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www.fifeac.co.uk
After 21½ hours afloat from Mull we were getting checked out for our run over the three Paps of Jura covering 14 very steep miles. The time was after 8 p.m. and it gave us two hours of daylight and one hour of dusk, anything after that would be done by head-torches. It began with one mile of road then three miles of bog, which gave us access to Bein Shiartaidh. We had taken a bad line and ended up at the wrong end of the mountain. A quick scurry up the glen and we could see other runners who had found a better route by going more direct, never mind we were back on course. This gave us a hard, steep climb to the summit. A short run back along the ridge and our next goal was Bien ar Oir. From Shiantaidh ridge we could see the best access route, also the marshals tent on the summit. We arrived there just on darkness, which showed Jura's lights all around. It was great to be here and feeling stronger with every step. The next summit was just across the glen from where we were standing, but it meant a rough steep descent and an even rougher, steeper ascent up the other side. We received a bit of duff information about the route and ended up lost for half an hour. However, we spotted other runner's head-torches and made a right traverse. "Hello", I shouted. "Is this the best way up?" A quick reply came "For f**** sake it's the pensioners, they're lost again". It was Mat and Ian, the Boggies. So we slagged each other all the way to the summit of Bein a Chaolais and down the other side over the sparkling screes, heather, bogs and onto the road. Over one mile of road and we were back at the moorings in Craighouse.
It was a cold, frustrating 20 minutes shouting to our boat as the crew had slept in. To make matters worse the hotel was still open, the whole bay was dancing with Scottish country music and we were cold, tired and skint financially. However, we had done Jura in 5:01.55 finishing 26th, losing places by taking some bad lines and having to contend with the dark in the latter stages, we had also had a ball. While asleep it had been another windless night, which left many knots to sail around the Mull of Kintyre and into Lamlash Bay on Arran. In all it took over 24 hours, which meant Goatfell had to be run in the dark.
The run began with 1½ miles of road and then some cross-country through fields, forestry and farm tracks before Goat Fell itself. It was a fantastic route full of interest and fun, it also brings us to where these ramblings began. This left us with the same return run and a short sail across to Troon, which saw us celebrate with a shower and a big glass of Bruichladdich. The race finished with a 400 yard sprint up the moorings to the clubhouse to have our numbers stamp checked. We ended up 18th with an overall time of 69:27.40, our running time 13:13.33 finishing 14th. The highlights apart from the perfect hill running country, mountain scenery, and mountain experiences must be the sightings of Basking sharks, porpoises and dolphins. The excitement of sailing in good winds and the peace and quiet of no wind at all, the wild coastline and the terrific island moorings in this lovely part of South West Scotland. Roll on next year. Something to get fit for, again. The big problem will be to get 'Fatty' fit again.
Tom Ross
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