West Highland Way 2018 - a midge free zone!

One fine Saturday morning in mid-May, 17 Harriers made an early morning pilgrimage by minibus to the ultra-running Mecca otherwise known as Milngavie railway station for our annual (physical) assault on the 96 miles of the West Highland Way. With Kenny driving and already lost before we left East Kilbride, the omens were not good for a trouble free run to Fort William but at least the weather was very much on our side. As we progressed towards Milngavie, leaving a trail of scuffed kerbs to help us find our way next year, the leg assignments were revealed and the lucky recipient of the first leg was Billy Buchanan, who it transpired had not run this leg before and was already worried about the forbidden "L" word. After an incredibly efficient team photo session, Billy set off at 4:52am with a few strategically placed Harriers to get him through the first 100m or so.

The minibus then departed for Carbeth and the first changeover where a rapidly returning to form Russell Couper would take the second leg to Dumgoyne. Despite this being the 27th time the Harriers have run the WHW relay, none of us could remember the approximate time it should take to run the first leg and so a few scouts were sent back along the course to spot Billy as we became anxious after 5 minutes or so of waiting. We need not have worried and the sight of the returning scouts heralded the approaching Billy, smiling as always! Perhaps he was smiling because the usual clouds of midges were nowhere to be seen!

A tag at the gate and Russell was off and we could relax as Russell is very familiar with this leg. Kenny drove us onwards to Dumgoyne in relaxed fashion and we parked up as usual outside the Beech Tree Inn. Our early arrival was not welcomed by the goat family in the field adjoining the car park who proceeded to carry out the "bleat" test, sprinting back and forth along the fence line until a short while later, Russell appeared puffing along the old railway line and running very well.

Gerry Mullen has covered every inch of the WHW and every type of weather over the years so would have no problems with the clear skies and undulating route to Drymen. Russell wanted to to be dropped off part way along Gerry's route on the Killearn Road to continue his day of running with a gentle stride out into Drymen, a sign that Russell is returning to good form.

A peaceful morning on the edge of Drymen was interrupted by the minibus reversing beeper as we arrived ready to launch Davie Watt over Conic Hill to Balmaha. The last time Davie ran this leg we had our minibus flat tyre incident and Davie had to keep running until we had that fixed. This time Davie made sure that he did not take his mobile phone with him to be absolutely certain that we could not give him the "Davie, we've got a problem, just keep running and we'll catch up with you somewhere" phone call. About 10 minutes after arrival, Russell and then Gerry appeared, winding through the morning dew covered field to the changeover on the Drymen Road. Then Davie was off and so were we on the road to Balmaha.

After an absence of many years, Alan Cullie has made a very welcome return to the Harriers and the WHW. However, before Alan got his chance to run, we had more than enough time to get various projectiles stuck up trees in the Balmaha car park. We also had the benefit of a fit and agile Stuart Gibson to climb the tree!

I am sure Davie was delighted to see the minibus and Alan Cullie waiting to take over when he emerged from the forest into the car park, running as smoothly as ever. As the first half mile or so out of Balmaha is a little bit tricky to navigate, I had taken Alan on a little recce of that section whilst waiting on Davie. Once Alan was off and running, we were confident he would stay on course with the age old instruction of "keep the loch on your left, the sky above you and the ground beneath you" as we headed along the twisty road to Milarachy lay-by.

As the Harriers contributed to the raising of global water levels by skimming stones from the beach into Loch Lomond, our esteemed club president Kenny Leinster "disappeared" for his traditional secret warm-up further along the beach. Just in the nick of time he returned as Alan soon appeared on the beach after a strong run. The stage to Rowardennan is a real test of strength and after missing some weeks of training with a persistent injury, this would not be a comfortable run for Kenny.

Rowardennan was not its usual self. There were plenty of walkers and some runners but NO MIDGES!! The skies had also clouded over but this was no bad thing as I was on the next leg along the lochside and the underfoot conditions would be enough of a distraction without sweat in the eyes. As we waited for Kenny, Sandy started her warm up with a highland dancing demonstration; at least one Harrier is light on her feet at that time of the morning.

The "run" along the lochside was going as well as it could given the un-runable underfoot conditions after the first 4 miles of forest trails and I was glad to eventually emerge into the open a few miles from the end of the 14 mile leg and actually start running fast again. Unfortunately, having negotiated the most treacherous part of the route safely, I clipped a rock and "hit the ground running" on a downhill section, landing heavily on my right side. My right elbow took the main impact on the stony path and after a few seconds lying face down wondering how that had happened, I established that my elbow and right side were a "bloody" mess but my legs were OK. So I got up and started running again. I'm not sure if it was the rush of Adrenalin from the fall or the 20 seconds rest I had lying on the ground but my legs actually felt more lively over that final ten minutes than they had before the fall. By now the sun was back out again and I was a little dehydrated so I was glad to round the corner and see the new wooden bridge with Jim Holmes at the far end waiting to take over for the next leg to Crianlarich. A big thanks to Dr Billy Buchanan and Frances the Pharmaicist for quick and effective first aid to my elbow using the extensive medical facilities of Beinglas Farm (the tap outside the toilet block, a tube of Germaline and a sterile dressing). I was soon fit and ready to walk back to the minibus and head for the hills of Crianlarich. For the first time though, I wasn't fit enough to make it up the hill to the changeover, so apologies to Jim and Andy for missing that.

In the days when Jim could rarely manage to get away for the full weekend, he used to drive up to meet us, do this leg and then drive home. So he knows the trail well. Today would be one of the hottest Jim has experienced on that exposed climb but the upside was that the river of "coo poo" near the top was solidified by the heat, a major benefit! When Jim arrived at the changeover, he was met by an idyllic scene as numerous Harriers and walkers lazed in the warm sun. Andy Henderson was ready for action and would have Stuart Gibson in tow to keep him company. This next stage from the deer fence to the A84 crossing at Ewich has a lactic acid inducing uphill start but finishes with a steep, rocky downhill but is otherwise quite straightforward. Despite this (and I'm not saying who) one of those two runners tells me that the other runner actually went off course up a dead end and had to turn back to get back on the correct path! Is there no part of the WHW that we are absolutely confident with after 27 years of trying!

Davie Searil was on the next stage from Ewich to Tyndrum. Now there is no chance of Davie getting lost, of that I am confident (although we have lost someone on that leg too in the past) given that he spends a large proportion of his Spring training on various sections of the WHW. Davie had a few volunteers to accompany him on this leg, who probably forgot that Davie is motoring at a fair pace these days and this would certainly not be an easy run in the midday sun. It was therefore no surprise to see Frances and Gerry gasping in Davie's wake as they ran to the changeover at the main road crossing in Tyndrum.

After last year's off-piste excursion to the Mamore Lodge and an unscheduled close inspection of the ground, Allan McLellan was on the traditional "rehab" leg from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy, a real confidence builder with good running and easy navigation. Tragically there had been a serious motor bike accident just outside Tyndrum which delayed our progress to Bridge of Orchy slightly and dampened the atmosphere on the bus for a while. However we had time for reflection on arrival at Bridge of Orchy and time to get Sandy psyched up for her first leg of the day up and over the hill into Inveroran; a right wee tester. When Allan appeared down the steep hill from the railway station, Sandy was ready to take over and had a few others to accompany her (plus a few toasting her departure from the bar I think!). Once again, these runners (Jim Holmes and Davie Searil) underestimated just how fast Sandy is, particularly on the steep, rocky descents and suffered a lot trying to keep up!

Very much in-form Joanne McEvoy was trusted with the infamous "long road to Oban", otherwise known as Rannoch Moor. This is a two thirds up hill, one third down hill leg over very exposed terrain covering a distance of 8 miles and offers the chance for some fast running if you are confident enough over the rocky terrain. Joanne was clearly confident and running well as we traced her progress as a rapidly approaching dot on the horizon as we waited at Black Rock Cottage. Sandy would take the next leg to Kingshouse from where Gordon McInally was to officially take over. There were quite a few escorts up for these legs, buoyed by the prospect of being picked up at the bottom of the hill in Kingshouse if the legs didn't feel up to continuing with Gordon.

Sandy and her entourage were off and we drove down the hill to the main road and on to the single track road down to Kingshouse where we were met with a security fence!! Kingshouse hotel is being demolished and rebuilt hence the site was out of bounds to road traffic! News to me..... From our position high on the hill in the comfort of the minibus, we had a fine view of the pack as they arrived in Kingshouse a good quarter of a mile away from us. They looked happy enough from that distance and I certainly couldn't hear any shouts of "come and get us" over the main road traffic noise, so we turned around and carried on. Turns out there was a subsequent case of minibus mistaken identity as the entourage detoured off the WHW to intercept a white minibus in a lay-by which they thought was us. Of course there is no way we would spoil their run by taking them off route into unknown territory, so the detour was a wasted effort. There must have been another white minibus in Glencoe that weekend.What are the chances of that!

Anyway, Gordon wasn't bothered. He had his leg to run and was leading the grumbling pack along the surprisingly undulating trail parallel to the main road in fine form. The good weather meant that the lay-by at the bottom of the Devil's Staircase was full so we had a job off-roading in the minibus to get a parking space. We eventually succeeded and Geo Ferguson headed out to warm-up. Geo would be required to put both his mountaineering strength and his running ability to good use on this steep climb and fast descent into Kinlochleven. And that's why he was given this leg; a good match. When Gordon arrived, Geo set off, whilst Gordon warned us that there might be some slightly disenchanted members of his pack yet to arrive. We braced ourselves. But we needn't have as Frances is a true runner and the extra distance of the detour was just miles in the tank and more training impact!

The longish drive around to Kinlochleven passed smoothly and there we prepared Stuart Gibson for the scene of last years mishap; the run from Kinlochleven over the Larigmore to Lundavra; a leg that Stuart had never set foot on before. Never has anyone been so well briefed by so many Harriers in advance of a WHW leg. Even my map was brought out! We also heard rumours that a new forest road had been built up top associated with some hyrdo power works. That wasn't on my 1990's map; so what could possibly go wrong? Well with Stuart on the leg, the only thing that could go wrong was that he could get to the changeover point quicker than we could drive around there and of course he does not know the leg so how would he know where to stop and wait for us? And how would we know if we had arrived at the changeover after Stuart had gone through?  Forget the big climb and the rocky surface up top, the real challenge on that leg is the minibus drive (only kidding Stuart).

We had quite a steady and smooth drive around to Lundavra and we waited pensively for a sight of Stuart. After waiting all day for her leg, Frances was lined up for the final solo leg into Glen Nevis. It would have been very disheartening if Stuart had already passed through as we were driving up there. However, after about 5 minutes we got the shout that he was approaching and we gave a collective sigh of relief as we were now guaranteed a good finishing time (possibly a swim in the hotel pool and definitely dinner). Stuart had definitely given everything and was bent over double as he handed over to Frances who accelerated away up the trail for a great 5 mile run in to Glen Nevis.

The re-modelled Braveheart car park was the scene of the final changeover and the start of the final leg, a 0.8 mile pack run into Fort William and the finish. It was good to briefly catch-up with friend and former Harrier Jimmy Stewart (a Roy Bridge resident for the past 20 years) who was waiting to meet us having run over the Glen Nevis section before our arrival. We had no sooner arrived and found Jimmy in this much extended car park when Frances came flying down the hill and the final changeover took place (amid some confusion as to how to get out of the car park!).

A few minutes later, the first group of Harriers arrived at the finish in Fort William setting a great time of 13 hours 51 minutes for the 96 miles. It was great to be back under 14 hours again and more to the point, in time for our 8pm dinner booking! There is no doubt that this was a fine effort by all.

Swims and jacuzzi's were enjoyed to the full and we were then treated to a great feed at the Ben Nevis Hotel. As my drinking arm was injured, I retreated at about 1100 (I think) but I understand that  the party continued for many hours in the bar and at various planned (and unplanned) locations throughout the hotel! Second favourite part of the weekend for me (after the running) is always the cooked breakfast on the Sunday morning and this year was no exception. Some even managed a pre-breakfast run (more of Kenny's secret training) or swim. I had a post-breakfast bandage reapplication from Dr Buchanan. The weather wasn't as nice on the Sunday so we restricted our plans to a gentle drive down to Glencoe Chairlift where we based ourselves in the cafe and filled ourselves with cake and coffee. After a few more hours of driving, we were back in EK and all too soon another magnificent West Highland Way weekend was over.

These things don't just happen, so a huge thanks to Frances for organising the hotel and dinner, to Kenny for arranging the (right size of) minibus (on the right date), for Jim and Kenny for sharing the driving with me, for the unfortunately absent Eddie for arranging the pick-up schedule and most of all for the hugely entertaining company and enthusiasm of the Harriers present. As I said, the WHW relay dosen't just happen but it is happening again next year on 18th and 19th May. Mark it in your diary!
Alan

ps a link to the split times will be inserted soon.
pps an alternative WHW report in pictures (with captions) will be published on a blog near you soon! Take cover; you have been warned!