The history lesson (for those who have been following our race reports) came quite early (pre-race for a change) on this trip. On our journey down to Harris we stopped at the Calanais Standing Stones. These are believed to be between 3000-5000 years old. There are many of these ancient sites across Scotland which were erected when the first settlers arrived in Scotland over 10,000 years ago!
Once we arrived in Harris our first stop was to the Isle of Harris gin distillery, one of the places I was most keen to visit when I knew I was doing the Heb 3. As I had mentioned in my previous reports we were collecting a gin from each location. We just about had time to have a drink before the distillery shut (we could not have said we had visited the distillery and not had one!).
Saturday arrived and we headed up to the school to register. A few hours later and we were back at the school to get the bus which would take us to Borve, the start of the race. This was to be a point to point half marathon and whether it was a good thing or not the bus journey out showed us what we had to run back. This has to be one of the most scenic half marathons I have ever done. The course had a few good climbs in it. However there was a steep decent towards the end of the race which greeted the welcome site of Tarbert. The finish was about a further half mile down a side road adjacent to the school.
The results were:
Julie - 1.33.41 (2nd female)
Joanne - 1.39.33 (4th female and 1st Vet 40)
Karen - 1.40.49 (5th female)
Alison - 1.46.14 (10th female)
We were all delighted with our times, especially when we had seen the course on the way out. We narrowly missed out on the team prize which went to Stornoway Athletic Club men, us Harriers losing out by 30 seconds (calculated on overall time for the first three counters).
This was also the concluding race of the Heb 3 series. The results from this were:
Julie - 4.39.27 (2nd female)
Joanne - 5.08.02
Well done to Joanne who did very well considering she was bothered with injury throughout the series.
As a final summary to the Heb 3 series I must say both Joanne and I had a great time visiting Stornoway, Skye and Harris. The half marathons have all been challenging in their own right. However we have also enjoyed visiting new locations. And it was great to be joined by Karen and Alison for the final trip. A visit to the magnificent Luskentyre beach on Sunday rounded off a fabulous trip and series.
For anyone thinking of doing the series there are also the Barra and Benbecula half marathons. To take part in the Heb 3 series you must complete at least three of the five half marathons. For doing so you get a commemorative t-shirt. However each half marathon is an individual race in its own right which you can enter as a stand-alone race.
Joanne and Julie
4 comments:
Great running Julie and Joanne. It's a tough shift indeed stringing together half marathons every few weeks and maintaining a competitive performance in every one. Well done to Karen and Alison too for joining in for the grand finale. I know that both Karen and Alison were sticking in the extra training in the weeks leading up to the half (and will hopefully keep those extra weekly miles going now that they have proven they can do it :-)).
Alan
It was a great weekend away, a race and a trip I will definitely remember and definitely recommend.
Well done to Julie and Joanne again- you did us proud :)
The only way I am to keep up the miles is signing up for another race....
We should get this on the grand prix . Looks amazing. Well done guys. Brilliant team effort!
A great report. Thanks Julie. What a brilliant experience. Thank you Julie, Alison and Karen for your great company and super racing in Harris. Thanks Julie for Stornoway and Skye...I Will never forget it. A 40th birthday gift to myself and the best gift I could ask for. Friends and running. I am blessed to have such great friends. Well done us!xxx
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