Jura Fell Race 29th May 2010

I arrived at Craighouse on the Inner Hebridean island of Jura on the Friday before the race. The summits of the highest hills on the island, the Paps, were obscured by cloud and, shortly after I added my tent to the growing number in the field outside the Jura Hotel, the heavens opened ... but only briefly! The clouds lifted from the tops and the afternoon was bright - the weather was looking promising for race day, the only clouds being those of midges which descended as the afternoon progressed.

I arrived at Craighouse on the Inner Hebridean island of Jura on the Friday before the race. The summits of the highest hills, the Paps, were obscured by cloud and, shortly after I added my tent to the growing number in the field outside the Jura Hotel, the heavens opened ... but only briefly! The clouds lifted from the tops and the afternoon was bright - the weather was looking promising for race day, the only clouds being those of midges which descended as the afternoon progressed!

Race day, and the weather didn't look as promising! The 16 mile race, brilliantly supported by the Isle of Jura Distillery and the islanders, starts and finishes outside the distillery, has 7,500 ft of ascent and covers 7 hills, including the 3 Paps, one of which is the island's only Corbett being over 2,500 ft high.

200 runners set off from the start and after a short dash down the main street we turned left up a stony track towards the open hillside, the going over the first three hills, the Pips, being mainly grassy, boggy, heathery and occasionally rocky. Fairly straightforward if the weather is good but, by the time we were half way towards the first hill, the mist had descended and it was raining. My map and compass were out and remained out for most of the race!

What 'makes' this race, I think, are the ascents and descents of the Paps, most of which are over boulders and steep scree. Knowledge of the route is a definite advantage, especially in the mist, but prior experience is still no guarantee that you won't stray off course - as happened this year when a group of leading runners took a bit of a detour on the way to the first checkpoint! I was very surprised to be overtaken by them on the way to checkpoint 2, and almost came to a standstill thinking that I'd missed something, until someone told me what had happened!

This was my first Jura race and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite the conditions, coming 1st LV40 and 3rd Lady. Angela Mudge was 1st Lady and Robb Jebb was 1st overall.

Rather cruelly, the weather on the Sunday was perfect - bright and sunny with cloud-free summits! I'm hoping it will be like that next year - for the race!