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merrick hill race 2007
A good number of Westies made it to Glen Trool for this SHR counter - Luke, Nige, Hamilton, DavidR, Pete + Elsie, Pauline, JD, Murdo, Donald and BrianBr with Keith spectating at a real rough stumble of a hill race.
Mild and overcast at the start, it was straight up from the off, stepping steeply through the bracken to the first top, the Fell of Eschoncan. Then wet trods through the tussocks and I'd found my position as the field stretched out, out of sight on the undulating hag towards, then contouring round, Bennan, we picked up what seemed an interminable wall in the cloud. Slow slow running, spurred on by Elke Schmidt closing behind, I clawed back Bruce Smith. Over Benyellary and more runnable across Neive of the Spit, then leaving the wall for the last slow pull to Merrick. Round the trig and into the teeth of a gale - turned out we'd had a tailwind. The rough descent off the Rig of Gloon into the boggy hollow was enlivened by being passed by front-marker Ray Ward with Stewart Whitlie in pursuit, who'd ignored just a few of the 500 cane markers at a crucial point. The winding ridge towards Buchan Hill was heavy going on wet path, well trodden seemingly by giant cattle. I gave up three places to proper descenders on the final runoff looking down on Loch Trool before the sting in the tail of a nasty stiff haul up to the finish.
Brian Marshall won from Colin Donnelly and Graeme Campbell, while Elke Schmidt took the ladies record. Nige had a strong finish for a fine 6th and Murdo and Pauline picked up prizes.
Posted by David Riach on Sun 16 Sep 2007 | 5 comments
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Comments
Hamilton said...
Descending off Rig Gloon or/and Rig Enoch patenting a highly dubious cunning plan to make up lost ground.This involved landing on your back,in the most natural and stylish fashion, and accelerating head-firstentirely out of control (so nothing out of the ordinary there). Buchan Hill saw a reversal of this with a rapid face plant ,almost, into the drink,when your leading foot,no leg, has just disappeared into the bog,bringing you to an abrupt halt . As David said, a rough & stumble of a race. Still staggering now, hic,no really. Quite simply a great day out. Well done Nat Taylor & your helpers-you put on a fine show-500 plus cane markers made us run all the way ha! Well they just must have been going so fast to have missed them.
Monday 17th September 2007 2.06pm
Pauline said...
Eleanor Munro and I renewed our (long) running friendship from Stuc at this race and it was a pleasant surprise to find out that we weren't last and that yes, there were runners behind us this time. I had a nasty moment when I slipped and came sliding down off Rig Gloon and developed terrible cramp in my calf muscle. Eleanor came back to check that I was OK. She had her nasty moment coming off Buchan Hill and went over on her ankle. She suggested that I could run on (she was being kind - by this point I wouldn't have called what I was doing running) but I was only too happy to stay with her and make sure that she made it to the finish. We did manage to produce some sort of running movement for the photographer who was standing on that last climb up the road and a hint of a run across the finish. The finish moment belonged to Eleanor though - she ran through that big puddle strategically placed beside the timekeeper. I stayed with my sister who lives south of Newton Stewart overnight and drove back past the area at midday on Sunday. The whole experience would have been quite different had the race been on Sunday!!
Monday 17th September 2007 7.27pm
jd said...
A great not-so-wee race in a rough but beautiful area of the country that we rarely visit. It had been many years since I had been down here, 10 years ago for the KIMM when, with George Reid, I reached the dizzy heights of 7th in the B Class, earning £20 for hours of trudging round tough wet terrain. Well this year it was still tough and wet and I reached the not-so-dizzy heights of 37th of 84 runners, costing me £4 and gaining juice, raisins and a Mars Bar. And, of course, 1hr and 50mins, worth of effort. At the foot of the first climb I was jostling with Nigel and Murdo for a few seconds, before being passed by many others as we all sorted out our places on the steep, muddy and heathery ascent. Things eased off after a bit, but the terrain was still rough underfoot at first before getting a bit more runnable near the top. The clag made you concentrate on the flags, and the following wind helped up to the turnaround at the 843 meter summit. The initial descent was nice and grassy, though cold and breezy into the wind. I caught Brian Howie of Carnethy soon, but my old rival Dave Duncan of Ochils shot past me and while I held the gap for a while I just had to watch him head off. The terrain down near Buchan Hill was dire - boggy, heathery,full of holes - and up on the ridge it only got slightly better. There was a trod, but it was again full of holes, mud and generally hard work towards the end of a race. I could see Dave D in the distance closing in one one of his V50 rivals, but our own wonder V50 Murdo was well ahead. I had a good race in with a few other runners, even managing a few somersaults on the last descent right in front of Roger Boswell, who promptly told me off. The course had a proper old sting in the tail - 2 or 3 mins steep uphill to the finish, turning those legs that had been descending so well only seconds ago into mush as I scraped my way up. A grand day out and we even found a Forestry Commission tea shop nearby for some tea and scones, excellent!
6 Nigel Scott MS 01:31:0816 David Riach M40 01:36:2519 Luke Arnott MS 01:41:2229 Murdo Macleod M50 01:46:2537 John Donnelly M40 01:50:2649 Hamilton Semple M50 01:58:4159 Brian Brennan M50 02:03:0162 Peter Baxter M50 02:05:0770 Elspeth Scott F40 02:10:492 Pauline McAdam F50 02:36:47
Full results here
Tuesday 18th September 2007 7.27pm
dr said...
Photos added of weary westies negotiating the big wet rock and half height fence. Thanks to Kenneth Phillips.
Tuesday 18th September 2007 8.54pm
Luke said...
Some classy photos. Good ones of Nige negotiating the fence with Dave Cummins in hot pursuit (first looking cool and then a little pressured), me testing my mudclaw ballet shoes, John "the hulk" Donnelly and Brian "I forgot my specs" Brennan.
Tuesday 18th September 2007 10.47pm