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| Crying... |
“2 minutes left” shouts George Reid as 30 or so assorted
runners in all shapes, sizes and stages of disrepair make their way round the
‘small lap’ in the final stages of the Glenmore 24 hour trail race.
I don’t know where I’m finding the strength,
energy or will to run, but I’m spurred on by the cheering crowd and the
knowledge that this really, truly was nearly the end, and with my tent peg end
marker in hand, I ‘power’ up the final climb, and push the descent before the
horn signals it’s all over.
Thump…I
collapse, sobbing uncontrollably on the grass, as Clark runs over to give me a
big hug, and when we part, several others come over to hug, cry and celebrate
with us.
Epic, that’s really the best
word to describe it I think!
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| 'Team' photo |
There are so many good things to say about this race, and so
many things I’m not going to remember. And
there’ll be many stories told by the other competitors, sharing their trials
and achievements in the 12 hour and the 24 hour events, both taking place on a
glorious September weekend at Glenmore Forest in Aviemore, a place close to my
heart, with many a great holiday or weekend spent running, biking and swimming
in the area.
The build-up to the event had been scary and exciting – a
frenzy of activity on all the Facebook sites, with those who had taken part
before reassuring those of us who hadn’t that the atmosphere and support made
this an event like no other – “you won’t even feel like you’re racing”.
Clark and I didn’t travel up until Saturday morning –
needing Friday night to pack (arghhh!! How much stuff?!?) and go out for
dinner! Luckily, the lovely Munro’s were
lending us a tent and set up our base camp for us on Friday night at Hayfield
between their tent and Sarah Self’s, so we’d be
all good to go after our 2 hour drive through the pouring rain (this was
not the start I needed to my day!).
Thankfully, as we drove the final couple of miles, the rain stopped and
the sun broke through, setting the scene for the rest of the weekend – clear
skies, sunshine - Scotland at its best!
So, this was it..about to embark on the longest run I’d ever
done – both in time and distance. I’d
set myself some goals – my main aim was to try and keep going for the 24 hours,
with mileage targets of Bronze (<80 miles), Silver (80 miles) and Gold (80+
(even just a fraction)). Silver was the
goal I told everyone and that was where I was realistically aiming – I had NO
intention of trying for the 100 miles the majority of the field seemed to be
targeting – 80 miles was already 26 more than the furthest I had ever run, and
staying awake would be a big challenge as I’m not good with sleep deprivation
at the best of times!
And it was such a strange feeling getting ready to
start…knowing we’d pass through base every 4 miles, this was an ultra with a
difference – no need to carry a backpack stuffed with goodies, spare kit, phone
etc. All I carried was my Salomon soft
flask, and on occasional laps a gel, handful of jelly tots or 9Bar.
Race briefing at 11:30am with a few solemn reminders of what
we were undertaking from RD Bill Heirs and race medic Dr Andrew Murray (don’t
take Ibuprofen for fear of death, don’t mess with Ada and don’t break the
rules!), with a reminder of the great support we had at base, not just from our
personal crews..…and the unveiling of the Guinness World Record Attempt
(longest 3 legged race!)
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| The New World Record Holders! |
12 noon, and we’re off….a mixed bunch of 12 and 24 hour
competitors, from all corners of the country, in all shapes, sizes and levels
of experience and fitness. The concept
was ‘simples’…..complete the 4 mile ‘big’ lap as many times as possible until 1
hour before the end of the race, when you would move onto the ‘small’ lap
(about 0.2 mile) until the time runs out!
The big lap wasn’t as mind-numbing as people might expect –
it breaks down into 4 different sections, making it easy to focus on getting
from point to point, and the time really seemed to go by much quicker than
expected. The first ‘forest’ trail
section is knarly and windy along the edge of the loch. Section 2 is a wide forest ‘road’ higher up,
with great views across the loch. At the
corner, the up-hill section begins (with the wonderful half-way aid station on
this section, which was manned throughout by a number of cheery, supportive folk
who always had a variety of beverages to offer – “free midge with every
cup”). And the final section was mostly
downhill, and seemed to offer the best view of the stars at night!
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| Karen and I 'caught' walking |
I’m not going to review every lap! I don’t remember them all, and it’d probably
make for pretty dull reading! Moments
that stuck out for me:
- Karen Robertson’s great advice about setting
markers for run/walk sections on the uphills
- Gavin from Yorkshire who I blethered with on
several laps, and then always had a cheery word to say when I passed him later
on, despite him also saying every time I did that he was really suffering
- The feeling of relief at the sun going down
allowing the temperature to drop – laps 4 and 5 I was starting to struggle in
the heat
- Rolly, who ‘sacrificed’ his pace for half a lap
to run me back to camp in the darkness because he had a great head torch on…and
at that point I had none! I was to later
find out he came 2nd in the men’s race (thankfully it wasn’t so
close a finish that his generosity to me cost him the win!!)
- At midnight, seeing the 12 hour competitors bomb
round their short laps, and thinking/saying “there’s no bloody way I’ll be
running when I get to the end” (and this clearly being a lie!)
- The bizarre feeling on several laps that so much
time could pass without seeing anyone
- Clark coming out to run 2 laps with me (16 &
17) in the wee small hours to try and help keep me awake, despite the fact he
was clearly in need of sleep, and his overall unfaltering support (it can’t be
easy being on call every 45-60 minutes for 24 hours and being expected to be
psychic!)
- - David Meldrum chumming me round my 3rd
from last big lap…and not nagging me when I couldn't run as much as we both
wanted, but kept me entertained with stories
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Ok, I will do 1 more f-ing lap...
but that won't stop me crying! |
- - And Sarah Self, for stepping in to do my last
big lap with me (the one there was no f*cking way I was doing) when it was
clear I had too long to sit around waiting on the small lap opening!
I
didn’t survive the whole 24 hours without a wee lie down – I attempted ‘sleep’
after 72 miles..the darkness and yawning got the better of me. I spent the lap prior weighing up the idea of pushing on to get to 80 miles before a lie down, and then decided better to lie down and still have some miles to do to get to target as an 'incentive' to get back up again! I had about 1.5 hours disrupted, cold lie
down in the tent – should’ve got changed before trying to squeeze into the
sleeping bag that Cori was hogging the bottom of! Clark remembered later in the week that I was
muttering away to myself most of that time too…but as yet, can’t remember what
I was saying (pheeeew!!)!
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Some point on Saturday, still managing to lift
my arms! |
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| Viki W |
So,
I cried as I finished my last (f-ing bastarding, wasn’t going to do that one)
lap…and then cried quite a lot during my 35 minutes or so of short laps.
Support crews made me cry, the race team made
me cry, Clark taking photos made me cry…..…and the sheer determination and
inspiration of myself and my friends around me made me cry – Viki Williams bare
footed, zombie-like state, still shuffling round; Noanie storming through her
last big lap and announced as new course record (126+ miles in the end) and new
ladies champion (2nd place overall);
Jo Rae, feet clearly hurting, but still pushing through…..and everyone,
determined to get to the end.
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| Jo Rae - think her feet were sore! |
There
are lessons I’ve learned from the event to take me through to next year’s goals
but never before have I completed such an epic event, one where everyone gives
such warmth, support and encouragement right to the dying seconds…one where you
get to run with the elite field several times over the duration of the event,
and they share words of support with you and the effort you are making…and one
where everyone finishes at the same time!
I cried again at the prize giving…..for friends, for myself, and for the special award for Fiona Rennie (when times get tough mid-race I think of her guts and determination!) and (assuming I can beat the entry rush (this year sold out the first batch of places in under 2 hours I think)) I’ll be back next year to aim for the 100 mile goal!
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| Crying...with Bill Heirs |
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| Fiona Rennie - an inspiration to us all! |
It
still doesn’t seem quite real: I sat in the pub Tuesday lunchtime and quite
casually said “yeah, I ran the Glenmore 24 hour trail race at the weekend; I
did 95 miles”……
Epic!
