Lamm 2009 – A report from an absentee Westie

The temptation of a trip to the North of Scotland proved too great and so it was off to fantastic sunshine (and freezing nights…) in Kintail to enter the B course of the 2009 LAMM. This being my first I had no idea what to expect, but the lightweight tent resembling a glorified plastic bag (complete with freezing cold condensation dripping onto our faces in the night) certainly added to the experience.

After a long and hard first day we were pleased to arrive as one of the first B course runners at the mid stop giving us time to enjoy the sunshine and plenty of tea while watching the runners arrive over the rest of the afternoon (although forgetting the sugar and adding lectade rehydration solution to the tea is not to be recommended). The next day we started the chasing start in 9th position and steadily picked off runners until we were sitting fourth, before a tired brain and legs resulted in choosing the wrong path down to the last control, losing 2 places in the process. Oh well, but before the race I would have been happy to just finish so sixth place was a real surprise.

What I have learnt from the LAMM:
At the finish, don’t wipe the dried salt off your face and then immediately go for a pee with salt still on your hands. I am hoping the stinging will stop sometime soon…
During the run, don’t choose oat bars for your running food. Trying to breathe with a mouth coated in dried oats because you have stopped producing saliva is hard at the best of times.
Definitely start with a BBQ (“braai”) the night before; you will be the envy of the entire LAMM: you can take the Seth Efrican out of Africa, but the BBQ comes with.