Pentland Skyline - 8th October 2017

The Pentland Skyline race is a tough 27km race in the beautiful Pentland hills just outside Edinburgh. It starts at the Hillend ski centre and follows a clockwise loop, taking in all the summits, and amassing 1890m ascent before finally returning to the start point.

 

 We often walked in the Pentlands when we lived near Edinburgh many years ago, but that was before I discovered the joys of fell running. The race has, however, been on my radar since Silke started studying at Heriot-Watt university three years ago. With both Silke and Emeline now studying in Edinburgh the time seemed right for a weekend combining a visit to the girls with a good run in the hills.

 

The start

The weather on the day was clear and visibility perfect so no problems anticipated with navigation. Waiting at the start there was a chilly breeze so I decided that long sleeves were the order of the day. Then came the race briefing and a reminder of the 2:15 cut-off at the Drove road drinks station at roughly half way. Soon we were off, and on our way up the first hills – Caerketton and Allermuir. To start with it was mostly single file on narrow paths before broadening out onto good grassy tracks. The sun came out and the sky cleared, giving stunning views of the whole range, although it looked a long way over all those hills!

We came over Castlelaw hill, and skirted the firing range. The red flags were flying and the crack of gunfire could be heard, so clearly, they were busy playing soldiers. It was getting very warm by this time and very pleased to reached the first drinks station and have some water. From here it was back up on to the ridge and then good running over Turnhouse Hill, Carnethy Hill, Scald Law, South Black Hill, East Kip and West Kip before reaching the next drinks station at Drove Road in just under 2 hours.

The race description warns of much tougher terrain on the second half and sure enough from the top of Hare Hill, the route is marked here at request of the landowner and descends through tussocky heather rather than taking the faster, eroded path. Then a short steep descent through slippery wet grass and bracken where most runners (myself included) ended on their bum at least once. The race continued with some rough, boggy terrain over Black Hill and a steep climb up Bell’s Hill. From Bell’s Hill it was then Harbour Hill and Capelaw Hill before reaching Allermuir Hill again and then retracing the initial part of the route back to the start.

I was starting to tire towards the end, and I was looking forward to reaching the finish. As we got closer I became aware of a runner gaining on me so I did what I could to increase my pace. Finally, there was sprint for the line where I was finally caught. It turned out there had been two runners battling with each other, so it seemed I had been incidental to their private contest.

I crossed after 3 hours 51 minutes, and was pleased to see Silke and Emeline cheering me in. Having finished I suddenly felt extremely nauseous. Whether it was the sprint for the line, or accepting too many jelly babies from spectators on the way round, or a combination of the two, I will never know but I certainly hope I don’t make a habit of it. Nevertheless, a good day out – a good hard run, in perfect weather. I finished 138th of 226 finishers, 17th of 38 in my category. 

 

Relief at the finish

Feeling sick!

 Photo credits: Carnethy H.R.C, Scottish Hill Racing, TripAdvisor & Silke

Stranda Fjord Trail race - August 19th 2017

I spent the week leading up to Stranda fjord checking the weather forecast for the area. It stubbornly kept saying rain all day – until Thursday, when suddenly the forecast changed to sunshine all day. But it was a false hope - by Friday morning the forecast sun had been replaced by cloud, and by the time we arrived in Stranda on Friday evening the rain was back on the agenda.

Saturday morning dawned just as wet as forecast, although thankfully mild and still. Hanne drove me to the parking area before the start and we trudged 15 minutes up the gravel road in the pouring rain to the start.

I was pleased to get underway. We started off on the gravel road but soon veered off on to a trail that went up through the forest - with all the rain the path was very muddy. The route levelled off a bit as we came out of the forest but then continued more steeply up, this time through heather and bilberry bushes, and we used both hands and feet to get up the steep slope.

As we got higher up the vegetation disappeared and the terrain changed to rocky scree. It was fairly stable but slippery in the wet and required full concentration. It would have been very easy to fall or twist an ankle. This continued to the summit of Fremste Blåhorn, at 1478m, the highest point on the course. Retracing our steps the first ½km, the rocks were just as tricky going down, and I was repeatedly overtaken by more nimble competitors. We continued down on the scree before heading back up to the next summit of Heimste Blåhorn. By now we had covered 10km/1500hm and the time said 2h 37min.

 

We descended along the ridge. It was rocky and hard work but very enjoyable with some nice easy scrambling at times. I ran with a young Norwegian guy for a while and we chatted, and helped each other find the best line down the technical sections. Eventually the ridge flattened out and gave way to boggy moorland, again with heather and bilberry bushes, the route was off-trail and followed markers across the moor. As we approached Stranda we picked up a path again, which eventually joined the road and took us to the food station in Stranda at just under 24km. It was a boost to see Hanne there, and she was relieved to see me too – I was within my guesstimate of 4 – 5 hours to reach here, but only just. When she asked how it was out on the course I replied with one word – ‘brutal’.

But I couldn’t stay chatting all day, there were still 9 km and 1200m to go, so having had some food it was time to go again. By now the rain had stopped and I was able to dispense with the rain jacket. I ran out through the town, passing the athletics stadium, before getting out to the trail. Again the first part went up through forest until the route reached more open, rocky terrain. It was hard and steep and I was tired. The kilometres seemed to pass very slowly as I made my way to the top of Trollvardegga (1049m) and Roaldshornet (1230m) but eventually I reached the final summit, and from there it was just 800m to the finish.

It was a relief to cross the finish line and see Hanne waiting, and the soup and bread was very welcome. It was now a pleasant afternoon, the sun was coming out, and it was a joy to sit and take in the view for a while, before taking the gondola down and going back to the hotel.

View from the finish

Stranda fjord is a great race in amazing terrain, and it would have been fantastic to have done it in good weather with doubtless awesome views. In the rain it was hard going with the mud and greasy rocks, and without a doubt the toughest race I have attempted. It took me 7hrs 19mins, which gave 182^nd place overall out of 370 starters (298 finishers). I was satisfied with finishing in the middle of the field.

Endure Dynafit Trail

My next big target was Stranda fjord trail race in Norway in the middle of August. After the disappointment of Ennerdale there was nothing to do but knuckle down and train for Stranda. This went well in July and I managed 225km / 6000hm for the month (admittedly Strava does tend to overestimate ascent).

My warm-up race this time was Endure Dynafit Trail in Odsherred, West Zealand. Again, there were longer options (50km and 100km), but I opted for the 25km. I convinced my running pal, Anders, to enter too, and it was good with some company for the trip. 

After rain in the last two races, it was nice to see a bit of sun at the start of the race, although the forecast was very changeable with a chance of shower or two. The start seemed fast to me, I felt that I ought to be in good form but I felt that I was struggling to stay in the group I found myself in – the group after the leading group – but perhaps I just needed a couple of weeks to taper before Norway. 

    That's me in the yellow vest!
 
The route was great, even if the route marking was a little lacking one or two places! It was incredibly varied – sandy beach, rocky beach, grassy downland, woods, and with some steep climbs including Zealands 3^rd highest point, Vejrhøj, and a total of about 500hm. 

Compared to the Firkløver trail in June, it was a tough race over harder terrain, but in the end I managed a very satisfying 9^th place (of 70 starters) in 2:29:11. I was just behind Frank Ahrens who, overtaking me, said ‘Wasn’t it you who took my bronze medal at Julsø Ultra?’ Fair enough that he had a little revenge.

The sun was shining again when we had finished, so it was a fine finish to the day with a dip in the sea.