Alternative Carnethy 5 - 2013 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Results |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thanks
to all those who turned out for the Alternative
Carnethy 5 results
presentation last night. Essentially all chocolate,
biscuits and beer was
transferred from my car to Graham Nash's car! Computer
problems have meant
that results from Harry Gilmore, Vicki Gilmore and
Andrew Shepherd have not
been included in the final results. However for completeness,
fairness,
balance and other such statements of equilibrium, the
missing results follow
on here. Bob Johnson
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
   |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The handsome trophy
went to the very speedy Graham Nash, whose
beer collection was substantially boosted by
wins in almost all the races. The little Nashers
were rewarded for an excellent performance
in the series too, scooping all the Maltesers
- which I have to admit I had my eye on. A lot of people said what good training it was to run 5 short fast races back to back so we look forward to next year and hopefully a bigger entry. Digby Club trophies |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Races |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Caerketton Downhill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Caerketton Doonhillers finally get a grip… In 2002, sixteen people stood atop the eastern summit cairn of Caerketton Hill above Edinburgh, and set off at fifteen second intervals down a (mainly) downhill route to finish near the Biggar Road, 1.1 miles and 1000ft below them. The race was initially set up as a low key, fun Carnethy club event. Eleven years on and this year’s Caerketton Doonhiller was the third race in the new ‘Get a Grip’ Scottish Downhill Running Series, following on from the Bishop Downhill in Fife and The Nebit Downfall in the Ochil Hills. The race is still organised in a low key fashion, with the focus on fun, though there’s still room for some fierce competition throughout the field! Thanks largely to the new series, the race saw a record field of sixty seven seniors and ten juniors. Conditions were good with earlier rain giving studs a bit of bite, though the ground had largely dried out. The smart money beforehand was being placed on Iain Gilmore (Carnethy) who had scorched down The Nebit the week before to take the win by eleven seconds. But once Ian Nimmo had completed the number-crunching, it became apparent that Iain had been pipped at the post by one second by none other than his brother Andrew Gilmore (Carnethy), who won in 5.06, only two seconds outside Al Anthony’s course record. They had a fair gap over joint third placers John Denovan (Westerlands) and junior Tom Harris (Fife). Charlotte Morgan (Carnethy) retained her Doonhiller title and equalled her 5.45 record, finishing ahead of Sarah Wiseman (Ochil) and Doonhiller regular Eilidh Wardlaw (HBT). The majority of the veteran records fell on the night with the new records for V40 Fiona Kelsall (Ochil), V50s Steven Fallon (Carnethy) and Hilary Ritchie (Fife), V60 Bob Waterhouse (Carnethy) and V70 Keith Burns (Carnethy). Robin Orr (Bellahouton RR) was also inside the old V50 record, though Steven was five seconds quicker. The junior race saw ten keen youngsters dashing down the hill from the halfway gate to the finish. Charlie Burnett pipped Fergus Campbell by one second, with Taylor Denovan first girl in 4th overall. Many thanks to all those who helped out on the night, and especially to Ian Nimmo who has put many hours in to developing a spreadsheet which enables us produce the results as fast as we can. Over forty senior and junior prizes were handed out to varying degrees of delight, amusement and bemusement, and the prize giving was wrapped up by 8 o’clock. Mark Johnston      We gave Keith an earful for insisting that the race started from the nearest cairn on Caerketton, but looking at the beautifully drawn map on the race organiser's car it was true! However herd instinct drew everyone to the traditional start at the actual top and with a favourable tail wind we variously shot, leaped and stumbled from the cairn for the headlong plummet. There was a good turnout too for the kids race, and many of the senior runners were envious of the boxes of maltesers being won. The prizes for the main race as eclectic as ever, and the luck of the draw saw quantities of drink heading off in the sweaty palms of youths, to collective groans of dismay. A great event! Oh I nearly forgot to mention Gordon's new shorts. Actually I think I'll try and forget Gordon's new shorts. Digby Results |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnhouse uphill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Some pics from the Turnhouse uphill race, as promised. This was quite an exclusive event, with a few drops of rain and a little wind, but the midge count was thankfully much reduced (I counted at least four from Wednesday's opener) and good fun was had by all. Gordon started late, which explains why he finished behind me. David Harrington |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Braids Trail race | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Instead
of after work Friday night drinks half a dozen
or so of us parked up at the Observatory Car
Park for race 3 of the Alternative Carnethy
5 Series marshalled by Helen and Bill. At 6.31
we were off, Mark taking a sprint to the lead
heading straight for the massive mast rather
than the Trig point on the summit. We were
together at the summit of Blackford Hill and
then apart from then on, twisting and turning
along the trails. The route takes in a loop
of the Hermitage of Braid and up to Liberton
Tower down to Libeton Brae. Then the very long
run back to the Hermitage before a loop round
Blackford Pond and back up the hill to the
Observatory. Its probably the toughest of the
5 race series, with some tricky little climbs
and lots of dog walkers to avoid. First
back was Graham, closely followed by Gordon
and Bob, then Mark, Jeff and David followed
by Kirsty. All welcomed back and time checked
by Helen and Bill. It was then off home for
some end of week beers and a good nights kip
before Caerketton/Allermuir race the following
morning. Graham Nash |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Caerketton & Allermuir | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Caerketton-Allermuir
Up & Dooner was a nice, gentle affair for
a fine Saturday morning. Well, it was
for me anyway, as I had developed a nasty case
of manflu over the previous couple of days,
so I was only there to set them off and to
bask in the sunshine and to take-in the air. There
was just a small field of 7 runners on the
start line, including a sheepish-looking Harry
who had only recently arrived home from a heavy
night on the town. Bill Gauld joined me to
spectate, he was also not running due to a
recent illness. It was a shame to miss
it I have to say, it was an excellent day for
a run, with clear blue skies, gentle wind and
warm sun. Perfect! Bill took some
photos to mark the occasion, and they were
off. A lot of the route can be seen from
the start line, and so Bill and I watched with
his binoculars the group making their way to
the first summit of Caerketton and then along
the ridge. Graham and Harry were close
together on the steep ascent of Caerketton,
but Graham started to inch ahead. Bill
and I were too busy watching the back end of
the field as they spread-out on the hillside
to see who got to Allermuir first.
First back was Vicki Gilmore, using a devious tactic of starting 25mins before everyone else. Graham Nash soon followed, with Harry staggering-in not far behind, then Andrew Shepherd, new guy Jeff Roberts, Mark Hartree, Neil Campbell and then Kirsty Loudon. Jim Hardie A very pleasant straightforward short run. Through wind teared eyes I was surprised to see Stewart Whitlie 'marshalling' Caerketton summit; I made my excuse for not stopping and raced around the cairn to head off to Allermuir. A quick whiz around the subtly misaligned orientation plate and headed off down the direct return to Swanston where I sat for a long time in the car soaking in the sunshine and watching people whacking golf balls off into the distance. Digby |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portobello Beach race | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
   As promised all week, Sunday was wet and windy, yet six runners still turned up at Portobello beach for the final leg of the alternative C5. The damp sand provided a firm footing for the outward leg and despite a headwind on the return along the prom, some good times were recorded. David Harrington I'm now told that my route finding photos have been rendered useless by the council renewing the fence and taking down the rusty tripod! - Digby |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
