CS said...

Highlight of the race had to be Fraser's lung-bursting sprint finish. As he entered the final lap of the rugby pitch there were still 20 metres between him and the Lochaber lassie ahead. Not about to be beaten by a member of the opposite sex, 'Bandana Man' cranked up the pace for a breathtaking finale. By the time he had reached the home straight and was overtaking the demoralised wee pet, the crowd had well and truly turned against him. Cries of 'Go Westies' were now drowned out by a resounding chorus of Boos and general laughter. I found myself involuntarily condemning the cheeky rascal. All of this was of course irrelevant to the man himself, who was glowing with pride and couldn't have been happier than if he had won the whole race rather than some splinter battle of the sexes.

It is worth noting that this was the first time Fraser has donned the magic Westies vest. Is there any better reason for stripping him of it along with his other garments and sending him to the Gobi desert without water? I think not. What a disgrace...

Monday 17th May 2004 9.11am

Manny said...

A superb Summer League encounter was had on a "scorchio" day on Arran.Chris and Damon set off like whippits at the front leading the field groaning and puffing in the heat on the awful tarmac and onto the hill track which now resembles a pretty good immatation of a road.Ronnie had set off gently until the hill, then effortlessly pulled away from me and slowly worked his way throught the field and eventually out of sight.I was surprised to see Damon coming back towards me before the summit was gained, but Chris seemed to be holding his pace well.Big Alan Smith of Deeside had been my pacer but a torn calf after Ben Lomond was screaming for a rest on the unrelenting runable climb and slowly Alan pulled away.I was glad of the steeper summit section that requires fast hands-on-knees walking as it released my calf for a while.The leaders, with Ronnie now up in 3rd came tearing down and I counted myself as 10th at that point, however, as soon as I started to descend I knew I was in trouble with my leg/calf.I kept the pace steady trying not to over-stretch and concentrated hard on fast small steps, trying not to trip (Jane/Derek Bearhop)but eventually I could hear the pitter patter of small feet with an Irish accent catching me up and Damon skipped past hooting with joy about telling the world that he managed to pass me on a descent.Suitable riled, I put in a bit more effort to stay with him and it paid off when we hit the tarmac again. Initially the pace was increased but as the gradient leveled off the black & gold vest in front started to come back to me for the second time, but it never crossed my mind to gloat to the world that I managed to pass Damon on a road!! The agony of the tarmac went on for far too long and eventually a very tired Chris came into view, unfortunately just too far away to close down before the line.It was great to watch everyone finish round the park in the sun (or in Damons case stagger after a spectacular blow out which lost him a further 2 places) and "Bandana Mans" sprint past the Lochaber burd was indeed something to behold.The day went somewhat flat as news of Janes fall & serious injury reached us, but we accepted our haul of team and individual prizes graciously just the same.As a result of the finishing positions there are a number of changes to the League table which will follow shortly.Well done to everyone who made the trip for a great day out and I look forward to returning for Glen Rosa in a months time.

Monday 17th May 2004 3.08pm

Tim Downie said...

Hi,

I just wanted to wish Jane a speedy recovery after her nasty fall. I suspect the mountain rescue folk might be getting a few extra donations after this!

Tim Downie(Troon Tortoise AC)

Friday 21st May 2004 11.37pm

Fraser Dalziel said...

How much harder this race was than either Clachnaben or Ben Lomond. I was swayed by a pre-race debate about shoes to wear my road runners, though I am now convinced that I would have been better with the hill running shoes.

How much the road runners contributed to ability to sprint finish I'm not sure, though I certainly made up time on two female runners who sped past me on the downhill section... the rest is in the homage written by Crawford Spence. A word of defence on my part, there was a guy running who finished only two seconds behind me. (I didn't know that at the time right enough, but there was a lot of shouting 'Go Westies', and you have to give all you've got especially at the end, no?

This is certainly a race I'd do again, though very treacherous underfoot as the unfortunate injuries list shows. That the conditions were fair and dry underlines any future decision to wear hill runners despite the two miles of tarmac to start and end.

Tuesday 25th May 2004 1.49pm