The Mighty Deerstalker

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Deerstalking in the Dark

Pyro / 10.04.2007

As the crowds began to gather at the historic Traquair House, near Innerleithen, it was obvious that the inaugural Mighty Deerstalker event was going to be something special, and with Detail Events pedigree, it was bound to be something a little out of the ordinary.

With the races (5km and 10km) scheduled to begin in the early evening, the grounds of Traquair house became a mini festival site for the day: Folk music played, MB7 had their test bikes and track out, with their demo and trials riders wowing the assortment of runners, racers and families wandering about the site. Dune buggies raced up and down the hill adjacent to the car parking field, an archery stall brought out the medieval in many, and tractors merrily chugged away in one corner.

With catering from the ever-popular Wilf\'s, last minute gear bargains from PlanetFear and t-shirts and tweed-printed Buffs on sale, the 650 entrants for this first-time event took advantage of the beautiful sunshine and relaxed before the storm of a race that was to come later on.

In the run up to the event, some things had changed. The 5km race was revealed to be \'a little over 6km\' and the 10km \'a bit closer to 13km\'. This hadn\'t seemed to deter anyone; the extra 50 places released shortly before the event sold out in two days. The promise of \'A big muddy romp\' and \'Fell race meets Hellrunner meets Tough Guy\' hadn\'t dampened any spirits either, with the competitors being a healthy mix of AR regulars, orienteers, club runners, enthusiastic first timers and a couple of, appropriately, stag parties.

5k-ish First

Come five o\'clock the \'Deerstalker\' 5km race got underway. The runners headed uphill run to a chest-height wall of straw bales. For the front line of the 250 entrants this was an easy prospect to get up and over, however the mid pack soon began to slow as people struggled and held up those behind them.

Still, after event director Gary Tompsett\'s pre-race briefing, there was little pushing and shoving, although one or two people may have been given a little \'assistance\' in clearing the obstacle. After a turn down the driveway and out of the grounds of the house, the enthusiastic runners were out of sight of those of us waiting for the night\'s main event.See All Event Posts