Carl Pryce & Jason Williamson were awarded 2nd prize at the inaugural Highlander Mountain Marathon held in picturesque Strathconnon this weekend. After a strong performance on Day 1 with a fast pace and spot-on navigating and route choice, Jason & Carl battled it out on Day 2 with other teams who were closing in on them but held off the strong competition to hold on to 2nd place. Not far behind them were Dan & Jon Gay from Fort William, followed by exCosmic Paul Sheard & partner Jon Alyward. Third placed on Day 1, first time (and last time??) mountain marathon runner Alan Smith (Deeside), partnered with Adrian Davis (Carnethy), made an unfortunate mistake early in Day 2 to give Jason & Carl some extra space. However, the overall winners Tim Higginbottom & Chris Near outshone everyone with an amazingly fast perfomance on both days.
Rob Brookes (another first-timer) with Matt Brettle ran a fast Day 1 but they made the mistake of taking to the celidh dance floor one too many times on Sat night and lost a place on Day 2 to come 4th in Class B, just missing a podium place. Ian Wilson with partner Richard Lang found the going a bit harder and finished in 7th place in Class B.
Dennis McDonald with partner Dave Hirst (Deeside) were 1st Vets in the Score Class which hides the fact that their route choice on Day 1 made them an hour late, losing far too many points!! Dennis started Day 2 by melting holes into his shoes to make them lighter (?!) which must have worked because they pulled their way up through the teams to take 5th overall.
All those Cosmics who missed the first Highlander Mountain Marathon this year should be kicking themselves! The weather can only be described as stunning - and the location at the heart of Strathconnon enabled the planners to create some challenging courses giving competitors access to wild hill country with amazing views of snowcapped mountains to the north and west. Thanks go to all the organisers (including Cosmic Katy Boo) and I'm sure all those who took part are looking forward to next years event already. For a taster watch out for the Adventure Show in May.
Results will be soon be on the
Highlander Mountain Marathon website. For photos click
here.
