Archives for April 2023
Ultra Sierra Nevada, No Deposit, No Return
Midnight on Good Friday; John Ryan, Alan Renville and myself were on Beinn a’ Ghlò lost in clag, with a biting freezing wind and sleet showers, the last training run before we were to head out to Andalucia, Spain for the Ultra Sierra Nevada races. Perhaps not the best of prep for running in 30C heat.
Last autumn I had hatched a plan to do a road trip to visit my sister, who had moved out to Spain last year to set up a Yoga Retreat at Casares, and coincidently the dates coincided with the Sierra Nevada Ultra near Granada. Having persuaded John Ryan and Alan Renville to enter a race too, Anne Renville joined us to bring some sensibility to the trip.
To keep our green credentials, we decided on hiring a motorhome from Murrell’s Of Fife and we would collect discarded cans and bottles along the way through England, France and Spain, load them into the motorhome and bring them back to Scotland to recycle them in the new Deposit Return Machines getting 20p for each item and hence finance the trip.
Then disaster, a week before we were due to depart our Niesmann and Bischoff hire motorhome was seized by the Polis, and taken to a restricted building.
Undeterred, we booked flights to Malaga and hired a Hybrid car from the airport arriving a few days before the race at Pradollano, which would be the base for the race series: 158km, 98km, 62km, 42km and 25km. At 2,100m it was also a good place to acclimatise as the race would take us up over 3,000m, just below the summit of Pico Valeta.
First off was John at 10:30 on Friday doing the 100 mile “Extrema” with 7,690m of ascent. His route immediately climbed up to 2,700m before coming back to the cheering crowds in Pradollano, and then off, up, down and around the foothills of the surrounding area. After seeing John through the next road crossing, and going well, we heading back to Pradollano to get ready (a siesta) for the 98km “Ultra” with 5,470m of ascent, starting at 22:00 down at 738m in Granada.
Granada itself was buzzing with full cafés and restaurants, and about 250 runners. We found a café near the start and caffeine’d ourselves on strong coffee. Shortly after we were running through the city and past the Alhambra, before leaving the city for the olive groves and hills. The first 65km were on well maintained tracks and trails, undulating up to a high point of 1,500m, although the darkness meant we lost all sense of direction and whereabouts until the sunrose at 07:30.
I was by this time at one of the eight aid stations, at Pinos Genil, 774m, but didn’t linger long as from here it was a unrelenting climb of 2,322m up past Pradollano to the high point at 3,096m and the day was warming up. The trails around Embalse de Canales reservoir were the most technical, including a few parts where a slip would have had serious consequences and the organisers had put fixed ropes in place.
From the top of the climb it was possibly one of the best descents to the finish of any race; 1,000 metres down a snow covered ski run wearing microspikes to prevent a slip, dodging between the late season skiers as the snow softened on the way down.
Anne was in Pradollano to see us all finish within a few hours of each other, and we enjoyed the afternoon sunshine and the enthusiastic Spanish compere before heading out for pizza and beers, and an early night.
A relaxing few days down at my sister’s exploring the local area was a perfect end to the trip.
We never found a charging point to recharge the hybrid car, and I only brought back one plastic bottle. Must try harder.
Race Info: https://www.ultrasierranevada.com/race
Results: https://sportmaniacs.com/es/races/ultra-sierra-nevada-2023
Graham Nash
Handicap #1 Woodhouselee Rewind report and results
Distance: 8.8km | Ascent: 400m | Duration: 15 days | Race: 73 | Total runners: 81
We had fantastic turnout and weather for Woodhouselee, the first of the 6 handicap courses in the 2023 series. This was a brand-new course loosely based on the 2022 course in the opposite direction, both created by Ken.
There were a few sections of the course that had more favourable lines for those that knew. Inbound from top of Capelaw and under fences off Castlelaw saved a bit. Sandra’s route over Allermuir was not one of them.
Handicap predicted times were overall on the tough side, only 8 runners beat their predicted time.
Ken: “Way over my handicap but gave it my best on a stunning evening.”
Steve: “Nice route with hair-raising final section off Castlelaw”
Lucas: “Great route in a lovely sunny and dry Pentland night which make the run pretty quick”
Thanks for the finish line support from Declan, Andrew & Hilary Spenceley, Alison and Rich U on photo duty. Ken arranged our well-deserved post-race food for us all at the Steading, thank you.
Handicap – Top 3 places:
Congratulations Craig Addison, the race and overall winner this month scoring the maximum 50 points.
Position | Name |
#1 | Craig Addison |
#2 | Lucas Lefevre |
#3 | Lewis Macaulay |
Junior – Fastest course time
5th place overall for Arielle in first handicap, only slowed down by her dad.
Name | Run time |
Arielle Muir | 84.14 |
Female – Top 3 Fastest course times
Name | Run time |
Naomi Lang | 44.25 |
Ellie Johnstone | 48.26 |
Kirsty Coombs | 49.33 |
Male – Top 3 Fastest course times
Name | Run time |
Sasha Chepelin | 36.39 |
Sam Tosh | 37.01 |
Kieran Cooper | 37.13 |
Position | First name | Surname | Run time | Handicap time | Finish time | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Craig | Addison | 58.11 | 17.39 | 75.50 | 50.0 |
2 | Lucas | Lefevre | 52.11 | 25.52 | 78.03 | 49.4 |
3 | Lewis | Macaulay | 50.37 | 27.29 | 78.06 | 48.8 |
4 | Kirsty | Coombs | 49.40 | 28.30 | 78.10 | 48.1 |
5 | Arielle | Muir | 84.14 | -6.02 | 78.12 | 47.5 |
6 | Sam | Tosh | 37.10 | 41.25 | 78.35 | 46.9 |
7 | Ellie | Johnstone | 48.50 | 29.48 | 78.38 | 46.3 |
8 | Sam | Stead | 51.10 | 27.31 | 78.41 | 45.6 |
9 | Kieran | Cooper | 37.14 | 41.44 | 78.58 | 45.0 |
10 | Gordon | Cameron | 51.52 | 27.29 | 79.21 | 44.4 |
11 | Norman | Brown | 68.12 | 11.19 | 79.31 | 43.8 |
12 | Robert | Waterhouse | 68.26 | 11.05 | 79.31 | 43.1 |
13 | Michael | Reid | 41.27 | 38.06 | 79.33 | 42.5 |
14 | Gareth | Wheeler | 46.35 | 32.60 | 79.35 | 41.9 |
15 | Malcolm | Lord | 73.59 | 5.37 | 79.36 | 41.3 |
16 | David | Stevens | 48.58 | 30.41 | 79.39 | 40.6 |
17 | Philippa | Ivison | 61.12 | 18.38 | 79.50 | 40.0 |
18 | Cat | Wright | 52.56 | 27.05 | 80.01 | 39.4 |
19 | Jack | Harris | 45.39 | 34.28 | 80.07 | 38.8 |
20 | Rodrigo | Lara Molina | 39.23 | 40.50 | 80.13 | 38.1 |
21 | Colm | Moran | 42.34 | 37.47 | 80.21 | 37.5 |
22 | Mark | Hooper | 51.47 | 28.35 | 80.22 | 36.9 |
23 | Neil | Gordon | 50.27 | 29.56 | 80.23 | 36.3 |
24 | Sasha | Chepelin | 36.41 | 43.42 | 80.23 | 36.3 |
25 | Nick | Schierloh | 74.34 | 6.24 | 80.58 | 35.0 |
26 | Jack | Trevail | 43.09 | 37.57 | 81.06 | 34.4 |
27 | Ben | Horne | 45.31 | 35.52 | 81.23 | 33.8 |
28 | Rob | Owen | 44.05 | 37.23 | 81.28 | 33.1 |
29 | Sean | Walker | 70.02 | 11.26 | 81.28 | 33.1 |
30 | Tim | Morgan | 41.08 | 40.25 | 81.33 | 31.9 |
31 | Pippa | Dakin | 51.21 | 30.16 | 81.37 | 31.3 |
32 | Megan | Fileman | 59.02 | 22.42 | 81.44 | 30.6 |
33 | James | Nicholson | 44.30 | 37.19 | 81.49 | 30.0 |
34 | Anne | Craig | 64.57 | 16.54 | 81.51 | 29.4 |
35 | Felix | Wilson | 40.15 | 41.41 | 81.56 | 28.8 |
36 | Win | Rampen | 68.55 | 13.17 | 82.12 | 28.1 |
37 | Dessie | Flanagan | 44.13 | 38.03 | 82.16 | 27.5 |
38 | James | Britton | 44.24 | 37.54 | 82.18 | 26.9 |
39 | Aidan | Smith | 41.45 | 40.39 | 82.24 | 26.3 |
40 | Hugh | Brady | 56.11 | 26.27 | 82.38 | 25.6 |
41 | Sophie | Horrocks | 50.48 | 31.54 | 82.42 | 25.0 |
42 | Stephanie | Droop | 67.04 | 15.38 | 82.42 | 25.0 |
43 | Morag | McIntyre | 65.28 | 17.16 | 82.44 | 23.8 |
44 | Naomi | Lang | 44.42 | 38.04 | 82.46 | 23.1 |
45 | David | Wilson | 51.37 | 31.12 | 82.49 | 22.5 |
46 | Lucy | Ritchie | 59.19 | 23.47 | 83.06 | 21.9 |
47 | Iona | Allan | 56.34 | 26.49 | 83.23 | 21.3 |
48 | Bryan | McKenna | 45.38 | 37.47 | 83.25 | 20.6 |
49 | Paul | Fallon (Non-Member) | 47.06 | 36.26 | 83.32 | 0.0 |
50 | Ken | Fordyce | 60.30 | 23.27 | 83.56 | 20.0 |
51 | Clare | Mcdonnell | 58.51 | 25.22 | 84.13 | 19.4 |
52 | Mark | Hartree | 76.51 | 7.22 | 84.13 | 19.4 |
53 | Neil | Burnett | 53.51 | 30.29 | 84.20 | 18.1 |
54 | Steve | Best | 51.01 | 33.25 | 84.26 | 17.5 |
55 | Ronan | Sherman | 50.29 | 33.57 | 84.26 | 16.9 |
56 | James | Ritchie | 54.44 | 29.50 | 84.34 | 16.3 |
57 | Alistair | Crawford | 63.41 | 20.57 | 84.38 | 15.6 |
58 | Charlie | McCulloch | 60.40 | 24.12 | 84.52 | 15.0 |
59 | Alex | Kinninmonth | 54.48 | 30.15 | 85.03 | 14.4 |
60 | Nick | Cross | 60.00 | 25.09 | 85.09 | 13.8 |
61 | Pete | Cain | 59.24 | 25.55 | 85.19 | 13.1 |
62 | Irene | Schierloh | 84.33 | 1.07 | 85.40 | 12.5 |
63 | Scott | Robson | 50.03 | 35.42 | 85.45 | 11.9 |
64 | Euan | Easson | 51.46 | 34.47 | 86.33 | 11.3 |
65 | Gareth | Poxon | 66.48 | 19.59 | 86.47 | 10.6 |
66 | Richard | Chandler | 71.48 | 15.06 | 86.54 | 10.0 |
67 | Julia | Sanders | 71.07 | 15.51 | 86.58 | 9.4 |
68 | Neil | Guthrie | 71.42 | 15.51 | 87.33 | 8.8 |
69 | Nicola | Duncan | 55.12 | 32.49 | 88.01 | 8.1 |
70 | Peter | Macdonald | 56.21 | 31.59 | 88.19 | 7.5 |
71 | Jack | Brewis | 64.44 | 23.59 | 88.43 | 6.9 |
72 | Cali | Ingham | 100.52 | -11.30 | 89.22 | 6.3 |
73 | Owen | Wilkinson | 58.13 | 31.24 | 89.37 | 5.6 |
74 | Graham | McIntyre | 68.20 | 21.41 | 90.01 | 5.0 |
75 | Nicki | Innes | 74.59 | 15.48 | 90.47 | 4.4 |
76 | Catherine | Forrest | 73.24 | 17.50 | 90.74 | 3.8 |
77 | Sandra | Chandler | 92.09 | 0.00 | 92.09 | 3.1 |
78 | Rozy | Shepherd | 64.27 | 27.44 | 92.11 | 2.5 |
79 | Lizzie | Knox | 68.09 | 30.23 | 98.32 | 1.9 |
80 | Carole | Fortune | 81.58 | 17.22 | 99.20 | 1.3 |
81 | Jonny | Muir | 84.14 | 37.50 | 122.04 | 0.6 |
Those looking for more of a breakdown on data see Google sheet.
The next handicap in May will be in Edinburgh Braid Hills. Check out the handicap webpage for details.
AS Pacidnah April Results
The April foolishly reversed handicap
Sounds like it was excellent conditions on Monday, and despite posting a winning time Chris still had time to enjoy the ‘scent of gorse flowers in the air’. Sounds like some seriously heavy breathing.
A mix of routes reported, lots of people questioning the sanity of running down the gutted haddie. Times a wee bit slower, but that’s normal for the reverse route.
Well done to Chris for the win & also loving how competitive the Bleakley family race is getting between Elspeth, Raph & Ianthe- very, very close (well done Ianthe)
Anthony Hemmings
Link to map http://carnethy.com/club_training_sessions/lunchtime-handicaps/
Results page http://carnethy.com/category/mon-arthurs-seat-handicaps/
Strava Segment https://www.strava.com/segments/1641212
Winter talk 2 – Naomi Lang, Sasha Chepelin, Holly Page
Handicap recce
After Ken’s email about the start of the Carnethy Handicaps and April’s Race around the Woodhouselee Rewind (Race Date – 19th April) I thought I had better recee another race route planned for North Berwick in July.
Having set the NB race idea, Keith Burns and his daughter had checked it out, but I wanted to double check how it will work as a handicap. It turns out to be quite a fun route with a range of running types including a soft sandy beaches, wiggly coastal trails, golf couse edges, some scrambling on slippery rocks if you pick the wrong line, cracking wee coves with various line choices, and that is in the first 2km!
We had a cold bitter wind with big rolling waves better suited to surfers. We decided a marker might be helpful to mark where to leave the beach to head up to the road. After the first road crossing is a long section on field edges, through some lovely woods and some stretches which will force you to run faster with your quarry in your sights and, no doubt, heavy breathing behind you.
Basically, you turn right after the woods and aim for North Berwick Law which for us was shrouded in a cold grey mist. Its ascent is by whichever route you choose and the descent back to the Sealife Centre gives various options including the John Muir Way, parks or housing estates.
We finished and cooled quickly in the North wind and grabbed a Fish and Chips lunch.
Woodhouslee Rewind starts from the 5th-19th April. Most handicaps benefit from a reccee if you are not sure of the route and I recommend this, including the next race for the best line line off Castlelaw!
Thanks to Keith and Ali for joining me yesterday and enjoy the 2023 Handicap Series.
Mark Hartree
March Slow Sunday Pentlands Run
Great weather and a great turnout of eleven Carnethies (Marcel, Nick, Nikki, Ruth, Aileen (sp?), Anne, Carolyn, Neil, Richard, Chris, and myself) for the second slow Sunday run in the Pentlands. We started at Cobbs/Craigdon, crossed the bypass and stayed low along the track to the Dreghorn parking spot. Then we headed away from the bypass onto nicer trails towards the Bonaly carpark and the up in the direction of White Hill. Then cross country towards Capelaw. We contoured around to the east and down to the stile where we met Mark and Barra for a chat and photo. Then up to the summit of Allermuir. My timing/route planning was a bit off so Carolyn and I descended the most direct way towards Swanston and back over to Craigdon in order to get her back in the promised 2 hours. The others carried on across the ridge to Caerketton and down past Hillend. Our large numbers and a crowded cafe meant we were split into two very social groups for post run coffee, cakes and at least one sausage roll. In the end it was about 7 miles and 1200 feet in just over 2 hours.
If you fancy something similar come out on Sunday April 30. Same start point, 9:00 am. Route TBD.
Sean Walker