Carnegie Harriers

Carnegie Harriers is with Neil Mclure and 3 others.

5 days ago

Please find below a race report on last weeks 'Glenshee 9' hill race, courtesy of Derek Fish. A really good read on one of the iconic races in the Scottish hill racing calendar, enjoy 🙂 (Photos courtesy of Russ Valentine)

The Glenshee 9 is one of the long races in the Scottish Hill running calendar. It is held every second year and comprises of a circular route taking in the 9 Munro’s around Glenshee and is 21 miles in length. The event was a sell out with 200 spaces filling up. The Munro’s have to be run in the correct order and other than that you can plot your own way to each top. The race starts at the surprisingly sensible time of 11am and the runners have to meet the cut off by 2:30pm at the road crossing between the 6th Munro and 7th.

After a 7am alarm call I picked up Jonathan Millar at 8am after a stop at Costa for a coffee and tea. On arriving at Glenshee we signed in and received our race number and complimentary meal ticket. We dropped some supplies at the road crossing for later in the race between Munro 6 and 7. There were 4 harriers taking part in the race and we soon met up with Kevin Davie and Neil McClure for the usual pre race photo. The race started after a short briefing which was difficult to hear with the ski lift in full flow. The plan was to run with Jonny and use as a training run for his big race in two weeks and mine in 4. We made our way to the back of the field and before long we headed off.

The run up to the first Munro ‘Creag Lecach’ was fairly straight forward as we followed the masses in front. The leaders gradually got further away until we reached the col and saw them heading back towards us. The final climb up was over a large boulder field making progress up and down slower than normal. The remaining 5 Munros on the east side were all ticked off one after the other. The tops were mostly grassy and we generally cut the corners and took the straightest line avoiding the few paths. The hills reminded me of the Ochils with large flattish tops without much drops between each hill. The tussocks on the grass made it energy sapping and slower going however we were glad it was dry as it could have easily been very boggy if normal Scottish weather was in force.

After Munro 6 (Carn a Turic) there is a large drop off in height back towards the main road. The initial top is very steep and bouldery and we were able to pick up 3 or 4 places we had lost earlier. There is then a very steep and slippy path heading the rest of the way down. We avoided the path altogether and ran down the heather and drier long grass which gave us more grip and we picked off another 4 or 5 places before the bottom. Thankfully we made the cut off with 25 minutes to spare although on a wet day with the cloud down it may have been a different matter. It was at this point the day was really warming up and we were glad we had left some water and coke at the road side for a refill.

The climb up to Carn Asoda can only be described as an absolute @@@@@@@ (insert swear word of choice). Not only was it steeper than the grim reaper it was pathless and the heather dug into your shins. It was noted that it took us 37 minutes to cover the mile!!! After reaching the top there is a relatively straightforward out and back towards Carn a Gheoidh (number 8) where we firstly heard then saw Kevin heading to the final Munro and then Neil passing us by. We made the top, about turned and headed back towards the final hill.

Munro 9 was the Cairnwell which is directly above Glenshee ski centre. To say it Is an eyesore is an understatement. A large mast sits on the top with out buildings and a rickety chair lift as well as a large digger which was in full flow. However at this stage it was met with great delight as you could ‘literally see the pub from here’. Another steep descent was undertaken down a grassy pathless slope with Jonny leading the charge and me trying not to fall. We just nicked past a runner on the last 25 meters before crossing the line. The four of us all completed the course:
Kevin Davie 4:26:09 in 34th place
Neil McClure 4:40:08 in 47th place
Jonathan Millar 5:18:06 in 80th place
Derek Fish 5:18:21 in 81st place

In the end 132 people took part with 109 making the finish. The first 3 home were all from Carnethy with Andrew Fallas taking the win for the second time in 3:19:14. First lady was Helen Bonsor also from Carnethy in 3:58:47 with Anwen Darlington from Dundee Road runners second. Hill racing isn’t everyones cup of tea however they are usually cheap to enter, well organised and good fun. The Glenshee 9 exceeded my expectations as a great day out as well as bagging a few more Munros on the way. ... See MoreSee Less

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