Tweed Valley Tunnel Trail Race

Back in February when we did the Glentress Trail Race which started my year of races, there was a leaflet left on our parked car windscreen advertising this new race to be held on 1st October 2016. The details were a little light at that stage, but the main tag line was the 600m disused railway tunnel that would be used on part of the route. I kept hold of the leaflet, and later in the year when planning my race for October, this one suited best.

When I left Edinburgh, the fog had rolled in so that my drive down the A7 to Peebles was interspersed by fiddling with fog lights and slower than normal traffic. As I passed theough Eddleston just north of Peebles, the car temperature gauge registered +2C!! I was soon parked up at the Hay Lodge car park by 9am. In the still thick fog, I wandered across the wet grass of the park towards thr sounds of a PA system down by the river. 

I was obviously early, and managed to register, pick up my number and dibber with little drama before returning back to the car to wait in relative warmth. By 09:40, there was a definite brightening to the sky with suggestions of blue above the fog. I got changed and headed down to the start where there was now a long queue of people waiting to register. 

10am arrived and the man with the Microphone suggested those keen 20km athletes should gather at the start. I hung back and decided to film the actual first dibbers. But soon enough the sheep instinct took hold and I entered the funnel. 

Very quickly I was regretting my decision to hang back, since the first kilometre was very narrow and I struggled to get past the many slower runners in front. Once we were onto the old railway past Neidpath Castle, I was able to pass unimpeded and for the next six or so kilometres I was gaining and passing all runners ahead. 

The climb up the steep tarmac of 'The Sware' was the first tough section which required some walking to my shame. A quick swig of cold water at the first water station where we entered more of a trail section through woods with a gradual climb up towards the high point. 

Out of the trees and at last the fog has cleared

Through a wall and back into the woods again for a very technical slippy descent back down to almost river level. I was being chased by a panter now, and it spurred me on. I let him through at a gate, but then we played cat and mouse back up the road towards the farm of Edderston. On the gentle descent to Manor Sware, I cranked up the pace and stormed ahead into the trees again athe confluence of the 10K route. This section through South Park Wood was perhaps the least satisfactory of the course; a lot of weaving around trees and fallen trunks, not a very direct line.

Since we had now joined the 10K route, there was much more traffic on the trail to negotiate, but they all kindly stood aside when they heard my puffing.

Into the tunnel

The tunnel was not quite what I was expecting, with only a couple of orbing lights. Underfoot was heavy stones, laid evenly but quite tricky to run fast on. Add to that the darkness, and it made for a challenging 600m. I almost ran into at least two people when trying to overtake.

The finishing 1km was around the Hay Lodge Park which seemed a bit contrived, not dissimilar to the Kilomathon around Murrayfield Stadium in March. I dibbed at 1hr41m33s, 18/140.