I'll be thinking of you all next week as you stride out on a new adventure across Scotland, and will be with you in spirit. Hopefully, I might be with you in person in 2016 or '17 (please don't let that put you off applying…).

I'm feeling somewhat relaxed this year… not only have your 2015 co-ordinators Sue and Ali done a cracking job, they're also way more prepared that their immediate predecessor ever was at this stage.

A favour?
Could those among you carrying satellite tracking devices please remove the old… I mean, former co-ordinator's email address from the email recipient list. I won't be monitoring such messages and would hate for anything to go wrong because an out-dated contact list was being used.

I understand that these are still NOT part of the formal TGOC safety network and that the phone-in system remains the event's first line of defence. It's up to you to have someone at the other end of your email messages biting their nails – they should be aware of what to do if something goes wrong, and aware of things that might look as though they're going wrong but actually aren't – one of the main failings of these kind of systems in recent years.


From the 2015 newsletter:

GPS trackers
Phil Sorrell at Social Hiking (www.shareyouradventure.com) has once again kindly agreed to set up a page for the TGO Challenge. If you would like friends, family and other Challengers to be able to watch your progress across Scotland you can register your tracker device at:
http://tigercontact.wheredidthetigergo.co.uk/h/y/0CDF9486760DCB
An increasing number of Challengers are using GPS tracker devices. From a safety point of view they can only be a good thing but we cannot monitor them at Challenge Control. Please do not use the Coordinators or Challenge Control as one of your contacts. It is important that someone you trust at home is your main emergency contact and that they know what to do if you appear to be in trouble.
You also need a plan if the device fails to transmit a signal – essentially your emergency contact needs to know when to raise the alarm. Last year we had considerable anxiety over one Challenger whose device stopped sending signals. Thankfully he was fine - it was the tracker that was unwell! - but his wife and those at Challenge Control had a few sleepless nights. Should you be in difficulty we do of course want to know about it so please make sure your nominated emergency contact has the phone number for Challenge Control. We will be happy to discuss any concerns they have.

Have fun, and stay safe!

Sorry not to see you en-route this time John!

I did check and re-check and you are not visible in any of my Spot settings.

However my device does behave a bit strangely sometimes as you know. I've not changed it because in my limited testing over the past 12 months show it working 'normally'.

I'm heading up north tonight to give me a few days to 'get into the mood' before next weekend.

Paul M