Johnny Hall’s Travels and Travails

The Long Classics series of hill races is my main target this year, beyond just getting a bunch of hill racing done and staying fit and healthy through the year.  There are 11 races altogether and you need to run 5 to get a placing.  After this weekend, when I ran the Glen Rosa Horseshoe race, I've now completed 4, and, essentially by default because not many others are daft enough to run so many in a short period of time, I'm now lying 3rd in the table (behind some real winners).  Still, I'm up there for the moment at least.  I expect to be languishing by the end of the season. I travelled over to Arran with Russell again.  This time I was hoping to actually race for the duration and to make a decent fist of things.  Last week at Loch Lochy, I ran badly, due to fatigue.  This week, I wasn't quite so tired.  The journey over is pleasant enough - just getting on a ferry makes things fun.  The hills were in cloud at the beginning but it didn't look too thick and I expected to be able to see the route at least part of the time.  In the end, the clouds lifted but kept the sun shielded for us for most of the race, which suited me. There were only 23 runners, unfortunately.  It's a classic race which deserves more attention - we discussed this quite a bit during the journey but I'm no closer to understanding why not many people ran.  Alternatives, I guess - the Lairig Ghru race, Tebay (British Championships), Arrochar the next week.  Who knows?  Hopefully, the race will continue, since it's a great event.  If not, at least I've experienced it. We barrelled off at the start and I settled in with a few Westies that I know are a bit quicker than I am - Don Reid, Graham Kelly, Murdo McLeod and Ellie Homewood.  The pace was pretty hot but I wasn't breathing too heavily, not until we started the big climb onto the ridge.  We took the path and Don, Graham and Murdo steadily pulled away, whilst I led a small group consisting on Nigel Thomas, Ellie and Michael Diver.  Michael decided that some of the climb was runnable, where I was walking and he opened up a short gap, whilst Nigel caught and ran with me until the summit when I put in a spurt to catch Michael again.  I put another effort in to get past him and then concentrated on staying upright down the steep descent (which seemed vertical at the top). We seemed to drop a lot of height here but I felt good so I kept the pace strong whilst we bashed through high heather and deer trods contouring under the A' Chir ridge.  I was glad of my knee-high socks here, which protected my shins at the same time as looking ridiculous.  Then, a path and a staircase to the col under Cir Mhor.  I passed Don here - he'd been racing too much and was having a bad day, so wisely packed it in.  It didn't take long to get to the col and then up and down to the summit, where I worked out I was in 11th position as the other ten in front of me could all be counted as I climbed.  Russell was having a good race, battling it out with Chris Upson for 4th and 5th place. Eleventh place put some pressure on me though, since it meant I was in the top half of the field - get overtaken and I'd be in the bottom half.  After dropping back down the staircase, there is a long, tricky contour around to the Saddle, where the best advice is to stay high and climb over some difficult slabs.  I felt like perhaps I went a bit too high here but it's hard to say.  After the saddle, it's a long climb to North Goatfell and then Goatfell.  I started to feel the pace here and found it hard to push on up the ascent.  No-one seemed to be catching me though, so I got my head down and got on with the job. At the summit, I was feeling very tired but glad I only had the rocky descent down the tourist path to go.  I looked back and saw Ellie a couple of minutes back, which was a pain since I couldn't relax and cruise down to the finish.  Off I went and almost immediately turned my bad right ankle again.  I stopped and assessed the damage - not too bad it seemed, after the initial shock - so I took some painkillers and continued.  Almost immediately, another runner passed me, pushing me into 12th.  I hadn't seen this fella apart from near the bottom of Cir Mhor, so he must have save the best for last, whilst I was tiring. I couldn't keep with him, so there I just concentrated on keeping Ellie at bay.  The path is notorious for hill runners taking falls, so I had to keep what little wits I had left, about me.  Soon enough, the path hit the burn and forked into the forest and easier running.  Ten minutes later, and I hit the field and the end and was done - 12th place in a bit over 3:25, which was more or less on target (though I'd had a fantasy time a bit quicker!). I feel like a ran better for longer and made a race of it, despite there not being many people to run against.  My % of winner time was much more respectable and I didn't die a death.  Russell ran very well for 4th place and I had a good time, chatting with other folks, particularly the super-friendly Westies and Carnethies, on the ferry over and back.  Good times.