Dave Gaffney's report from his race at Devil's Beef Tub this weekend:
21 runners took on the Devil's Beef Tub race on Saturday, the start of which is a good 10-minute walk from the registration point at Corehead Farm, itself a good 15-minute drive down a pretty rough farm road from Moffat.
The flags marking the start line were just visible as we lined up for the off, but the one positioned at the top of the first hill, just a few hundred metres away, sadly wasn't. In fact, nothing much at all was visible up there, as we were to find out over the next half hour or so.
The route goes straight up from the start, at a steepness that encourages the use of hands as well as feet to haul yourself up. Once you're up that first wall and round the monument at its summit, there's not all that much more to do in terms of ascent, although the very rough, tussocky and often pathless ground ensures it's no easy jaunt around the top of the Beef Tub, as I demonstrated effectively with one particularly graceless fall along the way.
Two Carnethy runners were quickly out of sight (literally and metaphorically) but I tucked in behind the Shettleston runner in 3rd place, who seemed to know where he was going, which was a lucky bounce for me as I hadn't a clue and engaging my brain to do much more than just breathe was proving difficult.
Me and my newfound pacer seemed to have opened a decent gap on the nearest runners behind us, and by the time we reached the secondary top of Annanhead Hill, where the route descends back to the start, we had even caught sight of the second placed runner.
It was no more than a fleeting moment of hope, though. Glancing down at the ground ahead to avoid some rocks, by the time I looked up again I was alone and not entirely sure which direction offered the fastest or safest way down. If indeed there is a fast or safe way down. I certainly didn't find it if there is.
There was steep ground, long bracken, slippy wet rocks, and swear words galore during the next five minutes or so as I tried to negotiate my way downwards, my spirits lifting briefly when I emerged from the cloud to see two runners just yards in front of me on the race to the finish line. Then came the crushing realisation that they were not the same two runners I'd seen most recently, but a couple of Annan runners who had presumably used their local knowledge and/or descending skills to good effect on the very tricky descent.
So sixth place felt disappointing, but that was soon replaced by a sense of relief at getting down in one piece and optimism about the prospect of catching the bakers in Moffat before it closed. A very tough but fun wee race organised by a friendly bunch of Carnethies and great value at £3. Fingers crossed for a clear day next year!
Results here: http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceResults.aspx?RaceID=RA-0097&Year=2018
And some glamorous photos here
And some glamorous photos here
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