Hi all,
Digby has pointed out that no one is posting about the Alt C5 on the website and as usual he is correct. So here goes.
Day 1. BellsCapHellextric (or something like that)
Wow. It was not a nice evening! Sitting inside the car at the Bonaly car park seemed bad enough. Then I had to get out an stand in the rain with the other hardy souls who showed up. There were even a few people out for the Ladie’s run (they were encouraged to do the Alt C5 but declined). It was a quick course (so quick Jonathon Marks was able to overtake almost everyone after a late start) with quite a bit of clag at times. Coming off Bell’s hill towards the ruin was a challenge. The first challenge was spotting the ruin and second was picking a line through the ferns. The final decent was fun. And by the end the rain had stopped.
Day 2. Allermuir Uphill (and downhill)
Wow. It was a glorious evening! The sun was shining (why didn’t I bring sunglasses). I rode my bike down to Hillend in anticipation of combining Day 2 and 3 in one. Then a short jog followed by an enjoyable few minutes chatting as we all stood in the carpark at Swanston waiting for the appointed time. And then we were off. A flattish quick start followed by a steep slog and then some more less steep slogging on tired legs. A few departed but a few stayed to try their hand at writing words with their bodies.
Day 4. Thriepmuir is in the way!
Weather was a mixed bag which was fitting for a race that started with an awful lot of chat about route choice. However, unlike the usual “take this trod because it is marginally faster” the choices tonight were more large scale “who’s doing a loop?” “Out and back?” “Short uphill or long and steady?” Or in my case “Which way is the footpath?” Not a good sign for the Mini Mountain Marathon. In the end people chose a few different options and I am not sure which was optimal (they all seemed to get around quite quickly!) but it definitely added something extra to the night. The Strava flyby tells the tale.
Can’t wait for tonight!
Sean Walker