Jasmin Paris - Queen
of Slioch!    |
| Congratulations to Jasmin
for taking first place lady in a very wet & windy
Slioch horseshoe race, and congratulations
to Steph for finally beating the cutoff and
completing the race! 28 Carnethies made the long journey; those arriving the day before greeted by howling winds, driving rain, and the occasional hail storm. The hills looked particularly impressive and daunting, wreathed in cloud and covered in fresh snow. Fortunately most of this had melted by race day and the weather almost looked ok until the brutal climb began. Then the rain started. My feet were completely numb with cold making running difficult on top and on the equally brutal descent, and the crossing of the roaring burn at the tourist path was as bad as Jane Jackson feared. The force of the torrent was intimidating. The race was wet, cold, steep & unremittingly uneven underfoot, though this didn't seem to hamper the real hill runners. The bottle of beer at the finish was VERY welcome, as were the hot showers and lashings of tea, sandwiches & cakes! Digby Results & more photos (taken by Tom, son of Fife AC's Mark Harris) A race entry of 155 with 150 finishers with very challenging wet and blustery conditions. There was a weather window of sorts as the race started – however cloud cover and heavy rain returned during the race. Fortunately the wind did not seem to reach the 70mph forecast! A revised route this year to avoid an exposed section of ridge after the Slioch summit, however the race distance still turned out to be similar and still over 12 miles. The overall winner was Kenny Richmond from Bellahouston RR in 2 hrs 05 mins, with Will Manners (Strathearn) a minute behind and Mark Harris (Fife AC) a further minute back. First lady was Jasmin Paris from Carnethy in 2 hrs 32 min with Andrea Priestley (Ochil HR) also a minute behind and Eilidh Raistrick (HHR) in 3rd, a further 5 minutes back. The first mens team were Shettleston and First womens team were Ochil. Many thanks to all the marshalls that made it possible for the race to go ahead in the conditions and provided excellent support to the runners on the hill with encouragement, directions, punching numbers, wading in to burns to help runners across and giving a general reassurance. Also many thanks to Maddy Killit and her catering team for excellent food and organisation and for use of the village hall which was most appreciated. Also once again a big thanks to Norman and Barbara from the Letterewe Estate for continued support and permission each year. I would also like to thank Ian from ‘Run 4 it’ for all his help and equipment provided plus vouchers and spot prizes that were generously donated. Finally despite losing my count before the start when confronted by Simon Peachey’s race attire! – Many Congratulations to him on his big day from us all at Highland Hill Runners. Ross Bannerman |