Devilla Forest 15k

Despite the dire forecast and other various doom-laden weather warnings Ruth, Jim and I set out for Kincardine on Sunday morning feeling optimistic about what lay ahead. This was to be my longest come-back run to date and the others were planning on doubling up, heading out after they had finished to retrace their steps as part of Jim's WHWR training.

I had a feeling it was going to be a good day when Ruth was directed to park no more than twenty meters from the front door of the Police Scotland training college which was Carnegie Harriers race HQ for the day. We all decided to dispense with our jackets as the Ochils Mountain Rescue Service team informed Jim that the rain was to stay away for the next wee while, what a good decision that was to prove.

Advertising our harriers...

Having managed to become separated from the others I went for an extended warm up and caught sight of what I assumed to be a new start line, it was only on returning later I discovered it was in fact the 5k start line and that the 15k start was a good 400 meters along the road, ironically in the usual place. I continued my warm up at a much faster pace only to hear the hooter go while still about 100 meters away. Feeling a bit sheepish (I do have previous form having done something similar at Strathclyde parkrun a couple of years ago) I made my belated way over the line much to the amusement of the assembled  marshals even offering to take the hand of the tail runner who had had the good sense to look around before starting and had seen me coming.

15k route

5k route

Carnegie Harriers had to curtail the route due to a problem up at Peppermill Dam which meant we ran the lower loop followed by the 5k route instead (leading to a reduced 8.54 miles) but the notoriously and gloriously boggy section remained, see below;

And to think Jim was a confirmed, dyed-in-the-wool road runner until he met me.

Ruth, carefully avoiding a face-plant/mudpack

At times we were up to our knees in mud and sliding all over the place but all too soon we were back out onto the forestry tracks which, to our dismay, had been relaid with fresh stones since Ruth and I last ran this race two years ago. So fresh that the only smooth running was a single, presumably bike-made, track which resulted in a ridiculous looking single file of runners for hundreds of yards all in line. As if I wasn't suffering enough the soles of my feet are still loupin from running on that horrible surface.

The wind may have howled but the rain (mostly) stayed away as we finished in the expected order, as you can see...

Jim was a little discomforted later at the prize giving to find that the MV50 runner he'd overtaken and managed to beat by around a minute turned out to be the MV70 winner!

A few other photos of the day are at this link here Devilla 15k

The winners were James Waldie of HBT in 49.30 and Lynne Allen, unattached, in 59.27. There were 331 finishers and 6 dnfs, presumably still trying to climb out of the bog.

My compadres were a bit too knackered to go back out (I think they might have got lost anyway!) so we had a shower, a piece and a hot drink to revive ourselves before the journey home, all in all a grand wee day oot - as someone I know would say.