Glamaig Hill Race 2005

David Shepherd Memorial Glamaig Hill Race
4.5 miles 2400 ft
16th July 2005
SHR Championship Race

Nearly 100 runners came from near and far to take part in the 18th David Shepherd Memorial Glamaig Hill Race 2005. In addition to some 14 of the Carnethy faithful the 97 runners who took to the hill included 2 runners from Austria, 2 from Cheshire and 15 from the Misty Isle itself.
The highest of the Red Cuillin, Glamaig sits above Loch Sligachan in what appears to be a great, unrunnable cone and its probably the only supposedly “straight up and down” hill race where there’s so much discussion and deliberation about the route choice, or to be more precise, the route back. “It’s just a fantastic race”, says Carnethy’s Colin Wilson. “It’s like a mini Ben Nevis; a quick start along the road, warm up over the bog, then a really hard, steep and rocky climb over scree and boulders, then straight back down over more boulders and scree with navigation and route choice over the moor and bog to the finish”. “A great race”.
Glamaig is not just a great individual race but this year it was also an SHR Championship Race with all the front runners keen to consolidate their positions or notch up a few more points. Not surprisingly 5 out of the top 6 SHR Senior Men stood on the startline, with HELP’s Brian Marshall, the current Championship Leader, keen not only to gain some points but also to defend his Winner’s title from last year and hopefully be the first person in the history of the race to win it three times in a row. With only 4 of the top 10 SHR Senior Women taking part, Jill Mykura hoped to gain some useful points, although she was musing on the seemingly impossible women’s record of 56 minutes set up 15 years ago by Trish Calder.
For a non-competing organiser, the conditions were perfect; the bog was muddy and wet, the scree hard and slippery and the summit itself was capped with a swirl of mist, whilst at sea (and spectator) level the visibility was good with the air warm and humid.
As expected the race was hard fought and at the summit only some three metres separated Brian Marshall’s lead from Stewart Whitlie, one of 7 out of the top 10 SHR Veteran Men who took part. “Brian was just ahead when we reached the scree and we started down the scree pretty much together”, said Stewart after the race. “Then about ¾ of the way down, he suddenly seemed to have opened up the gap, I don’t know how, so that by the time I was off the scree he was pretty far ahead”. Although left behind in second place, Stewart shouldn’t have been surprised as Brian’s descent time of 13 minutes equalled the current men’s record holder Mark Rigby whose overall time of 44 minutes for the 4.5 mile race with 2400 feet of ascent has stood for five years.
Jill Mykura also had an exceptional race finishing in 17th place overall and some 8 minutes ahead of Lochaber‘s Dawn Scott. Jill’s time of 61 minutes is the closest any woman, other than Trish Calder herself, has come to the Women’s record. Of the 97 starters only one did not finish!
By my reckoning, the race pretty well sealed it up for the SHR Championship Men’s team positions, with Carnethy now with a pretty much unassailable lead of 10 points but strong runs by Westies’ women, Val Brunton, Jane Robertson and Katherine Kirk gave them the Team points from Glamaig to leave them only 4 points behind the Carnethy women in the Championship.
With the usual post-race ceilidh including a free hot meal and a drink, courtesy of race sponsors, the Sligachan Hotel, the race grew into a fine weekend. My thanks to Ian, Sandy and Alison at the “Slig” for all their assistance and to all friends, family, clubmates and local helpers who made the race happen.
Nick MacDonald

Andy Spenceley

Jill Mykura - 2nd fastest ladies time ever

Stewart Whitlie setting Over 40 record

Adam Anderson

Willie Mykura