Carnethy 5 Sat 14th Feb

Set off at 10 for today's race over 5 tops in the Pentlands. The route covers Scald Law, South Black Hill, East Kip, West Kip and finally Carnethy, about 6 miles & 2500' of ascent. The sort of start to the hill running season, and a first for me...a hill race in the snow.

Hung back in the school hall as long as possible but still arrived at the start with nearly an hour to go, stood in the tea marquee the heat from the urns providing some comfort, stood on a tussock of grass to further insulate the feet. Half an hour to go & went for a warm up jog avoiding most of the streams and swampy bits.

At 2 o'clock 500 runners set off after a chorus of Flower of Scotland, a few jimmy hats and kilts worn by the runners. After the mad dash across the bog settled into a steady trudge up Scald Law reaching the top in just over 22 mins. From Scald Law its an undulating ridge run over South Black Hill to the short sharp climbs over the Kips.

From West Kip a long snowy descent towards the Howe, misleading as when you reach the bottom its still a fair run along to the start of the climb up Carnethy. Bumslide the last steep drop before the burn then jog walk to the bottom of the gully where its back into grind uphill mode. When you clear the gully the track becomes runnable again and the top of Carnethy and the last wee climb comes into view. Crank up the effort happy it will soon be all down hill.

The run off Carnethy tricky especially when someone in front falls or crosses your path, evasive action tricky at times in the snowy heather. Through the gate and try to turn left onto the path, slipped on the greasy bank for my first fall of the race. Charge back across the swamp managing to pick off two or three more to finish just under 80 mins.

Back to school for a shower and a school dinner before the drive home. A cracking wee race to start the season with 500 runners & times ranging from 50 to 150 minutes no one need worry about being left behind or lost. This was the 39th running of the race so they must be doing something right, watch out for highlights on the adventure show sometime in March, a couple o pics in the Galleria and a lot more here!