Greenmantle Dash 2010

2nd January 2010

Photos

The parkrun may have been cancelled due to a wee bit of bad weather, but the Greenmantle Dash went ahead despite around a foot of snow on the hill. The course was altered to avoid the wall and fence loups, and the river and marsh crossings (boo!), but the run up the turnip field followed by the sharp blast up and down the hill were still there to be enjoyed. It must have been a tough workout for the leaders as they forged a trail through the snow for the rest of us to follow. Overall, times appeared similar to previous years, the changed route balancing out the deep snow.

Chris made a welcome return to action after his bout of Nepalese yak flu, John Denovan sampled his second weather-altered course after The Law Breaker, and Pauline McAdam was the only representative of the Westies Wimmin.

Looking at the race from the Westies perspective, I followed John out from the brewery, with Chris starting brightly as ever. Things remained unchanged through the turnip field, until John's lay-off period after injury slowed him on the hill. By this time, Chris was stepping out from the well-worn conga line of ascending racers to snap a few photos on the move. I summited first, and bounded off through the snow like the daft child I am, passing Carnethy's Gregor Heron who was dressed for the occasion in shorts and a vest! Another Carnethy was seen changing trousers at the summit, obviously looking for something more slippy as he then bum-slid very effectively past many stumbling runners on the way down! My initial enthusiasm turned out to be a mistake, as I ran out of steam and Cameraman Chris caught me at the bottom of the hill, and went on to take another 2 runners on the road to the finish. John was third Westie home, and Pauline pronounced herself reasonably happy with her run in the conditions.

Refreshments and bottles of beer followed in the village hall.

Can we manage a better turnout for the Nigel Barge next week on our home turf??!!

Full results to follow.

Posted by Johnston Orr on Sat 2 Jan 2010 | 3 comments

Category Hill Race