Mountain Mayhem

Sadly, a grumpy hillwalker/farmer/commoner decided to sabotage our painstakingly set course of over 200 reflective markers. Two sections of the route amounting to about 200m had all the markers removed and then stacked about a mile away.

All markers went up from 3:00pm and were then stripped by us before 9:00pm. Notices were placed at the start of walks to the hill explaining the markers, stating they’d be removed the same night. The NT too had done their bit in forewarning locals. It seems though, that the event upset someone. Possibly someone who spends too much time in the company of sheep? Next year, if we put the event on again we will mitigate for ‘grumpy bod’ with ninja marshals, electrified permanent paint spraying markers and surveillance drones toting poisoned darts – OK I may have made up some or all of those ideas.

It is worth noting though, how the ensuing melee amongst the leaders as they ran up and down the hill in confusion, caused by the removed signage near the start, created much animated banter both after the event and on social media. Dare I say, the event was enjoyed more because of the sabotage? (I think I have an idea for a new kind of fell race). The Strava Flyby certainly makes for entertaining viewing. Another thing to ponder is that the mid-pack all found their way, and certainly everyone at the back stayed totally on track. Is there a message here?

Thanks though to the ninety plus hill loving runners that turned up. It was a special night with clear skies and twinkling stars above, and fine views down to the sodium glow of Abergavenny below. Thanks also to Tosh for some great photos – did the runners save you a mince pie? And finally, thanks to the 3 musketeers who went back up the mountain to locate the temporarily misplaced last runner.

Sadly, the results must be classed null and void, but are published to provide information for the individuals taking part. Only they know if they went the right way and whether their time is truly valid. Don’t believe what they say!

For our next Night Race event in the hills – Blorenge Roundabout - Wed 14th March 2018 we aim to deploy some of the aforementioned special measures to protect the route. I’m off now to round up a posse.

Paul Dodd