Beinn Ratha Hill Race

A quick note from the Westies northerly division (I’m actually so far north that I avoid paying membership fees, which is quite handy) to report on the Beinn Ratha Hill Race which was last weekend. Manny and myself ran in it in a very bright and sunny Caithness spring day. It was a nice race with a flat track for about 4km to the hill, then a steep climb up and a 4km run back down a well graded slope, making it 12k in all. There were nice views of the nearby countryside, beaches and of course the nuclear power plant that is Dounreay. Despite many injuries (which I think I’ve seen Charlie referring to in past emails) Manny managed to retain his trophy by winning the race by a few minutes, in 50 minutes, and I think he holds the new courses record from the year before as well. I came in 4th out of 25 in just under an hour which was ok and it was quite a good social affair in the Reay Golf Club afterwards.