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
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