West Highland Way Relay 2023 - Fun in the Sun (and mist)

 

Early on Saturday 13th May, twelve Harriers gathered in the dark streets of East Kilbride awaiting their carefully scheduled pick-up by minibus. Although it was never in doubt, Eddie's plan ran like clockwork and we were all soon on our way to the start of the West Highland Way in Milngavie. Fortunately, Kenny was not driving at that point as the directions he was giving from the passenger seat would have taken us to Loch Lomond, by-passing the first 20 miles or so!

It was a cool but calm morning when we arrived at Milngavie railway station and assembled for the characteristically badly exposed team photo in the semi-darkness of the pedestrian underpass. A few minutes later, at 04:52, the first leg runner, Gordon McInally, was off and running accompanied by Stephen and Richard. Navigation in the first km of this leg can be difficult in the semi-darkness but, having conquered that challenge, the squad made life slightly more difficult for themselves by picking up a "drop-bag" that they found right in the middle of the path. This had clearly been accidentally dropped by someone beginning their hike up the WHW as it contained provisions and some mysterious bags of white powder (probably some form of dried food we optimistically guessed). Anyway, this bag weighed a couple of kg and the guys carried it for most of the leg to the changeover at Carbeth which Gordon reached in a time of 35:12 which was faster than the average time for this leg. A great start to put us immediately ahead of schedule.

Geo Ferguson took over on leg 2, heading for the changeover at the Beech Tree Inn at Dumgoyne. This is a 5km leg, the first half of which is mainly downhill and then quite flat on an old railway line. However, there are a good few gates to negotiate. Geo's gate opener was Jim Mearns, warming up for his (slightly) later leg. By this part of the early morning, conditions were very misty indeed with visibility severely limited, however, Geo stormed home without any navigational mishaps in a time of 24:43.

We were glad that Graeme Lindsay had volunteered to join us for an early leg and

appeared in his car 5 or 10 minutes before Geo arrived. Perfect timing (and plenty of time by comparison with the next change over). By now the mist was really thick and this low lying leg would be through the worst of it. Graeme was running from Dumgoyne to Drymen, a distance of just over 8km with many gates to be opened in the first half. As one of the faster runners, Graeme was running solo. In an excellent run, Graeme marginally beat the bus to the changeover (a first for this leg), as the road closure on the usual route was not signposted early enough and the bus had to double back for a detour. Graeme's time was estimated to be about 38:40 (we missed his actual arrival)! Graeme ran himself into the ground despite the fact that he now had to run back to Drymen to his car (and then did Ruchill parkrun on the way home, finishing in 21:23). A huge thanks to Graeme for an exceptional effort.

Fortunately Jim Mearns had already warmed up on Geo's leg and jumped straight out the bus on arrival and started his very challenging run over Conic Hill to Balmaha, a distance of  around 11km but more critically, 375m of ascent. This would be the second of many legs that Jim ran on Saturday, all of which would be miles in the bank for the forthcoming WHW Race in June.

Each year there is always something different about the WHW and this year it was the significant forest felling in Balmaha and also the newly surfaced path descending from Conic Hill. Jim completed the leg in a fine 1:10:22.

Whilst we waited on Jim Mearns, the Balmaha Games commenced with the Frisbee throwing. As
most of the trees were now felled, a huge element of risk was removed and no tree climbing was required this year, possibly a first but not a reflection on our improved throwing and catching skills. Jim Holmes and Alison Lessells had joined us at Drymen and were able to stay all the way up to Tyndrum. Less welcome than Jim and Alison were the midges that had now put in an appearance in Balmaha. Even more welcome was the arrival of Mark Wheeler, straight off a nightshift and guaranteeing that neither Jim nor Alison had to be volunteered for the forthcoming loch-side leg.

Jim handed over to Billy Buchanan who, as always, had attracted a large entourage to accompany him on the short, sharp run up and over to Millarochy. Some were later regretting this when they discovered Billy's mountain goat abilities on the steep descent. However, the pack was back together by the time they reached the final section on the shore of Loch Lomond where they hugged the shoreline until making a final turn up to the layby and the changeover. Billy completed the leg in 17:10.

It was like days of old with Jim Holmes joining us to run a leg and then having to head home (albeit not until much later in the day this time). Jim was on the very undulating leg to Rowardennan. This leg has some good running but only between some steep climbs and is very energy sapping. Fortunately the midges were not so bad in the car park at Rowardennan as we waited for Jim. TheHarriers did their bit for the National Park by helping to level the surface of the car park, scraping a chunk off with the bottom of the mini-bus, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the passengers on the bus. Fortunately Eddie has a thick skin. Jim arrived in Rowardennan in very fine form in a time of 55:56.

Then Mark Wheeler was off and running on the longest and toughest leg of the day. 14 miles along the shore of Loch Lomond to Inverarnan. Mark has run this stage many times before in training and as part of either the full WHW race or the Highland Fling. But he had never run it as a solo, flat-out leg so was not sure how he was going to pace it. We were not worried and knew that Mark's considerable experience and ability would see him through in a good time. As we made the even longer drive around the loch to Inverarnan, Mark was making good progress and by the time we arrived at Inverarnan Mark's wife and son, Kai,were already there waiting for Kai to take over from his dad. After 2 hours Mark ran into view looking strong and quickly covered the twisty trail to the changeover on the bridge, finishing in 2 hours and 2 minutes. A great time.

Kai set on the leg to Crianlarich which is almost entirely uphill. Kai had covered this leg

previously with his dad and was well prepared for the climb. By this time the temperatures were scorching (by Scottish standards at least) and large group of Harriers had ascended 1km up the path to meet Kai at the changeover.  Kai thoroughly enjoyed himself, despite one moment of uncertainty where a signpost had been displaced, completing the leg in 63 minutes, a fine effort for a teenager. 

The first crisis of the day unfolded at Crianlarich when Russell discovered that the cafe in which he ALWAYS gets a bacon roll or two was under new ownership and was not open! Oh well, plenty of options would be available further up the road in Tyndrum. 

Next up and in possession of a half day pass was Alison, fresh from an international victory the previous week in the Rome parkrun :-). Alison's leg from Crianlarich to the main road crossing at Ewich is short but brutal, starting with a very steep climb and then steep descents in the second half. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, Alison also attracted the serial gluttons for punishment, Richard Stark and Jim Mearns, to accompany her. As the rest of us headed back down to the minibus, the trio battled against the terrain and heat. A few minutes after parking the bus, Alison sprinted down the hill to finish in 25:03. Alison must have been feeling good because she decided to carry on with the next leg all the way to Tyndrum.

The Tyndrum leg was assigned to WHW first timer Julie Thomson. With plenty of Harriers in tow,

despite Julie's concerns, navigating this quite complex leg was no problem. The route starts off fairly flat on farm tracks and roads before passing back under the main road and becoming much more undulating on gravel roads and narrow footpaths which wind their way in through Tyndrum's back door before emerging again at the main road crossing opposite Brodies General Store. The sun was still blazing when Julie appeared in an excellent time of 30:51, feeling the heat!

Now on her second WHW, Julia Petchlof had graduated to one of the best running legs for this year from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy. The scenery and scale of the landscape is spectacular on this leg whilst most of the tracks and trails are good under foot and the ups and downs are quite runnable. Julia had Richard and Gordon to guide her over this 11km leg and clearly was not "footering" aboot as she covered the distance in an excellent 55:39.

As Julia worked hard on her leg, the travelling Harriers were having a very relaxing time at Bridge of Orchy, cooling their hot feet in the river or lying in the sun and even explaining our presence to several curious tourists who had been walking The Way for several days by this point.

Several Harriers (Russell, Julie and Billy) decided to make the most of the weather and head off early for an easy run/walk across the "Jelly Bean" hill to the next changeover at Inveroran.

Kenny carried out his usual secret warm-up in full public view and tried to get his long-term injured knee warmed up enough to get through this short leg. He was not looking forward to the fast downhill at the end of the leg as this would put maximum stress on his injury but needs must. So when Julia reached the main road, Kenny set off downhill to pick up the narrow trail and the start of the climb up and over the hill.

The second drama of the day (the first being the bacon roll incident) unfolded whilst Kenny was running when a distraught Canadian lady approached our bus at Inveroran. Her elderly father (around 80 years old) was in some considerable pain (and had been for a day or so since the Lochside) and was almost bent double as he descended into Inveroran. The lady wondered if we could phone a taxi to take him or them (her father and son) to the Kingshouse Hotel. Of course we could do better than that and offered a lift in the minibus to Kingshouse. The woman and her son decided to carry on walking and we gave the grandfather a lift. Turns out he was originally from the same part of Glasgow as Geo and served his apprenticeship at the same company as Geo. Small World. However, the main bonus, as far as Billy was concerned, was that Billy was no longer the oldest on the bus. After all this drama, Kenny arrived looking good in a time of 25:43.

Stephen Phimister was given the tough, fast, scorching leg over Rannoch Moor, a distance of around 14km with about 1000 feet of climbing. Having ensured that Stephen successfully negotiated the major Oban intersection, we left him to it and drove around to the Black Rock Cottage at Glen Coe Ski Centre (via the Kingshouse Hotel to drop off our passenger). Stephen really struggled with the heat and wished he had brought some water with him. With the benefit of Garmin LiveTrack we were able to watch his progress live on screen and were glad to see that a good pace was being maintained. Stephen appeared as a speck on the horizon and rapidly wound his way over the final few km to the changeover, finishing in 1:13:02.

Russell Couper had the largely downhill, short but critical leg to Kingshouse. With a good

warm-up beforehand, running a fair distance back up Stephen's leg, Russell was good to go when Stephen came in. Those who thought they were going to have a gentle run down accompanying Russell on his leg were in for a surprise as Russell took off like a shot and maintained that pace all the way to the changeover. Russell's entourage comprised Geo, Billy, Julie and Jim Mearns. Russell handed over in a time of 8:54.

Russell handed over to the in-form but annoyingly injured Frances Ferguson for the leg to the bottom of the Devil's Staircase. Given Frances' good form, it was surprising that Jim Mearns decided to continue and to accompany Frances as he would be sure to be hanging on. This turned out to be the case on this tricky leg. Unfortunately Frances took a tumble on one of the rockier sections of the leg but got straight up and carried on with skint knee and elbow. Frances completed the 5km leg in 26:50.

Eddie Reid has been plagued with long-term injuries for several years now but is still fit although not

able to race often. Eddie's leg up and over the Devil's Staircase to Kinlochleven is a tough climb followed by a fast but treacherous descent on rocky paths and finally on a broad gravel road. As was the case with Kenny, it is downhill running that really tests out any injuries and so I was concerned that Eddie's hip injury might give him trouble. However, this did not seem to be the case and after the usual roller coaster drive round to Kinlochleven and a 10 or 15 minutes wait, Eddie appeared flying down the hill to the changeover beside the water pipes. Eddie finished in 53:49.

The team had run so well up until now that there was a very good chance we would finish the relay in time for a swim before dinner at the hotel. So the pressure was on Richard Stark and I to finish the final two legs in around 2 hours. As an extremely capable hill and ultra runner, Richard was ideal for the next leg, the second

longest of the relay, from Kinlochleven to Lundavra. This involves a big climb early on and then a really rough route on the old military road to the changeover high above Glen Nevis at Lundavra. We have had a few fallers on this leg in recent years but not Richard, who ran a great time of 1:12:12 for the 13km run with around 1300 feet of ascent and kept us in with a shout of a 7pm finish.

Finally, another of the walking wounded (me) took on the last individual leg from Lundavra to Glen Nevis. Not having been able to make any sustained effort since my last race in August 2022, I knew I wasn't in any sort of form and did wonder how my knee and achilles would withstand the long, fast descent. As it turned out, it was mainly the lack of fitness that held me back on the initial ascent and I was able to run fast enough on the descent to finish in 43:53, almost 4 minutes slower than the last time I ran this leg but still keeping us on schedule for a short swim.

Most of the team then ran together for the final 1.2km to the end of the WHW in Fort William. The super fit Richard Stark was the one who arrived first and stopped the clock in a total cumulative time of 14 hours and 10 minutes, more than 20 minutes faster than last year and back in the zone that takes the pressure off with the hotel's last dinner cut-off time of 8pm. After the team photo at the finish (taken by former Harrier and Roy Bridge resident Jimmy Stewart), we quickly crammed into the minibus and drove the short distance to the Ben Nevis Hotel where keys were rapidly distributed. A wash and a tidy up later, the newly named "Calder Glen Tours" were seated for dinner at 8:15. As always, the dinners were very filling and enjoyed by all before retiring to the hotel bar for the rest of the evening.

Sunday started with a swim for some followed by a relaxed buffet breakfast for all. The weather had changed overnight with quite heavy rain. However the skies were gradually clearing and by the time we checked out and left the hotel the rain was off. We decided to go for a short walk around a lochan in the forests at the back of Glen Coe Village and this was very enjoyable and helped to ease off stiff legs and burn a few of the breakfast calories. Another short stint in the bus took us to the Glen Coe Ski Centre for refreshments before heading all the way back down the road to EK.

This was another fantastic Calderglen Harriers event. Thanks to all the Harriers who participated so enthusiastically throughout the weekend and to those who joined us for part of the day despite having other commitments that weekend. They all were certain that they would not be double booked next year (weekend of 18th May 2024 for anyone who wants to put it in their diary). Our drivers did a fine job keeping us on schedule and on the road, so thanks to Eddie and Kenny. Last but certainly not least, a huge thanks to Frances for organising the whole weekend, ensuring the hotel is booked, rooms are sorted out, dinner is booked and that the drivers and team picker are prepared in advance.

There are a stack of photos in this album. Feel free to add to the album.

Alan