Carnethy 5 race report

There's a new photo report out on the site on
http://www.carnethy.com/ri_results/racereports/pr_carnethy2005.htm

I like this photo of the leaders (and the rest of us mortals way back).
http://www.carnethy.com/photos/carn05/ants.jpg

Tim

"Tim Downie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

There's a new photo report out on the site on
http://www.carnethy.com/ri_results/racereports/pr_carnethy2005.htm

I like this photo of the leaders (and the rest of us mortals way back).
http://www.carnethy.com/photos/carn05/ants.jpg

Tim

looks like a fun race!

Quoted message said:

Big Congrats, Tim! The pics are lovely. But I'm glad I get to race
on smooth, even surfaces! I don't think my ankles could take it,
hope yours is much better soon. Thanks for the report with the
pictures, it's fun to be able to see "unusual" race courses.

Teresa in AZ

Tim Downie said:

On Saturday I took part in the Carnethy 5, a romp up 5 of the peaks in the
Pentland hill range. At about 6 miles in distance and 2,500 ft of ascent,
it's neither that long or that high but don't be fooled (or in my case, self
deluded) into thinking that this makes it easy.

The organisers (Carnethy running club) seem to be masters at finding the
toughest ways up and down these hills, deliberately avioding paths and
forcing us to clamber up the steepest slopes though what felt like miles of
heather until your calves are screaming for mercy.

The race starts in a boggy field just north of Silver burn (see
http://tinyurl.com/4zxpe), heads up a gully up the side of Scalds Law, and
from there we headed for South Black Hill, East Kip and West Kip in quick
succession. After West kip we galloped down to The Howe, losing all our
hard won altitude. It was then another relentless slog up Carnethy before
descending the south side to the start/finish area. The route down cleverly
avoided nearly all the lovely scree that would have been blissful to run
down in comparison to the ankle twisting heather and rocks that we had to
contend with. My ankles gave up on me half way down and I had to suffer the
ignominy of being passed by at least 10 runners in this one short stretch.

Eventually you do get off the hill and have time for a joyous blast through
the boggy field (that feels truely heavenly after what's gone before) to the
finish line where I at least managed to repass a few of the folk who had
passed me on the way down the hill.

Overall I finished in 243rd place (out of 452) which for a hill run is
pretty decent for me although these things are hard to compare. (Finishing
time 73:13). I was very dissapointed to be beaten by the young pretender in
our club ( see http://www.carnethy.com/photos/carn05/rudolfo.jp . number128)
but given that he's 23 years my junior I don't feel too badly that he beat
me by 42 seconds.

Full results and more pictures on http://www.carnethy.com . This site is
well worth a browse for the photographs of Scottish hill races. Inspiring
stuff.

Tim

Teresa Bippert-Plymate said:

Big Congrats, Tim! The pics are lovely. But I'm glad I get to race
on smooth, even surfaces! I don't think my ankles could take it,
hope yours is much better soon. Thanks for the report with the
pictures, it's fun to be able to see "unusual" race courses.

Thanks Teresa, glad you enjoyed them. One of the best things about the
Carnethy club is the effort they put into getting lots of photographs and
putting them up on their site. When you're racing you don't always manage
to admire the views as much as you'd like and it's nice to be able to go
back and see the views afterwards! ;-)

Ankles are fine today, it was just overwhelming fatigue on the last descent
that had me almost weeping with frustration as I lost all control of my
legs.

Cheers!

Tim

wow tim. congrats. speaking as a new york city guy....that looks like
a rather compelling running terrain. the photos are really marvelous.
question. i was checking out the shoes. looked like i spotted an
adidas goretex trail shoe....and maybe a diadora (sic)..not sure....but
i really could not make out what kind of foot gear people were using.
did not spot a single pair of white or thereabouts....shoes. and
what's w/the black socks? some klnd of smartwool?

and the photo titled "Paul Ritchie of Carnethy climbing 'tall' ".
<--please...everybody needs to go check that out...enlarge it...it's
amazing. no need for words, a caption...nothing....that's photo
itself should be published. it's truly an incredible shot. thanks for
posting this tim.

Quoted message said:

wow tim. congrats. speaking as a new york city guy....that looks like
a rather compelling running terrain. the photos are really marvelous.
question. i was checking out the shoes. looked like i spotted an
adidas goretex trail shoe....and maybe a diadora (sic)..not
sure....but i really could not make out what kind of foot gear people
were using. did not spot a single pair of white or
thereabouts....shoes. and what's w/the black socks? some klnd of
smartwool?

Shoes are mostly Innov8s and Walshes of various guises. (See
http://www.peteblandsports.co.uk/trolleyed/32/474/2/index.htm) Very light,
grippy and with minimal cushioning. Most folk don't bother with white socks
as they don't stay white for long when you're wading through peaty mud.

Quoted message said:

and the photo titled "Paul Ritchie of Carnethy climbing 'tall' ".
<--please...everybody needs to go check that out...enlarge it...it's
amazing. no need for words, a caption...nothing....that's photo
itself should be published. it's truly an incredible shot. thanks
for posting this tim.

If you like their site why not post your comments to their guest book?
Carnethy do an excellent job of photographing their events. As for Paul
Ritchie, the guy's obviously not suffering enough and the wimp is wearing
long pants. ;-)

Tim

Leafing through rec.running, I read a message from
[email hidden] of 14 Feb 2005:

Quoted message said:

On Saturday I took part in the Carnethy 5, a romp up 5 of the peaks in
the Pentland hill range. At about 6 miles in distance and 2,500 ft of
ascent, it's neither that long or that high but don't be fooled (or in
my case, self deluded) into thinking that this makes it easy.

The organisers (Carnethy running club) seem to be masters at finding
the toughest ways up and down these hills, deliberately avioding paths
and forcing us to clamber up the steepest slopes though what felt like
miles of heather until your calves are screaming for mercy.

The race starts in a boggy field just north of Silver burn (see
http://tinyurl.com/4zxpe), heads up a gully up the side of Scalds Law,
and from there we headed for South Black Hill, East Kip and West Kip
in quick succession. After West kip we galloped down to The Howe,
losing all our hard won altitude. It was then another relentless slog
up Carnethy before descending the south side to the start/finish area.
The route down cleverly avoided nearly all the lovely scree that
would have been blissful to run down in comparison to the ankle
twisting heather and rocks that we had to contend with. My ankles
gave up on me half way down and I had to suffer the ignominy of being
passed by at least 10 runners in this one short stretch.

Eventually you do get off the hill and have time for a joyous blast
through the boggy field (that feels truely heavenly after what's gone
before) to the finish line where I at least managed to repass a few of
the folk who had passed me on the way down the hill.

Overall I finished in 243rd place (out of 452) which for a hill run is
pretty decent for me although these things are hard to compare.
(Finishing time 73:13). I was very dissapointed to be beaten by the
young pretender in our club ( see
http://www.carnethy.com/photos/carn05/rudolfo.jp . number128) but
given that he's 23 years my junior I don't feel too badly that he beat
me by 42 seconds.

Thanks for the photos, Tim.

BTW, I must have a pair of these plaid running shorts
http://www.carnethy.com/photos/carn05/backs.jpg

Phil M.

Tim - great stuff. Loved those photos.
Really would like to do some races on that type of terrain...

Anthony.

Tim Downie said:

There's a new photo report out on the site on
http://www.carnethy.com/ri_results/racereports/pr_carnethy2005.htm

Quoted message said:

Nice job on your race, Tim. Looks like more neat country, although it
looks strange to see stuff above treeline not covered with snow this
time of year 😉

Now, you know I'm going to be curious about stuff in the photos 😉

Quoted message said:

I like this photo of the leaders (and the rest of us mortals way back).
http://www.carnethy.com/photos/carn05/ants.jpg

There's some white spots on the hill in the background - just above and
to right of 3rd runner. Are they sheep? rocks? And the horizontal lines
herd (animal or people) trails or some type of geologic strata? Just
curious.

On the Louise Roberts and Stewart Barrie photos, just curious, but is
this an area where runners can take anyway down the hillside? Looks like
some are on trail; others just hoofing it through the heather. I was
just curious since you mentioned in your report about going up the hard
way through heather. Some of ours you're expected to stay on trail;
others are every person to himself scrambling up the hillside.

Nice photos - they've got some nice examples and comparisons of running
form there.

Thanks for the report and photos. And congratulations again.

Dot

--
"You try to slow down and enjoy it. You try to look at the scenery. But
your brain can kind of go blank. All you want to do is tell your feet to
keep working."
-Cedar Petrosius, women's winner 2004 Matanuska Peak Challenge (14mi,
9000ft up and down)

Dot said:

Tim Downie said:

There's a new photo report out on the site on
http://www.carnethy.com/ri_results/racereports/pr_carnethy2005.htm

Quoted message said:

Nice job on your race, Tim. Looks like more neat country, although it
looks strange to see stuff above treeline not covered with snow this
time of year 😉

Now, you know I'm going to be curious about stuff in the photos 😉

Quoted message said:

I like this photo of the leaders (and the rest of us mortals way
back). http://www.carnethy.com/photos/carn05/ants.jpg

There's some white spots on the hill in the background - just above
and to right of 3rd runner. Are they sheep? rocks?

Sheep

Quoted message said:

the horizontal
lines herd (animal or people) trails or some type of geologic strata?
Just curious.

Sheep trails.

Quoted message said:

On the Louise Roberts and Stewart Barrie photos, just curious, but is
this an area where runners can take anyway down the hillside? Looks
like some are on trail; others just hoofing it through the heather. I
was just curious since you mentioned in your report about going up
the hard way through heather. Some of ours you're expected to stay on
trail; others are every person to himself scrambling up the hillside.

The race route is decided in conjunction with the local farmer. It's chosen
to minimise erosion on heavily used paths so in general, the normal paths
are avoided. Whilst there is a certain amount of freedom to choose your
route most of the course is well marked and you're expected to follow the
marks. That said, where there's a bit of leeway, runners will spread out in
search of an easier route.

Quoted message said:

Nice photos - they've got some nice examples and comparisons of
running form there.

None of me, which is perhaps for the best. ;-)

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the report and photos. And congratulations again.

Thanks Dot. As I said to Lance, it's Carnthy who deserve all the thanks for
the photos.

Tim

"Tim Downie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

There's a new photo report out on the site on
http://www.carnethy.com/ri_results/racereports/pr_carnethy2005.htm

Where the hell are the trees?

-Doug

"Tim Downie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

wow tim. congrats. speaking as a new york city guy....that looks
like
a rather compelling running terrain. the photos are really
marvelous.
question. i was checking out the shoes. looked like i spotted an
adidas goretex trail shoe....and maybe a diadora (sic)..not
sure....but i really could not make out what kind of foot gear people
were using. did not spot a single pair of white or
thereabouts....shoes. and what's w/the black socks? some klnd of
smartwool?

Shoes are mostly Innov8s and Walshes of various guises. (See
http://www.peteblandsports.co.uk/trolleyed/32/474/2/index.htm) Very
light, grippy and with minimal cushioning. Most folk don't bother
with white socks as they don't stay white for long when you're wading
through peaty mud.

Lance, I can tell you don't run many trails when you ask about white
socks. I'm not sure who was first with dark colored socks mountain
bikers or trail runners but let me tell you no amount of washing with
or without bleach can keep white socks white. I still have a few pairs
in my drawer that are perfectly good but are stained to no end and I
haven't the heart to throw them away. OTOH, they are so gross looking I
don't put them on for fear my friends will take up a collection.

-DougF

Doug Freese said:

"Tim Downie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

There's a new photo report out on the site on
http://www.carnethy.com/ri_results/racereports/pr_carnethy2005.htm

Where the hell are the trees?

Sheep ate 'em all.

Years ago the hill probably would have been wooded but sheep have been
grazing the hills for a long time now and no new tree stands a chance.

Tim

Tim Downie said:

Quoted message said:

Where the hell are the trees?

Quoted message said:

Sheep ate 'em all.

Those Highland sheep must be big monsters:-)

Anders

Hey Tim looks like a great race. It kind of reminds me of orienteering in
the western US - the open spaces and sweeping terrain. Interesting how trail
races are so popular these days. It's a great experience compared to the
monotonous pacing and racing the clock that is road racing IMO. Thanks for
the report - makes me want to get in some spring races.

-Tony

Tony said:

Hey Tim looks like a great race. It kind of reminds me of
orienteering in the western US - the open spaces and sweeping
terrain. Interesting how trail races are so popular these days. It's
a great experience compared to the monotonous pacing and racing the
clock that is road racing IMO. Thanks for the report - makes me want
to get in some spring races.

Glad you enjoyed it and hope you find some good trail races!

Tim