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In late 1986 Corstorphine Athletics Club was founded. We are commonly referred to as CAAC. We have athletes of all ages and abilities taking part and competing in a wide range of athletic events.
Devils Burden Report Draft 23
Submitted by Jan-Bert on Sat, 23/01/2010 - 8:20pm
Got up 6.30am. Joanna asked whether I was mad. "It's Saturday, what are you doing?" Me: "A race - got to go and pick up Chris P and then meet the guys at PC World. Perhaps a bit early but Grant's going and you know he likes to be at races in good time!" Having packed all my stuff the evening before I felt ready for what is one of the best relay hill races I know. Having done leg 1 and 3 before (both just a wee bit hilly) I had requested an non-shoulder busting leg this time and had been allocated leg 4. We arrived in Falkland in good time. Met up with the other CAACers and split ourselves in to the faster less experienced team and the slightly slower but far more experienced team. I was happy to familiarise my team mate Chris P with his first leg start. Straight up East Lomond hill which is looming over the village. A bit of a intimidating sight! Still once you got to the top you go down the other side along to the reservoir, through the very muddy fire-break [where I believe Dave C who was running the first leg with Chris was trying to intimidate the opposition by pushing them into the mud] to the handover point. This is a bit of a logistical car race too where you are continuously picking up and dropping off your team mates. Slower But Far More Experienced CAAC took Steve B to his starting point and once Chirs P and Dave C arrived they were bundled into the car to race to the next handover point. While shouting to Steve "don't run too fast otherwise you might get there before us!" Leg 2 is the short leg. Martin C and Graeme had already handed over to Steve OB a few minutes before. Having set Steve on his way we shot off to the start of leg 3. Now some of you might remember I have ran leg 3 before with James Felstead and we got a bit lost. Well if I had forgotten I had been reminded a few times recently and had been asked whether I would be al-right on leg 4? It was not me who had navigation problems today.............. for some reason Much Faster But Less Experienced CAAC (Grant and COB) decided to explore a quarry on leg 3. All I can say it is just as well Martin C had his walky talkies so he could keep us informed that he still couldn't see MFBLE CAAC arriving. They did eventually and handed over to a somewhat perturbed Bryan who because of reception problems with the walky talkies been ready to go several times over! Slower But Far More Experience CAAC (Martin H and Scott) came in not far behind and handed over to the Dutchman who gets easily lost and falls over far too regularly for the last leg. I did make it back to Falkland where I enjoyed a lovely soup and a certain amount of poking innocent fun at Grant and COB who I now have something in common with. Finally managed to find some friends! The Devils Burden is a great race and lets see if we can enter at least 3 teams next year!
27 January 2005
2 days 7 hours
Hi Chris ,
Hope you found your way back safely from Falkland !
Just been on the SHR Website .
You'll never guess what --- lol
Proposed navigation and safety courses
Scottish Hill Runners has been asked by a Club about the possibility of running for it a course on navigation and safety (perhaps with some other aspects of hill running, such as training, included as well). This has prompted us to wonder whether there would be other Clubs or individuals who would be interested in such courses. They would last either one or two days and would be held wherever there was sufficient demand. They would be open to all, not just paid-up members of Scottish Hill Runners. The cost would depend on how many attended each course and its duration, but would be subsidised for SHR members at least.
We now wish to gauge the likely interest in such courses. So if you think you might be interested could you please let us know (without committing yourself to anything) by sending an e-mail to scottishhillrunnersATyahoo.co.uk with the subject “Navigation Courses”.
We’d be particularly interested to know:
We’d be grateful for a response by the evening of Sunday 31 January.
15 August 2004
2 weeks 14 hours
Great report Jan. The DB is a superbly well organised event by Fife AC who deserve our sincere thanks, and I wouldn't be surprised if there turns out to be even more teams entered this year than last. Scott had his baptism of steep hills, mud, peat bogs and heather on leg 3, and the boy done good! We got the descending traverse from the gully checkpoint just about perfect to enter the forest, where Scott's trail speed helped pull the old 'un along to the changeover.
Other memorable moments include the number of angry locals encountered. As Steve B carefully manouevered Jan's car out from a tight parking spot at Strathmiglo in order to reverse out and turn, this particularly angry resident refused to be reasonable and allow the manoevre, despite backed up cars also coming down the way. It was her road and she was going up it! Parking the car back at Falkland also met with a disapproving stare from a resident. Maybe they really do 'own the road?'
The SHR committee have discussed at length the idea of offering some highly subsidised one or two day hill navigation courses, depending on demand and I would certainly encourage anyone who thinks they might be interested to get in touch with SHR. There is absolutely no committment at this stage, it is simply a question of seeing what the demand is and tailoring courses to fit.
10 August 2004
13 hours 37 min
It's a spectacular event, very well organised by Fife AC, and I'm glad to have had another crack at it on a different leg. I seldom run leg 1 of any relay, however it was very satisfying to be able to relax for the rest of the day and just watch the rest of the teams. Thanks to Graeme for leading me through all the ins and outs of a new route and congratulations to all for their strong performances running such tough milage (even if it was more than expected).
This event is also a challenge to our organisational skills. I feel we must now have solved all the major issues of getting the right people to the right places ..... although that claim will likely be quoted back to me next year.
Until the official results are posted, here are my timings for my team
leg time | total | runners
45:16 | 0:45:16 | Graeme Fletcher & Martin Caldwell
27:53 | 1:13:09 | Steve O'Brien
79:21 | 2:32:30 | Chris O'Brien & Grant Wilkie
26:00 | 2:58:30 | Bryan Clark
These are not very accurate - specially the last leg. BC ran too fast and finished before I arrived to stop my watch.
15 August 2004
2 weeks 14 hours
The SHR report is now up and a few sets of photos. Great profile pic of Grant and COB who head up the set, and Steve B about to leap into Loch Leven!
15 August 2004
2 weeks 14 hours
......... And now the results.
http://bcruickshank.brinkster.net/DevilsBurden2010Results.htm
We were 23rd and 54th out of 120 teams, so not a bad result.
11 August 2004
8 hours 35 min
Had a quick sort of the Corstorphine Z-team results to see how we figured through the race.
Martin and Greame ran 29th then onto myself, who ran 5th fastest and moved the team up to 17th. Then......Grant and Christopher who must have made a minimum 10/15 minute detour to run 61st! fastest on their leg and slip to 28th overall. Clearly not a true reflection on their combined running abilities. Last but certainly not least was BC who flew home 2nd fastest on his leg and pulled the team upto 23rd overall.
12 February 2005
1 week 2 days
Team ZZZZZ that's kind of appropriate......... What about Y? How did we get on?
10 August 2004
7 hours 3 min
It was a great day out, and a real feat of organisation by FifeAC to pull it altogether, in my somewhat self nominated "i completed the forms therefore i am the captain" role i almost immediately managed to make a mess of things. Standing handing out numbers at Falkland there was a moment of sheer horror as i realised i had one extra when it dawned on me that i or anyone else had any knowledge of how ScottW was getting here, and he wasnt here! After a frenzied phonecall it was reassuring to know he had passed the first test and made it to Falkland himself. To further reassure my team members i then almost disposed of the envelopes without distributing the dibber sheets. The day would not have been complete without a third error, and i suppose i/we better try defend ourselves before the real slagging kicks in ;]
Grant set a mean pace off the start line after a solid leg#2 from Stevio, and my calves were burning as the incline was sharp from the off. There was a long flat section not too far after the initial pull up and we were very quickly catching and going through Carnethy Open, Glasgow Uni and Bellahouston B. We were making good headway and i was beginning to loosen up and manage to keep with Grants pace. Over the boggy ground between Bishops Hill and West Lomond we had caught Shettleston B and were fast on the tail of Fife A the ground here was hard work and there were a few times where you would lose a leg to the knee in snow covered bog. We worked hard up West Lomond knowing we would go through more teams on the horizon as we dropped down and ran in to the changeover. Thats where the plain sailing finished, all theory was out the window and i made my 3rd mistake of the day. Tired at the top of West Lomond there was no line of teams off to the drop off point so i checked the map and noticed an obvious gulley "that must be it". We got to it and i wasnt quite so sure, but still wasnt not sure enough to fully doubt myself. We ended up just running down the hill, until i was completely not sure i at this point realised we were too close to the trees and we'd missed the checkpoint this was further cemented by the flow of teams traversing down to us from the West. The damage was done. We used our last reserves and climbed the 100m odd vertical again 700m lateral to the checkpoint, and with adrenalin fully pumping we turned and ran as fast as we could down to the changeover a route with which we were familiar with from the Tour of Fife.
I estimate we lost ~15-20mins with the detour and stopping starting to decide if we were right or wrong. After the good work from MartinC, Graeme F, Stevio and after us BC it was a bit galling but a valuable lesson. In retrospect we should've taken more care from the top of West Lomond and used the landmarks to guide us to the correct gully to descend. I think i made the mistake on the basis i felt the gulley we did go down was perfectly runnable so was the right one.. and there was only one such gulley that you could run down.
All in all as said, a fantastic event both Y and Z ran it well, and one that id be keen to do again next year. Especially now we've recced Leg3. ;]
10 August 2004
7 hours 3 min
Costorphine AAC Z 23rd - 02.58.47
Martin Caldwell & Graeme Fletcher 00.45.14
Steven O'Brien 00.27.51 01.13.05
Grant Wilkie & Christopher O'Brien 01.19.24 02.32.29
Bryan Clark 00.26.18 02.58.47
Corstorphine AAC Y 54th - 03.22.19
Dave Colman & Chris Peggie 00.52.53 01.35.05
Steve Blair 00.42.12 01.35.05
Martin Hulme & Scott Williamson 01.14.45 02.49.50
Jan-Bert VanDenBerg 00.32.29 03.22.19
15 August 2004
2 weeks 14 hours
Fastest Stages: 1 O Chepelin/H Blake (Shettleston) 36.22. 2 R Simpson (Deeside R.) 24.35. 3 Lennox/Owens (Shettleston) 64.34. 4 R Houston (Ochil HR) 23.51.
15 August 2004
2 weeks 14 hours
Copied report. The Lennox/Owen one is of course 54.34.
6 February 2007
6 weeks 2 days
As the other half of the Marco Polo (leave it to us, we'll find it - checkpoints excluded) pair, I'd also like to say that this is a fantastic event and I'd forgotten how good it was having missed it for a couple of years. Leg 3 is a great one to run and running along the ridge allows you to take in the views it offers. Fortunately I believe Chris and I have to run this leg again next year by way of penance for this year's gaff but there are worse things and hopefully it will mean the fourth leg runner can get back quicker for the very welcome cup of soup and buttered roll.
Away now to work out what that thing with the letters round it (N, S, E, W?) does, additional weight if you ask me.
12 February 2005
1 week 2 days
I think I have figured it out now .......... but please correct me if I am wrong! Corstorphine AAC Y (aka SBFME CAAC) ran the following results. Chris P/Dave C came in with a twisted ankle and 64th in52.35 and handed over to Steve B who ran, fell and jarred his shoulder to post 42.21 to come in 93rd, which left us 80th overall in 1.35.05. Scot W/Martin H were 37th fastest in 1.14.45 which got us to 60th overall in 2.49.50 and I ran last stage in 32.29 (48th) and we finished 54th overall. Result!
24 August 2004
1 day 7 hours
Well done all, everyone ran extremely well and gave 100%. Some good performances by both teams on the day and the weather was kind to us. It was a great setting for a race.
I thoroughly enjoyed the day, all the camaraderie was great and even the grumpy locals put a smile on my face . I'll be up for it next year.
15 August 2004
2 weeks 14 hours
May I say on behalf of the older but no Yser (subsection) team, Steve B there is absolutely nothing to apologise for. The whole event was very enjoyable, even more so for me because unlike last year when I ran as part of a composite non CAAC team, this year we had two. That's the important thing as far as I'm concerned, so please don't chastise yourself in any way. OK?
12 February 2005
1 week 2 days
Absolutely right Martin. Steve stop talking rubbish! You enjoyed it, we didn't get lost, which means we can poke some fun at the others what more do you want?
24 August 2004
1 day 7 hours
You're right was being a tad negative, so I've edited the rubbish. Great day out in the hills and good company what more could I ask for and I didn't get lost, result!
10 August 2004
7 hours 3 min
echo Martin and Jan, damn good run Steve. Being the thread of acronyms PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) allowed only ;]
Anyone managed to find anymore photos online? There seemed to be a lot of persons with cameras out and about.. Ive got a few to upload tonight.
27 January 2005
2 days 7 hours
I see the roadrunpics chap was there
http://www.roadrunpics.com/index.html
and some pics up on the Fife website ( great pic of Chris & Dave together on the snow patch on leg 1 ) - I am trying to work out from Chris P's expression if this was before or after his stumble ( maybe just a look of concentration ! )
http://web.me.com/dsmyth/Home/DB10-L1-1.html
http://web.me.com/dsmyth/Home/DB10-L1-2.html
http://web.me.com/dsmyth/Home/DB10-L2.html
8 September 2008
2 days 9 hours
I just wanted to echo the comments above. I had a fantastic time on Saturday & can't wait till next year to run leg 1 again, this time mishap free!!
Prior to the start of the race and Jan's evident delight in pointing out exactly where the 1st checkpoint was I had a definite sense of dread about the Devil's Burden & was wondering why on earth I had signed up for another hill race.
However I needn't have worried about the wee hill at the start thanks to Dave who ensured we maintained a steady (but not suicidal) pace on the way up to the 1st checkpoint. Now shortly after the 1st checkpoint (and I'm pretty sure after the delightful snap of Dave and myself taken by Fife AC) Dave was alerted to my first mishap of the day through a yelped shout of "for fiddlesticks sake ", or words to that effect. I had managed to go over on my ankle on what was possibly the flattest section of our leg-I'm still unclear how I manage to do it. After a couple of strides I knew that I could still run (which was pretty essential considering that we were still 3 miles from the leg 2 handover point and more importantly 3.1 miles from Jan's car).
Mishap 2 then occurred as we arrived at the 2nd checkpoint. Now while Dave was busy with the control card I decided that the snow drift next to the checkpoint was particularly inviting and managed to pitch forward into it face first. In my defence it was simply a combination of my now iffy left ankle, some boggy ground and a failed attempt at navigating past the other competitors at the checkpoint. However I'm fairly sure at this point Dave was half-convinced that he was going to end up carrying me over the finish line if I kept falling over and trying to do myself harm.
Thankfully I didn't manage any more mishaps during the race (although I did fall over at the stage 3 handover but that doesn't really count) and we managed to pick off a number of other teams from checkpoint 2 till the finish of our leg.
With our leg successfully completed we spent the rest of the day mocking our team mates who still had to run (aka team bonding), confirming to the local police that we weren't actually planning to leave Jan's car parked for very long on the public highway-it looked pretty legally parked to me but what would I know? Siphoning petrol from Jan's car under the careful eye of Steve B to sell to the locals and discovering that some locals given half a chance were not very friendly...
Anyway I'm not sure how it's happened but I seemed to have caught the Hill Running bug (& I'm actually looking forward to signing up for the Bog & Burn series in the Summer)