Goat Fell Hill Race
Good conditions for a run on the isle of Arran, my first time on Arran also. A good turn out of four runners from Helensburgh AAC were on the start line for this excellent race up and down Arrans peak, Goat Fell. This was to be Jan Fellowes first fell run ever and a nice one to if somewhat tricky to descend on the rough granite boulders strewn everywhere.
In the usual Chris Upson style the race started with Chris leading the race out and along the tarmac for a few miles before the bottom slopes of Goat Fell were reached. I had decided to stay with Alan Smith(Deeside), as he tends to start off quite slowly then pick people off as he goes and usually finishes well in front of me. However adrenalin got the better off me as I could see Paul Thompson and Chris Moses opening a gap along the road in front of me and I left Alan to try and close the gap.
Once on the slopes however after stopping in a stream for a drink, Alan soon caught and passed both Chris and myself and was seen to be rapidly closing the gap on Paul who I could see making his way the summit on the last steep section. As I neared the summit top I was slightly surprised to see Alan Smith coming back down from the cairn ahead of Paul Thompson, having thought that Paul may not have been caught until the decsent.
I was planning on a fast descent to try and close the gap with Paul but the rough granite boulder threw a spanner in the works and stopped any attempts I made to pick the pace up. I could only try and maintain my position and save some strength in the legs for the two miles of tarmac at the bottom back to Brodick.
I finished in 13th place in a time of 1:33:05.
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