Carnethy Lairig Ghru Reports 2013

Lairig Ghru Race Reports
Sun 30th June 2013

Results and some photos here and here

Jim Hardie:
A small number of Carnethies made their way to Braemar for this year’s Lairig Ghru race. Spotted around the start were Iain Whiteside, Nigel Sheckleton, Mary Lye, John Ryan, Brian Howie, Alex McVey, Jim McWhinnie and myself. Alex and John ran the Arrochar Alps the day before, yet still looked disgustingly fresh and ready to go. A quick pre-race briefing and we were off up the tarmac road. The gentle climb from Braemar on wide tarmac roads led to wide landrover tracks, then to quad tracks and finally to a rocky trail leading towards the Lairig Ghru proper. At the first checkpoint at Derry Lodge I spotted Kate Crowe, Joanne Anderson and Jane Robertson cheering people on, I think I managed to say hello, but was chomping down on some dairy milk at the time. I was apprehensive about the infamous boulder field, mainly because I didn’t really know what a boulder field was. I was happily skipping over some stones, thinking that this was the boulder field and patting myself on the back thinking that I was near the top of the climb, but I wasn’t, these were just fairly small stones and I was about to be educated on what Cairngorm boulders actually are. I finally caught Alex and John just as the real boulders started – their ability to spot the route over this ground meant that they passed me at every boulder section before I finally gave-in and clumsily followed behind them. Once the ground became easier, I capitalised on my fresher legs by ploughing ahead just before a surprise cheer from Colin and Joan near the woods (why were so many Carnethies not running?). My lack of knowledge about the route meant that I was never really confident that I was going in the right direction through the forest. All I knew was that the finish was in or around Aviemore, maybe. The ground flattened, and I assumed that I was nearing the end. No, I was about 5miles from the end, but with every step I would pray that the finish line was just around the corner. Was it? No. I prayed that the next town was Aviemore? No. Maybe the finish was at the start of Aviemore? No. That the finish was in the next car park? No. I stumbled down the main street, with no idea where to go, before somebody in a car park pointed at a bit of pavement and said it was the finish. Praise be! Iain Whiteside was already there, probably by nearly an hour, and secured a fantastic 3rd position! John and Alex came in just behind me, Alex looking pretty rough and promptly fell asleep against a kerb. Mary secured her sub-5 target comfortably with a 4:45ish, shortly ahead of Nigel. I was concerned for Brian Howie as he seemed to be limping a bit, but actually that the soles of his shoes were coming off and gaping massively at the front – it was like something from the Beano, but he still finished strongly despite this. Apologies to any Carnethies I’ve missed. A great day for running, and a fine afternoon was spent drinking the free soup and eating cakes, and enjoying the sun whilst waiting for the bus. Well organised, great weather (though a little gusty at times), great marshaling, great event! Many thanks to all!"

Iain Whiteside:
Driving up the Braemar with a uni pal, nursing a cup of tea to keep me awake, and it wasn't long before the standard pre-race excuses started to come out (my friend was unfit from a holiday, had too many chillies in his pasta and too much tequila the night before). But, having spent the previous two days driving in a car full of boxes from one side of Edinburgh to the other as I moved flat, I had accidentally 'tapered' for this race and had no real excuse other than 'my shoulders are a bit sore from carrying boxes'. Damn. So I brought out my classic 'the old achilles is feeling a bit stiff' so I didn't feel left out. About 30 seconds before the start of the race I accidentally gave myself another excuse by realising that I'd forgotten to put my bar of tablet in my bumbag for the later stages. Damn. Off we go. Now, I'd checked the weather forecast the night before and was pleased to note that the south-westerlies would be pushing me all the way through the Lairig Ghru. What I hadn't realised was that they would form a headwind for the first 12 miles or so, which partially explained the 8 man strong peloton that formed for this first part of the race, a few hundred metres behind Dan Gay who led for the whole race. By the halfway point, it had thinned down to Don Naylor and myself and we sped on to the Pools of Dee, gulping greedily from the ice cold streams running down from the plateau. A bit of precarious boulder hopping later and it was downhill all the way to the finish. And what a slog through Rothiemurcus! My well rested legs started to tire and I cramped up crossing one of the gates in the forest - cursing my lack of tablet. I managed to keep going by dreaming about the soup at the finish line to cross the line in just under 3:27 - a nice 40 minutes quicker than my previous attempt! All in all, a fantastic day out and definitely one of my favourite races. Two days later, though, and my feet and ankles are still agony from the rocky paths.

Brian Howie:
The Lairig Ghru is tough not only on the body and the mind, but also the footwear as I found. I chose to run in a pair of old Walshes, which were worn enough to handle the road sections, without feeling too bouncy. I'd replaced the laces with quite long ones from another set of trainers, and this saved the race for me as you'll see. A record field of 181 took off from Braemar into a blustery headwind. I was feeling sluggish and was a bit slower this year to Derry Lodge where Kate and Joanne were cheering us on and taking photos. I shunned the bridge and forded the burn, which was quite low this year. After crossing the Luib burn further on, I started to feel a lot stronger as the wind had died a bit for the climb up to the Lairig Ghru itself. The ground gets progressively worse at this point, and it needs a lot of care as tripping here usually results in serious cuts and bruises as I well know. Inevitably I tripped on a boulder and although I didn't fall, the sole of my right shoe was caught and almost ripped off. Lesser men would have packed it in but I'm made of sterner stuff and tied my fortunately long lace ends under my shoe to prevent it flapping. I continued with a slightly odd style up to the Pools of Dee and the boulder field. The wind had changed to a not very helpful tailwind with respect to keeping balance. A girl who followed me over the boulders complimented me on my route choice, before scuttling off into the distance.

The Lairig Ghru is tough not only on the body and the mind, but also the footwear as I found. I chose to run in a pair of old Walshes, which were worn enough to handle the road sections, without feeling too bouncy. I'd replaced the laces with quite long ones from another set of trainers, and this saved the race for me as you'll see. A record field of 181 took off from Braemar into a blustery headwind. I was feeling sluggish and was a bit slower this year to Derry Lodge where Kate and Joanne were cheering us on and taking photos. I shunned the bridge and forded the burn, which was quite low this year. After crossing the Luib burn further on, I started to feel a lot stronger as the wind had died a bit for the climb up to the Lairig Ghru itself. The ground gets progressively worse at this point, and it needs a lot of care as tripping here usually results in serious cuts and bruises as I well know. Inevitably I tripped on a boulder and although I didn't fall, the sole of my right shoe was caught and almost ripped off. Lesser men would have packed it in but I'm made of sterner stuff and tied my fortunately long lace ends under my shoe to prevent it flapping. I continued with a slightly odd style up to the Pools of Dee and the boulder field. The wind had changed to a not very helpful tailwind with respect to keeping balance. A girl who followed me over the boulders complimented me on my route choice, before scuttling off into the distance. My repair held out apart from stopping to re-do the knots a couple of times. I was quite wary on the descent as I didn't want to trip on the tree-roots. Once on the flat , I tried to put a bit of effort in but was starting to tire. I felt pretty grim on the final road section , as my flapping toe kept dragging the ground. I finished a good bit faster than last year, which was a surprise. 2nd MV60 out of three ! Maybe I'll run barefoot next year. Thanks to Deeside Road Runners for another well organised event.
Mary Lye:
Conditions were better than forecast for the race from Braemar to Aviemore. The blustery wind was mostly at our backs, and the clouds cleared as I began the descent towards Rothiemurcus forest. Dan Gay (HBT) was first with 3.15 in a record field of 181 runners. Gillian Sangster was first woman, and Ian Whiteside was first Carnethy and third overall with 3.26. James Hardie also managed a sub-four hour time, and Alex McVey and John Ryan had very good runs after their efforts at Arrochar the day before. Several other Carnethies oscillated with me throughout the race, and I was particularly spurred on by the cheery faces of numerous Carnethy supporters! Thank you all so much :-)