Here I was on the brink of a second WHW adventure, had it
really been 12 months I’d undertaken this race? Preparations running wise had
gone pretty well with some decent long runs including running round Arran 55.5
miles in March, as well as a really positive Fling bagging over an hour’s PB
and a good strong training run around the GO33 course a few weeks earlier.
Having been let down by my intended support runner with just over a week to go I
was in a bit of a panic mode until a call to my long time mate Steve alleviated
my concern, Steve was in. My support team was now going to be Ian, my sister
Pam and Steve.
I prepared my stuff on the Thurs and managed to get the
stuff down to just 2 large containers instead of the 3 from last year. I had an
early night on Thurs and was in bed for about 9pm. Friday morning, Tracy (my
wife) took Ava to school leaving me to lie on. Lying in bed eyes shut but wide
awake I realised trying to lie on was a pointless exercise so I got up and
pottered around. Ian arrived about 11am with the intention of me helping him
configure a pc project we were working on. Ian left around 12 and I drove up to collect Ava.
The rest of the day was mostly just waiting for the clock to
hurry past so I could embark on the task in hand. Dinner was a steak pie supper (steak pie & chips) from
our local chippy the same meal I had 12 months earlier. Soon enough the time
arrived to leave so I bid farewell to Tracy and Ava and told them I would ‘hopefully’
see them in Fort William to see me collect my second goblet.
I picked up Ian then drove to West Calder and collected Pam
and soon we were on the M8 west bound. After an initial confusion of directions
with the sat nav we safely had Steve in the car having collected him from
Kirkintilloch. 20 mins later we pulled into Milngavie rail station and
initially struggled to find a parking space before parking at the top near to
the starting tunnel of adventure.
Roy appeared and soon we met up with Tommy. The mood was
very light and jovial with us all wondering what the next 30 hours or so would
bring. The weather was being very kind with a temperature of about 16oc making
it perfect running weather.
Before long Ian Beattie the Race Director had given his
brief and we were all on the start line waiting for the air horn. Handshakes
and hugs all round we told our team we would see them briefly in Drymen.
And we were off!!
The send off you get as you run up the high street is
something to be savoured, cow bells, cheers, clapping you simply couldn’t ask
for anything more. Before long we had moved into the park and we settling into
the task in hand. Due to the dry weather both I and Tommy had decided to run
with no jacket which turned out to be a very wise choice. The miles ticked by and I felt fairly
comfortable and tried not to reflect too much on what lay ahead. Before long we
ran up the steep brae to Drymen and crossed the road and shouted hello to the
guys as we passed. As I started the climb I met Dave Etchell and Greg Beattie.
Dave was a guy I’d ran sections with in the Devils last year and had really bonded
with, as such we’ve remained friends ever since. Greg I’d never met before.
Here was a guy who had achieved a fantastic turn-around in his life style. I’m
sure he won’t mind me saying this but he’d gone from an unfit couch potato to
running and completing not only the Fling several months before but was now
tackling one of the toughest ultras in the UK all in the space of a couple of
years. Amazing stuff and an inspiration to anyone.
Further on Fiona Rennie caught us up and we ran with her for
probably a good hour or so enjoying some good banter. Anyone reading this doesn’t require any
introduction to Fiona. Suffice to say she’s an incredible example of someone
overcoming the odds not once but twice and is taking part in her 10th
WHW race. An inspiration to everyone and a legend in ultra running.
As daylight dawned we hit Conic and started on the steep
climb. I have to say since they’ve upgraded the path it’s certainly tough, though
not as much as it was a few years back. The ascent and descent passed without
problems and soon we were running the enjoyable downhill section out of the forest
down towards our first supported checkpoint at Balmaha. We found the guys and I
sat down and enjoyed a breakfast of beans and mini sausages.
Tommy and I had
decided this year to try and limit the checkpoint stop times to about 5 mins
and make more use of the eating on the move strategy, something I’d done successfully
in the Fling a few months earlier. As the great William Sichel says, it is a
race and sitting down achieves nothing.
After yoghurt and a quick cup of tea we were back on the
trail heading down the road towards the steep climb before descending down to loch side.
Just as we reached the turn right to start the climb, Tommy’s phone rang. It
was Roy, telling him I’d forgotten my timing chip!! I turned and started to run
back towards Balmaha and fortunately Roy had started to run towards me so I
never had far to go to retrieve the chip. After a verbal pasting from Tommy we
reached the trail along loch side towards Rowardennan. We kept up a decent pace
and soon reached Rowardennan in what felt like not too long a time. This
checkpoint was unsupported consisting of just a drop bag. I picked mine up
and sat on a rock and was soon engulfed in midgies. They were everywhere. Tommy
had wisely sat near the water’s edge where they seemed less prevalent. We made
our stay short and headed back out to the trail towards Inversnaid.
We
settled into a comfortable pace and kept the chatting going which always helps
time to pass. I remarked to Tommy that unless one of us got injured we would
both be crossing the finish line together. Then almost as if someone up there
had other ideas for my race I felt this sharp pain inside my right knee on the
right side. It was agony. As I ran the pain got worse made even more so going
downhill. Tommy asked if I was ok. I said no but would keep going. The pain
kept up and seemed to be getting worse with every step. It was so bad it was
physically preventing me from running so I tried to adopt a fast walk. This
continued for about 20 mins and I told Tommy that unless this was to vanish my
race was finished. This was the darkest moment in an ultra I’ve ever had. I was
starting to accept I would be a DNF, something I’ve managed to avoid in every
ultra I’ve taken part in. Any other race it wouldn’t have been so bad but not the
WHW race. This one I had 3 people giving up their entire weekend just to allow
me to indulge myself in this. I was letting everyone down, Ian, Pam, and Steve.
My daughter Ava and Tracy were coming up to see me collect the goblet and I was
letting them down too. I was a loser and a failure but I had no choice. Tommy
gave me a couple of paracetamol to take which I thought wouldn’t help but why
not give it a go. I kept going as best I could frequently yelling out in pain. Over
the next ½ hour I noticed the pain was starting to ease. Was it really going to
get better? Thoughts then turned that perhaps my race wasn’t over quite yet.
This gave me a bit of a lift and before long we arrived at Inversnaid.
One of
the kind marshals gave me an ice pack which I applied to the knee for 10 mins
or so. It certainly felt like it was helping so supplies replenished we hit the
road once again. It was along this section that we met up with a few really
good guys including Ian McCuaig and Ash Azhagarasan.
Ash is only 23 and was undertaking his 1st ever WHW race, amazing stuff for someone so young. We employed a bit
of ‘follow the leader” taking turns to take the lead which is always a really
good way to burn the miles up. As we reached the steep climb to ‘Dario’s Post’
we heard the unmistakeable tone’s of one Mr George Reid shouting “encouragement”
to us "Get a move on ya couple of fannies”. As we passed Dario’s Post we said
hello and Karen told us we had 1.8 miles to Bein Glas.
We shortly arrived at Bein Glas and this time the team had
come out to meet us which was a bit help.
We devoured our food, refilled the
bottles and set back off towards Fort Bill. Tommy and I stuck together for the
duration. We had talked about running our own race which we were going to do
but in light of me being let down and effectively support runnerless we
realised it would just make sense to stick together effectively acting as each
other’s support runner.
This section passed fairly effortlessly until we hit the
climb into Ewich Forest. At this point the sun had decided to come out and we
were very grateful to have the shelter of the forest. There is a lot of walking
in this section with some brutal uphill sections. Before long we were out of the
forest and were winding our way towards Auchtertyre. When we reached the checkpoint I was weighed and one of the marshals remarked on how fresh I looked!!
Food down our throats and supplies put in
order we bid farewell once more and said we would see the crew at Tyndrum for
an ice lolly at Brodies shop. As this is only 3-4 miles we reached Tyndrum and
the crew in a before. As we were crossing the road Steve greeted us to ask
what kind of icelolly we wanted. I asked for a lemonade one and Tommy an Irn Bru.
As we passed Brodie’s Ian came out with our ice-lolly’s. I have to say we both
enjoyed them immensely as it really hit the spot! I had a little chat with Rhona before starting the long
climb up towards Bridge of Orchy. Once we reached the top we made really good
progress catching 3 or 4 runners. As we approached BOO I picked up the pace and
kicked on soon arriving at the checkpoint. Clocking my time the same marshal
said I was looking fresher the further into the race I got!! Hearing things
like that does help to give you a boost it has to be said.
We had already agreed the crew would meet us at the other
side of “Murdo’s Hill” as BOO can get very congested with traffic. After a fairly
long climb we picked up the running and soon reached ‘Murdo’s Hill’ where I was
given the choice of a cup of wine or a jelly baby. I plucked for the former and
have to say it gave me a little kick!!
We pressed on as it got warmer and soon reached the bottom
at Inveroran where we met up with the team. I changed my top and Steve applied
a bit of first aid to a blister forming on my left heal and also to a sweat rash
on my back.
Fed and watered we bidded farewell and started out towards Rannoch
Moor. We ran fairly hard until the gate which takes you onto the Drove Road. At
this point we met up with Ian McCuaig again and enjoyed each other’s company on
what seemed like a section that just went on and on and on.
When we eventually reached Glencoe ski centre we were starting
to feel a bit tired, made worse as it had been overcast and dull all day and we
were now going into our second night. At this point I should mention that the
race was once again won by Paul Giblin in an astonishing time of 14 hours and
20 mins some 47 minutes off his time from last year. Taking part in this race
it’s impossible to comprehend how someone can run so fast. Just amazing.
It was at this checkpoint that we would have the welcome company of
Steve. Support runners probably don’t fully appreciate how welcome a sight they
are or are indeed helping. They may not be able to help us physically move any quicker but just
having them there to keep the mood up you just can’t put a price on how important they are. We had
decided as it it was getting a bit breezy and the temperature was falling we
donned our jackets and hats. Before long we once again told our crew we would “see
them shortly” and set off down the road to join the main road.
Once you cross
over the road at the bottom there is a lot of climbing so we enjoyed a bit of
light hearted banter to keep the spirits up.
Once we reached the path adjacent
to the road we picked up the running again and ran to the entrance which starts
the climb to the ‘Devil’s Staircase’. As we approached the entry point we
passed someone leaning on a fence who Steve described as “The Grim Reaper” and
he wasn’t wrong. They had one of these full on head bee keeper type hat things
on and in the dusk it looked ominous. Rather appropriate considering the name of
the hill we were about to ascend. Progress was slow and I pressed on. It was at
this point that Tommy was beginning to feel drained so Steve stuck with Tommy
and kept him moving.
Running ultras you learn you will have highs and lows and
when you’re in a high you have to take advantage of that phase as much as
possible so I kept moving on until I eventually reached the summit and found
myself a comfy rock to sit on while I waited on Steve and Tommy. Darkness had
almost come in fully and it was time to switch on the head torch once more. Tommy and I were both feeling it by now and I personally was feeling quite sleepy and hoped it would pass. This section turned out to be the
hardest section both physically and mentally. The rough terrain made worse in
the dark requires every ounce of concentration and foot placement to ensure you
don’t fall. It was at this point I told Tommy and Steve I was 100% finished
with the WHW and would never want to put myself through this rigour ever again,
and I meant it. Tommy agreed and said he was done with it too.
This section felt like an eternity with me going ahead to
hopefully be able to give the guys good news that we were almost there, though
that moment never seemed to arrive with every corner being met with another long section and corner. We eventually reached the road which winds its way into
Kinlochleven and I have to say I honestly thought we’d taken a wrong turn as
the road down just seemed to last forerever!! I don’t know whether it’s due to
the darkness and you never know exactly where you are but this section was torturous.
We eventually heard the water on the right hand side and knew it couldn’t be
far. At long last we reached the bottom and we all picked up and kicked on to
the leisure centre. This was it; only
one section left then the end.
We all slumped into the comfy chairs after being
weighed and it was at this point that Pam really shone. We were all feeling the
effects of the past 24 hours and she was there like the proverbial Mother Hen
serving us with food and drink. I could have given her a big hug if I had the
energy!!I know all the other guys appreciated her.We stayed there for probably 15-20 mins then decided to make
the final push to the end. Roy was going to join us at this point and again it
was great to have him here to keep the mood light and our spirits positive.
The climb out of Kinlochleven is always brutal but more so
after 80 miles under your belt. To be honest it didn’t feel as bad as I remembered and we were
soon on the trail heading to Lundavra. At this point there wasn’t a lot of
running being made.
I was trying to encourage Tommy but he was feeling very drained.
It didn’t seem too long before we saw the welcome sight of the burning torches
of Jeff Smith of the Wilderness Response Team. Having guys like Jeff around at these times
always gives you a welcome lift and a very welcome drink of Irn Bru. Sadly I
had been too slow to get there in time for a drink of Tizer. Obligatory photo
taken we pressed on with me asking Roy how far we had to go every few minutes.
We
soon reached John Kynaston and the team at Lundavra. Handshakes all round and a
photo we moved off once more almost in touching distance of Fort Bill. As we
climbed towards the forest we met up with Fiona Rennie and enjoyed some like
hearted banter before she moved ahead with her team. At one point I saw a recognisable
figure in John Vernon. John had accompanied me last year on this last stage and
it was nice to catch up. John wasn’t taking part this year instead opting for
the “other” race.
Light had ascended which always helps to lift the mood. We
weren’t far now and I was feeling quite strong so pressed ahead then would sit
down and wait for the others to catch up. As I reached the summit of the last
big hill I arrived at the fire road and shouted down to the others that they
were almost there. I took a welcome seat on a pile of logs and thoughts turned
to hitting the leisure centre, nearly there I thought.
Once the other guys reached me we started on the long descent
of Glen Nevis. I was up for running but Tommy was visibly struggling. He was literally dead on his feet so we
walked as quickly as we could. I tried my best to encourage him telling him he’s
already in pain so trying to run will just get him to the end quicker. Tommy
picked up and we all ran as a group with me frequently running ahead more
really as a test for me to prove I could do it.
Tommy told me to just go for it and I said that we would
cross the line together. We made steady progress alternating between running
and walking. I told the guys if we could pick things up we would bag a PB. Tommy
and Roy told me just to go. I said I wouldn’t but they insisted there was no
point in me not doing so as Tommy was in safe hands with Roy. I reluctantly agreed
so Steve and I kicked on as hard as we could maintaining a decent pace. We
eventually reached the bottom of the road and turned left for the final mile or
so to Fort William. Steve was doing his best to get me to the end to bag myself
an hour’s PB.
We kept
running as hard as we could and after asking a local how far it was to the
leisure centre I soon recognised the last corner and just went for it, sprinting as fast as I could until I reached the end.
I’d
done it finishing in 30 hours and 38 minutes, an hour and 4 minutes PB on last
year.
Ian and Pam were there to see me finish.
Ian gave me a hug
followed by Pam. As she hugged me she told me Mum and Dad would be so proud of
me and that just reduced me to tears!!
Very shortly I was astonished to see Tommy and Roy come
running towards the tape. I screamed encouragement as he hit the finish. He’s finished
just 7 minutes after me. At the point I left him I honestly believed it would be
another 30-40 mins before he reached the end but he had decided to just go for
it. Amazing gutsy runner.
All showered we made our way to McDonalds for a spot of
breakfast before heading to the centre for the presentation ceremony. It was
great to have Tracy, Ava and Libby there to see me collect my second goblet.
That was it, another adventure of huge proportions. I had my
highs and some massive lows but positively I felt I finished very strong and
gives me something to work from when I set out on the same again next year to hopefully
improve once again. Did I say I wasn’t doing it again??
I want to thank my crew; I simply couldn’t have done it
without all you guys. Pam, Ian, Steve and Roy. You’re the best, simple as.
Finally thanks to Ian Beattie and his team, you’re an
awesome bunch and again without you lot doing what you do we simply wouldn’t
have the opportunity of doing stuff like this.
Roll on June 2015.