Elizabeth Celtic Festival and Highland Games

After a long off season and not much games practice, I showed up in Elizabeth ready to throw at a Highland Games.

My results were mixed across the board.  Values in parenthesis are from 2023.

• Braemar Stone - 18'-9.375" (15'-10.25 to 17'-6.5") PR!
• Open Stone - 23'-3.625" (20'-5.375" to  21'-8.625") PR!
• Heavy Weight for Distance - 15'-3.625" (15'-1.25" to 15'-11") no improvement
• Light Weight for Distance - 23'-4.125" (18'-2.125" to 24'-10.25") getting worse
• Heavy Hammer - 38'-7.375" (38'-0" to 37'-0.25") no improvement
• Light Hammer - 41'-9" (45'-0" to 51'-7.875") much worse
• Caber - 12:15 (30 degrees to 65 degrees) finally flipped PR!
• Sheaf Toss - 16' (estimated 13' to estimated 14') finally cleared the standard PR!
• Weight Over Bar - 10' (10', 10') no improvement

I PR'd the Braemar and Open Stone.  I lost about 6" on the HWD and 12" on the LWD.  I PR'd the heavy hammer, but lost 10' on the light hammer.  I finally flipped the M1 caber and posted a score of 12:15.  I finally cleared a bar on sheaf and my WOB has been flat at 10' for all three games.  Numbers in parenthesis are from Thornton Celtic Festival and Colorado Scottish Festival in 2023.

Despite the improvements, I am still well behind the men's field.  I would need a roughly 25-50% improvement across the board to crawl out of the cellar.

We started with stones and I was moving well.  Coaching cue to get my elbow up.  I wore a wrist wrap and elbow sleeve.

Next we moved to weight for distance and I was moving poorly.  I really need to work on my footwork.  I wore a leather glove.

Then we we went to hammers and I thought I was doing OK with heavy hammer.  I had a late release followed by a couple of good tosses.  On the light hammer, I had a late release, scratched my second attempt and then barely had any speed on it for my third attempt.  I did not wear any support equipment.

We then broke for a lunch of pulled pork which was very good.

Following lunch we started with WOB.  I made 9' and 10' on my first attempts, before missing all three attempts at 11'.  I wore a leather glove and a lifting belt.  My peers were at 12' and up.

Then it was time for sheaf.  I had yet to clear the 16' standard the past two games and was thrilled to make 16' on my 3rd attempt.  When the standards were moved to 18', I missed all three attempts.  My peers are all 20' and up.

Finally it was time for cabers.  The master's men selected from the following four cabers:

• 15'-2.75" 45 pounds
• 17'-0" 51 pounds
• 18'-0" 62 pounds
• 18'-0.25" 76 pounds

I got a flip on my first attempt with the light caber and then failed all three attempts on the 17' caber.  My peers were all posting scores with one of the 18' cabers.

Overall, I am very happy with my performance.  During the competition, I was a little frustrated being at the back of the pack, but still enjoyed my grouping.  I threw with the Grand Masters (Craig, Skip, Wayne and Al) and a couple of the Masters (Josh and Tyler).  Josh and Tyler managed 5th and 6th respectively.

The next event is in two weeks at the Colorado Scottish Festival.  I definitely want to focus on hammers and light weight for distance.