Highland Boundary Series

Gordon · Highland Boundary Series

James Bussey and I travelled three times to Dunkeld (or, as The Scottish Play would probably put it, Thrice to Birnam) this past weekend for the second year of the Highland Boundary Series of races that Adrian Davis has organised, and very enjoyable it was too!

The first race was The River Tay Dash on the Friday night, 8pm start, headtorches required, on trails from the Hermitage car park up the Braan then down it again and along the Tay and back to Birnam, 5 miles in all.

James was good enough to alert me to the fact that we were running past some unique trees in the Hermitage but somehow that lost some of its impact with only headtorch visibility.

The short stretch of recently ploughed field beside a sewage plant was a bit unexpected but I otherwise enjoyed racing in the dark!

Andy Symonds won that race in 25.05, I managed 12th place in 33.16 and James was close behind in 14th place in 34.28, out of 35 runners.

The following day a larger and different set of 61 runners gathered to run 4 miles up and over Birnam Hill. Prasad Prasad retained his title and improved on his record time to win the race in 29.36, just ahead of Andy Symonds with the rising 17 yo star Robbie Simpson in 3rd place. I finished 25th in 43.17 and followed by James in 45.20 and 32nd place. A steep climb and a steep descent make this a really exciting route, with some killer "undulations" on the last mile back along to the finish.

The third in the series was 45 runners doing a more substantial 17k figure of eight run on Sunday from Dunkeld out to Deuchary Hill and back. Andy Symonds won this one too in 1.30.50, , I was pleased to finish 24th in 2.02.42 , James was again close behind in 27th place in 2.05.40 and Aileen did a fine job of marshalling.

This was a great route through beautiful surroundings, albeit with snow lying above 400 metres and an icy wind on the main hilltop. Suitably dramatic pics below of James and me on the summit.

Full results and more pics are on the SHR site at http://www.shr.uk.com/Home.aspx

A good spread of soup, sandwiches and other goodies in the Birnam Guest House after each race helped make it a very enjoyable weekend.

Click to see full size image

Hill Fairy

Well done Guys.
A good and in parts very funny account Gordon. Sewage plants are always an unwelcome addition to any race.

digby

Aye, well done the pair of you. Last Thursday I was wishing I could go, Sunday I wisnae sure. What I cannae work out, not having wisden in the blood, is how well you stand jokerwise. There were more than the essential 74 in the series so you both must be well placed, or a meringue.

Hill Fairy

Dont think the championship has started yet. Or has it and I missed it ?

Gordon

I understood that the championship ran from the date of the AGM until the end of October.

McStecko

Firstly, well done to James and Gordon for a sterling set of performances over the weekend. Sounds like 3 interesting races (especially the night-time one!)

The championship runs from the AGM through to the end of October so last weekend's performances would count as jokers provided they had 75 or more finishers.

However, Digby, I'm afraid I'm going to make you into an crispy egg-based dessert after all, as I am not going to allow cumulative times over a race series to count. Individual components, as long as you can clearly identify them as separable races in their own right (so the run section of a triathlon would not), are fine.

It's a complex system as it is so I'd prefer not to have to think about series as well.

Guess it's time to dust off the championship spreadsheet and get the first jokers put in...

Hill Fairy

Phil, here's the link to the Inverness halfs results for the 3 of us.
http://www.chiptiming.co.uk/pdf/0308_InvernessHM.pdf