Well over 500 runners lined up at Milngavie on a cold but beautiful Saturday morning, ready to take on the 53 miles Ultra Marathon finishing in Tyndrum. With conditions near perfect the excitement was building as there was bound to be some fast times.
Six harriers made it to the start line with some inspiring performances. First home in the famous colours was Kyle Wilson. Kyle ran a very well paced race maintaining good form throughout. With eyes set on the full West Highland Way race later in the year, Kyle was keen not to go out too hard. Positions changed along each checkpoint, with several head-to-head races going on. Emerging from this with several scalps along the way, Kyle finished in an outstanding 7th place overall and 5th place in the Scottish Athletics National Ultra Trail Championship. William Taylor was next to complete the distance. Being no stranger to the ultra scene, William had set his targets high and was on course to finish in the top 100 places. However, cramp had set in early in the race which meant he had to fight to the finish the hard way. That said, William went on to achieve an 18 minute personal best time over the course, finishing 162nd overall and 50th in the SA championship.
Arguably the run of the day came from Kirsty Ormond who finished an outstanding 6th female in the Scottish championship table and 173rd overall as part of a ‘training run’ according to Kirsty’s coach. The next two Harriers home ran the entire route together. Chris Cameron and Alan O’Rourke spent half of the day in each others company and what a run they had. Being only his 2nd ultra and longest one yet, it was going to be a tough learning curve for Alan (if you haven’t already go and read his personal account of the race). Alan and Chris both finished in the top 300 places in just over 12 hours of running! The final Harrier to cross the line was our Ultra man, Craig Hyslop who, like some of the others, is attempting the ‘Triple Crown’; that is running the Highland Fling, West Highland Way and Devil of the Highlands races in one year. Craig paced the race perfectly and will be delighted with his progress and training.
Well done to all of you.
Now take some to recover!
Results
7th – Kyle Wilson, 7:49:09
162nd – William Taylor, 11:08:00
173rd – Kirsty Ormond, 11:13:14
299th – Chris Cameron, 12:21:17
300th – Alan O’Rourke, 12:21:20
403rd – Craig Hyslop, 13:23:05
