The Chilli Trail, Auchterarder
I'll start this post off by saying the reason this is called 'the chilli' is because of the Strava art that is created on completion of the route as shown below.....
I had heard about this event on the Young Hearts Run Free podcast & initially thought it was going to be one of these quirky community events where they have a chilli cookoff involved as well as the run, naively not putting any thought into the strava map at the time. It was founded by a man named Frank who ran this route & other runners commented on the shape of the strava art. Its 10km so between Fiona & Steven Watt they informed Frank that they would love to turn this into an event. The event started in 2017 for the local run club then the following year it opened up to the wider running community. The chilli trail race was born!
Between myself & my pal Angela (or Angi as I call her!) we have been trying to pin a date down to recce this route since I signed up to it not long after entries opened last year. I saw the coverage on Instagram & as soon as I saw the picture of Martin Gray and his pals wading through a river crossing having what looked like lots of fun I knew this event was at the top of my 'to do events' list!
Eventually we managed to find a date that would work for us both then popped it in the diaries. Angi informed me that one of her pals would be joining us. Naturally I was a bit nervous as I hadn't met this person yet. I knew of her through Instagram & shouldn't have been nervous but this is what my brain decides to do. Katie was lovely as I have thankfully found is the usual case when meeting new people to me on a social run.
From the off the chat flowed & there wasn't a point in the run where I didn't feel comfortable. The ladies were amazing & we had decided this was definitely as easy paced run. The 1st half is up a hill. To someone that runs/hikes up hills on a regular basis this would be a canter to them. We ran a bit up the hill then hiked. Stopping to take pictures on the way up with it being such a nice day. I was told later on in the day this was not the case on last year's event!
It was really cool being told where the marshals would be, Angi's husband taking pictures & the encouragement that will be delivered on event day! Below is where official pictures will be snapped, I hope it's a clear day again.......
The terrain was mixed, which I actually enjoy. I'm not the biggest fan of running over grass (actually I hate cross country!) but when there's a clear-ish path where the grass is short I don't mind it.
Right after this section comes the muddy bit. This is where Angi will be filming us all falling into the mud very much for comedy value! However, if you are partaking in the event you need to fall, get up and laugh while running as the section is really narrow & can bottleneck for the runners behind. It was really dry yesterday but suspect this wont be the case in November!
Then come the river crossings to wash the shoes! I've not had much experience of this so far into my trail running endeavours but my mind is put at ease straight away when I can see the bottom. Just got to be careful not to slip! The water was really cooling on the feet & my feet being wet for the rest of the run didn't bother me at all. In fact there was no thought about it for the rest of the run apart from how fun it was!
At the bottom of this section were highland coos! My favourite kind of coo!
When we reached the point to go back down the 'stem' of the chilli I was a bit sad the recce was almost over. I loved the ladies company, hearing about Katie & getting to know her. In all honesty I could have done the loop again just for the chat & company.
We ran back down the hill for the sense of speed for a short distance! Then before we knew it we were back through the underpass of the A9 up the small incline back to the start line. What a cool route. I'm ecstatic I signed up for this one early. The only niggle about it is, it lands on the same weekend as Glen Ogle 50km so if I am to do this ultra in the future, the chilli will have to be sacrificed for that year unfortunately.
As far as I'm led to believe there are still spaces for this event this year. Don't delay as closer to the time it sells out hence the reason I booked my space early this year.
Before that, this won't be my 1st event in Auchterarder as I'm signed up for the double dare at the Auchterarder Running Festival in September. 10km on Saturday & half marathon on Sunday. It'll be my 1st time having a double event weekend but if the support is anything near what I had on this recce yesterday it will make the running so much more enjoyable. I can't wait!
Comments
Post a Comment