RACE REPORT – The Highland Perthshire Marathon 2015

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HIGHLAND PERTHSHIRE MARATHON 2015

TIME: 3 Hours 41 Minutes and 34 Seconds

Overall position 44th/118 finishers

1st/14 senior female

3rd/28 females

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I’m ridiculously late in writing this report for no reason apart from laziness! Work, training and sleep have taken control of my life again, and sitting staring at a laptop after a long day just hasn’t appealed to me. But excuses out the way, here we go!!

After running this race last year and finally getting a decent sub 4 hour time, I was desperate to go back and give it another go. I loved everything about the route, even the 2 laps didn’t put me off as I was desperate to push harder the second time round this year and finish stronger than last year. The day started as all big race mornings do; wake before my alarm, force in breakfast, fix my silly race day hairdo, put on my kit, mascara and Vaseline and then sort out my attitude. I’ve been told more than once this year that I need to have more faith in myself and push myself to my limit, even if it means reaching the ultimate pain barrier. My training had been somewhat lackluster since the Devil O’the Highlands race and I wasn’t sure what I had left to give come race day. I confided in my running friends about my doubts and they gave me all the positive words I needed to hear; all the miles were in my legs, the rest would have done me good and all I had to do was get my head in the right place.

After registering, pinning on my number and sorting out my final kit choice (nothing new there!) I had half an hour or so to plan out the race in my head. I was feeling tired and under trained, but this was a great course so I felt another sub 4 hour time was possible. I decided to try and keep up with Derek and Andy for the first lap and see how I felt by the time I got back to Aberfeldy after the first lap knowing that Derek would be hoping for under 3 hours 40 mins, and Andy usually runs great negative splits. After last years disaster of nearly missing the start of the race we headed round to the start line with time to spare for well wishes, hugs and of course – photos!

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I set off near the back of the pack to try and keep my first few miles at a steady pace, but before I knew it I was towards the front and running steady splits of just over 8 minute miles. I kept up with Derek for the majority of the first lap and we chatted away to a guy who had run 109 marathons. Really puts my moaning to shame!! I had a minor panic I was flying off too quickly but felt good, so just kept it up. Powered by magical blue powerade and shot bloks, I was really enjoying myself and feeling ridiculously powerful. Before I knew it, I was running through the castle grounds and tackling the hill for the first time with the words “Wee County Harriers don’t walk up hills!” running through my head. Thanks coaches!!!

The run back in to Aberfeldy is mostly downhill and I picked the pace back up quite a lot. Over the bridge and past the field and lap one was done.

Lap 1 splits; 8:03, 8:15, 8:16, 8:10, 8:29, 8:22, 8:06, 7:58, 8:11, 8:08, 8:20, 8:20, 8:09

As I passed the marshal at the end of the first lap, he informed me I was currently 3rd lady. I have no idea how that had happened as I’ve never placed in a race before, but it scared me a little as I knew my competitive mode would kick in now and I might push off round the second lap too quickly. I had just passed a girl from Carnegie so knew she would be hot on my heels but tried not to look back too often as it’d throw me off my stride. The miles continued to to tick by, my legs tiring a bit but no major niggles to speak of so I felt no reason to slow down too much. Around mile 18 I finally conceded and put in my head phones as I had a guy running right behind me and he had an annoyingly slappy footed run. Normally I’d make up a song to sing along with something that annoyed me, but not today. I couldn’t get away from him fast enough!!
As I came through the castle grounds for a second time, I managed to look back along the route and found there was no one in sight behind me. Feeling a bit achy I decided to power shuffle up the hill the second time round and found I felt a bit wobbly and dehydrated and started zig-zagging up the road to the top of the hill. Luckily there was a water stop a top of the hill – definitely in the right place at the right time. I quickly found my pace again and flew round the last 4 miles of the course, occasionally glancing back to see if anyone was near me.

Lap 2 splits; 8:25, 8:36, 8:36, 8:46, 8:48, 8:38, 8:39, 8:36, 9:59 (walking up the hill!), 8:42, 9:01, 8:49, 8:35

As I came back into Aberfeldy for the second time, I finally spotted someone catching up on me. Not knowing if they were male or female I picked up the pace, flew over the bridge for the final time and back into the field to the finish line. A new marathon time of 3:41:34 (13 minutes off my previous attempt!), 3rd lady overall and 1st senior lady! No idea how that happened… obviously all the speedies were doing something else this weekend!!

I crossed the line, hugged everyone in sight and continued to be majorly confused that I’d placed first in my category. My brother in law Stuart asked me if I was crying, but no – I was just a tad snotty!!
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I walked about in a bewildered daze until I was told it was time to go home, still not quite believing what had just happened. I was quite tired during the second lap, and I did give up a bit on the hill so what am I capable of for London next year? Where are my limits?! I’m quite excited to see what will happen next year!!

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It’ll probably be a long time, if ever, that I place in a race again so I’m quite happily still basking in my glory just now. And I have taken over the top shelf with my trophies and demoted Craig’s to the second shelf….. ( as I only have some of them for the year as he gets to keep his forever, so I think it’s fair!!!)

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RACE REPORT – The D33 Ultra Marathon

D33 ULTRA MARATHON 2015

TIME:5 Hours 4 Minutes and 54 Seconds

OVERALL :132nd/338 finishers

GENDER: 21st/110 females

CATEGORY: 10th/39 senior females

The awesomely funky jam jar lid medal. Definitely the most random medal on the rack so far!
The awesomely funky jam jar lid medal. Definitely the most random medal on the rack so far!

It was finally here! The weekend of the first ultra of the season and I was more than ready for it. I’d recovered well, all the miles of training were banked and I was chomping at the bit and ready to race and see what my legs were capable of. The D33 is a fast ultra along the old Deeside railway line to Banchory and back and apart from a few undulations going through villages on the way, it’s pretty much entirely flat. My plan was to give it everything I had and see how my legs coped with being asked to run 33 miles with hopefully very few walking breaks. I hoped that if I treated it like a marathon in terms of pace and fuelling and then pushed to keep my legs ticking over past marathon distance,my next marathon race would be a doddle. Well, we can always hope!!

I had travelled up to Stonehaven on the Friday night to stay at Rhona’s with Jemma and my little brother Duncan who had come down to support/marashal/be tea bitch for the day. Soon after arriving we were sitting down to eat a huge meal of tortellini and garlic bread. After getting my pre-race fuelling so wrong before the Loch Ness Marathon and suffering badly about 20 miles in, I am now careful to not only get the race fuelling right, but also looking at what I eat the few days leading up to the race as well. After eating as much as was comfortable I lay out my kit, checked my drop bags were all good to go and then after a good gossip with everyone, took my nervous mind to bed to try and get a good sleep.

Race morning arrived and I was awake before my alarm. Pre race routine of getting dressed, drinking strong coffee and trying to force in breakfast when I wasn’t that hungry was run through without much thought and then just as we were leaving to get the bus up to Aberdeen, the nerves started to kick in. This wasn’t a race where I could take plenty of walking breaks on the hills. There were no hills! This was going to be an entirely new experience and I had no idea how my body was going to react to what I was about to ask it to do. The only way to find out is to go for it and see what the outcome was. Fingers crossed for a positive one!

Jemma and I ready to run!
Jemma and I ready to run!

We hopped off the bus right beside Duthie Park and as we walked around to the start area the air of nervous excitement among us began to grow. We were quite early so got registered quickly, nipped to the loo before the queues began and then trotted about saying hello to people. As this is the first Ultra of the season there is a huge buzz surrounding everyone. I caught up with my club mates who had driven up that morning, said hello to Angela and her super cute dog Brin and then trotted back to the toilet queue, which was now pretty huge, to pass some time! Just as I came out the loo we were all summoned to the start line for the race briefing, so I quickly put my bag in the van and jogged up the start line to find my friends and then remember how to breath! We had a quick briefing from race director George and then with a count down from 10, we were off!! Trainers slapped on the tarmac as the stream of runners made their way out of the park and up onto the old railway line. I kept an eye on my watch and made sure I wasn’t setting off too quickly as I jogged out of the park between Jemma and Rhona, but soon the pack spread out and after a couple of miles and some chatting with 3 or 4 other runners, I was on my own and jogging along to the sound of my breathing and the birdsong around me.

The Wee County Harriers taking a welfie!
The Wee County Harriers taking a welfie!

The route follows the old railway line on tarmac out to Peterculter when it then moved to a few miles on trail and country roads through the village of Drumoak before rejoining the former railway line out to Crathes. The miles were slipping by easily and just before 7 miles I was joined by Ruth Howie from the Strathearn Harriers and we ran together until the first check point. I had already taken a gel but still had plenty of food and gels on me, so I didn’t stop and passed quite a few people at this stage. Most of them caught back up again over the next few miles, but it felt good to be moving up the field at such an early stage in the race. The route took us down a slight hill and then wiggled through some fields before spitting us on at the side of a road and onto an incline up to Drumoak. I pushed up the hill feeling strong and still happily running on my own and then as the route wiggled back onto the Deeside Way, I was caught up by a few of my club mates and continued to run with them for the next few miles. I passed by half marathon distance in 1 hour 54 minutes, and while thinking that was possibly just slightly too fast, I was still feeling so strong that I didn’t want to pull back just now in case I couldn’t pick up the pace again! Just after 14 miles the lead runner, Ross Houston of Commonwealth games fame, flew by us – ahead of the lead bike! Saying this guy was flying doesn’t even describe how fast he was moving, he was travelling at an astounding speed! This meant that at this stage in the race, the lead runner was nearly 5 miles ahead of me already. Just amazing!! I continued say well done and high five my friends as they passed me on their way back feeling good as soon it would be me going that way.

Photo fail! Whoops... Photo - brianbatphotography.co.uk
Photo fail! Whoops…
Photo – brianbatphotography.co.uk

Half way sneaked up on me and before I knew it I could see the roof of the marquee at the check point! People were cheering my name and I cruised in to pick up my drop bag grinning from ear to ear. I wasn’t planning to hang around for long so I kept moving while refilling my waist pack with gels and haribo and guzzled as much powerade as I could while still moving. A quick watch check showed I was there in 2 hours and 23 minutes which meant if I could do the same on the way back I could finish somewhere around the 5 hour mark. Things were looking good!! I was in and out the check point within 2 minutes and now it was time to retrace my footsteps back to Aberdeen. I loved how up beat everyone was as they ran passed you and said well done to most people who looked in my direction. I high fived Rhona who wasn’t far behind me at all and then ran towards Jemma, who was looking delighted with her race so far, for a double (and rather painful!) high five. Heading back the way we came wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be and as the miles continued to slip by I started to worry that things had gone too smoothly so far and I was bound to crash soon. Back through Drumoak, down the hill and along through the fields, I continued to pass people who had slowed down quite a bit and then I started to feel ridiculously thirsty. I decided I’d walk the bottom section of the hill and have a good drink and then try and pass some more people who had slowed to walk. By the time I’d reached the top of the hill I had passed another 8 or 9 runners and I was still feeling pretty strong. My watch beeped and I realised I only had another mile until the final check point and then it was 8 miles of flat running towards the finish line.

Pushing up a hill about 10 miles in and feeling strong! Photo - Ray Woods
Pushing up a hill about 10 miles in and feeling strong!
Photo – Ray Woods

I was still running comfortably and passed by marathon distance in 4 hours and 1 minute. Only 7 minutes slower than my PB and I still had another 7 miles to go. I started to feel tired at this point and slowed my pace right down to take another gel and have a drink. I could see a line of people ahead of me and most of them were walking so getting a sudden rush of energy and competitiveness, I made it my mission to pass as many of them as possible. I must have gained another 10 or so places up the field and suddenly I was back at the bridge where I had previously made a mental note to remember that from there I only had 3 miles to go. Less than half an hour… and the race was once again on!

The last few miles ticked by pretty painlessly, except when I hit any type of incline – my legs definitely knew about that when it happened! My feet were still pretty happy and my only real niggle was a sharp pain between my shoulder blades; a pain I’ve had a few times before during long distance races but still can’t quite figure out what’s causing it. I tired not to look at my watch as the very last few miles were starting to hurt. Suddenly, the Winter Garden at Duthie Park came into view and I realised I was there! I had a less that half a mile to go and my watch had just ticked by the 5 hour mark!! Just as I entered the park, 2 guys who had been passing me and dropping back, over and over for the last few miles sprinted past and barrelled along to the finish line. I wasn’t fancying that, I wanted to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the finish that I had worked so hard for. People cheered my name and my team mates who had already finished yelled and congratulated me loudly, and I couldn’t help but grin like a Cheshire cat. I stumbled across the line, got my medal and proceeded to hug everyone in sight before shuffling into the marquee to find some water and somewhere to sit down.

Finish line after 5 hours of  strong running. Photo - Gordon McNeil
Finish line after 5 hours of strong running.
Photo – Gordon McNeil

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After a few sandwiches and cakes, I piled on as many layers as I could and made my poor little brother run off to find me tea as my Raynauds had kicked in badly and I couldn’t feel the tips of my fingers. I stood hugging my cup and cheered in as many people as possible, yelling loudly when Rhona finished with a massive 10 minute PB and when Jemma came running into the park, grinning widely and coming in well under her estimated time. We then hopped back on the bus and headed back to Stonehaven for an afternoon of beer, gin, pizza and rugby watching followed by an evening of partying.

Awesome weekend and job done! I can’t wait until next year!

A job well done and we're ready to party!
A job well done and we’re ready to party!

It’s almost D33 Day!

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My first ultra of the season is fast approaching! My mind is buzzing with how I plan to run it, how I think my body will react, what/when to eat and drink and very importantly… what to wear!! I’ve been keeping a close eye on the 5 day weather forecast and so far so good – but then again, no weather report told me we were getting 3 inches of snow last week, so I definitely won’t hold my breath and will prepare to expect a medley of four seasons in one day.

My training is all done, my legs are feeling good and I completed my final pre-race run on Tuesday at training feeling positive and ever so slightly competitive. How will race day pan out for me? Will my little legs carry me the distance? So far I have planned the following;

FOOD – During my ultras and training runs up until now, I have always craved sweet stuff early on and then more savoury stuff later in the race, so with this in mind I will pack a bit of everything in my drops bags and also carry some stuff with me. I wasn’t sure if I was going to run with a race belt or not, so I think I’ll run with my one bottle belt instead of my Camelbak and then I can refill it at the checkpoints if need be. Better safe than sorry! I will definitely have my pockets crammed with sour haribo sweets – A saviour late in a race for me on more than one occasion!

CLOTHES – I’m hoping it’ll be dry, but as this is North East Scotland in early March, I can only cross my fingers and hope for the best. My shoes (brooks adrenaline gts), socks (long stripy mega bright club socks), calf sleeves, buff, gloves and running skirt are all definite, but the number of layers on my top half could vary from 1 to 4 or 5, so again I’ll judge it on the morning of the race. I’ll only take my jacket if it’s tipping it down, but that decision I may live to regret…

RACE STRATEGY – No idea yet! I’ll be treating it as a long training run for both the London marathon in April and the Cateran 55 in May. If I can run all 33 miles comfortably then I might be able to pick up the pace at London. If things start to hurt, I’ll know I went out too fast and will know to start the Cateran much, much slower. Either way it’ll be faster than Glen Ogle as there are no hills. I’ll keep my goal times to myself just now and I’ll let you know whether or not I made them when I write my race report in a few days time!

GOALS –
1) Don’t get injured!!! Too many big races in the next few months and I’d be devastated if I had to pull out of anything!
2) Finish with a smile. This won’t be hard – it’s hard to wipe the smile off my face recently. I’m lucky to be back running so quickly so I take nothing for granted now!
3) Run the majority of the route. It’s only 7 miles more than a marathon and if I can do that at a fair pace then I can hopefully do 33 if I dial it back ever so slightly… I hope!
4) Remain positive!!! Your mind plays a big part in running and finishing big races. I will NOT give in to negative thoughts this weekend. I’ve got this!

31 years old and I still hate packing.
31 years old and I still hate packing.

So that’s about it! As soon as I finish work tomorrow I’ll be on the road North to prepare for ultra number 3. Ultra runner extraordinaire Rhona is very kindly letting us stay with her for the weekend so I’ll no doubt be picking her brain from the moment I arrive tomorrow for hints and tips on how to approach this race as she’s running it for the 4th time this year!

See you on the flip side!

Devilla 15k Race Report and updated training blurb…

I seem to be quite behind with everything so far this year. I think I left my brain in the hospital!

Official Time: 1 hour 15 minutes 47 seconds
Overall: 228 out of 508
Gender: 40 out of 204

Following the epic start to the racing season which was the Devil’s Burden hill race, the next event on the calendar was the Devilla 15k – a trail race around Devilla forest which is an amazing setting for a race and just 10 minutes up the road from us. Race day had an electric atmosphere, the weather was crisp, cold and beautiful and we had a 30 strong team of Wee County Harriers through to support our neighbouring club’s fantastic event.

Biggest club turn out we've ever had at an event I think!
Biggest club turn out we’ve ever had at an event I think!

This year the course had been meticulously checked and was extremely well marshalled after last years mishap of the course being “sabotaged” and ending up being nearly 2 miles short. Just before the race started we found as many WCH runners as possible and gathered together for a pre-race snap. This shows just how much our wee club has expanded recently and it only continues to grow!

I hadn’t yet decided how I was going to run this race. My legs were feeling slightly heavy from a hard week of training and the 30 mile training run we had done the previous weekend but mentally I was feeling strong and ready to take on whatever this race had to throw at me. This was another of my fail races from last year and I was determined to beat my abysmal time, even though I had an extra 2 or so miles to run. Last year I was running with practically no iron in my blood and my legs had pretty much no oxygen and every step had been a chore, but this year was different. This year I was determined to enjoy every step and finish with everything I had still had left in my legs and a smile on my face. Luckily it was much drier this year so the smiling wasn’t a problem! There were a few hair raising moments with icy patches and frozen mud which caused me to almost go over on my ankle more than once, but I somehow got round injury free!

I managed to keep quite an even pace for the first few miles, only slowing right down on the narrow sections where we shuffled along in single file until the path opened up again. Even the nasty hill at the half way point didn’t slow me down and I was pushing to get up to the top as quickly as I could for 2 main reasons. 1 being I could see two guys from the club up ahead and I was making up time on the hills and getting closer and closer to them and 2, there was a guy running beside me who would not stop burping!! Almost as off-putting as the guy who ran beside me and kept talking to himself in the 3rd person at a marathon a few months ago! Nearing the top of the hill I passed another 3 men (always a good feeling!) and rounding the corner and going on to the downhill I let my legs freewheel and got past another 2. Still gaining on, but not quite catching my team mates and knowing there was another narrow section ahead, I decided to hold back through this section and save my energy for the last 5k back through the forest. Once again this section was totally different from last year – it had been a total mud bath then and even trail shoes made no difference! This year it was still frozen over and although a bit technical, much easier to run on! The path eventually opened up and suddenly out of nowhere, 2 of my team mates flew by me! Nooooo, I had been doing so well not to let anyone catch me so far! The 2 I had gained on were still in my sight though and in the last 2k I was running side by side with them. But then they saw me and took off again. Damn, so close!

The last few kilometres are mostly downhill, but by now my hamstrings had tightened up and I couldn’t widen my stride so I just plodded as fast as I could round to the finish line. Job done, and 4 minutes faster than my previous attempt. That’ll do for now!

Last few kilometres and the focus face is on...
Last few kilometres and the focus face is on…

Onto the training side of things – I have been having SO much fun on my training runs recently. Weekend expeditions out to the West Highland Way with my running club friends have provided hours of crucial training for my upcoming ultras – The D33 in March,The Cateran 55 in May and the Devil of the Highlands in August. Along with a couple of marathons in the middle (London in April and Strathearn in June) and my brother and Jemma’s wedding in July, it’s one hell of a busy year!

But when weekends look like this, there’s no time to feel tired…

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Even when you fall over and scrape your knee off a rock, there’s no reason to stop smiling!

Happy training everyone.

Photo thanks to Gordon McNeil, Derek Fish and David Neill.

Devil’s Burdens 2015

I wasn’t planning on running this race! I had originally put my name down but then after my exploding appendix fiasco I had decided I probably wasn’t strong enough. However last Wednesday there was a last minute drop out and after a desperate plea on facebook from my coach, I decided I could at least give it a bash – but ONLY if it was leg 1 of the race (see lasts years race report to find out why I’ll probably never do leg 2 again)!

Our 2 teams for the day. Always a brilliant day out with my wee running club!
Our 2 teams for the day. Always a brilliant day out with my wee running club!

The Devil’s Burdens is an annual event held by Fife AC in late January and usually our first club event of the year. Last year we had terrible weather, I was shattered and could hardly shift my legs up the hill and after a freezing 2 hours in the hills and face planting into a bog I had reservations about ever running that particular leg again, but I knew I wanted to try other sections; preferably ones that didn’t involve near vertical climbs up the side of a mountain! So this year, luckily, the person who pulled out had been down to run leg 1 of the course and having had my eyes on this particular section after last years event, I was more than up for giving it a bash.

This year there had been some slight changes to the course. Leg 1 was still a single runner and leg 2 still a pair and were both following the same route as last time, but this year to try and solve parking dilemmas and mad dashes round to the start of leg 4, leg 3 was now slightly longer and run in a pair and leg 4 started much closer to the original starting point meaning the leg 4 runner could just stay at the start and be ready without the stress! If you are interested in having a look at the course routes they can be found here.

After meeting at the local leisure centre, our 2 teams bundled into 3 cars and set off on the 45 minute journey through to Falkland in Fife. Falkland is a beautiful small town full of lovely old building and narrow winding roads but unfortunately is not the ideal starting location for hundreds of runners along with their cars and families in tow…just getting into the town was hard enough never mind finding a parking space! However, we eventually found somewhere safe to leave the car (not exactly a parking space, but it would do!), got registered and made it into the village hall in time for the race briefing. The R.D took to the stage to go over the rules and one which was emphasised again and again was that “all runners must wear full body cover, or at least have it with you, at all times; even those running leg 1”. Damn.. I had planned to wear shorts and long socks seeing as leg 1 wasn’t exactly on the hill but he had said that any team failing to follow these rules would be automatically disqualified. I wasn’t going to let my team down, so after a super quick change into leggings and minor panic trying to get my number pinned on, I was legging it down to the start line (which is a good 5 minutes away from the village hall!) with just enough time to get my breath back and calm down before the race started. Once at the start line I found myself surrounded by runners who were built of pretty much nothing (hill runners are a breed I am yet to fully understand) but also wearing close to nothing. Shorts and a vest top? Not even with long socks or a long sleeved base layer? How on earth was that full body cover?! Some did have waist packs but the majority didn’t. If they were indeed carrying extra layers, they must have had them packed away pretty cleverly; I wasn’t even going to ask where they might be!

Bang on 9.30am and we were off. The pack spread out quickly and I found myself quite far up the field. No, no, no.. this wasn’t the plan! I was meant to hold back for the first mile or so and see how things were going! We turned off the tarmac and onto a frozen farm track that I had to navigate carefully so as not to go over my ankle.This lead onto a forest trail which was the perfect running surface but by now I’d trundling along so quickly I was roasting! Cue much faffing about trying to get my jacket off and tie it round my waist whilst keeping my speed up and not veering off the path into a tree. Chaos. We then hit a small hill and I used this to slow my pace and get into a good rhythm, except 2 minutes later I found myself flying back down the other side of the hill and speeding up once again. By now we were just over 2 miles in and despite noticing another hill just ahead I decided to push on a try and keep the pace up as I was still overtaking people. Up the hill, people were slowing right down and I pushed on by them, knowing there would be a downhill soon and as soon as it arrived I opened up and again and flew down the hill towards the control point. 2 card stamps meant a little wait as the there were a few people in front of me and they weren’t quite sure which box to stamp, and then it was back down the forest trails avoiding huge iced over puddles and more frozen muddy paths towards the change over point. I successfully navigated my way along the side of the very icy cycle track, only once getting whacked in the arm by a gorse bush, and bounced through the field to hand over my check card to Gordon and David ahead of schedule. Job done!

Surrounded by cold people and I can't get my layers off fast enough!
Surrounded by cold people and I can’t get my layers off fast enough!

Leg 2 was up and over West Lomond so we estimated around an hour and a half for Gordon and David to run the next leg. We bundled into Scott’s car and made our way round to Strathmiglo but once there realised we still had plenty of time until they’d be there, so carried on along the road to a cafe for coffee, bacon rolls and cake. All of us, even though I was the only one who had done work so far! Soon enough it was time to get going and ready to send off our next, now fully fuelled, pair. The end of leg 2/beginning of leg 3 is at the bottom of a very steep hill. As the runners come down, a fair share of them will take a tumble into the bracken and mud in front of the crowd which has gathered at the bottom of the hill. One lady fell and somehow managed a forwards roll, a backwards roll and then a quick bow to show she was OK which got a huge cheer from the crowd below. Rather them than me!! Gordon and David arrived and after a super quick change over we watched Scott and Derek disappear back up the hill (nearly on their hands and knees it’s that steep!) and then another quick dash back to the car to get Stephen back to Falkland for leg 4.The start of the final leg is in the middle of a forest so after having trouble finding parking and then walking for a good 10 minutes up to the change over point, we arrived to find Scott an Derek already there and waiting for us!! Note for next year – leave the leg 4 runner behind in Falkland, no matter how much they want a bacon roll!!

A slightly warmer team.
A slightly warmer team.

We walked back through Falkland and round to the finish line where not too long after Stephen finished his leg and we celebrated with a cup of green soup and a buttered roll, all kindly supplied by Fife AC. Once both teams were finished we decided not to stick around in the stinky hall for the prize giving, but to make our way down the road for a well earned drink and catch up. Another fantastic team day out and for once, no one got lost! Only a few minor injuries (gorse bush, cuts from ice, sore bums from slips), 12 smiling faces and everyone raring to do it again next year and already fighting over what leg they’re not doing again. Unsurprisingly, leg 2 was mentioned as not a favourite once again. I wonder who we can trick into running it next year….

Although it’s tough, it’s definitely a beautiful race. The weather this year was prefect and I was told from the top of the Lomonds you could see over to the snow covered mountains in the Southern Highlands. There are still plenty of pictures to go up, but here are a few of the official ones so you can see for yourselves just how stunning this race is! Official photos.

I hope to see a few of you there next year. I’m going to go for leg 3 I think!