Loch Rannoch marathon 16/10/2016

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gable

Setting:
Kinloch Rannoch where the race registration, start and finish can be found is a lovely little village set in stunning scenery. It was still dark when we arrived but in the light of day the autumn colours were majestic.

Logistics:
The race started at 9.30, registration was from 8-9 for the marathoners, so Yan and I left Penicuik at 5.30 to give us 2hrs30 for the journey plus a bit spare.

Terrain:
‘The loch stretches 10 miles (16 km) from Kinloch Rannoch to Bridge of Gaur in the west and has a recorded depth of 440 ft. The course consists of a run around the relatively flat perimeter of the loch, as well as some more undulating landscape.’

On reading this I had thought, fab a nice flat marathon. Well by ‘relatively flat’ I guess they mean compared to the surrounding countryside and not compared to ‘Edinburgh marathon’. My garmin recorded a gain of 852 ft, which doesn’t suprise me as I felt like there were quite alot of ups and downs as we made our way around the loch.

Weather:
It was a bit cold and windy but fine once we started running, thankfully the rain didn’t come on until we were leaving.

Race:
Well organised with lots of water stations and pockets of support along the way. We were able to park very near the start/finish at Weller Poley Park and so shelter from the elements. We picked up our numbers from the Village Hall and had a bit of time to have a look at the loch and contemplate (it looked a long way to the other end!)

Running:
As you can see from my mapmyrun data I had a good start and was running around 8 minute miles in the first half, but this steadily worsened as the race went on. I think I may have still been tired from Glencoe marathon and I was still feeling a bit of bruising on my knee from the fall I had there. I also had clothing issues, I was wearing shorts with a thick seam around them and after the first couple of miles they had started chaffing my inner thighs. This became more annoying as the race went on and it didn’t matter how I tried to adjust them I couldn’t get comfy. At the halfway point we did a little out and back past the tip of the loch and the half marathoners joined us, then I started to count down the miles to the finish. There was a sign for ‘blind summits’ and I thought yep, this definitely ain’t flat.
Yan also found this a toughie, I quote: ‘Pulled out reserves I forgot I had on Rannoch Marathon. That was the gutsiest race I’ve had since my 20s. Well delighted. Glencoe swallowed me up and spat me out 2 weeks back, still feeling the effects from that race..and there was hills and blooming lots of them.’

Results:
Well done to Yan coming second in his category.

Position C.Pos G.Pos Gun time
44 Yan HORSBURGH 2 39 03:25:21
74 Rachel DRUMMOND 5 16 03:41:59 (Running for PSUK/P.Scotland)
121 Sadie KEMP 8 27 04:00:25

Full results: http://runscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Rannoch-Marathon-Provisional-Results-2016.pdf

Concluding remark:
This was a great day out, mainly due to having a wee road trip with my running buddy Yan.