Devils Burdens Relay - Lost in the Mists of Time

Chas sets off into the murk on leg 3

David Herbertson lines up for the start

The forecast for the east coast was for fair weather and sunny spells in comparison to a driech West of Scotland. So it was with some disappointment that the weather and visibility got worse and worse the closer we got to Falkland for the start of the Devils Burdens' Hill Relay. Although this was Calderglen's first attempt at this event, we had prepared well with several recce trips in the preceding weeks and were fully equipped with maps, compasses and all the compulsory safety gear. Furthermore, as Kenny Leinster had competed in the event 4 times previously and was a member of the local club (Lomond Hill Runners), the organisation of our teams was in safe hands and we even considered that we might stand a chance in the veteran competition.

The start went off in two waves one hour apart with the faster teams going off in the later start. The team that I shall retrospectively call our "A" team were off in the first wave with David Herbertson on leg 1 from Falkland to Strathmiglo, Frances Maxwell and Andy Henderson (this leg had to be in pairs for safety) on the toughest leg 2 from Strathmiglo to Kinnesswood, Chas Steven on the extreme climb out of Kinnesswood and down to Holl Reservoir on Leg 3 and George Stewart left under the supervision of Joanne McEvoy on the final, paired leg back to the finish in Falkland. I'm not sure what David Herbertson was on (maybe that is not the start line in the picture) but he flew through the first leg in around 32 minutes (31:47 officially) and 5th position in the first wave. Frances and Andy then set off on the tortuous second leg, climbing into the mist. Despite the poor visibility, Andy and Frances' navigation was spot on and they both emerged 1:45:54 later at the bottom of the very steep descent off White Craigs to hand over to Chas. Frances looked as though she could have run for miles more but Andy admitted to being "beaten up" (by the course, not Frances I think). The support car only just managed to get George & Joanne round to the start of leg 4 before Chas came flying down the road (45:07) and then it was off onto the muddiest section of them all where George apparently struggled to "get a grip". Nothing new there.  However, Joanne pulled George around to a very comfortable finish for the "A" team, finishing the final leg in 52:00. The team finished 63rd overall in 3:54:50. Very well done.

Davy Watt with a bag of bricks to slow him down

On paper the "B" team were going to be the faster Calderglen outfit. But, as it turns out, not if the paper had a map printed on it. With the fastest runners in our team deployed on the "solo" legs 1 and 3, it was up to Davy Watt to apply the pressure on leg 1 and this he did admirably with a top dozen finish in around 28 and half minutes we think (28:34 official time). Meanwhile a local runner had jokingly warned us of the "Beast of Balgedy" one of the many big cats or panthers regularly reported to roam the hills of Fife but as none of our team were worth eating, we felt safe enough!

Kenny and Billy were a particularly safe bet on leg 2 with plenty of experience of the event but were indeed put under pressure by being handed a more or less top dozen place out of around 60 teams in the second wave. As they set off through the muddy field start, we headed off in the car to the leg 3 changeover in relaxed mood. It was a steep, slippy climb up to the changeover point at leg 3 and a very cold place to stand but the atmosphere was fantastic as the first and second waves were arriving here at about the same time meaning that around 120 teams would come through this point with all their support teams gathered there too. Little did we know that we would personally see all 120 teams come through this changeover though!

Last confirmed siting of Kenny and Billy at the start of leg 2

Kenny had estimated they would complete the leg in around 1:20 so I got ready for leg 3 about 10 minutes before this and joined the masses gazing up the mountain for a glimpse of our incoming team. The target time came and went and after several false alarms it dawned on us that something was wrong. Several experienced teams were reporting that people were going way off course everywhere in the mist up top and indeed this was confirmed several minutes later when the police appeared saying that someone had dialled 999 to say they were lost (rather than ringing the event organiser as they should have). Two teams had reported themselves lost in this way but not our team. We gave their mobiles a call only to discover that they were both ringing in the car. After several hours had passed we knew they were definitely lost and by this time only a handful of teams had to come in and be accounted for.

Jim & Eddie at the final summit. They know where they are going!

Gradually all the teams were accounted for except our team. After some discussion with the event organisers, police and a bizarre telephone conversation with a police operator trying to spell out the name "Billy" to them (apparently this is an unusual name in Fife) we agreed to leave Davy with the car at the leg 3 changeover in case they turned up and to liaise with the police whilst Eddie Reid, Jim Holmes and I ran legs 3 and 4 to the finish, keeping an eye out for them on the way and advising any marshalls on the course that we were the last ones and to leave their stations.

Half way through the run we got a call from Davy to say that the police had called out the mountain rescue (2 teams apparently) and shortly afterwards we heard the helicopter. We agreed that this at least lifted some pressure off of Eddie who could see his West Highland Way episode being relegated to the history books. We were reasonably confident that given their outdoor experience, Billy and Kenny were just lost and would make sensible decisions to get back down to safety but it was still worrying not to hear any news of them, particularly as the visibility was poor, it would be dark in a few hours and there were some very slippery, snow covered sections and steep slopes. We carried on to the final summit and as the cairn came into view, we received a text message to say that they had been found safe and well and were not providing an afternoon snack for the Beast of Balgedy. What a relief. The last mile and a half was a happier run and it became clear that another chapter in the Calderglen book of navigation had been written. We had run the last two legs strongly but were still pretty fresh when we crossed the line where the organisers were kind enough to record a time for us (even though we had not taken over from our leg 2 runners). Billy & Kenny had beaten us to the finish and were helping the police with their inquiries whilst we tucked into the wonderful soup, teas and coffees in the village hall and rehearsed the banter to which Kenny & Billy will have to become accustomed for years to come. It transpires that they descended from the summit of West Lomond too far to the East and missed the track across the glen to the next summit, ending up on a golf course somewhere (I don't think it was the Old Course at St Andrews but the legend may record that it was in the same way that Eddie never quite made it to Oban on his WHW excursion but we say that he did).

We can laugh now but this just shows how easily things can go wrong in the Scottish hills in Winter, even when it is two experienced outdoors types with all the gear. A huge thanks to the race organisers (Fife AC) for remaining focused on trying to keep track of everyone in difficult conditions, to the police and other rescue services involved, to the Harriers teams for remaining positive and for fantastic efforts all round (Billy and Kenny were running for well over 3 hours for example) and to Kenny for introducing us to this great event.  We set a number of records too; first time the "fast" team has been comprehensively cuffed by the not as fast team, first DNF for Jim Holmes, most external assistance required to find two harriers, etc.   Don't worry, we will not be venturing very far from the club on Monday until we all get our sense of direction back.

Taxi for Leinster and Buchanan

More photos from Joanne and myself in this album. Eddies photos to be added soon.
Alan