On Sunday 18th October 2015, 6 Moray Road Runners made up one-quarter of the small field of 24 running the 2015 Fochabers Monumental Challenge. This race is the third and final leg of the Fochabers Triple Challenge. It is billed as a challenging trail race starting and finishing in the picturesque Winding Walks near Fochabers. Approx 5 mile route taking you up to the Monument at the top of Whiteash Hill.
Registration at the Scout Hall in Christie Place was fast and friendly. How many race registrations offer you a mini Mars Bar and compliments from the registration desk ladies on the ‘lovely’ yellow club jacket? Naturally, I declined the Mars Bar, I’m a pro after all. The entry fee is a steal at only £6.
The start of the race was approximately one mile from the registration point. This was a pleasant walk/jog for some. In my case, I took the car to the Winding Walks car park just off of the A98 east of Fochabers. I didn’t plan to hang about after the race. I had an appointment with a rugby match on TV.
Weather on the day was perfect. No wind, mild, cloudy, but bright enough. It seems that almost all races I enter have great weather. I still can’t work out if I’m lucky or easily pleased. Either way, this was yet another good day to be racing.
A short one mile warm up with Dave Mathers over the first half mile of the course revealed that the path was quite slippery. I was glad we were running up that bit, I wouldn’t fancy hurtling down on tired legs. This is the pre race point where a lot of runners compare sore bits and phantom injuries. I claim a convincing victory over Dave. We arrived back at the start with less than one minute to spare, perfect.
On the start line for the club were Bill Murray, Euan Cantlie, Raymond Hardie, David Ingleby, Dave Mathers and myself. Following a brief brief about roots, mud and slippery bits, we were off and running. Raymond, Dave and Euan were off like rats up a drain pipe. I resisted the urge to keep up on this initial steep uphill start. Bill and David were sensibly tucked in behind. It takes me around four minutes to settle into a run and this was no exception. After four minutes, the initial climb eased off a little and I found myself slipping past Euan first and then Dave about a minute later. Six minutes and 60m of climb later, we have to give it all back as we turned back downhill towards the A98.
The path parallel to the A98 is relatively flat and narrow with a couple of muddy patches thrown in for fun. Being early in the race, I have the energy to jump and weave to dodge the mud, but I really don’t know why I bother. Just man up and squelch through it. I worked out that I was in eighth place at this point. I could see Raymond about 30 seconds and 3 places ahead. This was a good bit for this lazy runner to have a breather, I knew what was around the corner.
A climb of 160m over 1.4 miles of rough track and path was around the corner. No problem for a hill runner, but I’m not one of them. It starts off gently enough, but ramps up before too long to be a challenging climb for the likes of me. After two minutes of climbing, I was tucked in behind a Cosmic Hill Bashers lady. I wanted to stay there, she must know how to pace the climb after all. But I kept on getting too close, so decided to pass and hope she wouldn’t ‘chick’ me later. Anyway, she was probably getting brassed off with my gasping and spluttering.
Onwards and upwards. On the final long straight approach to the monument I could see Raymond again, probably about a minute ahead now. I wouldn’t see him again until the finish. Sixth place looked like a possibility, I was closing in.
The monument was reached in just over 26 minutes, more than 2 minutes faster than last year. Preoccupied with smugness at a job well done, sixth place stretched away into the distance. That nap cost me any chance of nicking another place. I closed the gap slightly on the 2 mile downhill run home, but was 20 seconds behind at the end.
Congratulations to Kevin Ewing of Keith and District on his convincing win. Also kudos to Raymond Hardie, first Moray Road Runner and first male super vet. Finally, it can’t go unmentioned that Paul Murdoch from Keith and District ran the Lossiethon Half Marathon before this race and still managed fifth place. Now why didn’t I think of that?
MRR results were:
4th Raymond Hardie 36:49
7th Nigel Williams 38:02
9th Dave Mathers 39:46
10th Euan Cantlie 42:20
11th Bill Murray 42:30
18th David Ingleby 52:03
Post race refreshments were provided by the Scouts back at the hall. Thank you to Spey Runners for a great series and to the Scouts for their marshalling.
As mentioned earlier, this race was the final leg of the Fochabers Triple Challenge. Look it up on the Spey Runners website. Paul Murdoch, Keith and District, won the triple challenge. Dave Mathers, Bill Murray and myself also completed the challenge for MRR. These Fochabers races are great and highly recommended. It would be good to see more club runners in Fochabers next year. I plan to complete series again.
Report by: Nigel Williams