Running 3:20:17 [4] 25.0 km (8:01 / km) +2500m 5:20 / km
Arrochar Alps, British champs long. Wow, that was a race and a half. After feeling pretty ropey all week I was more than a bit concerned about just getting round this. Set off in the mix on the mercifully gently-paced 4-mile run out to the foot of the climbs proper, where a front group of Morgan, Joe and Ben took off at a fast power-walk that I couldn't match. Tucked in behind Rhys, Findlay and Lloyd once he reeled us in (after taking a different line) and the hill just kept coming...one Kinder, two Kinders, three...750m straight down the side on some steep grassy shelves and hit the dam at the bottom with jelly legs already, still 3 Munros to go. Lloyd and Findlay pulled out a gap on Ben Vane and Rhys and I got caught by Pete Vale and Karl Gray, and we ground it out together, catching glimpses of the leaders way up above our heads. We diverged on different lines on the way down to the next coll and reconverged again on the way up Beinne Ime, which was a scramble on all fours for much of the way, with Rhys and I setting the pace. A fast and gentle descent to the next coll saw me almost drop off the back of the group and I was getting concerned that I would have no chance on the last big downhill to the finish. But I was pleased to discover that my legs felt fine as we set off up the final climb to Beinn Narnain so I dug in and ran much of it, which took me back up to Rhys who had pulled away at the front. Neither of us found the right line off the top but Rhys lost more than me and I managed to get a bit of a gap in spite of getting a bit crag bound and having to clamber over some exposed greasy boulders to get back on track. The 900m+ descent turned out to be rocky, technical and slippery all the way, so I went for it as much as I could, well aware that Rhys and Karl were right behind me with all the benefit of my line finding. At one point I took a 5m slide down a rock slab and narrowly missed falling down a crag into a stream, but managed to hit the track at the bottom in one piece and with energy to spare for the 1.5 mile run in to the finish, probably the best I have felt at the end of a long race this year. 7th place, 13 mins down on a new record by Ben Bardsley, my best result for ages and a great way to tick off 4 munros!
Running 5:00 [2] 1.0 km (5:00 / km)
Warm up, no warm down - sat in a river for a while and got bad cramps.