Meall an t-Suidhe

I decided to spend the weekend in Fort William and race two, out of the three, hill races organised by Lochaber AC.

The first event was Melantee, a failry short race, with a steep climb that shares a lot of characteristics with Dumgoyne. The weather was warm and dry, with a super cool breeze that made the climb slightly more bearable than those in the recent races i’ve ran.

The course started with a lap of the playing field, followed by about 1km of farm track, before the climb began. The turnout was excellent, but mainly consisted of runners from Lochaber, and the surrounding area, with a few exceptions like myself and Alan Smith.

Finlay Wild led the race from start to finish and was unlucky not to beat the record, missing out by less than 30 seconds. I played to my strengths and made the most of the flat ground at the start of the course, hovering around 2nd/3rd place. Then, as the climb began to get serious, a number of other Lochaber runners began to pass me. Two at the bottom, one in the middle, then one right at the summit.

The local spectators at the playing field with binoculars, must’ve enjoyed watching this more than I did… Still, the race wasn’t over yet and I managed to hold off Alan Smith on the descent, then overtake a second runner just as I entered the playing field in order to finish in fifth place.

Immediately after the race I spent a good half an hour cooling off in a nearby river with a few of the other local runners. This seemed to help my legs to recover much quicker than usual, and I was pleased to find that they were more of less ready to tackle race number two of the weekend – the half ben nevis – which took place on Sunday. More about that another time….

Maybe it was the bright sunshine, or the excellent spread of sandwiches and home baking at the end, I dont’ know, but there was something about this race that I really enjoyed – even though it was fairly short.

Combine it with the half Nevis race, or the Cow Hill race, which is on tonight, and it makes for an excellent weekend away. Perhaps it’s worth considering making a few of these league races next year, eh Brian?