Latest Adventures

Stats out the way first...

W/c 21/7/8 totals

60 miles
19200' ascent
12:03 hrs of running

Ben Rinnes 5 Tops Hill Race 15 miles 4900'

26/7

I was looking forward to this race all week, it's a great course with a good mix of rough heather bashing and then a good trail to the summit of Ben Rinnes, which you then return on making a really fast, bone-shaking descent.

It was scorching hot at the start-line in the Dufftown highland games field, a big crowd this year for all the events with loads of tourists no doubt wondering what it was all about. The announcer held back a bit this year, not quite calling us "the worlds top hillrunners" but gave us a big send off all the same!

The pace was quite quick to start and I felt pretty knackered straight away, I knew it was going to be hard because I've done so little running in any real sort of heat I'm just not used to it so just dug in and found a rythmn. Also the course was devilishly marked with flags leading into all the boggy stuff, one really nasty bit had me in up to my knee and Victor lost his shoe and a few minutes trying to extract it. I never felt like I got going until the last couple of miles when I took a few places and ran in quite strong, having to dodge the pipe band on the way round the track was a novelty too! Then as I staggered around trying to keep my legs moving at the finish I heard loads of shouting and looked up to see that I had wandered out right in line with the hammer thrower who had to make an emergency stop mid "swing"! He didn't look to chuffed and I swiftly merged into the crowd ... I was surprised to see in the results I came in 10th too, so quite pleased with that.

Sundays adventures were of a different kind, doing a bit of marshalling at the Donkey Brae race in Aberdour. Well not quite marshalling, I was given the job of going in front of the runners on my bike to lead them around the course, sounds easy but these guys run fast! My quads were already thrashed from Ben Rinnes and the leading runner almost caught up with me a couple of times!

Then a change of scenery at the Big Tent Festival in Falkland with some great music and some time spent eating tasty cherries off the trees in the grounds of Falkland estate... I just can't resist the berries!

Today work had brought me up to the Teuchters, so an evening in the Cairngorms running in the sunshine went down a treat. Parked at the ski car park, went up Cairngorm then over Ben Macdui and down the other side to the col with Carn a' Mhaim and then climbed back up Macdui and returned the same way. I then sat in the burn for a bit to cool the legs off and as I was going back to my car I bumped into a fellow whw competitor and ultra runner on his holidays, small world!

Stats...

28/7

14.8 miles

5200' ascent

3:42