Highland March - 2016

[+Gringo]

Highland March – 2016

 

You may have noticed a distinct lack of information about this seasons Highland March [HM]. Since 2003 the marchers have been taking it upon themselves to walk from ICT’s penultimate game to the last game of the season and in doing so they have raised quite a considerable sum of money for various charities.

 

Since joining the SPL (SPFL) the HM has had to endure the wretched split of the league after 33 games. This means that the HM doesn’t know where the route will be until about four or five weeks prior to setting foot down or up the road. Add to this a mid-week fixture and a week on the road becomes three or four days.

 

In this short timescale the HM has to arrange accommodation which is sometimes already booked up by others as the holiday season gets underway. The HM also has to arrange a support vehicle and all the logistics that go with it. Route planning also takes up a lot of time especially if it’s a new route or tweaking old routes to add a new challenge.

 

Without a sponsor to help costs the HM crew have to foot the bill individually which can be £250-300 each depending on how many are in the team.

 

After a discussion between those that were intending to take part this year it has been decided to cancel this year’s event. As mentioned above, this is a culmination of [mainly] costs, difficulties getting time off work, the awful fixture and exams etc.

The HM crew will be hold a meeting later this year to discuss a way forward and attempt to inject some much needed enthusiasm in to the event.

 

Hopefully the HM will return in 2017 with fresh ideas to bring back the good times.

[Scotty]

Sorry to hear this Gringo but totally understand the rationale. Here's hoping it can be re-invigorated for next season.   

[JodieC95]

Gutted about this year but we will be back bigger and better next year. Thanks everyone  for the support and see you at the end of season 16/17. 

[Joonya]

Rest assured the decision wasnt taken lightly. We will be back!

Walking to Parkhead last year completely drained the enthusiasm from the event for many reasons. Walking there on the back of the Josh Meekings handball incident wasnt pleasant either. 

Ideas are in the pipeline for reigniting the HM spark and maybe, just maybe, avoid the dreaded SPL split.