Sadly the weather wasn't as kind as 2016 and on the Thursday before the race, a winter storm passed through the Borders dumping a huge amount of snow on the forest. Then on Friday night a mild thaw turned everything to mush so that come race day the entire course was a quagmire.
Nevertheless I drove south in the murk to Glentress only to discover the flat field car park was closed due to waterlogging and we had to park on the edge of the muddy tracks in the forest. Not an idela situation. In addition, the start/finish tent had been destroyed by the storm so the race organisers had decided to move the start/finish to the top of a steep hill off the main road. Bit odd.
I watched the 42k group set off in fine fettle before taking my place near the start line. I noticed Donny Campbell flexing his muscles right at the front. A fast pace to start as usual, but soon settled into positions running the familiar route from last year. I overtook Madeline Robinson (Michelle Hetherington's daughter) and started a wee conversation about the Highlander & LAMM. She then proceeded to chase my heels for the next 10km which was slightly unnerving, but made me keep my pace up I guess.
The route climbed upwards on a general trendline with a few bumps and soon enough we reached the snow line. The highest points of the route were pretty awful running rivers and shin deep mud. I got trapped in a tight group of gents where passing was tricky due to the narrow path. One of them was Ross Rennie, the ex-Scotland rugby international.
The descent to the finish was joyous as 2016 and I was happy to achieve 34/394 in 2:03:46.
Route map here
Results here
