At 11am on Midsummer Day
The Highland Cross got under way
Alan Fulton joined the Mules
(He’d qualified under the usual rules)
.
Now among us mules there’s a wee bit tradition
And I’m not suggesting that we lack ambition
But, “Try to pass someone and don’t come last”
Doesn’t quite equate with “fast”
.
But big Al hadn’t read this screed
And if he had, he’d have paid no heed
Because he went there with one clear vision
This man, I tell you, was on a mission
.
The guys fae Athletics will ken fit like
When I mention that long before he got to his bike,
The shirt was off, the chest bared,
teeth gritted and nostrils flared
.
Over hill and moor and bog he ploughed
Through knee-deep river, shouting loud,
At the terror of 'crossers he never once slowed
but thundered up the yellow brick road
.
One mile further, out of the wood,
He was on the bike and in the mood,
All the way down to Fasnakyle
he kept it burning, mile on mile
.
On to Cannich setting fire to the heather
He spotted Yvonne and stopped for a blether,
Through Struy, up Aigas and right into Beauly
Where he stopped on the line for a victory hoolie
.
What a way to claim a prize!
But little did we realise,
Our champ is not a nifty fifty -
who would ever have thought him sixty?
.
You see, when Alan filled the entry page,
he clean forgot to put in his age
Hamish could only take a guess
and hence we’re in this crappy mess
.
Now such a farce would never happen
if Finlay Mule had been the cap’n
but the moral victor missed all the glory
and, for the Mules, it was the usual story
.
It can’t be right and it don’t seem fair
Class wins for mules are exceedingly rare
But we can’t let it completely spoil the summer
Though I have to admit it’s an absolute bummer
.
So what can we say to ease the pain
and stop ourselves from going insane?
Not a lot it seems, but even so
it’s Well Done Alan and Go Mules Go!!
For the record, the mules triumvirate reconvened at the finish after Alan, our champ, was (eventually) joined by fellow mules Eric Dodd and yours truly. The fast cycle run had more than compensated for the initial trudge through the sticky stuff and the long hard grind up Glen Affric and, at the end of the day, "a great Cross" was the verdict of all.
Huge thanks to everyone who supported us.
Donations are still most welcome here or, if you must!, try: www.justgiving.com/alanfulton
Thank you!
Hamish
