Kilchoan Pram Race

This year's Kilchoan Pram Race was split into two sections, Junior and Senior.  The course for the Junior event ran from the Ferry Stores to the Kilchoan Hotel, and there were three entrants.  Alastair Peterson and Isla Ip were the winners....

 ....but Megan Curtis and Holly Cameron's machine stole the show - pictured are Megan and Emma MacLachlan, who lent a hand.

Where the children lead, the parents follow.  Here are Megan and Emma's mums in the Senior race showing what they can do but, as one of them admitted at the finish, "I'm getting too old for this."  She says this every year and never seems to learn.  The big wheels should have given Rosie Curtis and Morven MacLachlan a huge technical advantage but, if they failed to make the medals, they did win 'Best Pram'.

The senior event ran from the top of Ormsaigbeg to the hotel.  It was, once again, a hard-fought contest between a number of extremely fit participants.  Justin Cameron has been running up and down Ben Hiant for weeks to get in training, and certainly looked stripped for action in his very fetching pixie green leggings.  His passenger is Sine Kidd and, together, they won 'Best Fancy Dress'.

Probably the favourites in the field were Claire Burnet and Becca Deboys from the Kilchoan Hotel.  They were supposed to come in first so they could be ready at the bar to serve the other exhausted competitors, but something went badly wrong early in their run, resulting in their coming in seventh in a time of nearly twenty minutes.  At one point they were offered a lift in a motor vehicle, and it is much to their credit that they turned the offer down.

Photo: Ricky Clark

The British army were represented by SAS veterans Nick Taylor and Will Kelly.  Fortunately, their plan to eliminate all other competitors using the missile launcher fitted to the back of their all-terrain vehicle failed when it misfired, meaning they were forced to complete the whole event the hard way, finding the last hill up to the finishing line extremely heavy going.

Some imaginatively constructed vehicles were entered for this year's competition, and full marks to the Gane clan for their two entries.  Lauren and Angus came a well-deserved third in the flower-powered "Mystery Machine"....

 ....while Katie Gane and Grant Cameron came second in their Ferrari-red "WAL1".

Photo: Ricky Clark

The winners of the Senior event were Cheyenne Cameron and Ben White who completed the course in nine minutes exactly.  They received the prestigious Kilchoan Jetty Pram Race shield, a reminder that all proceeds from this charity race go to maintaining the jetty below the Ferry Stores.

Due to a slight logistical hitch, the annual tee shirts arrived late for the event.  The organisers would like to remind participants that they are each entitled to a free shirt, and that others who would like one can purchase them from Dr Tony Kidd for the startlingly small sum of £5.

Many thanks to Ricky Clark for some of the photos.