Munro Running - Ben Chonzie

[Avocetboy]

In an attempt to increase my Munro count and combine my hobbies of running and hill walking with my work opportunities in Scotland, this was my first attempt at running a Munro. This is not quite true as I attempted this two weeks ago, but despite having read the route and studied the map on numerous occasions, I still managed to leave the track at the first exit before the dam and got lost in the peat hags and the clag when the path ran out!

However, with the BST starting and a glorious evening, there was to be no mistake this time. I managed to run the first 3.5K, but as the gradient steepened, fast walking became a quicker option than running and I kept this up when the route left the track until I reached the brow of the plateau. From this point I could run again and followed the fence posts to the summit. This was reached after 57 minutes. I spent 10 minutes at the summit having a drink and soaking up the views (and removing my shoes for the obligatory summit photo). I then headed back down and was back at the car 30 minutes later.

Thoroughly enjoyed this experience and have plans to run many more over the course of the next few months if work, weather and time allows.

As a footnote, for those interested, I ran in Inov-8 Roclite 286 GTX fell running boots. They were excellent on the rough terrain and offered excellent ankle support on the rough terrain.

A few photos to enjoy

[url=https://flic.kr/p/TgiP93]

Ben Chonzie by paul wilson, on Flickr

Ben Chonzie by paul wilson, on Flickr

Ben Chonzie by paul wilson, on Flickr

Ben Chonzie by paul wilson, on Flickr

Ben Chonzie by paul wilson, on Flickr

Ben Chonzie by paul wilson, on Flickr

Ben Chonzie by paul wilson, on Flickr

Ben Chonzie by paul wilson, on Flickr

[Coop]

Well in for this.
My days of running are a couple of years behind me now, but if it's a good downhill I may up the pace and step out a bit
Have you looked at ramsaysround or Donnie Campbells 24 in 24. They'll give you inspiration or food for thought.

[BoyVertiginous]

Worth getting lost the first time for the weather/views this time. Excellent effort and nice pics but, still not sure about the footwear summit pics. Look out for my "pants-on-the-end-of-a-big-stick" summit trend kicking-off

PS Will be joining you on some of these, as soon as I can get rid of this injury.

[Avocetboy]

Thanks Coop, definitely worth putting lighter shoes on and running down, even if running up not an option. Not sure if I'm ready for running a Ramsey Round yet! One step at a time.

Look forward to you joining me BV, but you can keep your pants on if you summiting with me!