Luss

Perfect weekend for Luss hills, ground frozen and feet stay dry and warm. Anti clockwise circuit of Glen Luss/Glen Mollochan, 14 miles and about 6000' of ascent. Beinn Dubh, Mid Hill, Doune Hill, Beinn Lochain, Beinn Eich, Coille Eughain Hill and down over the Paps to finish back at the mouth of the glen. Busy day with lots of walkers out enjoying the air. Quite warm climbing Beinn Dubh until the last couple of hundred feet, jacket on as the breeze freshened. Great views to the snow capped peaks of the Arrochar Alps and beyond while running along the ridge to Mid Hill. I took a wider than normal route down into Sith Mor starting off West then North dropping in on a herd of deer on the way. The climb up Doune Hill a bit easier than usual on the frozen ground. Different route at the top taking on the North side picking my way round snow patches while traversing the steep slopes overlooking Glen Douglas. On the way back I met a crowd from the Langcrags walking club on Beinn Lochain, I'd run with a couple of them. Lots of frozen snow made the going easy at the top of the ridge to Beinn Eich then good ground on the way down to the Glen passing groups of walkers. As usual I wanted to avoid the run down the road and set off across the Glen for the short climb up Coille Eughain Hill, this took its toll and the run across the tussocks and bogs at the top tough on tiring legs. The reward was a fern free run down off the Paps with only the usual boggy bits at the bottom to slow me down. Finished in about 4 3/4 hours incl a few stops to chat and a sheep rescue.

Carnethy 5

The 43rd running of the Carnethy 5 and my 9th. Its the first race in this years SHR Championship series and a record field turned out on a good day for running over these five Pentland hills, dry and cool with little breeze. Usual charge across the bogs to start, the new Carnethy financed gate less of a hold up than the old style we used to climb over. Soon we're climbing up Scald Law, 22 1/2 mins to the top, steady run along a squidgy path to the sharp ups and downs of the Kips via South Black Hill. Got my breath back for a while on the traversing descent from West Kip to the Howe. The climb up Carnethy soon fixes that, three short ups in succession, track, gulley then the pull up to the summit. Round the top for the first part of the descent on steep grassy tracks, a chance to relax before the heathery plunge to the bottom. The heather takes its toll and I almost come to a halt before finding slightly easier going down what used to be a path to a short fast scree section, why some people slow down here I'm not sure, more heathery bits before I hit the bottom with dead legs for three or four minutes of torture across the bogs to finish just under 84 minutes, a few seconds quicker than last year. As usual loads of pictures, Bobbies, SHR, Sandy Wallace, Bob Marshall, see if you can spot the Milburn Vest!

Whinney Hill

A wintery day for the last Club Cross Country of the season, the only record broken today was the number of runners, 23. A lap of a soggy Balloch Park to start then we exit on the narrow path to Boturich road. Into Whinney Hill then across the road, nice path to start soon deteriorates into a slippy muddy root strewn path up the hill. No respite when at the top with ankle deep mud until come out the other side. Similar to Polaroid, the first three away and clear I'm in the second group of three, we swap places a few times along the way. Through the deer fence and I plod my way up the top section towards the seat and back into the mud,. From the seat its downhill and slippy for a while then a wee rest before turning up into the forest and the mud fest again, gradually pick up pace along the top before a tricky run down to the road crossing. The path back down to the park easy to run on then a twisting turning muddy path back to finish at Balloch Castle in just under 48 mins and a Team Millie Soup kitchen in full flow.

5k and PWWHSM

Had another go at the 5k Balloch Park run today, not as many runners this week, same friendly welcome. A few seconds faster than last time finishing just under 23 minutes. Home for refreshments then set off for a round of the Vale's hills, Pappert Well, Whinney Hill & Stoneymollan. Running nice and easy onto the hill towards Pappert Well under blue skies. The ground was frozen so a chance to keep my feet dry and relatively warm, reached the trig point in just over 40 minutes. Pappert to Whinney takes me through a variety of terrain, fields, the golf course, housing estates then the Whinney Hill trail from Boturich road, rather muddy today. Reached the seat in 2 hours. Plenty of walkers out today all taking a variety of routes to avoid the muddy trail. Back in Balloch Park I chased a large bird of prey, just before I could take a picture it would take off and fly a few trees further along, soon gave up the chase and set off for the Stoneymollan. Getting tired now and I was looking forward to a walk up the road, lots of walkers and a mountain biker out so I just kept running. Managed to jog most of the way up to the trig point, then easy running along to the fort, down past the radiomast, happy to get home in about 4 hours 10. A few pictures here.