Taynish Trail Run 2019

Taynish Trail Race Report - 4th May 2019 - James Murdoch

After hearing about how good the cakes were at the end of this race from several people who’d ran it before I signed up for the Taynish Run - Trail Route - thinking it would be ideal prep for a duathlon I’m doing later in the month, as well as a chance to check out the cake situation. It turned out to be some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen when running, on a trail in great condition, set along a really nice route with enough ups, downs, twists and turns to keep you busy whilst not being a leg-sapping slog though the wilderness.

A good number of CRC members had had the same idea and made their way to the start line, enjoying the almost perfect running conditions, ready to get racing towards the cake-laden tables in the village hall that awaited us at the finish.

I’d never been as far along as Tayvallich and was blown away by how pretty the village is - but it was soon a distant memory. That was largely down to the fairly solid 1km climb out of the village that the race began with. Both the road and trail races started together and with a warning about a steep start I went off quite steady, looking to keep with the front group heading onto the trail, especially as I didn’t know where I was going having missed the briefing whilst warming up with Mr. Smith…

Turning off the road after this first kilometre the route started to work into the forest. The trail surface was perfect, probably helped with the recent good weather, and before I knew it we were at the bottom of the ‘steps’. At this point the runner in front of me asked if I wanted past. I quickly replied ‘No thanks!’ as there was no chance I’d go charging up like a lunatic if he was up front - sensible running! The next 500m or so was a fast-walk up the steps, trying to run the short flatter sections before the inevitable return of the steps. Once we got up through the forest and on to the top the trail opened up onto stunning 360 degree views that, after an initial couple of seconds of enjoyment, I mostly ignored!

Once on the top of the hill I quickly nipped past my partner from the steps and set about enjoying the run along the top in the blazing sunshine. The trail was quite thin, with lots of wee turns and bumps, so you really had to pay attention to where you were placing your feet (confirmed by Jimmy Anderson’s knees…). It had a fairly gentle downward slope overall with a few steps and water-bars here and there and I managed to get my head up for a few glimpses of the scenery as I was going. Quickly it was back into the forest and working down the steps on the other side. Although not as steep as the way up this was more demanding but I managed down without incident and before I knew it I’d joined the road race again heading to the turning point.

On the road I set about trying to - I hoped - build up a lead, using the road-runners ahead to encourage my pace a little. It was steadily downhill towards the turning point and after meeting the lead runners of that race coming back - all looking fairly good at their halfway point - I got to the end of the track, turned and had managed to build up about a minute’s worth of a lead. Meeting more people on the way back up from the turning point I started thinking about my ‘race’ and as I had no idea what was waiting for me on the return I decided that I’d just hold steady as I went, not pushing any more, unless someone went past me.

It was about half a mile from the turning point to the water station and this was the halfway point in the trail race. Watching the road race go back up the road I was turned back on myself and followed a track round to a field, making my way onto a two mile stretch of more twisty single track around the trees and roots. This part of the course steadily worked uphill overall, with a short dip in the middle. There were a few more steps and the odd root to watch out for (as well as groups of walkers who thankfully moved aside before being skittled). I spent most of this section thinking how nice it would be to ride this stretch (and the whole route really) on a mountain bike. There may have been a few corners that I had my hands out on invisible handlebars…

Coming off the trail at the Taynish Nature Reserve carpark I joined the road again for the final real climb of the route - just over a quarter mile in length - returning past where the trail had originally went off-road. I hadn’t heard any footfall behind me for ages at this point and was feeling fairly good so started looking forward to the downhill back to the finish line. Coming round the last corner I opened out my stride and made sure to finish strong - there were cakes to be ate after all! To be completely honest, we did discuss - sitting at our table, full of cakes, snacks and drinks - saying that the cakes weren’t all that and you would probably be best just leaving once you were done running. But the entire club could (and should) go to this run in the future. It’s fairly local, excellently run and in a stunning part of the world - there would still be plenty cakes for everyone as well… The cakes, and race (I suppose I should mention it again), certainly didn’t disappoint and I’m looking forward to returning next year.