Beinn Dubh

A new race for 2013, part of the Bog and Burn Championship. Attended by 25 Westies… Out of a total of 91 runners – another great turn out I would say!

Race conditions were perfect, not too hot, not too cold. The sort of temperature where all you really needed was a light jacket.

The conditions underfoot weren’t exactly perfect, mind you. Since the club recce two weeks ago, the hill had obviously seen quite a bit of water! What were once dry patches of grass on the lower sections of the hill, were now returning back to their normal state. The small boggy section, on the second Plateau, had also changed – it was bigger, and it was hungry too. (twice it tried to swallow me)

The race itself was very different from Kaim Hill. Instead of a nice easy start along flat tarmac, we were faced with a climb straight away.

This, in a way, helped me out quite a bit. Instead of burning myself out after five minutes, I actually ran slower than normally would have. Myself and Adam Harris were leading after about 10 minutes, and it turned out we both had the same game plan. Play it safe and wait for the right moment to put in any more energy than was necessary.

For those of you who haven’t run Beinn Dubh, you should note, it’s steep, and it goes on and on forever. Then, when you reach a style in a fence, there’s a small section of flatter ground before you reach a small cairn.

This is where I made my move. After holding off Alan Smith and Andrew Gilmore up to this point, I decided that If I don’t want them overtaking me on the descent, I need to try and get a wee head start before the fun part of the race begins.

At this point I was in forth place. I didn’t have much hope of gaining a place, and was more concerned about the runners behind me. Next, I just put all my energy and determination in getting down the hill. I didn’t even have the chance to say a word to the other 24 westies who encouraged me on my pursuit to overtake Dave Eiser. My mind was on other things – Sorry Guys!

The encouragment helped a lot, and eventually, much to my surprise, I finished in third place, overtaking Dave on the rocky section just before the final gate.

Well done to all who ran on the night. A very enjoyable, and well organised event, I would say!