Does that mean you've decided not to do the challenge this year? I'm having difficulty deciding; on the one hand I'm keen to do it but on the other don't want to subject myself to 2 weeks of midgies. Of course, they're unlikely to be a nuisance every day, but they will be for some or many days, depending on conditions. Would be interested to hear more opinions about this and to gauge whether most folk are deferring to next year or not.

If you've experienced midgies in July, August and September before, they shouldn't be as bad as that. The weather will probably be similar to May, so hopefully enough breeze most days to help keep them at bay.
Hopefully.