MAN OR MOUSE WEEKENDManor Water Hill Race and Pentland Skyline. 8+9/10/05
Inspired by Graham Henry, Peter set out to do the "Man or Mouse" challenge this weekend. This consists of running two Carnethy organised hill races on consecutive days; The Manor Water Hill Race (10 miles and 2200ft) on Saturday followed by The Pentland Skyline (16.5 miles and 6200ft) on the Sunday. The competitor with the lowest cumulative time becomes "The Man", the one with the greatest time "The Mouse". Used to getting whipped in hill races it was a jubilant Peter who arrived home with a bottle of wine for 2nd male vet / 4th overall saying "I beat Angela Mudge, I beat Angela Mudge." (Angela is legendary amongst hill runners for beating all but the very fastest guys. I believe she may have been World Mountain Running Champion once or twice as well.)
MANOR WATER HILL RACE
Peter Buchanan 75.08
Graham Henry 82.40Full Results and Carnethy Photos here
Pentland Skyline
Too sensible to run two hill races in two days, the hardest thing I had to do on Saturday was resist opening Peter's winning bottle of wine to calm my nerves about the Skyline.
There's something about running a big, wild race like the Skyline which captures the imagination. For days a storm was being forecast by the met. office for Sunday and I had a growing feeling of dread. Peter and I have been out in the Pentlands in pretty grim weather and just recently we went up in an autumn storm where the wind was forecast as 22 mph at sea level. We reckoned on the high tops we were getting gusts of 70 - 80 mph wind which you could lean right into and not fall over and which would grab and flap your face like the walls of Alison Hargreaves tent onK2. Its hard to see as your eyes constantly water and the roar of the wind makes it hard to think or communicate.
There is a minimum of support around the race and you have to think hard about what you're going to take with you. Too many clothes and too much food and water and it weighs you down, but too little and its a long, long way back when you're struggling.
Sunday dawned, thankfully, quite bright and fair, 'though cold. Peter was rather downbeat for a race day, feeling the fatigue from the day before. We arrived at Hillend in good time and saw Werner Kittel and Paul Eunson and then Graham. Graham looked a bit peaky and said he felt a bit sick. He was worried that he'd maybe picked up a tummy bug (just what you need), but he was enthused when he saw the number of Porty people, declaring, "Its not a team, its a bloody squad!".
I'd run the Skyline the year before and I'd blown it by trying too hard in the first half and then dying off with stomach cramps in the second half, so that I couldn't even run downhill. This year I was determined to stay relaxed and keep my legs as fresh as possible for the more difficult terrain of the second half. Thus I let the people stream past me telling myself its a long, long race and any competitive spats early on would be a meaningless waste of energy. Coming off Castlelaw, about 3 miles into the race there was a man counting everyone and he let me know I was 103rd. Uninspired as I was by this information I tried not to let it bother me.
There were some nasty squalls carrying icy blasts of rain on this Southward arm of the course. The marshals (I noticed all the marshals in the really exposed parts of the course were women.) took what shelter they could, posted at the tops of Carnethy, Scald Law and South Black Hill. My portobello running shirt was soaked through and my forearms and hands were completely numb. My legs were going numb too which shortens your stride and makes it hard to run. Thankfully, the weather eased a bit and we lost some height and hence exposure as we came to the farthest point of the course, the Drove Road. The marshal there kindly helped me punch my card (there were punches at strategic points to ensure all competitors followed the full course) as I still couldn't work my hands. However I felt fresh, the time was reasonable and it was with optimism that I set off up Hare Hill on the long run home.
To cut a long story a bit shorter, I had the second half I wanted last year. I felt tired but fine, kept up a good pace, passed a good few folk and finished in 82nd place, 19 minutes faster than last year.
Peter had a less definite feeling of success. Despite his tiredness he had managed to finish just under the 3 hour mark, just 1.5 minutes slower than the year before when he'd been fresh. As his time was faster than last year's "Man" he was very much hoping that he was the Man! However, he was beaten to this by Steve Fallon, a Carnethy runner, whose cumulative time for the MWHR and Skyline were 3 minutes faster than Peter. Now, crestfallen, and not the man, he struggled to understand why it had all seemed a good idea! It took some beer, and his winning wine from the day before, to recover a proper sense of achievement.
Graham came in a bit slower than last year, but in one piece despite having felt sick at the outset. Werner commented on the extreme unpleasantness of the cold wind and icy rain. Paul Eunson had been suffering from an injury and had not run for 10 days prior to the race, 'though he played this down and looked contented at the end.
PENTLAND SKYLINE
Peter Buchanan 2:59:31
Graham Henry 3:15:55
Werner Kittel 3:32:52
Mary Hunter 3:40:55
Paul Eunson 4:08:12Full Results and Carnethy photos here
MAN OR MOUSE
Peter Buchanan 4:14:39 (NOT the man)
Graham Henry 4:38:35 (More man than mouse.)Full Results here
Report Mary Hunter
Pentland Skyline - I am sure I have run this race twice before, once in the rain, once in the sun, but I can only find one set of results with my name in them. That was a memorable day, as I had a sleep during the race. I was near the end with only a couple of hills to go. I felt warm, and had this irresistible desire to sit down. So I did and fell asleep. When I woke up some time later, I was surrounded by a group of squaddies in full battle dress, rifles at the ready. I bid them farewell, as one does, and carried on to the finish in somewhere around four and a half hours.
This year was not a year for sleeping- cold, windy, and Graham ready to shout at Porty slackers who snooze. I thought I was doing reasonably well until Carnethy Hill when I had problems running down hill. Werner and Graham had gone past me, and then Mary caught up with me at the Drove Road. She went haring across the moor to Hare Hill. Then starting up Black Hill, she overtook me again. Mary, I'm still not certain that your route choice worked! I know the heather is a bind, but if you follow a Carnethy runner, they have usually cut paths through the heather with scissors on their training runs. The last few hills were not enjoyable, and more and more people overtook me. Looking back, I could not see any more behind me. Last - what ignominy! I started composing the report confessing all. Drummed out of the club, even.
However, in true Porty fashion, I burned off some poor chap who was suffering on the last hill and stumbled over the line to be told by the officials that there were plenty more behind me. I bet they say that to everyone.
The club is certainly getting a name in hill running circles with the achievements of the team at Dunbar, and Peter and Graham in particular. We will now have to start behaving badly in true bog-trotters fashion.
After all the pain, it was, in fact a PB for me. "Not sleeping quickens time" as Confucius said.Report Paul Eunson
Many thanks to Carnethy for permission to use their photographs,
and to all their stoical marshals who braved the cold.
