7 Reservoirs half marathon 2012 |
| http://www.pentland7reservoirs.org.uk/ |
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| The inaugural 7 Reservoirs multi-terrain race
over a half-marathon distance took place
yesterday, with 9 Carnethies among the 76
finishers. The challenging route took in Threipmuir, Loganlea, Glencorse, Bonaly, Torduff, Clubbiedean and Harlaw reservoirs before returning to the starting point at shore of Threipmuir reservoir. The conditions were extremely icy which made for tentative running at times, and very few runners escaped a fall. There were plenty of blood injuries on show during the soup and cakes at the end. The section from Glencorse Reservoir to Bonaly was spectacular in the snow, but the ascent from West Kinleith Farm to Cock Rig was an ice sheet of the grimmest proportions. Carnethy made a good fist of things, with 3 runners in the top 10, Graham Nash picking up 3rd overall prize and Jane Jackson scooping the 3rd lady prize. The race was a great success, well marshaled and with a goody bag and fantastic array of cakes at the end, here's hoping it's repeated in 2013. Facebook album here Mike Lynch |
| Sunday saw the inaugural Pentland 7 Reservoirs
Half Marathon kick off in glorious sunshine. The
freezing conditions for most of the week had
left the course pretty treacherous, with the
entire course covered in frost, black ice, frozen
runoff and snow. At the start shoe choice
was the hot topic, with no real consensus on
what would be best for the course. The
route covers a lot of tarmac, trails and the
occasionally boggy section so the choice of footwear
isn’t easy even in good conditions, but
when you drop the temperature and add some snow
things get really difficult. Carnethies
Mike Lynch, Graham Nash, Jane Jackson, Phillipa
Iveson, Kate Fraser, Rosie Allister, Pamela Whitlie
and myself made it along to the start, footwear
ranging from road shoes (me), to Hoka Showaddywaddy-Moonboots
(Mike) and metal-studded inov-8s (Graham). The original start/end was completely encased in ice, so for safety the route was changed slightly to run along the top of the Thriepmuir dam, then join the original route down onto the track through the car park then onto the road up exponential hill to Bavelaw. At barely a mile into the race I had already bloodied the course, skinning my knees and hands when first hitting the tarmac. We had been warned that the path through Green Cleugh was just sheet ice, and they were right – there was pelvis-shattering ice from end to end and that made running some sections impossible. Graham jumped the burn and kept to a sheep trod on the left side – hilly, but at least you could actually run. The road between Loganlee and Glencorse wasn’t too bad, only the occasional bank of frozen runoff to contend with, then onto the climb over a snowy Phantom’s Cleugh. Frost replaced ice for the rest of the journey, and allowed you to run with less fear of permanent damage. A long descent past Bonaly Reservoir, over to Torduff, and onto tarmac past Clubbiedene reservoir. Back onto ice for the climb up to Cock Rig. Only a run round Harlaw to the finish remained. An excellent run from HBT’s David Fulton won the race, he also won the race to the first aid station to patch-up a nasty-looking elbow wound, and Megan Wright won first female. A great run from Graham grabbed 3rd place, Mike and I managed to get inside the top 10, and Jane scooped 3rd female. Cracking runs from Rosie, Pam and Phillipa, and some results confusion means that I don’t know how Kate Fraser got on – she was smiling at the end, so it must’ve gone well. Apologies to anybody that I may have missed. Oddly, I did spot some weird-looking bloke running in a Carnethy cycling top, but I didn’t see any other Carnethy guys on the sign-up list. How strange. A big thanks to the organisers and marshals, also a big thanks to those providing the massive pile of cakes and the soup as these were excellent. A tough run in testing conditions, I think most runners finished with slightly less blood than when they started, but great fun! A fantastic event, and a very memorable day, congratulations to all. Jim Hardie |
| Bob Marshall's album here. Gordon's Facebook album here. Results here (pdf). |
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