further fixed

Saturday, 31 October 2009

I decided to have a go at this as my first ‘proper’ hill race.
Got to the start at Badaguish, sunshine with the hilltops were in clear blue sky. Though the forecast had said something like 40mph wind on the summits, so was wearing long sleeve Helly under the vest, plus the required waterproof jacket and trousers etc in the bum bag.

A rather large crowd at the start, over 200 entrants. First kilometre or so along a nice forest tracks, before turning off up the hill. Not much of path at all, and it soon just became a rut in the heather. Which seemed to have a stream running down it, so it was bit muddy in places. I didn’t seem to being going very fast at this point, maybe held up by those in front. But there appeared to be a long single-file line all of the way up the hill, I though it would be pointless to try scrambling up the heather to overtake.

Eventually the hill seemed to flatten out slightly, and the heather got shorter and was replaced by more rocks. Then short run up to the summit of Creagan Gorm and around the cairn (with a marshal in some sort of scary mask – it was Halloween!). Following the tapes round and downhill, I was hit by a strong crosswind. Fun bounding over heather while getting blown sideways. Around the next cairn on Creagan Dubh, found my way onto the deer track.

Soon onto the main Meall a`Bhuachaille path, reasonably well built, though lots of large stones. And a bit busy, with runners going up,  some coming back down, plus a few passing hillwalkers. Still, a steady climb, then hit by the wind again near the top, blowing me backwards. Still, made it to the top and around the cairn, before back down. Cutting a few corners off the path, across the heather and the rocks.

Back to the main junction, then down the path. Mostly nice (but steep) gravel, though it had a few strange bumpy steps / slabs across it, which were tricky to run on. And the wind was blowing in my face, causing my eyes to water, so I couldn’t really see where I was going. Soon back below the treeline, the path got a bit less steep, and easier to run in, just watching  out for the crossing drains to leap across.

Down at Glenmore, past the hostel and onto the track just as a bit of drizzle started. It soon got heavier, but it wasn’t too cold. But my glasses got covered in raindrops, so I couldn’t really see where I was going, despite trying to wipe them a few times. Still, an easy enough track to follow for a couple of k, mostly keeping pace with those just ahead. I wasn’t sure just how much further it was, but I soon rounded a corner to see the finish.
A quite reasonable run for a first hill race, and not bad weather too. And met a VCAC member at the finish, plus a few comments from others curious about Vegan Runners (like asking where where they based, and if there’s many of us).

Result: time 1:16:03, 134/219
GPS stats: distance 9.97km, avg 7.9km/h, 640m ascent/descent

Photos:

• ready to go before the start (the hill is behind):

• a bit windswept at the top of Meall a`Bhuachaille (by Steven Fallon, on Flickr)
• few more photos of me on Action Heroes (nos 434, 435, 437)

Route map: