The Glenshee 9 - a virgins tale!

Most of you who know me, will be well aware of my lack of confidence with navigation. I love running in the hills, but really don't trust myself not to get lost. So far, this has restricted my participation in many races that ask you to carry a map and compass!

So it was with a feeling of dread, and a little bit of excitement, that I sent off my entry for the Glenshee 9 – 21 miles, 6000ft of ascent and 9 munro's.

Preparations began in earnest!! I spent hours (really!) pouring over maps, taking bearings, measuring distance and reading Steve Fallons route description. Notes were made on index cards, laminated and colour coded! I felt prepared and good to go.

Nick and I set off early Sunday morning to make registration and the race start at 11am. Nick snoozed, whilst I, with a feeling of dread, drove into my worst nightmare – 0 visability!! Realised that I stood no chance of competing in these conditions. I was probably going to struggle on a clear day – so what chance did I stand now

Thankfully the forcast was to clear. I reluctantly collected my number and willed the mist to lift. The race started, still in poor visibility, from the carpark opposite the ski centre.  There was a good turnout despite the weather, so initially there was going to be people to follow – just had to keep them in my sights! Spotted a girl whose raced with me before, a similar pace, so she was the person I was going to follow. Who cared if she couldn't navigate either, at least we could get lost together!

The route initially heads east taking in Glas Maol (1068m), Cairn of Claise (1064m) and Tom Buidhe (967m) before heading north to Tolmount(958m). The route is pretty runable bar the climbs! It was around 2km into the run that I had a feeling of Deja vu – I was catching up with Nick! Brought back memories of Ben Rhinnes hill race. Turned out his foot had gone numb again so he was having to slow right down. I carried on, and thankfully visibility improved. Still lots of people to follow, so no need to take the laminated cards out of my bumbag! Approaching Tom Buidhe, and Nick had caught up with me again. He was still having problems with his foot, but he looked as if he was carrying on.

From Tolmont, the route heads west taking in Carn an Tuiric (1019m) before descending to the road. It was at this point, that the girl I was blindly following, pulled out with a groin injury. Decided to follow Nick instead! Challenge now was to make sure I got to the road (14 miles into the race) before the cut off time of 2:30pm. Managed with 15 minutess to spare. Nick got there a few minutes before me but had stopped – he was pulling out! After a quick drink, I was about to face the toughest climb of the race.

After crossing the road, you are faced with the insanely steep ascent of Carn Aosda (917m) I realised I was more or less on my own. There was one tiny figure infront of me and two girls behind me and that seemed to be it. Maybe I would have to navigate afterall – yikes!! The hill lasted forever. I was totally destroyed and my legs were screaming at me to stop. By this stage, my water was all gone and I knew there was no chance of getting anymore until the end.

Eventually got to the top. The tiny figure that had been in front of me had had enough – he was bailing. I decided my map and laminated cards were now required. I realised that the two girls who had been behind me had started following the guy bailing! Shouted on them, and pointed us in the right direction (big tick for me) Turned out one of the girls was from Italy and the other from France! Anyway, I managed to get us all to the penultimate checkpoint at Carn Gheoidh (975m). They even thanked me for keeping us right – little did they know!! Anyway, with a big grin on my face, we retraced our steps and headed for the last checkpoint – The Cairnwell (933m). By this stage, my thirst was immence. I was still 'running', but my feet were barely leaving the ground. Arrived at the Cairnwell to be greated by a lovely marshall with a bottle of water!! A few gulps later, I started the descent back to the ski centre. I'm not sure if the race organisers were having a laugh with this one, but it was crazy steep – think it's part of the black ski run!! Anyway, it was just good to see the finish.

Felt elated – i'd finished and I'd even managed to navigate :-) Not a brilliant time - 5 hours 26 mins, but room for improvement next year.

If you've made it to the end of my rather long winded tale, I'd thoroughly recommend this race. Lovely route, great scenery, and i met a lot of nice people.