Running Away

Sunday, 7 February 2016

The Devil's Burdens Relay

West Lomond

I blame the red wine. It was over a delicious Italian meal that Chris casually mentioned that Cosmics didn’t have enough runners to make up the ladies team for the Devils Burdens relay and so flushed with an enjoyable snowy hill race during the day and a nice bottle of red accompanying dinner in the evening I said I would run. I hadn’t really had any plans of doing the race this year as my Lynx pack team of last year had been decimated by injuries and a serious bout of “can’t be arsed-ness” and I had very nearly come unstuck the year before in the race by trotter disorganisation (the club revels in it but it’s got to be said it really is not my style) so this seemed like a good opportunity. The very next day I received an email saying that Cosmics did have a full ladies team but would I mind running with Colin Russell in the mixed team. I am not sure who thought it might be a good idea to put me with a much faster runner over the hilliest navigation leg but I was left hoping that Colin had been informed as to just how slow I am. To put it mildly, I was panicking.

Team Captain Gillian getting us all organised

One week, one broken leg and another poorly runner later I seemed to have found my way back into the ladies team although I was feeling very sorry for Liz who had come a cropper on the winter ice and now had a leg in plaster and Pauline who was also missing out. The mixed team and the ladies team were all going for the 9.30am early start so we all met up at Riverside drive at silly o’clock in the morning to sort out car share. Fortunately Gillian was captain of the ladies team and she really is organisation personified so all I had to do was turn up and run. Perfect.

A muddy spot for the leg 1/2 changeover in Strathmiglo

Race Marshalls Frank and Dave

Alex, who is a very speedy runner, was doing leg one for us which generally recognised as the runnable trail section of the route out of the village of Falkland however with the recent wet weather it had been left very wet and muddy underfoot and the field into which she arrived to hand the baton over to Gillian and Michelle was getting very churned up and heavy underfoot with thick mud. Fortunately there was no rain on race day and it was clear and dry. It was really nice to catch up with Frank and Dave who after marshalling the changeover in the increasingly muddy corner of the field were going to be running leg 4 later in the day.

Alex coming into the finish

Gillian and Michelle setting off....

.......into the distance

Next came the bit I was more than a little nervous about – driving Gillian’s car round to the leg 2/3 changeover at Kinnesswood. Fortunately we decided not to hang around at Strathmiglo so we managed to get a handy parking spot just at the gate before the track to the changeover point before the streets started getting busy. By now it was dawning on me that it really had been quite a long time since breakfast and I think Lynn was feeling the same way and so a little picnic was in order. I was feeling a bit chilled and was glad I had bought a thermos of tea. As we were happily munching away I spotted Geoff Simpson and Robin Livingstone heading towards the start line and to be quite honest Robin looked like a man who had been condemned to death. I’m not sure I’ve ever seem someone look so unhappy at the prospect of a hill run! Geoff though was his normal cheery self. I’m pleased to say that when I saw Robin in the tea queue in the village hall after the race he looked considerably happier, it’s amazing how a cup of tea and a slice of cake can make the world feel like a better place.

Leg 3 starts with a bit of a climb

Alan setting off on leg 3

Someone is having way too much fun!!

Alan and his partner Debbie were running in the mixed team on leg 3 and set off a little before us but it wasn’t long before Gillian and Michelle came into sight and it was time to go. I have to confess to struggling a little bit up the first climb towards the checkpoint on White Craigs. Lynn set a steady pace as I puffed along behind but as soon as we were on the grassy track heading towards the Bishop Hill I felt decidedly happier and picked up the pace. It was good fun seeing the faster leg runners who had been in the later start go past and knowing that their leg 3 runners would shortly be coming past. At the checkpoint on the gate near the bishop hill we had caught up with Charlie Love and it suddenly occurred to me that I had done the very first edition of this race in Charlie’s team many years ago. In fact I have Charlie to thank for getting me into hill running in the first place.

We caught up with Charlie Love at a checkpoint

This was yet another revision to the course as a grouse shoot had put areas of the hillside out of bounds for us runners and I found that I really enjoyed this version of the course. This was supposed to also be a “navigation leg” but with it being such a fine clear day route finding was never going to be an issue. At one point I actually felt as though I was getting a bit too warm which is a first for the Devils Burdens race. The new route skirted around the base of the west Lomond until finally reaching the main path between Craigmead and the hill and so the final few miles were on very runnable track and I enjoyed it. By now I was trying to do some quick calculations as to how far ahead Alan and his partner had set off and if there was any chance of overhauling them but they managed to keep their lead over us. The final stretch down into Maspie Den was fun and my legs were definitely doing that shaky-just-run-hard-downhill thing once I had finished. We had to both avoid crashing into runners coming up hill to start leg 4 and faster runners overtaking us (and I have to admit they were in the 10.am start…reality check!) and so it did feel as though we were dodging people all the way down the track. Lynn and I seemed to have been well matched speed wise and both of us gave the new improved version of leg 3 the thumbs up. Lynn also had the responsibility of the punch card and marking it at each checkpoint and so i was able to take a few photos while she was doing this.

The revised leg 3 route was really good

Fife AC legends Frank and Dave

Finally it was Lesley’s turn to take over with the final leg starting with the climb back out of Maspie Den and summiting East Lomond before finishing at the old factory buildings on the edge of Falkland village. Quickly starting to cool down and get chilled Lynn and I walked back to the village hall in search of soup, tea, cake and warm clothes. Thanks very much to number one team supporter Liz for buying us cake! It was much appreciated. Thanks also due to Fife AC for again putting on such a great event that really kicks off the hill running year in style and special thanks for the great post-race soup.

In the final analysis we appeared to have finished 7^th out of 14 Ladies teams (94/131 Total)

Leg 1 (4.66 miles & 722ft) Alex Mills 0.35.47

Leg 2 (6.21 miles & 2231ft) Gillian Glunas & Michelle Hickey 1.44.39

Leg 3 (7.15 miles & 1345ft) Louise Provan & Lynn Smith 1.14.01

Leg 4 (3.4 miles & 1279ft) Lesley Clark 0.43.28

Sunday, 13 December 2015

#HBTTWAT #wheresYP

Cae Coch cottage was HBT Base camp for the weekend

T.W.A.T = Trottettes Weekend Away Together. What did you think I meant? So it was a great honour for YP to be invited to this ladies only event, a weekend in North Wales taking in the Penmaenmawr Hill Race, and a great honour for us that he agreed to attend not, of course, without incident along the way.

It didn’t look promising by the time we had gone past Manchester. The sleet was battering off the windscreen and the waves of water created by lorries was making the driving conditions interesting. The snow promised by the weatherman seemed to be well on its way resulting in the snow socks going on the car to tackle the steep hill to Cae Coch cottage perched high up on the hillside overlooking the Conwy valley and our base for the weekend. The nearest habitation was the village of Rowen a couple of miles away – habitation of course being defined by whether there is a pub there.

Snow socks on the car

We eventually reached the cottage at about 11pm and after a quick nightcap it was time to retreat into sleeping bags listening to the rain and sleet battering down outside. It was noted at this point that YP had not appeared although I was sure that I had spotted a light moving some way off in the distance when I had looked down the hill. Unusually for me sleep was not forthcoming, I don’t know why, perhaps a little anxiety over my level of fitness and the prospect of being out for a long time in very poor weather conditions.

Dawn breaks

It was a bitterly cold night and the cottage proved to be a little economic in terms of its heating provision and it was a chilly, shivery group of people who gathered for breakfast that morning and some looked as though they hadn’t slept much either with murmurs about cold feet. Happily though we were greeted by a beautifully clear morning although it was a very cold wind that was sweeping the hillside. Still no sign of YP though. Should we be worried? We guessed he would either make his way to the race start or the cottage as the race route practically went through the front garden. I was busily hoping that I would be able to overcome the temptation to stop at the cottage mid-race.

Morning light

Brekkie

Studying the race map

The fit folk, Megan, Sarah and Lucy, had run over to the start of the race, some 4 miles from the cottage for a warm up while we walked down from the little car park over looking the village and we went to register in the village hall. Race maps were nowhere to be found on the race website so we copied the route on to our maps from the large maps provided by the organiser. The organiser made much of the last descent and how tricky it was so that was not something I was looking forward to as descending is not my forte.

Penmaenmawr is a little town on the coat of North Wales

After the team photo shoot on the start line (minus YP who still hadn’t appeared) we set off. Instantly I began to struggle having to walk on the initial climb. There was no being gently broken in on this race as you hit the first climb immediately. I decided to make my aim to just relax and get round the race and so it was to be a slow plod. Sadly the steady climbs and nice grassy runnable tracks would really have suited me too but I had to just watch as most of the field trotted past me making it my target to try and stay with them for as long as possible. The fact that I had come all the way from Aberdeen to do this race and that I was now running like a donkey was mildly irritating to say the least. The section of the course shown marked on the map as “big bog” did exactly what it said on the tin, and was cold and smelly to add to my woes. Oh well, at least it wasn’t raining or snowing. Yet. And the views were stunning.

Team photo

Next the race route passed along the front of the cottage and I briefly glanced around to see if YP had made it, but no sign of him or his trademark “HBT” marked in flour on the course. Then we followed a selection of paths before heading back to the finish. Even within half a mile of the finish a runner came past me and asked if I had done the race before to which I answered “no”. He then proceeded to warn me about how steep and treacherous the final descent was. By now I was petrified, looking for the sheer precipitous cliffs that we would have to launch ourselves down. In fact I crossed the finish line still looking for this final descent… In reality the final descent was pretty mild for a hill race and looking back at it I was giggling at how scared of it I had been. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned there.

Thawing out...

with the help of hot soup...

and beer....

Next it was back to the hall to get changed before quickly heading back to the pub for beer and hot soup which was much needed. It was still a very chilly day. Worryingly though there was still no YP, very unlike him to miss the chance for a “panic pint”. Next we somewhat reluctantly left the pub to go back to the hall for the prize giving and found that there was a stall serving hotdogs for free (result!) although they did ask for a small charity donation. At that point a hotdog was just what I was required as I was beginning to chill down quickly and despite wearing a heavy waterproof for the duration of the race I never really got warmed up while running. The trottettes did very well in the prize giving and scooped up quite a few prizes including some gorgeous pottery cups which I later found out were not made at a welsh pottery coming instead from the Potteries in Staffordshire.

Briony won the race

Sarah was 3rd

and Megan was 1st O/40

I wished they were selling these

But all finishers got one of these

After the prize giving we trailed back up the hill to the cars and made our way back to the cottage for hot tea and snacks but not before stopping at the pub in Rowen to hand in our food pre-order for the evening. It was here that we discovered that someone by the name of Robin, and fitting the description of YP, had been at the pub for lunch and was apparently away for a wee training run. At least there had now been a confirmed sighting of YP. When we got back to the cottage we found a beer mat with a message written on it posted through the door and YPs bag lying outside.

That'll be the snow on

Its getting heavier...

Brrrr....

Once we had all braved the shower (shower itself hot, room less so) we started to gather in the wee kitchen area where by now the fire had started to make the cottage feel a little more snug….and low and behold YP appeared. Apparently he hadn’t made it to the cottage the previous night and instead had tried to get into the youth hostel. When the hostel had said that there was no room he had gone back to the pub and managed to wangle a bed for the night from a friendly local by the name of Bob…who charged him £30 for the privilege (minus breakfast).

#wheresYP #foundYP

Breaking out the bubbly

After challenging YP to drink Prosecco (horror of horrors) it was time to set off to the pub. Now there are two options for getting to the pub, the longer (and drier) road option and the shorter (wetter) cross country option. Head torches were donned and off we went. I’m not sure what the waitress made of all the socks and shoes drying on the radiator in the little function room of the pub where we were seated but it’s lucky that we had the room to ourselves and couldn’t offend any other diners. For the return journey after dinner and beer we decided to stick to the road.

Note the trainers drying on radiators in the background!

Various options were touted for the next days’ running plans and eventually two groups set off, one with the intention of doing a short hill run up to the trig point on the hill behind the cottage and the second group heading off to the reservoirs some distance away. The snow and rain that we had been spared during the race the previous day came back with vengeance and looking over the hills I was quite glad I had opted for the shorter hill run. We came back to the cottage to be welcomed by a huge plate of sandwiches which were very considerately prepared by those who had for various reasons opted out of the run to be accompanied by lots of mugs of hot tea before making preparations for the journey back up the road.