IslayBlog.com -> 2007 ->
Sunday, 05/Aug/2007
Training Run on Islay?
Most of the time I consider myself quite fit. I go for a run pretty much every day, be it at home in Swindon or when on Islay during my holidays. On Islay I've run on the A846 south from Port Charlotte towards Craigfad Farm, in Bridgend Woods and on the beach at Machir Bay. But that's all just harmless fun compared to others:
I've mentioned Chris Upson twice already, he regularly runs the Jura Fell Race, most recently the Jura Fell Race 2007. I suspect he will return for the 2008 edition as well.
And there's the West Highland Way (WHW) Runner, looking through his blog I found this:
I completed the 95 mile West Highland Way race in a new personal best time of 21 hours 11 minutes, finishing 11th out of 104 starters and 76 finishers.
Impressive.
Reading that I've got a nagging feeling the Islay Half Marathon can't have been much more than a training run for him. Especially considering he completed it as a Day trip to Islay, leaving his home at 04:00hrs in the morning to catch the 07:00hrs ferry to Islay. I doubt I'd be able to run 10k very well after such a journey, let alone more than twice that distance. Anyway, he's hoping to extend a possible visit next year to an overnight stay, if enough other runners from his club join the race.
Linking to that The Scotsman recommends the 5 best places to run in Scotland. You guessed right, Islay is among them:
Almost every one who passes you running on Islay's quiet roads will gee you on with a toot of the horn or a shout of encouragement. Long sandy beaches, like Machir Bay, or those around Loch Gruinart give calf muscles a tough workout. Finish with a cool-down jog through the chilly Atlantic surf. But the best thing about running on Islay comes later - a couple of tots of single malt.
It might not be long enough for the serious runner (it's only 1 mile end to end, or 2 miles out and back), but I would also recommend Machir Bay for a nice run. If you run reasonably close to the water the sand is quite firm yet fairly bouncy, I found it very nice to run on.
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