Sunshine for the Skye 10k!

Matt has been enjoying quite a few days out in the hills lately, so in an effort to redress the balance somewhat I decided to float the idea of a 10k race on Skye to my running buddy Helen. She's fairly new to running so wasn't hugely keen on the idea of a race when I first broached the subject, although I didn't help matters by only giving her about 5 days' warning. However she set herself the challenge of seeing if she could go the distance before the race, and after realising it was definitely do-able she began to come around to the idea (especially when I mentioned that there may be a medal in it for her!).

The forecast for the whole area was fantastic for race day so we packed plenty of sunscreen, stocked up on post-race goodies at the supermarket on the way, and enjoyed a fabulous drive out to Skye in glorious sunshine with clear blue skies. On arrival at the race, which set off from Dunvegan Castle, we were a little behind schedule and only had half an hour to spare in which we still had to register for the race and get changed. Still we were at the start line in front of the castle with plenty of time and soon we were setting off out of the castle grounds and past lots of spectators who did a great job of cheering us off on our way.

The first section of the race headed off-road through undulating woodland which, although offering plenty of much-needed shade from the scorching sunshine, was unfortunately also offering shelter to plenty of flying insects, and as the gradient increased so did the number of flies we swallowed as we gulped down the fresh air.

We continued uphill for the first couple of kilometres and enjoyed plenty of shade until we left the wood and headed out into open country. Luckily we had a fair breeze to keep us cool but could still feel the strength of the sun as we ran. More uphill followed but we were rewarded at the top with our first water station, a very welcome sight and we glugged back plenty of water to help wash down all those flies. We were happy to see a small downhill section next in front of us, and got our breath back before tackling the next looming hill which lead us up onto the road.

We'd approached Dunvegan along this way in the car and had seen the 5k marker by the road, so knew we were approaching the halfway point which cheered us up no-end, and we knew we'd done most of the uphill work by now and that it would be mostly flat or downhill from here. We were also quite high by now so were treated to a lovely cool breeze along this section, without which this part of the race would have been almost unbearable. We kept up a comfortable pace along the road, and just when pounding the tarmac started to get a bit boring we realised we were approaching Dunvegan and the slope was increasing downhill. We made the most of the gravity and got up some momentum down the hill into Dunvegan itself, and soon passed a sign telling us the castle was just three quarters of a mile away.

Unfortunately dropping down to this level meant the breeze had died away completely, and we found ourselves running along a sun-drenched road with no shade or breeze to speak of. Our progress for this section was painfully slow and we worked really hard to resist the urge to stop and walk as we could see many others doing in front of us. Unfortunately we realised we weren't catching anyone up so were clearly going no faster than the walkers, but the principle still mattered and when we finally jogged into the car park and up to the finish line a few minutes later we felt duly pleased with ourselves and our efforts on such a scorching hot day.

We were handed our medals which Helen received with absolute delight, having just finished her first ever race. She did really well considering she'd only been running for a few weeks and the weather had made the run so much more challenging. As for me I was just pleased to have been able to get round without walking or feeling that my growing bump was in the way too much. We were chuffed to find our time was 1hr 6mins, much faster than we'd anticipated and, we felt, rather good for a 4-month pregnant lady and a new beginner :o)


We travelled back tired and happy, admiring the breathtaking views all the way home, and I found myself thinking, not for the first time since moving up here, life doesn't get much better than this...

Jen x