A welcoming club on the North West of Edinburgh
THE HEB – RACE ON THE EDGE
By CoachKev | Published | No Comments
THE HEB – RACE ON THE EDGE
3-4TH SEPTEMBER 2016
RACE REPORT (Nicola and Sally)
When Sally and I decided last year that we would enter a race in 2016 we had looked at half-ironman events but decided that we needed something a bit different, yet still multi-sport and challenging. We both came across The Heb in different ways and thought that it fitted the bill – and we were certainly not disappointed.
What we thought was a two day multi-sport event became a four day epic adventure. We started on the Friday, allowing 6 hours to get to Mallaig for the 17:30 sailing. Deciding to go via Glencoe as we both enjoyed the scenery, we had a leisurely drive up, stopping for some lunch and thinking that we would get to Mallaig with 45 minutes to spare. However, we hadn’t banked on the A82 between Coran and Fort William being closed due to a serious accident. We were in a massive queue of stationary cars with no idea of when we would start moving. Slight panic set in as there was no alternative route and if we missed the only crossing we would be out of the race before we even started. After 40 minutes we started moving, then drove, breaking many highway-code rules, to Mallaig and arrived just in time to make the 3 hour boat trip to South Uist. Phew, challenge number one successfully accomplished!
We docked about 9pm and were taken by bus to our campsite on Benbecula where we pitched our tent in the dark and snuggled down to get some sleep before an early start on Saturday morning. However, with wind and rain overnight, it wasn’t the best night’s sleep.
The plan for Day 1 was as follows:
1km run; 20km bike over causeway to North Uist : 12km orienteer over rough terrain (up Eaval, highest peak in North Uist) : 21km bike (including 2km of sand) : 10 km orienteer around an island : 21 km bike ; 3 km kayak ; 35km bike (with 12km off-road) back to base on Benbecula.
Saturday started with a “Le Mans” style start – a 1km run along a beach to split the field – and then it was onto the bikes for the first 20km cycle. The weather had improved and was looking promising. Sally and I cycled strongly, overtaking quite a few competitors (which I began to realise is Sally’s mind-set – if there is a cyclist ahead then they are there to be overtaken!). We got to transition and with a quick change of the shoes set off on the run.
There were no paths, just heather, grass and bog, but the main target was Eaval, the highest point in North Uist. The views from the top were amazing. We were making good progress compared to our detailed plans but had a quandary with the third point – it was a 5 km run there and back over ankle-breaking terrain and we had initially planned on missing it out. But as our time was good so far, might we be able to fit point C in? After a bit of a conflab we decided to give it a miss as we still had a long way to go and there were two cut-offs that we had to make later in the day.
Knowing that we would get a 2 hour time penalty for missing out that point, we ran back to the bikes and headed north wondering if we had made the right decision. 20 km to Vallay, the north tip of North Uist, we had the wind behind us, we were making fast progress and the sun was shining. There weren’t many competitors around and we were wondering if they were either ahead of us or still trucking to point C but then BANG, SMECK, I was face down on the road. Cycling behind Sally, I had been refuelling from my bottle when Sally had to suddenly veer to the right in front of me to avoid a sheep. I had no time to react and so we both collided with each other, me falling to the left and Sally to the right. After picking ourselves up off the road we inspected our injuries. I had hit my head and cracked my helmet and we both had nasty scrapes on elbows, hips and knees. However, all parts of the body seemed to be working (although I realised a week later that I had fractured my shoulder) so we turned our attention to the bikes which weren’t quite as fortunate. Sally’s front brakes were broken and she had smashed her right gear mech which left her with only the three front gears for the remainder of the race and my front wheel was buckled. We got some assistance to get our bikes going again, patched up our scrapes, popped some ibuprofen and off we went to Vallay – we still had 100km+ to cover that day.
To reach the island of Vallay we had to cycle at low tide across 2 km of sand. However, there were sections where the tide was not fully out so we were cycling through a foot of sea water!
Upon reaching terra firma, it was a 4 point orienteer around the beautiful sandy island, with the points North, South, East and West. Our orienteering was solid and we managed to find a quick route back over the sand (still low tide) which saved running 2 km over tussocky grass. It was then back onto the bikes for the next stint to Lochmaddy. And, yes, back over the 2 km of sand. Special thanks must to go to Emma, a bike mechanic and marshal, for fixing our bikes whilst we ran around Vallay – making sure that Sally’s brakes worked as well as possible and tweaking my front wheel so it didn’t keep rubbing on the frame.
The weather had been much better than expected up until that point, with blue skies and sunshine and reasonably light winds. However, that all changed on this bike stretch when the heavens opened and it poured. We needed to get our lights on at 3pm in the afternoon as the visibility had become so poor. When we arrived at the kayak spot we were soaked to the skin (but our salty, sandy bikes had had a good wash).
I was slightly concerned about kayaking as I had hurt my shoulder in our crash so Sally volunteered to be rear paddler and I adopted a strange under-handed paddle stroke for my left arm so that I could be of some assistance.
Coming out of the kayak, soaking wet and cold to the bone we were shivering massively. It was tough going trying to get our warmer, but still wet, cycling gear back on. What one would have done for a cup of tea then… thankfully fruit cake hit the mark and we were off cycling again on the homeward stretch.
However, it wasn’t quite plain sailing (or cycling) as the route involved taking the Hebridean Walking Way for 12km. This path is under construction and so some parts were dry and stony but others muddy and rutted. Sally and I had cyclo-cross bikes but even those with mountain bikes struggled to bike large sections. So … bits of biking, bits of bike-hike – a gruelling 12km at that stage of the day.
Eventually we wheeled back into camp after 10 hours on the go. We had a (cold) shower, licked our wounds, had a bite to eat and thought that we would have a good night’s sleep. We were in 26th position out of 52 teams or solos due to our 2 hour time penalty and the time out for our crash.
3am and the rain lashed the tent and it was still raining at 7am when we had to pack up our tent and hand in our gear (we were camping at a new site on South Uist that night). Not the dry day that had been forecast for some weeks. However, on starting, the rain stopped and it looked like it may clear.
The plan for Day 2 was as follows:
20km bike ; 18km run (including 2 summits, Hecla and Beinn Mhor (620m from sea level) ; 26km cycle (12km on sandy beach) ; 3 km run ; 3 km kayak ; 2 km run up and down Coire Bheinn.
The initial cycle got our legs going again and we were back to overtaking people in front. Transition was a grassy access point to the hills which was the compulsory start route for the run. This wasn’t our plan as we were going to run back then along the road and head up Beinn Mhor first. Another slight quandary about which way to go and we eventually decided to do our route in reverse – definitely not related to the fact that everyone else seemed to be going that way! Saturday had taken its toll on quite a few people (including us) and many had decided to just run up the initial hill and miss out the big hills altogether. But that hadn’t been part of our plan so we headed off to Hecla for the first 600m+ peak.
The going was tough again over heathery, tussocky and boggy round. We had time limits in mind as we had to be back at transition by 2:30pm. The weather was clearing but not really fast enough on the higher slopes and so were into the cloud from about 400m. We went up the shoulder of Hecla and our route finding was spot on so we made it to the summit at 12:30. Again, another key decision to be made, did we go for Beinn Mhor? The visibility was poor, it was a tough navigation round a peak between Hecla and Beinn Mhor and we were slightly up against it time wise. It wasn’t helped by the fact that three other groups were heading straight back down, missing out Beinn Mhor, so we felt pretty alone in the mist on the hills.
We headed down Hecla a bit before making our decision. Sally had a slight slip, narrowly missing a rock with her head, but instead catching it with her thumb which proceeded to bleed profusely all over our map and compass. We stopped and took out our trusty medical kit and plastered her sliced thumb. At this point, the cloud suddenly cleared, showing us the route to Beinn Mhor and we both knew that was where we were headed.
Off we ran along various sheep tracks, skirting Beinn Choradail, onto the shoulder of Beinn Mhor and then climbing to the summit which we reached at 13:30. It was then a hoof back down to make the cut-off time. The weather was clearing all the time and so despite the summit still being in mist, the views on the way down were spectacular. We also found a great path for the downhill section which made it a delight running down. 4 hours of hill running with no stops, bar map reading and dibbing.
Getting back on the bikes was painful. It was only about 4km on road before we were on bumpy track and then the beach. The beach was truly spectacular, white, flat sands with blue skies and sunshine. However I’m not sure I really appreciated it at the time.
The bumpy route jarred my sore shoulder and I was struggling a bit but Sally pulled me along, chatting away, keeping me going. Despite the sand being flat it was still really hard work. Eventually we made it to the check point near the end of the beach (which was a run up to the top of a grassy knoll to dib in), with fantastic views along the beach we had just cycled.
Back on the bike to the campsite for our next transition, which was slightly disconcerting as we thought we were nearly finished. However, we still had a 3 km run, 3 km kayak and 2 km hill run to do before the finish, although by this stage we knew that we would complete The Heb.
The sun was shining and the light was amazingly clear and pure so it was a wonderful finish to the two days. We had done really well on the Sunday, moving up to 15th place over the two days. Our time on the Sunday was only 4 minutes behind the winning female team, a duo of an ex-professional ironman triathlete and a former world champion cyclo-cross biker.
But then thoughts turned to pitching our wet tent, drying some of our gear and getting a shower before the evening festivities at the Polochar Inn. After a few beers we must sleep well tonight?
However, the forecast was for storms to come in, severe enough to delay the ferry sailing on Monday morning by two hours. After an amazingly benign day, the storms arrived at 2am, with the wind so strong that we thought that the tent was going to blow away. We re-pegged the tent but didn’t have enough pegs for all the guys so at 3am Sally went to beg and borrow some pegs from another team that were camping in the kitchen due to being flooded the night before.
The plan had been that all the contestants would pack their bags and cycle the 13km to Lochboisdale to get to the ferry. However at 7am when Sally and I got up, we realised that everyone had already packed up and had started cycling for the ferry (in 30 mph winds) and that we were in danger of missing this ferry too. Another epic journey for a ferry? Thankfully, we were spared this by one of the support vehicles who kindly took us and our bikes to Lochboisdale – thank you Durty Events. Who said if you snooze you lose?!
The whole event was an amazing experience in a stunning part of Scotland. We made a good team and all the contestants were friendly and supportive with a special camaraderie between us all. We met some amazing people: competitors, organisers and marshals. It was a great split between the three disciplines and what with ferry trips, camping and the weather the whole thing was a real adventure.
So where do you go from here….. half ironman next year?
