Westies Donut Hill Run

On a lovely late summer evening there was a great turnout of @18 Westies for this run from Overton House just outside Dumbarton. After great debate about whether to do the crags first or last we decided on the latter as the last time we did them first, when I led the team up the wrong way and ended doing a V.Diff climb (or so Muffy thought). We therefore had a runnable start up to the first stop at the woods. We then had the horrible muddy trod through to the reservoir and on over the heather to Donut Hill. The views were tremendous and we took our time to enjoy them. After a wee descent it was then on to the crags with fantastic views over the Clyde. In fact the views were so good that Pat and Pauline wandered around for an extra half hour on their own - well either that or they got lost/scared - you decide.
Photos here

Lomonds of Fife Hill Race

Running in Scotland for a change made for a really good Sunday outing. The "new" course was great - steep ups and downies; nice forest running, testing contouring and "that" bum-slide. I was knackered going up the runnable first field but as usual felt better when it got steeper going up West Lomond for the first time. A cracking steep descent off the top down to the stream checkpoint proved that my new Innov8 Mudclaws did their job. I followed a few Ochil runners along a good slanting contour heading down as soon as we could, which seemed to be faster than those who stayed higher for longer. In the forest I spied Swaz ahead but couldn't reel him in. After a few KM of wide track it soon got more interesting when it narrowed down to single track up to the monument and the water stop at Craigmead. It widened for the trudge up to East Lomond when we saw the front runners coming back down, always a bit of a dispiriting thing though you get your own back when you reach the top yourself! On the long run back to West Lomond I pulled in a few places and even felt pretty strong on the final short pull up. From there it was that mad bum-burning slide down the gully, wishing I had on lycra shorts or even better Manny's special slidy cut-offs. There was no real alternative to sliding, since as soon as you stood up and tried to run you immediately fell back down again. I managed to get the old legs going down in the fields and just failed to catch the guy ahead, coming in 6 secs over the 2 hours. A cracking race and a good day out with lots of fellow Westies.
Results here
Other Westies reports here

Westies Stronend Hill Run

Approx 14 Westies (and Jason's dog) made the trek over the campsies to Culcreuch Castle near Fintry for this nice blast up and down to Stronend. This was about 12 more than last time I was there with Chris, so was a great improvement.I felt like the Pied Piper as we set off as no one else seemed to have a clue where to go. I managed to find the tracks and trods that took us steeply up to the escarpment, where we then had a runnable plod on narrow trods to the Stronend trig/cairn. There were great views north taking in Ben and Loch Lomond, the Trossachs and what looked like Stuc and Ben Vorlich. Afterwards we descended en masse to the Dungeon Bar in the Castle, and then ascended back out thirsty after 15 min of non-service at the bar. Their loss was The Fintry Inn's gain and knocked back those orange juices to the sound of the local musicians having a wee session on the fiddles and accordion. Another good Westies night out.
Photos here

Bog and Burn Hill Race Series

Details of the Bog and Burn series here
I ran the minimum 4 races and finished 28th and 13th V40 of 61 completers.

Graeme Campbell of Highland Hill Runners has won the series, followed by Adam Ward of Carnethy, and Nigel Scott of my own club Westerlands. Angela Mudge won the ladies' title with 4 straight wins. Helen Palmer of Westerlands finished 2nd, with Jo Whitehead of City of Edinburgh in 3rd place. First team were Westerlands - Nigel Scott, David Riach and Luke Arnott. And first ladies team were also Westerlands - Helen Palmer, Catriona Miller and Katherine Kirk.

Coniston Weekend and Broughton Mills Fell Race

Yes, another Saturday and another long race in the Lakes you are thinking! But no, this wee gem of a race only took me 36m 23s for the 4m/1300ft. It was part of the Broughton Mills Fun day and was very similar to our own Tinto Race, except there was warm sunshine, tug-o-war, raffles and a pub where you could enjoy fine ales in the sunshine. Jane\'s pal mark won £25 in the raffle to spend in the pub afterwards and that capped a fine day in a wonderful part of the Lakes. As for the race itself, it was over in the proverbial blur compared to my recent races. A sprint out the Fun day field, down the road, up through some woods,where I was ambushed by some tree roots and jaggy bushes, out onto some nice runnable open fell, a wee scramble up to the summit, and then a frantic dash back down the same way, with the sting in the tail of a uphill finish for the last few hundred metres. Ricky Lightfoot won the race in just under 30 min and the first woman was @38 min. just like a highland games race back home except for the midges.

Some photos of the race and the rest of the weekend runs/walks in the hills round Coniston here

Borrowdale Fell Race

For a change I did a race in the Lakes that I had actually done before – the classic Borrowdale Fell Race (17 miles, 6500 feet). Usually there is quite a good turnout of Westies, but this year it was only Graham Kelly and myself with others injured and racing elsewhere. There were almost 400 runners lined up on the road in Rosthwaite for the start in warm and very humid conditions. The first few miles are flat tracks in a sort of loop which helps sort the field out a bit before the first steep climb up to Bessyboot, which was tough going in the sweaty conditions, a slow power walk of sorts being favoured by most people. After that 1st checkpoint there was a few miles of good cross country style running across the slopes of Glaramara, everyone just following the trod that we hoped was leading us to Esk Hause in the misty conditions. From there it was a bit of a tedious slog up to England’s highest mountain – Scafell Pike. The rocks towards the top were treacherously slippy and I passed at least one runner bandaging a bloody leg. This is the type of terrain that you just accept will be slow and horrible and I just got on with it, knowing there was plenty of race left to make up time if I was up for it. From Scafell Pike everyone seemed to take the “dangerous” scree run off the top, very reminiscent of the descent off the 1st pap on Jura. Full body armour would be very useful here, but in the absence of that you just have to be very careful and have your wits about you. I narrowly avoided being decapitated by a rock the size of my office desk that had been dislodged above me, but fortunately it just stopped short of me. After that fun and games there is the Corridor Route to follow for a mile or two, with its mixture of rocks, slabs, gullies, man-made paths, wet grass requiring total concentration lest you trip and give the Lakeland rock a Glasgow kiss. There were hordes of people at Styhead Tarn waiting to watch us labour up the long climb to Great Gable. I reeled in a few people ahead of me here and thought that this was the makings of a second half charge, but that wasn’t to be as after this I started to weaken a bit and struggled to hold on to the group ahead as we meandered our way over a few misty bumps and down to Honister Pass. This last climb up Dalehead is a real killer after 3 and a half hours and I plodded slowly up, step-counting 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 all the way up. Fortunately others were feeling even worse than me and I passed Ross McInroy of Helensburgh A.C. having a wee sit down half way up. There is still a beast of a descent down to the finish from here and I gave it all I could on my tired legs as I tried to get within 4 and a half hours, just failing by 3 minutes. I wasn’t too disappointed, however, as it is an achievement to just get round this toughie, and I was also pleased to have recovered from my bug/fever that had laid me low for a week recently. Graham had a good race to finish 10 min ahead of me. Simon Booth of hosts Borrowdale won the race for the 10th time in a row, but in his slowest time, the conditions having taken their toll on his time which was just over 3 hours. I passed
on the steel band in the marquee in favour of a few beers in the pub garden and some banter with some other runners. All in all another great day out in the Lakes.
Results here