Wednesday 6 December saw the annual Carnethy Christmas party, this year also serving as the celebrations for the club’s 40th birthday. 100 Carnethies descended on the Counting House, Edinburgh, for a night of revelry and reminiscing about 40 illustrious and elevation-packed years.
Seated around the tables were members representing all the many periods of Carnethy’s history, and the richness of that collective memory was celebrated throughout the night. Whether it was seeing pictures of races (amongst other things!) from years gone by, or memorabilia from the yellow-vest era, newer members like myself got a sense of the club’s history which I didn’t have before. A highlight of the evening was ‘Carnethy through the Years’, where we heard from members from each decade all the way back to the 1980s. A particular thank you to the Spenceleys, Nikki Innes, Gordon Cameron, and Mark Hartree for sharing their experiences and recollections from yesteryear – some wisdom for us young rug-rats.
The Christmas do is also the night for Club awards, where we celebrate the accomplishments – athletic and otherwise – of our ever-growing membership.
This year’s winners were:
Scald Law: John Ryan for his 40 Cairngorm Munros in under 48 hours Challenge
Burns-Scott: Joel Sylvester for feat of perserverance in Skyline organisation during extenuating circumstances and continued work in land access to the Pentlands.
JBF: Hilary Spencely for her win and team win at the Worlds Masters Mountain Running Championship
Radical Runner: John Chambers for completing the 3540km Appalachian Trail
Billy’s Goat: Rachel Normand for an incredible return to running, and several running victories, after having a baby earlier this year
Alt C5: Steph Droop and Iain Whiteside
Junior Trophy: Arielle Muir for her continued enthusiasm for hill running
Handicap Series Trophy: Arielle Muir
Wooden Spoon: Ali Masson and Tim Morgan for accidentally letting a cow eat all their food in their tent while on a running trip in Kyrgyzstan
Trophy winners page here
Wishing all club members a restful festive period with many (hopefully dry) runs,
Neil, Richard, and Colm