Tour of Fife

After finding excuses for the last four years, I finally decamped to Fife for the week for the very jolly Tour of Fife. Chez McKiddie in Wormit provided a handy HQ. Five nights, five races, with the emphasis on good, honest, competitive fun in some really lovely and varied scenery. Golf every day, running every night. Lovely.

Race 1: 4.2m Beach race, West Sands, St Andrews. Pretty straightforward. Bomb down the iconic hard-packed sand of the Chariots of Fife beach for a mile and a half, then slog through a loop the quick sand at the beach head, before turning back into the teeth of the wind and hanging on. A paddle in the water to ease the muscles after. 24th in 27.48, A smidgeon behind the First Lady, which is usually a sign that I’m going ok.

Race 2: 3.1 mile trail/hill race. Hill of Tarvit, near Ceres. The NTS Hill of Tarvit country house, gardens and hill are picture-postcard twee. A fast and furious race this, with a blast through the forest, snaking past the Hickory Golf Course, and following a route up Hill of Tarvit which sympathetically curled round the hill, rather than blasted up the front. As the only Westie, I’m glad to say I didn’t let the side down, with my best finish of the week. 17th in 21:50. Picnic on the lawn for afters.

Race 3: 1.4m (230m) Uphell Time Trial, East Lomond Mast car-park. The simplest and most atmospheric race of the week. Set of in pairs at 30-second intervals, slog your way to the top of the road. I decided it would be a good idea to be dropped at the bottom an hour before hand to run to the top as a warm-up. Then when I got to the top and saw East Lomond just a hop and a skip beyond, it seemed rude not to keep going to the top. I looked at my watch and realised I was cutting it fine to make it to the bottom for my 8.04 start time. I did, with five minutes to spare. Early into the climb I realised I had made an almighty blunder, with little energy in the legs and my ‘rivals’ disappearing into the distance. Hey-ho, as one of the later runners I was treated to a rousing cheer at the top, with the other runners and spectators lining the route armed with cow bells, pots and pans etc for a fabulous alpine-style welcome. A truly memorable occasion. My worst finish of the week: 25th in 13:21 and down to 21 in the overall classification.

Race 4: 4.0m Trail Race, Cambo Estate, near Kingsbarns. It was a lovely trip down memory lane to return to Cambo, where I used to come on school trips as a child, and spent happy days on the beach and exploring the trails. Not much has changed in the intervening years. Geared up for this one with ice cream and scones and, for the first time in the week, the heavens opened, making the short grassy section a slog, and the riverside trial tricky and treacherous, with several runners taking a tumble at a small wooden bridge. Not a great run, and felt I was hanging on all the way. 24th in 28.48 but, happily, still 21st overall.

Race 5: 4.9m Monimail Megal Marvel. Over fields, trails and a small hill near Letham. Legs were beginning to seriously creak as I dropped off a carrot cake for the post-race picnic, and ambled my way to the start, where the massed ranks of Dundee RoadRunners, Fife ACers and Falkland Trail Runners posed for group photos. After a conservative start, the legs eased and it suddenly occurred to me that everyone else was probably feeling exhausted too. This gave me a fillip and I started to work my way through the field and, happily, passed the first lady, who was one place and 50 seconds between me and a top 20 finish. 20th in 25.08 and, with it, a top 20 finish overall in combined time of 2.06:58. All runners had been told in advance that all sandwiches and cake were to be held under lock and key until the last runner had finished so, once again, the runners lined the route to cheer everyone home under bright skies. Splendid.

A great week and a great event. It’s not the longest, or most arduous of series, but five nights of great racing and camaraderie make this not to be missed. The highlight was that my apprehensive sister also completed her first tour, gaining in confidence with every race.