Climbathon

We did not win the hiking competition. We never stood a chance as the crazy Koreans that did win ran all the way up and straight back down again; the six of us made a determined start together and did our best to get at least to the head of the family section that we foreigners began with, but we couldn't maintain the pace for long. Three of the girls dropped back almost straight-away and we didn't see them again for two hours when we were on the way down again. Christa set a frantic pace for me and Anne which we all kept up for a while, but once it became apparent that we were never gonna win, I dropped back and ambled up slowly the rest of the way, so at least I got to enjoy the views. Any remaining hopes I did have were utterly dashed when a bunch of Koreans, leaping from rock to rock like mountain goats, passed me going back down again. Anyway, I caught the others up at the checkpoint where they were munching their sandwiches and kimbap. The Koreans were always gonna win anyway. They take it very seriously, or at least the Seoulites I've seen do. They're always decked out in all the proper gear: proper climbing boots and gloves, visors for the ladies, walking poles, and their clothes are made from the latest futuristic materials to keep them cool. Oh, and it's all colour coordinated of course. But we did get a bunch of free stuff for taking part: new backpack (I bought one only yesterday!), t-shirt, Union Jacks to fly on the ascent, bottle of water, 2kg bag of soil (we never did find out why, we just dumped it as directed), many tissues, and certificate for taking part. Mine reads 'Ryan James', but still. I was 156th (out of how many I don't know), with a time of 3 hours, 45 minutes and 19 seconds for the 12km. And! After chatting for a while with his aide, we got our photos taken with the major or our district! Better photos to come when I get chance to swap mine with Christa and Anne's selection, for once I didn't take that many myself...