A successfull recce of the Ghru on Saturday morning a mammoth beast of a race. The start was dry and pretty warm with a wee wind. Got out onto the road and the body temperature started to rise.. The road section continued for 4-5miles what I can remember is that when we started off road the track was Ok a bit like the Westhighland way etc, then a rivercrossing, Stevie King went first, but slipped and ended up lying in the river with water coming out his shorts! Myself and the girls, Helena, Gail and Lynne all went the dry way which would add 2 mins at least to your time!
The other side we started to hit slight gradients but the stone were hard to navigate round this was nothing for what was in store later. Got to the bothy then round the corner, the route starts here, the path gets worse with upturned stones that get bigger by the mile, gradient gets higher the wind starts to hit you coming up the funnel of the Ghru, hit the Pools then the boulders I’ve never seen the like of before, I was wondering why the walkers were carrying Ski Poles now I know!!! This lasted for about a mile after this you started to descent but the heather was covered by stones everywhere which was murder on the ankles and your balance!
Then you get over that into peat bog which is suppose to be a path, by this time you can see the trees of Rothiemurchus and the potential near end! The path again is shrewn big boulders and stones for another mile of so before you get into the woods.
Getting to run in the woods brings it’s own problems your tired you have been running on uneven surfaces which are the most technical I’ve done to date, like me you running along with your toes coming off the ground by 2 milimeters when I tripped on a tree root the next thing I could see was a boulder moving very fast to the head to save myself I put my hands out to rip your arms rather than to have a boulder bounce off your head!!!Unbelievable!!!!!The rest of the run is good decending in the forest going into a flat for about 2 miles, get to the Caravan Park 3 miles to go on road, this is bloody hard in itself!!!!!Glad to have done it but you need to watch your sugar intake take plenty of water and calories and treat it with the respect it deserves!!!!!!
Posted under personal trainer, massage therapist
This post was written by Tommy on May 19, 2008