The new venue for the 2014 club trail race was the war memorial in Blanefield just by Strathblane, the trail works its way up 450ft along the Campsie Dene Road before losing all the height on a half mile run down onto the A81 at Glengoyne Distillery from there we cut across the road and onto the WHW, and work up another 450ft before taking a lefthander on the path which took us out halfway up the Cuill Brae and then down the hill and back to the war memorial for a total of 7 miles.
Well that was the plan. Those who hadn’t done the recce managed to follow on from others and after a couple of small mistakes by the usual suspects we all managed to get back in about the right time, except young Andrew Stevenson who managed to cover 12 miles in a 7 mile race after missing the left turn at 3 miles and only released his mistake when it was getting dark and he was getting hungry, so by default he was beaten by his dad Kenny for the first time since he was 3yrs old.
Back at the sharp end Andy asserted his authority in a convincing win as Trail Champion and giving him joint leadership in the Merit League with Craig who was second after losing some ground with a wrong turn. Michael put in another good performance and pipped Kieran for third, and I ran mostly on my own for fifth. Margaret and Cat fought out a good battle for the ladies prize with Margaret coming out a deserved winner in the end after faring better on the hills with Caroline just behind in third. Next in came Kenny out of retirement again who flattered to deceive around the 5 mile mark before settling for bragging rights in the Stevenson household and just ahead of Fletcher who fought through bracken and bushes to lay a brand new path for next years run.
All in all a good wee race and a good turnout despite the late call offs, thanks to Fletcher, Craig, Andy and Kieran for the transport much appreciated.
RESULTS
Andy Sutherland : 46m 54s – Champion
Craig White : 53m 04s
Michael Kemp : 55m 04s
Kieran Sullivan : 56m 04s
Chris Hever : 61m 56s
Margaret Peebles : 65m 50s – Champion
Cat Nisbet : 66m 49s
Caroline Hever : 67m 51s
Kenny Stevenson : 69m 08s
Fletcher Murdoch : 88m 27s
Andrew Stevenson : Still running at time of going to print !
