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!