Glamaig race

Drove up to Sligachan on Saturday with the weather improving mile by mile the further I went north west. Arrived after the long drive to find a perfect day for most people but not me ......I love the cold and rain and wind .....it was about 23 degrees C without a cloud in the sky and a crowd of just over 80 entered the race.

It really is a classic race ......any way up and any way back down and I made sure I consulted with several people re the best route. The accepted wisdom seemed to be follow the mob along the road then a narrow trace up and down through bogs to the foot of the hill proper then straight up keeping slightly left until you come to a grassy rake which you follow to the top then a final climb through scree and boulders to the summit proper. Back was described as get back to the top of the grassy rake then hang a left and come straight down a major scree run then survive back through the bog by any route.

Met Dave Rogers who I hadn't seen for many months and he confirmed more or less the same route choice. Off we went and I was ok at the start until the combination of the steepness of the hill, the heat, and my lack of fitness ( mainly the latter ) caused a serious slowdown .......Davy Duncan headed off past at a rate of knots as usual ......Dave R was long gone, way up ahead somewhere ......on the grassy rake there was a minor breeze which perked me up a bit and I managed to stagger to the summit cairn. Back down and then decided to follow a Lochaber man who seemed to know where he was going ......he didn't .....we went way too far down the grassy rake and then left and we had to go through boulder fields rather than scree. Lots of people had made the same mistake however and and I managed to pass about 5 or 6 before the bottom of the steepest part then slowly caught up on another lochaber man through the bogs and passed him on the last couple of hundred yards of road.

Dave Rogers was 20th in 1:06:20 which can't be far off his personal best for the race, I was 45th in 1:22:26 .......Brian Marshall won for the 6th time in a row in 49:39 which is a great time but I can scarcely believe Mark Rigby's record of 44:41 in 1997. Only 8 people broke the hour mark and Lois Noble was 1st Lady in 1:15:42.

The race is well subsidised and for your £3 entry you get a meal and a pint thrown in .......excellent value and I duly had my mince and tatties and a pint of Glamaig Ale before jumping in the car for the return journey .......a long day but well worth the effort.

Posted by Brian Brennan on Tue 8 Jul 2008 | 1 comment

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