Kaim Hill Race 20/4/22
The Kaim Hill race returned on Wednesday night with a slight change to the course but with spectacular conditions as standard. 109 runners completed the first race in the Scottish Hill Runners popular ‘Bog & Burn’ series with 9 Harriers tackling the 3.5 mile route. Don’t be fooled with the distance as runners climb a thigh burning 1,100ft in just over 1.5 miles.
Kyle Wilson
Fiona MacFarlane
The race started quick with Kyle Wilson showing his strength on the hills as he steadily picked off the pack reaching the top of Kaim Hill in 3rd place and just over a minute ahead of his team mates, a real sign of what’s to come from Kyle. Next to the halfway point was Andy McCall in 9th place followed closely by a big group of runners which included Michael McLoone, Owen Atkinson and Shaun Wiseman all bunched together. Daniel Doherty was next to the top with sights on a pack just in front. Fiona MacFarlane’s marathon training had clearly put in her in good stead as she reached the turn well up in the strong field of runners. Elaine Medinelli wore her infectious smile for the entire race and seemed to loving every minute but the same couldn’t be said for Lynne Fulton who was battling with her own thoughts to reach the summit.
Michael
Andy & Shaun
Andy
Hill racing is the epitome of a ‘game of two halves’ as the runners found out when they started the descent. Fresh from a fantastic 10 mile performance at the recent club race, Kyle Wilson was having the race of his life with dreams of a podium finish dashed as training partner McCall came storming past him in the technical section of the downhill. Andy’s experience and fearless descending paid off as he moved into 4th place with around half a mile to go. It was on the final fast descent that Andy passed Westerlands Del Young to take 3rd place in a big personal best time of 30 minutes and 19 seconds. Andy last won this race in 2011 and was delighted to get back on the podium. Kyle Wilson finished in 6th place and can take a lot from his first hill race into the next one.
Michael McLoone and Owen Atkinson battled it out for 13th and 14th place with Michael taking the honours after one of his best downhill races. Owen had arguably the race of the day with his performance and on his debut hill race. He paced the race perfectly to finish strong. Shaun Wiseman was delighted with a much stronger descent than he had in 2019. Now armed with a pair of trails shoes he smashed his previous time by well over 1 minute to take the first Junior male prize. On his return to fitness, Daniel will be happy to have taken several people on the descent to finish strong in a very respectable 40th place. Fiona MacFarlane was next home in 83rd place with another huge PB for this race. Elaine will be delighted with her downhill as she again took a big chunk off her previous time, well over 2 minutes improvement. This was Lynne Fulton’s first hill race and will be delighted to have finished the race, fighting off the urge to pull out on the tough climb. At least it was a stunning night to enjoy the views and we hope to see Lynne back for more.
The next race in the Bog & Burn series is on Wednesday 27th April where the Harriers will head to Luss to take on the gruelling Beinn Dubh Hill race.
Kaim Hill Results:
Andy McCall – 3rd place, 30:19
Kyle Wilson – 6th , 31:20
Michael Joseph McLoone – 13th, 32:41
Owen Atkinson – 14th, 32:56
Shaun Wiseman – 18th, 34:02
Daniel Doherty – 40th, 37:45
Fiona McFarlane – 83rd, 45:34
Elaine Medinelli – 108th, 66:18
Lynne Fulton – 109th, 85:31
Shaun Wiseman went on from Kaim Hill race to finish in 6th place at the Scottish Schools Aquathon championship on the Friday night. Shaun busy as always!
Saturday saw the return of the popular Ultra marathon, the 2022 Highland Fling , with four Harriers ‘lucky’ enough to have entry into this prestigious event. Running the first 55 mile of the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Tyndrum were Kev Craig, Greg Turner, Lorna Mitchell and Viki Smith. Kevin was first back in 9 hours 23, who was hoping for a bit quicker and had a hard time in the later stages, but it was still a PB. Viki came in just ahead of Greig in 11.47 and 11.49 respectively, while Lorna wasn’t much further back in 11.55.
Michael McLoone Snr ran 37.22 for the Arran Ormidale 10k for 4th place, a time that improved on his previous year by almost 5 minutes and would have been good enough for victory 12 months ago.
Run Mhor Hidden Glen 10k was on Sunday 24th with Lorna Coyle finishing 3rd FV60 in 58:16 and Kirsty Ormond was 3rd female in 46:59.
There were some superb runs at Greenock parkrun on Saturday too, in howling wind conditions. Congratulations to GGH member Stephen Harrison for his first stint as run director.