June 3rd - Yetholm Hill Race

Having coaxed and cajoled my fragile body through the last few months, through sprained ankles, a broken rib, numerous respiratory bugs and heaven knows what else. I was in no shape to defend the title I’d regained last year. A miserable trudge around the Boat Race route on Mull with a heavy cold had reinforced the message, and I toed the line in a state of happy pessimism. I’d managed to turn up an hour and a half before the start with four kids in tow, thinking it was scheduled for noon, and by start-time I was hungry and worn out from entertaining them.

The field seemed to be a bit down on previous years, but the presence of Adam Ward, Steve Fallon, Bruce Smith and a couple of handy Moorfoot runners suggested that I wouldn’t have an easy ride. I ran with Adam up the first climb, with Wull Hynd from Moorfoot a pace or two behind. There was a muggy heat that made Adam remark after less than two minute that his mouth was dry. Down the first sharp descent Adam pulled a slight gap and Wull dropped back, and on the steep climb out of the gully, Steve Fallon bounded past looking strong. Wull soon nicked past and I slowly lost ground over the next ten minutes. Next to pass, with a real bounce in his stride, was Bruce Smith, and by the time we reached the Curr, the highest point on the route at around the halfway point I had lost touch with them all, and was being chased down by Michael McGovern from Moorfoot.

The descent from The Curr is always a swine, steep and rough with long reedy grass tripping you at every step. By the bottom of the descent Michael was on my heels, and I noticed that up ahead, Wull Hynd had lost ground on the Carnethy trio. Adam was powering away in the distance and looked uncatchable. Bruce had skipped into second and Steve had overhauled Wull. I had a bit of a battle on the steep climb to Latchley Hill with Michael and we crested together, Immediately, though, he seemed to grind to a halt and within a couple of minutes I had a 100m gap. I didn’t seem to be making any headway on any of those in front, and was starting to resign myself to a semi-respectable 5^th place. I was a bit concerned to see Sandy Bennet moving into 6^th place, gaining on me steadily as Wildgoose Hill and Sunnyside were conquered and left behind.

Looking across from Sunnyside it seemed that Wull and Steve, running together, were suddenly much closer that they had been 10 minutes before. This gave me fresh impetus, and I knew that, with neither of them having run the race before, there was a fair chance they had underestimated the severity of the roller-coaster return leg. I pushed on to the bottom of Staerough and took a better line on the climb (local knowledge is a wonderful thing!). Steve and Wull were clearly suffering, and I passed Steve on the summit, where organiser Les Turnbull’s wife was sitting on a wall playing her penny whistle. I knew that Wull had struggled on the earlier descents, and the final drop of Staerough is a bit of a bugger, very rutted and pretty steep. I gradually reeled him in and passed him with about 400m remaining for a surprise 3^rd place in 75:55. Adam had won about 5 minutes ahead, a couple of minutes ahead of Bruce Smith.

Some way back, Kate Jenkins and Cat Milller ran off the wrong side of Staerough (though not together) and paid an unscheduled visit to the outskirts of Kirk Yetholm. Kate realised her mistake in time to charge back up and regain first place, determination overcoming the effects of yesterday’s Stranraer Half Marathon. She won in 94 minutes dead.

It was interesting to note that there were 10 vets in the first 12 places, with only Michael McGovern and me splitting them. Moorfoot were the only club to field a full team, although if it had been three to count rather than four, Carnethy would have walked it with 1^st, 2^nd and 5^th.

Despite losing my crown, I was very encouraged to have come through unscathed, and took it as a sign that my miserable first half of the year is coming to a close and that I might be able to salvage something from the second half.

Selected Results:

1 Adam Ward - Carnethy - 70:56

2 Bruce Smith - Carnethy - 73:09

3 Damon Rodwell - Westerlands - 75:55

4 Wull Hynd - Moorfoot - 76:08

5 Steve Fallon - Carnethy - 76:22

6 Sandy Bennet - Carnegie - 78:10

7 Alistair McDonald - Dundee Hawkhill - 79:31

8 Keith Murray - Teviotdale - 80:38

9 John Kay - Fife AC - 81:27

10 - Michael McGovern - Moorfoot - 82:00

16 Kate Jenkins - U/A - 94:00 (first lady)

May 30th to June 2nd

More piddly local runs and a bike ride, all designed to spare my ankles undue punishment ahead of Sunday's Yetholm Hill Race. Ankle and foot problems definitely on the mend, but a lot to do to get back to anything like race-fit.