Inveraray Jailbreak report‏

Post date: Jun 21, 2016 12:33:20 PM

By Robert Semple

The club was well represented at this years event which was held on Sunday May 1st in the grounds of Inveraray castle . The event has races for Kids , juniors and adults that start concurrently over various

distances of up to 7 km ...not too far?

Not far but add in the 700 foot climb and decent of the Dun na cuaich hill it then becomes a bit of a challenge.

The event is organised by Inveraray jog Scotland and has 70 Adult and 30 kids places which sell out quickly as the event attracts competitors that are keen to tackle the demanding route. Top place in the kids race went to Euan Charlwood with brother Sean in third place, in the girls category Kirsty Renton was 2nd and Caryn Kerr third, Jocelyn Richard was first in the female V 50 class .

In total the club had 10 runners at the event , not bad 10 % of the entry ! And strong performances were demonstrated by all competitors .

This year was the 6th year the race has been ran by the club however the route has seen many events over the years most notably in the early 1940's when over 250000 soldiers used it for competition during their time based in the town.

My own run was fairly steady with a the first mile slipping past in 7.30 mins and then the climb!' Which drops the pace to a fast walk in the steepest parts at around 1.5 to 2 miles ,the upper section of the route is a narrow path to the tower high above the town but is possible to make reasonable pace over . Down hill all the way to the finish at the castle is as fast as you dare over the rough stone track . They say fortune favours the Brave and there was none braver than Micheal Deason of Shettleston Harriers who blitzed the race in 26 mins 18 secs .

For me I was 43.31 which is about 3 mins slower than my best run there due a knee injury but to not compete was unthinkable , hopefully next year normal service will resume.