Trouble at the Top

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Trouble at the Top

Maddy Moss Hill Race, 15th July 2009

"She'll ask about your top. She'll no' be happy", says The Passenger.

"I didnae want to wear my Westies vest. It's my first hill race of the year and I'll get a stinking time 'cos I'm just going to start from the back and trundle round as best I can", I explain. "She won't like it", warns The Passenger.

Anyway, I find myself without regulation Westerlands colours, squinting up into the lowering sun, still static at the back of the field as Donald Evans powers upwards, leading the field on the initial steep climb. I'm making steady progress once on the open hillside, and have a wee social banter with Andy between The Law and Ben Cleuch, but when I next turn to speak to him he's gone. At least it can't be into a bog this time. Donald, Chris and Owen are already heading over the next summit before Donald's road shoes prove to be his undoing and Chris comes home as first Westie. The Passenger, Steffen, Murdo, JD, The Captainess, and Dave Rogers all pass by, heading down as I jog on to the summit of Ben Cleuch. Dave is wearing a Defi T-shirt. I wonder briefly if he'll be in trouble too. I see Pat coming up as I jog down and over to Andrew Gannel Hill, then I lock into the narrow trod for the long road home. For once I don't trip over my big feet, and make up a couple of places. I hold my concentration on the final steep descent to the finish safely, and join the Westies huddle.

"WHERE'S YOUR WESTIES TOP?!" demands The Captainess.

"It's my first hill race of the year and I knew I'd cause a stink so I didn't want to disgrace the Westies colours", I plead. "That's a pathetic excuse. It's almost girlish", derides The Captainess. I hang my head and skulk back to the car, firmly rebuked.

"Told you she'd ask about your top", says The Passenger.

Posted by Johnston Orr on Wed 15 Jul 2009 | 7 comments

Category Hill Race

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Comments

Graham K said...
aye - but as a result, you have been invited to the next westies wimen night oot ! Must try that ...last time i wanted to share some polite company ...i had to wear ma kilt ! Another top evening and despite my adventure with gravity (it won) i was a wee bit quicker than my last jaunt at the moss.
Thursday 16th July 2009 12.04am
Chris said...
Johnston - good to see you back at the races after an all too lengthy absence. And what is it with Dave Rogers and that scaffy old Defi T-shirt? Next time I'l make sure I have the box of gleaming golden Westie vests in my car, so no excuses for Dave or Donaldo. And what was Donald thinking attempting Maddy Moss in road shoes??!!

Btw - highlight of the evening was watching Dave Rogers disappearing into that huge gorse thicket on the descent instead of following the obvious path!
Thursday 16th July 2009 8.25am
jd said...
A belter of a mid-week race - great location, great pub after and lots of friendly faces. My blisters from Melantee had seemingly healed up, and after a power snooze in the car I was ready as ever for this tough assault course from Tillicoultry up the Ochils and back. The steep start got me puffing and panting immediately as runners jostled for space amongst the ferns, bracken and boulders. We all found the correct path this year over to the foot of the Law and were warmed up for the power-walking slog up to the top. I settled into a steady rhythm and was passed by only a few people on the way to the top, including Graham Kelly early on, who I managed to hang onto for most of the climb. The legs felt no too bad, though in this race I tend to climb well only to be passed on the runnable stuff on the descent.

Over The Law Steffen came past and I tracked him closely through the gloom to the summit of Ben Cleuch in about 37mins, where the real race started. My wee legs then tried their sterling best to hang on to Steffen and others in front, and to hold off Murdo, Dave Rogers, Lisa and the massed hordes behind me. I had a reasonable trot along to Andrew Gannell only losing a few places, trying to take in the cracking views that were unfolding around me as the sun made a fleeting appearance down in the glens below. The descent to the eponymous Maddy Moss is a little belter and no more places were squandered here fortunately.

However, what then lay ahead was the last mile down the narrow snaking ditch of a track where I usually flounder a bit, paying for my earlier uphill excesses. I let a few fliers pass me early on and then Saturday’s blister and some dodgy guts started making their unwelcome presence known. The concentration required to stay on the descent path in its more ditch-like upper half had blotted these things out, but on the lower half I just had to wave Dave past, bowing to his superior descending skills as I wimped out on the rockier parts.

I hared off after him to no avail, and was also soon caught by Ellie and, oh no -Dave Duncan! I thought I had done enough to hold off my old adversary but he nipped past me in the bracken as I was tip-toeing down. The last hundred metres are steep and slippery but, despite thinking only of a gut-relieving trip to the bushes, I managed to just hold off a fast finishing Murdo to record 67mins 10secs - a mere 10mins slower than 1999. No time for chit-chat at the finish as I was feeling decidedly ropey internally and headed straight for the hidden sanctuary of some high bracken, only reappearing a good 10 minutes later feeling a bit more human. A quick wet-wipe-wash in the car had me feelong fresh as a daisy and then into the Woolpack Inn for some rehydration. A lovely evening’s entertainment. Well done to all the Westies and thanks to Ochil Hillrunners for organising it all.
Thursday 16th July 2009 8.18pm
Ellie said...
Johnston - I only say it because I care! Well done for surviving the battering...and the hill race.
Graham- it was a cunning ploy to get a look at yer legs
Chris- I think lynching Rogers, tackling him to the ground and forcibly enveloping his tidy limbs in a gleaming golden cloak is the only option
JD- intrigued by the feelong fresh- is that some sort of oriental post-hill run cocktail or am I getting confused by the Glaswegian lingo for bowel related issues?
Thursday 16th July 2009 10.07pm
jd said...
results Here
Thursday 16th July 2009 11.59pm
jd said...
my updated all-time Maddy Moss list below =

1- 52 min 42 sec Ronnie Gallagher 1999 Records
54 min 25 sec Manny Gorman 2007 M=47m39s
54 min 40 sec David Riach 2008
54 min 44 sec Sandy Bennett 1997 F=53m10s
55 min 26 sec Crawford Spence2008
56 min 32 sec John Donnelly 1996
57 min 29 sec Matt Ogston 1996
57 min 43 sec Chris Upson 2008
58 min 50 sec Kevin Doonan 1996
10- 59 min 54 sec Don Reid 2003
59 min 58 sec Owen O’Neill 2009
60 min 18 sec Murdo McLeod 1999
60 min 25 sec Steffen Gorgas 2005
60 min 34 sec Jon Slowe 2003
60 min 50 sec Dave Calder 2000
60 min 51 sec Simon Triger 2008
61 min 07 sec Donald Evans 2009
61 min 09 sec Keith Adams 1996
61 min 49 sec Christine Menhennet 1999 f
20 61 min 51 sec Tom Smith 2007
62 min 18 sec Dave Rogers 2008
62 min 25 sec Jim Hall 1996
63 min 28 sec Peter Baxter 1999
63 min 30 sec Scott McKendrick2008
63 min 50 sec Graham Kelly 2009
64 min 08 sec Luke Arnott 2007
64 min 45 sec Ellie Homewood 2008 f
65 min 24 sec Martin Reid 2005
66 min 27 sec Blair Millen 2002
30- 66 min 35 sec Stephen Abrams 1995
67 min 59 sec Jason Kaushal 2008
68 min 05 sec Hamilton Semple 2005
68 min 28 sec Jacques Penderis 2007
68 min 32 sec Elspeth Scott 1999
68 min 37 sec Chas Campbell 1999
68 min 48 sec Helen Palmer 2006 f
69 min 00 sec Roddy Fleming 2006
69 min 59 sec Drew Turnbull 1995
70 min 10 sec Hamilton Semple 2008
40- 70 min 43 sec Catriona Miller 2006 f
71 min 50 sec Johnston Orr 2009
72 min 02 sec Richard Hill 2007
73 min 23 sec Lesley Gorman 1997 f
74 min 14 sec Val Brunton 2004 f
74 min 35 sec Andy Mott 2009
75 min 43 sec Stuart Burns 2008
76 min 28 sec Pat McLaughlin 1995 f
76 min 40 sec Katherine Kirk 2005 f
80 min 05 sec Carol Goodall 2007 f
50- 82 min 27 sec Pauline McAdam 2006 f
83 min 32 sec Ana Talbot 2003 f
Friday 17th July 2009 12.05am
Dave Calder said...
I'm aghast that the Captain and Captainess allowed Westies runners to take part without the hallowed gold vest! I suggest we should instigate an inspection drill 5 minutes prior to the start of each race...so while other runners are being checked out for full body cover, we can do a full Westies check on regulation vests. Standards do have to be set and maintained, after all!
..........and what about regulation black shorts? Can someone confirm that the Westies contingent were wearing the correct lower-body garments?
Still, I'm chuffed to see that my 2000 time betters (the normally blistering) Donald's road-shoed effort. Of course, I'm sure that my footwear that year would be equally unsuitable!!!!!
Saturday 18th July 2009 11.01am