Club training reports…
Carnethy Ladies Skyline Relay and Whole Route
On Saturday, the Pentland Hills were alive with Carnethy ladies’ chatter and laughter. It was a joy to behold. Apart from a snow flurry at the beginning and a short, sharp snowstorm near the end, it was a beautiful day with a fresh breeze. Much fun was had by all. In addition to the thrill of running in our beautiful hills, we had the Carnethy/HBT Bucket List to keep us amused.
Having run a similar event during lockdown last year (adhering to all covid restrictions of course) we knew the score and three hours after announcing the plan on our WhatsApp group, I had 45 ladies, a photographer and a Covid Officer all signed up. I duly shared this information with President Mark to keep him in the loop and to suggest some of the boys might like to do something similar… a few hours later he replied that so far he had only booked a photographer… for the top of Black Hill (see Bucket List Challenge for significance of this 😊).
Carnethy ladies are very organised and swiftly paired up, reccied legs and organised timings. We formed eight pairs running in each direction and four pairs and one trio running the whole route the race direction and one pair the opposite direction… 32 in the relay and 13 in the whole route group.
We set off from the bottom carpark at Hillend at ten-minute intervals straight into a lovely snow flurry on Caerketton which dusted the summits and provided us with a stunning view of the route ahead. We had a few small mishaps along the way but didn’t lose any runners nor have any injuries nor mountain rescue situations.
With ladies summiting several Bucket List hills and getting up to all sorts of mischief along the way, we racked up more than 500 points in the Carnethy/HBT Challenge. Well done us. We had four Carnethy support ladies too – Avril Roberts and Hattie Logan with delicious muffins and coffee at the Drovers Road, and Joanne Thin and Dawn Waitt, strategically placed on Black Hill Summit with chocolate and coke and to help us with the challenge there by turning all our discarded inside out clothing back the right way so we could don it quickly and get on our way before frost bite set in. A side note here… apparently our President pursued two of our runners up Black Hill with his camera.
As the whole route runners approached the last couple of ascents, a lovely snowstorm blew up and sped us on our way which was exhilarating. Many whoops of delight were uttered as we ran our last few metres and delighted in our great day out.
Next one planned in the Spring.
Well done one and all!
Nicki Innes
Wed training – Mars and Moon Ascending over Allermuir
The slower group enjoyed a fairly pacey moonlit circuit from Swanston. We ran over Allermuir and Capelaw, pausing to admire the cityscape, the moonlit hills and a very clear view of Mars. Then a muddy return route back to the car park. Photo by Pete Cain.
Nicola Dunn
Half a dozen of us joined Nikki D on a clear, breezy night, for a run on a well chosen route, starting with the long, runnable ascent to Allermuir. The moon, not quite full, made a spectacular floodlight, with the earthbound lights of the city doing their best to compete. Avoiding the worst of the Pentland mud, with paces aligning and the wind behind us, there was an “almost hypnotic” stretch on the way back. 5.3 miles in 76 minutes.
Pete Cain
Wed Mid Speed mystery run
Surely it’s only on a Carnethy run can you chat about techniques for searching for dark matter (use a sea of liquid Xenon and look for molecules making the leap into the gas above – a mile underground in an old gold mine) and the sound bats make when you replay a recording 100 times slower (a bit like whales – soundtrack available on request); and also get stuck in a time warp in a magic wood somewhere off Mounthooly.
Mike, hope your back is easing. Thanks to Gordon for picking up the reins as run leader. A gang of eight met at the Morningside clock and took off for the Braids, and thence afterwards to any bit of green space vaguely on the way – or so it seemed. A good route though, on a great night, with plenty of mud for those feeling deprived of such. Occasionally we figured out where Gordon was taking us, sometimes down tracks that probably disappear at dawn. The question became what the course might look like from above. The closest I can get is a magic lantern that’s had a hard life, or was subject to some serious manufacturing defects. 8.7 miles in a shade over an hour and a half.
Pete Cain
Wednesday run report
Following a week of constantly changing regulations, toing and froing of emails and an extraordinary committee meeting on a Sunday night it was amazing that any of us got out running on Wednesday night. But run we did! Under the auspices of Scottish Athletics and the racing club of course. No more nice social runs – we were here to train.
The Lammermuirs have always allowed for social distancing. It is relatively rare to meet someone on a Saturday afternoon let alone a Wednesday evening. Especially when the road to the Hopes had a sign at the end proclaiming road closed. Billy and I did stop and wonder whether we should proceed, only to be passed by Nadine who didn’t hesitate for a second. So on we went to find Brian already there. Is there something about the Irish and signs or is that a Carnethy thing?
It was a lovely still evening as we set off with a flock of partridges running ahead of us (more of which later). Our aim was Lammer Law, the second highest summit in the Lammermuirs. As expected we had the tracks to ourselves, apart from sheep and rabbits. We reached the top in the gloaming and knowing the descent was fraught with trip hazards the head torches went on. This in itself was a strange experience – where has the year gone? Our return route was that of last year’s handicap so there were a few undulations along the way and no-one decided to take Michael’s alternative route along the ridge and through the electric fence.
It was almost properly dark by the time we started to retrace our steps along the outbound track where we were met by the local gamekeeper to be told we were all mental. He then did ask us to take care not to disturb his partridges after they have gone to roost as this is when the fox gets them which means he can no longer shoot them. We politely agreed – you don’t argue with a man with a shotgun.
Alternative routes could well be a bonus of covid19 and something to continue when things return to “normal”!
Dorothy
Wednesday training run – the mid-paced express
We had a full complement on the mid-paced club training run last night and only two remainers from the previous week. Did I put them all off? I’d been out the night before to recce a new route and had a last-minute change to my planned path by, you’ve guessed it, cows. A big Highland one was staring at me as I approached it. Sizing me up. Wondering if I’d have him/her killed early by selling my story to the press. Anyway, it actually made for a nice route up to Allermuir along the fence line and when we ran it last night it was perfect running conditions. We joined briefly with the faster group at the summit and for a while it was like old times, meeting on Allermuir in the lovely pre-autumn gloaming
Next week’s sign-up sheet available now. Number of places increased but we don’t yet know if the latest restriction will affect outdoor training. Let’s hope not.
Wednesday night runs – it’s good to be back!
Nicola had organised a couple of runs last night, and I was asked to lead the mid-paced run of up to 10 people. In the end we had 7, which was remarkable in itself given the monsoon conditions. I’d been running a Green Craig circuit on a Wednesday to/from the location of my son’s football training (Tesco, Colinton), so we decided to head out from there and do the circuit in reverse. This avoided the nasty climb up the old military road, and we don’t want to put off the newbies on their first outing, do we?
We lost one before Swanston Village – sorry Fiona! I may have made the pace quicker than ‘mid’ – and thereafter enjoyed a well-paced 10k, taking in a selfie on the summit of Green Craig. Invariably, it cleared up as we finished. A positive return to Wednesday night running.
Mike Lynch
https://www.strava.com/activities/4002634186