A strong Westies contingent (and me) made their way to the Lake District for the annual Hodgsons Brothers Mountain Relays last Sunday. This is a four-leg race on the hills around Patterdale; a stunning course and, thanks to a strictly limited number of competitors, one that always offers some seriously competitive racing. Everyone was out
I left my flat on my own at 7.30 to make my way up to Ben Resipol, collecting runners along the way; Alistair & Dan in Partick, Sam at Crianlarich and Highland Hill Runner Ally Beavan in the lay-by by the Corran Ferry to make a full car by the time we reached the Ardnamurchan
Arrochar Alps: One Race, Two Tracks, Three Points, Four Munros, Five Stars Picking up three points and a £100 fine just after Tarbet meant I was not in the best of moods arriving at the village hall on Saturday morning. During a short consultation in the car park, my solicitor (JD) confirmed that options
It might not be the roughest counter in the Bog n Burn series (that’s got to be Ben Sheann), but Cort-Ma-Law is quite possibly the toughest. Definitely the longest and the course, even following the Indian-summer month we’ve been having, manages to pack in a lot of bog, tussock and steepness. It was a beautiful
Everything must change so that everything can stay the same, like the feller said. (Or didn’t say? Discuss.) New forestry plantations, utilities development and parking restrictions forced more than a few changes on this year’s Kilpatricks hill race; enough to warrant a new registration area, a new course and a new name. In addition,
Going fast in hill races rarely feels that quick, because uphill rarely is. You can be making a good time doing a lung-bursting race walk up Beinn an Oir, but the experience is never one of speed. Not so The Whangie, I love this race because the gentle gradients throughout allow for the feeling of
‘If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.’ – Emil Zatopek ‘The marathon never ceases to be a race of joy, a race of wonder.’ – Hal Higdon ‘I get emotional when I watch a marathon…I start to cry because I know
‘If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.’ – Emil Zatopek ‘The marathon never ceases to be a race of joy, a race of wonder.’ – Hal Higdon ‘I get emotional when I watch a marathon…I start to cry because I know what they’re