Five hardy Harriers (me, Sadie, Mel, Yan and Andrew) turned up for this tough race in the Pentlands round Baddinsgill reservoir on Sunday, involving hills, bog, deep heather and grass, and stony track. On the day, summer arrived with unbroken sunshine but thankfully a strong breeze! With 55 runners at the start, this was a smallish field, probably due to the Ochils hill race the day before. Chris D turned up to give us some much needed support. As usual I was worrying about going off the route (in search of more barbed wire??), falling, getting stuck in a bog, and just managing the distance in the heat!
We started pretty much on time and off we went. During the early part of the race I was feeling quite strong and it was fairly runnable. This report will be fairly short on detail now, as what followed was 2 plus hours of struggling through extremely boggy ground, sinking up to thighs in bog, falling over on any rocky ground I could find and then meandering in a random fashion towards where we thought the finish might be. Chris met us at the top of West Cairn hill (I think!), and provided some welcome direction about where best to head down from there. Thank you Chris! After my second fall, I stopped as I couldn’t feel my right arm after smacking it on the rock, and had a wobbly moment. Sadie caught up with me before the final hill and I have to say I was really glad to see her!! We ran pretty much together after that, chasing the 2nd lady. Just as we were nearing the last part of the race, we were passed by another lady who clearly had been saving her energy for this moment. What followed was a fairly amusing guessing game between us four ladies about which way we should head to the finish, each of us knowing we were competing for places. Then we all ran as fast as possible down to the welcome sight of the finishing flags (but not before one more fall in the mud – Yan, I believe you had a small tumble here too?!).
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This is a tough but great race, and the views on such a clear day were amazing! The Harriers picked up some prizes, yay!
Yan: 23rd, 2:03:10 3rd MV50
Gill: 40th, 2:23:58 2nd FV40
Sadie: 41st, 2:24:06 1st senior lady!
Mel: 51st, 2:43:20
Andrew: 53rd 2:50:50
Thanks for the great race report Gillian!
http://www.caac.org.uk/Baddinsgill_Round_2015
I predict a hot dry summer next year and the minutes will tumble.
such a pity it clashes with Ochil 2000s, a fab race.
R
It’s the day after the Ochils 2000, and there are prizes for lowest combined times with this race for those brave enough to attempt the double! 🙂
Well done guys! It sounds like a tough one 🙂
What a great report Gillian on a great race in an outstanding area of the Pentlands. Congrats to the Harriers who managed round a really tough course and especially to the prize winners. The race is based on an 11.25 mile walk described in great detail in Rab Anderson’s Walkers Guide to “The Pentland Hills”. Rab said it was a pretty rough bit of country and Gillian’s report confirms this. Rab’s guide book is well worth getting hold of, it describes 60 walks in The Pentlands, including the Baddingsgill Round. I was able to get hold of discounted copies a one time but I don’t know if the source is still available.
Thanks Bill! It was really gorgeous scenery, but a tough run. I have my copy of that book!
I agree, this was a tough race and Im not sure how I would have coped with it if the weather hadn’t been so good. It was great to explore a part of the Pentlands Im not so familiar with. I’ll be back!
I’ll be back too – but maybe not if torrential rain!