The Tinto Hill Race 2009
Racing up Tinto during the Bangcock Challenge Duathlon in the winter of 2006, which was my first multisport event, was the first time I became aware of hill racing in Scotland. Before that I'd been focused on road running and I decided it'd be a good race to run. I also decided that if I was going to try hill racing I'd get myself in reasonable shape first, to avoid getting humiliated, particularly downhill, which is a skill I was unused to. 3 years later, and Tinto is the last race of my 2009 hill running season, during which I have raced over 20 times, including 18 hill races. From the beginning of the season at the Glentress Duathlons and the Carnethy 5, to now, I am a different runner. I'm not radically quicker, but I'm definitely stronger and I can now hold my own on the descents. Yesterday was a fantastic day for running - cool and practically wind- and cloud-free. 295 runners turned up for the race, which is a new record. I was hoping to run the race in the low 40s and I knew who I would be racing against. I warmed up by cycling from race HQ at Symington and then had a bit of a jog up and down the road with Derek. I tried to keep my position towards the front at the start, to ensure I didn't get held up. By the time the track started getting steep, my HR had sky-rocketed over my threshold and it started to get painful. I was reduced to walking where others were running but I wasn't losing places, so this was definitely an advantage. I had some runners in my sight that I knew were faster than me, so I realised I was going quite well, despite my rasping lungs. At the bottom of the last steep ascent, Prasad came flying past on his way back down, and it seemed to be about a minute later before Al Anthony cam past as well. After that, a steady stream of runners came down the hill and soon enough, I was round the cairn and on my way back down myself. The first part of the descent is rocky but I was enjoying myself and my newly strengthened ankles meant that I could get a fair bit of speed up down the difficult parts with confidence. I passed a couple of runners on the way down and was only caught by one other until the final run in, which seemed to take forever. There, another couple of racers came past (and put about 20 seconds on me, despite me running about 5:30 min/mile pace) but overall, I held my position from top to bottom, which was pleasing. At the end, I was 74th of 295 starters and my time was 41:07, which was at the top end of my expectations. I'll go under 40 minutes next year. Thanks to Carnethy for organising another great race.
