| Archive for strathearnharriers.myfastforum.org A forum for members of Strathearn Harriers, a running club in Perthshire, Scotland |
| McStecko |
Stuc a' Chroin 5000The annual masochistic trudge that is the Stuc a'Chroin hill race took place on Saturday, this time as part of the British Fell/Hill Running Champs. This meant that all sorts of top quality men and women had made the journey up from England and Wales as well as one or two from NI too.After several days of heavy rain the course was wet to say the least with long sections of ankle-deep mud to plough through even before the heartbreaking scramble up the heather-clad steepness of Beinn Each. OK, enough of the excuses already... There were 3 Harriers taking part though only 1 (me) in club colours as far as I could tell. Bob Hughes's Harriers vest seems to have gone through a bad wash with some nasty, purple item of clothing (OK I know he is first claim Ochils but I like to tease him about it anyway). Despite batting for the other team he managed a decent run finishing in a fraction over the 3 1/2 hour mark. Bob's partner Lisa also ran (for Ochils) and finished in a creditable 4.07. Peter Hague, who I didn't know was running till I saw the results, finished in 3.24.41 and I came home in 2.53.35 - some way off my best but then that was true for a lot of the finishers due to the conditions. It's a really excellent race with some of the best marshaling of any hill race - water stations every 5 mins or so along the length of the 14 mile route and many proferring jelly babies too. Soup at the end and this year a free commemorative mug (yippee, another race mug to find house room for). Also, there are few races where you get to watch dozens of runners taking part in communal cramping at the end of the race (not me this year for a change). Results are here http://www.shr.uk.com/RaceResults...?RaceID=RA-0033&RaceYear=2009 and there's a photo of me mincing down a steep section here http://www.flickr.com/photos/scot...6599648/in/set-72157617522274003/ |
| Hill Fairy |
Well done Phil. A really good run in heavy conditions.
As for the photo that doesnt even come close to mincing compared to my downhill style!! Stuc a chroin really is a classic and very tough so its a shame to see so few harriers in the race. Maybe next year we will have a few more. |
| Tanconsult |
Yes, very well done, Phil. I'd have a job walking round that course, let alone running it so how anyone does it in under 2 hours (the male course record, I believe) beats me. Makes for good photos though!
 Colin
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