Ben Lomond Hill Race

This years race started at the hotel. Just under 130 folks met up on Saturday morning .... the usual mix of beardies, racing snakes, tubbies with some wimen thrown in to dilute the ugly. The first road section was mad - more like a 10k road race than anything. Clever German thought ..... "dinnae get caught up in the event, plenty time for the fast stuff". What I failed to take into account was how hard it would be to pass anyone in the forest section. Once on the open hill, it was easier to make up ground but the effort required was sore. Over the first steep ascent (they put us on a more direct line to the left of the tourist path) and the field was really spread out along the plateau section. Again, they put us on a more direct line towards the summit ridge. I was just starting up that last climb when the lead runner came past at a tremendous pace !

Reached the cairn at 1hr 2mins. Was trying to get there under the hour but just couldn't get the time back after the forest. The descent started well with hopes of under the 30mins. The summit ridge and first descent were fantastic fun. However by the time the plateau was under the heels, the legs were screaming ! Bad enough the quads being sore the day after ..... but during ???? At the end of the plateau, it was fast becoming as funny as the long score with cramp. The section towards the forest was torture ... not only the feeling in the legs and being unsure of the footing but also watching the sub-90mins target fade. By the time I was back in the forest it was more about keeping running than getting a time. Nearly spewed heading back along the road to finish in 1:37:45

The upside as I walked back to the car was seeing Lynne, she smiled said "well done" and handed me a whisky ! I spent the next 20 mins lying on a rock eating a snickers bar with ma whisky - intermittently dipping the feet in the loch. Other folks were having wee cool down runs and eating fruit. Lynne commented "is that not what you should be doin ?"

Next year target - Sub 90 mins !

Cheers
The German