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glen clova 2007
A small posse of hardy Westies - Simon, JD, Graham, Manny and myself took part in this classic Long for some triple counting points - SHR, British and Manny's summer league. Catriona was the wummins team. A pleasant day, cool and a little overcast at first, brightening up later with good visibility. The climbing starts straight away on good steady paths to Green Hill, so good that the front runners were soon tanking away on the wrong path briefly. This pattern repeated itself with runners on different lines all over high plateau, plugging through the peat hags and moorland to the next three checkpoints. The broad tops and shallow features make it well worth running on the compass to shave a little distance. The runnable fun ended for me on the rough tussocky descent to the Braedownie road crossing and then the long stiff haul up into Corrie Farchal. Way below Manny was starting to reel me in with his power walking strength having taken the first half easy after a four week lay-off. A shuffling grind on the top of Dreish was rewarded by a tailwind back the bealach. One last pull and a fast open ridge before a desperate descent stumbling though rough long grass and rushes. The pressure was on to keep pushing, spurred on by a closing Manny and fact that I was actually catching Matt Bell. Out of the rough, telling myself not to throw way my advantage, I promptly tripped on the stony track but held on the finish - a great race. At the front, Tom Owens won by 9 seconds from Rob Jebb while Jill Mykura took Janet McIvor by 16 seconds.
Posted by David Riach on Mon 16 Jul 2007 | 3 comments
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Comments
Graham K said...
A top race indeed !
The "plateau" section between Green Hill, Wester Balloch & Lair of Aldaradie must be the most un-runnable run possible - a mix of ankle twisting peat hag and deep bog. The descent down to the mid-point was silly steep and at one point the only safe way of getting across the rocks was on all fours (and fives at times). Along the river was nice ...the climb up the coire towards Dreish ...BRUTAL ! The up and back from the col gave an opportunity to see where abouts in the field you actually were. As I descended, Simon was climbing and not looking all that happy but still moving in the right direction. It was fun to pass Sharon Taylor of Bingley (she must have been having an off day for that to happen) and finish in 3:34 - just over 10 minutes of my target.
This is exactly the kind of race we need more of in Scotland !!! Look at the number of long hard mountain challenges down in the Lakes e.g. Borrowdale, Wasdale, Duddon Valley, Langdale. All of these races get a field of 200 runners. Hopefully the addition of Arrochar will add to the number of folks north of the border stepping up to the mark. Might there even be room for a "Scottish Classics Trophy" next year ???
Guid effort to the Westies who made the journey north and completed !
Ps - the hotel is also something unusual in Scotland ...good accomodation, good food and great service all at a reasonable price.
Monday 16th July 2007 5.58pm
Jim said...
Yes a great race at a great venue. I agree that this is the kind of race we need more of in Scotland. Well done Adrian for going to all that time and trouble to put the whole thing together. It would not have been possible without a massive effort from the organiser and generous support from the hotel, not only the sponsor but also the main land owner? A big commitment that resulted in a turnout of only 46 Scots (including the organiser) for a multi-championship race. Would a "Scottish Classics Trophy" make a difference? With the poor turnout at Glen Rosa, I wonder though if through apathy, we are consigning these classic races to the history books. Is it worth going to the trouble of putting them on when there is no great demand?
Luckily, largely because of all the English and Welsh runners up for the British championship, the landlord did have a reasonably full bar who did their best to reward him by consuming as much of his products as possible.
The organiser also went to the trouble and financial commitment of arranging a Ceilidh band. I would like to say that on Saturday night 'we' Scots properly showed our guests how to really have a good time. I would like to say that but ....
Monday 16th July 2007 10.46pm
Manny said...
Aye, well done to all Westies there, over a notoriously tough route.Dave, previously a tiny yellow dot in the distance, showed his metal on that final mad drop to the hotel with me pushing hard from behind over the last 5K, not letting up at all over suicidal terrain, while I struggled not to completely cramp up!He's learning to descend at last!Graham put in a very respectable time of 3.34 before heading off for a night shift!Simon (aka Jason! did I really say that?) crossed the line saying his warm up for that nights clubbing was complete.It was good to see Cat twice yet again - fortunately only at the start & finish!
Tuesday 17th July 2007 9.56am