Tinto Hill Race 10/11/07
I’m a keen mountaineer / climber but haven’t managed to find the time of late to get out there, what with marathon training and the new job. I decided that maybe hill running would be an ideal solution – you still get out into the mountains but it takes less time. So, I decided to give the annual Tinto Hill Race a bash. The weather was looking ok and the photos on the Carnethy website didn’t look that steep.
Peter, Scott and I headed down to Symington near Biggar full of banter and enthusiasm. Well OK, maybe I was a little pre-occupied with the horizon, searching for the first glimpse of the ‘hill’. I was more than a little put off by the height of Tinto as we approached, perhaps more so because it was topped with low lying cloud. I hadn’t brought a compass and I’m not fully up to speed with how my new Garmin works.
No fear though, it’s a well marked path the whole way up. And Peter had kindly brought some navigation kit for me. Note to anyone considering this sport, you need to carry ‘full body cover’ with you, and ideally it should fit in a bum bag. Lucky for me Peter had brought extra otherwise I’d have been turned away at the start.
After a little coaxing I was persuaded to leave my winter clothing in the car and lined up with the rest of the fool-hardy bunch in my shorts, thermal and ubiquitous gloves. I’m used to the starting stampede of cross country, however this was slightly different. Because it’s up-hill there isn’t the same urgency and jostling for position. Well, not where I started anyway. I was running behind a girl wearing sparkly leg warmers. I soon rectified this mistake though and once through the gate started to progress through the crowds.
Then it got steep. So steep that we were no longer running but striding up the hill in a comical manner of hands on knees. I suppose this is the last stage before being on your hands and knees. Every time it flattened out I put in a wee running action but was soon back to the funny walk again. Nearing the top I caught Scott who must have been really feeling the pace after his 50 mile epic earlier in the week. Then the leaders started to flash past. It was terrifying. They were doing a controlled fall down the hill on really rough terrain. I was so dreading the descent.
okay baldy, make like an aeroplaneOnce we rounded the cairn at the summit it was downhill all the way. People I’d just overtaken came careering past me as I struggled to find my confidence in road shoes. Thankfully they did me proud. On everything but the slippery grass slopes they held fine. I was soon caning it after the rest of the pack and impressed myself by not pussy-footing around or squealing although there were a few German swear words thrown in for good measure.
The last obstacle was either through the gate or a leap over a fence. During the warm up, I’d balked at the idea of jumping the fence. However, given the speed I was going at now, there was no way I was stopping for a gate. Before I knew it, I was airborne and over it. The finish came soon after where thankfully there was someone to assist with my deceleration. What a high!! Up in 28 mins and back again in 14!!! What a hoot!! I was ready to recommend hill running to anyone. Not so much today though. I’ve got worse DOMS than I did after the marathon.
Tony not bothering touching the ground on the way down.Well done to Peter on a fantastic run – he is a downhill demon. Scott had a terrific run too and I was well impressed with Tony’s performance. All in all, it was a great race. It’s really friendly and once you get over the fear of downhill falling, it’s an absolute blast. Think I might be asking Father Christmas for Walsh’s this year…
Sarcasm?
Report Amanda Henderson
Photos: pb and the Scottish Hill Runners website here where there is an excellent gallery of photos that give a great feel of the race and the record numbers taking part this year.Tinto was also the place where any runners who had completed the requisite 4 races or more from the SHR championship could pick up their beautiful yet practical commemorative mug from the beautiful yet practical Ronnie Gallagher... Who wouldn't want one of these on their mug tree?
