yes, ramps can be cruel. Perth is as flat as a pancake but it has two ramps up to the flood defences at crucial points of the course, near the start and finish. I've been out for three weeks with quite a prolonged bout of manflu and I've only been running since Monday. At that point I was struggling to run 5K, with a pair of lungs that felt a couple of sizes too small, but things got easier as the week went on. Loch Leven was just as I expected: cold with a biting wind. And quite a climb that they made you do three times. I just placed myself to ensure I got round but ended up with my highest ever finishing position, coming 21st! (the field was only 31 strong + dog). A slow time but enjoyable. And I beat the two runners who had worked so hard to catch and pass me. It never ceases to amaze me how people put so much effort in just to stop on the last climb. Forget being out of breath, you can breathe when you've finished!

What? You've never been to Kirkcaldy? You've not lived!

Choices of a Parkrun Tourist The athletics club I'm a member of - Perth Road Runners - have organised a low-key (but very serious) winter competition based upon nearby Parkruns. To qualify for the final table you have to complete five nearby Parkruns during the period beginning of November to end of February. Your average time is then calculated and presented as a percentage of your best time from the Perth Parkrun (flat and fast course). It's called How Low Can You Go (which judging from last week's Christmas social is pretty low - gutter low in some cases, almost River Tay in others), and the lower your percentage, the higher up the table you finish. Now, as my running in 2018 has been shockingly bad, and my base time is poor, with a bit of effort I could do quite well in this. The problem is that I've only done the one run - Lochore Meadows in the old Fife coalfields - and I'm running out of opportunities to complete the challenge. With holidays, a wedding and my cross-country commitments, I have just 5 Saturdays to complete 4 runs. So, I've got to run tomorrow regardless of the promised wintery weather. My dilemma: Which parkrun do I choose? Camperdown (Dundee) 2°C (feels like -4°), no snow, 22mph wind (NE), elevation grading 4/5 (Perth is 1/5) Loch Leven (Kinross) 0°C (feels like -5°), snow (1 flake on BBC Weather), 12mph wind (NE but very exposed), elevation grading 3.5/5, Kirkcaldy 2°C (feels like -3°), no snow, 18mph wind (NE), elevation grading 3.5/5, travelling time double that of the above two. Dunfermline 1°C (feels like -5°), snow (1 flake), 16mph wind (NE), elevation grading 4/5, travelling similar to Kirkcaldy Mm, choices, choices. I think I'm going to go for the quality of the post-race cakes and coffee, which will be Loch Leven. Quicker to get to as well. But it's going to be so cold.

Thay an' a' gang aft agley.

I'm not sure but I just got the impression from seeing many kits over the years that they emphasize the blue and gold more. Could be wrong.