A dirty weekend in Moffat

I'm just back from a great weekend in Moffat, running around the hills, lanes, forest roads, mountain tracks and bogs of rural Dumfries and Galloway. This was the Sandbaggers two day "Scottish Ultra", similar in format to some of their previous multiday ultras but slimmed down to just two days. Whilst longer event have always held a fascination for me practical difficulties about disappearing for a week to go racing had always stopped me from actually entering. A two day event however was eminently doable so as soon as I heard about it I entered, or rather I would have except it was on the same day as the Highland Fling race that I'd already entered. Oh well, a nice idea while it lasted but I dropped a line to the organiser explaining my quandary and the next thing I know it's been moved by two weeks. Woohoo! Game on! Having entered I then remembered that I'd also entered the Etape Caledonia, a cycling event the same weekend. Oops.;-) Fortunately I was able to defer my Etape entry for a year so alls well that ends well.

Anyway, after the usual restless night's sleep pre-race and getting up at 4:15 am, it was off to Moffat where we were met on the edge of town and ferried by car to our campsite, or rather "field" where were sorted ourselves out, put up tents, visited the camp loo and registered for the race. There didn't seem to be an awful lot of runners around and the pile of race numbers only went up to 24 but as it turned out, just 14 of us were running on the Saturday and just 8 hardy souls were doing both days. I recognised Andrew Murray and Donnie Campbell who formed the "elite" squad. I was also pleased to see Carol Martin and Carolyn both of who had run the Fling.

Maps and instructions were given at the briefing and I was a bit reassured to hear that no serious navigation would be required, not that I mind it too much but when it's a course I've not reccied, I'd rather just run and not have to worry about map reading too much. The course was indeed very well flagged and there was never really any time that I had any concerns about my whereabouts. At the briefing I confirmed that poles were allowed (I had already asked about this but didn't want to be at the receiving end of any glares from other runners for "cheating") and I decided that this would be a good opportunity to get some practice in with them. I have some lightweight folding poles that are very easy to carry and given the many long climbs on the route I thought they might be useful.

At 8:30 we were sent on our way and at 8:31, Andy and Donnie disappeared never to be seen again. Actually, we did see Donnie at the end but Andy "the quitter" Murray had flown off to London to attend some meeting about some sports event on down there this August and fled before the rest of us arrived back. They ran and finished together a bare 2 hours and 2 minutes ahead of me and I'm sure I could have clawed than back on day two if Andy had stayed for both days. ;-)

The route was a mixture of very minor roads, boggy trails, stony Landrover track over the hills and wider forest roads, and more bogs.

Apart from the two leaders, the women seemed to be setting the early pace but once we hit the hills I pulled away gradually and then gradually pulled away from the other men around me. I hadn't been paying attention to who had been around me at the start and fancifully believed that it might be possible that I was in third place, my highest position ever in a race! Still, I was only about 10 miles into the race at this point and still aware of folk not that distantly behind me so I couldn't let up.

About 18 miles in I found out from a marshal that I was actually in 4th position which rather burst my bubble but I was feeling good and enjoying the running. I had no aches or pains and my feet felt good. At 44km (about 27 miles) there was a checkpoint with a 4 pm cut-off but I needn't have worried as I was there by about 2:15. Hear I heard that the 3rd place man was 20 minutes ahead of me. :-(. Still, I had my bottle of Mountain Dew "rocket fuel" and this seemed like a good time to dip into it. The route turned on to a minor flat road at this point and I don't know whether it was the "rocket fuel" or a tail wind but I had a great run along this section before we climbed up and over a small hill to find ourselves at the top of a forest fire break with a rather incongruous "Scottish rights of way society" post at the top of it. Well I'm all for defending rights of way but I swear that the last person down there (apart from the course markers" was the man who put that post it. It was just a lovely trackless bog to squelch down. It was little bits like this that made you realise that the organisers "cared" and were determined to put a bit of "fun" into the route. ;-)

Anyhow, after my disappointment at hearing that I was 20 minutes behind the next man, my heart gave a little leap when I heard at the next checkpoint that I was just 10 minutes behind. This was doable! I could be on the podium with Andrew Murray and Donnie Campbell! I was on good forest roads now and none of the hills were steep and I took advantage of this to run up most of them as well as down and eventually I caught Colin Thornton who was struggling with his knee and walking. By way of showing my sympathy I increased my speed and hoofed it off down the road as fast as I could. ;-)

I mostly resisted the temptation to look back over my shoulder and pushed on all the way to the finish feeling elated. My elation was only dampened slightly when I found out that Andy had gone and my dream of a group photo of Andy, Donnie and myself wasn't going to be realised. Still, that was a very minor disappointment and it was only later that I found out that Colin was only doing the one day so technically, I was now in second position for the two days.

As soon as I stopped I commenced refuelling with chocolate milk, plain milk, a huge dish of veggy chilli and an avocado followed by dried fruit. I stayed up long enough to cheer in the rest but I was done in by 9 o'clock and headed to my sleeping bag.

End of Day 1.

I can't say I slept well that night but then I never do after an ultra but most notably, my legs weren't restless or aching which boded well for the next morning. I'd gone to bed in my skins tights. Whether these helped or not I don't know but I don't think they do any harm.

I got up at about 6:30 next morning for the 8 am start and had my breakfast of two pots of instant porridge and a big mug of coffee. I had time to to pack up and take my tent down before the start and at 8 o'clock, just 8 or us lined up for the start.

Donnie set off at a good lick with the rest of us easing into a slow jog across the field but within a few minutes I was easing away from the pack. The path started off on undulating forest roads before heading off through a small firebreak on to singletrack path. The whole of the second day route more or less followed the Southern Upland Way and consisted of a mix of paths, forest roads and a small (but long!) road. Because of the poor weather forecast the route had been cut short and the peak at the turnaround omitted due to the low cloud base. Fortunately the rain didn't start until later in the day but the wind which had been pushing us up the valley got stronger and really made us work on the return leg when any attempt to run up hills was alomost out of the question. Jogging on the level was hard enough!

Just after the turn around we were sent cross-country along a path that is marked on the OS map but in reality was pretty non-existent. This was the only part of the course that wasn't flagged but we had maps and it definitely added a bit of "interest" to the course, as well and the inevitable bog. ;-) Because of the loop at the top of the course I didn't see any other runners on the way back but there were plenty of marshals at critical points to keep us supplied with water and to keep our spirits up.

It felt like a very slow grind back along the road section as the valley had become a bit of a wind tunnel but eventually we hit a slightly more sheltered bit and I was able to pick up the speed a bit. All good things must come to an end however and I was lucky to get back before any significant rain. It had been pretty cold though and I had been very glad of my mittens. The finish was a bit "low key" but with only 8 runners I don't think we expected anything else. ;-) Donnie unfortunately had had to leave early so I didn't get to congratulate him on his run but I was able to relax in the Sandbaggers "yurt" tent whilst Dave Scott, the organiser, braved the wind and rain to brew tea and make bacon rolls for us all. Heavenly!

The final results for the two day runners were:

Name: First day time: Second day time: Total

Donnie Campbell 6.48.43 5.25.02 12.13.45 1st
Timothy Downie 8.50.11 6.57.20 15.47.31 2nd
Fred Hamond 9.43.08 7.32.03 17.15.11 3rd
Stephen Nisbet 9.30.22 8.21.03 17.51.29
Jo Kilkenny 9.54.02 7.59.52 17.53.54
Carol Martin 9.54.02 7.59.52 17.53.54
Paddy MacDonald 10.44.17 8.03.12 18.47.29
David Knox 11.02.26 DNF
Martin Myers DNF DNF

It was a shame to pack up and leave as it had been such a great weekend and I'd definitely try and do this again. The scenery had all been new to me and the course so well marked that one could relax and enjoy the running without having to worry about navigating. The organisation and support was top-notch apart from a slight hiccough which resulted in the medals and prizes getting left in Glasgow. ;-) I'd certainly recommend this event to anyone looking for fresh pastures.