When the inaugural Ochils 8 Hill relay race was announced a few months ago, with teams of three each covering a single leg, we thought it presented an ideal opportunity for Andrew, Iain and me to run together as Carnethy – Team Gilmore.
And so on Sunday 24th July we arrived in Alva in good time along with another 24 teams for the start at 12 noon. Carnethy were further represented by a strong team comprising local Ochils expert Mark Johnston, Dessie Flannagan and Stewart Whitlie.
Each leg was to start and finish at Johnstone Park all with the same steep descent from Wee Torry but with different climbs and distances beforehand. The eight hills in the race title comprised of the Nebit, Midhill and Wee Torry on Leg 1, Wee Torry from Alva Glen on the shorter Leg 2 and the Nebit, Craighorn, Midhill and Wee Torry on Leg 3. http://www.ochils8relay.co.uk/
The weather was pretty foul for late July with prolonged heavy rain showers and low cloud that affected visibility. The race organisers had decided to mark the course fully with the exception, crucially, of the Leg 1 Nebit descent in order to help runners as much as possible with their navigation.
Iain, running Leg 1, took the wrong line off the Nebit hill and although he managed to correct his route to pick up the track to the steep climb to Midhill he spent the rest of his run annoyed by his mistake and thinking he was quite far down the field. It was only when he finished that he realised that he handed over to me in 2nd place. Other runners had made similar and more costly errors and the Leg 1 Strava lines make for some interesting viewing!
The boys had felt that I would do least damage to the team’s chances by running the shorter Leg 2 so I set off with Corstorphine runner Christopher O’Brien a short distance ahead of me. As Leg 2 wound up through Alva glen I was able to make some ground on him when the track got steeper and I eventually caught and overtook him just before the checkpoint at the head of Alva Glen. From there the route took a very steep climb up to and through the crags to the check-point on Wee Torry. From there, the descent to Johnstone Park is very steep. When conditions are good and dry, this descent is quite technical and tricky. The rain made the grass very slippy and the mud even worse! A bit of bum-sliding and slithering got me down to the golf course and then an easier run through the woods to the park and hand over to Andrew.
We had recce’d most of the route the previous Sunday and this paid off as Andrew got all the lines on the longer Leg 3 correct. Iain and I had a nervous wait at the finish checking all the time to see runners emerging off the top of Wee Torry. At a crucial point, the clouds closed in again and we couldn’t tell if a red-vested runner coming down the slope and through the gorse was Andrew or Forres Harriers’ Kyle Greig. “Fortunately”, Stewart W had previously led the Forres runner on Leg 1 tactically off course so Andrew had enough of a lead on Kyle and the other chasers to make it to the finish line in first place!
This was a great race over a pretty tough course in testing conditions. Hopefully, like the Devils Burdens and the Comrie Relays, it will grow and become an established part of the Scottish Hill Running calendar. It’s a great opportunity for people to create teams for themselves with their friends and across clubs.
Superb organisation from Edel Mooney and Gary Fraser and excellent support from Ochil Hill Runners at registration and on the marshalling side of things.
All the proceeds of the race went to MacMillan Cancer Support and the Ochils Mountain Rescue Team.
Full results are on the Ochil Hill Runners website here – http://www.ochilhillrunners.org.uk/static.aspx?id=o8res2016
Harry Gilmore