Another new departure for the Interview - the first in Andorra. We were relaxing in the Hotel Montelari after a hard 7 days on foot travelling from Bagneres de Luchon along the GR11 and HRP in the Pyrenees. Cali is one of the 5 tough girls who had been such an inspiration to me and the rest of the guys in very rough mountain territory with fierce climbs every day and very long days. After the experience of Spanish mountain huts - cold showers, showers al fresco using the waterfalls, 30-person dormitories, toilets (if you were lucky) 50 yards away, ‘allowed’ to go to bed at 2230 after dinner at 2030 – the luxury of the hotel was wonderful. We attempted to chat in the bar but the 120 dB disco started up and we had to adjourn to the dining room.

Where does “Cali” come from?
My real name is Carolyn, but one of my friends couldn’t get her tongue around Carolyn for some reason, knew my sister was Sally and decided therefore some sort of mixture would do for me. Logically it should have been spelt Cally but the same friend gave me an identity bracelet with its current spelling….it stuck! There was a another girl called Carolyn and it was getting confusing to everyone, including me!

Are you an Edinburgher?
No, I was born in Barry, South Wales, so I guess I’m Welsh. But my mother came from Cleethorpes and my father from Lytham St Annes, so I have Lincolnshire and Lancashire genes.

Do you have brothers and sisters? Tell me about your upbringing.
I have a brother and a sister, who are both older than me. We lived near Cardiff in a village called Wenvoe, then in a village called Dinas Powys until I went to University. We had a happy, normal family life, although my brother had a very serious road accident and it was a strain on all the family to nurse him back to health again – it took several years.

Were you a sporty type when you were young?
At school in Cardiff I was mediocre at sports, but enjoyed the range available to us – shooter at netball, lacrosse, hockey, tennis. I liked skiing and was better at that than other things. I’ve loved horse riding since I was 5 years old although I don’t do it regularly any more. What about the under-water hockey? That came later, at University.

When did you discover the hills and mountains?
My parents were hill walkers and we did a lot in Wales as a family, so I was introduced to the hills and mountains from being a small child. I remember the family attempted Ben Nevis but I didn’t make the summit. The galling thing was that my big brother and Dad did go on to bag the thing but I wasn’t allowed and had to sit in the fog and cold and wait for them – I’ve never been very good at the hanging around bit. We had family holidays camping and walking in Norway, Italy, Yugoslavia. Yes the mountains came naturally but I didn’t think of running in them until much later.

Did you enjoy school and University?
Socially, I had a great time; academically, well, I was always a bit of a plodder but generally got there in the end. I was in trouble quite a lot in the early years of secondary school until I realised it wasn’t very productive. At Bristol I read Zoology for three years but would probably have chosen something else, if I’d realised the choice open to me. I met my (now ex-) husband Richard there in the scuba diving club. That’s where the underwater hockey came in but I wouldn’t say that was my forte. I loved the diving – a club diving holiday off Mull was particularly memorable for its clear water and yummy crayfish.

And after University?
After graduating, we went to Australia, journeying for 6 months overland using public transport (via Turkey, through Asia, etc.). It was interesting but really hard work . We had a fabulous time on an 8 month trip around Australia; just the 2 of us in a Landrover plus diving gear. We went “wild walking “ in Tasmania with an air drop for supplies, exploring the Western Arthur Range, bush walking away from everything. It was really wonderful and totally different from any walking in the mountains of Europe. Any running there? Yes, as training for the walking rather than an occupation to enjoy! I did enjoy the little runs we did in the outback. They really were needed after sitting in the Landrover all day.

What about your own family?
Richard and I spent five years away from the UK (four and a half in Australia), while he did a PhD in Theoretical Physics. We came back in 1981 to Oxford, where Richard was doing a post-doctorate. We were married in the Lake District, where my family have a cottage. We had 2 children, Michael, who is now 19 and Joanne who is now 16.

Where did you do your PhD?
I got a lab tech job in Oxford and went back to the same lab to do a DPhil part-time when Michael was 6 months old. My thesis was in neuroscience and research into Alzheimer’s disease.

So Wales, Australia, Oxford - how do you come to be in Edinburgh?
My husband was doing computer imaging at the time and a job at an MRC unit at the Western General Hospital in 1986 brought us to a house in the Pentlands. My father had moved to Edinburgh about 10 years before, living for a short time in one of the 4 houses on our lane. We bought a house in that same lane and my Dad had moved into Edinburgh by this time. I wrote up my PhD thesis here whilst Jo was a small baby.

You are near the Pentlands and a hill walker, an ideal situation.
Here is where the running started. First of all as a way of getting home faster, as I’d overrun my allotted time on a walk and needed to feed the babes or some other such domestic essential, then as running for its own sake. I started running regularly at home and on holiday. I remember some great runs in the hills on Islay.

Are you a Munro ticker? Do you think it is important to have “done them”?
I haven’t done many - 20 to date - but I do always tick them off when they’re done. I would love to do them all to experience the variety of mountains. I haven’t really got a hope, so I’ll just keep going up what I can when I’ve time and tick them off slowly. Its not really a big deal for me.

And the connection with Carnethy?
I heard about this race in the Pentlands called the Carnethy 5, so in 2000 I had this mad idea to try it. At the time I was doing more running to get fit for the tour de Mont Blanc. I rang the Spenceleys for advice and whoever I spoke to encouraged me to have a go. Joining Carnethy seemed a natural progression and Andy put me in touch with Nigel who gave me a run-down of the club activities. I started off with a couple of Sunday morning runs with Nigel, followed by a night run from Burnt Island in Fife. Then regular attendance at the Wednesday evening runs from KB, handicaps, night runs in the winter. It all sort of took off.

Watching your running develop in the Pyrenees in 2001 was a revelation. I was truly miffed when you came flying past me on the rough descents.
It was Willie who suggested I might like to join the group going to the Pyrenees. I was very doubtful with my limited experience of hill running. My fitness was improving and found that the downhill technique developed naturally. It was so exhilarating. I was elated and excited by it all. The freedom of being in the hills I knew from walking but the extra freedom and exhilaration that came from running was a wonderful discovery.

Do you race much?
Very occasionally. Local and Carnethy events like the Pentland Skyline. I did a leg of the Devil’s Burden with Joanne Anderson and the following year with Margaret Forrest. I’ve done one KIMM so far and there’s one coming up with Ian Jackson from the club. My navigation is, using the kind description, developing. I would do more if I had the time but its not a priority.

What is good about Carnethy and what would you change?
There’s such a mixture of folk from the highly-competent, competitive types (whom I totally admire and have huge respect for but don’t even hope to aspire to) right down to the likes of myself who basically just love being in the hills. The point is you’re not made to feel like a lesser being because you’re the latter not the former; everyone is accepted for who they are and their love of the hills in whatever capacity – that’s what I like. Everyone is friendly and welcoming, whatever their ability. I wouldn’t change anything about the Club

Do you worry about the dangers inherent in hill running?
No, I just go out and do it. People tell me I shouldn’t go out running alone in the hills but for me that’s part of the enjoyment – to be out there by oneself and the freedom to make my own route choices on the spur of the moment. Just do it, as the advert says.

Do you have any heroes?
No, not that I can think of now. You are not trying to emulate anyone? I don’t think so.

What do you read?
Oh, a real mixture of things; anything that comes along. Escapism mostly. I like Somerset Maugham. Lord of the Rings is an all time favorite – first read when I was 16. Some more recent favorites are Wild Swans (Jung Chang), Birdsong (Sebastian Faulks), Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and Ian Rankin, Maeve Binchy, Ben Elton, What are you reading at the moment and what would you recommend to others that they must read? Just finished Vita Brevis by Jostein Gaarder, about to start The Girl with a Pearl Earring. I hope I would never tell anyone they must read anything!

Explain to me how you come to be in the veterinary world, with a degree in Zoology and research into Alzheimers. Well, I got MRC funding to carry out research in Edinburgh on Parkinson’s Disease with someone already based up here. The project relied on using an electron microscope. The Vets had one, so I spent a lot of time with them. They needed a lecturer in Preclinical Veterinary Sciences ie how the animal works before it gets ill or goes wrong. So now I lecture in gross anatomy. But I remember in France last year, when we didn’t know what meat was in a meal, you couldn’t recognise a turkey bone. Don’t remind me. That was truly embarrassing – my excuse is I haven’t had to teach avian anatomy as yet. And Zoology? Well that was a long time ago!!. And don’t tell my veterinary colleagues, either.

Have you any dreams and ambitions you want to share?
I dream of having the time to do …everything!!! But that must be a universal ambition. I’d like to do a lot more travelling, to explore and experience, like the Pyrenees trips of the last two years. There are so many place in the world I’ve not visited.

Are you competitive?
No. A little exploration revealed a non-competitiveness like my own. An internal competition, with a stimulation into real competition when certain situations arise. Well, yes, if pushed by someone of about my own standard, I respond. I like bombing past you on the downhills. Thanks.

Are you a musician?
I like music but I don’t play a musical instrument. I know you like dancing. Oh, yes. I loved ballet when I was a little girl. When I was a teenager the disco was a must and also later at University. Then I saw Ceroc on TV and thought I had to do that. So I got into Ceroc/modern jive and Lindy Hop and all that stuff. In fact any dancing is a very important part of existence for me. I couldn’t do without it.

What about films and theatre – what do you like and go to see? Tell me your very favourite film. I won’t ask about Billy Elliot – as a dancer you must have seen it?
Yep enjoyed it - cried at all the right bits. But that means nothing – ask my daughter – I even cry at Casualty!!! Thought Lord of the Rings was great, as it almost matched my imaginary scenes from reading the book. On the whole I don’t go to a lot of theatre. Ballet and modern dance I do go to fairly regularly because of Jo’s interest, also the occasional musical, play, classical or modern concert.

Who else should I interview?
I was running with Joanne Thin recently and asked her if she’d been interviewed – apparently not – so there you go, she’s been a trusty member for years, so she’s my suggestion. Welsh, Irish . . . hey you may even have to choose someone English next!