We opted for the “B” class event - long enough to be tasty but not silly long (or so we thought). Sadly, between entering and getting to the start line, we had been unable to get in enough hill running time together as we would have liked.
Drove north on the Friday afternoon and after registration and some food, met up with some old Heb Challenge pals before retiring to the relative comfort of the Berlingo for the night.
Day -1
Next morning dawned with clear blue skies (which we failed to take into consideration and left the sun cream in the van for some reason). Picked up the first bus to the start close to the Victoria Falls car park on the south side of Loch Maree. We got our controls and started marking up the maps …it was going to be an interesting day. Very quickly I identified a route which actually took in two Corbetts – Beinn an Eoin and Baosbheinn. Was pleased that Joe agreed that since we were not fit enough to be competitive, we could pick the aesthetically pleasing route. The second control was a cracker, bottom of a re-entrant / gully. It was obvious that the course planner Alec Keith and team had put in a good effort in control location. After visiting the next few controls, we started up the summit ridge of Beinn an Eoin before a fast out and back to the summit. Dropping down to Poca Buidhe took a while and it was obvious that very few (if any) had taken this route choice. Thankfully, there was a line across the small lochans that kept our feet dry before starting to climb again.
Another team joined us at the next control – we headed up towards the high ridge of Baosbheinn and they dropped back down to the lower ground. Over the summit we had the challenge of picking a route down through the crags to the next control. Thankfully a steep gully led almost directly down to the re-entrant in question!
From high up, I had planned a line across the open moorland passing a small top and leading up another short gully. Unfortunately, I had mistaken exactly where the 293m top of Mullach na Cadhaichean was and we ended up a bit further west than we should have been. We used a small lochan with an almost jigsaw like feature to relocate and all was well again.
The route continued in a generally west direction but we were both getting tired and the pace slowed dramatically. Nice bit was that the heat of the sun had gone and we were left with an impressive evening light on the surrounding hills. With the last few controls sorted, we dropped down onto the track which lead to the midcamp at Sheildaig. Shortly after arriving, we had the tent up …fed and relaxed with a beer chatting to other racers and enjoying the Ceildh band.
Day -2
Next morning, Joe was in a bit of pain. I never said anything but another epic day was not what was needed. After marking up the map with the days controls, it was obvious …another epic day was exactly what was on the cards. We picked up the first two controls before I stated the obvious …we were going to seriously struggle to finish the course never mind be in any way competitive. We discussed the options and the reasons behind them and decided to pull out of the race. The main factors were:
• We were hideously slow and the reality of another 10 hour day was not going to be enjoyable.
• We were both suffering a fair bit of sunburn from Day 1 – further exposure was only going to make it worse.
• It was not reasonable to expect the race organisers / marshalls to stay out on the course when we were in such bad shape.
The third control lay to the east …we turned to the west and headed for the road. Nice bit …walking away from the race was the right decision on the day and it felt good to be making the right decision for the right reasons even though in directly conflicted with why we were at the event …that was to finish.
A few folks have expressed surprise that I did not simply push Joe harder (which I have done in a number of previous events). The answer is fairly simple, we have done enough in the hills over the years for me to know where our limits as a team sit.
Next year …NEXT year ….
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