My race preparation… 3 month’s strict dieting and a humungous sandwich 2 hours before the start. Morrison’s Signature Roast Chicken, Lincolnshire Sausage, Smoky Bacon and Stuffing. Sounds good doesn’t it? Well, not to vegetarians obviously. There’s a whole lot more self congratulation on the packet but the reality was a cold, chewy and rather unattractive object, the main benefit being that it contained 582 calories of fuel to get up the 670m of climb and 9 miles of trail. Re-reading the 2013 report, when it must have been an SHR champs race (and scene of a famous photo bomb), I see that the start took us by surprise. 2015 was no different, though this time Matt was not tying his shoelaces since it was Mary’s turn to run (and looking a bit apprehensive). After 2 miles running to Tillicoultry the race turns in to the hills and climbs steeply at first then at a runnable angle that suits me. Re-overtaking Davy Duncan (rival), and ultimately Joan and Colin Wilson (satisfying), the cold clag came down and the race markers, enthusiastically applied to the early parts of the course, petered out. Hoping for the best with no-one in sight I carried on, in the right direction fortunately. The views when they arrived are just spectacular as the hills rise so suddenly out of the river plain. Diet and sandwich didn’t have that much effect on the downhills and Davy shot past and disappeared to take the V60 victory (or at least got the prize – a timekeeping error left out Rob Coles who actually won). Joan and Colin overtook too and stayed uncatchable. Very tasty soup in the pub afterwards. Couldn’t sample all 3 unfortunately as there wasn’t enough to go round. Please make more next time! A cake came out with candles and happy birthday was sung to Brian Brennan, a new recruit to the fiercely competitive world of V60 running. Pot chasing gets that bit more difficult! Results
Digby