Eastridge (eventually)

First a visit to the Physio, it's a great system here, you can self refer, just pick up a form, fill in a few questions, drop the form back into the department and within a week I'd had a phone call to set up an appointment.  Four days later I was being examined and having nerve roots at L3 - 4 pummelled and kneaded into submission, I was given some hip flexing exercises (great for the dancing!) and an open appointment for a month, which basically means give the treatment and exercise a couple of weeks to see how its going and if you feel you need further treatment just phone to set up another appointment.  If you don't make contact within the month your name is off the list and you start back at square one.

Odd bits and pieces through the week and on Friday it's back to Fort William for another SDA event at Nevis Range.  Though this time there is a stop off in Inverness to examine a first aid course at Eden Court.  Chris, the BASP Trainer was all set for Mark (the other examiner) and myself to start at 13:30 so with some time in hand lunch seemed a good idea.  Fed and watered (coffee'd), we set to with Mark covering the practical elements of the examination and me the 'interrogation'. The candidates were all Eden Court staff , office, stage hands and front of house.  I think it's great to see such a forward thinking organisation putting a range of staff through first aid training.

Fortunately there was space in their car so I managed to blag a lift back to FW with Mark and family (they'd had an afternoon of serious retail therapy).  Mark and Nic were kind enough to put me up for the weekend even though they had relatives visiting, in fact Bethany (what a star!) had vacated her bedroom for me!

Saturday morning was fine giving us a dry start to get the medical base set up, bacon rolls and coffee later the hill troops were in position and training runs under-way, it wasn't long before the first of our customers started rolling in and kept us going steadily throughout the day.
Saturday's tally: 2 x #Clavicle, 1 x R Shoulder Dislocation, 1 x Elbow Laceration, 1 x C2 pain ?#.  The remainder were assorted bumps and scrapes generally requiring ice packs or cleaning and dressing.
Thankfully the hospital confirmed the ?C2# was severe bruising.
Sunday started with more training runs then a short break for the marshals before racing at 11:00.  By the end of the day's competition we had clocked up 1 x ?#Fibula, 1 x #Neck of Femur, 2 x Knee ligament injuries, 1 x Abdominal pains and the usual run of bruises, abrasions and lacerations.  All in all a successful weekend for the SDA.
Monday saw me back into Elgin to meet up with herself for lunch then back to sunny Burghead.  That evening was a meeting of the local heritage group, this was a 'one off' special, we were allowed access to a 'dig' being overseen by Dr Hunter from Edinburgh Museum.
The dig had uncovered the site of a number of round houses with their associated post holes, one of the round house markings had a rectangular overlay which was apparently the foundation marking of a Pictish dwelling.  Artefacts located within the dig consisted of slag which was evidence of a crude smelting operation, Roman coins, some gold items which were used as currency, small items of jewellery, a Norse belt buckle and some Medieval pottery.  The archaeology crew were delighted with the finds which at some point will be on display locally before becoming part of a larger exhibit in Edinburgh.

Tuesday, back to the Doc's and a reminder that life's a fragile thing.  Time for another implant injected into my belly!  Then a drive into Elgin to see my Parkinson's Consultant, keep exercising, keep taking the tablets and keep smiling (in any order you like)!!

Friday, drive to Edinburgh and blag a bed at Daughter No2's pad.  This was to avoid a very early start on Saturday to drive down the A9 to Lochore Meadows.  Staying at Louise's meant only a short run back across the bridge and up the road a few miles.  The Ranger Base at Lochore Meadows was the venue for a BASP first aid course and I had the job of doing a Peer Review of the Trainer (bungs accepted, (plain brown envelope preferred)).  Coffee in hand, notes taken, more coffee drunk, a verbal debrief over lunch then back up the A9 with, at that time, its many road works, traffic lights and queues.
Sunday, relax.
Monday and Tuesday, general admin, sorting clothes, packing stuff away etc.
Wednesday, wet, get Peer Review report done and e-mailed to BASP office.
Thursday, bus to FW to get equipment sorted and packed for Eastridge which is the venue for a Gravity Enduro.  A long drive down had us winding up at the venue in deepest Englandshire at midnight, therefore it was incumbent upon us to crack a bottle of red to celebrate a safe journey and drink to a successful weekend.
An enduro involves a fair bit of XC riding with a number of technical sections thrown in along the way.  Thankfully this type of event tends not to cause many serious injuries, but as with any off road stuff the potential is there.
Saturday night involved once more trying to rid the world of red wine while Paul consumed a large part of this year's import quota of Grolsh.

By the end of Sunday's riding we had seen a dozen or so patients with one being shipped off by ambulance with a potential spinal injury (cleared by x-ray and discharged).  One excellent thing about the weekend was that the food was provided by The Billy Can, well done Davy and Cheryl!

Some of the bits in between

Another Friday bus journey to Spean Bridge, to be met by Paul and spend the afternoon loading equipment into the ambulances in preparation for the Corrieyairack Challenge.  The event was the following day and started in Fort Augustus with cyclists, runners and walkers making their way over the Corrieyairack Pass and down to a transition point near Laggan where runners and walkers picked up their bikes and set off for the finish at Kincraig.  The casualty tally was light, a support bandage for a knee, a couple of dressings on grazes and a couple of very knackerd walkers who made it to the top of the pass but were then given a lift to Laggan and the support bus.  Once the last participants had gone through my position I sat and waited until I got radio confirmation that they were over the high point and heading for the 'zig zags' and down towards Laggan, as soon as that confirmation was given that was me all done and heading for home!

A few days of personal admin and then it's getting sorted for the next gig.  As it was that time of year to advance my age once again I suggested to Mark, my host for the weekend, that perhaps it would be good to eat out, save anyone cooking and an excuse for a drink or two!  Unbeknown to me Mark, along with wife Nic, had got in touch with a number of friends, some causing a bit of a 'blast from the past'!  As we walked into the Stronlossit there propping the bar up were folk that I had worked with over twenty years before.  A splendid evening ensued, good company, good food and the odd glass or two of red stuff.  A high point came when a fantastic cake was brought in, a gluten free chocolate cake smothered in strawberries!!!  My thanks to Mark, Nic, Ashleigh and Bethany for putting up with me over a number of weekends and for organising the party, and to Anna and Susie for 'The Cake' and lastly thanks to all t'others for turning up!!

Under construction

The finished product

Time for a wish!?!

 













Back to work on the sunny west coast, this time it was a BDS event at Glencoe.  Knowing many of the folks working at White Corries is a big bonus, great coffee, a hot lunch and good craick!  The weather was fine but the riders would have liked a bit of wet to set up the track at the moment it was like riding ball bearings!!
Lots of thrills and many spills netted us a selection of damaged riders, most patched and sent on their way, a few advised to get further treatment at hospital and two transported by ambulance to hospital.  Overall a successful weekend for the SDA without too many injuries!

Pitfichie to Eastridge and bits in between.

Mud, a touch of blood and smiling.

Sunshine and thunderstorms, magic!  Sunshine yes, the rest of it not when kipping in a 'Field Treatment Unit'.  The entrance to the competitors camping field was much like Innerleithen (see last post), however, the Med Base was to be sited close to the DH finish which was on a relatively dry forestry track and well drained from any downpour the forecasters promised.
Pitfichie was only an hour and a half drive for me, just south of the A96 near Inverrurie, the FW team took a tad longer getting there but by 2300 the Easy-up was up, stores unloaded and beds for Paul, Allan and myself sorted, while Anna and Susie had an ambulance to call home.  By 2330 Paul had passed the beers around and we had sused out our surroundings.  The catering trailer was 5mtrs across the track from us and the porta-loos were about 30mtrs away, close enough for comfort, too far in the rain!  Another beer nightcap and time for bed.  Swampy arrived sometime in the night and crashed out in his car.
Saturday 0630, dry and the sun trying to come out!  A test run of the porta-loos was called for before the riders and their followers came on scene, things could get a bit gruesome as the day progressed!  By 0700 the food wagon was up and running, coffee and a bacon and egg roll got thing off to a near perfect start.  The training runs that day brought us the usual crop of bumps, scrapes, deeper scrapes and ?# (query fracture) wrist.  A number of treatments were for injuries received at previous events, wrists, knees and ankles for support strapping, partially healed wounds required extra dressing to protect from chaffing under body armour.  Smiler, pictured above, was encouraged to get himself some elbow pads before he did a proper job on them!
The local eatery was the Gordon Arms in Monymusk, unfortunately for us there was a wedding party in and no further room at the inn.  Kemnay, the next village, was well provided with chip shops, take-away's of assorted nationalities, bars and hotels.  We settled on one where we could park the ambulance without causing alarm, ordered up some drinks and food and got stuck in.  Back at Base Camp a wee bottle of red was opened and a glass or two downed to sort the free radicals out, while Paul was trying to rid the world of Grolsch.
Sunday, race day.  Lurch across the forest road to the burger van, mug of coffee and bacon and egg roll later I'm ready to face the rest of the day.  The easy-up is tidied and gear set out ready for riding to get started.  Through the day there is the regular run of injuries along with re-dressing some of the previous day's wounds.  Around the middle of the afternoon we had a shout to attend an OTH (over the handlebars) accident, the casualty was complaining of mid-line upper back pain, the first medic on scene went through the DRABC process, called for further assistance and manually immobilised the rider, seconds later the vacuum mattress and bag of stiff-neck collars arrived on scene.  The 'hill' team did a first class job of packaging the casualty, getting him loaded into the ambulance and off the hill side.  Meanwhile Ambulance Control had been notified and a unit dispatched.  Paul thought it best to meet the NHS ambulance down on the road from Monymusk village so that while they were on their way to us he could make his way slowly along the forest road to give the casualty as smooth a ride as possible and save time and discomfort for our passenger.  The casualty transfer went smoothly and a short while later Paul was back on site and the race just about over.
We made quick work of stowing all the medical equipment from the hill, clearing out and packing the easy-up away, we even did the burger guy a favour, as he had a bunch of burgers, sausages and bacon cooked and no customers he asked if we could get rid of them for him!!  I suppose it was a bit cheeky to ask if he would fry up some onions for us!  Bloated on the left-overs I stashed my bag in the car, said my goodbyes to the team and left them sorting their final bits of kit out as I trundled steadily down the forest road, out to the A96 and off home.
Domestic chores were waiting to be sorted back at the ranch and on Wednesday a job at Glenmore Lodge. BASP had a first aid course running and Wednesday afternoon was examination time, Gus opted to run the practical exam leaving me to 'interrogate' them on their 1st aid knowledge.
Just a one day event coming up at the weekend so no pressure.

The Inners mud fest, Pitfichie and Eastridge.

Home Sunday eve! First time for ages, usually it's Monday and arriving Elgin lunchtime (ish). At least I get three days in Sunny Burghead before another bike event looms! Ah well, back to retirement mode, wander across to the Bothy for a proper heavy duty coffee and check the papers to see what's happening on our big happy planet!! Needless to say, some bits of it are pretty knackered and it will take a long time before they're anywhere near being put right again. If there's going to be conflict it should be politicians and arms manufacturers who have to do the fighting, confine them to a nice desert that no one wants and leave them to it, no war correspondents, no info to the 'outside world', lets see how long it lasts and the money saved could be used to facilitate what is already feasible, feeding the world!! Wee rant over, finished my coffee and back to put some preservative on a garden bench. Tuesday, much of the same plus a bit of shopping to stock up for Wednesday. Wednesday arrives and I'm taking Herself off to catch the bus to Inverness and then on to Edinburgh, a theatre visit is due, it appears the 'culture' batteries are running low! Back to BH and Wednesday afternoon was spent testing the newly preserved garden bench followed by the construction of a curry, no superlatives required, it was that good!!! Thursday morning, bag ready to go, moggie fed (neighbours to feed later), off for t'0755 bus. Four hours, a bacon roll and cup of coffee later I'm in Spean Bridge being picked up by Wendy. We were heading up to Paul's to help load equipment, he had two events to cover over the weekend, the IXS downhill at Innerleithen and on the Sunday a one day Pony Club thing over near Kirrimuir (hopefully no more 'expired' mounts)(see Bikes on Saturday, horses Sunday 03/07/2012). Ambulances all loaded and Paul away down the road on the Thursday afternoon. That evening I shared a fish supper and a few glasses of the red stuff with Ellie while we put the world to rights and talked psychology!! (Ellie's OU course). Friday morning was fine and sunny (something had gone wrong with the W Coast weather!), a final check of last minute odds and ends, vehicle lights etc, Forestry Dave arrived, Wendy had already gone in her car and Susie was to be collected just off the Edinburgh by-pass at The Byre, a pub by the entrance to Hillend dry ski slope. Dave and I were off at 0800 in convoy back down the A9, a steady run got us to a Tesco store on the outskirts of Perth where we re-fuelled and had a swift coffee before getting on our way to the rendezvous' with Susie. 1230 in torrential rain and having lost the driver side wiper arm near Peebles!! (it didn't make a great deal of difference to what I could see anyway!) we dropped into 4WD and ploughed through the mud into the top field at Inners!!

Photo Gregor Brearley, Sweet Protection.

Paul was already on site and had booked our Base Treatment  Easy-up site, it was a little dampish underfoot! the carpet would be ruined!!  The afternoon DH training was about to get under-way so Dave and Wendy, the hill medics, made a rapid exit to the course while Susie and myself finished setting up the Base unit.  Once organised and ready for casualty action we had to sus out the coffee facilities, initially there were two, one a fancy 'proper coffee' and cake outlet, the other a bacon roll, burger and 'instant' facility!  Both have there place but I know where the coffee was coming from!  Five minutes later Susie comes wandering into the Easy-up clutching a great smelling coffee!  "Where d'ja get that"?  "Oh I was talking to the guys in the Shimano tent, they've got a coffee maker"!  After some cajoling I persuaded her to go and flutter her eyelashes and blag me a cup, telling her she could offer them a free elastoplast if it would swing the deal!!  What good guys they were, producing an excellent brew of Columbian.

Shimano at work!  (first class coffee!)

Later in the afternoon we were visited by Andy and Karen, Andy, brother of Davy Irons of  The Billy Can Catering Company (contract for Gravity Enduro series).  Karen, 1st aid course student of a year or two ago?!?  Now living close to Innerleithen they had come to see what we were up to, it didn't take long to persuade them to turn up on the Saturday to lend a hand, Karen was keen to get involved on the medical front, trainees always welcome!
The Friday afternoon produced little in the way of injuries, the usual bumps and scrapes, strapping last weeks wounds and requests for ice.  Hopefully the rain will ease off and the rest of the weekend will be dry!

Saturday morning, still soggy!!

Saturday and the occasional let up on the weather, but when the heavens opened there was still a lot of water to come down!!  A few piccies might give you an idea of conditions:

Photo Gregor Brearley, Sweet Protection.

Sore shoulder and damp but still smiling!

Photo Gregor Brearley (not riding (more sense)), Sweet Protection.

Oh didn't it just rain!!!  The Saturday team were augmented by Jenny, Donald and Ewan, Karen was also back to get some 'hands on' training.  We had a steady run of casualties coming through the Base, virtually all had to be hosed down to get to see their wounds!  Once thoroughly cleaned the majority of open wounds were Iodine sprayed and dressed, one or two had to be 'toothbrushed' to get all of the grott out of their lacerations!  Hardy bikers! Grit your teeth, this will hurt but fortunately I wont feel a thing!!  Scrub, wash out, spray and dress.  The odd bony injury presented it's self, wrists: scaphoid, lunate, radial head, ulna, all were examined and where there was an index of suspicion of a possible fracture friends or relatives would rally round and transport them to hospital.  Later in the day one crash resulted in the cas being stretchered off and brought down in an ambulance, while we were working on the casualty an NHS ambulance was called to take the cas to hospital.  Cas handover completed  (transfer done in the car park to avoid the risk of the NHS ambulance getting bogged down!!), notes passed on to the ambulance crew and then they were off to The Borders General Hospital.  Later that evening we got some feed back on the casualty, severe bruising, x-ray couldn't find any fracture and so the cas would be given pain relief and released.
The previous evening and that night we were staying at a bunkhouse in Cadrona, the Friday evening meal had been an assortment of curries delivered from Peebles and because of the size of the order loads of extras were thrown in! popadums, pakoras, prawn crackers, the works!

Photo Gregor Brearley, Sweet Protection, in a soggy Innerleithen high street.

For the Saturday evening somewhat lighter meals were chosen, folks selecting ready meals or getting some bits to make a snack meal,
a few beers and bottles of red were also added to the list and as we headed back to the bunkhouse a stop at the local Co-op was made and provisions purchased.  A splendid evening ensued!

Paul was due to head off at crack of dawn for Kirriemuir and the Pony Club event.  Being an early riser I was aware of him getting up, dressed and heading down to the kitchen, I dozed for a while but couldn't get off to sleep so figured I'll make myself a brew, quietly up and dressed I went into the kitchen to find Paul struggling back in through a window!  Apparently he'd

The Shimano guys doing their thing.

taken some of his gear out to the ambulance and the door closed it's self behind him!! not wanting to ring the bell or phone and wake everyone in the room he decided to see if there was an unlocked window, there was, and after clambering through into the TV annex he walked into the kitchen and was a mite gob smacked to find me there with a mug of coffee in my hand!
Sunday and back through the bog in the field!  The girls working at the burger van and coffee n cake place had managed to get their supply wagon stuck in the mire and were having to trip through the swamp in their bright spotty wellies carting boxes of goodies through the rain from van to stall!
We were fortunate to have 4WD vehicles and could move about the field reasonably easily and although most of our casualties were walking wounded we did have another ? spinal injury who was evacuated from the course by ambulance and transported through the bog to the car park for handover to an NHS ambulance.  On a steep 'gnarley' course like this and in these weather conditions the potential for serious injury is high, hand, wrist, collar bone and shoulder injuries are fairly common, lacerations and abrasions to lower leg, knee, hips and elbow are the usual body areas requiring cleaning and dressing.  Wounds can be caused by bits of bike, pedals etc, impact with rocks or trees, or abrasions caused by the same media and including skiting along the ground at a rate of knots!!  This is usually the reason for a toothbrush and lots of iodine to be employed!!
A few more piccies to maintain the flavour.  Pitfichie and Eastridge next post.

I'll just take the washing home to my mum!

Photo Gregor  Brearley, Sweet Protection.

Photo Gregor  Brearley,  Today I be wearin Sweet Protection.!

Moonwalk, The big event

All was ready, well as ready as was possible without the medics to cover the event!  Saturday early evening, lots of ladies of the female persuasion (and a few blokes) arriving at the big pink tent, the sound system was blasting out, people were stashing there personal stuff in the storage tents and re-appearing in their walking gear, plastic ponchos were being handed out in an effort to ward off the dampish weather and meals were being handed out to all participants.  Meanwhile the Rescue Medic team were beginning to arrive, Doctor, Resus Officer, Nurses, Paramedic crews and First Aid teams.  Vehicles were allotted to various teams, the Doc and her staff checked through the treatment and resus bays, coffees were drunk and meals scoffed.  At ten the crews were briefed on their areas of responsibility, a last minute sorting of bits and pieces and crews covering the first miles of the route were off to take up position and stand by.
In the big pink tent the walkers were gathering in their colour sectors which governed their start times, the big screen was on showing folks on stage doing Mr Motivator type warm up exercises to a heavy bass beat.  At the other end of the Moonwalk site the course marshals had been briefed, fed and watered, there were trays of muesli bars to take for snacks, loads of fruit and take-away tea, coffee or soup.
The walkers started at half past ten, some of the serious ones shooting ahead (and maintained a cracking pace throughout the event)!  The marshals had been transported to their areas, porta-loos were strategically sited around the route and food/water stops set up and manned.  The event is a huge undertaking by the organisers and all for a very worthwhile cause.
I and Pip, my partner for the event were sited out towards Leith (mile 14) and so had a bit of time in hand before any walkers were due there, but as things were hotting up at the base, some casualties turning up before the walk started!!  We decided to head off, get to our area to be covered and 'sus out the scene'.  A ten minute drive to the spot, park up and chance to catch an hour's kip before any action.  The reversing horn of a truck woke us, it was the delivery of tables, trays of fruit and pallets of water bottles.  The food stop crew were already there waiting to set up and shortly after that the first walkers appeared, the first girl was going like a train and storming on.  She was built like a racing snake and had the trained athlete's walk racing bum wiggle (sorry no photo, but try this one instead!).

Janey showing off!

The second walker was about two minutes behind, with number three close behind her.  Hours and walkers passed, encouragement was shouted, food and water dispensed by the volunteers, and Compeed, Paracetamol, Ibuprofen and knee support strapping dispensed by us.  Once the main body of walkers had passed through our brief was to move along the route on the lookout for anyone with problems and either treat or transport, but prior to moving off we got a shout from Base informing us of a person collapsed around the twelve and a half mile mark, no further details.
The road we needed to head along was coned off and closed to traffic and had a marshal and motor cycle cop in attendance, a quick word with the policeman and we were off! he told the marshal to move the cones,  jumped on his bike and with blue lights flashing we followed him up the road well over the 30 MPH limit.  Our collapsed walker was a 30 something bloke, slightly overweight, who had just 'overdone' it, run out of steam and had to lay down!!  To be fair, he also had some medical and medication issues which were causing him problems but wanted to do the walk in memory of his mum who had recently died from cancer.  We suggested that he might want to speak to the doc about his current stability and medication, he agreed to this and with our police escort we made it back to the pink tent in record time!!

Dawn breaking near Leith

Back out on the road shadowing the 'tail end' walkers, we were dealing with blisters, strapping up ankles and knees and transporting those few who had just plain run out of energy.  Our last stint on the road was static watching walkers stride out (or shuffle) into their last mile to the finish.  Sunday morning and not far from Innerleith Park, I felt sure there must be a coffee shop open somewhere close by.  Success!  A proper coffee emporium with a Barista making a proper brew!  Two large double shot lattes and a chocolate brownie to share, things were looking up!  It was gratifying to see some of the folks that we'd treated earlier on still on the move and heading for the finish line.  Marshals were with the last pair of walkers and so we were free to go back to Base.  The last of the sick, lame and weary were making their way off to get lifts or taxis, Med Base was nearly empty and striping down, folding screens and packing equipment was well under way, within an hour most of the packing was done and equipment loaded into the ambulances which were going back up the road to Roy Bridge were about to move out.  Paul had some final bits to do but was staying most of the following week to provide cover for the riggers striping the marquee and the guys de-rigging the Moonwalk Village.  In the meantime we were making tracks out of Edinburgh aiming for the A9 North.

Moonwalk-2

Up, shower and off back to the Inverleith Park stopping off at a local Morrison's store to get the makings for breakfast and lunches, and sufficient tea, coffee and milk for many brews.  Through the security check and into the park which was already a hive of activity, forklifts were shifting stacks of flooring, safety barriers and cases of electric cable, and we were trying to negotiate some extra decking sheets for us to run the ambulances onto to clear the roadway and avoid us trashing the wet ground.  There had been some particularly heavy showers saturating the grass and although the ambulances were FWD we didn't want to churn up the ground around the medical tent.  Mark and I left Paul sorting the decking sheet arrangements and got to work rigging the screening, tables, chairs, casualty treatment beds and camp beds for the lame and weary.  Once the tables were in place in the resus and treatment bays we were able to set out the chests of drawers containing cleaning and antiseptic wipes, bandages and blister dressings and all the paraphernalia required to treat anything from a sore knee to  a full blown cardiac arrest.

One of the treatment bays

By Friday evening the majority of the work was done, all that remained to be done was to rig up a control area, set out the camp beds and blankets and allot sets of equipment to the four extra vehicles hired for the duration of the event.  With the medical tent secured and security aware that some expensive equipment was stowed in there we headed back to the Travel lodge.  Both of us were tired and hungry so a meal of burger, chips and salad washed down with a couple of glasses of red saw us done for the day.
Saturday, and the long day (and night) starts.  Up and shower, this time we pack and vacate the room.  This time on our way to the park we stop at a little Italian store where the proprietor dispenses superb freshly brewed coffee, 'fix' sorted we were back into the Moonwalk Base  and getting to grips with the last bits and pieces needed to complete the medical base.  Much of Mark's day was taken up with organising the medical control area, partnering up the various bods who would be working 'in the field', allotting them vehicles and assigning sections of the walk route to be covered.  Final checks of the medical base, ambulances and hire vehicles (4 x brand new Merc Viano!!) Cool!  I got to drive the black one, with its tinted windows it looked like a hearse!!  Ideal for picking up casualties!
A couple more pics then bed, it's an early start tomorrow, FW first, then a long drive to Eastridge, Deepest Englandshire to help cover a Gravity Enduro event.  More of that later.

Space for the knackered and sore of feet!

Smiley (for a short while) Mark , on duty at the med control coffee shop.

Moonwalk

Busy work time coming up!  Get my kit packed for four days away.  A quick phone call and I've got a lift organised so the following morning I'm on the bus to Elgin and on through to Inverness, a large double shot latte provided enough of a fix to see me through the next few hours, in the meantime I waited while Mark  completed the final exam of his nursing access course!  About forty minutes later a text "I've finished, where are you?".  I swallowed off the last of my coffee and shouldered my ruck sack, walked across the bus station yard  to the library and a couple of minutes later Mark pulled up, as soon as I'm on board we're off on our way to Fort William.  With the increase of tourist traffic and the road works on the A82 it was a good two and a half hour journey to Mark's, time for a wash and brush up, load the car with Mark's family, Nic, Ashleigh and Bethany and down the road to the Stronlossit for a 'completion of exams' meal (with the obligatory glasses of red!).
Morning and not at all bleary eyed, a shave, a coffee and pack up to go and help Ellie, Paul's wife and the lynch pin of the Rescue Medics coordination for the equipment transfer to the Moonwalk base in Edinburgh. 13:00, a final vehicle check and we were off along the Laggan road and then south on the A9, a fuel and coffee stop near Perth and we were away again.  Around 17:00 the big pink Moonwalk marquee was visible   in the distance above the roof tops, another five minutes and we were being flagged through the perimeter fence by a security guard.  The medical tent was still having lights rigged up by the sparks team, but along with Paul who had been there all week providing medical cover for the rigging teams, admin and security, got the Sprinter ambulance unloaded, attractive items (any drugs, defibrillators etc.) were stowed in Paul's caravan and the empty vehicle used by Mark and myself to get to a nearby Travel lodge where we were booked in for the next two nights.

The Moonwalk marquee (medical tent front right)

The Moonwalk is held in aid of breast cancer, the walkers, mainly women, although many men take up the challenge as well, raise sponsorship for doing a marathon length walk, or 'The Half Moon', a half marathon course.  This year there were supposed to be in the region of 6,000 participants.
The following day (Friday) and most of Saturday Mark and I would be rigging the medical tent with screens to form a 'field hospital' with two resus bays and four examination / treatment bays, a control station and a waiting / resting area, but first things first, a drink then food followed by another drink(s).  It had been a longish day and would be followed by another one, while the Saturday would be even longer!!  So, back to't Lodge and bed!