RR: Lairig Ghru race

Well, what can I say, Doug would have been proud of me. I
started off slow and finished fast. Even after 4 hrs I felt
like I could run forever. Of course my overall time was cr*p
but what do you expect if you listen to Doug? ;-)

The LG is a 28 mile trial/hill race from Braemar to Aviemore
that climbs to 2,700 ft over one of Scotland's more remote
mountain passes. The are no escape routes so you either
finish or go back to the beginning. After having messed up
in Edinburgh I was really pleased to feel so good during and
after a race. My hydration and nutrition stratagy worked
really well and even after 4 hours on my feet, I still felt
like I could run forever.

Finished in 4:58 (about 2/3s of the way down the field). I
would have liked to have finished higher but I'm very happy
to have finished feeling really good.

The race itself is about 10 miles of easy run in, about 12
miles of hellish boulders, rivers, mud and more boulders
followed by 6 relatively easy miles into Aviemore.

Definitely worth a look if you find yourself in
Scotland in June.

Tim
--
Remove the *obvious* to reply by mail

Tim Downie wrote:
> Well, what can I say, Doug would have been proud of me. I
> started off slow and finished fast. Even after 4 hrs I
> felt like I could run forever. Of course my overall time
> was cr*p but what do you expect if you listen to Doug? ;-)
>
<snip more race report>
>
> The race itself is about 10 miles of easy run in, about 12
> miles of hellish boulders, rivers, mud and more boulders
> followed by 6 relatively easy miles into Aviemore.

What, no pictures?

Nice run, Tim! Sounds like you're really starting to get the
feel for these longer distances and trails - the effort,
food and fluid. Congrats!

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

"Tim Downie" <timdownie2003@obvious.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2k90luF19e7plU1@uni-berlin.de...
> Well, what can I say, Doug would have been proud of me. I
> started off
slow
> and finished fast. Even after 4 hrs I felt like I could
> run forever.
Of
> course my overall time was cr*p but what do you expect if
> you listen
to
> Doug? ;-)

Now you have experienced redlining and likely a little slow.
The truly hard part of the long stuff is to find that ideal
pace yet err on the conservative side. I remember my first
real attempt at negative splits in a marathon. Back then I
could run a 38 10k and during this one marathon ran a 42
minute last 10k. Sure, I was very negative on the splits but
it taught me a lesson that I have used for umpteenth years
that works for almost all my races - finish strong and in
the top 25% and snag some occasional iron.

Good show!!!

Ain't it grand to finish strong?

> Definitely worth a look if you find yourself in Scotland
> in June.

Send some plane tickets and I'll run it with you.

-DougF

Tim Downie wrote:

>Well, what can I say, Doug would have been proud of me. I
>started off slow and finished fast. Even after 4 hrs I felt
>like I could run forever. Of course my overall time was
>cr*p but what do you expect if you listen to Doug? ;-)
>
......

>Finished in 4:58 (about 2/3s of the way down the field). I
>would have liked to have finished higher but I'm very happy
>to have finished feeling really good.
>
Yeah - finding the balance between feeling great and
finishing strong and running your fastest possible time.
I'm still struggling with that equation, but with each race
you learn something and hopefully move closer to the
optimum pace

It sounds and looks (thanks for pics) like a great race.
Well done!

Anthony.

"Tim Downie" <timdownie2003@obvious.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2k90luF19e7plU1@uni-berlin.de...
> Well, what can I say, Doug would have been proud of me. I
> started off
slow
> and finished fast. Even after 4 hrs I felt like I could
> run forever. Of course my overall time was cr*p but what
> do you expect if you listen to Doug? ;-)

Jeeze, Timmy, you're turning into quite the little runner,
aren't you? Now, all we need to do to complete your
transformation into an all-round-decent-chap is for you to
lose the fixation that it's necessary to race to become a
real runner. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that you
haven't actually *become* a runner until you can walk away
from a racing with a sly smile, yet still maintain your
enthusiasm and committment to training and running in wild
and beautiful locations.

Look at your photos. How much more attractive and meaningful
would they be if they didn't have other runners cluttering
up the views? If it was just you and the mountains? *You*
determing where and when you ran?

Oh, and ditch the lycra. You know it makes sense...

"Dot" <dot.h@#att.net> wrote in message
news:dnPDc.151640$Gx4.116237@bgtnsc0...rldnet.att.net...
> Tim Downie wrote:
> > Well, what can I say, Doug would have been proud of me.
> > I started off
slow
> > and finished fast. Even after 4 hrs I felt like I could
> > run forever. Of course my overall time was cr*p but what
> > do you expect if you listen to Doug? ;-)
> >
> <snip more race report>
> >
> > The race itself is about 10 miles of easy run in, about
> > 12 miles of
hellish
> > boulders, rivers, mud and more boulders followed by 6
> > relatively easy
miles
> > into Aviemore.
>
> What, no pictures?

Fear not! As soon as they're back from the developers you
shall have them. ;-)

>
> Nice run, Tim! Sounds like you're really starting to get
> the feel for these longer distances and trails - the
> effort, food and fluid. Congrats!

Thanks Dot. It was just one of those races where everything
went right and I'm still grinning like an idiot whenever I
think about it. Can't wait to do another one.

Tim

Dot wrote:

> What, no pictures?

You asked for them... ;-)

I haven't attempted yet to put them together into a web page
but here they are.

Me (and 80 others) at the start outside Braemar police
station. I'm the fool on the far right (no. 11) grinning
like and idiot and wearing the baseball cap. The lady with
the dog (no 19) was the first lady home (as she was last
week in the 95 mile West Highland Way race).
http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...Ghru/start.jpg

A few deer on the banks of the river Dee on the way up.
http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanIm-
age001.jpg

My running partner in crime on the left on the road up to
Mar Lodge. http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/-
ScanImage002.jpg

My running partner display his rather curious running form
with a view up the Dee valley behind http://www.zen31010.ze-
n.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage003.jpg

At last! We go off road after about 4.5 miles. http://www.z-
en31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage004.jpg

Getting into the hills proper now. http://www.zen31010.zen.-
co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage005.jpg

A really embarassing one of me. God, why *did* I have to go
and put my hand on my hip like that?? http://www.zen31010.z-
en.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage006.jpg

Keep straight on to the end of the valley and then turn
right. http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/Scan-
Image007.jpg

A fellow runner of the female persuassion. http://www.zen31-
010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage008.jpg

Approaching the top of the pass. http://www.zen31010.zen.co-
.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage009.jpg

Not the easiest of footing! http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/i-
mages/LairigGhru/ScanImage010.jpg

Two Deeside Runners appropriately at the Pools of Dee,
the headwaters of the river Dee. (This is the top of the
pass) http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/Sc-
anImage011.jpg

Aviemore in sight at last! (That faint horizontal line in
the distance) http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGh-
ru/ScanImage012.jpg

Runners descending from the pass. http://www.zen31010.zen.c-
o.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage013.jpg

Me dicing with traffic in Aviemore main street having just
seen the finish line ahead of me. (Just by that blue lamp
post)
http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...hru/finish.jpg

Don't you wish you hadn't asked now? ;-)

Tim

>
> Nice run, Tim! Sounds like you're really starting to get
> the feel for these longer distances and trails - the
> effort, food and fluid. Congrats!
>
> Dot

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Anthony wrote:
> Tim Downie wrote:
>
>> Finished in 4:58 (about 2/3s of the way down the field).
>> I would have liked to have finished higher but I'm very
>> happy to have finished feeling really good.
>>
> Yeah - finding the balance between feeling great and
> finishing strong and running your fastest possible time.
> I'm still struggling with that equation, but with each
> race you learn something and hopefully move closer to the
> optimum pace

In retrospect, I don't think I did that badly. It was a
pretty elite (well *relatively* elite) group than ran it. No
fun runners and not a lot a spare fat to be seen on any of
the runners. There was a pretty strong *discouragement* to
run it on the entry form if you couldn't easily run a sub
4hr marathon.
>
> It sounds and looks (thanks for pics) like a great race.
> Well done!

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the pictures.

Tim

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np426z wrote:
> "Tim Downie" <timdownie2003@obvious.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in
> message news:2k90luF19e7plU1@uni-berlin.de...
>> Well, what can I say, Doug would have been proud of me.
>> I started off slow and finished fast. Even after 4 hrs
>> I felt like I could run forever. Of course my overall
>> time was cr*p but what do you expect if you listen to
>> Doug? ;-)
>
> Jeeze, Timmy, you're turning into quite the little runner,
> aren't you?

See what happens when you disappear for a couple of months?
You miss all the fun. ;-) Truth be told, it's been rather
dull here in your absence.

<snip>

> Look at your photos. How much more attractive and
> meaningful would they be if they didn't have other runners
> cluttering up the views?

With my little cr*p disposable camera, without a bit of
foreground interest, they'd have been even duller. Scenic
grandeur is all very well but you do need something for the
hill to look grand against.

> If it was just you and the mountains? *You* determing
> where and when you ran?

Given my relative lack of mountain craft, I'm kind of
reassured by having other runners and mountain rescue on
hand. ;-) One day perhaps.

> Oh, and ditch the lycra. You know it makes sense...

What, and risk inflaming your ardour even more? No thanks,
I'll try and keep myself moderately repulsive. ;-)

Tim

--
Remove the obvious to reply by email.

Great pics! And congrats on the race! Glad it felt so good,
that's good planning. Thanks so much for sending the report
and pics, lots of fun to read and see!

(Except I still can't run long and want to sooo bad!)

Teresa in AZ

Tim Downie wrote:
> Dot wrote:
>
>
>>What, no pictures?
>
>
> You asked for them... ;-)
>
> I haven't attempted yet to put them together into a web
> page but here they are.
>
> Me (and 80 others) at the start outside Braemar police
> station. I'm the fool on the far right (no. 11) grinning
> like and idiot and wearing the baseball cap. The lady with
> the dog (no 19) was the first lady home (as she was last
> week in the 95 mile West Highland Way race).
> http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...Ghru/start.jpg
>
> A few deer on the banks of the river Dee on the way up.
> http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...Ghru/ScanImag-
> e001.jpg
>
> My running partner in crime on the left on the road up to
> Mar Lodge. http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhr-
> u/ScanImage002.jpg
>
> My running partner display his rather curious running form
> with a view up the Dee valley behind http://www.zen31010.-
> zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage003.jpg
>
> At last! We go off road after about 4.5 miles. http://www-
> .zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage004.jpg
>
> Getting into the hills proper now. http://www.zen31010.ze-
> n.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage005.jpg
>
> A really embarassing one of me. God, why *did* I have to
> go and put my hand on my hip like that?? http://www.zen31-
> 010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage006.jpg
>
> Keep straight on to the end of the valley and then turn
> right. http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/Sc-
> anImage007.jpg
>
> A fellow runner of the female persuassion. http://www.zen-
> 31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage008.jpg
>
> Approaching the top of the pass. http://www.zen31010.zen.-
> co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage009.jpg
>
> Not the easiest of footing! http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk-
> /images/LairigGhru/ScanImage010.jpg
>
> Two Deeside Runners appropriately at the Pools of Dee,
> the headwaters of the river Dee. (This is the top of the
> pass) http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/Sc-
> anImage011.jpg
>
> Aviemore in sight at last! (That faint horizontal line in
> the distance) http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/Lairig-
> Ghru/ScanImage012.jpg
>
> Runners descending from the pass. http://www.zen31010.zen-
> .co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage013.jpg
>
> Me dicing with traffic in Aviemore main street having
> just seen the finish line ahead of me. (Just by that blue
> lamp post) http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGh-
> ru/finish.jpg
>
> Don't you wish you hadn't asked now? ;-)
>
> Tim
>
>
>
>
>
>>Nice run, Tim! Sounds like you're really starting to get
>>the feel for these longer distances and trails - the
>>effort, food and fluid. Congrats!
>>
>>Dot
>
>

Tim Downie wrote:
> Dot wrote:
>
>
>>What, no pictures?
>
>
> You asked for them... ;-)
>
> I haven't attempted yet to put them together into a web
> page but here they are.

[OT] Not sure what you usually use for web pages, but I've
been using ThumbsPlus (www.cerious.com) (NFI) for many years
to organize photos and more recently to make web pages for
photos for race reports. (One of my funding agencies has
expected photo documentation of vegetation changes on
revegetated mine sites across the years, sooo I've had to
find some method of organizing and searching 1000s of
images, including off-line
CDs.) It has a field for annotations like you've included
here as well as user-defined fields - like race name,
location, date, etc. Once images are documented in your
database, then it's fairly easy to generate a web page
with the desired annotations or fields - about a half
dozen or so mouse clicks, iirc. It's also easy to
resample the images to get from a 2mb digital camera
image to 50-150k for web use. I've been using it to
document many of the trails that I've been running
- esp. if scouting for a race so the rocks and roots don't
get bigger and bigger over time in my mind

[back on topic]
>
<snipped great pic urls>
>
> Don't you wish you hadn't asked now? ;-)
>
Actually, I'm *very* glad I asked! Looks like some nice
country to go running through! Thanks.

It's interesting because I was curious about you having
alpine vegetation at 2700 ft (which seemed low to me), then
I realized that's about 57 N latitude, we're about 61.5, and
Adirondacks (upper New York state, near Canadian border) are
about 44 N lat. So you're a lot closer to us than to lower
48 as far as latitude goes - and hence vegetation
distribution. We probably get into alpine veg about 3000ft,
whereas Ads are probably upper 4000s ft (iirc), and Colorado
treeline (39-40 N lat, at least where I spent most of my
time) is around 11,000 ft or so, depending on north or south-
facing slope.

Is that vegetation typical in that area? or is it a function
of wind and/or rocks or ...? It reminded me of some of the
stuff near 3-4000 ft around here (Sorry for the vegetation
diversion, but I'm inherently curious about such things and
why I run trails.)

Thanks again for the pictures - and resultant
geography lesson.

And, yep, you can still keep grinning for a few more days

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

"Tim Downie" <timdownie2003@obvious.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message news:<2kao73F456lU1@uni-berlin.de>...

> Me (and 80 others) at the start outside Braemar police
> station. I'm the fool on the far right (no. 11) grinning
> like and idiot and wearing the baseball cap.

Well, one almost sees you flat on your face in the
next shot...

An unexpectedly low-key setting for a race start, though -
not even a "Start"-banner across the street!

> The lady with the dog (no 19) was the first lady home (as
> she was last week in the 95 mile West Highland Way race).
> http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...Ghru/start.jpg

The dog is really raring to go and I suppose he enjoyed the
rest of the race as much as his mistress - and I assume
other runners are not unaccustomed to his presence?

BTW I can still claim I´ve never been beaten in a race by
a canine:-)

> My running partner display his rather curious running form
> with a view up the Dee valley behind http://www.zen31010.-
> zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage003.jpg

Well, if it gets him to the finish (and to the start without
getting injured), it must be OK for him, no matter how odd
his way of "carrying" his arms may look to us!

> A really embarassing one of me. God, why *did* I have to
> go and put my hand on my hip like that?? http://www.zen31-
> 010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage006.jpg

Good heavens, it´s not the position of your hand, but the
position of your *hip* that makes you look like <insert the
name of your favourite Queen of Camp here>:-)

OTOH someone who has the balls to include such a picture of
himself *must* have *really* big cojones...

> Not the easiest of footing! http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk-
> /images/LairigGhru/ScanImage010.jpg

This boulder field could easily be on a fjellside in Finnish
Lapland (where it would be called a "rakka") and I´d imagine
that it was/is created in a similar process of erosion.

In Lapland the fjells are few and far between and usually
not as steep as the mountains in the photographs, and
instead of foothills there is mostly flat forest or peat-
land - but apart from that many of the pictures could´ve
been taken there:-)

That there aren´t really any trail races in Lapland is only
partly explained by the rather huge distance from any
centers of population (once you make the journey, you´ll
rather hike for days or weeks rather than make a quick dash
- but the Swedes have at least two (an "Arctic Mountain
Marathon" and an "Extreme Marathon") or by the self-evident
assumption that if you like to run outside of roads, you
will choose orienteering as your sport.

(If only I´d nailed that sub-3, I could now be contently
running in a forest with a map and a compass in my hand ...)

Anders

"Tim Downie" <timdownie2003@obvious.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2kijfiF2750iU1@uni-berlin.de...

> See what happens when you disappear for a couple of
> months? You miss all the fun. ;-) Truth be told, it's been
> rather dull here in your absence.

Oh, I don't know, you seem to have kept yourself going
without my help.

BTW, how did your eldest do in the exams? Does Uni beckon?
If so, which one?

> With my little cr*p disposable camera, without a bit of
> foreground
interest,
> they'd have been even duller. Scenic grandeur is all very
> well but you
do
> need something for the hill to look grand against.

Piffle. The Lairig Ghru looks fine without splotchy runners
littering the tracks.

> Given my relative lack of mountain craft, I'm kind of
> reassured by having other runners and mountain rescue on
> hand. ;-) One day perhaps.

Choose a sunny day with a good forecast and you'll be fine.
There are plently of walkers to assist if things go pear
shaped, and mobiles work well for most of the route.

> What, and risk inflaming your ardour even more? No thanks,
> I'll try and keep myself moderately repulsive. ;-)

Timmy, my love for you couldn't be stronger, even if you
turned into Uma Thurman wearing a t-shirt with the logo
'Shag me NOW please Roger.' emblazoned across her
spectacularly cute chest.

Dot wrote:
> Tim Downie wrote:
>> Dot wrote:
>>
>>
>>> What, no pictures?
>>
>>
>> You asked for them... ;-)
>>
>> I haven't attempted yet to put them together into a web
>> page but here they are.
>
> [OT] Not sure what you usually use for web pages, but I've
> been using ThumbsPlus (www.cerious.com) (NFI) for many
> years to organize photos and more recently to make web
> pages for photos for race reports.

Well I do have software. It's more a case of not being
motivated enough to climb the learning curve yet. ;-)

>> Don't you wish you hadn't asked now? ;-)
>>
> Actually, I'm *very* glad I asked! Looks like some nice
> country to go running through! Thanks.

> Is that vegetation typical in that area? or is it a
> function of wind and/or rocks or ...?

Pretty typical of much of Scotland. You don't have to climb
particularly high to find it. Ling heather covers most of
the Scottish hills
(http://www.habitas.org.uk/flora/photo.asp?item=3902) and
blaeberries are very common too up Deeside.
(http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/tfl.blaeberry.html)

> It reminded me of some of the stuff near 3-4000 ft around
> here (Sorry for the vegetation diversion, but I'm
> inherently curious about such things and why I run
> trails.)

Don't apologise, I'm just sorry I'm not a bit more
botanically savvy myself.

>
> Thanks again for the pictures - and resultant
> geography lesson.
>
>
> And, yep, you can still keep grinning for a few more days
>

I still feel so good I feel a 43 miler coming on in
August....

Tim
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Anders Lustig wrote:
> "Tim Downie" <timdownie2003@obvious.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in
> message news:<2kao73F456lU1@uni-berlin.de>...

> An unexpectedly low-key setting for a race start, though -
> not even a "Start"-banner across the street!

"Start" banners?! Your clubs must have money to burn. ;-)
The finish line was a parked car with a crayoned "Finish"
sign in the windscreen.
>
>> The lady with the dog (no 19) was the first lady home (as
>> she was last week in the 95 mile West Highland Way race).
>> http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...Ghru/start.jpg
>
> The dog is really raring to go and I suppose he enjoyed
> the rest of the race as much as his mistress - and I
> assume other runners are not unaccustomed to his presence?

He a well known mutt who runs all the ultra races with his
owner. I don't think anyone would dare object!

>
> BTW I can still claim I´ve never been beaten in a race by
> a canine:-)

I think he could give you a pretty good run for your money.

>> A really embarassing one of me. God, why *did* I have to
>> go and put my hand on my hip like that?? http://www.zen3-
>> 1010.zen.co.uk/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage006.jpg
>
> Good heavens, it´s not the position of your hand, but the
> position of your *hip* that makes you look like <insert
> the name of your favourite Queen of Camp here>:-)

You are by no means the first to point that out. And I dare
say, not the last. ;-)

>
> OTOH someone who has the balls to include such a picture
> of himself *must* have *really* big cojones...

You'd better believe it.....;-)

>
>> Not the easiest of footing! http://www.zen31010.zen.co.u-
>> k/images/LairigGhru/ScanImage010.jpg
>
> This boulder field could easily be on a fjellside in
> Finnish Lapland (where it would be called a "rakka") and
> I´d imagine that it was/is created in a similar process of
> erosion.

I think it's repeated freeze fracturing of the rock on
either side of the valley. Being a narrow valley, all the
pieces just pile up in the bottom.

>
> In Lapland the fjells are few and far between and usually
> not as steep as the mountains in the photographs, and
> instead of foothills there is mostly flat forest or peat-
> land - but apart from that many of the pictures could´ve
> been taken there:-)
>
> That there aren´t really any trail races in Lapland is
> only partly explained by the rather huge distance from any
> centers of population (once you make the journey, you´ll
> rather hike for days or weeks rather than make a quick
> dash - but the Swedes have at least two (an "Arctic
> Mountain Marathon" and an "Extreme Marathon") or by the
> self-evident assumption that if you like to run outside of
> roads, you will choose orienteering as your sport.

In the big scheme of things, Scotland is *small* and that
means that there are plenty of opportunities for A to B type
races. When distance from A to B become just too great, I
can see why it might seem a bit pointless driving a long way
to A say, running for miles, and then finishing in A
(because the next decent B is just too far).

Speaking of A to B, I've posted my cheque off for Tyndrum to
Fort William on the 7th of August.

Cheers.

Tim

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