Goatfell Race 2006

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Goatfell Race 2006

Another entourage of Westies travellers sailing over to the Isle of Arran. 10 of us in fact As we approached the island Goatfell was shrouded in the mist.Well at least an hour before the start of the race,

so that will burn off quickly. Not this time.

Conditions were muggy,close,humid:that is not fresh.(what else to say that it was hard). Really tough going just on the flat.Actually,It was

tough,but not a complaint was heard. Sure enough the rain came,but not torrential-that'll be later. Now in the cloud & not so muggy now pall.

Thinking still a hell of a way to go & the shout goes up-"runners coming down" (really tempted to stand back in awe),as Alasdair Anthony scampered past,then a brief interval & Brian Marshall is on his tail.

The steep bouldered section near the summit was now very slippy

& shall we say not enjoyed by all.Bit of a log-jam there.

Full on concentration on the path & thankfully no need to use Wet weather gear this year(thanks Drew c.f.Glen Rosa 2004).

Advice was leave something for the road at the end. 1.5miles,was it-well suppose it felt like 3. Although,a big thank you to the family

with the little 'uns,who when they caught sight of your number,just

let rip & screamed your number at you. An exellent kick up the back-side.

Predictably, Brian Marshall came in first, having overtaken Alasdair

Anthony on the way down. 1.17 Winning time

David had another great run,claiming 6 position.

First Woman was Jill Mykura in 1.34

Westies honour list was

Gordon,Murdo,Hamilton,Donald 1MV60, Christine 1W40,Jason,

Helen,Pat 1WV50

& Val ? (not Brunton) who was cheering us on),Plus very dubiously

talking about Just what it was going to be like for Christine & her camping in what was now torrential rain,and it did'nt stop-not that we saw anyway. Good luck. Hope you were'nt swept away.

Well done to all Westies there.

Many thanks to Paul Emsley & his helpers from Arran Runners for putting on a great Race,plus showers & food,& hot drinks.

Also, thanks to the Mountain Rescue & Ambulance & First Aiders

who were patching up quite a few red raw scrapes & more.

Posted by Hamilton Semple on Mon 22 May 2006 | 2 comments

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Comments

Jason was wet! said...
Ok I promise not to mention how wet this was, but it was, ok!
In many ways this was my best race yet, perhaps thats not visible in terms of position but it was in terms of my personal run. After a slow start I climbed slowly but steadily, mixing running and walking, but most importantly this was the first hill race over 5ml where I never stopped at all on the climb, which I am really pleased about. In fact once I found my level only a couple of more people passed me on the climb so I was quite pleased. Though Christine's ability to jog none stop, on and on, getting further and further away was inspiring.
Far too soon the leaders scampered down, followed later by the rest of the softies who try to spend less time on the hill. I was already slipping on the slabs on the way up and so was worrying about the descent, but the leaders made it look easy. Maybe it was?
Hit the top in clag and descend. I have said a few times now I am pleased enough with my ability downhill, and again no one passed me and I hauled in three people who hadn't been in sight when I came off the top, so I am pleased. It was slippy though and so parts were a hop and wobble more than a run. I even slipped quite badly on the road trying to stretch out.
By the end I was knackered and couldn't have done more, so I was pleased with my run. The only fly in the ointment was I was just over the two hours and DaveC. had aimed me at being withing 10 minutes of my BL run, so I was three minutes off this.
A good run, a course which demands concentration. Friendly organisation and food and showers all a bargain at this price. Only a short walk to the pub remained to end a lovely day, and I hardly mentioned the rain, which was plentiful.
Congrats to the Westies who did so well, DaveR is flying right now, prizes gained across several age groups, and there were complaints on the ferrry(from Ian?) that Donald was one of these young V60s!
Tuesday 23rd May 2006 10.19am
christine m. said...
Once you guys had all left the pub for the ferry, Val and I were kept well entertained by hard rock employees of an Ayrshire Quarry who were on a team building day up Goatfell!! By the time we poured ourselves into our tent at Lamlash we were past caring about the cold and wet although the all night generator at the marshalls tent was not conducive to sleep! Great to see Cat and John arriving back form hill in one piece!
Wednesday 24th May 2006 11.38am