This is a fab little race. The John Muir Way Ultra Marathon is run on
‘East Lothians most stunning and iconic coastal stretches, rural landscapes and woodland trails. The route will begin at Port Seton Promenade and primarily follow the well-established John Muir Way. Meandering through a number of historic towns and villages including Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick with the race finishing at FoxTrail HQ; Foxlake Adventures, Dunbar.’
I really enjoyed it this year and knocked a few minutes off last years time so well happy. We got medals this time as last year a few entrants complained about the lack of a momento, its nice to know runners wishes have been taken on board by the organisers.

Out of 153 runners:

Place Bib Name Age Gender Time

36 98 Sadie Kemp 40 Female 4:44:44.2
67 162 Tracy Philp 44 Female 5:09:08.5
81 47 Tim Doyle 52 Male 5:16:14.3
100 216 Lori McCrae 45 Female 5:29:27.6
115 122 Gilly Marshall 45 Female 5:50:16.4
120 124 Susie Maxwell 44 Female 5:52:26.7

Full results here: https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=96633

On Sunday 7 Harriers set off to run this race, the longer of two hill races last weekend at Birnam, Dunkeld, and part of the Highland Boundaries series. The race is just over 19 kilometres with 700m elevation, with lots of forest trail and a lovely hill. We were really lucky with the weather – pretty much unbroken sunshine, but this made for a very sweaty run!

Having said I’d never run this race, as we approached the car park I began to get a sense of having been there before – worryingly I ran it just last year. It’s been a busy year, but still…..then I began to wonder if I’d been so traumatised by it last time that my mind had blocked it out!

The start was very relaxed – except when race organiser Adrian told us that some of the course markers had been removed, cue utter panic for those of us who are not so hot on the map skills and prone to getting a wee bit lost! However, as it turned out the route was actually really well marked, with helpful marshals too.

The route is mostly runnable, except for Deuchary Hill, which was a welcome chance to stop running and slow the pace a bit. The view up there was just amazing, snowy hill tops in the distance. If I’d had food, I might just have stopped for a picnic – summer may have come and gone :-). I’d spotted Michael on the climb up, but he vanished quickly from
sight on the descent.

I was relieved to reach a point where I realised the finish was close, I definitely didn’t drink enough on the way round and the surprising heat did take its toll a bit. Stuart, Rob and Michael were in, and Gregor arrived soon after, looking extremely fresh and clearly fitter than he was giving himself credit for! Then Sadie and Andrea finished – both smiling as always!

This is a lovely race with lots of trail and a great slightly longer one even if you’re not so keen on hills. Hopefully I will actually remember it this time around when it comes to booking races next year! It was a good turnout for us Harriers, which was commented on. Go us :-)!

Stuart 12 1:37:41
Rob 17 1:45:04
Michael 18 1:49:48
Gill 20 1:50:42 3rd lady
Gregor 35 1:58:20
Sadie 41 2:04:34
Andrea 45 2:08:26

PBs for me, Andrea and Rob – Stuart managing to get the same time as his previous PB!

As part of Margaret’s training for the Vienna Marathon next month, she wanted a couple of 10k races and the Elgin / Milton Duff 10k was one of the chosen ones. It was a great day for a race, first time this year with no gloves, no thermals, no waterproofs – just a buff to protect my baldy heid from the sun (temperature 17 deg). Course was all road, and someone described it as ‘undulating but fast’, I could only agree with the first of those adjectives, but it had some great views.

Lovely friendly crowd and I could be easily persuaded to give it another go.

One thing I’d never seen before – the race organiser won the race; over to you Susie!

Fantastic turnout for the harriers marshalling and running this event. We are very happy to have been involved with getting this Parkrun off the ground and so proud of Michael Philp for all his hard work in making this dream of his become a reality. Its a great route and a fine addition to the Parkrun family.

Pos parkrunner Time
62 Tracy PHILP 23:07
79 Sadie KEMP 24:30
145 Ngeme NTULI 29:02

Full results: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/vogrie/results/latestresults/

Before the race Sarah Burthe invited us all, runners and marshals to her house for some delicious veggie stew with homemade bread. We topped this off with a lovely chocolate cake that Yan had made. (I think I need this treatment before every race please ;-)) Then we headed off to Innerleithen to register and get moustached up. Michael was keen to get going so headed off to the start while we watched the wave 1 people go off.

Its been a few years since Gilly and I attempted this race. The last time we did it there was snow on the ground so this year it was much warmer. Not helped by the fact we were sporting tweed hats. The first obstacle is a pile of hay bales. Later there is rivers to wade through, balance beams to negotiate and ropes and cargo nets to contend with. By far the biggest obstacle confronting you is the two large hills that you climb, especially the second one which is covered in shale and so you find yourself crawling by the time you get near the top. It was on this hill that our harrier friends were to be found dishing out hugs and loud encouragement. Yan, Susie, Sarah, Allan and Mark were all stationed at various points on the hill and could be heard from some way off, particularly Yan (true to form :-)) So that was fantastic. The final obstacle is a water slide that was so much fun and very muddy. Once we were changed it was off to the ‘party tent’ for a well earned can of juice and to swap stories with our fellow runners. This was a super event, but we were very saddened to hear of the death of one participant and our hearts go out to her friends and family.

Out of 1597 runners we came:

Pos name time cat catpos gender genderpos wave
6 Stuart Sanderson 01:31:18 VET 50 1 Male 6 Wave 1 (first in his category!)
28 Michael Greens 01:42:28 STD 18 Male 28 Wave 2
77 James Bell 01:54:17 STD 46 Male 72 Wave 1
503 Gordon Campbell 02:33:43 STD 281 Male 429 Wave 5
572 Sadie Kemp 02:38:39 VET 40 21 Female 96 Wave 3
573 Gilly Marshall 02:38:39 VET 40 22 Female 97 Wave 3

Full results here: http://www.racetecresults.com/Results.aspx?CId=40&RId=7139&EId=2

A new race for me – the Eildons Trail Race – and at 16.4kms (540m climb) a nice wee race to keep the training up for the looming longer races that are not that far away!!!

11 Harriers escaped the Jan imposed storm warnings of the Lasswade 10K (fake news alert!) and we were blessed with generally perfect weather conditions but with modest amounts of mud (there was talk of hippos at the race briefing!!). This was not a race for trail shoes – mudclaws were the shoe of choice!

For those who have been involved with the Jedburgh Ultra, then all the tracks would be familiar. The race starts on the road just off the A6091 towards the Rhymer’s stone. The start was rather quick. In typical fashion I was initially in the fast starting group and felt pretty good for the first 500 m, but then the route turned right and we started the climb. My legs turned to rubber and Billy passed me (BpR on map). However, I managed to keep just behind him up the slippery muddy slope and passed him just before the first summit. Now the fun bit. The trails on the top are more gravel than muddy so it was time to start pushing and, just like with this leg of the Ultra or the Eildons fell race, I simply kept my eye on the next guy ahead and tried to gain some places.

Eildons Trail Race Route

Somewhere behind, there was periodic loud grunts and curses. A wild animal or abominable mudman? No – just Michael Greens – although, he was covered in a lot of mud at the finish and may have taken the hippo comments too literally.

Alas, the hills were over way too quickly and the route soon came down into the lower valley trails which got muddier as we descended. I have a finite speed on the flat (I really should try to get to Tuesday sessions!) and all I could do was keep my speed as quick as possible knowing that at some point Billy would come loping past. Indeed, he did, about 1 km before Newton St Boswells, he briefly ran with me, stated that his legs were tired, and then sped off. When I crossed the road in St Boswells, he was nowhere to be seen. Curse him!

The muddy trails continued and before long the route came down to the river Tweed. A very swollen river Tweed indeed, with the track perilously close sometimes. This was definitely not the time to slip off the bank for a swim – unless you wanted to visit Berwick of course!

Running along the river, I quickly realised that I could see Billy a few hundred metres ahead and in fact, appeared to be struggling and walking in some of the muddier sections. With gritted teeth, I ploughed on (literally actually) and soon passed Billy on the gentle climb out of the river valley. I was determined to keep the pace up. I could see the Eildons on the left so it could not be that far surely. The last few kilometres were tough. Luckily for me, there was quite a lot of gentle ascent which Billy was struggling with so when I finally hit the road at the Rhymers stone, I ran like a madman to ensure I kept ahead.

Well – that got rid of the late winter blues. Thanks to Billy for making it so much fun (LOL 🙂 ). I look forward to the next battle at Deuchary in 3 weeks – maybe Mike B will be back!!!

Of 125 runners, here are the results:

15th Rob Wilson 1:29:54

17th Billy Colvin 1:31:18

24th Michael Greens 1:34:36

26th Allan Dunbar 1:35:12

27th Gillian Cairns 1:35:32 (2^nd Lady)

52nd Chris Downie 1:48:33

61st Sadie Kemp 1:52:40

64th Melanie Dunbar 1:52:51

71st Zoe Fowler 1:55:11

74th Kate Crowe 1:56:21

79th Gordon Campbell 2:00:07

The weather wasn’t quite as bad as forecast, although a little windy and rainy. Most of us were quite overdressed and didn’t get far from the start before we started taking off jackets and layers. The first lap of this race is quite manic as you are being overtaken by the 21k-ers for a considerable length of it. The second lap is much more enjoyable as you have more space to run at your own pace. It was great to see Rachael Lees and Sarah McKecknie at the halfway point where we picked up our drop bags. Their smiles and hugs gave me a great lift.

Out on the hill was much less sheltered and considerably colder.

This part of the track resembled a stream and there was no way to keep your feet dry here.

The steepest of the hills and a real calf burner.

I was trying out my new ankle gaiters and they were great for keeping out the debris even if I did still have wet feet.

21K:
213 503 Andy Briggs m Male 17-39 2:42:42
325 754 Mandy Macmillan f Female 17-39 3:00:38

42K:
92 1126 Sadie Kemp f Female 40-49 5:31:18
97 1073 Tim Doyle m Male 50-59 5:34:18
98 1219 Tracy Philp f Female 40-49 5:34:51
115 1154 Gilly Marshall f Female 40-49 5:51:09
148 1157 Susie Maxwell f Female 40-49 6:12:26

Very well done to all the harriers who took part in the Borders cross country series. Great turn out to the races and superb effort by all.

Number Forename Surname Gender Cat Best4
Ladies:
181 Julie Hand F FJ 6 (2nd FJ)
31 Gillian Cairns F F40+ 13 (4th F40)
142 Rachael Lees F FS 35 (8th FS)
44 Tracy Philp F F40+ 40
371 Zoe Fowler F FS 43
174 Sadie Kemp F F40+ 44
87 Sarah Burthe F F40+ 48
100 Margaret Forrest F F50+ 58
199 kirsty loudon F F50+ 69
90 Gilly Marshall F F40+ 79
12 Sandra Vick F F40+ 102

Gents:
99 Ian Forrest M M60+ 8 (3rd M60)
175 Michael Greens M MJ 18 (5th MJ)
287 Des Crowe M M50+ 20 (7th M50)
385 Allan Dunbar M M40+ 85
378 Chris Downie M M50+ 116
232 Charlie Crawford M MS 116
384 William Dickson M M40+ 129
176 Daniel Greens M MS 133
45 Michael Philp M M40+ 142
194 Ngeme Ntuli M M40+ 144
235 Andrew McDermott M MS 148
50 Yan Horsburgh M M50+ 1023
370 Billy Colvin M M40+ 1049

Juniors:
349 Lewis Cairns 9 M M8-9 49
347 Calum Hind 10 M M10-11 77

Full results here: http://bordersxc.blogspot.co.uk/

Cracking weather and a great turn out for the last of the borders cross country series. Massive well done to all who took part and especially to Julie Hand on finishing second junior lady in the series and to Ian Forrest, 3rd M60 in the series.

Thanks to Cathy Holms photography for these great photos:

more pics here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/125100284@N03/albums/72157678948072830/page1

Juniors:
Position Number Time (mmss) Forename Surname Gender Cat GenderPos CatPos

68 349 18:29 Lewis Cairns M M8-9 51 14
76 347 19:33 Calum Hind M M10-11 0 56 17

Seniors:
47 175 30:54 Michael Greens M MJ 44 5
56 181 31:42 Julie Hand F FJ 6 1
59 385 31:56 Allan Dunbar M M40+ 53 19
65 31 32:53 Gillian Cairns F F40+ 10 5
87 142 35:15 Rachael Lees F FS 16 6
88 99 35:20 Ian Forrest M M60+ 71 1
100 371 35:55 Zoe Fowler F FS 23 11
111 44 36:53 Tracy Philp F F40+ 29 11
119 174 37:47 Sadie Kemp F F40+ 33 13
136 90 40:13 Gilly Marshall F F40+ 41 19
143 45 41:51 Michael Philp M M40+ 96 32
157 176 44:20 Daniel Greens M MS 102 33
160 100 45:22 Margaret Forrest F F50+ 57 11
165 12 46:30 Sandra Vick F F40+ 62 24
173 199 51:32 kirsty loudon F F50+ 69 15

Full results here: http://bordersxc.blogspot.co.uk/

It was bitterly cold this year for the race and when we went to pick our numbers up at Beeslack High School we were warned that it was the worst weather they had ever had for the Carnethy 5. Long sleeved tops and leggings were added to the kit list in the days leading up to the race and most people took this on board and dressed accordingly. It was great to see Bill there at the start and we all did our best to warm up our legs a bit before the charge towards the hills. The piper at the start is such a nice touch and made all our hearts a little braver. The first push up Scald Law was the usual frenetic battle as runners tried to get a good position. The higher up we got the more slippery it got and I lost my footing several times here. Usually its a relief to get to the top, but this year it was like the arctic tundra. Several hardy marshalls were there to point us in the right direction. Up on the summits the wind and sleet was blasting us in the face so it was an effort to see which direction to go and at times I was just looking at the feet of the runner in front for guidance. Once over the kips we got a bit of respite from the wind and slid and tumbled our way to lower ground. There is a nice stretch of running to the ‘Howe’ where Dave was posted diligently taking numbers. Jan and Ellie were there giving support which was lovely. As we made our way up the hill there was Billy Colvin with his camera and dog, I think he had managed to find the only vaguely sheltered part of the hill.

The slog up Carnethy was tough as ever, but I was glad of the fire created in my calves to stave off the cold. The sleet was like needles on my thighs, I have no idea how anyone managed to run that race in shorts (Des!). The top of Carnethy was just wild and once I rounded the top I could not wait to get down out of the tempest. Once at the finish I wasted no time getting into one of the tents and getting some more layers on, even with a cup of tea and something to eat I pretty soon started to shake uncontrollably, so we headed home for hot showers. Even after that it took a bowl of hot soup and lots of warm clothes before I felt myself defrosting. That said I think we all enjoyed the race in a masochistic sort of sense and were so grateful to the organisers and superhuman marshalls for enabling the event to go ahead despite the difficult conditions.

60 534 01:04:37 Stuart Sanderson M50 4
65 189 01:05:18 Duncan Ball M50 5
86 24 01:07:01 Des Crowe M50 10
150 611 01:13:12 Rob Wilson M40 37
157 343 01:13:44 Michael Greens MJ 4
174 369 01:15:30 Alasdair Hind M40 45
180 289 01:15:41 Allan Dunbar M40 46
196 381 01:16:16 Yan Horsburgh M50 28
215 65 01:17:45 Julie Hand F 20 13
220 243 01:18:15 Billy Colvin M40 60
317 337 01:24:28 Gregor Gorjanc M 115
351 158 01:27:54 Andrea Wilson F40 58 24
352 588 01:27:57 Robert Walker M50 66
353 286 01:27:57 Tim Doyle M50 67
361 268 01:29:39 Craig Davenport M40 92
369 29 01:30:30 Christopher Downie M50 71
391 83 01:33:35 Sadie Kemp F40 71 27
415 206 01:38:33 Andy Briggs M 127
419 105 01:39:22 Susie Maxwell F40 84 30
432 102 01:41:34 Gilly Marshall F40 87 31
471 492 02:06:13 Ngeme Ntuli M50 88

Our guys came 8th in the team results.
8 Stuart Sanderson, Duncan Ball, Des Crowe, Rob Wilson
Our ladies came 5th.
5 Julie Hand, Andrea Wilson, Sadie Kemp

Penicuik 10k Road Race 2017
Entries are now open!
Enter online here : https://www.entrycentral.com/penicuik-10k-road-race

We had stunning weather for the race this year. The sun was shining and although it was cold it was quite still so not unpleasant. When we went to pick Yan up he had got Daniel a running vest which was a lovely surprise and is a very Daniel take on the club kit. It was great to see Bill out on the course and many thanks to the husbands and wives who came out to support us runners, especially Mr Cairns and Mr Hind who took all the lovely photos.

Juniors:
86 349 12:20 Lewis Cairns M8-9 57 13
87 347 12:21 Calum Hind M10-11 0 58 20

Seniors:
32 287 29:26 Des Crowe M50+ 30 2
41 50 30:13 Yan Horsburgh M50+ 38 7
67 175 32:23 Michael Greens MJ 59 4
72 31 32:51 Gillian Cairns F40+ 10 3
73 181 32:53 Julie Hand FJ 11 2
77 385 33:03 Allan Dunbar M40+ 65 25
95 99 35:13 Ian Forrest M60+ 77 2
108 142 36:37 Rachael Lees FS 20 10
110 235 36:42 Andrew McDermott MS 88 28
119 378 37:27 Chris Downie M50+ 92 26
121 384 37:33 William Dickson M40+ 93 31
127 44 38:04 Tracy Philp F40+ 31 12
140 87 38:57 Sarah Burthe F40+ 36 13
141 174 39:01 Sadie Kemp F40+ 37 14
154 90 40:40 Gilly Marshall F40+ 43 18
155 194 40:47 Ngeme Ntuli M40+ 111 37
161 45 41:52 Michael Philp M40+ 114 38
173 176 44:27 Daniel Greens MS 118 32
186 12 47:41 Sandra Vick F40+ 66 27
187 100 47:51 Margaret Forrest F50+ 67 14
190 199 51:02 kirsty loudon F50+ 70 15

The DB relay is becoming a bit of annual fest of many many hill runners now. With a 148 teams of 6 runners each, that was a lot of runners this year – especially when they invade Falkland. Honestly, I am not sure where we all fit. For those who have not done this race, it is split into 4 sections. Something for everyone.

Leg 1: Falkland to Strathmiglo (single runner) 7.5km, 220m climb

Leg 2: Strathmiglo to Kinnesswood (paired runners) 10km, 680m climb

Leg 3: Kinnesswood to Maspie Den (paired runners) 11.5km, 420m climb

Leg 4: Maspie Den to Falkland (single runner) 5.5km, 390m climb

The Penicuik Harriers put in 4 teams this year. I tried where possible to create a fast team and 3 roughly equal teams so that hopefully they would come in at about the same time therefore hopefully creating a bit of competition out there in the hills. It honestly was not that stressful organising 4 teams. Imagine organising the whole race……shudder!

Below is a series of short individual reports from some of the runners. Feel free to add in my comments below.

From my point of view, all I will say is that we were blessed by one of the strongest temperature inversions I have experienced in a long time. Below about 200m, the fog and mist was thick, cold and it was all rather dreich and dreary. However, up on the hills, the sun was shining and it felt like a spring day. There was no wind, and ultimately, it was perfect running conditions, albeit a little muddy underfoot from the meting frost. For Duncan and I, once the initial climb was out of the way, it was very fast and the final descent to the last checkpoint seemed a little mad! Great fun.

PH team results

Not sure if this image can be seen (you might need to zoom in) so final results are from 148 teams:

24th: Penny Panthers: 3:23:26

96th: Penny 69ers: 4:18:15

101st: Penny Giants: 4:23.57

102nd: Penny All Stars: 4:29:02

Fabulous results for everyone – With Team 1 starting at 10.30, and the other teams starting at 9.30, I was pretty chuffed to see them all cross the finish line within 11 minutes of each other. A fluke really as some individuals had to run two legs (respect to Des and Tim) which would have affected the times. I really have no idea how Sandra could not understand my timing logistics schematic!!

Rob

and what is wrong with this – clear as mud I think!!! Red is car shuttles with numbers of people and black are running times for each leg based on previous years. Sheesh!

Full results here:

http://www.fifeac.org/events/fife-ac-events/devils-burdens/1229-devil-s-burdens-2017.html

Lots of pictures here

Michael Philp – Leg 1 – Penny All Stars

A Blur, or was it fog.

Yan Horsburgh – Leg 2 – Penny Panthers

Alarm goes off at 5.30 and my mind gets up as my body lies there going “no chance in hell am I getting up”. Friday was a very busy day on the estate and my body was hurting.

Anyway up, coffee, portage water [RW – I don’t know what this is?], shower, dressed, kit bag, then off to catch up with the club mates. We all have a gander and then off we go the DB race.

Registration was a nightmare – the hall was a mass of sweaty bodies and that was just registration. Them the pain staking part was trying to find everyone (next time I suggest that one person from each team picks up their team’s numbers and meet outside – hasslefree [RW – yes – I should have volunteered captains!!]). Anyway we all get sorted and discuss what were supposed to be doing and where we’re supposed to be and what time to be at each location [RW – some didn’t listen!!]!

Strathmiglo: Myself and Des are waiting on Michael to come in and I run to the hall shouting to Rob to take Haggis NOW [RW – Haggis is Des’ dog!], ran back and within seconds Michael is in and we’re off. All is good and we quickly pass a team but then we met with three horses so we had to walk past and lost 40 valuable seconds. Off again and I’m feeling good – also Des. We both constantly communicated with each other. The first hill – rocky and slippery in bits. Bye god I had to dig deep like never before. Then the descent we were on fire and we took a few more places. Then it was the big hard climb and that is when my team mate and friend surpassed himself physically by pushing me behind at sections of the hill to get me to the top. I swear to Almighty I had nothing left but he persisted in telling me I had it in me and by God I had a little something left in reserves.

On the descent Des and myself took off to the left whereas the other runners went right. Des new the hill and we gained 6 to 7 more places. I ran my heart out on that descent and I sure as hell left nothing on that hill. On the home straight Des shouted long strides big man come on then it was the descent to the finish and we piped a few other runners then passed the honours to Rob and Duncan. I can truly say I kept up with a true legend in Des. Hopefully we can get a team together for next year for V50. Inspired I was with all my team mates and all clubs and organisers. Lastly thank you Robstur for your patience. We did it a small club with the biggest heart.

Dec Crowe – Leg 2 – Penny Panthers

I was with Yan, I only touched his bum twice….

Yan response: 4 times and you held my hand. ????

Allan Dunbar – Leg 2 – Penny Giants

I met my running partner, Julian, for the first time at registration then we made our way to Strathmiglo for the first changeover. We had not long found the change point when the first leg runners Michael P, then Ngeme, arrived and the other leg 2 teams headed off. A few minutes later we spotted Julie coming down the hill and we got in position. She handed the check sheet to Julian then said in mild panic “I’ve missed the checkpoint, you need to go back and get it!”. We hoped that we would be able to reel in the other Harrier teams and set off at a decent pace for the first couple of miles. The long climb up West Lomond began and that slowed us down a bit, but we were still catching people as we went, including Chris and Kate. By this stage Julian was pulling me along a bit, looking like he was finding it easy while I was blowing hard, wondering why I had signed up for this, but hopefully not holding him back too much. As we broke through the clouds into glorious sunshine I took a brief moment to admire the view and remembered exactly why we all do this. A little further up the hill we spotted Al and Gregor and I figured we were about a minute behind them. With a bit of extra spring in my step we made it up to the top and a fantastic panorama. I fished my phone out to take a photo [RW – tut tut!] but before I had a chance we were off again, tearing down the hill. A slightly wrong turn left us having to cross a deep field of heather to get back on the right track but otherwise the going was good. A bit of nice running and the knowledge that the biggest climb was done kept me happy and loving catching up and overtaking those in front. On the flatter gradients and downhills I was able to catch up any distance that Julian had got ahead of me and was often able to take on the pace a bit. We were just about keeping Al and Gregor in sight but not really closing the gap much. Another steady climb for a mile or so up Bishop Hill was a test but mostly runnable, then some good flattish stuff to reel in a few more teams. Julian noted that no teams had passed us, but we certainly caught a fair few. Last little blast up a small hill to the last checkpoint and then a crazy descent at full speed down to the changeover. At this stage we overtook loads of teams who were edging their way down carefully as we threw ourselves down the hill. We passed the first of the leg 3 runners, Gill and Charlie, starting their climb just as we approached the changeover and finished about half a minute behind Al and Gregor, tired but absolutely buzzing with the adrenaline of the descent. It was so good to be part of an event which had such a brilliant and supportive atmosphere and was great to run as a team instead of just as an individual.

Tracy Philp – Leg 3 – Penny All Stars

This was my 1st relay team event for the harriers and delighted to be running leg 3 with Sadie.

Leg 3 started at the bottom of a hill with the fog was still hanging but it started to lift just as we were waiting for Kate and Chris to come down the hill for the changeover.

I was a bit excited at this point, so much so that I forgot to switch my garmin on!!(Slave to the watch). It was a hell of a climb but we were rewarded with stunning views above the clouds beautiful blue sky and the sun was shining.

Didn’t need to use the map thankfully as there were lots of runners going in same direction. I think it would have been a different story to tell if it was foggy up there!!

A nice gentle descent which for me was great as I’m getting worse at running downhill for some reason.

Then a fast finish through some trails into the woods. It got cold, really cold, as this point and the fog was back!!

Handed the card to Helen then she was off!!!

Loved my 1st team event running for the Harriers. Can I do leg 3 again please as there no way I could run that last section downhill of leg 2!!!

Thank you to Rob Wilson for organising this event it must have been a logistical nightmare!!!

Gilly Cairns– Leg 3 – Penny 69ers

I was a late addition to the team, taking the place of one of the many poor injured Harriers. Charlie and I ran leg three – Rob, I assure you there was plenty of running along the way ;-). [RW – the photo says otherwise!!]

When we arrived at our start point, we had thick mist, which added to the general fear. We were all studying the map in the hope of answers but could see pretty much nowt. Thankfully the mist cleared just before we set off when Al and Gregor arrived, and we could see the top of the hill – the very steep hill.

What followed was a painful climb, but made worthwhile by the amazing view when we got above the clouds. Then we had some good running and later some tricky and very uneven ground through heather etc. Next time I’ll take my stilts.

We were running much of the way near Tim and Andy. Thankfully Charlie and Tim were on the ball with navigation – the checkpoints were ever so slightly confusing a couple of times and clearly navigation ain’t my strong point. The final part of the leg was a great downhill track run, watching some leg 4 runners coming up the way. Ellie then took off to do our final leg.

Loved being part of this, though I’m sorry for those who had to pull out. Great company and a fab day out!

It was a nice mild day for the race this year with unseasonably warm temperatures. Unfortunately that meant that the snow fall of the previous days was mostly melted making conditions underfoot rather muddy and sticky which was a bit hard going. Thank goodness for the haggis pies at the Rugby club afterwards, they were just what we needed to refuel after the race.

Results:
69 Rob Wilson 02:08:38
77 Michael Greens 02:10:36
93 Gillian Cairns 02:14:02
144 Eugenio Cillan-Garcia 02:36:02
162 Sadie Kemp 02:42:13
164 Gilly Marshall 02:44:46
176 Kate Crowe 02:49:43
188 Susie Maxwell 02:54:27