Arrochar alps recce!

Garmin route | Arrochar Alps race details

The plan for today's outing was to recce the route for the Arrochar alps hill race on 25th June as it has been a while since I've done Ben Vane and Ben Vorlich. I aslo wanted to get a long run in with lots of climb as Jura is coming up next weekend too. The weather forecast was not particularly good reading however I set off this morning kitted up and met Chris Moses at the Cobbler car park.


The race starts from the road next to the path for Glen Loin so we headed in that direction and set a good pace up the glen out of the wind and were soon overheating and removing jackets. The track gets your heart going as the whole way to sloy dam is very runnable at a good pace, but also very undulating. I think for the race I'll make good use of this section and try and make good time to the bottom of Ben Vorlich.

The climb up Ben Vorlich was hideously steep and the wind and driving rain started again so jackets and gloves were swiftly back on. It seemed an age to make any real progress so was a case of digging in for the long haul. I saw what looked like the descent route as we were heading for the summit and made a mental note. Really getting blasted by wind and horizontal hail now and we swiftly hit the summit cairn and retreated back towards the very steep descent to the dam.

The slope down is scarily steep and takes a bit of bottle to let yourself go on it. As we were going down I spotted a better route with less rocks and slightly easier going so will take that on race day. It was not ideal conditions for a recce as the clag was thick and we could only get glimpses of the hill when it cleared for a second or too. The slope finishes at the head of Loch Sloy dam and over and up towards the summit of Ben Vane.

The route up Ben Vane is complicated with crags to wind your way round and try and hold your line up. Once on the plateau before the final peak it is very easy to get lost and wander up the wrong gully. I hope I have this bit weighed off now as I have done it a few times in the clag and seem to hit the correct gully but always have doubts when on the plateau. The wind was unpleasant once on the summit and we had to make tracks for the Lag Uaine, a nice fast descent once the streams have been picked up and a nice zig zag down.

The rest of the race route is straight forward from here, just a matter of getting up Ben Ime and over Narnain but even in clag it's not difficult to find your way here. The weather was getting steadily worse however and once over the summit of Ben Ime the hail really hit us. I was very glad that I had chosen to wear a peaked cap as the hail was driving in to our faces as we descended and really stinging. I could feel it through the hat. Chris had one hit him in the eye ball and could see out of it for a few minutes. After this experience we decided to quit here and miss out Narnain and head back to the cars via the Narnain boulders / cobbler tourist track.

The day was not quite what we had in mind when planning it but we managed to see some of the route that is unfamiliar and hopefully come race day will help the sub 4hr attempt. The last time I ran this race was in poor conditions in a time of 4:13:23 so realistically sub 4 is achievable.

Ben Lomond hill race

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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Goat Fell Hill Race.

Goat Fell Hill Race

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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.

Highland Fling Relay

This year I decided not to run the full 53 miles of the Highland Fling from Milngavie to Tyndrum. The decision was based on the amount of time I took to recover last year and the races I either entered and did poorly or missed due to injury. So planning on running Stuc a Chroin, an AL Scottish Hill race, instead I was surprised to get an email asking me to run a leg of the mixed relay team Helensburgh AAC had entered for the Fling.

Leg 3 was to be by leg and it is a tough leg with lots of undulations and tricky boulder strewn narrow sections to navigate at speed past tired ultra runners and West Highland Way walkers. The leg is 13.8 miles long and some 1387 ft of ascent/descent.

The weather on the day was really too hot for comfortable running and I really felt for the flingers coming in to Rowardennan as I was waiting to start my leg. The atmosphere is really good however and the runners were mostly in good spirits, although I did see one or too withdraw who looked a little too hot.

Soon enough my turn to run came as Karen Wallace came into view running through Rowardennan car park, I grabbed the timing chip and headed off up the long steady climb along the side of Loch Lomond heading North. The fireroad climbs through the forest for a few miles before becoming more undulating later on. I made good progress along this section and felt to be going well

The problems start after Inversnaid when the trail gets very narrow and scrambly in places and you feel more like a mountain goat than a runner bounding from boulder to boulder. Walkers were becoming a bit of a pain here as I tried to manouver around them and their huge swaying packs. I was also starting to feel the heat and felt the going get quite tough although I was spurred on by the sheer determination of the flingers as they plodded steadily onwards and as a result felt like I needed to push on harder. Easier said than done, but I was nearly there and could see Beinglas farm in the distance and my finish, and was glad I had no more miles to do.

I handed over to Gordon Howat and headed for an ice cream at the wee campsite shop and time to catch my breath and cool down. I was pleased with my time of 2:03:40 but would really have liked to get under the 2 hrs.

In the end Helensburgh won the mixed team prize and celebrated with an ice cold beer at the finish, along with Sarah Walker and Michelle Hetherington who had run the whole lot - well done.

Montane Highland Fling

Montane Highland Fling Pics

The Fling was not something I was thinking about running until Sarah talked me round some months ago. With not much training under my belt due to injury I still felt optimistic. Two weeks ago I ran the Highlander Mountain Marathon coming in 5th on the A class, and no sign of the injury, so I thought ok lets go for a good time in the Fling. I set my sights on sub 9 hours and worked out what splits I'd need to achieve that. Hoping for a rainy overcast day, as I don't do well in the heat, I was pleasantly surprised by the rainy start at 0400 on Saturday morning, this was not to last. After waving Sarah, Ann and Ross off at the 0600 start and Stevie B away at 0700, it was my turn at last.


With stomach churning in trepidation of the 53 miles that lay ahead and the pace I was aiming to set, the race got under way, before I knew it I was running with the leading pack flying through Mugdock park and on our way to Drymen, averaging 7.3 min/miles. Conic hill flew past and on the descent I could feel my quads complaining which I wasn't expecting until at least half way. Checkpoint at Balmaha, fill up bottles, stock up on gels and banana cake, crack on ! No time to waste. The next section is a good trail but pretty undulating and I found it tough going. Thinking about nothing other than the next checkpoint I was just focusing on maintaining the pace, lots of encouragement from the vets as I passed really helped keep the momentum. It was good to hear Claire, Julia and Andrew's familiar shouts of encouragement as I approached Rowardennan and the half way point in just under 4hrs.


Quads were v.sore now and it was hot, not a good combination, and I was only half way. Focus, think only about the next checkpoint, this was what I kept telling myself. One foot in front of the other, off I go. Maintain the pace but don't go mad up the hills. The next bit is a quad killer and mine were already dead. I struggled over boulders and up down steep slopes trying to get to Beinglas in around 6.5 hrs, but I could see this was not going to happen. Finally Beinglas appeared after what seemed an eternity and I could see Sarah waving at me from the checkpoint. She was about to leave but waited while I grabbed some food and we set off together on the final leg. Running now was truly a painful experience, and I managed a walk/run over the last 13 miles. The heat was cranked up full now and the lack of wind didn't help. I reached the finish line feeling quite emotional and also very sick. The heat had taken it's toll and my legs could no longer function as nature intended. I was a mess. Over 10 hours of running and an hour over my target. Sarah on the other hand had paced it well and made the ceilidh in the evening while I had no choice but to lye down in the tent and drink water all night.


Would I do it again ? Maybe, I'd still like to get sub 9.

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.

Photos