Goat Fell hill race report

Tim Downie said:

Well,that was fun. (And it's not often I say that about
a race).

🙂

Quoted message said:

Walshes laced up, at 12:00 we set off towards Broddick
Castle along the road. As I was unsure about my hill
running abilities over this sort of height/distance, I
took it pretty easy for the first mile and a half (which
was on pretty level road). After that you cut up through
forest up the hill proper. This means that about 98% of
the ascent takes place in about 2.5 miles. Despite this,
there are a good number of runable stretches and apart
from the expected wheezing and gasping the ascent wasn't
too bad until we neared the summit where I was stumbling
and tripping over everything and getting just a little
worried about how my legs would cope on the way down. The
path itself was dry and a mixture of gravel and stone.
Couldn't really have asked for more.

Sounds like the symptoms of another hill lover 😉

Quoted message said:

The path to the summit takes you behind a ridge and about
100m for the top you rise up over the ridge to enjoy and
absolutely stunning view over the bay towards Broddick. It
really was the kind of view that makes you utter out loud
involuntarily.

This is one of my major criteria for race selection 😉

Quoted message said:

I had passed the eventual 2nd lady on the way up but she
passed me like I was standing still ( and enjoying a
leisurely picnic with a fine bottle of chilled Chablis) on
the way down. I just couldn't believe the way she hopped
and skipped her way down.

This is what I referring to in another thread about some
people having and developing the strength and skill for
downhilling. They tend to be very nimble and make it
look so easy.

Quoted message said:

it was back to the road. How terrible that felt after all
the off-road stuff!

Think you're becoming addicted. 🙂

Quoted message said:

All in all though, well organised, friendly and great fun.
Don't miss it next year!

Nice run, Tim. Sounds like you're getting addicted to hills
and trails!

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

er ... isn't that "rejuvenated", Tim? :-)
Nice report. Downhills like that kill my thighs and I'm so heavy I'm afraid
of breaking the hill, so I try not to do them too fast!
Sounds like most people had nice days this weekend.
J
"Tim Downie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Well,that was fun. (And it's not often I say that about
a race).

Usually when I've enjoyed a race it means I wasn't really
trying hard

enough

Quoted message said:

and indeed, that may well have been the case today but it
was really too nice a run to spoil by going b*lls out. The
views were stunning and everything about the race was just
so good.

Myself and a clubmate caught the 9:45 ferry over to Arran.
On the way

over,

Quoted message said:

the top Goat Fell (2867ft, 874m) was wreathed in mist but
as we approached Arran, it was clear that it was lifting.
We strolled to the Rugby club at the north end of Broddick
where registration took place and warmed up in

the

Quoted message said:

playing field.

Walshes laced up, at 12:00 we set off towards Broddick
Castle along the road. As I was unsure about my hill
running abilities over this sort of height/distance, I
took it pretty easy for the first mile and a half

(which

Quoted message said:

was on pretty level road). After that you cut up through
forest up the

hill

Quoted message said:

proper. This means that about 98% of the ascent takes
place in about 2.5 miles. Despite this, there are a good
number of runable stretches and

apart

Quoted message said:

from the expected wheezing and gasping the ascent wasn't
too bad until we neared the summit where I was stumbling
and tripping over everything and getting just a little
worried about how my legs would cope on the way

down.

Quoted message said:

The path itself was dry and a mixture of gravel and stone.
Couldn't really have asked for more.

The path to the summit takes you behind a ridge and about
100m for the top you rise up over the ridge to enjoy and
absolutely stunning view over the bay towards Broddick. It
really was the kind of view that makes you utter out loud
involuntarily. I would like to say I used suitably poetic
words but I think at the time, "[censored] me!" was the best I
could muster. ;-)

My clubmate beat me to the trig point by about 90 seconds
(boo!) but

within

Quoted message said:

a couple of minutes I had passed him on the way down. (I
reached the top after 1:09). I was going to say that he
was running downhill like a girly but that would being
doing a gross injustice to the women who were

running.

Quoted message said:

I had passed the eventual 2nd lady on the way up but she
passed me like I was standing still ( and enjoying a
leisurely picnic with a fine bottle of chilled Chablis)
on the way down. I just couldn't believe the way she
hopped and skipped her way down. I foolishly thought that
I would catch

her

Quoted message said:

on the levelish bit but no way! In the end she finished
just 5 minutes ahead of me so I probably was catching her
on the level bits but she was amazing to watch.

My stumbling uphill legs seem to be enjoying the change of
slope. With rejuvinated muscles and with much hoping,
skipping and generally scaring

the

Quoted message said:

bejesus out of the hill walkers on their way up, it was
back to the road. How terrible that felt after all the off-
road stuff! Legs suddenly felt leaden and the last mile
and a half seemed much longer than on the way up.
Eventually hit Broddick and crossed the line in 1:55:58.
Only managed

61st

Quoted message said:

out of 82 in the end but I don't care, it was too much fun
to worry about. Beat my club mate by over 5 minutes so
that was all that mattered. ;-)

Brilliant showers at the rugby club with oodles of hot
water. Also ample supplies of free bananas, sandwiches,
buttered jammy scones and carrot

cake.

Quoted message said:

There was a nominal charge for tea and cooffee but
free refills

thereafter.

Quoted message said:

I would say that a great time was had by all if it wasn't
for one chap who fell heavily and managed to bleed fairly
copiously all the way down the mountain despite being
patched up. Another poor woman fell heavily on her knee
and I stongly suspect broke something very painful and had
to be stretchered off by the mountain rescue who were in
attendance at several points on the hill. (Might well end
up getting anaesthetised by my better half later tonight).

All in all though, well organised, friendly and great fun.
Don't miss it next year!

Tim

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Dot said:

Nice run, Tim. Sounds like you're getting addicted to
hills and trails!

Well, I don't know about that. The roads have their merits
too and I enjoy both. Frankly, after the Speyside Way race,
I felt I could happily have turned my back on off-road
racing for good and stuck to the blissfully smooth tarmac
for the rest of my life. Goat Fell however is more or less
on my door step (barring the odd ferry jouney). Somehow
though, I'd never got around to climbing it before.

Tim

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"Dot" <dot.h@#att.net> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tim Downie said:

Well,that was fun. (And it's not often I say that about
a race).

🙂

Quoted message said:

Walshes laced up, at 12:00 we set off towards Broddick
Castle

along the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

road. As I was unsure about my hill running abilities
over this

sort of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

height/distance, I took it pretty easy for the first
mile and a

half (which

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

was on pretty level road). After that you cut up through
forest

up the hill

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

proper. This means that about 98% of the ascent takes
place in

about 2.5

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

miles. Despite this, there are a good number of runable

stretches and apart

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

from the expected wheezing and gasping the ascent wasn't
too bad

until we

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

neared the summit where I was stumbling and
tripping over

everything and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

getting just a little worried about how my legs would
cope on

the way down.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The path itself was dry and a mixture of gravel and
stone.

Couldn't really

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

have asked for more.

I did a 3 1/2 hour trail run on the Connecticut, NY, Mass
border yesterday to include a small piece of the Appalachian
Trail.. A little like Tim's experience but a run not a race.
I'm not half bad on hills but some of these short step rocky
climbs had me panting like a rutting bull. To help my
comfort level it was about 80 and I had to haul my double UD
with big bottles.

Anyway, a lot of these trails are not runable most unlike
the stuff I usually enjoy. To say the least those step ups
were tough. Why the masochism? I've inserted a 70 mile trail
run for June 12 and this race similar characteristics.
Nothing like a crash course to see if I can get in before
the 22 hour cut off.. laurelultra.comcourse.htmOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Sounds like the symptoms of another hill lover 😉

Tim, say goodbye to those boring roads. 😉

Quoted message said:

This is what I referring to in another thread about
some people

having

Quoted message said:

and developing the strength and skill for downhilling.
They tend

to be

Quoted message said:

very nimble and make it look so easy.

This is part practice and part genetics/fear. Years back I
did trail runs that were classified as ugly. I did get
used to the footing but never the reckless abandon as
others. I would need to look before I would leap while the
good/fast runners would leap and then see where they were
going to land.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

it was back to the road. How terrible that felt after
all the off-road stuff!

How true! To come off a trail and run on the road is a
tough transition and not easy. Sure a flatter road seems
like a nice change but it isn't. Soem of my races have a
mile or two of roads to get from one train to another and
we all dread it.

Quoted message said:

Think you're becoming addicted. 🙂

This could be a difficult transition especially he keeps log
and records mileage down to two decimal points. 😉

--
Doug Freese
[email hidden]
(Remove the NOBS)

Jonathan Sydenham said:

er ... isn't that "rejuvenated", Tim? :-)

Could well be. Speeling was always my weekest subjekt.

Quoted message said:

Nice report. Downhills like that kill my thighs and I'm so
heavy I'm afraid of breaking the hill, so I try not to do
them too fast!

I'm beginning to wish I hadn't gone down quite so fast
myself! I like to think that I have pretty good foot/eye
coordination for my age (I always run down stairs) and
compared to my club mate, I galloped down a lot fast than he
did (even if he is 25 yrs my junior). However *he* ran
another small hill race on Sunday whilst I'm hobbling round
like underprepared post-marathon neophyte.

Quoted message said:

Sounds like most people had nice days this weekend.

I'm sure they did. Most annoyingly, I've just discovered
that the same organisers run a longer hill race on the same
mountain on the 12th of June, the day before my Edinburgh
marathon. I'd dearly love to do it but it's going to have to
wait until next year now. :-(

Tim

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"Doug Freese" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This is what I referring to in another thread about some
people having and developing the strength and skill for
downhilling. They tend to be very nimble and make it
look so easy.

Quoted message said:

This is part practice and part genetics/fear. Years back I
did trail runs that were classified as ugly. I did get
used to the footing but never the reckless abandon as
others. I would need to look before I would leap while the
good/fast runners would leap and then see where they were
going to land.

It's also part age -- downhill speed is the first thing to
go, both for my podiatrist (2:24 marathoner) and me (a fair
bit slower). Whereas I used to keep up with folks on uphills
and smoke them on the way down, it's now exactly the
opposite, if there's any technical descending.

I remember flying down boulders, just like you said, leap
off, eyes focused 8 feet in front in a totally zen state,
and figure out the landing zone on the fly. Now I end up
spraining ankles (like I did in a 25 mile trail race on May
1). Oh well, at least I didn't fall.

--Dan

Doug Freese said:

"Dot" <dot.h@#att.net> wrote in message news:oEFpc.10821$hH.267861@bgtnsc04-
news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

Quoted message said:

I did a 3 1/2 hour trail run on the Connecticut, NY, Mass
border yesterday to include a small piece of the
Appalachian Trail.. A little like Tim's experience but a
run not a race. I'm not half bad on hills but some of
these short step rocky climbs had me panting like a
rutting bull. To help my comfort level it was about 80 and
I had to haul my double UD with big bottles.

Yea, that sounds like a small portion of one of my local
trails (Lazy Mt, not the ones I usually run). Most of it is
dirt or gravel (20-30% slopes), but there's some roots
arranged like steps as well as some railroad tie-type steps
for erosion control - both of which are larger than the
small step size I was taking to stay aerobic. This is where
I got cooked, thoroughly (yea, it was 80+F with a cb of
gear and water 😉 Your run was much longer and more
technical, but I had a brief intro 010 to it (won't give it
credit for being a 100-level course 😉. I really began to
appreciate the concept of "going out too fast" doesn't
necessarily mean speed 😉 and the energy cost of running up
steep stuff isn't worth the increment of speed gained - if
any. I knew it, but I had to experiment and see where my
levels were 😉 Still working on it. And I do recognize that
"hard" workouts don't even have to involve running - just
where your effort level is.

Quoted message said:

Anyway, a lot of these trails are not runable most unlike
the stuff I usually enjoy. To say the least those step ups
were tough. Why the masochism? I've inserted a 70 mile
trail run for June 12 and this race similar
characteristics. Nothing like a crash course to see if I
can get in before the 22 hour cut off..
laurelultra.comcourse.htmOpen ↗

Going for the whole shootin' match this year, heh? 🙂 (not
just the warmup relay you did last year). Sounds like
that'll be your last significant long run before VT100
(about 4 - 6 wks afterward, iirc)?

Enjoy!

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

In article said:

"Doug Freese" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This is what I referring to in another thread about
some people having and developing the strength and
skill for downhilling. They tend to be very nimble and
make it look so easy.

Quoted message said:

This is part practice and part genetics/fear. Years back
I did trail runs that were classified as ugly. I did get
used to the footing but never the reckless abandon as
others. I would need to look before I would leap while
the good/fast runners would leap and then see where they
were going to land.

It's also part age -- downhill speed is the first thing to
go, both for my podiatrist (2:24 marathoner) and me (a
fair bit slower). Whereas I used to

I think downhill running involves more neuromuscular work.
Perhaps part of an association between passing on the
downhill and staying ahead is that going slowly on the
downhill is a symptom of fatigue and mental slacking off.
Where age comes into this picture is that raw legspeed seems
to be first to go in old people. The 55+ American record for
the mile is 4:50, the marathon is 2:33. Anecdotally, I find
myself able to stay ahead of the top masters guys in my team
on quarter mile reps, but they are stronger on the tempos.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Dan Stumpus said:

"Doug Freese" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This is what I referring to in another thread about some
people having and developing the strength and skill for
downhilling. They tend to be very nimble and make it look
so easy.

Quoted message said:

This is part practice and part genetics/fear. Years back I
did trail runs that were classified as ugly. I did get
used to the footing but never the reckless abandon as
others. I would need to look before I would leap while the
good/fast runners would leap and then see where they were
going to land.

It's also part age -- downhill speed is the first thing to
go, both for my podiatrist (2:24 marathoner) and me (a
fair bit slower). Whereas I used to keep up with folks on
uphills and smoke them on the way down, it's now exactly
the opposite, if there's any technical descending.

My take for what a good "downhiller" (I'm not, I'm wimpy)
needs for technical trails:

1. confidence (aka guts, balls, reckless abandon, youthful
indescretion, not understanding the phrase "it hurts when
I fall", etc)

2. good foot-eye coordination and the reaction time and
reflexes to respond to it (proprioception, quickness,
coordination)

3. followed by an assortment of things like strength, leg
speed etc to support #1 and 2.

My gut feeling is that #2 goes first with age, and once you
start falling, #1 drops also. If you have 2, you probably
have 1 or are totally unaware of there being an issue 😉 #2
can be improved with practice and drills up to genetic / age
"limitations".

Quoted message said:

I remember flying down boulders, just like you said, leap
off, eyes focused 8 feet in front in a totally zen state,
and figure out the landing zone on the fly. Now I end up
spraining ankles (like I did in a 25 mile trail race on
May 1). Oh well, at least I didn't fall.

Dan, have you looked at any proprioception drills to
strengthen ankle in recovery. There's actually some
interesting papers on the different response of a once-
injured (or multiple times) ankle to additional stress. Try
searching PP online (or I might have linked to some in past
posts on proprioception), but most of my reading has been
the current (last couple years) issues of PP, SIB, or RRN
(I'm probably pulling from all 3 plus some trail running
stuff and can't remember exactly where all the stuff is
since I've been doing hw on it for almost 2 years since PT
found my foot/ankle problems). I do them just to avoid
injury and they really help a lot. We also do some agility
drills in my winter xt class, although we only did them one
week this year, so I was disappointed, and I definitely
notice my slower reaction time this spring (another year
older probably doesn't help either and more snowshoe
running, but I don't think that's it).

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

"Dan Stumpus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Doug Freese" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This is what I referring to in another thread about
some

people having

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and developing the strength and skill for downhilling.
They

tend

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

to be very nimble and make it look so easy.

Quoted message said:

This is part practice and part genetics/fear. Years back
I did trail runs that were classified as ugly. I did get
used to the footing but never the reckless abandon as
others. I would need to look before I would leap while
the good/fast runners would

leap

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and then see where they were going to land.

It's also part age -- downhill speed is the first
thing to go,

both for my

Quoted message said:

podiatrist (2:24 marathoner) and me (a fair bit
slower). Whereas

I used to

Quoted message said:

keep up with folks on uphills and smoke them on the way
down, it's

now

Quoted message said:

exactly the opposite, if there's any technical descending.

I remember flying down boulders, just like you said,
leap off,

eyes focused

Quoted message said:

8 feet in front in a totally zen state, and figure out
the landing

zone on

Quoted message said:

the fly. Now I end up spraining ankles (like I did in
a 25 mile

trail race

Quoted message said:

on May 1). Oh well, at least I didn't fall.

Ain't MEN-o-pause a [censored]? 😉 I still train hard to do my
best but accept the fact that there is some slowing and all
I can do is slow the slowing. I'm a long way from the
cutoffs so I still have a year or two left.

--
Doug Freese
[email hidden]
(Remove the NOBS)

"Dan Stumpus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Doug Freese" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This is what I referring to in another thread about
some

people having

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and developing the strength and skill for downhilling.
They

tend

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

to be very nimble and make it look so easy.

Quoted message said:

This is part practice and part genetics/fear. Years back
I did trail runs that were classified as ugly. I did get
used to the footing but never the reckless abandon as
others. I would need to look before I would leap while
the good/fast runners would

leap

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and then see where they were going to land.

It's also part age -- downhill speed is the first
thing to go,

both for my

Quoted message said:

podiatrist (2:24 marathoner) and me (a fair bit
slower). Whereas

I used to

Quoted message said:

keep up with folks on uphills and smoke them on the way
down, it's

now

Quoted message said:

exactly the opposite, if there's any technical descending.

I remember flying down boulders, just like you said,
leap off,

eyes focused

Quoted message said:

8 feet in front in a totally zen state, and figure out
the landing

zone on

Quoted message said:

the fly. Now I end up spraining ankles (like I did in
a 25 mile

trail race

Quoted message said:

on May 1). Oh well, at least I didn't fall.

Ain't MEN-o-pause a [censored]? 😉 I still train hard to do my
best but accept the fact that there is some slowing and all
I can do is slow the slowing. I'm a long way from the
cutoffs so I still have a year or two left.

--
Doug Freese
[email hidden]
(Remove the NOBS)

"Donovan Rebbechi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Dan Stumpus said:

Quoted message said:

I think downhill running involves more neuromuscular
work. Perhaps

part of an

Quoted message said:

association between passing on the downhill and staying
ahead is

that going

Quoted message said:

slowly on the downhill is a symptom of fatigue and mental
slacking

off. Where

Quoted message said:

age comes into this picture is that raw legspeed seems to
be first

to go in

Quoted message said:

old people. The 55+ American record for the mile is
4:50, the

marathon is 2:33.

Quoted message said:

Anecdotally, I find myself able to stay ahead of the
top masters

guys in my

Quoted message said:

team on quarter mile reps, but they are stronger on
the tempos.

Donovan, the downhills that Dan and I are talking about are
trails with rocks, roots and many feet of sudden drop that
you can't see.

I'm sure neuromuscular is a part but there is heavy case of
"balls" to run this stuff hard and stay uninjured. Would you
leap blindly off a rock and THEN look to see how and where
you will land? 😉

--
Doug Freese
[email hidden]
(Remove the NOBS)

< Most annoyingly, I've just discovered that the same

Quoted message said:

organisers run a longer hill race on the same mountain on
the 12th of

June,

Quoted message said:

the day before my Edinburgh marathon. I'd dearly love to
do it but it's going to have to wait until next year
now. :-(

Tim

I don't know quite what to say to that. How sad? Go for
it? Be a devil? How sensible? Put it in the bank for a
treat for 2006?

In article said:

"Donovan Rebbechi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Dan Stumpus said:

Quoted message said:

I think downhill running involves more neuromuscular
work. Perhaps

part of an

Quoted message said:

association between passing on the downhill and staying
ahead is

that going

Quoted message said:

slowly on the downhill is a symptom of fatigue and mental
slacking

off. Where

Quoted message said:

age comes into this picture is that raw legspeed seems to
be first

to go in

Quoted message said:

old people. The 55+ American record for the mile is
4:50, the

marathon is 2:33.

Quoted message said:

Anecdotally, I find myself able to stay ahead of the top
masters

guys in my

Quoted message said:

team on quarter mile reps, but they are stronger on the
tempos.

Donovan, the downhills that Dan and I are talking about
are trails with rocks, roots and many feet of sudden drop
that you can't see.

I'm sure neuromuscular is a part but there is heavy case
of "balls" to run this stuff hard and stay uninjured.

Yeah, I was thinking of smooth downhills, but I have run
down extreme downhills (20% or more in the bush -- when I
was young and foolish enough to do such things) so I'm
familiar with it. In this case, it's a mixture of
adreneline, balance and fast reflexes -- still a point on
which the old folks are likely to be at a disadvantage.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

He're a rather naff photo of GoatFell taken from our start
position. You can see our approximate route to the top.

zen31010.zen.co.ukroute.jpgOpen ↗

Tim
--
Remove the obvious to reply by email.

Tim Downie said:

He're a rather naff photo of GoatFell taken from our start
position. You can see our approximate route to the top.

zen31010.zen.co.ukroute.jpgOpen ↗

Tim, Thanks for posting this. I was getting the feeling that
some people didn't understand what type of trail you were
running. Looks similar to one of our local hills (3000ft in
2-2.5 miles, depending upon whether using horizontal
measurement on trail map or trail guide).

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

That is quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen,
when you consider that most hills in Oxford are done and
dusted in 2 minutes!!

Am hopefully going to do tough guy next Jan with a couple of
mates and the 8mile XC before the assault course features a
hill section which you have to run up and down 12
times....... I need to find some hills from which to throw
myself down with 'youthful indiscretion', as Dot so
eloquently put it!

D

--

Ask for my e-mail if needed

Tim Downie said:

Well,that was fun. (And it's not often I say that
about a race).

Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, what *are* you doing? Swanning off to
Arran with your chum to race up that excuse for a mountain?

Three things to consider before you undertake such jaunts
in future.

1. Fell-running is not for the sane or the lycra-clad.
It's a throwback to the days of 'real' running,
interspersed with interlopers like yourself who have no
business outside of a 'Peoples Marathon'. Stop
attending these events. You know it makes sense.

2. Arran is a horrid place. I shan't explain this further.
Suffice to say that - were God to remove it from the
earth this evening - no-one of taste and refinement
would notice.

3. Weekends are for family. Ignore yours at your peril. To
be alienated from ones wife is acceptable, even
desirable. To be separated from ones children before
they run screaming from your grasp is unforgivable. As a
penance, you must spend the next ten weekends doing
things with/for them that they enjoy, even if you have
to give your long run a miss to do so.

Here endeth the lesson.

Emily. Who knows *heaps* about important stuff like this.

Caroline's adorable cousin said:

Tim Downie said:

Well,that was fun. (And it's not often I say that about
a race).

Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, what *are* you doing? Swanning off to
Arran with your chum to race up that excuse for a
mountain?

Admit it. You're deeply jealous that you're not up to this
kind of running any more. ;-)

Quoted message said:

Three things to consider before you undertake such jaunts
in future.

1. Fell-running is not for the sane

Agreed

Quoted message said:

or the lycra-clad.

Oh I dunno. I wasn't the only one sporting lycra.

Quoted message said:

It's a throwback to the days of 'real' running,
interspersed with interlopers like yourself who have no
business outside of a 'Peoples Marathon'. Stop attending
these events. You know it makes sense.

My next stupid "peoples marathon" is currently causing me
alot of grief, happening as it does, the day after the next
Goatfell race (which includes the Glen Rosa horseshoe).
Having paid good money for the Edinburgh bash (*and* Red Hot
Chilli Pepper tickets for my offspring) I think I'm
committed to doing it when I'd far rather be in Arran.

Would you mind running it for me? (see
scottishathletics.org.ukevent.phpOpen ↗ for
entry details). I'd hate for neither of us to get up there
on the day.

Quoted message said:

2. Arran is a horrid place. I shan't explain this
further.

Ha! I bet you have a second home or mistress or some such
thing hiding there.

Quoted message said:

Suffice to say that - were God to remove it from the
earth this evening - no-one of taste and refinement
would notice.

Methinks you want it to yourself.

Quoted message said:

3. Weekends are for family. Ignore yours at your peril.
To be alienated from ones wife is acceptable, even
desirable. To be separated from ones children before
they run screaming from your grasp is unforgivable.

Given that one was studying for her standard grades all day
and the other having fun on horseback, I don't think they
missed me too much that day. Besides, a happy father is a
good father and running up hills makes me happy.

Quoted message said:

As a penance, you must spend the next ten weekends doing
things with/for them that they enjoy, even if you have
to give your long run a miss to do so.

Hmmm... Surely a father's job is to introduce your children
to things that they *don't* know they will enjoy. Hill
running for instance. ;-)

Tim

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