Cashing in at Cashell

My first ever race win and i owe it all to Mr Upson, who pointed out this little heard of race last week!!. I thought, here is a chance for a bit of pot hunting while all the good guys are up at Morven & the breweries. The race had a limit of 100 runners so i thought i better get there early. I need’nt have worried. Only 8 other people turned up. There was me, a German tourist, the 15 yr grandson of one of the organisers, a handy looking runner in a vest i did’nt recognise, a bloke in the RAF from Stirling, a local lady runner, a vet from Lothian runners, and finally our Hamilton who made up the last place on the not so huge entry list.

The course was an interesting figure of 8 course over forest roads and trods overlooking Loch Lomond. I found myself at the front as we ran out the field. The 15 yr old boy running in 3/4 length trousers and trendy trainers, demonstrated the impetuosity of youth by passing me briefly as we started the climb. A more serious challenge further up came from the RAF bloke who tracked me closely. As the route became a narrow trod, i had managed to pull a bit on him, but he was passed by the runner in the unknown club vest. As we finally got to the top, he was right behind me, but as soon as the trail went down, i quickly gapped him and it was a relatively easy run in to the finish. My first win in 20yrs of hill running at the grand old age of 49!.

What about Hamilton? He told me later that he was having an enjoyable race, when out of the blue, he was passed near the top by Clare Gordon of HBT, who had missed the start of the race by 30 seconds. This ruffled Hamilton’s feathers so he re-passed her on the descent. She was not going down quietly though and came back at him and was in front as the entered the finishing field. Not to be out done, Hamilton demonstrated a fine turn of speed to outsprint her to the line.

The economics of this race were a bit strange with all the runners receiving cash prizes of varying amounts eg i got £25 for winning, and Hamilton won a tenner!. Not bad for a £2 entry fee. We have got to get more bodies to this race next year or it will disappear. The organiser needs to get it into the SHR calendar.

A highly enjoyable afternoon.