GrahamB said...

Full results here http://www.shr.uk.com/RaceResults.aspx?RaceID=RA-0405&RaceYear=2007

Monday 2nd July 2007 11.39am

scott mckendrick said...

thanks to all for a great race.hats off to the marshalls, giving up a saturday in such shitty conditions.. if i had known that bottled water, jelly babies and jaffa cakes would be on offer in abundance i wouldn't have bothered with a filled roll, 4 mars bars, 4 gels, a dairy milk, a galaxy and a packet of chicken tikka fridge raiders in a bum bag and maybe shaved off a couple of minutes! once again my injket copy map didn't last the course.. spending most of the day in my mouth as both hands were required to crawl to the tops and my back up copy rolled into a wee ball in my bumbag after spending over 4 hours with a burst gel.unsurprisingly my brother managed to hook up with 3 of the 4 ladies running although he did comment on the strange route choices, zig zagging in the mist and compass bearings up the wrong hills...sorry cat but it just reinforces the women and map-reading arguments....my 15 minutes spent gorge walking/ bramble picking on the forest above succoth can however be put down to an epson R340 and poor quality inks...and the fact that the path off narnain was not signposted.a great day out on some hills i would not have considered walking up (although that was all i did)...thanks again

Monday 2nd July 2007 12.44pm

Stewart Barrie said...

Well done guys for putting on such a great race. I think I enjoyed it more than Jura - maybe thats due to the finish being relatively close to the bottom of the final descent.Got to be a candidate for a British Champs race next year. That would consoidate its place in the calendar.

Monday 2nd July 2007 1.09pm

JasonsTiredOut said...

Cheers to Barry Stewart, a prop for Sale Sharks and a descent hill runner to boot!

The feedback so far seems generally positive, so despite my panic and wobbles through the day, and both Christine and me forgetting the 1st trophies at home, thanks for putting up with me and thanks for all the help.

I especially want to thanks Christine, Helen & Luke, Graham B and Jim H (who surprisingly took on the job of contacting the brewery) and all the many helpers & marshals on the day. Special thanks to Malky & family puting in many hours and he's not even a Westie! We should definitely let things die down and then have a pow wow of all interested parties to try and learn from this experience, especially re communication.

I don't know about you lot but I slept most of Sunday! Now how do I run again, left right left righ...

Monday 2nd July 2007 2.22pm

Rob McQ said...

I was sweating profusely on the way through the forest to Ben Vorlich. Not a good sign, given that I had four Munro's and about four and a half hours racing left! The first climb was as steep as expected, with the walkers' path proving a little quicker than the direct route up from the dam, given the evidence of the running order at the top. Then came the dreaded descent to the dam. The descent was mercifully dry but still a real quad killer, with the steepest section at the bottom. I managed to get the wrong side of a little gully on the way down and ended up with a bit of a scramble with about two hundred feet to go.

Across the dam, with support from Drew, then the long haul up Ben Vane. As Scott says, hands are definitely required for bits of this! After dodging the missiles from Steffen's ascent just ahead, I popped out to be greeted by Manny saying, "You look f^<#ed!" Pretty accurate description at this point. (At least I only had to face this honest appraisal once, unlike Cat who obviously enjoyed the banter so much she went round again!)

I was joined on the descent from Ben Vane by Dave Rogers and we picked a nice line looping slightly to the North of most other runners. This got us past several people and on to the back of a group with Murdo, Kate Jenkins, Jon Broxap and a few others on the way up Beinn Ime. The weather started to deteriorate on the ascent and it was cold, wet and miserable when six of us arrived at the summit. We were met by Chris's head sticking out of a shaky looking tent, shouting race numbers at Ellie who had apparently claimed the sleeping bag spot inside. Smart lady.

We all started down the descent in line, but Dave quickly sped off, admitting later that he took a bit of a punt on the bearing, just to get a lead. The rest of us made it to the col bang on line, but a minute or two back. Now it was Narnain and my legs were really starting to suffer. My final gel disappeared and I managed to drop the rest of the group from Beinn Ime. However, I was making no impression on Dave Rogers, and Dave Riach caught me near the top. Damien Theaker also caught us just after Charlie and his carry out, and we set off down together. At this point I started going backwards through the field. My wibbly wobbly legs were useless for anything steep or vaguely unstable, which is a good definition of most of this descent. I lost about five or six places before the finish. The concrete path section on the lower half of the hill is my one bad memory of the day. Anyone for path building before next year?

My shuffle in to the finish was not exactly glamorous, but I was delighted to get there and enjoy the banter. Then it was back to the hut for an abundance of soup, rolls, cake and beer.

I went home with a nice sense of achievement from finishing this one. For that, and a great day out, thanks to Jason, Christine and everyone else involved in organising and marshalling. It's an awesome course and I hope it'll be back next year.

Monday 2nd July 2007 3.12pm

cat said...

Aye Jason and crew, it was a great race and you did a fantastic job of everything - thanks for a memorable day. It was also great to have friendly faces as marshalls. The ladies at the dam, Drew directing people down by loud hailer, Manny and Luke, then Manny and Luke again (...hmmm, must practise the compass skills!), eventually Graham's gang then, even more welcome after another misty wander somewhere on the lower slopes of Ben Ime (d'oh - those non-existant compass skills strike again!), Chris and Ellie or at least a tent with their heads poking out. Missed out Val at the fence (me and the compass really need to have a few days out together to get to know each other) and then finally reached the best marshal of the day - Charlie, propping up the Narnain trig, looking amazingly cosy and cheery (was tempted to down his Bud but didn't think that would help my already abysmal route finding ability). It was a great run, a pure misty, wet trial at times but I think maybe I'd do it again - as long as it was 100% visibility and the entire route was flagged....

Monday 2nd July 2007 8.24pm

DavidR said...

The marshalls made it for me too - a cheery chat at every checkpoint. It certainly was a grand day out and I really enjoyed being there for the occasion. There were so many good touches by the organising team with no detail not thought about, no angle not covered. The weather contributed too to make the challenge memorable, the back half of the field getting more of the mist to test their mountaincraft. Well done also to potential Westie, Andy Edwards (a cool 8th on his 4th hill race) - we better sign him up quick. Thanks to Luke for having the inspiration to restage all this - a classic really was reborn.

Monday 2nd July 2007 10.49pm

Chris said...

Well done to everyone who got round, and to all the organisers and marshalls.It was much colder and more blustery on the summit of Beinn Ime than we'd anticipated, which made pitching my flimsy 1-man tent quite interesting.We had only just got the tent up, and collapsed inside, when Stewart appeared out of the mist. If he hadn't have come over to the tent, we wouldn't have even seen him.

After 3+ hours, it was something of a relief when the final 2 runners finally appeared, since we were getting little or no comms. The only info was from the runners themselves. The last 2 runners appeared at the summit from the opposite direction from all the others, and then attempted to head northwards off the hill. It took some persuading to get them to head off in the right direction!

Photos near the Start | Results

Tuesday 3rd July 2007 12.45pm

GrahamB said...

... and one of them is in the Arochar MRT!!!!!

Tuesday 3rd July 2007 2.02pm

Adam said...

Great race, great marshalls, good craic before during and after - a challenge to challenge Jura - as DavidR said the organisers did a grand job, and I really hope that this race becomes a regular on the calendar - there are too few classic longs in Scotland, so I think it important to give credit where it is due - give the plaudits to Jason, Chris et al - from the Piper at the satrt to the beer at the finish, this was a grand day out.

Tuesday 3rd July 2007 3.22pm

Mark Higginbottom said...

I can only add my thanks. A fantastic day out, and very good for the soul.

Tuesday 3rd July 2007 8.46pm

Jim said...

I want to say a special thank you to Jason for being the official worrier and Jonny at Fyne Ales for providing not only a host of prizes but also throwing in a barrel of Somerled Ale for good measure. Its just as well so many had drivers with them, and that sufficient empty containers could be found for a post prandial swally of the excellent ale. Long may this format continue.As for the race, having spectated when injured in 1990, running it was always one of my ambitions. It must be the toughest race in Scotland, harder than Jura surely. It has everything, a gentle warm-up, lung-bursting climbs, limb-busting descents, challenging navigation/route choice and a very demanding test of stamina; in other words a grand day out.I'm afraid to say that I lost all interest in competition when I got severe cramp coming off Ben Vane, on only the second hill! It was a struggle from then on, with the horrendous descent off Narnain almost reducing me to a crawl on all fours. In a pained stupor, I missed the devious route at the end (allegedly flagged) and ran into the finish from the wrong direction, surprising Helen from behind, so to speak. My penance was another long run back to the Village Hall, where I could quickly change into some dry clothes before exposure set in; or so I thought. I shouldn't be overly critical of the kind marshal who lent me her spare clothes whilst she found my car keys (that she had somehow mislaid in Glasgow?), but I will make an exception in this case; a pink thong is not adequate protection against hypothermia, or anything really!

Wednesday 4th July 2007 3.44pm

Stewart W said...

I’d just like to echo comments above and say a big thanks to the Jason, Chris, etc and all the marshals for putting on such an excellent event. A really enjoyable and navigationally challenging (for me anyway) day out in a superb part of the countryside. The additional touches (e.g. the piper at start/finish, barrel of beer to go with the excellent spread, etc) all added to the event. Hopefully you will get a bigger field next which the race deserves. Will also try and visit the area before next year and try and find the path off Beinn Narnain if there is one…

Wednesday 4th July 2007 8.25pm