While lots of runners were away in the alps enjoying various races as part of UTMB I was heading to Braemar to take part in the inaugural Type 2 Fun Run. The format was fairly simple – runners had 30 hours to collect as many points as possible from checkpoints scattered across the Cairngorms. 5 of these were mandatory and had to be done in order but the rest of the route was open to interpretation to allow for a variety of race strategies and course options.
The checkpoints were emailed out to all participants about a week before the race, giving us time to plan a route but not really any opportunity to recce. I made a rough plan of about 120km including 4-6 hours set aside for sleeping depending on the conditions and felt confident that I would have as much type 1 fun as possible. The weather forecast wasn’t looking great in the days leading up to the race but the very changeable forecasts over the previous weeks made it hard to guarantee any kind of weather and I was prepared for the worst.
The race started from Braemar Village Hall at 10:30 on Saturday morning in very heavy rain. I followed my planned route as closely as possible, the only issue was the presence of the royals at Balmoral forcing all runners to take a detour through the forest at the request of armed police officers. My route mostly followed decent trails with a few off-trail shortcuts around Loch Muick, Broad Cairn, Lochnagar and down to Callater Stables before heading back to Braemar to pick up some more food. At this point I think I had run around 70km and felt pretty tired but I was only 9 hours in with 21 left. The weather had improved hugely since the summit of Lochnagar and after I left Braemar I enjoyed the evening sunset as I ran up to Linn of Dee and on towards the Lairig Ghru.
I knew there was still a lot of time left and some difficult stretches of ground to cover but I was feeling good as I made my way to Corrour bothy at about 11pm and was confident I could hit the high scoring checkpoints of Devils Point , Cairn Toul and Lochan Uaine overnight before needing a rest. Slow going in bad weather and a long, rough descent from Cairn Toul took it’s toll and I knew I had to stop and get some rest at Garbh Coire Bothy. Thanks to some recent work by the Mountain Bothy Association the bothy is now wind and water tight and has a proper wooden floor with space to stretch out and rearrange kit. I managed to get 3 hours sleep and woke with some renewed energy for the remainder of the race.
My final stretch took me up the steep, pathless climb of Ben Macdui from the Lairig Ghru by the Allt a’ Choire Mhoir before heading round to Cairngorm, down to Loch Avon and then up Derry Cairngorm via Loch Etchachan – all fairly familiar territory for me but in my tired state I missed the chance to pick up an easy extra 15 points at Fords of Avon refuge which I would kick myself for later in the day. After the long descent from Derry Cairngorm I stopped in at Bob Scott’s Bothy and took off some of my mountain layers before the long, low-level run back to Braemar, picking up an easy 5 points at the Punch Bowl. I was tempted to go for another 5 point control at the top or Morrone but by the time I got to the bottom of the climb I knew I would struggle to make it up and back to the hall before the cut-off so I made my way slowly to the finish, chatting to a few fellow runners on the way. I got back about an hour before cut off with a total of 355 points having run about 135km.
The winner, Philip Rutter, cut it fine with 7 minutes to spare but made it back with 365 points after some excellent route choices on day one – if only I’d made it to Fords of Avon I’d have had an extra 15 points!
I think this race was the ideal format for me – mountains, navigation, strategy and camaraderie all made it an ideal event for me and I’d highly recommend it for anyone looking for something a bit different next year. Results and tracking details are here: http://live.opentracking.co.uk/type2fun/
Ross Christie