Lots of Carnethies descended on the trails of Glentress last weekend for the winter races. The weekend kicked off with a half marathon on the Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny morning on a tough course around the mountain bike trails. Nicola Duncan was first lady beating her own course pb and James Britton was 5th overall. Other Carnethies racing were Chris Boustred, Ali Macdonald, Scott Henderson, Laura Wright, Mhairi Jarvis and Teresa Thomson.
Next up was the night 10km. Nicola Duncan again dominated the ladies race, with an impressive ladies win in 6th overall. Also racing was Ally Maciver, Scott Robson, Fiona Fulton, Jorgen van Wessel and Lynsey Van der Byth who had travelled up specially for the race. It was a great party atmosphere and inspiring to watch the line of headtorches descend through the forest to the finish.
Early Sunday morning saw the Tweed Valley ultra races set off from Glentress. The 65k set off first at 7:30am as it slowly grew light. Stephen Magee and Gregor Heron were the Carnethy representatives here. The 50km set off at 8am and followed their tracks into the forest. The route started out with some hilly Glentress mountain bike trails, then crossed under the road to follow the Tweed along a cycle path, before heading into Cadrona forest. This part was beautiful, lots of pine covered winding paths. The 50km and 65km routes split at the top of a big climb. The longer race disappeared off into the mist while on the 50 we had an awesome 3 mile descent down a trail. Then there was a lot of tarmac before we got back to Glentress for a final sting in the tail hilly section before the finish. I finished first lady with Kirsty Mcbirnie not far behind in 2nd and 1st F40. A superb result for her debut ultra! Also finishing his first ultra was Ryan Forgie, slipping under 5 hours too. Other Carnethies racing were Mark Hardy, Rosie Allister and Pamela Whitlie.
Rachel Normand