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The Two Breweries 2007

Another Two Breweries, another fine day and another superb event slickly managed by founder Westie, Bill Sheridan and his many supporters. This race is a classic, an 18 mile adventure across the rolling grandeur of the Borders landscape, and it became an instant favourite of mine two years ago. It's attraction is evidenced by the 90-strong field despite the rival SHR draw at Morven.

Colin Donnelly set off at a sprint and stayed there to finish 10 minutes ahead of the field. For the rest of us, the race starts on the first climb up Grieston Hill, scrabbling through heather and bracken to find the rolling track towards Birkscairn Hill. Steve Cairns of HBT kept me entertained with his banter as the front runners stretched into the distance. I still haven't sussed the best line from Birkscairn to Hundleshope Heights and cursed my hesitant descent through the terrible heather into Glensax. Funnily enough, nobody seemed to follow me as I trudged up Hundleshope watching Chris climbing higher and higher on a long sweeping grassy track way over to the right and then other heads popping out the gully to the left.. Things got better for me from there on, with good running on moorland and tracks, across to Stob Law, dropping into Glenrath, then over Whitelaw Hill to Stobo and the steady haul to Trahenna.

I was very pleased to hold it together for a strong second half, catching 7 runners including cap'n Chris (not-so-fresh from his Corsican epic) and nearly got another two on the line. HBT cleaned up just about all the prizes with 6 out of the top 8 places, taking first, second and ladies team prizes, earning stacks and stacks of beer courtesy of the sponsors. Good packing saw Ellen, Andy, Steffen and Dave Rogers finishing within 5 places within 5 minutes. Andy was only on his 7th race ever while Ellen took the beer for 2nd Lady - well done Ellen!! Lucy Colquhoun of Carnethy was 1st Lady. Steve Bell and Graham Kelly made up the Westies contingent and Pauline and her husband were assisting the race organisation. Next year is the 25th edition of the race and special features are promised to mark the occasion.

Posted by David Riach on Mon 24 Sep 2007 | 6 comments

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  1. Ellie said...

    Thanks to David, Steffen, Graham, Dave, Andy, Stevie & Chris for a cracking day out...and to Jen for her unavoidable encouragement, and threats with the camera that made me run when I would rather have walked. What a team! What a race!

    Monday 24th September 2007 3.04pm

  2. Graham K said...

    It all went well heading along the road ...then promptly went less well as we headed onto the farm track !

    Still trying to shake a bit of a chest infection following the Ben a few weeks ago, any attempt at pace uphill had me coughing my guts up. Unsure of what to do, I slowed to a pace where I could at least grab some air. Ellen sped past and shouted some kind words which spurred me on and I was able to keep within shouting distance until just after Hundleshope where she ran off into the distance. By the time I was heading down Stob Law she was simply a yellow vest somewhere far far away. With no real reason to bury myself, I slowed down some more to just enjoy the run. Think this might have been a good idea because shortly after the water stop I began to feel much better ...until the climb up through the forest (loud coughing noises again). In contrast to last year, I actually made up a little time along the track at Stobo where I met up with Kenny Leinster from the Lomond Hill Runners. We ran together for a bit before each chosing a slightly different line up Trehanna. On the descent, I took advice and dropped into the coire rather than staying on the ridge line - a good decision for sure. Had a brief tussle with a boggie heading along the road ...but he ran away from me as well Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Was pleased to finish and even happier to discover I was only about a minute down on last year despite feeling rough,

    The Two Breweries remains one of my favourite races - there are not too many long point to point races with such varied terrain. Surely a candidate for inclusion in a Scottish Long Classics series eh ???

    Monday 24th September 2007 3.13pm

  3. jealous jd said...

    Well done everyone. Also one of my fav races, but so much else on usually at the Sep weekend unfortunately.Westies finishers =

    12 David Riach MV40 03:12:0014 Chris Upson MV40 03:14:4228 Andy Edwards M 03:35:2629 Steffen Gorgas M 03:36:3031 Ellen Homewood L 03:39:2132 David Rogers MV40 03:40:3940 Graham Kelly M 03:56:3061 Stephen Bell MV40 04:22:06

    Full results here

    Monday 24th September 2007 3.24pm

  4. AndyE said...

    Photos from the day at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/oldschoolhouse2007/TwoBreweries2007

    My first 2B and my longest race. The best bit - up a wee burn to the top of Hundleshope Heights out of Glensax. Managed to loose Steffen here as he took a variation. Worst bit - obviously the Trahenna approach track and final climb - compounded by seeing Steffen who appeared to be about 5 seconds behind me on that hill even though I hadn't seen him since ... my best bit.

    All in all a great experience and post race gathering.

    Well done to all racers particularly Ellie for her fine effort for 2nd lady.

    Official supporter note (Jen): great day, beautifull setting.... and the biggest soup pan in the world to feed all who turned up to the prize giving (even without a race ticket!). As for the runners - definitely the best team in yellow - who could have got a team prize if the hills hadn't been taken over by HBT team A,B,C ....!

    Monday 24th September 2007 5.46pm

  5. Chris said...

    For once I managed to resist the cavalry charge start, and jogged far more slowly down the initial road section behind a block of brown HBT vests, with Colin Donnelly already sprinting off into the distance. Four Moorfoot runners took a sneaky shortcut to avoid Grieston Hill altogether. It took a while to catch 3 of these runners, and I never caught the 4th.

    I ran most of the way to Hundleshope with Jon Ascroft, until Jon took off on the descent to Glenrath. From Glenrath to the end I only made one place and lost one place. I caught Wull Hynd at the top of the firebreak, but then struggled on the long descent to Stobo, allowing David Riach to catch me at the start of the track through the forest. We ran together for a while, although David could easily have pressed on if he'd wanted.

    At the top of Trahenna, Adrian Davis suddenly came into view struggling with a foot problem. David passed him, but my legs were too weary for the final descent, so I was happy to potter off the hill at my own pace.

    Full ResultsVarious Photos

    Tuesday 25th September 2007 10.49am

  6. Stateside-Swaz said...

    ...oh - I liked that race... has to be my favourite 'long'.

    I'm still limping around trying to recover from surgery.

    Miss you guys!

    Saturday 29th September 2007 7.41am

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