’Twas a cold and frosty morning…🥶🥶

[Sandie1961]

but with the most spectacular sunrise as a hardy group of 9 from the Eymet Social Runners met at 8.30am in the Square for a festive chatty run. -5c at the start! We had all been out for a curry last night at the new Indian restaurant in the village (rapturously received by the local Brits - there is only so much duck you can eat 🦆!), so it was never destined to be a fast run (for me anyway😂) We left the restaurant just as the bars around the square erupted into cheering ☹️

Shake-and-run had brought her reindeer onesie especially for the occasion and managed to persuade most to don their Santa hats. We set off through the village and then up onto the ridge, chatting as we went along with the occasional walking break on the steeper bits, from where we had amazing views of frosty fields, fruit trees and the stark outlines of pruned vines, their harvest of grapes and their leaves now gone. After a few km along the top, we turned to go back down to Eymet on one long hill, which really made you realise just how far up we had gone at the start (115m of elevation gain). Just under 9km in total in a little over an hour and a wonderful reunion with a lovely group of people.

[Shake-and-run Graduate10]

it was a truly magical morning, although I did reflect on the hazards of being dressed as a 🦌 deer in the French countryside on a Sunday morning when I heard the distant baying of hounds….. Lovely post run coffee in a bar with reruns of last night’s game on the TV 😳🤣.

Coffee drinkers

[Cmoi Graduate10 in reply to Shake-and-run]

Not sure which is making me laugh more, the reruns of the match or you in a deer costume in hunting season Shake-and-run !

[Shake-and-run Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

Totally bonkers I’m afraid !!!!

[Sandie1961 Graduate10]

Forgot to include the profile!

Run elevation profile

[JonathanP Graduate10 in reply to Sandie1961]

Wow! Very impressive 👏👏

[Sandie1961 Graduate10 in reply to JonathanP]

There are no flat runs round here JP. It’s character building 😂

[JonathanP Graduate10 in reply to Sandie1961]

Might depend on your character Sandie! 😜

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

Looks amazing Sandie, and very festive! Kudos to Shake-and-run for donning her onesie. Been there. Done that. Never again! 😂

Hmm, let’s not mention the footie. ⚽️🥺🥰

[Sandie1961 Graduate10 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

They are such a lovely group. So glad we got to know them. When we went into the cafe this morning, I heard one of the French guys say “the English have dared come back”! Huh, cheek. We had our heads held high 😂

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

Wonderful experience all round Sandie. An amazing pace given the hill and the night before. 👏👏👏👏

[Sandie1961 Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

They are a lovely group. The downhills helped enormously with pace, especially as chatting took precedence over pace on the uphil bits 😂

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate]

How lovely that was

[Sandie1961 Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

It was lovely. They have been so welcoming of us part timers. We just slot straight back in when we’re here and they, of course, have much better knowledge of nice routes, so we get to run in places we probably wouldn’t find ourselves 😊😊

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

What a brilliant weekend you and Shake-and-run have had Sandie. I’m glad to to hear you all wore Santa hats for your run as shakes had made such an effort with her outfit. 🦌🇫🇷🤶🎅🏻🧑‍🎄

[Sandie1961 Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

It is rather different being here in winter and so strange not staying in my own house, but it is lovely staying with Shakes and Mr Shakes