Race website
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2340166230
I had originally intended to finish my "ultra year" with the Devil o' the Highlands Footrace, that rather excellent race over the last section of the West Highland Way from Tyndrum to Fort William. I had a good run there finishing in 8:24 and 2nd MV60.
I can't quite remember when the plan changed but I became aware of a new ultra taking place the day after the Glentress half marathon and night time 10K, both of which I did last November. I'd enjoyed them and the opportunity to run over part of the Glentress course again and out onto to new territory for me on the Southern Upland Way seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.
As it's a good two hour drive from Ayr and the race start was 7:30 we went through the night before in our motorhome and were able to park up in the "upper overflow carpark" below the Peel visitor centre without any problem (or charges). We also had to come up the day before as our daughter was running the night time 10K. She's not been running seriously very long at all but seems to have been seriously bitten by the bug. She was grinning from ear to ear when she finished rather than swearing "Never again!" which I think bodes very well for her running future. I have so much confindence in her that I've signed her up (willingly!) as my support runner for next year's West Highland Way race.
Having picked up my number and T-shirt we went back to the van where I cooked up a large pan of pasta with various veg with some feta and pesto. I'm not vegetarian but I find that I really don't have to consciously diet now to keep my weight down to just a smidge over 10 stone. I've also grown fond of the "not feeling stuffed" feel after veggy meals. Whether it helps with my running I really couldn't say but I've had a good running year so I'm not going to rock this apparently successful boat too much.
As the temperatures outside dropped (-4 forecast but it felt colder) we settled down for the night wearing socks, PJs, under a duvet and blanket and huddled together for warmth. In the bed it was fine but as I found out, a bald head is rubbish as keeping the heat in. If I'd thought about it a bit more in advance I'd have dug a hat out to wear as the top of my head was getting chilled. Anyhow, we survived the night and didn't sleep too badly in the end.
At 6am I got up to make some porridge and coffee and prepared myself for the race (including the obligatory loo visit). At 7 we wandered up to the race start with our head torches on but as 7:30 approached it was plenty light enough to not need one.
Pretty much on the dot of 7:30 we were sent on our way, as usual all running just that bit too fast and taking some time to establish our own paces. There's only a couple of miles within the Glentress "estate" but they are lovely ones with views over the valley through tall pine trees. It's the sort of running that energises you rather than drains you but still, it was early days. We had started off heading west and then reversed direction as we dropped down into the valley to now run eastwards, all the time enjoying the spectacle of the sun rising over frosty fields. My cheap "Pound store" gloves weren't doing a great job of keeping my fingers warm but I have problems with virtually every kind of glove I try so generally have to accept compromised function in one form or another. As the day warmed the problems went away so I felt vindicated in my choice.
To pass the time I had decided to re-classify this 65K race as "thirteen parkruns" and as I'd forgotten to change my running watch back to imperial measurments after my last 10K, it made it easy to count off the "parkruns" with each passing 5K. About 6 miles in we crossed the Tweed at Cardrona and there was a checkpoint in a public forestry carpark shortly after.
Here I suffered an unintended consequence of chilled fingers. It had become clear that my early morning loo visit hadn't fully dealt with impending business so when I saw the public loos I made a bee-line for them. Unfortunately my chilled fingers failed to securely latch the door, something I only realised "mid-wipe" when another runner barged in. Poor chap is probably traumatised for life. ;-)
Feeling lighter and much relieved I carried on up the forest road/bridleway by Kirkburn. About a mile up this path the route took an abrupt left turn off the main path, which despite being clearly signposted was missed by at least one runner who we had to yell after. I *think* he heard us but I wasn't in a mood to hang about to look after someone who could miss such an obvious sign.
I'm not going to bore you all with a blow by blow account of the whole route but suffice it to say eastbound route through the forests and over the hills was just stunning. The 50K runners turned off before reaching what I thought were some of the best parts of the route and I'd strongly recommend doing the 65K race. It is so worth doing those extra 15K.
Anyhow, the "parkruns" were ticking away nicely and at about 16.5 miles (please excuse the mixed units) I arrived that the "Three Brethren", three cairns at the high point of the route.
The views up here were wonderful (as they had been for much of the route and if you have the patience, definitely worth pausing to taks some photographs. I would have, but was too busy playing "cat and mouse" with a running aquaintance from Troon. He had beaten me in the Devil but I thought I had the beating of him during the TVU so when he stopped for a photoshoot, I galloped away to put some distance between us.
I thought I had completely shaken him off but when I hit the penultimate checppoint on the return leg he caught me up. I think it must have token too much out of him as I never saw him again during the race and finished nearly 30 minutes clear of him.
Anyway, I digress. I was now heading back towards Glentress, now mostly in the bottom of the valley. Much of the course now was essentially flat and this is most definitely NOT my favourite kind of running but I have got better at it. I also seem to have got better with my nutrition and fuelled myself with Hammer Sustained Energy drink and a squeezy tube of Sweetened condensed milk. This was my first time trying condensed milk as ultra fuel and my biggest regret on race day was not having a second tube!
It was just so much easier and better than fumbling with gels and not nearly as sickening as I was concerned it might be. The ability to take repeated small slurps just seemed to keep my energy levels flowing smoothly right through the first half of the race. After that I had to fall back on my gels which did work, but frankly in comparison, weren't as nice and much more faff.
A limited selection of food was available at most of the checkpoints including hot drinks but apart from a couple of small pieces of cheese and onion pasty, I didn't feel the need to avail myself of anything else. I total I drank about 800ml of my Hammer energy drink plus two small 200ml bottles of chocolate milk from my drop bags. Along with the tube of squeezy condensed milk and about 5 gels, this was my total intake. The cool conditions do doubt helped but I never felt thirsty. despite this relatievely low liquid intake.
The return leg was a mixture of grassy riverside paths, minor roads and some cyclepath and because of the early frosty conditions wasn't too muddy anywhere. I finished with dry feet!
During the return I had been gradually picking runners off one by one which was very satisfying and I overtook three runners in just the last two miles or so. On returning to Glentress there's quite a hill to climb, to steep to run on its steeper sections but I found I could run on the less steep bits still and it didn't seem long before I was galloping down the hill to the race finish. The actual finish line is up a very short sharp steep hill (no more than 100 metres) which is a bit of a cruel way to end but to be honest, I barely noticed it.
I finished in 7:31, a time I was very happy with for the distance in 34th place out of 86 finishers. The winner's time was 5:37 and the last runner finished just inside the 11 hour cut off. I was also 1st MV60 but as there were only two of us the competition wasn't that great. ;-) I really should have ditched the bagful of clean clothes before my photo was taken at the end but there's not a lot I can do about it now. ;-)
So overall I would highly recommend this race. The scenery is spectacular, the route well marked, very runnable and if you need it, there is food and drink available on the course. I think it will prove to be very popular next year. I must admit to really enjoying my post-race chilli, chips and cheese in the cafe after the race. Food of champions!
We were perhaps lucky with the weather and I don't suppose I would have enjoyed it as much if the weather had been horrid but that's always a gamble in November. The risk of bad weather definitely won't put me off entering again next year.
If I had to nitpick, I'd say that the medal doesn't do justice to the race. It's clearly no better than the ones handed out for the night time 10K and I think the race (and runners) deserve better. Definitely a bit tacky. Maybe I'm being unkind and unfair but it's a bit of printed plastic stuck to a generic medal blank. Good enough for a 10K but not up to the standard being offered elsewhere.
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