Devil's Burdens Hill Relay 2020 - Up and Down x 4

A hardy team of 5 Harriers arrived in Falkland early on Saturday morning for the annual Devil's Burdens Hill Relay. Only 5 I hear you say! Power nap expert Billy Buchanan had arrived the afternoon before with his camper van to enjoy not only the local hostelry (too big a steak pie for even Billy to finish) but a lie in on Saturday morning ahead of his first leg duties which didn't start until 10am. Actually Billy also registered the teams saving those travelling from EK and extra early start. Thanks Billy.

First leg runners gather

Billy would be joined by Eddie Reid and Jim Holmes on the paired up leg 2, Chris McCarron and Geo Ferguson on the paired leg 3 and Kenny Leinster on the solo leg 4 (note that the official results have leg 2 and 3 names reversed). The routes for all the legs were changed this year as the format had also changed with all the legs starting and finishing in a field in Falkland Estate rather than being point to point legs with all the logistical problems that brings.

Billy at speed

The first leg was a 10km ascent/descent of East Lomond, a good 1000 feet plus of constant ascent followed by a short, lumpy, partial descent before joining a good under foot but very steep trail for the fast finish. Billy flew over the course in a very respectable 1:11:45 to finish 115th out of 154 starting teams on leg 1.

A fine run by Jim and Eddie

Eddie and Jim were primed and ready when Billy charged into the changeover and were raring to start the 12.8k (8 mile) leg 2. This was the leg with most ascent as the furthest away point on the route was the peak of West Lomond at 506m above sea level. This was also the muddiest leg with a climb through a very boggy forest and would have been navigationaly challenging had we not done two course recce's in the preceding weeks. There are no reports of any mishaps apart from the inevitable falls on the steep descent from West Lomond. Both Jim and Eddie thoroughly enjoyed the route which had plenty of hard but good running on it too. They finished in 1:29:49 bringing the team up to 103rd place (and were 92nd fastest on that leg).

Imagine that's Chris and Geo (it isn't but they didn't come back this way!)

Chris and Geo were on leg 3 which also had a considerable amount of climbing but lacked the mud. This leg took in a hill fort (a first for this event) and much of the ascent up West Lomond. The last minute deletion of the final checkpoint on this leg resulted in most teams changing their planned route and turning it more into an out and back run rather than a large loop as originally planned (and recced by us last week). This caught me out as I was waiting to photograph them on the original loop and after watching various teams come through I at ever more leisurely paces, I realised that something must have happened. Fearing the worst, I phoned Billy back at base who told me that they were finished and Kenny was off on the last leg. The changed out and back route did not pass the point I was standing at obviously. So no action photos of Chris and Geo! Chris and Geo completed the 12.8k leg in 1:27:55 and brought the team up to 98th position (101st fastest on the leg).

Kenny's second checkpoint and the highest point of leg 4.

Kenny's leg was the only leg that had a totally free choice of route although the reality is that there were really only two obvious options. Again, the preceding recce's had given Kenny all the confidence he needed to just focus on running as he knew exactly where he was going. Kenny reported that there was complete chaos up near the monument checkpoint as runners approached and departed from all directions. Kenny flew around the 10km route in a time of 01:01:05 (note that Kenny was running under one of his many pseudonyms of Kenneth Crimster; goodness knows what Kenny did such that he can't use his real name in Falkland!) and brought the team up to 97th position (Kenny was 91st fastest on that leg).

Kenny looking relaxed near the end of leg 4

This was a thoroughly enjoyable event as always and the change of format only added to the atmosphere as 150 teams with 6 people per team brought hundreds of runners to a small field in Fife.  The driech weather was perfect for running (but not for photography). Soup and a roll in the village hall completed the day. Hopefully this format remains for next year and perhaps we can have a few more Harriers competing on an event that suits our style of training.

More photos in and around the event are in this album.
Alan