Too short for ultra-runners, too long and tough for sensible fell-runners - the start list is a who's-who of serious fell-running! And I guess that's my excuse for coming last!! But with Jura, it really is a winning situation just to take part in this historic race - the most scenic fell race you could ever imagine, looking out to sea, with the Paps of Jura towering the land...and if you're at the back, it's also exceptionally peaceful!! It's not just the race that is fantastic either - the entire journey there, sharing ferries and cycle touring with all the other runners and supporters, camping outside the Jura Hotel right next to the sea and the worlds best temporary cake stall in the distillery garage - they all make the weekend amazing!
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| Awesome camp views |
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| Pap in the clouds |
Andy and I were here for the third year now and it was so good to catch up with our Jura friends. In the last two years, we'd had many adventures including: getting stranded in a desolate bus shelter with ten other fellrunners, all going into survival mode and counting our remaining biscuits, bumping into my hero Rosie Swale-Pope (yeah, the one that casually ran round the entire world!!!) and my fell-running heroes Declan and Chris frantically fixing my puncture 5 miles from the ferry terminal with minutes to spare!! :-) Race wise, 2011 had been exceptionally cold and windy. I managed to get swallowed by a bog up to my neck conveniently right in front of mountain rescue (thanks for heaving me out!! :-) ) and inconveniently right in front of a BBC camera filming for the Adventure Show! It was so windy, I spent most of the time crawling but did avoid coming last somehow! :-) 2012 was completely different - absolutely roasting! I'd done all the hard work and was 15 seconds from the top of the final Pap when I felt a bit ill... I reached the top and was epically sick!! I was keen to continue but made it nowhere and an amazing guy that looked exactly like Bear Grylls spent the next few hours walking very slowly down the mountain with me as I desperately drank bog water than regurgitated it - I'm sure he thought I was lovely! :-)
So 2013! Super hot again and the aim was to beat my 2011 time! 17 miles, 2370m of climbing up the steep scree slopes of the Paps and surrounding peaks and we're off! I chatted to Roger (MV70!) but he shot off like a rocket! The time limits are pretty tight so each checkpoint would tell me how many minutes I had to spare and I ran as hard as I could, my heart pounding, sweat dripping and still barely keeping Roger and co in sight! On the second Pap, I took an alternative route that had me clinging to an almost vertical boulder field having a slight North Face of the Eiger-type epic in full view of the marshals on the other peaks! But as you may have guessed, I survived - phew!!
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| The journey to the first Pap! |
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| Three Paps to go! |
On the final pap, the heat made me feel sick again...but there was no way it was stopping me this year!! The super-nice marshals remembered me and I tried to look really healthy as I pottered past! On the super steep descent off the Pap, I looked down at my trusty fell shoes and they were totally battered - studs facing in all directions apart from down!! Jura really is a true fell race! Down in the valley, just before the final little peak, the amazing Mountain Rescue/Police team had set up camp and were doing a great job of checking I didn't go bog-swimming again! Thankfully, all dry, but I did feel quite sick now. They were really nice and gave me some snacks, I was keen to push on but made it about 200m before sitting on a rock and vomming everywhere again!! A really nice guy from the team came and walked me up the final peak, he was so encouraging and I'm sure I'd still be sat on that rock if it wasn't for him!! The cooling breeze on the final peak refreshed me and it was all downhill to the final 3 mile run along the road now! The marshal gave me some route advice -'that pointy rock there, he's your mate!' which made complete sense at the time. I set off with vigour and looked up after a few minutes...there were pointy rocks everywhere!! It had been perfectly clear at the top, but I guessed a general straight line would hit the road! In 2011, I thought I'd been running on a waterlogged path on this section, until I fell down a mini-waterfall and accepted it might have been a river all along!!
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| Looking out to sea from the first Pap |
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| Effort face - only half way! |
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| Roger is a small spec down there somewhere! |
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| Climbing the first pap! |
For most runners, I guess the final three miles along the road is the worst bit, but I love the monotony! Gazing out to sea on the left, the views are absolutely amazing. And on the right, you can observe all the peaks you've climbed. I ran all the way, at a steady pace, with the police van and others tooting their support! Looking forward to Craighouse, it never seems to get any closer! I got to the finish just in time for the prize giving....and I'd won a prize! An old Duirach hand-carves a stick for the loser...maybe if I use it, I'll go faster! Having the stick was brilliant - many past stick-winners came and told me how they'd improved and even won prizes in following years for being really fast - so there's still hope!! :-)
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| Two Paps to go! |
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| One Pap to go! |
And after some perfect camping by the sea, we joined the peloton and cycled back across Islay, the Mull of Kintyre and Arran, watching the dolphins swim around the ferry and already dreaming about the next race. Andy is determined to win a whisky glass, a reward for doing sub-4hrs, so it looks like we'll be going back for the next few years!! :-)
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| The stick! |
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| The Pap view from the Islay ferry |
