I was feeling okay having raced 4 days in a row. My legs were obviously tired, but any aches and pains from the first few days were gone. I arrived in Falkland early, and after a quick visit to the village hall toilet, and seeing it full of guys trying to decide where's the best place for their skull tattoo, I decided it was too scary and just go to the start! I was talking to a few of the locals to see where we were going? Some had a recce of the course over the weekend and told me the news that I didn't want to hear "it's not 3.2 mile as advertised, it's now 4 miles!" Great!
It was a warm and sunny day, and just perfect for the last one. Everyone was in good spirits. Plenty of skull tattoos around and the flag flying high with the slogan "No quarter given - No mercy! The race organisers Brian Crucikshanks and Tony Martin had put on a fantastic race series. So after a brief speech and appreciation from the competitors, we're off.......
The race starts with the usual charge down and round the hairpin bend. This time we head up a tar track which is fairly steep, but runnable (for me anyway, which makes a change!). Then a sharp left turn to what I'd describe as "down the glen". Before long we hit the tunnel - this was spoken about at the start - it's a brick tunnel with a BEND... and with a bend, you can't see the other side!! I've posted a picture of Dell Ray from Anstruther who finished second in every race, apart from this one! He past me at the turn and I kinda thought it was fake for a minute, but I found out afterwards that he hit the tunnel wall. Luckily, I was pretty safe as there was lots of people around me and we kinda did a conga line through it... with a few sexual assaults claims afterwards!
The trail then brings you back to the start and it's back up the hill on the tar. I was thinking "this is ok...so much for skull mountain?"....but instead of turning left, we are sent straight up. It was horrendous, struggled like hell and loads were passing me. Eventually I reached the monument and was soon on the decent. Possibly 1.5 miles straight down the rocky path. This was great, as there was now lots of runners on the receiving end. I ended up catching most of them that would normally have been behind me. In a finishing time of 31.13 which gave me a total of 2.30.19 for the 5 days.
All in all, a very enjoyable 5 days. A great variety of running, both tough physically and mentally, but always with a bit of spice and humour in it as well. Managed 1 PB, realised that I'm crap on long hills and better on sand, made loads of new friends - which was highlighted when you hear people from other clubs shouting "come on Calderglen" when you are in the home straight.
And as Arnie says "I'll be back!!
George
2 comments:
Well done George on a fine effort over the 5 days, keeping the club well represented in the far east whilst the rest of us were out west. I now see why you turn up to training in fancy dress so often - it is always sensible to train in the gear you are going to race in at least once!
Alan
Well done George! Enjoyed reading your ToF diary- somehow there's always an element of entertainment/ drama when you race...
Post a Comment