Glamaig

Results

Glamaig is a real classic. Everything about it, the setting, the route and the organisation are spot on  ,and with an entry fee of only £5 also getting you a meal and a pint it’s hard to fault it.Drove up in the morning which is not to be recommended as its a long way and arrived just before 2pm. Registered and got changed and had a chat with a few people and I know so many these days that it now takes longer than the race itself. Only 2 Westies, myself and WHW hero George Douglas but understandable given Arrochar Alps was also on. Over a 100 entries including a BBC Alba presenter doing it as part of his preparation for the Ben in September so we were being filmed. Off we went with Brian Marshal keeping up with Finlay Wild…..route to bottom of the hill was standard boggy but almost a relief to reach the hill and walk…..for a few minutes anyway…. GD was 20m ahead but after a few hundred feet I saw he was zigzagging rather going straight up and managed to sneak ahead. It’s a long way up with several false summits and it was an almighty relief to get to the glassy rake, kept on going up the last bit and turned at the top maybe 25m up on George. Passed a lot of people on the descent but didn’t get on to the scree perfectly which cost me a wee bit…..dragged my aged carcass to the finish in 1:17+ in 43rd place and George was a few minutes adrift. Finlay was 1st and Brian M was 2nd, both a bit slower than in 2012 (record year). 3rd in his fastest time for 7 years was over50s sensation Alan Smith. First Lady and V40 was Lina Mardall, 1st lady V50 was Elaine Stewart of Cosmics. The Gurkha who had won the race in 1995 came back and ran again this year, coming 14th in just over the hour. The BBC Alba presenter finished in 1:37ish and was somewhat shellshocked by the experience, his next race is the Lomonds so keep an eye out for him, seems  a nice enough guy.