Balloch Park Cross Country

Good turnout for the last race in the Millies 25th Anniversary Championship, 3 laps of Balloch Park, great conditions for the run, cool, no wind and nice and soft underfoot. 25 set off just after 10. Started out in 8th place for the first lap and a half then dropped to 9th and stayed there till the end finishing in 39:49. Millie breakfast of soup and mulled wine after.

Ben Lomond Sun 6th Nov

Weather angel set to good so no time to give in to the can't be bothered bug, the autumnal sunshine promised to continue into Sunday and I set off with stiffening legs after the DD to Ben Lomond. Cold and misty at sea level I started out nice n easy through the woods running where I could, this would be my last hill run for a few weeks. Leaving the woods behind I climbed past the conifer remnants through the gates onto the hill and into the sunshine. Passed a few walkers as I came up out of the cloud everyone taking a break to take in the views. I continued up Sron Aonach dripping with sweat in the sun, broke into an easy jog winding my way along the plateau path towards the summit dome stopping every so often to check out the surrounding hills like islands in sea's of cloud. A chill wind now meant on with jacket hat and gloves so that I could continue my slow jog along the track. Only one other person ahead on the hill and he was coming down. The trail kicks up towards the summit dome, the last time I ran almost the whole upper section, and most of the summit ridge as well, today was to be an easy day walking the steep parts and running the rest just fast enough to stay warm. Jogging again as I turned along the top of the summit ridge stunning views, mountains for miles over valley's of clouds. I stayed a few minutes on the summit, spinning round trying to take it all in, a few photos later and I had to leave as I was cooling down rapidly. Running down I met more and more walkers on their way up, is it far? What's the view like? Running off Sron Aonach lots of walkers sitting about having popped up out the cloud, I stopped for a last look then plunged back into the mist.

Dumyat Dash

Race start and finish, in Menstrie Park, with Dumyat behind.

83 runners set off, misty start but we soon broke into the sun as we climbed about half way up Myreton Hill on the mostly runnable zig zag farm track, I jog walk. The gradient eases as we contour round over the first two Inchna Burns. A sharp left turn and we plunge down steep grassy hillside to cross the 3rd Inchna Burn, slippy bridge or cold stream, I opt for the stream. A few yards further and we cross the Menstrie Burn, this bridge is even worse but I manage to rock hop across using the bridge as a hand rail. A climb up the rear of Dumyat folllows, apart from the first and last parts pretty much runnable, I jog walk, the leaders passing on their way back encourage a bit of effort. Reach the top of Dumyat in 51 minutes, round the cairn and back down to cross over Menstrie and 3rd Inchna burns before running down the glen on a narrow track beside the Menstrie Burn. Re-join the farm track just above the zig zags for a downhill run to the finish in just over 77 minutes. The mist had ceared by the time we finished. The race offers much for a small race, trail, hill and cross country running, very friendly, low key with tea n cakes after £5 entry and you get a £5 Sweatshop voucher.  I'll try this one again, 5 1/2 miles and 1800' of ascent, a bit of an effort should get me closer to 70 minutes as long as I make better use of some of the short cuts on the zig zags.