Eagle Crag Hill Race

MARSHALL AND SHAW STORM TO NEW RECORDS

IN EAGLE CRAG HILL RACE

The weather conditions seemed to suggest that it would be otherwise, but in last Saturday's Eagle Crag Hill Race at Fort William, new course records were set for both men and women, and several runners finished the race with new personal-best times. Dave Cummins of Shettleston, well known as a strong ascender, set the pace on the first climb, followed closely by a strong group of Lochaber runners and by Brian Marshall of Haddington, who then took to the front and led through gale-force winds and driving rain over the undulating tops towards Bidhein Bad na h-lolaire (The Eagle Crag). By the time he had descended to the third checkpoint near Dun Deardail, Marshall had a clear lead, which he held for the remainder of the race, namely a 1.5-mile section of the West Highland Way, a 1000-ft climb through deep heather and an extremely steep descent to the finish and a new men's record of 1 hour and 9 seconds. Lyndsey Shaw of Lochaber led the women's race from start to finish, too far in front of her nearest rivals, Rosie Hart and Amanda Blackhall, to realise what a tussle these two were having for second place. Lyndsey had a huge lead on the final climb and pressed home the advantage with a fearless descent to finish with a new women's record of 1 hour, 18 minutes and 5 seconds.

There were 33 out of 33 finishers. Full results at www.lochaberac.co.uk.

Posted by Drew Broadley on Mon 28 Jun 2004 | 2 comments

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