THE Sangomore Hill Run forms the second day of competition at the Cape Wrath Challenge. It's a chance to change out of the road shoes and to don trail wear for the 5.5 mile trek along some of the lower slopes of the local hills around Durness.

I wasn't feeling great on the Tuesday and a little bit sickly. The half marathon the day before had been fine, and the legs were good. But the stomach felt decidedly dodgy, maybe the after effects of the quiz night the night before, so I treated this as a very gentle training run.

It was funny how I enjoyed the run without going out at race speed. I started at the back of the field which set out from the car park by the village hall.

The race was all off road as the runners set out on a beautiful morning along a muddy track towards Loch Caladil. I settled in nicely and was surprised how close I was to runners who I had raced with the day previously. We then climbed onto the moor to the edge of Loch Meadaidh and then crossed a series of stepping stones by a ford at Alt Smoo Burn.

Those who wanted to set back on the shorter four mile route could do so here. The rest of us started the ascent towards Beinn Ceannabeinne. This is an ancient track which was used by the villagers to drive cattle from Durness up onto the hill and the summer pastures. It was a tricky little climb, but once at the top, the view was splendid overlooking the sea and the village of Durness below.

We then had a one mile descent, a free-rolling run downhill towards the Smoo Cave, and then a final stretch of road uphill to the finish at the village hall.

My stomach didn't feel very comfortable, but this was a smooth run, and despite not putting in a lot of effort I finished 24th in 41min 37sec.