Monday 28 July 2008

Luss Games Hill Race

27th July 2008

I'd been warned about the Luss hill race on more than one occasion. It has a reputation for runners ending up completely lost in chest-high bracken. I was not to be disappointed, and duly got completely lost on the descent and ended up in chest-high bracken just as expected.

Like the day before at Dufftown the temperatures were sweltering, but today there was no hazy cloud, so conditions were full-on scorching. The race started with a lap of the 300m games field before launching out onto the road and under the A82 on a footpath. Next was some diagonal cuts across fields and gates to climb before hitting the open hillside. A narrow path climbed through the bracken but petered out leaving a steep tussocky climb with odd patches of bracken to thrash through.

The race started off super-fast with Jethro Lennox and Edinburgh Uni's Ales Drahokoupil pelting off in the lead. Next Ronnie Gallagher, Des Crowe and Lindsey Cunningham all passed whilst I gasped along in 6th place, just managing to stay in front of Des's 13yr old son Jamie on the climb.

Jamie and I touched the flag at the summit turning point together, but then Jamie hit his stride quicker on the descent, only to run himself into some pathless bracken, allowing me to get in front again, until I had a mental aberration and headed off way too far to the left leading down the wrong track until I was fighting through chest-high bracken.

I vaguely thought of abandoning the race and just heading back to my car, but eventually fought my way through a track and caught a glimpse of Davy Duncan whisking past, so I gave chase back into the games field, narrowly avoiding catching him, but finishing the race all the same.

I've no idea what time anyone else ran, but I think I finished 7th in 32:28.

Route Route Race profile against distance Race profile against time

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