Ben Lomond - an experiment with gravity ...

Ever wondering why its called “Fell Racing” ?

Around 115 folks were counted through the gate at the Rowerdennan Hotel for the start of the 2005 Ben Lomond Hill Race.

The weather at the lochside was blustery which meant the wind on the summit ridge would be sore. Similar to last year, the fast pace along the road continued up into the forest – thankfully due to congestion this slowed some as we reached the rocky slab. Quick check of the watch showed the lower slopes has been cleared in just under 15 mins. A combination of hands on knees quickstep / slow running whenever possible helped to make progress up onto the plateau where the pace could be picked up again. Just before the last steep section onto the summit ridge the race leaders passed on the descent … the snow started. A minute or two was lost whilst the waterproof top was pulled from the bumbag and wrestled on (it still amuses me that if you were walking up the Ben you would have boots, warm clothing, spare warm clothing etc … and yet for a hill race you are in fell shoes / shorts / with only minimum spare anything etc …)

The summit ridge was cold but it was good to be near the trig point and I was looking forward to the descent. Leaving the summit I noted I was a couple of minutes down on last year with the watch showing 1hour 3 minutes but I was feeling better … a lot better. The muscles went from uphill to downhill mode fairly well and the first steep descent went well. Down on the plateau, there was an opportunity to reclaim those missing minutes and hopefully start working towards the 1 hour 35 minute target finish time. The next bit was confusing …the loud whuuumppppffff, the grating pain in my knees and arms all pointed to the fact I was no longer upright and was continuing to descend face first. After coming to a halt I rolled up onto my arse and had a look at the damage – no number, skin had been replaced with grit and blood but nothing was broken. A few guys asked was I alright to which I strangely replied “aye – fine, cheers”. I didn’t fancy a DNF on the result sheet and walking off the hill seemed a little embarrassing so I pinned the number back on in three places (one pin had gone missing) and started a slow run. It took another 10-15 minutes before any confidence returned and I started to feel better again. I entered the forest at about the time I had hoped to finish but crossed the line in just over 1 hour 41 minutes. Having Moira at the finish cheered me up. I declined her offer of baby wipes to clean the now dried blood but did take up her offer of heavy duty painkillers to ease the pain which had now replaced the adrenalin … which had undoubtedly helped me off the hill. Driving home I was inspecting (licking ???) my wounds and caught Moira giving me one of those “what age are you” type looks – I tried to explain that despite the fall I had enjoyed the race and made a joke about “falling” being part of “fell racing” but she didn’t seem that amused.



On a different note …

It isn’t that often that you experience product support worthy of mention but as Big Lee will testify, the Inov8 Mudroc fell shoes wrecked by feet big style at the KIMM last year. My left heal was bleeding by day one and the right took it even worse on day two. I was on the verge of throwing them in the bin when still sore at spending the money and not getting the use, I called Inov8 to see what they could suggest. A guy called Wayne seemed confident it could be sorted – he was right. First thing he did was to send up free of charge some reduced volume footbeds to lower my heel in the shoe. This helped but there was still a friction point that I felt would still lead to blisters. Wayne’s next instruction was to steam the heelcup - then whilst still warm, to get the shoes on, lace up and go for a short run. The plastic heelcup would then mould to my foot (as opposed to the other 90% of people that the cup is designed to fit). This felt much better but I was still to be convinced. I did as instructed and following the Ben Lomond race my feet and heels in particular were still in perfect condition. In short Inov8 shoes are highly recommended – a great company with great products and a great attitude.