Second in the trio of downhill trashes with Caerketton to
come on Wednesday 9th of September.
The hill looks like it would be better placed in Colorado
than in Kinross-shire and it is an 1140 meter walk to the start line.
This is the steepest of the three downhillers in the series.
To the top right of the picture, runners start on top of a hillock with a
further three hillettes to be navigated, over 600m distance, before the final 550m
run to the base of the hill - with a drop of 220m. (Picture the top of
Cademuir at the first flat hill fort section – looking down to the road on the
Bonnington side..and maybe a bit more...)
Runners duck down the calm side of the starting hill, sheltering
from the strong winds. Soon we are called up in number-order and are set off in 15
second bursts. My start is fairly quick and I catch a runner on the second
hilllette. I am gaining on the second runner by the third. There are shorter
routes than those I negotiated between the final two – but that is only useful
in hindsight!
It’s a bit of a yomp to the flag that marks the start of the serious
steepness. I run past this and am redirected by another runner. I cut through
the rocky section at the top of the hill (letting one of the Gilmore brothers
pass) and suddenly my legs refuse to obey my commands. My quads stiffen and all
I can do is work down the hill on my heels – grunting as I go. There is a cramp
that seems to block the muscle's movement. I try verbally abusing them – to no
avail. I am only able to run in bursts with breaks to let the cramping subside
and then off again and then a few seconds break and so on. Not sure what was
going on (could have been the tough session the night before) but disappointed
as I was fully charged up to enjoy the ride back down.
Iain Gilmore came first in
4.19.
Full Results
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