Es Tressidder, Mike Robinson, Ralph Skrimshire, Will Spain and myself lined up for this, the first race of its type in the UK (along with billions of midges). It was meant to blend mountain running and alpinism - and it was. The weather was favourable for the top runners but by the time Mike, Ralph and I crossed the Aonach Eagach it was wet. Curved ridge on the Buchaille was a great way to the top but unfortunately created some bottlenecks for those at the back, some having to wait 10-20 minutes.
On top of Stob Dearg (the peak of the Buchaille) Will thought better of it and retired which was a sensible decision as looking ahead there were ascents of Buchaille Etive Beag and Bidean nam Bidean with a cruel there and back to the top of Stob Coire nan Lochain. Here I saw Mike (35mins ahead) and Ralph (7 mins ahead). The ascent onto the Aonach Eagach was huge but a large rest was then had as in the wet it was hard to push it across the pinnacles. I had caught Ralph at checkpoint 10 - the half way point (actually 3/5 point) but he had a good climb and more importantly a good run in. This was the only negative for the event; namely the 5 mile run out and therefore run in. The 150m height gain from Kingshouse to the Glencoe Ski Centre being particularly hardwork.
Es battled it out at the front but tired in the second half finishing eighth. Sponsored heroes Joe Symonds and Emilie Scandawegian finished 1st and 2nd overall - Emilie is the world and european skyrunning champion. Most impressive performance though came from Jasmin Paris - 5th overall and only 10 mins behind Emilie!! I was determined to finish under 10hrs and just managed it. Ralph finished in 9h45 and Mike an impressive 9h.
The Adventure Show did a small feature on the race (you may remember the Jura coverage). This involved some performance coaching for me before the event - to improve my enjoyment and secondarily my performance - with some coverage of during and after the event. Did it help? The techniques taught were used and were easy to undertake (Mindfulness, Acceptance, Commitment; MAC) - carrying a GoPro over the Aonach Eagach on a chest harness which meant I struggled to get my cag on and then couldn't zip it up was more trying. The results will be shown in Scotalnd but will be available on the iplayer. I will post a note with a due-date when I know this for those who wish to see the extent of my grazes from a fall descending off the 1st peak (acceptance techniques used a lot here!)
Would I do it again? - probably - although this would be a different undertaking in cold driving rain.
Dave Sykes
| Position | Name | Club | Class | Time | Comment | Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J Symonds | 07:36:21 | ||||
| 20 | Mike Robinson | Dark Peak | MV45 | 09:00:12 | ||
| 37 | Ralph Skrimshire | Dark Peak | M | 09:45:49 | ||
| 44 | Dave Sykes | Dark Peak | MV40 | 09:57:42 |