After the sordid flu-induced disaster of 2018’s Mountain Marathon on Harris, I was determined to give Gregor a “good time” in 2019. However, after registering in January for the SMM, he came back to me a month later saying he would not be fit enough, and could I find someone else. Enter stage right – Michelle Hetherington – one of the top V50 Scottish women on the long hill race and Ultra circuit. I knew she was partner-less and she jumped at the chance of dragging me around some rugged hills for two days. On longer 3-4-hour hill races we are well balanced and are usually within 10 mins of each other. Disaster struck however two weeks ago when she sliced her knee open on the Jura Hill race and had to pull out of the SMM. Exit stage left – I was partner-less again.

After many e-mails and discussions, I managed to persuade a colleague, Tim Kinnaird – who has run several half/full marathons and a few shortish ultras – to join me. With a week to go, he ran consecutive days of 20 kms (with a little hill climb ?) and e-mailed me and said he felt he could do it. Although I had originally signed-up for the B course (~55kms, ~2500m over two days), we felt, wisely, that Tim’s lack of experience off-track meant that we should do the C course (~45kms, ~2000m over two days). In hindsight, this was definitely the right thing to have done.

Rob and Tim – raining at registration

So – last Friday, I picked a very nervous Tim up from Cupar, and met Julian Hall and Mark Dawson (also running the C-course) at the Broxden Park and Ride and so started the road trip up to Attadale in the NW Highlands. The drive was sunny and beautiful, but the forecast was not good. The drive was lovely, but the heavens opened as soon as we got to Attadale for registration. Luckily, it was just a heavy shower and we soon registered, pitched our tent and tried to go to bed early so we would be fresh the next day. I don’t know about the others, but I did not sleep well at all. Nerves getting the best of me again.

Mountain marathons generally follow no tracks and require pretty good experience for navigation. The C-course is the easiest of the courses, with the Elite class covering 75kms (4000m) over two days. Tim and I started around 8.40am (choice between 8-10am start) with Julian and Mark starting a little later.

Start!!! An epic awaits for Tim, Rob, Mark and Julian

For reference – see full map at the end of this post.

The first kilometre was tarmac, and Tim set a way too quick pace with me telling him he would suffer later. We constantly passed teams who had started at 8am. As the single-track road changed to track and then a small path and then no path, the pace thankfully slowed down. The first main climb of the day up to checkpoint (CP) 1 was about 300 metres and I think this was when Tim realised what he was getting himself in for.  However, before we knew it, we had dibbed our first point (always a good mental boost) and the next few check points (2, 3 and 4) went by in a blur of bouncing descent and bog hopping. There was even a short section of trail to keep Tim happy.

day1 – profile

The 2^nd major climb of the day, another 300+ metres, however, hit Tim hard and he was struggling with eating and leg fatigue. On reaching the top at CP5 we then had a rather straightforward descent and contour to CP6. However, Tim slowed considerably here, but I politely forced some salted crisps down him and by the time we got to CP6, he seemed to have recovered somewhat. After a boggy bouncy jog, we had a short sharp climb up to CP7 followed by a 3km decent across tussocky heather and grass down to the last CP and the last kilometre of track to the mid-point camp. Overall, day 1 had been quite straight-forward. The navigation had been very easy and the terrain mostly bouncy and not too technical. That would change somewhat for day 2.

Mid Camp

our 3rd meal I think at the mid camp

When we arrived, hardly anyone had come in yet and we were the 3^rd team to build a tent. There were almost 200 teams running that day. The weather had been perfect – maybe too warm in the lower elevations – and we in fact had a very nice 2 hours lounging around the tent eating and drinking before the rains finally hit around 2.30. It rained rather heavily for 3 hours and we all bunkered into our rather small 2-man tents. Teams were still out running in the poor weather and we were simply very thankful that we did not have to put up the tent or run in that! The weather improved a little for the evening and everyone started emerging to chat and take short walks to ease off achy muscles. We, after all, had to do it all over again the next day.

It thankfully did not rain again overnight, and we woke up to a dry but marginally cooler day. It turned out that Tim and I had done quite well and were 6^th. We were also in the racing start. What this meant was that at 8am the 1^st team (two young 16-year olds who were not allowed in higher courses) started day 2. As we were 56 minutes behind them, we could not start until 8.56 am. Meanwhile, for anyone not in the racing start, they could start day 2 anytime between 7 and 9am – Julian and Mark – being further down the order left about an hour before we did. Tim and I were the 2^nd-to-last team to leave the site. This meant that everyone running the C course was in front of us – lots of people to catch up. The team at 5^th place – the Swedes as we called them – becuase they were from Sweden 🙂 – were only 4 minutes in front of us, and papa Swede (father son team) obligingly had a bright yellow backpack so we could always see them ahead.

Day 2 profile until km 14 when Tim’s watch died

So – the day-2 route – to get Tim in the zone – started with a ~600 m climb. Ugh! This was a steady steep  affair and was a great warm up. On reaching the summit CP1, we had made up some time on the Swedes and were only about 30-60 seconds behind them. Game on. Competition. This is what I run for and love. We flew along the ridge between CP 1 and 2, and we certainly went way to quickly on the steep descent down to CP3 – me oblivious to Tim tumbling all over the place behind me with his flailing road/trail runner legs. Happily, no broken legs. The Swedes had however gained on us again, and we saw them disappear off over the next rise. They however had taken the straight-line route up and over a small hill. Time for some smart navigation. We took the longer contouring route round without any major climb and caught the Swedes up at CP4. 🙂 The hardest navigation of the day was between CP4 and 5. While most teams took the compass straight line route, I again felt that the slightly longer contouring route would be better – but riskier. CP 5 was nestled between some lochs so I hoped it would be obvious when we got there. So – between these points, Tim and I were running alone. Everyone was above us somewhere out of sight. After about 2kms, I started getting twitchy. Had I messed up – where were the lakes? I stopped a couple of times to triangulate – convinced I must be right – but where were the damn lakes. While doing this a second time, thinking I had somehow royally screwed up, Tim had jogged ahead and shouted – “There’s a loch!”). We had done it. If I had not worried so much we would have been ahead of the Swedes, who had just left the CP as we got there. We raced after them and we caught them up (plus the 4^th team) at CP4. Phew – what an epic this was turning out to be!

Unfortunately, the mad rush from CP1 to 6 had done its toll on my legs. I was goosed and the climb out of CP6 and the long 2+ kms of bog to CP7 was my low point. I stuffed everything into my system to try and get some energy back. By the time we had reached CP7 the Swedes were off in the distance. No chance with my legs wobbling to catch them. So we focused on trying to find the optimal route for the last 4kms down to the finish line. There were lots of areas ‘out of bounds’ which allowed for only 3 route options. We took the most direct one, but in hindsight we should have first gone NE and joined a track that went northwards down to the valley. In our rush, we missed the track on the map. Our descent was therefore very rough and the so-called “intermittent track” did not exist. Although some semblance of strength had come back to my legs, Tim did not like the rough terrain at all. However, by the time we crossed the finish line, we were only 10 mins behind the Swedes. They had simply had that extra bit of fitness and very much deserved their place. The second half of day 2 had been much tougher than day 1 – trickier terrain and more complex navigation but to be honest we had nailed it pretty good. Fitness had cost us possibly a place or two, but we are not grumbling at all.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing this year. We retained our place and finished 6^th overall (53 finishers in the C course). Day 1: 03:51:57 and Day 2: 03:57:03. Total: 07:49:00. Pretty consistent to be honest. This was Mark’s first MM and with the ginormous size of his backpack, coming in 33^rd with a total time of 11:01:46 was very respectable. I am sure he will say more in his report – and possible Julian would say a LOT more about “weight advantage” 🙂 .

Day 1 in black – Day 2 in blue

Looking out my window at teatime I was regretting my decision to pre-enter the race this year. The rain was battering down and I was picturing myself as a drowed rat at the top of West Kip. As it turned out I needn’t have panicked as by race time the cloud had lifted and the rain had eased. Unfortunately this gave way to clouds of midgies and we were all jumping around like highland dancers trying to ward them off. Once the race got underway this wasn’t a problem and we were able to enjoy a lovely, if a little muddy race.

Results:
13 Adam Gray M 0:48:02
91 Sadie Kemp F40 1:08:04
93 Chris Downie M55 1:08:58

We left Wooler on our way to Kirk Yrtholm in hot sunshine and it was only 9am!

A steep uphill for nearly a mile on the road wasn’t the best start but we soon went into the woods, trails and more hills. The route to Kirk Yetholm takes you across fields, over open moorland  and through little hamlets with the most beautiful houses. When in the hills you couldn’t look up from the path very often but when you did the views were stunning!

Touching the wall was pretty cool at Kirk Yetholm, a quick camelbak fill up and then straight back up the massive hill we had just run down. I was nice running back the way you had come because you knew what to expect but you wouldn’t believe how many people went the wrong way!  I had my usual struggles and aches about mile 19 but kept going and was encouraged by lovely walkers who you see lots of on the route.

Very relieved to finish and have a proper chat with the various people that I had run with during the race.

Some photos

Map of the route

The weather was perfect, the club members had swept (with brushes) the course the week before, had volunteered for lots of jobs and then turned up on the day with their baking and their enthusiasm ready to support the runners!

The winner was Neil Renault, Edinburgh AC (33.12), second place was Darrell Hastie, Gala Harriers (33.27) and third place was Iain Whitaker, Edinburgh AC (33.45).

Many of you have ran in London previously (I ran last year,  it was way too warm!!) and as you’ll know, I was lucky enough to receive the club place for London 2019 😀

The bit before London 2019…

Before my first ‘race report’ I thought it might be useful to add a wee bit of context about how I ended up on the start line of London 2019.  I’m relatively new to ‘racing’ (my debut was our own 10k race in 2017) so hopefully this might help others who come from a limited background of running.

I’ve always been reasonably active (and accident prone!), playing football locally for Whitehall Welfare for many years (Dave can confirm, he’s seen the pics at Roswell at the Lasswade 10!!) – highlight of that was being part of the squad that played against Celtic in the Scottish Cup in 1996.  I say ‘squad’ as rather unfortunately I broke my leg playing against Gala Fairydean a few weeks before the Celtic game.  I moved on from football and after years of OU study, career stuff and starting a family (I’ve two girls, 18 and 21) I finally got back to a level of fitness, mainly social running and cycling – until a disagreement with a lorry at Howgate led to a first hand appreciation of the NHS that summer.

Fast-forwarding now to early 2017, the running group I was part of at my gym disbanded and I decided to drop Susie a note about coming along to the Harriers :-).  As I said earlier, my first race was our 10k race in May 2017, 47:21 minutes.  That year I ran a few park runs, 10k races and half marathons; those HM’s seemed to go on forever!!, before deciding to apply to run for The Multiple Sclerosis Society at the London Marathon in 2018 (my Mum has MS).  When the MS Society accepted me into their team of runners for London 2018 I decided then that I would seek sponsorship for London and Edinburgh marathons.   New York was added to my list after I was fortunate enough to come through the ballot (I applied on a whim late one night, only a couple of days before the ballot closed).  2018 would be London-Edinburgh-New York.

2018 – London, Edinburgh, New York

Julianne reported on London 2018, so I won’t go over that again.  London 2018 was my first marathon, making it over the finish line in 3:48:59.  The temperature made my time almost respectable but I’d trained for 16 weeks and 3:48 wasn’t what I thought I was capable of!  Lucky (???) for me the Edinburgh Marathon was next, only 5 weeks later….3:38…..better, but maybe still carrying London in my legs?  New York (November) training went well and I managed my first sub 3:30 marathon, finishing in 3:28:30 – a time that qualified me for a good-for-age place in Chicago 2019…

…You get the picture now 😀  I’ve been taken over by this bloody running thing!!!!  2019 was to be Edinburgh and Chicago.  I had applied to run in London through the ballot but wasn’t successful – and then the Harriers place luckily enough came my way :-D, I now had the opportunity to settle my unfinished business with London.  2019 would be London-Edinburgh-Chicago.

2019 – London

Let me be honest from the start, this has now become a bit of a quest (I’m sure you’ll recognise this).  My challenge for this year was to qualify for a good-for-age place for Boston 2020, meaning I’d have to run around 3:20 (the qualifying history suggesting that the cut-off will be around 5mins quicker than 3:25)

Having had the experience of running three marathons I decided that this year I would run a couple of more races and not just the marathon plan I’d mostly followed for my previous three marathons and maybe the odd hill run (yes, hill runs are ‘odd’ for me).  Training started on Hogmanay and was quickly followed by the Portobello Promathon on New Years Day.  Most of my training runs are in the morning and these go well throughout the 17-week plan.  Further races follow at the Devil’s Burden (thanks to the ‘old gits’ for looking after me – my very first team prize!!), Lasswade (…that was tough!  great day for the Harriers though!!) and the Alloa HM.  In amongst all this Gemma dragged me around the Pentland’s a few times too!

London was fast approaching, I’d made it through to taper with no injuries and feeling stronger thanks to all the help and support – at last, my race report actually begins!!

I made my way down to London on the Friday, picking my things up from ExCeL centre on the Friday.

From the excitement of picking up my envelope at the ExCeL it was to the DLR and off to my Airbnb at Crossharbour and my final training run – around 30 mins of easy running with some strides. Around 1,200 km’s of training since hogmanay.  A good meal and off to bed early – couldn’t sleep but at least I tried!!  My plans for the Saturday were borne out of my 2018 London experience, no wandering around London sightseeing (I managed to walk for around 18,000 steps!) – I’d booked into Avengers End Game at the local Cineworld – seems like everyone had he same idea as it was rammed!!  Anyway, that killed loads of time and after a good lunch and a pint of peppermint tea I settled down to watch the football results, then my favourite pre-marathon meal – time passed really quickly and before I knew it I was organising my kit for Sunday (yes, I packed way too much)…

Finally made it into bed around 10pm, remarkably got to sleep quite early – my tried and trusted method of listening to, A Brief History of Mathematics!  Seriously, I like this!

Race Day (…at last!)

I was up around 7am, my usual porridge breakfast and off to the start.  I was only a few DLR stops away from the start at Blackheath.

I always think there’s going to be loads of time to prepare and finalise before handing my bag to the drop – never quite works out that way for me.  Anyway, before I knew it I had all my kit in my bag, and top off to tape up my sensitive bits and off I went to the start!

I COULD DO THIS, I COULD FOLLOW MY PLAN AND RUN 3:20, I WOULD RUN AVERAGE 4:40-45 MIN/KM – that’s what I’d been telling myself for the last few days.  Anything less would have been disappointing.  That’s just the way it was for me.

Off into my 2nd wave pen and before I knew it I was jogging through the start line.  The chill of the breeze quickly disappeared and I steadied into my running, knowing the first few km’s were slightly down hill I was happy to run around 4:30-35 min/km pace, but I was holding back, I knew from previous races not let my legs  rather than my head dictate what was going on.  As the course flattens out and the blue, red and green starts merge it’s a little more difficult to find my own space to run – if you know London, you’ll know that’s part of the challenge.  Everything is going to plan, a gel every 30 minutes, two jelly babies in between each gel and a little water at every stop….I’D PLANNED FOR THIS AND IT WAS GOING WELL!

That’s me at Cutty Sark, around 5 or 6 miles I think.

As half-way approached I was feeling good, comparing it to how I felt in 2018, this was good.  I ran around 1:38 for the first half, that felt good and on track, I knew the second half was tougher, more undulating in the final 10k.  The post-race stats suggested I’d passed 1,762 runners and 326 had passed me – interesting!

The second half continues in much the same fashion – I’m sticking to my plan and can gradually feel the challenge of the pace and race setting in.  I’m ok though, i’m not leaking lots of time, not really much at all and not a large drop-off in pace that I’ve faced before.  This planning the extra miles and experience of the marathons before is really helping!  The final 10km’s had arrived and I knew I was digging in now (only 2 park runs to go!) – the final 5k and I start thinking about the finish, the right turn off Embakment, through Parliament Square and up to Bird Cage walk – I’d give it what I had left from Parliament Square…

…and I got there…!

3:18:23

Whilst feeling tired and a bit sore – I knew I’d done what I set out to do and trained 17 weeks for, sub 3:20 and 4:40 min/km!  My 2nd half was around 1:40, passing 1,214 runners and (only) 56 passing me!

At this point I should say, the crowds in London are amazing – the sheer number, the level of support and absolute good nature is brilliant, amazing support all the way around – and I mean ALL THE WAY!

Funnily enough shortly after the finish I ended up being asked to take someone’s finishing picture – she was from Carnethy!!  I headed off to meet up with a few EAC runners in Covent Garden to reflect on the race – as they set-off for dinner I decided another quite beer / celebration was in order…

And that’s my journey to the finish line (and slightly beyond) for London 2019.

If you get the chance, run London, it’s amazing!!  Thank-you once again to the Harriers for the club place – I’m now at peace with London 😉

Thanks all for reading – I’ll make the next one shorter!  Hahahaha….

Raymond

Next marathon stops for me;

• Edinburgh, 26 May
• Chicago, 13 October
• Boston, 20 April 2020 (…hopefully!)

My marathon journey so far…

• 2018, London, 3:48:59
• 2018, Edinburgh,  3:38:01
• 2018, New York, 3:28:30
• 2019, London, 3:18:23

We had fantastic weather for this years bog trot. With glorious sunshine and warmer than expected temperatures. The route was altered as there had been some rock fall on the Radical Road so they were unable to use this section as it is currently closed to the public. This led to much discussion before the race as to where exactly the route went.

And much discussion afterwards as to whether it was prefered to the traditional one.
It was great to have Bill there at the start and he reminded us we should be warming up before hand. Being a shorter race it is quite intense and demanding. At the prize giving I was shocked to be awarded the FV40 prize and Des won MV50, beer galore! Juliane came away with a spot prize of some brown socks in true HBT fashion.

Results:

Des 35:50
Juliane 46:05
Sadie 49:53
Chris 51:38

The Kassios Dias running festival takes place on the Greek island of Corfu and features a number of trail races of varying distances, all held on the same day, that showcase the mountainous forest terrain.  This year was the 9th running of the event, but the first time with all-new extended routes: a 35km “Twin Peaks” trail, 19km “Erimitis” trail, 9km charity race and a 1200m children’s race.  I was taking part in the longer race, described by the organisers as: “a total of 35km and 2,100m elevation. It will combine the North-East side of Corfu, the two highest peaks of our island, traditional hamlets, forest footpaths, alongside the coastal area of the pure and unspoilt natural environment, our own ecosystem, Erimitis, which is abundant in flora and fauna, rare and distinct in this area only, there are three lakes (home to the otter Lutra Lutra) and remote paths which will make the event an unforgettable experience. The runners will have the opportunity to try out their ability and strength in what is considered to be a demanding race, on a variety of terrain, constant ascents and descents, constantly challenging the runner.”

The night before the race was quite stormy, and the rain was still falling along with a chilly breeze as we gathered by the harbour at Kassiopi for an 8am start.  I had been fearing hot, humid conditions and a battle with dehydration, but ended up with some very Scottish-like weather which probably suited me a lot more than it did the locals!  The route took the main road out of town and then headed for the hills, following tarmac for about a mile before turning off onto trail paths.  The terrain from here on out was truly epic, probably the most technical I’ve ever seen, winding round dense forest and scrambling up (not-quite-so) dried up riverbeds, past abandoned villages and grazing goat herds, all the while climbing continuously for the entire first half of the race to reach the two highest points on the island.

The “Twin Peaks” were shrouded in cloud, so we were robbed of the views but the course was very well sign posted with orange markers, meaning there was no risk of getting lost, even on the more “vague” sections of trail.  Once the mountains were out of the way, life became a lot easier as we headed back down to the coast, but roads were still an endangered species and it was fairly slow going navigating the slippery stones and mud.  The final 5 miles hugged the coastline as the sun finally made an appearance, taking us along some pebble beaches before returning to the town and back to where we started.

I was intending to use this race as a stepping stone towards the Highland Fling and Cateran 55, but it quickly became an endurance test in its own right as the difficult terrain combined with the rapid early ascent to make the first 10 miles some of the most brutal I’ve ever run.  The gentler second half made it easier to enjoy the race and the relatively slow pace meant that I crossed the finish line still feeling pretty good, ending up in 6th place overall and 3rd in my age category (full results: https://kassiosdias.gr/en/apotelesma/2019/ ).  I would highly recommended this event, and Corfu in general, for anyone who loves hills, trails and good food afterwards!

Never having been to Kielder before I was excited to see what it was like and experience the ‘dark sky’ I arrived the night before with Billy and our dog Skye. We drove up to one of the top carparks where you are allowed to park overnight for a tenner. The skies didn’t dissapoint and we were treated to a spectacular view of the stars amongst the high conifers. We settled down for a kip in the back of the van and after a bit of barking from Skye whenever there was a strange noise we were able to get some shuteye. It’s been a while since we have slept in the van and I had forgotten how cold it could be, after getting up and putting more clothes on I was able to drift into a sleep. We were disturbed quite early however as the 100k race registration opened at 5.30AM at the castle just down the road from us.
I headed down at 7.30 for my registration and after the usual faffing was ready to go at 9.30. I met Alan and Lynne who were doing the 20 mile race, I also bumped into Nicola Duncan who was the only other person I knew, she of course went on to win the ladies race.
The route is beautiful and rather hilly. It reminded me of Glentress marathon a bit which High terrain events also organise. There is alot of mountain biking at Kielder and much of the route was on these trails, There were also some nice sections by Kielder water. There were many people out walking or fishing and just enjoying the scenery.
We had planned to stay another night in the van but after the race I was eager to just get home for a hot shower, some homecooked food and a good nights sleep. I would like to go back and explore the area some more although I have been told the midges are vicious there so I will have to pick my timimg carefully.

Results:
50K
Sadie Kemp Finish Time 05:16:09 Overall 36 / 143 Gender 5 / 51 Category 1 / 20
20 mile
Alan Thornburrow Finish Time 03:58:14 Overall 40 / 78 Gender 27 / 41 Category 12 / 14
Lynne Stevely Finish Time 03:58:58 Overall 42 / 78 Gender 14 / 37 Category 4 / 12

After missing last years race due to snow it was great to find myself at the start of this years race. Big thanks to Alan who drove most of us through. Although the weather was wet and wild and windy the race was very enjoyable. It is an out and back route so we all had the pleasure of cheering Adam on as he steamed past us to win the race. It is hillier than I had anticipated, being around a loch. Michael Philp was the official photographer and captured some fantastic images of the marathon and the half and 10k which were also on as part of the Loch Katrine running festival. The races are in aid of Alzheimers Scotland. At the end of the race we all received a reusable cup which I thought was a great idea.

Photos: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN6jaftB7CkweQoupV8jFgLBVqAve2j_cHRGbaP6DMehIQGaL62IOGVPjlnh37pyQ?key=alQwVjkzNGJ6dXN4QUR3NzFBXzBaSWxEdmtaSFJ3

Results:
Time, position, gender position, gender/category position:

Adam Gray 02:55:04 Male 1 Senior 1 1
Sadie Kemp 03:56:16 Female 6 Veteran 14 1
Tracy Philp 04:14:36 Female 12 Veteran 22 5
Mark Dawson 05:05:00 Male 60 Veteran50 22 17
Alan Thornburrow 05:05:00 Male 60 Veteran 38 31

Saturday 23 March 2019

I entered this race as a practice night run ahead of this year’s big one, the West Highland Way Race. The race is organised by Trail Outlaws, who always put on a fantastic event, with an army of cheery marshals to pamper you along the way. The race is based in Kielder Forest, Northumberland – a ‘dark sky’ park, as there is very little light pollution due to its remote location. Race HQ was Hawkhirst Scout Activity Centre, where I had booked a bunk in one of the cabins to crash in after the race. I also persuaded my Project Awesome buddy and fellow WHW race first timer, Chiara Franzosi, to chum me along and we drove down together, chatting excitedly about the night ahead.

The race starts at 17:30, so it is still daylight for the first hour or so. As we gathered at the start line, fiddling with head torches and trying to calm pre-race nerves, Chiara and I agreed that a successful outcome for this race would be to ‘finish without face-planting’! I guess I should also have treated the race as a long training run, but as soon as I pinned my race number to my Harriers vest, I knew I wouldn’t be able to! Race mode was on, and when the start gun went I picked my way through the crowd until it began to spread out.

The route follows the Lakeside Way clockwise round the shoreline of Kielder Water. The trail is very runnable, but also very undulating, climbing more than 2100 feet over the distance. I was glad of my recent hill training, as it seemed I was either running up or downhill at any given point, without much flat. This explained the slower finish times from previous years compared to standard marathon times. Plus I also figured that running in the dark would add an extra challenge. I had pondered a sub 4-hour finish, with 3:45 in my head as a gold target. As I reached the top of the lake the light drizzle that started when we set off turned into a proper rain shower. Sadly, it looked like we were not going to be blessed with clear, starry skies that night (there was aurora borealis forecast too), but the rain soon stopped and gave way to a spectacular bright pink sunset. At this point I had been steadily moving my way up the field, picking off a few female runners here and there. I had no idea who was ahead of me or how many, but as I was admiring the sunset one of the ladies I’d passed earlier trotted past me again. I kept pace with her for a few miles, but lost her again once the darkness descended. I popped my head torch on as we headed into the trees on the north shore, and tried not to trip over the branches and twigs that littered the forest floor.

I was feeling pretty good as the sun disappeared over the horizon. I ran every hill as hard as I could and used the downhills to make up some speed. I had Tailwind in my hydration pack and some Kendal Mint Cake in my pockets for an extra boost. The Tailwind was mixed a bit too strong though, and started to make me really thirsty. As I approached the third checkpoint at the dam at the east end of the lake (the first one I stopped at) I downed a couple of cups of water. I must have drunk them too fast as when I headed out across the dam I got a terrible stitch on both sides and had to run for a while with my fingers jabbed into my ribs. This was 17 miles in so told myself that I’d broken the back of the race and I could relax a bit from here. I looked back across the lake and saw miles of head torches bobbing along the shoreline, which was really cool. To my amusement and shock I also got hit in the head by enormous moths a couple of times, which I presume were attracted by the bright lights!

The route had been very well marked with reflective tape, but the south shore had lots of roads and other paths crossing it, and you had to concentrate on where you were going to stay on track. It was very dark at this point and I felt lucky that my head torch was holding out and not bouncing about too much, as I’d heard that you can get motion sickness from running with them for a long time. There are a few dwellings dotted around the lake but all in all there’s very little to help orientate you except the reflective tape and your watch, which I was now struggling to see in the dark. I decided not to keep looking at my watch after 22 miles, but having passed half marathon point in around 1:45, I was sure I’d be close to a 3:45 finish.

The last checkpoint on this route is less than 2 miles from the finish line, and was lit up like a theme park with fairy lights. There were a few spectators milling about too, which was lovely. As I stopped for another cup of water the marshal told me I was second lady, so I decided to get a shift on if I was to hold that position to the end. I’d passed one more female runner a mile or so back, so pushed my speed up a little. Everything was beginning to hurt but I told my legs to shut up and that I’d be finished soon. Half a mile out of the CP I glanced back and was satisfied that the head torches were sufficiently far behind me not to panic. Just then I spotted a runner sitting at the side of the trail clutching his legs. I stopped and asked if he was OK and in a broad Northumberland accent he asked if a piggyback would be out of the question! I politely declined and went on my way!

The road back up to Hawkhirst Scout Camp had been strung with blue and white fairy lights, leading to the finish inside the Race HQ. Once inside I had my wristband scanned and my kit checked to make sure I’d not scrimped on anything. The mandatory kit list is quite extensive, but there for your own safety. If I hadn’t had everything on the list I’d have been disqualified and my time removed from the results. As it happened though, I was confirmed as 2^nd lady and also 1^st F40, which was a lovely surprise. I spotted the lady who’d passed me on the north shore and we shook hands and chatted about the race and about Penicuik – which she and her husband had visited recently to climb the Pentlands. Not only was she 1^st lady but also 1^st F50! A young Norwegian lad won the race in 02:52:00, a crazy time for that course.

I nipped back to the cabin for a shower (or should that be nippy shower due to back-pack induced chafing) and just got back in time for the prize giving, where I bagged myself some impressive bling (beer: model’s own). Then I headed to the canteen to refuel with a humungous plate of chilli and a slab of Victoria sponge. My buddy Chiara appeared soon after. She’d had a bad run and had been sick several times along the course. But, in true ultra runner style she kept pushing on and finished the race in under 4.5 hours. What a champ. WHW we’re coming at ya!

Result: 03:44:45, 2^nd female, 1^st F40, 20^th overall

Full results here.

An amazing day for the Harriers with a great turnout and prizes galore being won, with the club claiming overall race winner (Adam Gray), 1st male team (Adam, Ritchie Thomson and John Gibbs) and (eventually, after the results had been subjected to scrutiny) 1st female team (Gemma Towersey, Jan Dawson and Edite Gailite), making this one of our most successful days on the roads ever!

The race is nice and local, organised by Lasswade Athletics Club, and according to the official description:

“comprises a ten mile loop set in a scenic, rural location, run mainly on ‘B’ and ‘C’ class roads, and unclassified routes. Starting at the west of Rosewell village, the route follows a gentle incline to Gourlaw Farm before dropping down to the bottom of Roslin Glen at two miles, followed by a steep rise for 400 metres, after which it is nice and easy before dropping to the four mile mark in the village of Auchendinny.  There is a climb between the fifth and six miles thereafter, apart from a small hump at around seven miles, the route is generally downhill into Rosewell.”

It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and sunshine, but a strong wind threatened to make life a bit harder than it could have been (a definite improvement on the previous year’s weather though, when the race was called off due to the Beast From the East).  After registering and spending too long in the warmth of the clubhouse, we set off into the chilly breeze towards the start and debated how many layers we would need to wear.

Nearly 300 runners were taking part and we all assembled on the road at the end of the village, facing into the wind, for the start at high noon.  The first half of the race was the hardest by far, with two significant climbs made all the harder by being against the headwind: the descent into Roslin Glen was enjoyably speedy, but there was an instant price to be paid for it with a steep slog to get back out (thank you to Gillian and family for providing much needed support at this point!); then came Auchendinny and the longer climb, which felt like it would never end (more great support at the crossroads from Bill and Billy!).

Once that was over, things got a lot easier in the second half, with the wind (mostly) at our backs and some downhills on nice quiet roads that zig-zagged through farms and the abandoned (haunted?) hospital at Rosslynlee.  Running back into Rosewell, it seemed like the end was in sight but there was a little detour of about a mile out towards Whitehall House, with the road becoming a bit rougher, muddier and more trail like which may have caused a few slip ups for people in flat running shoes!

We were greeted at the finishing line by a very proud Dave, who was in charge of timekeeping.  The person taking note of finishers’ numbers made a mistake with Gemma’s unfortunately, which meant it took an extra day for us to find out that we had won 1st female team.  A very generous buffet was provided back in the clubhouse while we waited for the presentations, which rounded off a cracking day!

Thank you to Michael Philp and Billy Dickson for the photos!

Results

1 Adam Gray 57.04
6 Ritchie Thomson 61.14
9 John Gibbs 61.51
38 Gemma Towersey 68.11
58 Raymond Richford 70.41
64 Allan Dunbar 71.16
109 Jan Dawson 76.17
120 Edite Gailite 78.05
123 Rachel Drummond 78.19
160 Gordon Campbell 81.17
171 Tracy Philp 82.31
217 Alan Black 88.22
231 Dyane Harvey 90.49
264 Scott Cairns 101.31
279 Sylvia Hamilton 114.33

Full results: http://www.lasswade-ac.org.uk/club/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Results-Unscrutinised3.pdf

The leg one runners got all our teams off to a great start, with only one minor hiccup. Adam finished his leg without the orineteering card needed to mark the checkpoints, this was quickly rectified and their race continued well with Michael and Rob. (The image below of them running was taken as they ran the leg 3 route as a cool down, notice the lack of number!) The conditions for the race this year were challenging with cloud over the peaks. This lead to a few navigation problems for Kevin and Mark and cost them a bit of time.

I on the other hand didn’t take any wrong turns this year (unlike last year) and enjoyed my run with Gillian and Romana. Unfortunately Juliane had to pull out of the womens team as her little dog needed some TLC so I ran 2 legs as I did last year. Susie pulled off a fantastic leg 4 for us and enjoyed ribbing Charlie over her victory.

The Old Gits seemed to run without any dramas so I have little to say about their team other than ‘I bow down to your greatness’. They produced a fantastic team effort and walked away with the prize of first in their category. I am told this is the first time a Penicuik Harriers team has one a prize at this event so this was very special indeed. 🙂

Results:

Pos No Team Category Total
22 155 Penicuik Harriers Old Gits Open 50+ 03:27:20
72 84 Penicuik Harriers: PeniDevils Open Senior 04:05:40
131 85 Penicuik Harriers: PH Devil’s Bird’ens Women Senior 04:39:04

Leg 1: Falkland to Strathmiglo 7.5km, 200m climb
Leg 2: Strathmiglo to Kinnesswood 11.5km, 700m climb
Leg 3: Kinnesswood to Maspie Den 11.5km, 420m climb
Leg 4: Maspie Den to Falkland 5.8km, 390m climb

22 Old Gits
Leg 1 Derek Newport 00:28:49
Leg 2 Duncan Ball & Des Crowe 01:16:27
Leg 3 Raymond Richford & Stuart Sanderson 01:06:36
Leg 4 Julian Hall 00:35:28

72 PeniDevils
Leg 1 Adam Gray 00:25:32
Leg 2 Rob Wilson & Michael Greens 01:21:50
Leg 3 Kevin Anderson & Mark Denholm 01:34:42
Leg 4 Charlie Crawford 00:43:36

131 PH Devil’s Bird’ens
Leg 1 Elizabeth Tudhope 00:40:18
Leg 2 Gillian Cairns & Sadie Kemp 01:46:02
Leg 3 Sadie Kemp & Romana Garjane 01:30:37
Leg 4 Susie Maxwell 00:42:07

Full results found here: http://www.fifeac.org/events/fife-ac-events/devils-burdens/1315-devil-s-burdens-2019.html

Distance 21.4 km
Climb 800 m

Feel the Burns is a hill run that includes Peat Law, the Three Brethren, Brown Knowe and Foulshiel Hill. Last year the route was shortened due to the snow so it was great to get to run the full this year in a cool but for the most part clear day, with low cloud over only one of the peaks. Haggis pies were enjoyed post race. 🙂

Second lady and first FV40 for Gillian Cairns

Full results on SHR https://www.scottishhillrunners.uk/RaceResults.aspx

38 Michael Greens M 01:52:17
65 Gillian Cairns F40 01:59:03
89 Rob Wilson M40 02:07:13
132 Sadie Kemp F40 02:16:37
137 Gregor Gorjanc M 02:18:33
176 Susie Maxwell F40 02:31:04
179 Gilly Marshall F40 02:32:08
199 Chris Downie M50 02:40:41

This race is always well attended by Penicuik runners, this morning eleven Harriers, one Junior and one boyfriend of a Harrier made it to Broughton this morning for the Greenmantle Dash.
We also had Dave Cairns officiating at the race and Billy Dickson and Duncan Ball doing the results 🙂 Not forgetting Bill Bennett who was there to support us all and possibly his grandchildren too.

The freezing temperatures made this a cold one but not once we all got moving. The stream was freezing, the bog was deep, the hill was really steep and the road back was too long with an ice patch hazard – but we all loved it!
The whole team got in the stream afterwards for the customery dip in the burn, many thanks to Scott for taking photos of us.
Thanks to Kate for taking the photos up on the hill just as we reached to top 🙂

https://photos.app.goo.gl/isAQNsUSDhj3YzBs9