Angus Munro
14th July 2007
24km, 1680m
British and SHR Championship Race
| Glen Clova
is the gateway to a vast area of wilderness and mountains, with Glenshee
to the west and Lochnagar and Mount Keen to the
north. The race covers rough terrain with few or no mountain paths, rough
heather moorland plateau and peat hagg with two large climbs to
sap your
energy. It is not for the faint-hearted and a real challenge in the mist.
This year the weather conditions were good although the cloud
came down temporarily when the runners reached the plateau. We hope
these photos give
a flavour
of the race and the scenery. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to photograph
the amazing amount of wildlife - the fast-moving hares, herds of deer,
nesting plovers and
frogs. Thanks
to Alan Young for
the photos on Driesh. IAN and AN |
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) The start of the climb into Corrie of Farchal, looking towards Glendoll Forest. (Friday 13th - putting checkpoints out.) |
) Cairn Inks, the last checkpoint, looking over to Loch Brandy and Green Hill (the first checkpoint) |
) Colin Donnelly leading Ray Ward (HBT) and Kenny Richmond (Bellahouston) up to Green Hill |
) Eventual winner, Tom Owens (Mercia) climbs above Glen Clova (Background) |
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) Adrian smiles for the camera on the first climb, but looked pretty tired at the end! |
) It would be worth sticking close to Adrian Davis if the visibility deteriorated (he set the course) |
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) A queue forms at Green Hill - the first checkpoint |
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) Ray Ward (HBT) and Matt Bell (Edinburgh AC) above the cliffs round Loch Brandy |
) Mark Johnston (Carnethy) and Jason Williamson (Cosmics) approach the summit of Green Hill |
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) Jill Mykura started off slowly. She knew what was ahead! |
) The cloud started to come down as Gareth Bryan-Jones got to the top of Green Hill |
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) The cloud starts to come down as the second half of the field approach the summit of Green Hill |
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) Three head off onto the 'Lost World' plateau |
) The cloud was right down over the summits by the time the last runners reached checkpoint 1 |
) These three didn't chose the best line through the haggs! |
) Race winner Tom Owens punches at Lair of Aldararie (3rd control) in second place |
) The obvious summit of Lair of Aldararie (!) with Lochnagar in background. |
) Mountain rescue stay high. There's no mobile phone recepetion in the bottom of the glens |
) The first to the top of Driesh - Tom Owens (Mercia) glances over to Lochnagar |
) Rob Jebb was not far behind |
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) Bill Fairmaner (Cheshire) - the climb up to Driesh on the left |
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) David Riach (Westies) and the puddle |
) Ian Davidson (Girvan) completed half the race on half a shoe |
) Cornelia Bufe and Jenny Williamson - awful descents for sore knees! |
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