The great results keep on coming

Another Wednesday evening Bog & Burn race, another great Westie turnout and another bunch of great Westie results.

The sun was shining and the air warm last night in Tillicoultry where a large contingent of Westie’s gathered beneath the steep slopes of the Ochil Hills for the start of the Lawbreaker Hill Race. At the start Brian pointed out the many fast runners in the assembled field so I was thinking a top five finish would be good. As we set off I once again found myself in the lead and felt fairly comfortable as the ground reared up almost immediately. That feeling did not last long and after a couple of minutes of running and with the start still in sight I started thinking I had overdone it and was just waiting for someone to pass me.

The route is simple – follow the same path up and down with a slight kink thrown in as you descent in and out of a steep gorge. So on the one bit of the course that I could make a mistake I did. There is a bridge to cross the burn in the gorge and you would think that a bridge would be pretty easy to spot, but not for me it was not. I was slipping on the slimy rocks wading across the burn only to look up and see the bridge. I was sure with this energy sapping detour someone would streak past me but I emerged still in the lead.

The uphill was relentless so there was not a chance to look around to see how far ahead I was. I felt like I was slowing and was sure that someone would pass but I made it round at the summit still in first place. I had a quick look to see where everyone was, but only breifly because once the descent began it was fast and difficult to see much apart from the ground fizzing by beneath my feet. Fergus Johnston of Gala was second, Bob Wiseman third and Brian Marshall about fifth at the top.

I was running scared all the way down (I think I prefer chasing people rather than being chased), my legs were burning and my vision was blurry from the fast bumpy descent. My mouth was also so dry and I was breathing so hard there was no way I could acknowledge any of the shouts of encouragement from the other Westie runners and marshalls. They were also telling me I had a good lead but I was not convinced. I was sure someone was going to come steaming past but no one did and it was with relief that I got to the top of the last steep section to see I had about a 100m lead over Brian Marshall. I was determined to hold on and plunged down the final steep turns and in to the stepped tree section that leads out to the finishing straight. Thankfully I made it to the finishing straight far enough ahead to avoid a full blown sprint finish and I was delighted to cross the line for another Westerlands victory.

Brian Marshall was second, Bob Wiseman third and there were numerous other Westie prize winners. No team prize category this week but if there had been I am sure we would have won that. I am loving these Wednesday night Bog & Burn races and also loving being part of this golden Westie time. The results the club has been having over the last couple of months has been amazing.