Spirits were high as the HAAC runners awaited the starting horn, Chris Upson of Westies sprang to the front of the race pack as the horn sounded and led the race along the road through Rowardennan car park and onwards up to the long hard slog to the summit of Ben Lomond. I decided a good race tactic would be to try and keep Paul Thompson in sight as he had set a pace that was pushing me to my limits so there would be no chance of passing him on the climb. The track up Ben Lomond is rocky but actually quite runnable apart from a few steep sections(although Sarah McCormack of Moorfoot proved me wrong here as she sprinted up a section of grass, past Paul and I, that can only be described as thigh mashing and lung busting). It is this section of the race that one questions ones reasoning for running such a race in the first place or even being a runner at all. With Paul still in sight as we climbed higher Alan smith of Deeside crept past with a small group as we grew tired from the relentless climb towards the distant mist that obscured the summit.
The section from the top of the first steep grass bank gently inclines towards the next steep grass slog and this section can be used to pick up the pace and make good time, however my legs thought otherwise and I could only watch as Paul increased the pace and opened the gap between us. After a few walk breaks and a bit of a self bollocking I crept towards the final climb to the summit. Once on the summit ridge and in the mist I couldn't see how far Paul was in front of me until he appeared in front of speeding down the hill towards the finish. I had to make a move now if I stood any chance of catching him before he reached the gentler slopes at the bottom of the hill, so I raced to the summit grabbed an all important jelly baby and sped down through the thick mist trying to avoid colliding with runners making there way up on the narrow summit ridge.
In the back of my mind I knew that I could make up some ground on the steep grassy section with a bit of reckless descending. As I reached the shoulder and out of the mist I could see Paul away off in the distance and had really force myself to push the pace springing over boulders and jumping down steep grass banks to try and close the gap. I could see the gap was closing, this spurred me on. On reaching the top of the grassy slope I looked down and could see Paul and a few others strung out about half way down so threw myself down the slope and just hoped for the best. It was a good strategy and paid off as I caught and passed Paul and the others at the bottom of the slope.
The big worry now was that the rest of the route was not so steep and I would lose my advantage and Paul would catch and pass me before the finish, so with lungs screaming and legs resisting I kept up the relentless descent and hoped for the best. As we approached Rowardennan and the tarmac section along to the finish I was aware that two runners were on my heels, but I could do no more to hold them off and one by one they both passed me before the finish. I crossed the finish line in a time of 1:23:18 followed by Sarah McCormack(Moorfoot), who passed me on the ascent , 1:23:39 and Paul Thompson 1:23:43. Finished to the applause of thunder and refreshing downpour.
Results
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