Manor Water Hill Race

11 October 2008

5 Westies enjoyed the late autumn sunshine and picturesque Borders setting near Peebles, before setting off into the howling wind on this muddy but very runnable course.

A good turnout saw Colin Donnelly win the race from Brian Marshall, followed by Don Naylor and Adam Ward. Manny Gorman was top Westie in a very creditable 5th, passing me at the bottom of his descent of The Scrape just as I was about to ascend.

John Bottomley was also seen running strongly, and Amy Pitch was back for more after her recent 2 Breweries epic. I ran everything but The Scrape, having deliberately started in last place to pace myself on my return to hill running, but felt the lack of training in my wobbly legs on the homeward section as I trundled back in around 1:43. Great to be out again.

Andy Mott had a battle with the elements as the wind popped out one of his contact lenses on the final ascent, and the other made its exit shortly after the descent, leaving him as the first Braille hill runner to finish. From being 1 min behind me at the turn, Andy’s homeward leg took almost as long as the outward one as he had to stop and wait for directions from following runners, having failed to enlist a sheepdog from the nearby trials as a guide dog. It would probably have been a close call with the 2-hour barrier, if Andy could still have read his watch.

There’s a short report and photos on the Carnethy site, and I believe Manny may have some photos to upload. Amy and John – nice to meet you, how did your races go?