05/04/2026
The Drop - Lost in a snowstorm ❄️
The Drop -UK
The Drop Edinburgh - an unknown time, an unknown route, an unknown distance, an unknown experience, no phone, no watch, no maps.
Blindfolded on a bus and driven 15 miles as the crow flies from Ediburgh city centre we found ourselves to the south east of Edinburgh in the Scottish Borders in the village of Heriot.
Not wanting to run on the busy A7 as not knowing the pavement situation, three of us decided to head over the fields and hills to start our adventure and within 30 minutes we knew we were in for an adventure when we were caught in a 30 minute snow storm. Legs battered and bloodied by hail which turned to snow, we had to shelter in the forest for 10 minutes for the worst to pass.
Soaked and freezing we soldiered on after the snow had passed as we continued to cross fields, climbing fences and gates and even electric fences in search of a road.
When we saw a cycle track sign saying 23 miles to Edinburgh our hearts sank, how could it be that far as we knew we were heading in the correct direction.
Cutting through more fields we eventually took some miles off our distance to go and as we began to run on a more accessible part of the A7, the 3 of us then split up.
It was sensible to stay together over the hills as we had lost all sense of direction in the whiteout and the weather conditions for that 30 minute period was crazy.
It took us over 2 hours to get to the 11 mile mark but eventually I got my head down on my own and honed in on the centre of Edinburgh.
Following mostly main roads from that point it was not long before I was in the centre of Edinburgh and searching out the west end of Princess Street where the finish point was.
It would have been more simpler to head to a main road right from the start and follow that to Edinburgh so going over fields and hills in the early stages made it a great wee adventure.
The weather was certainly character building, it’s been some time since my thighs were bloodied due to the ferocity of hailstones.
