Instead of staying at home and watching all of the Star Wars movies on May the Fourth, I decided to run the Stuc a Chroin Hill Race. As the name suggests the race goes up Stuc a Chroin. This was my first Munro and my second hill race way back in 2013. On that day there was horizontal sleet/hail at the summit. This year it was humid and still in Glen Ample. I’m not sure what it was like at the summit because I didn’t make it that far. The rough descent into the Glen took its toll on my right knee (according to the physio I have a hypermobile knee cap and a weak right leg. Who knew?). I decided it was best to withdraw from the race and walk back to the start instead of pushing on and potentially getting into trouble up on the hill. This meant that I was able to see the front runners (including many Carnethies) fly past me on their way to the finish. In the end Carnethy won both women’s and men’s team prize and at least one other perhaps third MV40 (Andy Lamont said he won a bottle of wine that he was trying to trade for Gin). Full results are here but there are no categories so it is tough to guess the other prize winners. It is also difficult to know who won because I was at the cafe with Bryan enjoying a coffee during the prize giving. Perhaps Andy, Gareth or Will (who declined to write a report during the drive back to Edinburgh) can fill in the details if you see them at the handicap. Photo of the start by Susan Walker shows quite clearly that while the fasties are off and running I appear to still be chatting at the back. Maybe that’s why Andy Douglas was able to run the race in 2:10:16.
Sean Walker