Glenshee 9

What a great day out we all had at the Glenshee 9 today. I can’t say anyone looked particularly up for it as we sat in the warm Chairlift Café. Drinking tea was a much more appealing option than braving the horizontal rain. But 4 Westies made it to the start line and headed up the Sunnyside ski slopes towards Meall Ochar, into the mist and onto our first Munro checkpoint.

The rain persisted along the ridge to Creag Leacach but eased off soon after. And by the time we were over the 3rd Munro heading towards Tom Buidhe the mist even cleared. It felt like it was a novelty to get a view. And the best part was it wasn’t short lived as it stayed clear for the rest of the day. I love it when you just get on and do what you planned despite the weather and are rewarded with a heavenly afternoon of running.

Ok, dropping to the road crossing and the long heathery climb up to Carn Aosda wasn’t heavenly, but this was only a brief interlude.

By the time I reached the run out to the 8th Munro, Carn nan Sac, the leaders had passed me heading towards their final climb. I was starting to tire but was determined to hold onto the group I’d been running with – Alan Smith, Richie Cunningham and Eilidh Raistrick. But as I stretched my legs on the return from Carn nan Sac I took a tumble and slipped back from them. It took quite a while to find my rhythm again though I did appear to be catching them as I hit Cairnwell, the final top.

They all followed the Cairnwell chairlift down the slope. That wasn’t my plan – the kid in my wanted to run The Tiger. I haven’t skied it in years but remember how brilliant a run it is from my school days. Well, as it turns out it misses out the rocks the others encountered and I found myself drawing level with 50 meters to go. My momentum carried me past Eilidh and onto the shoulder of Richie – he’ll have been given 9th but we should have the same time; 4h13m.

Graham was next in having really enjoyed his first long of the year. Julia was next sporting her yellow waterproof – she is getting closer to joining! Peter had a fantastic run, he is really finding his hill legs. And John crossed the line with a huge grin on his face, delighted to be back in the hills after his 2 months in Sweden.

Andy Fallas won the race in around 3h32m with Mark Harris close behind and Konrad Rawlik in 3rd. Eilidh was the first woman.