The Heb - Race on the Edge 31 August – 1 September 2019
I have been asked to write a wee race report for this – so here goes! Disclaimer: This isn’t about time splits, watts, or technical stuff. This is about a totally bonkers but entirely exhilarating adventure. Something different from your normal triathlon for those looking for a wee change.
This event had been on my radar for years. But for one reason on another I had not been able to enter. This year, having nothing clashing in the calendar, and no injury to stop me, I signed up for this race with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.
The Heb is a two-day kayak-bike-run adventure race on the Outer Hebrides. It involves mostly cycling and running, with a wee bit of kayaking thrown in for good measure. No swimming, unless you are very poor at kayaking and fall in. There is also a significant amount of navigating required to do well, which as I discovered I was pretty rubbish at.
Departure from Mallaig on the Friday afternoon. Each participant is allowed one 20kg bag including tent and sleeping bag, so packing strategy was the first headache in the previous week. You are also required to carry the food and water you need for each of the two days (during racing), so this also needed some thought. Then there is the bike. With a mixture of on-road and off-road (trail and sand) cycling, anything from a cross bike to a mountain bike could do in theory. A wee bit of online research suggested a cross-bike might be best overall, but I wasn’t going to buy a new bike for this, so I opted for my loyal hybrid fitted with off-road tyres. After a rainy drive to Mallaig, the ferry crossing was a bit choppy but gave everyone a good chance to get to know a few people and extract some useful tips from previous entrants. We were greeted with the most spectacular sunset on arrival into Lochboisdale.
Transfer to Benbecula campsite by coach, and then it was the first race of the weekend: pitching tents in the dark with a headtorch. Quite a weird sight!
It rained all night non-stop. Heavy rain in a small tent is very noisy, and I didn’t sleep very much. Amazingly, this turned into a light drizzle by 7am, and after a quick breakfast, the rain had stopped just in time for the race briefing at 8am on the Saturday morning. Bikes were laid in a nearby transition zone, with a quick group photo before people started realizing what they’ve signed up for.
The start was on the beach for a 1km run to transition to stretch the field a bit to avoid congesting the narrow roads and annoy the locals.
Steady cycling up to the first run section, with people finding groups of similar ability and getting a bit of banter to get going, soaking up the surroundings along these first few kms of Hebridean tarmac. All the running sections are off road in The Heb. There is mostly no path or track on the run. It is basically heather and bog. Short grass or rock is the best terrain you can hope for. The whole twist of this event lies in the optional checkpoints. Each of the big run sections has optional checkpoints. You can try to find them using the OS map you are given at registration, or you can skip them, either because you think it’s too far to run, or because you think you haven’t got enough time to do them before returning to transition by the mandatory cut-off time. If you miss any of the checkpoints, you get a significant time penalty. Last year, only 6 people managed to do all the checkpoints, so it’s no mean feat to do them all. This particular section on day 1 has three checkpoints, so I started with the big hill (Eaval) to get checkpoint B out of the way. This was good fun, once I realized after a couple pf minutes that trying to keep my feet dry was entirely futile and a complete waste of time.
Then I got back down and started running through the bog to the more obscurely located checkpoint C at the tip of one of the many lochans (that all look the same!). A couple of orienteers appeared out of nowhere and made it look obvious where me and this Dutch chap should have been aiming for. At least we got it, and after a wet jog back to transition it is back on the saddle. So far so good. Then it’s the optional Hebridean Way bike section. This is an off-road section which I was really looking forward to. Turned out to be a nightmare on a hybrid, off-road tyres or not. It’s bumpy, really muddy, and I can get zero momentum. Worst of all is the thought that I would probably enjoy this section on a mountain bike! Seems to be the norm though, with everyone moving at snail pace so I don’t panic, but keep an eye on the clock. At the end of this section, it’s about 2pm and I’m really hungry. I brought a couple of tuna rolls and a boiled egg as I didn’t want to munch on gels and bars for 10 hours. That turned out to be a good choice. I had never cracked a boiled egg on the go on my helmet before so I can tick that off. Arrived in Lochmaddy for the kayak section which was great fun, and a welcome break from sitting on the saddle. Then it was a 10k bike stretch to the little island of Vallay at the top of North Uist. This is a tough section, heading North West into a strong headwind, and I’m starting to feel really tired now. Vallay is only accessible at low tide by crossing a wide sandy bay, and there is a mandatory cut-off time of 5pm by which you have to leave Vallay to avoid you and the marshall getting caught by the rising tide. I get to the checkpoint with enough time to be allowed to cycle across to Vallay. The cycle on the sand across to Vallay is really tough. Strong wind, wet but softish sand, with those little ripples in the sand that you come across at low tide. I get there in time, but there are four check points to collect around Vallay, and my granny shuffle at this point only allows me to get two of them before it’s almost 5 o’clock and I have to head back. Back across the bay and safe from the rising tide. A little disappointed I missed two CPs, but I feel absolutely gubbed at that point and couldn’t really have gone faster. Now I can take it easier for the 40k ride back to the campsite, with a welcome tailwind most of the way which is great but unfortunately does nothing to help relieve saddle pain. It’s 7pm when I reach HQ, and I am soooo hungry. Dinner tastes awesome. Everyone seems to be walking strangely.
Sunday morning involves packing up tents which will be transferred by the organisers to the evening campsite near Lochboisdale. The race on day 2 basically heads south from Benbecula.
After an initial bike section to get those legs moving, we arrive at the main test for Day 2: The big run section with five checkpoints, each at the top of a separate peak (the nearest two being the lowest, and furthest three the highest), all being disposed in a sort of loop. The cut-off time for being back at transition is 2.30pm. We’ve been warned at race briefing it will be hard to meet. Like on Day 1, I am aiming to do all five checkpoints, so I decide to start anti-clockwise to get the big one, Beinn Mhor, over and done with first. If I thought day 1 was boggy, this is something else. Me and my newfound adventure pal Blair advance through something reminiscent of Tolkiens’ Dead Mashes. We zigzag through the bog, vaguely aiming for the bottom of Beinn Mhor. The climb/walk up is actually quite good fun, but as we get nearer the top we realise that we have missed checkpoint C which was on a sort of false summit (turns out loads of people struggled to find this one). After a decent amount of swearing we decide to run back down to that check point as we both still aim to complete all five CPs. Back to where we were, and we’ve lost about 25 minutes. The Beinn Mohr summit is along a narrow ridge which is absolutely spectacular. The climb was worth it just for that section alone.
But at that point I realise that the 25-minute mess-up seriously put a dent into my hopes of doing all five CPs. I decide to play it safe (the other two peaks across the valley look far and high). I decide to go back down the way I came, and collect checkpoint A instead which is on a lower summit. On the way down I bump into my two orienteering friends from Day 1 who also missed check point C, and I show them where it is (a very small consolation for my own navigating incompetence). Basically, I’ve done two out-and-back sections of what should have been a loop, which is a terrible use of time, and warrants another quick round of swearing when I should have been able to go round all five had I not royally screwed up . Not to worry. I’m here for fun after all.
Time for a quick boiled egg and a tuna roll, and I’m off again. This is another trademark section of The Heb, which takes you along the western coast of South Uist on a 12.5-km cycle on the beach.
The weather is great, which helps me forget that the sand isn’t as hard as I’d hoped and it’s a long way to bike on sand. There’s a great CP on a small hill at the end of that stretch, then it’s then time for a wee bit of kayaking. We’re almost there. Only one more run up another hill at the back of the campsite, which I happen to do with a couple of friendly chaps from Peebles tri club, and we head back down to the finish on the beach.
After some basic bike washing (a mixture of mud, salt and sand doesn’t seem to be great for bikes), it’s time to pitch the tent before the rain comes in. Then we all head to the nearby pub for the post-race dinner and party. I walk back to the campsite in the dark, save a kamizake hedgehog from certain death stopped in the middle of the road on the way back, get a wee bit of sleep, and it’s a 5am rise to pack tents and board the coach to Lochboisdale to catch the 7am Ferry back to Mallaig.
Although I entered the race as a solo (rather than a pair), I found myself often with other competitors in various sections of bike or run. That was probably one of the best parts of the race. The camaraderie was truly wonderful.
Performance wise, although I was disappointed about my major error in the big run on day 2, I feel like I pushed myself fairly hard over the two days, so I’m happy enough. 13th out of just under 100 competitors is respectable I suppose. Only 7 completed all the CPs, and 4 of those had done the race it before.
All in all, an amazing experience, but if I was to do it again, I would definitely spend more time working on navigation. Not as easy as it looks.
Yann
