Diana Challands and Alan Elder took part of the Jura Fell Race https://www.isleofjurafellrace.co.uk/ this year. 7 summits, 2,370m of climbing, 28km of proper knarly hills!
"The Isle of Jura Fell Race is a classic on many a fell runner's wish list; a true test of hillcraft, endurance and fell running technique. It is one of the toughest challenges in British hill racing at this distance, and one of the best weekends on the calendar."
Diana had a fantastic race and won the F40 category, and 6th woman behind Jasmin Paris! Here's her report:
Jura is not only a race but a full-on weekend expedition. Mine started with a cycle as far as Straiton with loaded panier bags to meet my friend Alex who drove us up to the Kennacraig to Islay ferry - which we caught by the skin of our teeth together with a mass of other participants on their bikes. Good scope for a game of identifying the runners from the whisky tourers on board.
From Islay we got the wee ferry to Jura and then cycled over to Craighouse - a not nearly as flat as hoped - 13km.
Met Alan for a slap up pre-race dinner in the pub and a beer or two and then took to our tents. Fortunately thanks to earplugs I did not suffer the same fate as Alan who was surrounded by snorers and squeaking thermorests!
Race day started with beautifully clear paps and enough wind to scatter any midges. Unbeknownst to me poor Alan realised minutes before the start he'd left his dibber in his tent so ended up starting after everyone else (I might have just gone and spent the day lying on the beach at that point, hats off to him for carrying on).
For my first ever Jura I was very lucky - perfect weather, good vis, not too hot, not too cold.
The route itself was as predicted - steep, immensely rocky and then boggy in turn - though thanks to the visibility it was possible to find trods and hope that those in front had made good route choices. And maybe because I'd been told so many times how hard it would be it didn't feel too too bad. And un-runable hills, having to scramble up with hands as well as feet is actually right up my street.
Thankfully I mostly managed to stave off cramp - by endless eating and drinking (mini cheeses are my secret weapon)
The infamous last 5km on the road was pretty painful but the thought of a dip in the beautiful clear blue sea at the end kept me going.
I had an unexpected sprint finish when another woman who looked roughly my age overtook me in the last 50m! I thought that was that but I suddenly got the bit between my teeth and beat her by a second (I'm not the slightest bit competitive clearly).
[WHAT DIANA DOESN'T SAY IS THAT WAS ACTUALLY HER WINNING THE F40 CATEGORY - BY 1 SECOND!
Results here: https://www.sportident.co.uk/results/JuraFellRace/2022/Jura/ ]
Got my dip, and a very pleasant evening in the sun. Sadly didn't make the ceillidh which wasn't starting til 11 - clearly with the youth in mind, not the V40s 50s, 60s and even 70s (with a star appearance from Wendy Dodds)
We had a slow cycle back to the ferry the next morning (gels and cheese replaced with my bounty - an antler sprayed gold by the kids of Jura and a bottle of single malt!)
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| view from the camping field at 4am |
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| Diana's bike on the way to the get her lift up to Kennacraig! |
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