Westies Chatelherault Handicap Race

Captain Chris' idea of a race in the lovely Chatelherault Country Park near Hamilton turned out to be a cracker of a race and sure to be a permanent fixture in the Westies schedule. The weather was perfect, the trail dry and the marking of the course absolutely superb (though Muffy and David Riach may disagree!). There must have been about 20 of us made the journey south of the Clyde on a lovely summer's evening out to the refurbished former Duke of Hamilton's hunting lodge. First off was Fiona followed by a stream of Westies as ordered by Charlie. First back and winner of the "Champion " beer prize was Helen; Chris ran the fastest time; Catriona was fastest woman and Pat claimed the sought after coconut for last finisher and a select few also got some jammy donuts. Thanks to Charlie for the handicaps and timing and Drew for his sawdust and to everyone else for turning up and giving it their best.
Photos

here

Lairig Ghru Hill Race

After I wimped out of my planned 300K cycle for Sat(195 miles on a wee saddle-stupid idea really)I was wondering whether or not to give the LG another go after I plodded round it 2 years ago just scraping under 4 and a half hours. After John Duffy of the SHITs said he and sometime-Westie Marc McColl were going up on Sun morning I decided that a wee 55 mile cycle round the Trossachs on Sat followed by the LG sounded a more rounded and appealing weekend. Sun morning didn't start well as my alarm failed to go off at 6am and it was pure luck that I actually wakened not knowing the time and was propelled out my bed at a rate of knots after seeing that it was 6.25 and I was due at John's in Cumbernauld for 7! I made it there on time which was more than can be said for Marc, who managed to arrive late after going down at least one slip road the wrong way. We made it to Braemar where it was a lovely morning. At the start Don Naylor of HBT sprinted off, maintaining his form to the end in a new record of 3h 7m to win by 21min. I started off slightly slower and kept it that way to the end. It is an incredibly runnable race, not suiting the likes of me who would have fared better with a few Munros thrown in for good measure. As it was, the total climb over the @28 miles and 690 metres.The views were stunning, when you could manage to peel your eyes off the rocky path during the middle of the race that runs up the main Larig Ghru, and quite a few paid the price in terms of bloodied and bruised limbs. The weather was fab, and the first and last hour or so are lovely paths/tarmac, the boulder field at the top horrible and the decent into Rothiemurchus forest is great if you have the legs to enjoy it, which I didn't. I managed to sneak a PB by 5 min in 4h 24m 30s,38th/82 finishers, going through at least a few good and not so good patches, losing my water bottle and not having enough gel bars to fuel me. Marc was 10 sec the wrong side of 4 hours, proving that not wearing a watch is not always a good idea, is it Marc? Lucy Colquhoun of Carnethy also set a new women's record in 3h 33m. We all finished in glorious sunshine and enjoyed the free soup and sarnies, washed down by a few welcome beers. The bus then took us back to the cars at Braemar to round off a great day over one of the classic routes in Scotland. A race/run that all hill-lovers should try at least once.
Results here
Race details here

CORUISK HUT, SKYE

At the second attempt in many years I made it to the SMC hut at Loch Coruisk. Unfortunately we left the good weather of the last two weeks behind and all we managed was an amble up Loch Coruisk on Saturday before getting the boat back out on Sunday morning. However, it was worth getting into this fantastic location and we all enjoyed it.

Photos here

Ennerdale Horseshoe Fell Race

Continuing my experience of “classic” long fell races in the Lakes, I completed the Ennerdale Horseshoe (20 miles, 8000 feet of climbing) on Saturday - in just under 6 hours. At times I wished that I had “only” been doing Glen Rosa as I would have had at least a couple of hours less in the heat and strong winds that were present. It was an English Championship race this year and led to a field of 262 starters, with Stuart Barrie and myself the only Scots intruders I think. The numbers meant that there was always people to follow on the numerous wee shortcuts and contours that only the locals really know. The race basically is a classic circuit of Ennerdale Water in a clockwise direction, starting and finishing at the Scout camp near Ennerdale Bridge and going out via Great Bourne, Red Pike and Black Beck tarn as far as Green Gable and then over Kirk Fell, Pillar, Haycock, Iron Crag and Crag Fell. I had a so-so race from the point of view of my “expected” time (5h30m-6h), but was still pretty chuffed at finishing it in 5h 55m (157th of 262 starters) in the heat. I think last week’s Duddon race and Wednesday’s Kilpatricks' race seemed to take their toll on my legs which certainly seemed a lot more tired than last week. The race is the usual great mixture of Lakes terrain – good runnable grassy trods, contouring mixes of rocks and grass, steep gully descents and slow plods uphill. The views were stupendous, whether the nearby ridges, tarns, screes etc. or views of further away fells and lakes My usual slow/steady start remained just that throughout, and unlike last week there was no steady passing of runners in the 2nd half, and the last few hours were a definite grind, especially as after about 3 hours you could look way way ahead and see the finish at the other end of the lake and boy did it look far. Other than my knackered legs I actually coped OK with the heat as I had 2 litres in my Camelbak, all of which I drank. The finish was a great relief, especially the ice cold sponges over your head at the end, which almost had me in tears of joy and pain at the same time. I am already planning to do it again next year, which only shows what a short memory I have, or how stupid I am, or probably both. It was a well organised race in a wonderful part of the Lakes and deserves its “classic” status. The race was won by Simon Booth from Rob Jebb in over two hours faster than me! A great meal in the nearby Kirkstile Inn and a few pints of the local Loweswater ale went down extremely well afterwards and helped fuel the fond memories and dull the nastier ones. Well worth doing, and making a weekend of to enjoy this fantastic part of the country that we so often overlook.
Results here

Kilpatricks Hill Race

My 10th running of the Kilpatricks Hill Race (6 miles 485 metres) was a very pleasant one and I would like to thank Christine and everyone else who made this and previous year’s races possible. Despite advancing years and increasing laziness I still managed a “sort of “ PB" in that I was all of 4 seconds quicker than last year - 57min 15sec, though still a minute behind Murdo, drat! I was even in exactly the same position, 23rd/55 runners, as last year!! It was a gorgeous evening for the race, warm and sunny and no midges thankfully, though I imagine that next week at Ben Sheann in Strathyre will more than make up for that. At the start it resembled a Westies club run with about half the field made up of almost 30 yellowdoubleyoos. A few Greenock road ragers zoomed off at the start while the rest of us plodded on behind up the first uphill road section. I tucked in behind Murdo, concentrating on him to try and take away the usual pain and stress I seem to suffer at the start of races, and we made good progress up the road and on to the first field where I reverted to my usual mix of running and walking. I seemed to be feeling OK and passed Murdo, Simon and Johannes towards the top of the ridge and kept a decent pace down to the track. The slight uphill took its toll and Murdo edged past me, which actually was good for me as it gave me someone top tag on to and feel like I was actually racing, rather than just plodding round as fast as I could. I just got past Murdo again on the track and led my wee pack on to the heather and bog part of the course. This lead didn’t last long and Murdo once again passed me, again allowing me someone to focus on through the rough stuff which was actually good for me. We passed Stuart Simpson of Ochils at this point, which is unheard of, and then ran round the narrow reservoir trod keeping a sharp eye out for any leftover bits of Graham Benny’s knee from last year. We managed to avoid the metal spikes and rocks on this bit and then hit the foot of the climb up The Slacks. At this point Don was hot on our heels and I was hoping to use the threat of him catching me and the lure of Murdo ahead to spur me into life, however, my shoes had other ideas, as having only just put in laces before the race, they had come loose and I realised that I would be even more rubbish than usual at descending if I didn’t stop and tie them. On the other hand I knew that stopping for even a minute would be fatal in my Westies battle and so it proved. Murdo got a big gap on me and Don closed right in and then displayed his superior descending skills by taking over a minute out of me from the trig point. I did my best to stay with him, but my wee legs just couldn’t do it. Simon also charged past me on the final field. I ended up pretty pleased with the way I had run and don’t think I could have gone any faster on the day – doesn’t stop you wishing you had though, does it? Damon was 3rd, Nigel 4th, Val H was 1st, Cat M 2nd and the Westies Women won the team prize. Well done to all. Afterwards 18 of us enjoyed a fine curry at The Indian Orchard and toasted Dave Calder’s (50th?) birthday with a few sweet lassies.

Results here

Other Westies reports -

DAMON=This racing lark is getting to be a bit of a habit. Just 4 days after getting comprehensively knackered at Yetholm, I found myself with a water-tight pretext for a trip through to the rainy west for a day's work, and thought I'd bag a race to help justify the drive. I'd struggled big-time on Monday and Tuesday with a very stiff thigh after Yetholm, but it seemed a lot better on Wednesday morning, and a day at climbing up and down ladders and in and out of small spaces Carbeth Fishery had loosened me up nicely. I ran the first couple of hundred metres with Nige, who filled me in on the runners in front. Graham campbell of Highland set off lke a startled hare and scampered to the first grassy climb with a 30m lead, with Stuart Simpson (?) and John Stevens of Ochill giving chase. Knowing that the bulk of the climbing comes early, and that I was bound to lose out to all and sundry on the descents I gave it some welly on the long climb to the landrover track, by which time I was clear in second place, with Graham 20m ahead and Andrew McColl of Greenock 40m behind. This changed little on the fast track section past the first reservoir, but on the tussocks I started to lose ground on Graham, and young mcColl came skipping past looking very frisky. I was steaming hot by now, and stumbling all over the place on the bog and tussocks. This section was much longer that I remembered from my only previous outing here seven years ago, and by the time we reached the second reservoir Andrew had passed Graham and Nige had made up the best part of 100m, and was chasing me hard. A brief word of encouragement (or was it abuse - too shagged to know) from Chaz and it was over the bridge and onto the Slacks. The first two were miles ahead now, and with Nige breathing dowm my neck I knew the only chance of keeping him at bay was to put a bit of air between us on the climb.
By the time I reached the trig point, after an unexpectedly long climb, I was hot as hell and ready to expire. My left shoe had come undone on the climb and was getting increasingly flappy. Fear chased me down the extremely fast descent, during which my other bloody shoe came untied, much to my disgust. Surprisingly Nige didn't pass me, possibly because of his continuing knee problem. I reached the road with a gap of about 20m, and legged it, shoes flapping and laces whipping my calves down the last half-mile to finish 3rd in 46:57, a shade under a minute behind Andrew, who had pulled away from Graham for a comfortable win. Steffen was the 3rd Westie home, just behind a brace of Glenpark runners, and we had a fun few minutes wondering whether we'd pipped them for the team prize. I had to leave promptly, but as far as I know we just nicked it, 25 points to 30.

DON= Good run by you guys at the sharp end. I can fill you in on some of the mid race shenanigans. This was my first race since Cathkin Braes so I was not sure what kind of nick I was in. I slotted in to my usual company as we jogged up the first climb (ie JD & Murdo). However, they got away on the climb as I struggled with the heat. As we got to the top, something occured that has never happened before. I got passed by a Westie Wummin ! ie Val ,going like a train. I dug in and managed to sneak past on the first little descent down to the loch Humphry road. I could see JD & Murdo slugging it out with a group of about 8 other runners about 300yds ahead but was not optimistic about catching them. The group in front began to fragment and I began to feel stronger as we got on to the rougher stuff off the road. By the time we crossed the dam below the slacks I had passed 2 or 3 guys and Murdo had got away a bit from JD who I had in my sights. Stuart Simpson who was having an off night cheered me on as i chased after JD who stopped to tie his shoelaces (the dreaded shoelace demon had struck again.) By the time I hobbled over the coffee table JD was only 10m ahead, & I knew I would get him on the descent but Murdo was out of sight. It was time to put the boot in . As I ran down the field to the road, passing Michael Diver in the process, I could see Murdo crossing the cattle grid. I hit the road at the same time as an unattached guy called Hugh who looked like a supervet,but as soon as we hit the tarmac he took off like a scalded cat.I dug in and kept him at bay, and we began to catch Murdo at a hell of a rate. We just beat him to the line at which point I collapsed in a heap.

Duddon Valley Fell Race

I have for a long time promised to do more of the classic long races in the Lakes, but usually failed to do so. This weekend I at least added one more to my list – the Duddon Valley Fell Race. It is @20 miles and 6600 feet of Lakeland beauty and is a great horseshoe of a race starting from a pretty inaccessible part of the Lakes, Seathwaite, reachable only by gruelling narrow lanes that take twice as long to travel as you might think. However on such a gorgeous day as Saturday it was worth it. The expected hot sunny day did in fact transpire and I lined up with 135 other nutters, including sometime Westies Crispin and ex-Westie Helene Diamantides in a field beside the Newfield Inn with my wee rucsac full of gels bars and a Camelbak full of water. I headed off at a leisurely pace, knowing that this was my first real long race test after my 3 month layoff during winter. After a few hundred yards we slowed to a halt to cross a lovely narrow wooden bridge, and then had a good mile or two on narrow forest tracks varying from nice runnable trail to horrible boggy root-strewn mush. We plodded up Harter Fell (649m) then had a nice soft descent to Hardknott pass then a steady plod up Hardknott summit itself (549m), followed by a good descent down to the “swim” across the burn at the foot of the 400m climb up to Little Stand (741m). I had spied a bunching of runners ahead and simply thought they were having a wee drink of water but in fact they were trying to figure out how to cross a narrow but deep burn. I forgot that I only have wee legs and lept to a seemingly solid bit of grass only for it to collapse underneath me to waist height resulting in a unseemly lunge for the other bank which I only just made. I had a good climb up here, steadily pulling in a dozen or so runners to the craggy top before getting a good line off here to traverse across Cold Pike for a cracking descent down to Three Shire Stone at Wrynose Pass. Fuelled up by my jam piece I had a good climb up to Swirl How (802m) and then there was some great ridge running alongside Old Man of Coniston which we just bypassed. I underestimated the number of hills left soon after and had a bit of a low point after White Pike summit (608m) where I lost 2/3 min following a Bowland lass on a dodgy route choice, allowing a big group who I had expended a lot of effort getting past to overtake me, but then it was my own fault. The last climb up to Caw summit was “enlivened” by first being passed by the Wendy Dodds and then coming the other way off the summit by a woman I had passed an hour earlier but had not seen pass me since! I could have easily just finished at the top and sunbathed away the rest of the day but still had to descend about 1000ft to the finish. It was a cracker of a soft grassy descent though, boggy in parts, and I at least passed the Bowland lass that had led me astray earlier. I finished in 4h 18m in a sunny field with kids, dogs and adults milling around drinking beer and sunning themselves and joined them for one of those well-earned rests that only a long hard race can bring you. I was 67th of 136 starters; the race was won in 2h59m; Helene had a great run in 3h36m; Crispin was just ahead of her. The deck chairs were usefully employed for a few hours after as I enjoyed the fantastic setting after a nice wash in the burn nearby and a pint of Cumberland Ale. The previously dodgy knee seemed to hold up well which was great news. A great day was rounded off with a visit to some of Jane’s friends in Patterdale who were enjoying a Barbie and drinks on the cricket ground.

Duddon Fell Race

Westies Wednesday Luss Hill Run

There was a bumper turnout of almost 20 Westies for this @6m/700m run round the Loch Lomondside Luss Hills. The gorgeous weather during the day had greyed-out and cooled-down by 7pm, but was still fine for the run. The bluebells were out in force on the lower slopes and the views of the numerous islands below were fantastic as we enjoyed a very sociable run round, even waiting for Muffy on a number of occasions, despite Dave's protestations. We even attracted a potential new member, Malcolm, who seemed to enjoy himself and will hopefully return. A few of us went to the Esquire Bar afterwards for some food and drink. In attendance on the hill was - JD, Dave&Muffy, David R, Catriona, Simon, Robert, Trevor, Val, Pat, Pauline, Rod, Graham, Jason.