Weekly Summary - 24th-30th May

A day early I realise but all will be revealed!

Monday was a nice easy 8 miler and I was really pleased that my average pace was 8.23 minute miles and felt really comfortable.

Tempo Tuesday was back. I was nervous going into this because the last time I did a tempo run was in my Lochaber training and was horendus weather, I went off too fast and had to cut it short. So tonight I decided to have a mile warm up then try a 10 mile tempo and try and average 8 minute miles. The first 6 miles of the tempo were net up hill so I wasn't too bothered about hitting 8 mins on the button. So this is how it went : 8.10, 8.11, 8.06, 8.03, 7.51, 7.43. So was pleased with the first half and I had plenty left so the last four I figured out I could potentially average 8 minute mile pace including the 1 mile warm up, so the rest went like this: 7.33, 7.23, 7.19 and 7.03!! With 0.23 mile warm down at 8.23 pace. So could not have gone any better as I averaged 7.52 pace for the whole run!

Wednesday was even better as I felt like I was fresh as a daisy even after Tuesday's effort. So did an easy 10k again managed 8.22 pace.

Thursday club night it was off to Roukenglen Park for near enough kilometre reps. It was 2 sets of 1.05km, 1.25 km, 0.73km. I found this session pretty tough from the outset but got through it. Average pace varied from 6.05 pace for the shortest one to 6.42 pace for the longest.

Friday day off. Then today...



What a day. Plan for the day was to run 30 miles from Cambuslang to Strathclyde Park, then Strathclyde Park out 5 miles then back..... to Cambuslang all along the River Clyde. So I met up with one of my uni friends Alex at Strathclyde Park at half 8. I put some supplies in his car which acted as a mini aid station for the 10 and 20 mile points. Then we both jumped in my car and headed for Morrisons in Cambuslang which is conveniently right beside the Clyde.

So we set off along the cycle track for a couple of miles before it turned off and we were on the grassy Clyde Walkway. This area is still under major development so will be nicer once its finished. Everything was going fine until we reached a point where the Clyde headed north and we were trying to work out how to follow it. We headed up a farm road and then down Blantyre Farm Road but couldn't work out where the walkway restarted. So although I knew that we weren't meant to be crossing the river till Uddingston. There didn't seem to be any alternative so we ended up going down roads until eventually we re-joined the walkway just where the steel bridge we were meant to cross was. So at least I knew where it was for the way back! Between Uddingston and Bothwell was really enjoyable. It was nice trail running covered in trees and the river as still as anything. Then we crossed a bridge back to the south bank, this is where there was quite a few sharp ascents and decents. Then the next bit of confusion came. We were still beside the Clyde but not right beside it. There was a big grey construction fence which went along but it was hard to tell which side of it to go on. We always went with the path that looked more like the right path and this time it was the right side of the fence and the path is still getting constructed. So we were going through the long grass which wasn't the easiest running but we did eventually come out at Hamilton so it was all good. We did see another path which went the other side the fence but I tried it on the way back and ended up lying flat to get under the construction fence! So it was over to Strathclyde Park for some flat running along the loch then had a pit stop at Alex's car at the Watersports centre car park.

We stopped for 10 minutes got some new supplies then headed south. Again really nice trail running through the trees. Then it all opened up to fields with cows and sheep. We reached the farm which is almost where the A72 touches the Clyde. Because we got lost a bit early on we did an out and back from Strathclyde park which added up to 8 and a bit miles to make it 20 when we got back to Strathclyde Park. As I knew it should have been 10 miles between SP and Cambuslang. When we got back to SP, this is where Alex finished as he hadn't done a 20 miler for ages so this was enough for him today. It was great to have company for the 20 and made the miles fly by. I went with him to the cafe and chilled out for half an hour having a corneto and hot chocolate before heading off on my own. I was wondering how I would cope but I was totally fine. When I got to the steel bridge at Uddingston this time I crossed it back over to the south bank. Then realised that there was loads of horses in the way where the Clyde went. So being a big wimp I decided to go left and around the field rather than following the Clyde which took me out at Blantyre Farm Road that we were on before so looks like we should have cut across the field, I'll just need to find out where's the entry point as it didn't seem obvious. The rest of the run went well, the last bit has also got some steep ups and downs but they are too short to be a problem.

So all in all, a great run and a great confidence booster ahead of Clyde Stride in less than 2 months. Especially the last 10 miles where I did it 1 hour 54 minutes as that is the kind of pace I want to do on the day. All in all I did the 30 miles in 6 hours 40 minutes which includes all the breaks. So if you take off the breaks that is exactly the pace I want to go at and I felt I could have gone on. So a record breaking 63.8 mile week and I really feel like I'm in a good place right now :-)

Parkrunner of the week!

It's a real honor to be nominated for park runner of the week by my fellow park runners at Glasgow's Pollock Park run and this week it was recognised in the Park Run newsletter! I thought I'd make a post of it for prosperity. Park run has allowed me to give back to the running community and it is such a great event to be apart of.

Here is the Q & A from the news letter:

parkrunner of the week


Name: Stuart McBeath
Club: Giffnock North
Age: 26
Home parkrun: Glasgow
Occupation: Software Testing Consultant
Number of Runs: 6
Number of times volunteered: 16

What do you do at parkruns: Run, Timer, Marshall, Funnel Management, Registration, Numbers, Number Checker and Numbers Assistant. So I have pretty much done every job which happens during the event and I plan to do the other jobs like setup and the race report in the future. I enjoy the variety of jobs and happy with whatever I am assigned to do as it is just a great feeling to contribute and meet like minded people. My favourite job is the timer as I see it as both an honour and a challenge. The challenge I set myself is to get to get a "clean sheet" which would usually mean letting no goals in in football. But for me in parkrun terms it means the number of times you click the timer for a person crossing the finish line equals the number of tokens given out. I have managed to get a clean sheet twice and been one click out twice, so I am pleased with my record and hope to make it three clean sheets by the end of the year!

How has parkrun changed your running: When I first started running I skipped 5ks and 10ks, moving straight up to half marathons and marathons. If it wasn't for parkrun I probably still wouldn't have done a 5k as I prefer longer distances. I have found 5K is a nice distance because it is good to have a speed test every now and then and it takes less time to recover than the longer races. parkrun has made my running a lot more sociable because before I discovered parkrun I would run on my own and I would know no one at races. Now, due to some of the people I met at parkrun, I am a member of a club. So now at races, not only am I getting to the finish line quicker, but I am also getting to know more and more people both from my club and parkrun. Furthermore twice a week I now run with people from the club which makes the miles fly by especially on long runs.

What do you like about parkrun: It get's me up on a Saturday morning! I really enjoy meeting new people who like running and I never tire of hearing their stories, what races they've got coming up or a PB they've just got. The fact that no matter how fast or slow you are, everyone is welcome. I really do feel parkrun is kick starting people's road to fitness and because it is on every week you can see people improve which is nice to be a part of. Pollock Park is also one of my favourite parks and I keep discovering new paths and trails, making it an ideal setting for a run.

Most memorable or funniest parkrun moment: Most memorable moment was at a parkrun recently where I was doing the timer and a lady was doing her first parkrun and was walking most of the course. We were waiting for her to come in as we knew she was the last person out on the course with the tail runner. Her family then came up to me and asked me where she was and we thought she must be about 5 minutes away based on what the marshals told us, so they went out to meet her. She came round the final corner and with her family either side and the tail runner. She had a big grin on her face and got into a jog for the final 50 metres. Afterwards, she turned round to the tail runner after and thanked him for helping her round and asked if he could help her every week. You could tell that that her family were really proud of her and those that were there at the finish were too. It is moments like that, that for me make the parkrun worthwhile and even more encouraging when people say they'll be back for more.

My funniest park run moments are normally in the funnel when we are waiting for the first runner to come in, as people are up for a laugh as we pass the time. A few times when I was doing the timer people usually people ask what time we're at and when it is about thirteen, fourteen minutes, I'll spot someone coming down the course and say to everyone 'Look!, Course record is getting smashed today' for them to turn round to see a women with a pram coming down the finish straight.

Thanks to the directors and parkrun volunteers I have had the pleasure of helping out with and who keep it going week after week. It is a team effort after all and there is certainly a great team spirit up in Glasgow and from what I have read is common across all the parkruns.

Weekly Summary - 17th-23rd May

A nice solid week this week.

It started off on Monday with an easy 10k. I was loaded with energy after not doing anything on Sunday so it felt like I was holding myself back the entire time as my legs just wanted to go fast. I was pleased with the effort and was about 8.15 pace. I am trying to increase the easy pace to about 8.30 minute miles but I think this run was an exception as usually I wouldn't have as much in the legs as I did that night.

On Tuesday I was toying with the idea of keeping to my usual theme for the day which is tempo Tuesday - either a shorter tempo at wanabee half marathon pace (7.15 min miles) or a longer tempo at wanabee marathon pace (8.00 minute miles). Then I thought, hang on I haven't done hill reps since February! Can't have that, lol. So I was off to what I thought to be one of the toughest hills in the nearby area which was the 1st of the Merries. Although there are shorter and steeper Merries; this one is long and has steep bits, so best of both worlds. I was thinking to myself that 12 reps would be good here. That was until I did the first 2! It was really knackering. I did the first one in 1.34 and the second one in 1.32. So naturally I thought I should be able to get below 1.30 by the end of the session. But at the same time I was thinking how I am actually going to finish this session! So I decided to get to 6 and take it from there. In the first six, I was between 1.32 and 1.36. I decided to have a few minutes break here and prepare for the next 6. I re-adjusted my expectations and thought if I keep under 1.40 great but just to get the rest under 2 minutes would be an achievement. So I thought I'd aim for 3 more and anything on top of that would be a bonus as by this point I was breathing heavily after each rep. I got to 9. Then for some reason 10 and 11 felt easier and I managed all the 5 reps somehow still between 1.32 and 1.36. And for the last rep I got 1.30! So although it felt like a struggle, it was one of those sessions which looking back on actually went pretty well.

Wednesday, I did an easy 10k. Then Thursday, club night, we went down to Linn Park. On the website I am sure it said 2 laps or something like that. But we ended up doing hill reps on grass. So a double dose this week! It was totally different though as we were pushing it up and down then having a short break inbetween. I definetley enjoyed the session a lot more than Tuesday's so may add that to the Tuesday rota, as although most of the time I'll be doing tempo Tuesday, I want to start doing hill reps once a month.

Friday day off. Then Saturday I decided to do the park run. I met up with race director, Alan, at 8.20 where we walked round putting the signs up. Then it was talking to various people, Susan, Tom, Carlos, Martin, Ken and Nic before the start. I just did an easy half mile warm up, then headed for the start line. Plan for the day was to try and do a tempo run at half marathon pace. I didn't want to go all out at this one because last time I found I was slapping too much on the down hills and my shins hurt the next day, so I wanted to be more controlled today. The race went exactly as planned, and almost identical to the one in January - the difference being I was going all out in January and did it in 22.17. Today I wasn't going all out and did it in 22.16! Funny thing is like January's race Ian Goudie finished in the 22.00's and Martin Myant finished just in front of me,exactly the same thing happened today! Anyone looking at the results would think Martin and myself, being from the same club, just ran round together. But we actually only ever see each other at the start and the finish because he goes off fast and speeds down the hills while I am stronger on the up hills. But I was pleased today, as although I was slightly dehydrated due to the heat, I did still have plenty left.

Then today was another hot day. I had in the back of my mind to do a 20 miler today but due to not being use to running in the heat I did think that was optimistic. So I turned up at the club to find there was just the four of us today; David, Jim,Paul and myself. We did the Park run route but this time started at Linn Park then round through other parks and also included Roukenglen park this time. So a good solid 14 1/2 miles in just over 2 hours. I am pleased with this as I wanted to increase my long run pace, so I think it would be wiser to increase it gradually again as there is plenty of time till Loch Ness.

So this week I am up and around 47 miles which is pleasing especially with the quality of the sessions. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up this kind of mileage for a while as it will build a good foundation for Loch Ness. I noticed in my Lochaber training that although I peaked at 60 miles, I only did a few weeks up and around 50 miles so this time hopefully I will be able to be more consistent.

Weekly Summary - 10th-16th May

Decided to copy this guy Anton Krupicka's blog (Riding the Wind in the blogs I follow section, he is an ok runner ;-) ) and do weekly summary's for now as although my nearest aim is Clyde Stride in July. It does feel like I am focusing more on Loch Ness in October as most of my runs are geared towards the latter.

So Monday my legs actually felt ok but I did feel a bit worn down still from Saturday so took the night off.

Tuesday I was raring to go again and what should I do to celebrate my first proper week back in training? My favourite session the Merries. This time I decided to do the Merries extended route plus doing another hill nearby twice which is up there with the hardest Merry. I knew the Merries extended was about 5.5- 6 miles but wasn't sure how much the other 2 would add on until I returned. Turns out it was 7.8 miles over 13 hills. Before I set out I thought if I can eventually get this down to marathon pace (8min/miles), that would be great. So guess what I did? 7.52 min/miles average! So pleased and it felt really comfortable. I am especially pleased with my downhill running as it feels relaxed and quicker than previously.

Wednesday it was of course the UEFA cup final. I don't usually take football as priority over running but to see if Fulham could do it was just too appealing so just went out for a steady 3 miles only to see Fulham narrowly miss out on a penalty shoot out in the last bit of extra time. What a season they've had though!

On Thursday night it was down to the club for another session down at Roukenglen Park. This was another session I have not done before which was 5 times just under 1/2 mile reps on grass. The start has a short incline followed by a long descent before turning and flattening out. The last part is a long incline before flattening out just before the end of the lap. There was a large group in our C group tonight and I let other people pace it and just fell in behind. The first rep was 6.39 min/mile pace and got faster with every rep. For the last rep I was feeling it and I didn't realise at the time but everyone was really pushing it! I thought at the time it would be my slowest rep but it ended up being my fastest at 6.18 min/per mile pace.

Friday was day off. Then Saturday went down to the park run and did the timer! Over 350 people today so it was always going to be a challenge getting my clean sheet today (number of clicks of the timer = number of tokens given out) and at one point I was 1 out. But it went straight back to none out at the number check 2 seconds later so it just went down as a brief error (or something like that, lol). So great teamwork meant that I got another clean sheet! Which is awesome especially with that many people. So my record is now 3/5 clean sheets. After that I went for a 4.5 mile easy run. Followed by my friend's Stephen and Emma's wedding which was awesome! A took part in a bit of cross training, with a mix of Ceilidh dancing/ and a good mix of indie rock music. You'll be pleased to know I managed to increase my repetiore of free styling to the dashing white sergent. So after all that Sunday was fun, I was so tired I took the day off. I had good intentions of going to the club run in the morning but my body just told me in no uncertain terms not too.

Some days you just don't want to end...

That is how I felt after yesterdays epic adventure.

Stephen and myself set off for Crainlarich at 7am and got there about 8.30am. The plan for the day was to go on the West Highland Way from Crainlarich to Inveronon.... and back again. It was both our first attempts at beyond marathon distance but we were both pretty clued up on what strategy to take and what we were doing. So it was to run the flats and downs. If we were runnning for 15 minutes then we would walk unless we knew there was a long up coming up and then walk the ups. After a cold start we started our climb up to join the WHW which was about a kilometre which was really a warm up and it wasn't long till we were running in t-shirts. When we joined the WHW it continued to climb and then dropped a fair bit down to the road. We ate a sandwich pretty much every hour and took it out of each others bags while we were walking so that we kept moving forward. The first checkpoint was Tyndrum, then Bridge of Orchy and finally Inveronon. I took the chance at Inveronon to refill my water bottles as it was beginning to heat up.

On the way back we decided to have a stop at Tyndrum for an ice cream. It was a great incentive to keep going and tasted so good! We then went over to Auchentyre farm and then we were climbing back up to Crainlarich. I kept on thinking that the climb was short but it lasted for ages! My legs were still feeling good though and I was actually running some of the more gradual ascents. In fact I was actually shocked at how my legs felt after 32 miles (30. something on the actual WHW). We paced it really well, Actual movement time on the way was 6 3/4 hours. Everything including breaks and up and down to Crainlarich was probably about 7 3/4 hours. But today wasn't really about time it was more about getting use to spending time on feet. Stephen also enjoyed it and he is looking good for his ultra adventure next month.

I have never done this section before and have to say I loved it! The scenery, the trails and the weather helped too!

The good news is too that I had no stomach problems - I was just eating sandwiches and had one mars bar which took a while to digest but it got there. So I won't be eating mars bars again. Not surprisingly I'm tired today but my legs although tired are not sore. But my back and neck is which is down to my bag bouncing off my back and not having any sort of cushioning for it on it. So I'll need to buy a new backpack with some support and straps. In the end we didn't actually need the running for 15minutes walk for 5 minutes strategy as it was up and down most of the time. But this is something I'll need to practice before Clyde Stride. Will try this on the route in 10/20 mile sections.

This does just cap off an amazing few months. 4/4 PBs, Kintyre way relay and now my first successful attempt at plus 26 miles. Now it is back to training which I'm looking forward to as due to all the races I've not done proper training for the last few months.

05/05/10 - Troon 10k

Pretty much every other time I have been to Troon in my life is to play or should I say attempt to play golf. But on Wednesday night I was to be running round all the golf courses rather than through them!

It is always a good omen for a race when even though you turn up 45 minutes before it starts and the place is mobbed; you manage to park in the last space which happens to be the closest to registration and probably the start as you can get. So I went in got my chip and number and met up with a bunch of Giffnock folk. Before I knew it we were off on our warm up along the coast and then back again. The way back was right into the wind which was also the last k of the race. 5 minutes before the start, there must have been at least 10 of us Giffnock Northers all hanging about the sub 45 sign along with Alan Dempster from the park run and Jo from Dumfries ac who was part of the team that won the Kintyre way relay the previous weekend.

My PB going into the race was 46.50 and was my last PB to be beaten from 2004. This was only my 3rd proper 10k ever and I had not done one since the hilly Balfron course last April. So I was pretty confident about getting some sort of PB today. I set my watch to beep and show me the kilometre splits and thought if I can do 4.30 kilometres that would get me round in 45 minutes which I would be pleased with. I reckoned I could do 44 minutes at a push and sub 43 was my gold target but I thought that would be out of reach tonight. Speaking to Martin before the start and he said for a flat 10k, which this was, to double your Glasgow park run pb (21.31) and that would be your roughly your time. I went 'i right, good one' and then we were off...

The first k, I settled into a nice rhythm and got round in 4.08. It was flat and the wind was behind so I didn't panic. More just readjusted and went slightly slower. The next 4k was a very gradual ascent and I was pleased with my pacing getting between 4.20 and 4.30. Steven was cycling along on his bike supporting everyone which was a boost too along with the bits of other support along the route. At this point I was running with 2 clubmates, Maureen and Martin. So I went through first 5k in 21.54. I didn't know this at the time as I just focus on kilometer splits and thats it. But if I did look I would have been pleased, especially as my legs were feeling fresh still.

Then I concentrated less on splits and just ran how I felt and 5-8k as you can see I managed to up it and they were between 4.10 and 4.20ks and the legs were still feeling good. It was at this point I started breaking away from Maureen and Martin, and started reeling in Jacqui who was having an off-day and apparently was feeling nauseas from 2k. I found I was overtaking people quite regularly now but then I got a stitch in my right side. I knew from training that I could run through it. So i gritted my teeth and really dug in for the last kilometer which was my fastest kilometer of the race! I looked up at the clock as I crossed the line and saw 43.08...09! I couldn't quite believe it. I saw a few club mates but I just focused on getting my breath back. When I did I went round and heard about peoples races, went for my warm down and went home feeling very chuffed with myself.

As I was driving home it daunted on me that I may have got under 43 minutes as the event is chip timed. I looked at my watch time and it was 43.03 so I knew it would be close. Then when I looked at the results today and saw 42.59!!! WOW, I hit my gold target!! Kintyre way maybe my best achievement but this has to go down as one of my best performances too. This means that the second 5k I did in 21.05 which is a 5k PB! I won't count it as a 5k PB but it does show what I am capable of over flat courses which I am really excited about.

K split total time Min per mile pace
1k 4:08.36 4:08.36 6:41
2k 4:23.68 8:32.04 7:06
3k 4:30.24 13:02.28 7:16
4k 4:28.99 17:31.27 7:14
5k 4:22.99 21:54.26 7:05
6k 4:15.88 26:10.14 6:53
7k 4:12.97 30:23.11 6:49
8k 4:19.64 34:42.75 6:59
9k 4:09.98 38:52.73 6:44
10k 4:05.65 42:58.38 6:37
0.01 Mi 0:03.97 43:02.35 6:37

01/05/10 - Kintyre Way relay

In Short this was one of the highlights of the year and a truly great weekend.

In Particular highlights:

- Getting to run 2 legs over challenging terrain and witnessing some great scenery
- Cheering for everyone as they come into and leave checkpoints
- Spending time with and running with the team from Giffnock North - Kevin, Norman, Andy, Stuart McD, Graham, David L, Hazel, Jim, Yvonne, Phillip, Helen, Mary, Maureen, John and of course our ultra superstar Sue
- Meeting Lucy, Paul, George, Rob, Karen, Gerry, Carrie, the locals, the guys from Dumfries and everyone else
- The ceilidh and buffet after
- Coming in 3rd place in team competition!

In Long...

Friday

On the Friday I managed to get a half day from work so headed up and got up to Tarbert about quarter past 4. I was a bit early as registration didn't start till 1715. So I took a walk up along the sea front to see if I could see where the Kintyre way cuts up the hill. I couldn't but it was a nice walk and good to stretch the legs. On the way back the sign was put up outside the Temple and Arts center for the relay which I was parked right beside, so I just waited in my car for people to show up and studied the route. Right on queue Ann, Sue and her husband turned up and we registered getting our T-shirt, numbers and ceilidh tickets. Then we took a walk up the first bit of the route which I totally missed the sign. Followed by getting dinner at a fancy fish restaurant. After the main course time was getting on and I hadn't put my tent up yet and sunset was at 9. So I gave them my cash and headed for Rob Reid the organisers farm about 3 miles south of Tarbert. I got their and checked with Jim that I got the right place which I did. It was weird because their was nobody there as they were at registration so it felt like I was snooping about somebody's farm! But thankfully Rob's wife Isla turned up and she was cool telling me where everything was. I set up the tent fine and headed straight for bed.

Saturday - first leg

I have to say I was a bit concerned about sleeping in on Saturday morning as I was having to get up at 5 o'clock. But I have never found getting up at 5am so easy knowing what lies ahead. I got up, had a muller ice and apple juice and Jim drove myself and Andy to the start. The start was buzzing! last year there was 4 teams and one solo runner. This year their was __ teams and 7 solo runners. Including 3 teams from Giffnock and Sue Anderson who was doing the whole thing! My aim was to do the first section in under 2 hours and my pacing would be dictated by the gradient and terrain. So Helen, Andy, Sue and myself headed off on the first leg. 4 people charged off while the 3 of us set into a nice pace before heading up the hill. As I walked up the steep bit, Andy charged off. And when we got to the cairn and turned left on to the forest track after 2k Helen started pulling away. She was running well up the hills. I was struggling as I have not done any proper hill work this year, but I was fine walking fast when I needed to and ran whenever I could. There was a couple of Dumfries guys behind me, one of which over took me so I said hi. After 4 miles there was a road works sign and handily this is where the route turns off to trail. This is where the fun started. You looked right and their was low clouds hovering over a loch. Look left and you could see Arran which was amazing.

The trail was boggy in places and was so much fun. I caught up with the Dumfries guy again and managed to overtake him. I felt good and was going at a good pace. This down hill lasted for about 5 miles. Then you get back on tarmac for a steep descent down to the sea. I saw 2 people in the distance and thought I was catching people but then I realised they were not moving so thought they were marshalls. As I got closer I saw that it was Philip and Ann who had come up to chear me and the guys on! There was just a 3.5k along the road left which I really had to slog out as my quads were sore from all the pounding. But slog it out I did and saw the checkpoint where everyone was cheering and handed 'the baton' over to Ann. It was a great feeling and I was also pleased that I managed to do it in under 1.50. The leading guys were around 1.30, which smashes the previous record for this section. This included Andy from the Giffnock A team. It was clear that this was going to be exciting. I spoke to the Dumfries guy afterwards who said they had 3 teams in. So it was going Giffnock vs Dumfries vs Locals vs Made up on the day teams.

Aftermath to 4th Checkpoint at Carradale

We hung about to cheer on the other runners coming in along with waiting for Sue who was looking good. Philip then gave me a lift back to Rob's farm so I could take down my tent. From what started as a great day things just got better and better and I still can't quite believe what happened next. We got to the farm and their was a big campervan their. Who did it belong too? Lucy Colquhoun! I think if I hadn't just run I would have hardly been able to contain my excitement as like many of the top ultrarunners and really ultrarunners generally I like to follow. I never really imagined or thought that I would actually get to meet Lucy. Lucy holds many course records and has represented Scotland in the Commenwealth ultra champs last year getting onto the podium for both individual and team. So it was great to chat with her and her partner who are really sound people and a great laugh.

So after that I took down my tent and headed for Tayinaloan for the 3rd checkpoint as by the time I had got organised I would have missed the guys at 2nd checkpoint. I met up with the guys where Mary, Kevin and Philip were all ready to pick up the batton. I had some lunch which ironically was marmite sandwiches. Ironic because that marmite is what Lucy uses to get through ultras! Again what are the chances?! We were told the first guy was coming and everyone was getting excited about who it was. It was Stuart McDonald! Who had got us in the lead followed closely by a Dumfries runner not too far behind. Jim was next in for Giffnock and then David. When Mary took over from David, I headed straight over to Carradale to get ready for the 5th leg.

5th leg - Carradale to Saddle

I got to Carradale and got myself ready as I knew Mary was a good runner and would probably be in between 2 hours and 2.15. A local runner was first through here who must have had a storming leg and just kept going as he was doing leg 5 too. Then as I went to my car Kevin and a Dumfries runner were coming up the road as they missed the turn up the forest track but they reckon they only lost 5 minutes. Then I saw Lucy was all ready to go as she was doing Leg 5 and 6 in an made up on the day team. Mary was next in and by this time I was so pumped and ready to go! I felt like I had totally recovered from the morning and for the first mile I was really running strongly. That was until I got to the beach and it turned into a rock hopping excerices and there was getting less and less way posts. David had told me to keep looking up to the right for a way mark after 100 metres. However it is so hard to judge. Especially as I had forgotten to press go on my garmin due to all the excitement. As I kept going along the beach I really thought I missed it, so I made a break and headed straight up in a gap in the cliffs as I knew I would meet the road I needed to get on. It just kept going up and up and was really boggy. It was still a sort of path though so I thought I might be on the right route. Eventually I got to the top and saw the road! What a relief. I jumped over a gate and about 50 meters on there was the style with the way marker. D'oh I looked back and it was just a gradual ascent which meant I went the hard way and gained no advantage.

I was half expecting to see Lucy fly passed me at some point which I was looking forward to but the person who she was taking over from must have been further behind. As I got to the style though who was there? Role up the next ultra superstar Paul Hart! Paul Hart is another great runner and came 2nd in 42 mile race from Tyndrum to Fort William and also got a team medal in the Commonwealth Ultra champs last year. I thought he was going to bomb off but I was going at the same pace so we chatted about our plans for the year and I found out he was doing 3 legs, 35 miles and was treating it as a training run. This was only the 6 mile leg but it is arguably the toughest 6 miles of the course with all the hills which are difficult enough to drive. As we got to the hill Paul took off as he motored up it! I was run/walking and flying on the flats/downs. At the bottom of the last hill, David, Hazel and Ann turned up and asked to get my car keys so they could bring my car to the checkpoint. Cheers guys! Saved me getting a lift back from it. Eventually I got to the 5th checkpoint where Maureen was waiting and again everyone was clapping and cheering.

The finish

After hanging about cheering a few more runners in. It was off to the finish. As we eagerly waited for the first runner to get in we took the time to shower and eat and eat some more. A Dumfries girl was the first home, with the locals not too far behind. We were starting to get a bit concerned when Graham wasn't coming in as he started the fifth leg at the same time as the Dumfries runner. It turned out he took a wrong turning and went 5 miles in the wrong direction before realising meaning an extra 10 miles onto the 20 he was already doing. His team rallied and went as far up the track as they could, with water which unforetunatley he missed at the 5th checkpoint as they didn't arrive in time to catch him. So after about an hour Maureen came in! It didn't really click at the time we were 3rd because of the time passing and I couldn't tell you the order people came in next. But it was just fun cheering all the runners in and congratulating everyone, including Graham who came in and was clearly gutted, but it was a monumental effort! We were going to hang about for the ultra runners but time was getting on and I still needed to pitch the tent so it was off to Taiyinloan.

Presentation and finale

We got into the town hall, helped ourselves to the buffet. Then went through the winners for the day. No trophies or medals, but an outstanding applause and respect from your peers. It was such a buzz getting your name read out as Third place - Giffnock north, team members... . I still can't really believe we came third and now looking back ranks as my best running achievement ever. Not only this but we beat last years course record and Dumfries smashed it by an hour! I'm sure our guys will be back next year to take on the record which they are more than capable of. We also got word that the first ultrarunner was finished and all the others were due to finish soon. It was so good to hear that they were all going to finish and under the time limit.

The ceilidh kicked off and the drinking commenced. What a night! I spoke to quite a few people and I think most of us will be back next year. Then Sue came in! She did it and it was great hearing about her race. Another girl, Carrie then came up and started talking to us and it turned out she did the whole thing too. Then I found she had done the highland fling the week before, the Lochaber marathon the week before that and she is doing Cateran trail in 2 weeks followed by the west highland way race! Simply phenomenal! I congratulated a few of the other ultra runners and also George R and Karen D who were busy chatting to people. But at the end of the night I did get to speak to them and congratulate them too. Both have done many ultras and also did the Highland fling last week. George was saying after doing it as the only solo last year it was great to have some company this year. I also thanked Rob Reid the organiser for a great race. He himself is very experienced ultra runner and has done a lot of races like UTMB which him and George did last year.

Overall what a weekend!!! This has to be one of the best races I have ever done. It still is quite a quiet event giving it a family feel. I could have really detailed every conversation I had with people but then it would have turned this blog into a book! But everyone I spoke to was totally amazing and look forward to seeing them all again at races in future. It is definitely in the calender for next year. I am considering making the race my main focus for the early part of next year and getting more hill training in.

Lessons Learned -

- Don't need a back pack. Need to get pocket sized water proofs so can just use a bum bag.

- Actually doing bits of the course in which ultra runners are doing the whole thing gives you a whole new appreciation to the sport and is making me look forward to Clyde Stride even more.

- For the Dashing White Sargent, need to think of more impromptu dance moves - can't believe I forgot about the robot!!

- Team spirit is alive and well both in the Giffnock camp and across all teams today

- Sue's words of wisdom - if you are doing an ultra - always recky the course before hand!

- I am turning into a right Ultra geek!

- Is there a better relay race out there!??

Thanks to Jim for organising all the Giffnock teams, Rob Reid and his army of helpers for organising and for the smooth running of this great event and all the teams, solo participants and walkers for making it all so special