November 18, 2011

Tinto Hill Race

Tinto Hill Race! The Final Counter! The deciding race! Titles to be fought for! Never has one race meant so much to so many!!

Tinto Hill Race organised by Carnethy Hill Running Club has a special place in many Carnegie Harriers Hearts as it is ran in memory of George Murdoch who sadly passed away but loved the hills and believed that Tinto was such an accessable race than any one, even those road loving runners, could give it a go. Saturday 12th November 2011 brought the 28th Tinto Hill race and the 15th and last counter in the Carnegie Harriers Hill Running Grand Prix. 266 runners turned out on what was a glorious, sunny, albeit chilly, winters afternoon and this included 16 hardy Harriers.

Now Tinto is one of those races that we all underestimate, “4.2 miles, is that it? No problem!” And so many of us would have been proved wrong.

All of the runners squeeze into the little space just through the gate at Tinto car park, and with the blast (or rather squirt this year) of the air horn of we all charge towards the hill. The first section is runnable but very muddy so tiring on the legs and before you know it you are onto the up hill slog. There are those runners who can still manage to run up these steep sections, like Pete, Stevie and Kevin and then there are those like Tom who can stride out faster than most of us can run. Then there are the rest of us that shuffle along hands on knees trying our best to keep up.

There are small bits of the uphill section that you can break into a run or a running shuffle in my case but for most of the 2.1 miles its hard work. As you get closer to the top the mud turns into stones which rather than making things easier are equally as tough and then its a quick run around the cairn at the top, no time to take in the views, but straight back down again. One of the things that keeps you going up this hill though is all the shouts of encouragement from the faster runners heading back down. Nobody can really breathe or talk but everyone still manages to grunt a word or two as you pass by. The descent is fast and furious as gravity does its part and launches you down the hill as fast as your legs can keep up. You try and get over the stoney section, without slipping or falling and then its onto the mud where you can really let loose. A few people took tumbles heading down and there were a fair few dirty bodies at the finish line.

First Harrier home was Chris McCall who in his first race in over 7 years was absolutely flying both up and down that hill and finished in an incredible 34.59 in 8th place overall! Brilliant stuff Chris! Next Harrier home was Pete Simpson finishing in 20th position and claiming 1st Male50. 3rd Harrier home was Stevie King closely followed by Ross Carrie who was trying out his hill legs for the first time and seemed to quite enjoy it. There was a sheer flurry of Harriers crossing the line after this and then the three ladies, Mel, Morna and Lisa Carrie, who like her brother Ross was trying out her hill legs and finished in a very respectable time. Lets hope we see them both at more hill races.

12/11/2011 – Tinto Hill Race, 4.4 miles, 1500ft
8th	Chris McCall	00:34:59
20th	Peter Simpson	00:36:34 *1st Male 50+
39th	Steven King	00:39:29
53rd	Ross Carrie	00:40:39
89th	David Greig	00:43:18
101st	Kevin Davie	00:43:49
131st	Andy Sim	00:45:24
154th	Colin Reynolds	00:46:46
161st	Tom Bowie	00:47:07
175th	Allan Brannigan	00:48:18
197th	Allan Macaulay	00:50:29
203rd	Bill Duff	00:51:12
217th	Paul Davies	00:53:00
218th	Melanie Sinclair	00:53:05
224th	Morna Fleming	00:55:10
256th	Lisa Carrie	01:04:06

Chris flying through the gate towards the finish!

Well done to Cameron Scott for all his hard work and organisation of a brilliant hill race. This is a firm Carnegie Harrier favourite not just because its a great race but also for the yummy soup after, we all look forward to that aswell.

All the photos that are shown were taken by Fife Wifie Sarah Legge who was provding tremendous encouragement on the hill. Thanks Sarah

For more photos of the runners heading up the hill have a look here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/reynardnursery/sets/72157628111349942/ and for the downhill pics look here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/reynardnursery/sets/72157627986632293/ all of which were kindly taken by Andrew Scott AKA Reynard Nursery who can been seen at many of the hill races. Thank you

SO?? What was the result of the 2011 Hill Running Grand Prix? Did it all end in tears or just tears of joy? Wait for the next installment of the blog and all shall be revealed.