Carnethy

According to Mindy, the Carnethy 5 hill race has been blessed with excellent weather for the last eight years; so there was no excuses from anyone, as 460 enthusiastic athletes made their way round this wonderful route. The sun beat down so powerfully that anyone wearing more than shorts and vest would surely have toiled. Mind you, this year, to commemorate the Battle of Roslin in 1303, the first runner over the finishing line wearing full battle dress won a rather fine but dangerous looking claymore; I'll bet that he was hot!

The final Westies' results demonstrate a fair wealth of talent amongst our ranks, and with the right training, support and encouragement, we could possible grab a few team prizes here and there over the coming year; perhaps in races like Wideford, or the Devils Beeftub or something (ha ha). A quick analysis shows us that the all-time top 75 Westies' times at Carnethy has two new entries in the glorious sub-60-minute hall of fame. Chris Upson and Nigel Scott demonstrated some fine work on the hill to edge Dave Calder out of the top ten (shame!) Both gaining personal bests, and in the process gaving Manny such a fright that he was forced to perform at a level that was probably unthinkable, even for himself (another PB though!). A conversation between myself and Manny after the race went something like this:

Blair: So did you beat Chris and Nige?

Manny: Aye, of course!

Just goes to show you what you can do when faced with your demons! Talking of which, Dave Rogers ... what an ascent up Carnethy he made! In no small part due to my gentle encouragement as I floated past him (bear in mind I was struggling pretty badly at this time myself). Anyway, what a nice turn around from the bald maestro of the comeback!

Steffen's debut at Carnethy was the perhaps the most encouraging. His impressive time of 62.32 means that he'll no longer be getting those ridiculous handicaps for the club races. Looking forward to seeing what happens at the 'In the Dark' in a few weeks.

Captain Charlie managed another sub-70 minute jog. Ol' Baxter was clearly out for some light training too, while another PB was carved out from Big Al 2nd in 72.41. Graeme's run this year was only undertaken because he heard about the free massages after the race. Lillian managed her second race as a Westie (or was that second race ever?) and looked so coooool in her shades; apparently she only wore them to retain some 'cred' when she came in in last place!

I met a new Westie in the form of Brian Brennan. Nice chap. Hope he's paid his subs! He was very glad to finish in front of Elspeth. Drew competed in his 700th Carnethy race. Another Westies PB, this time from Ana who ran round in just about the same time as my first Carnethy in 2000, and now look at me!!

And finally, the results show that Liz was running Unattached ..........

17 52:55 Ronnie Gallagher Westerlands v

48 56:35 Manual Gorman Westerlands s

53 57:14 Chris Upson Westerlands s

56 57:27 Nigel Scott Westerlands s

89 61:07 John Donnelly Westerlands s

105 62:32 Steffen Gorgas Westerlands s

125 63:55 Murdo Macleod Westerlands sv

128 64:17 David Rogers Westerlands v

130 64:38 Blair Millen Westerlands s

202 69:47 Charlie Campbell Westerlands s

230 71:49 Peter Baxter Westerlands v

233 72:04 Stephen Bell Westerlands s

238 72:41 Alan Wilson Westerlands v

280 76:32 Graeme Orr Westerlands sv

281 76:32 Lilian Wanless Westerlands l

283 76:45 Brian Brennan Westerlands v

289 77:07 Elspeth Scott Westerlands l

294 77:34 Liz Horton u/a l

302 78:09 Ana Talbot Westerlands l

353 81:58 Drew Turnbull Westerlands sv+

Posted by Blair Millen on Wed 30 Nov -0001 | comments are closed

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