Hebridean Challenge

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Hills, Sun and Basking Sharks

Pyro / 06.07.2006

Tuesday of this year’s Hebridean Challenge began with one of the all-time classic Heb stages – the bike leg up the machair of South Uist.

This combination of grassy track and beach riding is one of the most popular and fastest stages of the race most years. This year was no exception, except for the shortening of the stage as part of the machair is a live firing range! (The race organisation takes a team member getting blown up very seriously. As do the teams, probably.)

Following one popular classic leg was a slightly unpopular classic leg over Hecla and Beinn Mhor, the highest peaks in the Uists. This was, as ever, a monster leg – this hill run takes not only strength but also navigational skill as one of the 2 gullies off the side of Beinn Mhor ends in a 20 foot cliff!

While all teams ran this leg, some opted to skip the next running leg and take the penalty – a tactical decision which has often paid off for teams in the past. Many teams may believe that a time penalty for skipping a leg (the slowest time plus half an hour) is faster than their runner would complete. That, combined with the rest break, makes skipping a stage a favourable but unpopular option – obviously the ‘completion’ mentality is strong.
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