Its Official...it really is....the Official Race Report

(and unofficially I am glad it is all over!!)

A lovely warm day greeted the starters for the inaugural Dun na Cuiche run sponsored by Inveraray Jail on Saturday May 30th. The 29 strong field left the Jail at 11am prompt making its way through the tourists admiring Loch Fyne and on into the castle grounds. The field was led all the way by the eventual winners from Arran Runners with the rest of the competitors fighting their own personal battles be it against the 236m hill or fellow club runners along the way. The friendly rivalry made for some very good times. The majority of the climb was shaded by the trees which was very welcome on one of the warmest days so far this year. The view from the top was not admired by many, except the marshals before powering it back down to the finish line in the Castle grounds. Nick Emsley and Paul Cameron both from Arran runners battled it out in the final stages for first place with Nick making it over the finish line with 8 seconds to spare. Both walked away with Quaiches in the end with Nick as overall winner 28.46 and Paul as first Junior 28.54. First male veteran and third overall went to Paul Thompson from Helensborough. There was an excellent showing from the Mid Argyll triathlon and cycle club with Stephen Whiston , Toby Corner (Inveraray Jogscotland) , Matt Donald and Peter Robertson jostling for position throughout the race. Toby won through in the end crossing the line (with only one shoe!) in 31.33, his first adult race and first local home. First female home was veteran Fiona Corner (MATCC and Jogscotland Inveraray) in 38.59, first female senior was Naomi Dixon, MATCC in 41.02. Third lady over the line was Liz Feeney ,fellow MATCC member in 41.31.First female junior, also running in her first race was Naomi Sturrock, 44.14 who only started running with the newly formed jogscotland Inveraray group 6 weeks ago. Tribute must also be paid to the dedication of Lynn Walker who despite a bad fall continued run over a km to finish nearly 2 minutes under her personal goal of 60 minutes. The organisers wish to thank all their sponsors Inveraray Jail, David and Kathy from Londis, Inveraray and Rhia and Shannon from Argyll Adventure who made the best tablet ever to replace that lost energy. The marshals and line judges did a fantastic job on a busy Saturday as did the volunteer first Aiders Bill and Fiona Nelson. The Duke of Argyll presented the Quaiches and prizes in the castle grounds.

The “Then” blog. For details see entry for March 7th 2009. In brief the restoration of Claonairigh House.
Sunday May 30th 1992
At Last-we have a date for completion. July 1st so it’s all go! We are all going up there on June 29th after Deborah’s (Cousin) wedding. G and P have great plans to re-glaze the house and make it secure asap.
Someone at work asked me if we would get the keys when we complete!!

PS The writers of this blog would like to point out that the photo order no way reflects the true order of runners merely an ongoing cack-handedness at photo uploading!