Arrochar Alps

Garmin track 

Race details

Map: Scottish Hill Racing

Arrochar alps is, for me, a local race and where the majority of my hill specific training is done. I have always had the aim of running sub four hours at this one and this year I was hoping to achieve that.

The weather was not too bad with little or no wind and not overly warm. The problem that would tax most people was the thick clag covering the hill from about 300m. Unless you know the route well navigation can be problematic due to crags dotted here and there blocking the direct line on a compass bearing. The best line often has to zig and zag around the crags and it is easy to lose your bearings.

Because I had set myself the aim of getting a sub 4hr time I was actually quite nervous before the race start and found my self shaking at race registration, so decided to go for a warm up to try and calm my nerves. 30 runners had entered this year as it is a busy weekend with lots of other races on elsewhere. On the start line the midges were annoying as last minute instructions were briefed by the organiser.

The race was off and the pace picked up to a fair trot up Glen Loin which is  a tough undulating track that finishes below the Sloy dam and the foot of Ben Vorlich. I tried to keep up with Mark Harris and Dave Eiser but only managed to do that until the last big hill of Glen Loin where they opened a little gap on me which I managed to maintain for the rest of the tarmac section to the foot of Ben Vorlich. I had to push hard going through Glen Loin and was now drenched in sweat and felt clammy as there was no wind to cool me. The ascent of Ben Vorlich is very steep and my legs complained as I started the long climb to the summit. There is a bit of a track going up here and I was following it initially until I saw that the leaders were now over to the left and no longer on the same track as me. The track ultimately leads to the summit but there is another more direct steeper route which looked like the leaders were taking. I chose to follow and made my way over to them but once I got to where they had climbed it looked like it would really tax my legs and I could also see Mark Harris heading off towards the track again. Decision made follow Mark back to path and hope that the leaders route isn't a real advantage. Mark was climbing well, I couldn't hold that pace and watched him disappear from view. I could hear a small group close behind who had stayed on the track closing on me so I pushed on and up but was aware that Niall McAlinden was hot on my heals and Chris Upson not far behind him.

It went a bit pear shaped here as I thought I knew a direct contouring route to the cairn but ended up doing a bit of a detour to arrive at the cairn at the same time as Jonny Knox and Chris Upson. Jasmin Paris and Niall had just whizzed past commencing their descent. A bit annoyed at having blundered I sped of after Niall and Jasmin hoping to catch them on the descent to the dam. Actually I caught them just at the start of the near vertical descent down to the dam and Jasmin was about to overshoot and go off in the wrong direction. Seeing the route I was taking Jasmin headed over and on the way down we chatted about possible finishing times. I still thought sub 4hr was possible and explained that I knew the route well as I was fairly local. The female record was 4:06:46 and I think Jasmin was set on breaking it. By the dam we had pulled away from the group behind us and it was now just the two of us. The climb up Ben Vane was horrific and the clag was extremely thick, it was evident now that Jasmin had made the decision to stay with me as I knew the route and I realised now that if I went wrong I would not only prevent my chance of sub 4 but possibly even ruin the race for Jasmin too. The doubt crept in once on the plateau before the gulley leading to the summit of Ben Vane and I hesitated a couple of times and I could feel Jasmin looking at me wondering if I had gone horribly wrong. Thankfully we made it and the line I had taken was bang on. Near the summit we came across a woman looking for her dog whom she had not seen for over two hours; I hope she found it.

The descent from Ben Vane was fairly fast and uneventful I realised we were slightly too far to the right and perhaps lost a minute on the ideal line. The climb up Ben Ime was painful but we punched on aware that the clock was ticking. At the summit we had 1hr and 4 minutes to get down Ime over Nairnain and back to the finish if we were to break the 4 hour mark. No time to waste, so we sped off down the boggy tussocky track to the bealach between Narnain and Ime. One more munro to go and I didn't know if my legs would carry me up it. I could feel small cramps in my adductors and knew that if I pushed too hard here my legs would just go into spasm but I was also aware that we had no time to spare. I gritted my teeth and pushed on to the summit. What a feeling when we reached the cairn knowing that there were no more climbs left. Just one small problem to deal with now, 35 minutes to get to the finish it was going to have to be a quick descent. The route down is not easy and is covered with boulders and crags and is steep. To make matters worse there is an old pipe track with concrete blocks where bits of old metal protrude from them, any slips here could be potentially lethal. We made it down with only a couple of slips and trips and found ourselves on the fire road back to the finish, approximately 1.5 miles to go. The clock showed we had 11 minutes to do 1.5 miles. Now, running 1.5 miles normally would take less than 8 minutes however after nearly four hours of running and climbing four munro's this particular 1.5 mile run was going to be hell. We sped off down the road and I have never felt my lungs burn so much, my legs were periodically throwing little spasms and all I wanted to do was lay down. I hadn't had any water since before Ben Ime and my mouth was now also very dry. The road ends at a gate and over into a field before crossing a little bridge and then down a road for 500 yds to the finish. Somehow we couldn't find this little bridge and we had less than 3 minutes to get to the finish. Bugger, I thought I had blown it right at the end, when suddenly I caught sight of the red tape marking the bridge and we sprinted for the finish line just making it in 3:58:46. I was exhausted and felt a little queasy. But we were both ecstatic to have achieved our aims. Jasmin set a new course record of 3:58:55, well done Jasmin.

The race hub is in the new village hall in Arrochar and organisers / helpers had put a fantastic selection of rolls out for the runners as well as soup and tea and coffee. What a great day out and one not to be forgotten for a while. Once back at the hall runners began trickling in and sharing tales of their misadventures in the clag. It was a good laugh and a relaxed atmosphere with lots of race weary faces. Once home I enjoyed a beer (or three) in my Fyne Ales beer glass which I was presented for achieving sub 4 hours. Cheers !

Glen Rosa Horseshoe

Race details

Garmin track 

Glen Rosa is yet another race that I've not done before and one that is going to be a regular feature on the Walker calendar. The race is held on the Isle of Arran amongst the spectacular scenery of the North part of the island.

The race is part of the SHR(Scottish Hill Runners) long classic series and the third race for me this year that I can count towards that series. Five races are needed as counters and I was hoping that this race would provide some good points for me especially as I didn't do as well as I had hoped on Jura. Also it would be good prep for the Arrochar Alps the following week.

The race starts and finishes near the Brodick Castle Ranger Centre and this turned out to be a bit of a midge fest waiting for the race to start. I must admit to being a little nervous as to what the race held in store as I'd heard and read a few race reports that had it down as tough terrain and difficult to navigate. A small field of 35 runners had entered this year and we lined up ready for the gun.

Photo by: Tom Harris

The race was off and Chris Upson sprinted away into the lead position and maintained that all the way to the bottom of the first climb. I took a more conservative approach and stayed with who I thought would be the race leaders. The run in to Glen Rosa is a good runnable track and I was enjoying myself and surprising myself at how well I felt as I stayed with the lead group going along this section. The first climb is steep and it was here that the positions started to change. I caught and passed Chris Upson and jumped on to the heels of Ian Butler. We could still see the back of Mark Harris not too far ahead and I could feel the pace quicken as we neared the top of the first climb.

The descent from here is steep and slippery but was marked and I had the map and compass in my hand. However as I was chasing Ian Butler I heard a shout behind from Chris Upson that I was heading too far left and a glance at the map proved him correct (thanks Chris). Ian Butler noticed Chris and I heading off towards the right and corrected his course but somehow managed to get ahead again even although he had been a good bit to the left. The next section is a difficult contour through thick heather and steep sloping granite slabs. I lost sight of both Chris behind and Ian in front and found myself stumbling over the heather feeling jaded with the effort. Once on the track to Cir Mhor I could see Ian up ahead again and made efforts to close the gap which I managed by the summit. Not far from the summit Al Anthony and Konrad Rawlik were making there descent and realising that we weren't too far down on them I was spurred on and doubled my efforts towards Goat Fell. Another contour and we were on the saddle which is the start of the ridge system that would eventually take us too Goat Fell.

Glancing behind as I chased down Ian Butler who had again opened a gap on the contour I could not see anyone. With neither myself of Ian Butler being familiar with the route here we both lost time as we picked our way around towering granite blocks. The views here were spectacular and there was a slight breeze helping me stay cool as I worked hard going up the ridge. Ian and I chose slightly different routes along the middle section and I made some ground here then from behind I heard an exclamation and glanced back to see Alan Smith fast approaching as he passed Ian. I put my skates on and tried in vain to pick the pace up, but this led me to make a poor route choice over the final granite tower and I found myself stuck momentarily on a narrow slimy ledge looking over a bit of a drop. Alan and Ian had followed and they quickly back tracked and by the time I had picked my way back along the ledge they were over the rocks and away up towards the summit.

Photo by: Tom Harris

That was the last I saw off Alan but I caught Ian on the climb to the summit and then opened a gap on the descent to the finish. The descent is fast and furious and doesn't let up. The forest track spits you out over a gate, which I hurdled, and landed in the field where I immediately regretted the rash decision when my adductor went into spasm. It's a fast run over another gate across long wet grass to the finish and I was very pleased with 6th place in a time of 2:55:24. The race was won by Al Anthony and Eilidh Wardlaw.

The route that this race takes is very scenic and varied with the type of terrain that it crosses and not at all what I expected. I had a great day out and although the mist was down it was moving allowing good views. I had imagined the terrain to be more difficult and the ridges to be more exposed. With the exception of the little ledge that I found myself on the majority of the ridge is not really too exposed. However the weather wasn't bad and I imagine in worse weather the experience would be radically different.

Jura Fell race

Garmin details
race website

Paps of Jura

With the kids packed off to the in-laws for a fun packed weekend in Blackpool, Sarah and I set off for the Isle of Jura for the annual Jura fell race. We were it must be noted the only Helensburgh athletes in attendance this year. However undeterred we made our plans and once Sarah had finished work on the Friday we made tracks for the Kennacraig ferry over to Islay. One of the great things about this race is it attracts a mainly English field of runners who have some amazing travel plans for getting to the race involving all manner of permutations of island hopping and cycling. Our own journey involved getting to Islay then hopping over to Jura followed by an hilly 8 mile cycle to Craighouse. This sounds like a small journey when compared with most but the 8 mile cycle was not very pleasant in the high winds and heavy rain. By the time we reached Craighouse we were thoroughly soaked. Luckily all our camping gear had remained dry in the trailer.

Our orange vango !

The first task was to quickly get the tent up in the windy conditions before it blew away and then head over to the pub for a pint. As we headed over to the pub I glanced over to the paps but couldn't see them as they were surrounded by thick cloud and the rain had reduced the visibility to a few hundred yards. Sarah was in mild panic at the prospect of navigating round the paps and needed a good drink to steady her nerves! A wet and windy night in the tent ensued and I managed to sleep through the worst of it, but I don't think Sarah fared as well.

Had the weather improved any over night ? The talk in the pub had been of bad weather routes and navigational difficulties, but we were relieved to find that although a stiff wind was still blowing the paps were slowly shrugging their blanket of cloud and showing how impressive they actually are. I had run the race the last year but in thick clag and was really hoping the paps would be clear to admire the fantastic island views. After a hearty breakfast and copious amounts of tea we headed over to register and prepare for the ordeal ahead. Good news ! The paps were now clear and the wind hadn't eased at all but the full race route had been given the all clear.

The race organiser had stationed himself just outside the Jura distillery and was clearly enjoying his first time as race organiser as he directed the runners to the start line. He gave us instructions on the tags we had been given at registration that were to be handed in at the eight checkpoints plus the start and finish. We were to deposit the tags in a box by the start as we funnelled through from the car park to the start line, however he clearly got carried away and suddenly announced that it was five seconds to the start and began counting down to everyone's amazement. The horn sounded and the race began with tags being launched in all directions towards a marshal or just thrown on the ground as people vied for position before the narrow marshy section leading to the first three peaks.

The race was on! and I wasn't too fussed that I hadn't got the best start as it is a long one and there is plenty of time to make up lost ground. The first climb takes the runners over very marshy ground with heather and tussocks to negotiate. With all the rain we had the bogs were very deep and needed careful foot work to avoid a deep dip in one. I stumbled over a few and slipped in up to the waist in another. The bogs make running a hard effort and I found the climb to the first checkpoint hard going. Just ahead of me at this point was Alan Smith who I was trying to hang on to as we weaved our way along the ridges of the first three hills. On the way to the third peak and incidentally just after one of the adventure show camera crew Craig Love came flying past going like the wind. I decided to jump on his heels and lift the pace also. As Craig and I descended down towards the first pap I caught sight of Sarah Ridgeway's pink top just ahead and made an effort to catch her. I got past Craig at this point and managed to pass Sarah and could see Jonny Knox, Alan Smith and Fiona Maxwell a little further on, putting Sarah in second place going up the first pap. I felt good at this point and had thoughts about going sub four.

Runners descending to pap no. 2

The first pap is a long one, some call it the 'equaliser'. It is extremely steep and the climb seems to go on forever. I handed in my tag to the marshals, thanked them for doing a great job and cruised along the ridge having now opened a little gap. I was trying to keep Jonny Knox in sight as we descended down over rough scree towards the second pap. I could clearly see the error of my ways the previous year where I had descended down to the right and up to the wrong peak, and was glad the conditions were good. The climb up the second pap came too soon and this one seemed more exposed and the wind was really slowing my progress. My legs felt heavy fighting against the constant buffeting and I was forced to hold on to the boulders with my hands to brace myself. By this point Sarah had caught me up and I could also see Craig a bit further down. We climbed steadily higher but the top never seemed to get closer and I was feeling a little hungry. Eating and climbing can be tricky but is the safest place to do it. Simultaneously trying to breathe from every orifice and also eat a snickers proved very difficult and most of it seemed to be blown from my mouth and whipped away in the wind. After inadvertently inhaling some chewed up peanuts from the snickers that was stuffed in my cheek I had to stand aside a let Sarah go on past while I coughed them up.

The climb was taking it out of me and I watched as a small gap appeared between me and the group ahead, meanwhile Craig was closing the gap to me. I couldn't do anything about it and decided to plod on and hopefully recover in a bit once the fuel kicked in. The hail hit us as we moved along the ridge having just handed the sixth tag in. It was suddenly very cold and the hail was not pleasant. Craig was just behind me as we headed down and tried to escape the hail. My hands had become very cold now and I decided to put my gloves on before my hands became too cold to manipulate the zip of my bum bag. This gave Craig the chance to blast past and out of sight. I continued down the track we were on but became aware the third pap was over to the left and the track was taking me further to the right. I was on my own now and suddenly a little unsure of the way. Craig must have left the track further up and headed over in the direction of the third pap so I made my way left of the track and down some scree. I think I made a mistake here as further over to my left the ground looked more runnable than the boulder field I found myself picking my way over. It was here that I tripped, obviously I was not paying full attention and had been scanning the bealach below for signs of runners and not looking at the boulders under my feet. Luckily there was a boulder each side of me as I flew forwards and managed to get a hand on each to stop my face smashing against the rocks below. As I crossed the bealach I caught sight of Craig and chased after him but I felt truly horrific at this point. The thought of the next climb at this point was not a good one and I could feel the beginnings of cramp in my adductor’s.

The climb was horrific, my legs were slow to respond and felt heavy. The wind threw me about and I couldn't wait to get to the summit and see the back of the paps. Finally the summit came and with just one more summit to do, gladly not as big as the paps, I perked up a little and concentrated on getting a good line off the last pap. Running down the scree is actually exhilarating if you get the line right and avoid the bigger boulder fields. On the way down I spotted an adventure show cameraman in my line of descent and tried desperately to slow down and avoid sending stones towards his camera which he was holding down at ground level filming my feet I think!

Paps of Jura from Islay.

Once of the pap it is a flat run over past some water and up the final climb. Legs now cramping and wishing I had more electrolyte I filled up my bottle from a stream and got some fluids in before the three miles of road that take you back to Craighouse and the finish. The descent from the last hill is easy to forget about but is actually a long taxing descent over bogs and tussocks and a challenging river crossing. Up ahead I could see Craig making his way over the river and he seemed to be taking a while to do it. Once waist deep in the river I realised why as I held firmly on to the rocks for purchase against the swift current.

Both Craig and I followed the wrong track here and I'm glad I glanced to my left and saw the bridge otherwise we would have missed it by about 300 yards. I shouted over to Craig and luckily he heard me over the wind. Finally on the road to the finish and the section of the race almost everyone dreads. 3 miles of tarmac after your legs have climbed around 7900 ft is not nice. I tried my best to maintain around 7:30 - 8:00 min/miles but it was tortuous. After about a mile Craig made his move and sped away towards the finish. I remember passing one or two others struggling along the road before reaching Craighouse and more adventure show cameras to record my pained expression that must have been clearly evident. I finished in 4:24 ish and was actually pleased with that as it is a brute of a race.

Craighouse and Paps of Jura

The post race tea and stickies is great and sitting in the sun outside the Jura distillery I slowly recovered and cheered on the rest of the runners as they came across the line. Everyone was in high spirits and the talk was of beer and the evening ceilidh. There are not many events on the calendar where runners stay and socialise post race but this is one of them and the atmosphere is superb. Great race, a definite annual event for us.

Goat Fell Hill Race.

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.

Highlander Mountain Marathon 2010

This years Highlander Mountain Marathon was revealed as Gairloch, a beautiful location in the NorthWest of Scotland, a real gem. The weather for the weekend was to be great if a little hot for our taste.
I was running with my brother-in-law Tim whom I started running mountain marathons with in 2007, our first one being the LAMM, so I knew we had a good chance of doing well especially as we had won the B course last year. The A course however has a lot of stiff competition. The Friday night was spent at the Great Sands campsite, a nice place to go with the kids, having a few beers and chilling before the weekends epic efforts.
Saturday morning came in the blink of an eye and before we knew it we had collected our map and checkpoints and told that we could hit them in any order.... first challenge of the day, pick a good route. So a good ten minutes were spent marking up maps and choosing routes between them all. Time to go, under a blue sky we set off into the wilderness that surrounds gairloch. The views were awesome and everywhere we looked was blue sky and blue lochans. Navigation was going well and we were hitting the points with no trouble, the only problem seemed to be Tim's shoes which had no grips left on the sole and he was a slippin and a slidin all over the place. The first day went well until about 2/3rds of the way round I was struck by cramp caused by the 19 degrees and lack of salts. Tim gave me some electrolyte powder and I recovered enough to bash on to the finsh in just over 6 hrs 24. A quick look at the results revealed that Tim Higginbottom nad Chris Near had trotted round in less than 5 hrs, astonishing.
Day 2 dawned after a poor nights sleep feeling slightly queasy. Must have been the heat. Navigation was a lot harder today but we coped admirably and managed to hit the points without too much fuss, after a little blunder at the very first one. At least we read the instructions unlike some of the teams in front of us and realised that the controls must be hit in the order stated. A hard day saw us back in 5.5 hrs and very tired. The leaders again had put nearly 2 hrs into our time, super human.
We finished 5th overall and were happy with that considering the level of competition. This event is brilliant and very well organised, one to do for sure.