The loneliness of a long distance hasher

Statute mile, about 1609m
Nautical mile, 1852m
Irish mile, about 2048m
"Chris running mile", highly variable, but likely to be much longer than any of the above.

The original plan was to start at Fulbourn, run up Fleam Dyke to Balsham, back down the roman road, and then into Cambridge in time for Sunday lunch at the Burleigh Arms. Chris claimed it be around 15 miles, Rachel and Hannah and I were foolish enough to believe him. Rob however had enough sense to bring a mountain bike.

I was feeling a bit lazy and didn't really want to run that far, so I decided to shortcut back to Fulbourn, and in the end everyone else followed suite.

It started off innocently enough with an enjoyable run along the top of Fleam Dyke and across a couple of fields to reach Balsham. It's fair to say that Balsham was not a high point of the day, with people variously suffering from mud, navigation difficulties and punctures. There followed a good few miles of Hereward Relay grade shiggy, some of which can be seen here modelled by Hannah. Fortunately the rest of the roman road was much better, with the large hill (yes really!) proving especially popular.

Total distance, with shortcut back to Fulbourn, 16.3 miles. Oops.

Fortunately, the Burleigh Arms let us in despite the mud, and provided a Sunday roast of awesome proportions.

Finally, apologies to Barley(?) Legal for being an hour late at the Burleigh Arms, which wouldn't have been quite so bad if Rachel didn't have his wallet, leaving him unable to buy beer.