Meall a Bhuachaille

Results

After overheating badly at Run of the Mill I was pleased when the temperature plummeted at the end of the week which definitely meant I was looking forward to this race. Drove up to Badaguish Centre on Saturday and got there about an hour before the off. Met Brenda and Manny at check in and got my first dose of abuse from the Gorman chappie ……he’s inspirational that man ……but then I detect that all is not well in the Manny camp ….the poor wee guy was worried about the cold, what should he wear, was his sports bra comfy enough, should he carry a thermal ……a shocker it was. I’ve always thought he was our own Alf Tupper, the tough of the track, but not the big wooss that turned up at MaB, the all new  (Wo)manny Gorman …..anyway he eventually got his woolly hat and his thermal underwear sorted out …..put on some lip salve …..adjusted his girdle …..etc etc. Other Westies racing were Val Brunton and Alan Gilkison who both looked in good form. After my shocker the previous week I just wanted to get round not too far behind the people I pretend to be competing with. Temperature was great for me …..It was freezing ….and I was glad when they started us off …..first two miles are along a forest track, undulating and pretty swift …..I started alongside Trevor Shaw from Killin but after a few minutes I decided to try to keep up with Julia Connor who was just ahead …..almost died in the attempt but got to the end of the track just with her ….none of the usual suspects had got past me at that point but a couple of minutes we turned left up the narrow path to the bealach trevor came by and I tried to keep with him …..bealach came and went and still I hung on …..part way up and the leaders start to pass going the other way …..(Wo)manny was leading woman in about 12th place or so ….didn’t see who was leading but Brian Marshall was down about 7th or 8th at that point. Trevor got away a bit in the last part of the climb but now the descent …..take a good line through the snow and rocks and manage to pass about 6 or 7 people including trevor and Julia on the way down past the bealach. The totally unnecessary wee detour through the heather to the wee knoll took its toll but got onto the second climb and managed to more or less keep up with a couple of guys, Trevor came past again but he only beat me to the second top by 30 metres or so ….and Julia and my usual nemeses Gus, Davie D, and Herbie are nowhere to be seen as yet. Perfect weather for running and I get past trevor again in a short technical descent just after the top. The next section is along an undulating ridge with some boogy bits and I managed to run most of it with only a couple of exhausted walks on short steeper sections. Hallelujah ….the downhill …..great stony path with muddy bit to the right that you can really batter down …..which I did, passed one guy, and while looking up to see if there was anybody else I could get ……face plant …..almost ….just got hands down and it was muddy so no damage done. Back up and battered on …..at the bottom of this path there’s a boggy section a couple of hundreds yards long then a slight uphill through the woods ….last year I was knackered here and really slowed but the forest track is only a few hundred metres away so its well worth keeping pushing. Hit the track …..slightly uphill , very slightly, but the state I was in it all counts ……a young guy about 150 m ahead ……scared to look back ….its only about a kilometre to the end from here but you can’t see the finish until you’re almost on it …..caught and passed the young guy and got a gap on him …..thankfully nobody else ahead within 400m so just need to keep it together ….glance back, mistake, think I saw red top which is probably Trevor about 100m back so really have to give it everything that’s left …..trust me readers that’s not a lot…..but the finish comes surprisingly early and its great to stop.  Manny and Alan have both finished a long time previously and seem to have had good runs. Davie D finishes a minute or two behind me with Trevor not far behind him and julia definitely didn’t like the descents. Gus has had a bad run which he thinks is probably due to hamstring problems. Val and Brenda both come in looking pretty chirpy. No idea of times for westies runners as none of us won any prizes …..for some reason, some sort of technicality, they gave 1st woman to somebody other than (W)MG so he/she was robbed. Your race entry of £6 gets you a free burger and a cup of tea both of which were magic and there were several birthdays being celebrated after the race …..two Fifers ….david cowan and sarah legge ….and Brenda ……so millions of cake ( and Hilary Christie makes magic cakes) ….before heading to a luxury house nearby for more tea and cake …..maybe manny is right re my weight problem ? ….then off home. Magic day out in the highlands …..great race …. thanks organisers / marshals / etc.