Helensburgh AAC tackle challenging hill race

Published 27 Jan 2012 09:00

THE Devils Burdens - even the name of the race is enough to hint that it falls into the category of challenging.

However, that was not enough to stop two intrepid Helensburgh AAC teams heading for the Lomond Hills in Fife on January 22 to take part in this popular hill race relay for the third year in a row.

The Burdens is not for the faint-hearted, involving navigation in what can be difficult winter conditions.

On top of that, two of the four legs have to be run in pairs for safety reasons.

The total circuit is over 20 miles but the various elevations and peaks are what makes it interesting and, as there are various checkpoints en route, taking short cuts is not an option.

It was a strong field which toed the line for the 2012 event, with recent mountain running world male and female individual champions amidst the 122 teams taking part.

The Helensburgh men's team got their race off to a flier with an excellent first leg (4.4 miles and 1,395 ft ascent) completed by Stevie Bell and Ross McInroy in 49th position.

Some vital time was lost at the hand over, however, and despite second leg runner Ken White battling through the 3.5 miles with 780 ft ascent, the team sat 70th position by the time the third leg runners, Paul Thompson and Iain Walker, set off.

The third leg (6.4 miles and 1846 ft ascent) is the toughest so the experienced runners did an excellent job in running the 24th-fastest time of the day to regain vital positions.

The exhaustion in their faces at the end showed how much effort had been put in.

The final leg, which is a 4.8-mile trail gently ascending through the trees, resulted in the whole team being placed 48th overall.

Helensburgh's other team consisted of five females and a lone male.

The first-leg pair were Jan Fellowes and Laura Johnston.

This was Laura's first outing in a hill race and although initially apprehensive ran excellently and loved the experience.

Andrew Stafford ran a solid 2nd leg before handing over to the accomplished Michelle Hetherington and Sarah Walker.

They excelled themselves by being seventh female pair on leg three (70th overall) and junior runner Madeline Robinson completed the team and finished well, resulting in them being 92nd overall.

Tweet

This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 26 Jan 12

Follow @helensburghadv

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.