Swiss Alpine Pass Route

An 11-day hike across Switzerland via the so-called Alpine Pass route, or Via Alpina (marked as National Route #1).  The hike started at Sargans near Liechtenstein, and finished at St Gingolph by Lake Geneva.  Link to online map
Roughly 360km with 21,500 metres of ascent.

Photo albums:
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11

View Alpine Pass Route in a larger map

Day 1 - Sargans to Weisstannen (Sat 6th Sept)   Photos from Day 1 

2h10m, 14km, 640 metres ascent

The trip started at 5am in Glasgow with a train and bus to Edinburgh Airport. Then an Easyjet flight to Geneva, and 3 trains to Sargans, via Biel and Zurich. So it was after 5pm before I started hiking. I faffed around a bit leaving the train station at Sargans, trying to decide to whether to buy any food, but decided on balance it was better to get a move on since I was pressed for daylight hours. I reached Hotel Gemse after 2 hours, just as the light was starting to fade. I was in a shared dorm, but nobody else was staying. Dinner was schweineschnitzel, beer and chips, accompanied by traditional folk music.

Leaving Sargans on Day 1

Approaching Weisstannen on Day 1

Day 2 - Weisstannen to Martinsmad-Hütte (Sun 7th Sept)   Photos from Day 2

6h58m, 30km, 2193 metres ascent

I set off at 8:25am just as the locals were heading to church. The trail was wooded and cool with heavily dewed grass. Gradually the trail climbed above the treeline to the Foopass at 2223m, the first major pass of the route. On the descent I stopped for a while at a small farmstead to eat bread and cheese, and chat with some local hunters and cheese-makers (blessed are the cheese-makers), before battering down a long stony track towards Elm. Just before reaching Elm, I decided to head steeply back uphill again to the Swiss Alpine Club Martinsmad-Hütte at 2002m. It was a good sociable evening chatting with Swiss hikers, who were all doing short multi-day hikes in the region.

Foopass 2223m

Martinsmad Hutte 2002m

Day 3 - Martinsmad-Hütte to Klausenpass Hotel (Mon 8th Sept)   Photos from Day 3

12h27m, 45km, 3055 metres ascent

7:10am start with a steep descent to Elm. A quick snack at the village bakery in Elm, then upwards and onwards towards the Richetlipass. The pass has a false col then flattens out before the real pass at 2261m.  The descent entered some slightly wilder country, and a short sharp rain storm added to the effect.  Once down in Linthal I re-grouped for a few minutes, then decided to head for the Klausenpass, having read that the Klausenpass Hotel is "unmissable". I summited the Klausenpass just as it was getting dark, only to discover the hotel is still another 2km down the other side. Schweineschnitzel, beer and chips again for dinner, although I was too exhausted to finish the beer.  The night was creepily quiet in the bunkhouse on the opposite side of the road.

Richetlipass 2261m

Approaching Klausenpass

Klausenpass Hotel

Day 4 - Klausenpass Hotel to Spannort Hutte (Tue 9th Sept)   Photos from Day 4

11h02m, 42km, 2506 metres ascent

After a leisurely breakfast in the Klausenpass Hotel, I was away just before 8am. The route fiddled around below Schachentaler Windgallen before dropping into the Schachental valley.  Unfortunately I was day-dreaming so ended up in Unterschachen and had to hike along the road to Spiringen. There was quite a bit more hiking down the road to get to the outskirts of Altdorf. I missed out going to the town centre to see the famous statue of William Tell, but instead headed straight across to Attinghausen for the steep slog up to Brusti.  I had thought of staying the night in Brusti, but instead decided to press on over the Surenenpass 2291m.  The weather got iffy on the descent.  Misty. Pouring with rain. Full waterproofs required. I got a bit confused in the mist, but eventually found a sign pointing upward to the Spannort Hut. It was getting pretty late by this stage, and the climb to hut was steep and rocky. I arrived just as it was getting dark.  The guardian was surprised to have a visitor.  Nobody had visited the hut for several days. It was a very quiet night, with just the sound of rain and running water outside.

Sunrise at Klausenpass (Schärhorn)

Surenenpass 2291m

Approaching Spannort Hutte (Titlis)

Day 5 - Spannort Hutte to Meiringen (Wed 10th Sept)   Photos from Day 5

11h43m, 45km, 1864 metres ascent

Misty, murky weather leaving the Spannort Hutte. Mass migration of cattle, bringing them down for the winter, as I dropped into the Surenen valley. A long gradual descent to Engelberg, then quick supermarket stop before heading back uphill towards the Jochpass.

The Swiss have an uncanny knack of converting their wonderful natural landscapes into industrial building sites, and the Jochpass was no exception with an enormous new hotel in mid-construction. I headed on past various lakes to the Tannensee at which point the weather really closed in. One minute it was quite tolerable, and the next I was scrambling for full waterproofs and getting a real pelting from the rain and wind.  The route headed along an undulating ridge to Planplatten 2245m on the edge of a ski area. It really was pretty grim, and I was glad when the trail finally started descending towards Meiringen.  It took a fair old while to descend the 1650m to reach the "Sherlock Holmes" town of Meiringen, and then I had to try a few hotels before finally getting a very quiet room at the Hotel Rebstock.

Trübsee before the Jochpass 

Descending to Meiringen after the storm

Day 6 - Meiringen to Lauterbrunnen (Thu 11th Sept)   Photos from Day 6

10h13m, 42km, 2477 metres ascent

Another fairly cloudy overcast day.  Pretty cool dull weather all the way to the Grosse Scheidegg 1962m, which I hadn't appreciated has a road up it from both sides, so not exactly a wilderness experience. The view from the pass must be stunning on a clear day, but we had to make do with fleeting glimpses of the Eiger. The descent to Grindelwald was pleasant enough, with great views of the Wetterhorn, Schreckhorn and Lauteraarhorn taking me back to 1997 when I climbed the Wetterhorn with Jeff Knight and Micky Ross.

Entering Grindelwald was awful after solo-hiking for several days. Far too many people, and commercialisation gone mad. I stopped to grab food from the Coop, then kept walking without stopping for a break. The trail to Kleine Scheidegg couldn't have been more straightfoward. A steady trail of tourists. It does feel bizarre when you reach the col, and the Swiss have built a major railway station, with hordes of people, and cigarette smoke blowing in your face. Needless to stay, I kept on hiking straight over the other side and down towards Wengen and Lauterbrunnen.  It was quite late, and getting dark when I reached Lauterbrunnen, but I found a room at the Hotel Schutzen right beside the very spectacular Staubbach Falls.

Hotel Rosenlaui 

The Eiger from Grosse Scheidegg

Wetterhorn above Grindelwald

Day 7 - Lauterbrunnen to Griesalp (Fri 12th Sept)   Photos from Day 7

7h02m, 28km, 1866 metres ascent

The day dawned with torrential rain in Lauterbrunnen. I faffed around getting waterproofs on, by which time the rain had more or less stopped.  It was still pretty damp and cool for the hike up to Murren.  For a while on the hike to the Rotstock Hut the weather threatened to improve with the odd fleeting of a snowy peak. I stopped at the hut for a bowl of soup, and chat with an American guy from San Francisco, and then ventured out into the increasingly cold and grey conditions for the climb to the Sefinenfurgge 2612m.  The rain was turning into sleet, and the descent was on black shale for a while. Lower down it started raining properly for the hike out to Griesalp. I checked into the Naturfreundehaus Gorneren, which turned out to be a good evening chatting with an American guy Damon, and Swiss guy Chris over dinner and a few beers.

Staubbach Falls at Lauterbrunnen

Gspaltenhorn above Mürren

Day 8 - Griesalp to Adelboden (Sat 13th Sept)   Photos from Day 8

11h08m, 36km, 2671 metres ascent

An early 6:45am start for the climb to the impressive Hohtürli Pass 2778m, the highest point on the Alpine Pass Route. For once, the weather didn't disappointment. Great views of snowy peaks, with wispy low-lying clouds. I pottered down the other side the outstandingly scenic Oeschinensee, then continued down to Kandersteg for a supermarket stop. After eating as much as I could in 10 minutes, I headed up to the surprisingly dramatic Bunderchrinde 2385m, and impressive rocky gash reminiscent of the Breche de Rolande. The hike out to Adelboden had an uphill sting in the tail. It was not the kind of place to find cheap accommodation, so I checked into the Hotel Waldhaus Huldi at the end of the main street.

Hohtürli Pass 2778m

Hohtürli Pass 2778m

Oeschinensee above Kandersteg

Day 9 - Adelboden to Gsteig (Sun 14th Sept)   Photos from Day 9

9h20m, 36km, 1984 metres ascent

A leisurely breakfast at the Waldhaus Huldi then an easy hike over the Hahnenpass 1956m to Lenk. Everything was shut in Lenk, apart from a bakery with virtually nothing left, so I just kept on hiking, for once in pretty hot and sunny conditions. I crossed the Truttlisberg Pass 2038m to Launen, then kept going straight over the Krinnen Pass 1659m to Gsteig, where I checked into the Hotel Bären which had an incredible chilled-out atmosphere, with great music in the bar restaurant.

Descending towards Lenk

Hotel Bären at Gsteig

Day 10 - Gsteig to Col des Mosses (Mon 15th Sept)   Photos from Day 10

6h31m, 23km, 1366 metres ascent

Today marked the transition back into French-speaking Switzerland after crossing the Blattipass 1900m. After the Col des Anderets 2034m the trail fiddled around contouring for a while before reaching some chalets at Chersaule, where I took a break to sit out of the sun and relax for a few minutes. It was quite hot and oppressive when I reached Col des Mosses a short while later. It was early afternoon, but there was no point in continuing today, so I checked into the Hôtel Le Relais Alpin and watched a re-run of yesterday's Vuelta final time-trial in my room.

Arnensee after the Blattipass

Col des Mosses in pouring rain

Day 11 - Col des Mosses to St Gingolph (Tue 16th Sept)   Photos from Day 11

8h45m, 35km, 816 metres ascent

The final day. A gentle descent to Lac de l'Hongrin past some sort of Swiss Army training camp. Around the lake some huge barrages, then through a tunnel, and down a road to a scruffy farm at Vuichaude d'en Bas.  Some nice autumnal colours on the hike up to Col de Chaude1621m, when Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) opens out below. The 1200m descent lead down to the vineyards above the historic town of Villeneuve.  I took a break for a while looking out across Lake Geneva, before hiking around the lake through the Grangette Nature Reserve and over the Rhone to reach St Gingolph on the French border, and where I started the GR5 hike to the Mediterranean 2 years ago.

Leaving Col des Mosses

Lac de l'Hongrin

Approaching Col de Chaude

Col de Chaude

Lake Geneva at Villeneuve

Looking back to Col de Chaude from edge of Villeneuve

Grand Canal at Les Grangettes

Lake Geneva at Le Bouveret

Lake Geneva from St Gingolph

Paisley 10k

Results | Garmin track

My 5th 10k race in just over 2 weeks after Bella Belter (36:18), SVHC Glasgow 800 (36:57), Irvine Marymass (36:13) and Bute Highland Games (36:12).

My 2 targets today were to dip under 36 minutes, and if possible to get 1st V50.

I'd not run the Paisley 10k before, but the weather was perfect. Bright and sunny, and not too warm.  Plus it was nice to be running on closed off streets for much of the route.

I realised as soon as I arrived that my main V50 rival would be Alex Robertson of Motherwell.  Given that Alex had been completely out of sight at the Calderglen 10k and Bella Belter, I wasn't sure how I'd get on with keeping him within sight this time.

The start was all pretty frantic with a high quality field leading out, so the first km was quick-ish, but not too mad.  I got drawn into passing Alex a couple of times early on, which I suspected was not a great idea.

By 2km I'd dropped back from directly chasing Alex and George Pettit.

I went through the 5k marker on 17:45, which I thought meant sub 36-min was on the cards.

James Healy caught me around 7km, so we worked together on the disused railway.

I could see Alex and Andrew MacKenzie almost within catching distance just ahead.

As we crossed Canal Street with 1km to go I realised we were on 32:36, which meant a sub 3:24 final kilometre to break 36 minutes.  I gave it more or less all I had, and closed down Alex to within 5 seconds, but finished in 36:06.  Still it felt like another good steady 10k, without exerting myself too much.

Paisley 10k route

800 races (of sorts)

Here's a full list of my 800 races, as of 5th July 2014.

It all started back on 14th May 2000. A lone figure approaching along the Ben Dronaig track like Omar Sharif in that haunting scene from Lawrence of Arabia.

With tension rising, and wondering whether to stop for a chat, I realised I'd bumped into this chap on Cairnkinna Hill about 6 months previously. He was one of those elite hardy folk known as "fell runners" who do things called "fell races".  At that time I had absolutely no idea how you would go about entering a fell race, but this seemed like a good time to pick Eddie Dealtry's brains for top tips on where to start.

So, I came away with a short-list of Borrowdale, Glen Rosa and Jura as good entry-level hill races.

Jura was in 2 weeks time, but race organiser Andy Curtis quite rightly wouldn't let me race without previous experience.  I therefore begged Paul Emsley to allow me a run at Glen Rosa 3 weeks later. I finished 5th last out of a field of 32 runners with only one male runner behind me: the legendary Drew Turnbull. My back was in agony the whole way round, and I missed the turning below the deer fence coming off Goatfell at the end, and got lost in the woods above Brodick Castle at the end, but at least I'd finished the race and left plenty of room for improvement.

So, fast forward 14 years, and I've just completed my 800th race (of sorts) at Glasgow Victoria Parkrun on 5th July 2014.  I've used the term "race" loosely to include club handicaps, grudge matches, time trials, etc., as well as officially organised events.

Events have ranged from Scottish National Indoor 1500m track race at Glasgow Emirates Stadium (shortest and highest number of officials), to 10-stage high altitude Everest Sky Race in Nepal (longest, highest and worst organised).

Possibly the most enjoyable was the Defi de l'Oisans 200km stage race in France, which I've completed 4 times (2004 to 2007). 6 fantastic scenic stages around the Ecrins Massif on the GR54, starting and finishing at Les Deux Alpes.

Defi de l'Oisans

I've run London Marathon 7 times, and Ben Nevis 8 times, as well as completing the Two Breweries and Pentland Skyline the past 12 years in a row.

Ben Nevis Race

I've completed more than 330 different race routes or courses, and have raced in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, France, Corsica, Slovenia and Nepal.

So, having not been sure how to enter a race in 2000, I'm quite pleased to have managed to complete a variety of races now over most distances and terrains from indoor track to the horrors of Glamaig.

Scottish Hill Racing races

Power of 10 races

Sedbergh Hills

Glasgow Miler Meet - Scottish 10,000m Championships

Photos by Bobby Gavin | Activity on Strava | Results

My first attempt at racing on a 400m track.  I was slightly daunted by be running in the "B" Race, since I could immediately see I was the slowest runner.  I was also nervous about the idea of trying to run fast, since I haven't run fast in any races this year, still not fully trusting my hamstrings.

Anyhow, the weather was pretty appalling. Cold, wind and raining. So it was a bit grim hanging around watching the "C" Race. I was actually glad not to be running in the "C" Race, since this gave me more time to get ready, and I'd rather be chasing from the back, than leading from the front.

Once we stepped onto the track, nobody seemed to know the protocol of how the race started, or where the start line was, but we were soon on our way, with Mark Pollard pace-making at 33 minutes, which equates to about 79 seconds per lap.

I just about hung on for the first lap before slipping off the back, chasing after Iain Burns of Bellahouston RR.  For several laps I thought I might catch Iain, until the gap became too big to close.  For the next few laps, it was just a question of waiting until I was lapped.  It wasn't until my 10th lap that Mark Pollard and Barney Phillips came past.

At the halfway point I glanced at my watch to see 17:53, so was thinking at this point that sub 36 minutes would be close.  I tried to keep pressing all the way, and it was helpful when Shaun Butler went by, so I could latch onto him for a while.

Before I knew it, we were down to 8 laps (2 miles), then 4 laps (1 mile), and then the bell and the final lap. For the last 200 metres, I was the only runner left on the track, so made the most of it to finish in 35:55.

It was also my first outing in the new club colours of Ronhill Cambuslang.

Glasgow Miler Meet - Hutchesons' Grammar School

Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon

Activity on Strava

This was my 6th Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon.

Previous times were 1:18:17 (2007), 1:20:04 (2008), 1:19:30 (2009), 1:18:15 (2011), 1:19:54 (2012).
So I'd only once gone over 1:20, and that was by 4 seconds in 2008.
Anyhow, given that I've hardly run at all since the hamstring injury at Christmas, I had no intention of racing today, so this was purely an experiment to see if I could run 13 miles at even pace without my hamstring packing in.  I almost got away with it, but for some reason suddenly felt really washed out after 10 miles, and the last 3 miles were tougher than I'd expected.

Photo: Gillian Scott
www.scottsportphotography.co.uk

Devil's Burdens Relay

Results | Strava track | Garmin track

I haven't blogged in ages, mainly because I haven't done any running in ages.

Thankfully I managed my first successful run of the year at the Devil's Burdens Relay yesterday. This was my first run since 27th December when I bust my right hamstring at the Lancaster Festive 4km, and limped off the route.

I was feeling slightly apprehensive on the startline at Falkland, wondering if my hamstring would be OK, and duly started off super-slowly not wishing to shock-load my leg at all. Anyhow, I plodded along waiting for some twinges or ill effects, but nothing much happened, so I gradually pressed on passing Tess Hill, another runner, then I ran alongside Craig Mitchell for a while, before Ewan Jack caught us both. I tried hold position with Ewan, but he was that bit stronger, and I didn't want to force anything, so just ran as relaxed as I could.

Just before entering the finishing field, it was good to see James Callender and Steve Halsall heading out in the lead, meaning that Gwyn Bellamy must have run the fastest time on Leg 1 for the Westerlands A+ Team.

I finished in 13th position in a time of 28:31 for the 7.2km hilly trail run.

Devil's Burdens Leg 1 - Route & Profile

Devil's Burdens Leg 1 - Route

West District Cross Country

Results | Strava Track

The last time I ran the West District Cross Country was in 2011, when it was held twice, both times at Irvine Moor.  The first was in January as the postponed 2010 race, and the 2nd was in December at the usual time of year. I missed out on last year's event, which sounded like a mudbath at Ardgowan Estate, Inverkip.

Anyhow, in December 2011, I finished down in 76th place (2011 results), so I was hoping to do a bit better than that today.

My plan for today's race was to aim for 1st V50. The only way this would be possible was if I shadowed Paul Thompson (now running for Cambuslang) right from the start. I knew that if I let any gap grow, I would never close it down again.

There was the usual scramble for positions at the start, with everyone trying to slot into a sensible pecking order. I worked to position myself a couple of places behind Paul, but couldn't quite get right on his shoulder, due to the general congestion and jostling.  I thought that if I held back on the first lap, I would have more left to close down places as the race progressed.

Colin Feechan was working hard on the first lap, and passed both myself and Paul briefly. I used Colin to pace me for a while, but bit by bit I was losing contact with Paul. Marco Consani, Greig Glendinning and Niall McAlinden all came past, and I was starting to wonder if I had enough strength for 2 more laps.

Kilmarnock West District Cross Country - senior men's course

I did briefly catch Scott Martin at around the halfway point, but Scott shrugged off my challenge, and I spent the final lap with Scott just ahead, and Colin just behind, and working hard to catch me again.

Flogging through the mud

I did just enough to keep Colin at a comfortable distance, but didn't have the strength or speed to catch Scott, so spent the final lap maintaining an even gap ahead and behind.

Final result was 40th place and 2nd V50. Paul Thompson was 1st V50, 35 seconds ahead.

Two Breweries Hill Race

Strava track | Garmin track

This was my 12th Two Breweries in a row, and the weather was about as perfect as you could imagine, if a fraction on the warm side.

It was slightly daunting and frustrating setting off with my back in pain after the fall at Three Shires last weekend. I had no idea how I would complete the race, given how much my back was hurting just getting out of the car. The only hope was to set off ridiculously slowly and see if I could survive.

The problem was that every time my foot hit a tussock or slipped on the path, I got a wave of pain jarring through the ribs in my back. And the Two Breweries race route is not known for being totally smooth and tussock-free.

I reached the summit of Birkscairn Hill way down the field, and dreading the descent to Glensax. I pottered down through the heather with shooting pains through my back, watching lots of folk gallop past, including Steffen and Graham Kelly from Westies, and Gordon Pryde & Dom Ketley amongst others.

Once on the bowling green smooth ascent, I took a gel and drink and then overtook about 10 runners on the climb to Hundleshope, almost but not quite catching Morag McCracken.

After Hundleshope, the heathery traverse round to Stob Law was a joke. The muddy slippery trod was playing havoc with my back, so I stepped off the path and let all the runners go by who I'd past on the previous climb.  I then just about caught them back again on the climb up Stob Law, before once again they all disappeared on the long descent to Glenrath Farm.

Once you hit the Glenrath farm track, the route suddenly becomes extremely runnable, barring 2 short steep climbs up Whitelaw and Trahenna.  I therefore decided to start pressing, and reeled in 8 or so runners before the firebreak up Whitelaw, getting just ahead of Morag McCracken at last.  After Whitelaw I wasn't that keen on having anyone catching me, so managed to get to Stobo without dropping any places, and passed Iain Gilmore who was clearly struggling, just before the road to Stobo.

I grabbed a bottle at Stobo and then set a target of catching the 2 runners ahead, one of whom was Duncan Ball of Penicuik Harriers.  Once across the dam I headed for the left edge of the wood, with a Westie runner not far ahead - I think this was Cameron Burt, but couldn't get close enough to be sure.

Peter Mackie was also not far ahead, and by taking a better line, I reached the summit of Trahenna ahead of him.  I could see Gregor Stewart over to the right, clearly having a bad day at the hill office. It was good to get a shout and some banter from Muffy & Dave Calder at top of Trahenna, before beginning the final descent.

My pedestrian approach this year, combined with gels and powders, meant I did not have the slightest flinch of cramp on the run off to Broughton.  Only the nagging pain in my back, meaning I had to walk any rough bits, and run very gingerly where I could.  I passed Gregor Stewart and John Binnie who were both hobbling with cramp, before Peter Mackie caught me. I stepped off the path to let him go by, but once on the Greenmantle Dash descent, he also pulled up with cramp, allowing me to pass and then to press on and grab a couple more places on the road.

So, despite it being almost exactly 27 minutes slower then last year, I was pleased I managed to complete the route without having to drop out, and must have passed about 20 runners from Glenrath to the end, without dropping any places.

Three Shires Fell Race

Garmin track | Strava track | Results

My 8th shot at the classic Three Shires Fell Race. Everything a Lakes hill race should be. Low key. Entry on the day. Selwyn Wright commentary. Pasties and tea afterwards. In fact a more or less perfect day. Spoiled only by the 18km run over rocks and bog.

Without doubt, this was the mistiest hill race I've done. So misty it was like a scene from Hedgehog in the Fog where random runners would loom out of the murk at various random times, so you had no idea who was behind and who was ahead.



The start was a classic piece of Selwyn Wright comedy.  The runners were mingling and chatting in the road, awaiting further instructions, when suddenly and without warning Selwyn shouted "Go".  I was in the middle of showing my map to Konrad Rawlik as the stampede kicked off, so had to hurriedly stash the map, start my GPS, and chase after the pack of runners disappearing off down the road.

The comedy start did allow me to begin slower than usual, with a bit of queuing to get across the bridge, before I could start picking off runners as we hit the trail on the other side of the river. Bit by bit  I was passing all the usual suspects, including Adrian Davis and Chris Reade. Once I'd caught up Dan Duxbury I figured I was as far up the field as I should be, so decided to consolidate my position.

Once over the stile at the fell gate, Dan turned sharp left into the bracken so I followed him and Paul Knowles in their Ambleside vests. A bit higher we merged back in with the other runners.  As the slope steepened towards the summit of Wetherlam, I was caught and passed by Jane Reedy.  As we crested Wetherlam I quickly lost contact with Jane and the other runners ahead, so dawdled slightly to allow Chris Reade and Paul Neild to catch me to have somebody to chase.

This was enough to get me down to Prison Band for the rocky climb up to Swirl How.  I vaguely remember descending just behind Matt Beresford before Dave Armstrong caught me. I then tagged along behind Dave at what felt like a very pedestrian pace, but I wasn't keen to charge off into the mist and risk getting lost.  As it happens a large group caught us, passed us, and then promptly took the wrong path which forks rightwards and doesn't drop you down to the Three Shire Stone.

I had drifted off the back when I realised what had happened, cut back leftwards to hit the road, and hey presto I was now leading that group!  I scuttled along the road to pick up the path towards Pike o' Blisco, and then tried to push on to clear myself of the group behind.  I met up with Ross Litherland and Dave Nuttall for this section, and we worked well together on the climb to catch and pass a few folk, including Leigh Warburton who must have got in front when I took the detour at the road crossing.

Three Shires 2013 GPS Track

It was slightly galling at the summit of Blisco to see so many runners returning who I thought I'd been ahead of, but anyhow it was all very greasy on the rocks, and very poor visibility, so mainly a question of trying to stay upright and keep on the right bearings.  The section after Blisco is always difficult in mist, so I hesitated to allow Leigh Warburton to show the way.

I was just about keeping Leigh in my sights, although everyone else seemed to have the same idea about slip-streaming him. This meant I was fighting for path space, and getting repeatedly blocked and boxed in by slower descenders.  After the stile into the bracken, my path was once again blocked and my line chopped by the runner in front, so I decided I needed to take evasive action. Unfortunately just as I made my move, I hit a section of steep greasy rock that spat me off my feet, landing me hard on my back and then shooting me off clattering down the hill. I was winded and could hardly breathe when I stood up, but pottered on down not wishing to fall again, only once again finding I was boxed in again by the same runner.  I couldn't afford to fall again, so got round more tentatively and then headed off trying to catch Leigh and Ross.

All the group pretty much came together again on the climb up Lingmoor. I scrambled for my gel and Lucozade to hopefully to get a boost for the final climb.  I hadn't been running hard, so had expected to have a bit more oomph for Lingmoor but the pain in my back from the fall was making it difficult to breathe.  Anyhow, I pushed on enough to make sure Leigh was out of sight.

At the top of Lingmoor I couldn't see anyone behind, so thought I might have a clear run down to the finish, but not so.  I dithered around on the descent, not 100% sure I was taking the right paths given there was nobody around and no markings. But then suddenly I had Jane Reedy, Dave Armstrong, Chris Reade, Leigh Warburton and a few others all barreling down on me.  The pain in my ribs across my back was too uncomfortable to push the jarring descent, so I let the whole lot go past.

Once we hit the level track I injected some pace to fly past Leigh, and set me sights on catching Jane Reedy before the finish. She was probably 200 metres ahead with 1km remaining, so it was an almost but not quite impossible task. I aimed to run at my best 800m pace, to see if this would close the gap.  The gap was coming down, but nowhere near fast enough. When I hit the road with 200 metres to go, the gap was still not really catchable, but with a short burst of sub-30min 10k pace, I edged past just as we turned into the field.

It felt rather unchivalrous to nip past just before the line, but it was really just an experiment in pace management, and gave me something to think about for the final kilometre. My time was 2:29:55, which is more than 6 minutes slower than I've ever run before, but I was quite pleased to get round, and felt strong at the end of what was my longest run of the year timewise.

Three Shires Race Times

Kilmaurs Gala 5k

Activity on Garmin Connect

After running this race last year, I thought I'd give it another shot and perhaps run a bit faster.

Race Route

After the low-key phlegmatic race brief from Dave Mitchell, we were quickly underway and I decided to get up to speed as soon as possible, so found myself on David Phee's shoulder for the first lap of the track before Robert Gilroy and another guy overtook.  I then held onto 4th place for a short while before various Kilmarnock and Ayr runners started passing.  After 2km I was holding position again, until Kara Tait caught me at more or less the same place as last year.  We then traded places several times before I made my move with about 800 metres to go as we turned onto Mill Avenue.  I just managed to hold on for the lap of the track and finished in 17:40, which was about 8 seconds quicker than last year.

About 400 metres to go