I've had a very busy week and sadly scarcely any time for sketching. The weather at the start of the week was good and at last the oaks are coming in to leaf . When the leaves first appear they have a distinct orange ,almost autumnal hue . This contrasts wonderfully with the bright greens of the other trees.
This weekend we went to Spittal of Glenshee to help out with the Cateran Trail Race run by our good friends Karen and George. For the first time there was the opportunity to run two loops of the 55 mile route. 12 brave souls embarked on the 110 mile race which is the longest ultra currently available in Scotland. We had a more relaxed time taking down marker tape and doing some sweeping ( checking on the back end runners). As normal Karen's organization was impeccable, and it was a great race. Mike Raffan was the first of the 110 milers in an incredible time of 22 hours 35 minutes. The 55 miler was won by Seal Howard in 8 hours 47 minutes 47 seconds  , the first lady home was Antonia Johnson in 9 hours 17 minutes and 26 seconds.
 The Cateran Trail must be one of the friendliest races around ,a great social event as well as a tough ultra. As it was 5 years since Karen took over the race I painted a picture of Footer castle ( a beautiful restored castle  on the route) for her.