Day 2 dawn to the sound of bagpipes to get those stiff runners out of their sacks. Things are looking up - you can see the tops of the mountains today. Must remember not to get lost.

The route looks pretty straight forward after yesterday. Another steep climb then a long ridge before crossing the valley and working our way back to Ardentinny.

Our start is not impressive. Having had plenty of time for a lie in we are still putting our tent away when they call our start time. Three minutes late we pick up our control card and head off up the first hill. After a steady hill climb the route steepens until we reach the first control in an extremely windy but spectacular location (F)

Fantastic views and gale force winds accompanied us along a series of ridges (G) before we dropped into the valley at Benmore and started climbing the other side.

The route follows the scenic Puck's Glen (H) past many waterfalls before heading out onto the open hillside again. This time to our amazement we actually find a difficult checkpoint first time.

This time it is David's legs that are exploding as we run down the final hairpins of a forestry road into the Ardentinny outdoor centre where mugs of soup and ham rolls await.

We are wet, caked in mud and have muddled round in 55th place out of 300 starters in our class. As soon as we get the car out of the mud and into dry clothes we are plotting how we can do better next year. Will we ever learn?