The Great Glen Ultra

If you have to run 72 miles, then I can’t think of a better place that I’d like to do it.

Loch Ness from Dores Inn

Pre-Race

I’d set out my strategy for the race during the week leading up to it. I wanted to run light, to spend less time at checkpoints and to pace well to last the distance. This meant that my drop bags were simple enough this time to arrange and on Thursday, I got 6 ziplock bags and placed a sachet of Tailwind in each one along with a cereal bar or two just in case the liquids weren’t working well for me. I also threw some gels into the last 3 of the 6 bags for the later stages of the race in case I needed some more calories along these legs which looked longer and steeper than the first 30 or so miles. Tailwind was the foundation of my nutrition for this race and it worked amazingly well. I’m so happy I discovered this stuff and I now feel really confident in using it for other races.

With everything packed, Thursday nights sleep was restless. I was worried about if the tailwind approach would work or if I would starve after 10 miles. I was taking a bum bag on the race with a windproof smock, foil blanket, headtorch, a light snack and a spare buff. This was far less than I’ve carried before in the big Salomon vest I used in the fling, which was part of the travel light approach, but it made me worry that I would need more.

Friday I caught the train via Perth up to Inverness and met up with a friend who was also running the race. He and his wife had a hotel room which they kindly allowed me to use for a shower before we headed to the coach which would take us to the start. Before then though we had a few hours to kill in Inverness. It was a lovely summers evening and we ended up at the Dores Inn for dinner. This gave us an amazing view down the glen across Loch Ness. It was scary looking off into the distance of the picture at the start of this post and realising that as far as we could see, wasn’t even half way distance of the race! With a meal inside us, and a shower and quick change back at their hotel, we headed off on the coach to the start line. By now it was 10pm and my sleep triggers were kicking in. I curled up on the back seat of the coach and managed to get some broken sleep during the 1h 30m drive. But the excitement was preventing me from really resting.

The Race

After handing in drop bags and picking up my race number, it was time to wait again before the start. A few minutes to 1am we all walked across to the bottom of Neptunes Staircase for a pre-race briefing and finally, we were off.

Race Briefing Photo: Fiona Rennie

Despite my best intentions, I allowed myself to get pulled along for the first few miles with an average pace of about 5m30s\km, which was about a minute faster per km than I wanted to be. Scott and I were running along together for the first mile but he pulled away after that and I let him go. He’s far too good a runner for me to keep up with. I fell in with a couple of guys who were more sensibly paced, but still faster than my target pace. I went along with these guys until CP1 where I let them get away from me and I then settled into my pace.

10 miles in and it was still dark, or at least as dark as it gets in the Highlands mid summer. The first 10 miles had been almost all on canal path, which was quite hard and compacted, but now we were into forest trails and fire roads which were much more enjoyable. We also hit some of the first elevation of the course. This surprised me as I’d thought the first 20 to 30 miles were all very flat. None of the climb was high or tough, just rolling forest trails, but it meant it sapped your energy. At 3am in the morning after being up for over 24 hrs and the adrenalin rush of pre-race nerves, it all took its toll on me.

CP2 came and went and looking back now, all I remember were midges galore eating me alive as I filled my water bottle. It was somewhere in the forest near Laggan and I just wanted to get moving again. I shuffled out of the CP and as I climbed the next trail I realised the guys in front had turned off their head torches as the twilight was starting to brighten. This gave me a considerable lift as I knew I’d got through the night time stage now. It was all going to be brighter from here onwards. And then this happened:

Sunrise over the Great Glen

Sunrise clouds Picture: Norman Mcneill

I’ve discovered so many wonderful things from running, but it is moments that produce that kind of view that stop you in your tracks. It is unlikely I would ever have been stood, alone in a forest in the middle of the great glen at 4 in the morning to see the sun come up and produce such a spectacular display.

The trails now were coming back down to loch side and eventually hit Invergarry where you drop into the village and cross over a small river before climbing back up again alongside the loch. This bit confused the hell out of me and I was convinced I’d taken a wrong turn and was heading back down the opposite side of loch lochy. I eventually got my phone out and switched on the GPS signal to see where I was on the map, of course to be reassured I was heading in the right direction. Now it seems utterly stupid of me to have become so disoriented, but in the race things like this just happen I guess.

After more forest trails the route eventually got on to the canal path leading to Fort Augustus. During the race, this felt like very early on, but I realise now that I was probably a good 26+ miles in. After the dark and then the ups and downs of the forest trails combined with overnight tiredness and fatigue, this flat path alongside the Caledonian canal became my nemesis. I knew where Fort Augustus was, which was the next CP and end of this path. In my mind though I thought the path was much shorter and every twist and turn exposed yet another long sweep of path into the distance with no sign of the locks and boats that signal the town. I hit a real low point here.

In my head I was having a conversation about why I was doing this, what was I achieving. My running had been great and I’d done the fling and Edinburgh marathon, so why was I even here at all? I was starting to make up excuses in my head about how and why I should drop out at the CP. Eventually the locks came into sight and I knew the car park for the CP was only a few minutes away. I knew what I was going to do, walk in, say thank you, but I’m done, please take me away.

Unfortunately for me the CP was staffed by those people in life who you just can’t help but smile at because they make you feel great, no matter how sorry you feel for yourself. There was banter in the air and a few other runners were still there sorting themselves out. I was overwhelmed and before I knew it I was feeling great, eating a cereal bar from my drop bag and filling my water bottle. All the doubts were gone from this point on and I was going to finish this thing. Those ladies at the CP did an amazing job of lifting me out of my slump and at the time they didn’t know it. The people who volunteer for this kind of thing always impress me and now inspire me to help out at events. You all do a wonderful job people and thank you for giving up your time to help people like me who feel sorry for themselves when they hit your check point!

Arriving at CP3 ready to quit. Photo: Fiona Rennie

So now I was back out and up the road. A short residential bit in Fort Augustus before back on the trail. The trail markers were a problem throughout the day. Whilst they are a vivid pastel blue colour, during a race like this when your mind is all over the place, they were sometimes hard to spot. A guy about 500m ahead of me missed the marker as we exited Fort Augustus and headed north on the A82! I was worried as it is a fast stretch of road and the path had ended. I tried to call him back but he was too far gone and there was no way my legs were up to sprinting to get him, so I call race control and let those guys chase him down. I hope he was ok and made it safely back; it was so easy to miss those markers.

This next stretch to Invermoriston was all up and down forest trail so I had plenty of time to walk and get myself back together after the low point. About 5 minutes out of the CP I realised I hadn’t been listening to music, so I switched on my phone and plugged my earphones in. It was amazing how it lifted me and looking back at my times around here, it had a material effect and I need to remember that for future races. After about 30 minutes a guy caught up with me and started chatting. By this time I’d been on my own for an hour or two so was glad of the company. Stephen was from Edinburgh and it was his first time in the race too. We got on really well and eventually ended up running the rest of the race together and having a great time.

Early morning above Loch Ness

We hit Invermoriston feeling pretty good and ready to get moving quickly. It had been raining heavily by now and everyone was soaked to the skin. Thankfully the temperature didn’t drop too much so it made it quite pleasant to run in and certainly manageable as long as you kept moving. I knew the hill out of Invermoriston was short and very sharp so it was head down and paced it up there and get it out of the way. At the top was the big decision of the day for most people. The Great Glen Way has a high and a low route. The race brief told us we were taking the low route and thankfully, due to the recce Scott and I did a few weeks ago, I knew exactly where to make the choice. Sadly, lots of others didn’t and it turns out most of the race followed those pesky trail markers to another few hundred meters of elevation to add to their race.

Before Invermoriston we’d also bumped into a few others who were running around us at about the same pace. We were surprised later down the course to see them come up behind us as they’d left the CP before us, but they’d taken the high route and suffered as a consequence. Ah well! Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit is a long section and there was a water point about half way. About two miles before this Stephen and I came across another runner in the race who was clearly not having a good time. We ended up walking to the water point with him to make sure he was safe as neither of us felt he could or should be left on his own as his condition was too poor. I later found out he had been up the front of the race until around this area and running with my friend Scott who said he seemed like a really strong runner. It just shows that anyone can have a bad day. We left him with the CP but there was no phone signal so had to run on to the next CP to let them know he was there. Because it was raining and we’d been going so slow, both Stephen and I were in pretty poor shape too at this point through low body temperature and stiff legs. The jog down to Drumnadrochit helped warm us up and we caught up on the way with Pauline and Derek who we also spent much of the rest of the race with as a big group.

I have to say, all the people I met in this race were amazing. We all shared our stories and experiences during the hours we had together and all of them were just incredibly nice and genuine people who I would love to remain friends with. Amongst all the positive things from the race, the people I met was the best thing.

Drumnadrochit came and went. I met Mike who is part of the BaM race organising team and who I actually bought the shoes I was wearing in the race from about 9 months ago. We got an update on the guy who wasn’t well and heard he was recovering well which made us all smile. Then it was off again. A long sweeping road around the town before a narrow track heads back up hill. This climb was one of the toughest and a little technical in places. It eventually deposited us out onto a forest road which meandered towards the next CP.

Stephen and I arriving in CP6

This CP came about much faster than I anticipated and I knew we were on the home straight from here. Pauline who was with us had run the race before and explained our route from here to give everyone a taste of these last 12 miles.

The final CP was once again a happy place with fantastic helpers. We heard that almost everyone had taken the high route and when I explained we’d taken the low route, someone joked that myself and Stephen were now in first and second place, which produced the wildest look I’ve ever soon of myself in a photo:

On hearing we were in the few who had taken the correct race route. Photo: Fiona Rennie

The trail here headed through a section which felt like we were going to emerge in a snow covered land like Narnia. The trail was narrow and had trees growing in from both sides creating a face slapping experience that we probably all needed to get our backsides moving again. Then came the road.

Oh that road. It felt like it went on and on and on.

It did actually, it went almost all the way to Inverness. By now we were a group of about five of us. Along the road Pauline and John who had been running with us showed us exactly how strong and experienced they were and set off along the road. The rest of us were too fatigued to keep pace but we kept the in sight long enough to see where we turned off the road and back on to the trail. Then a long, relatively flat forest trail eventually led to a clearing which allowed us to see Inverness for the first time and, amazingly, the sun came out just in time to make it look even more appealing.

The trail headed down hill steeply here which actually felt good on the legs. In contract to the fling, my quads were in great shape despite having around 1000m of more climbing to do in this race. I don’t know if I just paced better here or if I am strong or a combination of the two. As we reached the bottom, Derek pointed out that if we picked up the pace, we could still make it in under 15 hours and 30 minutes; the challenge was set!

We hit a residential area, around a golf course then popped up on the canal. By now we had less than two minutes to make it. We had a bridge to cross and a road, then on to the athletics track in the stadium before a 200m dash for the finish. Myself, Stephen and Derek all picked up the pace perfectly and ended up crossing in a very respectable 15hours 29 minutes and 47 seconds.

Me, Stephen and Derek in a sprint finish

L to R – Myself, Stephen and Derek in a sprint finish with a smile!

Crossing the line in the sunshine felt amazing and doing it with these two guys made it even better. They were fantastic company the whole way and we all helped each other along throughout the day. We were handed goodie bags and Derek got some ritual abuse for choosing the high route, and then we were done.

Link to Strava activity.

Post Race

Saturday I stayed in Inverness and met up with Scott and his wife Lisa again. We headed out for a post race meal, which Scott and I nearly fell asleep at. Despite that, we ended up having a really enjoyable night. I ended up having a stroll around the city afterwards to stretch my restless legs, which I think helped with recovery and my legs felt fine after that.

Inverness looking great in the twilight

The following day we had a ceremony for the prize giving and every finisher received a whisky tumbler and a miniature bottle. Mike Raffan won the race for the 2nd year in a row in a breath taking 11h 30m. My friend Scott finished 4th despite twisting his ankle around 20 miles in! Incredible performances.

The finishers glass and a nip

Looking back, I am still overwhelmed with how fantastic this race was. I loved all of it, even the low parts and would love to head back and do it all again. There are things I have learnt from this which will help me in more ultras now. My shoes were not a good choice and I needed something more cushioned. My travel light approach worked brilliantly and the hand held bottle is definitely the way to go in future. My nutrition was perfect and I felt fuelled all day, thank you Tailwind! I love the distance, you need to respect it, but it gives you time to correct things and still achieve a respectable time. I loved the route. We are so lucky to have such amazing places like this near by to run through. I think a few more additional race direction arrows might have helped as some of the blue way markers are amazingly difficult to spot especially when tired. I imagine managing a course of this length though is tough work and the guys at BaM put on a great race so no complaints at all from me.

Warming up

No, not the thing we are meant to do before a run, the weather! Just in time for the Great Glen Ultra too I might point out. It appears Scotland has finally caught up with the rest of the world and decided that it is summer after all and the weather over the next few days is looking warm and humid. Now I’m obviously not long into this whole ultra running thing, but my experience so far suggests that running an ultra on a hot and muggy day probably isn’t the best experience possible. Looking at the forecast for Inverness which is where the race ends, it actually isn’t looking too bad for Saturday:

Inverness Weather Source: BBC Weather

The race is 72 miles long and the only question I have about it now is how long I will take. Of course, it is all subjective as to what happens on the day and I am doing my best not to pressure myself to achieving any particular time. It is 19 miles longer than the fling which took me 11h 45m for 53 miles. Assuming I perform similarly, then I would expect a 15h’ish finish.

Of course, I’d like to do better than that though. the fling was my first ultra and I had no real idea what to expect. On reflection there are so many things I would like to do better, but I am conscious trying to resolve them all is likely to lead to problems. For the GGU then, I am focusing on two things; pace and CP discipline.

Looking at pace, I am determined to try and keep a singular average pace throughout the day. Ideally about 6min\km. With 72 miles, or 116km, to do, the likelihood of me maintaining a pace over that time and distance will be a huge challenge and the key will be to set off slowly. I’ve read it so many times, people have told me, but doing it is a completely different thing. But the intent is there, my watch is set up to show me my pace and I want to try to get on top of this so I can go on to enjoy more ultras in the future. If I get my 6km\hr pace right, then I could be looking at a 12h finish time with CP stops included.

Speaking of CP’s, my performance at CP’s is a definite area for improvement. In the fling I ended up spending over an hour in CP’s overall. At the time, it felt right to stop and take a break at a couple of them. That was also partly due to the food I had in my drop bags. It’s hard to eat a sandwich on the move. This time, my diet will be 80% liquid and the 20% will be snack food to eat whilst on the move. The other thing is that, mentally, I wasn’t sure if I could cover the distance. Now I feel more confident that I can do this as long as I keep pace down and eat\drink enough throughout.

At the moment, my feet are up resting on a chair, my last run has been done and I’m feeling good. I’m trying to get as much sleep as possible this week as the 1am start on Saturday will be tough. Hopefully the nerves will allow me long, restful sleeps.

Stumbling towards the Glen

Since the Caledonian challenge my mind has swung around towards the Great Glen ultra (GGU) which is coming up on July 4th. Since the fling my training has been a lot more unstructured, with my running distances reducing rather than increasing. Over the past week this has started to play on my mind with a race of 72 miles just over a week away I am questioning if I am ready or not.

If I think about it, over the past month I have ran Edinburgh Marathon and walked two very long distance walks, so I know I have some training under my belt. I also went out yesterday to fit in a good quality long run with plenty of elevation in to make it as tough as possible. I ended up doing 37.5km with almost 1300m of elevation, strava link here. I did something very similar the week before the fling, sticking two fingers up to the traditional taper approach and going for the panic reverse taper. Mentally I think this helps, I woke up this morning feeling happier about the GGU, but still concerned if I have it in my legs to take it up to such a long distance.

I also seem to have a niggle in my right leg after the caley challenge. I did a little jogging down one of the hills approaching Kinlochleven and I think that short stretch of running in my walking boots caused some ligament damage on the front of my ankle\shin. I have a physio appointment tomorrow to get it checked out and hopefully get some treatment to help it heal as fast as possible. Given I ran the fling with a sprained ankle from 10 days before the start, this appears to be an emerging trend for me in picking up injuries just before an ultra.

I’m starting to fix on my strategy for the GGU. It looks to be a course with 3 main sections from looking at the map. The first section is almost entirely flat from Fort William up to Laggan Locks. The trail follows alongside the canal to here which probably gains less than about 50m along the whole section. This is the danger section, with such a flat, solid trail the temptation will be to go out at 5min\km. I need to bring it back and really pace myself so I don’t come undone later on. The trail then meanders up and down along the side of Loch Oich through to Fort Augustus. There are no real climbs here, but I suspect the perpetual up and down will be tempting to run faster than I should be doing. My target pace for this section is 6min\km to take into account the slight up’s and downs.

From Fort Augustus the track goes along the loch side again with a little more undulation. By this time tiredness will be starting to creep in to my legs given how little distance work I’ve done recently so I need to be sensible and just get through this with my mind fixed on the CP at Invermorriston. Once I’ve refuelled here, it is then a stern climb up a tarmac road with a couple of switch backs that I found on my recent recce. Then a drop back down to Loch side for more undulating trails through to a road which leads down to Drumnadrochit and the final CP. That whole section I suspect will involve lots of slow pace shuffling. The fact I have run it in a recce is making it already feel more achievable in my mind.

From Drumnadrochit, the trail heads up another hill towards Inverness. This section is the one I am the most afraid of at the moment. It looks like a hell of a long way to be running with very tired legs and I suspect mentally it will be a real struggle. At this point I will be in “determined to finish” mode as the next point of civilisation will be the finish line. I don’t expect this to be easy or enjoyable at the time.

I think amongst the many things I’ve learned as I’ve trained to run ultras is the ability to just keep going. I think so much of this is about mental toughness and I’m still confident that, as long as my body can keep things ticking along, it will be the brain that gets me through the Glen.

In other news, I signed up to Transvulcania 2016 this week. It looks such an amazing race and an incredible challenge, getting over that huge volcanic area and in such hot conditions. Here’s a video from their official page to give you a sense for what’s to come.

Caledonian Challenge 2015

At 05:16am on Saturday morning, wet, tired and aching I crossed the finish line of the 2015 Caledonian Challenge with two team mates from the Sleakit Beasties. During the previous 20 hours and 16 minutes we had walked 54 miles from Gairlochy to Strathfillian, mostly on the West Highland Way. In the process, we had raised over £4000 for Foundation Scotland.

Caledonian Challenge route profile

As weekends go, this one was pretty amazing and certainly memorable. Taking on this challenge was my idea a year ago. I was catching a flight from Edinburgh to London for a business meeting this time last year and picked up a copy of the Scotsman newspaper as I boarded the flight. In the paper was an article from one of their reporters who had taken on the challenge last year and had written a piece about the experience. At the time, I’d never stepped a foot on to the West Highland Way, so I was captivated by his descriptions of the scenery along the route. There was also a lot of talk about the team work required to complete such a challenge and the impact it had on the workplace as a result. At the time, our local office where I worked was needing an injection of excitement beyond every day work, so I posted a message on an internal social media site asking if anyone wanted to join me taking this on. Surprisingly I got 6 other suitably crazy individuals signed up within a week and the Sleakit Beasties, a traditional name used by Microsoft Scotland for teams entering sporting and charity events, were born.

We had some fun training for the event, then the weekend of the challenge came around and we were all loaded into a coach heading for Fort William. The challenge is a supported event and you have the option of providing your own support teams or signing up to a support package provided. We chose the latter option as we couldn’t hustle together enough people to run around the highlands after us cooking food and attending to our blistered feet. In the end, we were really glad we did as the support team provided were exceptional. The package also included a night in the Alexandra hotel in Fort William for the Friday night before the start.

We arrived into Fort William on a sunny afternoon for registration in the Nevis center. The formalities were easily worked through and we were delighted to discover that we had actually won a t-shirt each for our fundraising efforts. Once we had checked in to the hotel, the Grog and Gruel pub provided us with dinner and drinks before an early night.

The start line the following morning was out in Gairlochy. We were amongst the 9am start group, which was the third wave of people to start, with others setting off at 7 and 8am. Our estimated finish time was 20 hours which earned us a place in this group, the objective presumably to have most teams finish around the same time. The conditions at the start were near perfect with a light breeze and cloud cover. We were ready.

Start line team selfie

Gairlochy to Glen Nevis

This section was probably the easiest we were to take on. It gave us a chance to settle into a steady pace and adjust our clothing to match the temperatures. The route follows the Caledonian Canal from Gairlochy down to Neptune’s Staircase before heading off towards Fort William and the bottom of Glen Nevis. The field split up nicely along this stretch, and by the time we reached the first CP we were towards the front of our start group and ready for lunch in the support tent.

Feeding the Beasties

The support package we signed up to meant we could provide a bag each with bits and pieces in which we didn’t need along the way. This worked exceptionally well throughout all the CP’s, meaning we could leave heavy items we didn’t always need, spare changes of clothing and snacks in the drop bags to reduce the weight. By the time we made it to the next CP, our bags were magically waiting for us.

Glen Nevis to Kinlochleven

This was the stretch we had started our night walk on a few weeks earlier, so it was the first time I’d done this section in daylight. We knew it was a steep ascent from the CP up into the Glen and towards Lairig Mor, so we hit the carbs in the CP, dropped as much weight from our bags as we could and made a start up the trail.

More selfie action in Glen Nevis

Within our group we had a range of abilities and the track up the glen was the first place where this started to really show. Some of the team were taking things slower to ensure they made the distance, whilst others worked at the hill to get it over and done with as quickly as possible. Before long though, we had all made it up on to the mor. It’s amazing how your memory plays tricks on you, I remember doing this section through Lairig Mor from the top of the Glen to Kinlochleven a few weeks ago and was sure it was much shorter than it actually is. I was painfully made aware of how long a stretch this section of the WHW actually is on Saturday, just as light drizzle started to coat everything. By the time we reached the descent into Kinlochleven, our group had split up into two groups, with one slightly slower and one, which I was in, pushing ahead.

Blister administration

The CP at Kinlochleven was in the Ice Factory, they put on quite possibly the best lentil soup I’ve ever tasted as well as pasta or chilli to feed us. One of our advance party group had some significant blisters appearing at this stage, so we extended our stay here to allow some medical treatment before heading out.

Kinlochleven to Glencoe

This was the meat of the walk. We always knew it would be, and it didn’t fail to deliver. The initial climb up out of Kinlochleven is unforgiving and long. i remembered taking this on in our training weekend and took a stern approach of simply pushing on up the hill at a steady pace. I enjoy this type of climb and I’d like to go back and have a go at running this section some time soon. Once up out of the town, there is a slightly less steep section to cross before summiting over the Devil’s Staircase. As always, the view here down into Glencoe is sublime and makes the hard work worthwhile.

Ricky taking a breather atop the Devil’s Staircase

From here, the decent down into Glencoe feels luxurious after the previous climb and the distant lights of the Glencoe CP taunted us with the promise of hot food, clean clothes and somewhere warm and dry. Sadly, the view across the glen is deceiving and it was another significant walk before we were indulged.

Glencoe to Inveroran

As we arrived in Glencoe, the weather intensified from mist to rain status. After a feed at the CP, by now it was 11pm and we were all tired. One of the team dropped out here due to intense blisters and the rear party were still making their way across from the Devil’s Staircase as the advanced party pulled out. This section of the walk crosses Rannoch moor, one of the bleakest parts of countryside you will find anywhere. Finding it on a dark and rainy night with around 15 hours of walking already done could be described as character building. I don’t really remember the rain being all that heavy, but looking back I realise that it was and I just had my head down and was stomping across this empty place, determined to get to the next CP. Our time through this section proved that as we clocked up a significant pace. The path here is hard cobbles too and in the wet they make every foot fall feel painful and slippery. Eventually the CP appeared out of the darkness and more baked potatoes were consumed along with chocolate cake and custard. As I approached the checkpoint, a lady from one of the teams I passed mentioned the chocolate cake and I thought she was simply dreaming of what she’s like to eat. I was delighted to find the cake waiting though, it was just the positive mood swing I needed.

Inveroran to Tyndrum

40 miles down, 12 to go. Our stop at Inveroran was a quick one as we just wanted to push no by now. We later found out that our rear party dropped out at this stage, struggling to keep on with the conditions. They had but in a great effort and will be back next year I’m sure. That left just three of us still in the team, myself, Ricky and Duncan.

Outside Inveroran is a small but perfectly formed hill waiting for any tired walkers heading south. As we left the CP, I felt my shins ache with pain from what I suspect was boots that were too tight throughout the day. The walk up and over the hill to Bridge of Orchy was slow and painful for me, the heavy rain was taking its toll too and the other two guys were rightly pressing on to get the hill over and done with. I passed another team near the top with one guy who was limping heavily. I commented that it looked painful but kept walking on, I later learned from Ricky that the guy had just fallen and was heading to the next CP for first aid. I felt terrible for not stopping, sorry if you are reading this.

By Bridge of Orchy, we were all in what I’d describe as overnight mode. Conversation had dried up, everything was wet, all we were ever focused on was the beam of light from our head torches in front of us. Water points came and went, three of them in total. In each was a team of volunteers who did everything they could to lift our spirits. Throughout the whole event, it was breathtaking to see how many people gave up their time to support the challenge. Thank you, all of you, for doing such an amazing job and making such a significant contribution to making the challenge so much fun.

From looking at the OS map beforehand, the path here seemed to contour around the side of a glen. It might have done, but it was too dark to tell and I was too tired to care by now. I remember heading under a railway that had some very ghostly looking carriages sitting in a station with some lights on, looking like a scene from an old movie. Beyond that, all I remember is more cobbled path, more rain, a soup kitchen and another short climb over a hill before heading down into Tyndrum as daylight appeared.

I do remember at one of the water stops in this section, seeing two guys in every day football shirts, shorts and trainers stepping back out onto the trail. They were both soaked to the skin, but by the looks of their race numbers had set off at the same time as we did. They both seemed in fine form and were moving on up the track as if they were on Buchanan street in Glasgow on a Saturday afternoon. Well done lads, I hope you made it back safely!

Before long, we were wandering past the By The Way campsite in Tyndrum and the pleasant section of path that meanders along the river there. Memories of the fling came flooding back as I passed the point where the pipers stand at the finish. Not long after, we turned over the bridge near the Strathfillian wigwam site and the finish line was in sight.

The CEO of Foundation Scotland, Giles Ruck, was on point to welcome us at the finish with enthusiasm which was almost as large as his smile. he very smartly coached us to cross the line, arms in the air enabling the perfect photo opportunity.

Delighted to have finished the Caledonian Challenge

After the finish, fatigue hit us all and with a hearty breakfast provided, some of us settled down to catch up on a couple of hours sleep in a tent before catching the coach back to Edinburgh at 8am. The sense of achievement was immediate. It is really quite a significant distance to be walking in one day and to do it under such a well organised event made it all the more memorable. It was the first year in the events 19 year history that a team from Microsoft has entered, but I suspect many of us will be back again next year. I had a ball leading the team, everyone really got into the spirit of the challenge and in the process raised a huge amount of cash. I’m exceptionally proud to have been lead Sleakit Beastie. Hopefully we will have many more challenges ahead together too.

Link to Strava activity.

The one thing that struck me on the drive home was that in just over two months I have completed the length of the WHW in a little over 30 hours. 53 miles in the fling and the remainder in the Caley Challenge coming from the other direction. Now I know where I’m going, I can’t stop thinking that perhaps the WHW race needs an application from me next year? My other though after finishing this, was that I much prefer running to walking. I remember being told at one point that it was 6 miles to the finish. In my head, that equated to about an hour, sadly, when you walk, those 6 miles took over two hours.

Next up for me is the Great Glen Way ultra on July 4th. I am really looking forward to that race now. It is such a beautiful part of the world that I am feeling more and more at home in. I need to build some more long runs in over the next couple of weeks to prepare and I should be ready to go, more on that over the next week.

Great Glen Way recce

It is only a few weeks now until the Great Glen Ultra (GGU). I found in the fling that knowing sections of the course helped a lot mentally and, conversely, the sections I hadn’t run before were my mentally toughest parts of the race. With this in mind I teamed up with a friend of mine from the village to head north for a day taking in what we could of the tougher sections of the course.

My original plan was to run the last 15 to 20 miles of the course. The GGU is 72 miles long, so I figured that finding somewhere I knew 20 miles from the end would be a good mental crutch to see me through in the hardest part of the race. After some discussion though we decided to do a section from Invermoriston to Drumnadochit. I’m very glad we did.

Here is the profile of the full race:

GGU Race Profile

Those two bumpy bits from 40 miles onwards is where we were aiming for. As it turns out, with some work having been done on the Great Glen Way itself, the actual route now takes a more….interesting profile:

Yesterdays out and back profile

Notice the more spikey bits on the first hump? We certainly did! As it turns out, the route is amazing. The trail is exceptionally well made and perfectly signed with lovely bright blue markers at any point of intersection. The weather was perfect and as we reached the highest point on that elevation profile, the views back down Loch Ness were worth the days effort in themselves.

Looking down Loch Ness from the Great Glen Way

This section comes after what look like comparatively flat sections in the race but quite a distance in after the start in Fort William. The trail up from Invermoriston takes an immediately steep climb on an access road before heading into the forest on prepared trails. The ups and downs reminded me of the roller coaster section of the WHW near to Crianlarich and, given the distance in the race, are likely to have a similar mental and physical effect. At least now I know it is coming and prepare for it during the race.

By the end of the day yesterday, I was buckled I have to admit. My legs were still slightly tired after last weeks Edinburgh marathon and it was a pretty warm day so water intake was high. I’m really looking forward to the race now though. I think a slow plod out from the start to Fort Augustus, saving as much as I can for those hills we found yesterday before a final 12 miles into Inverness after Drumnadrochit. Should be fun!

Link to Strava activity.

Sma Glen

Last night was the Tuesday night club run with Lomond Hill Runners. Each week there is a different location, usually within a maximum of an hours drive of where I live. Last nights location was spectacular scenery. It had been a rotten couple of days for weather in Scotland, but as we gathered just outside Perth, the wind dropped, the rain stopped and the clouds started to break.

Sma Glen

The Lomies are a great bunch and I always enjoy their club runs and this was no exception. I was tired after Sunday’s marathon, but the scenery distracted me enough to get past the heavy legs. We headed out along the Glen before making a steep ascent up on to the tops. The going was heavy as we trudged through vegetation up through a steep gully. Once on the top, we were rewarded with spectacular views. Looking south west, we could see past the Lomond hills, over the River Forth with the Bass Rock visible in the far distance. I would never have found this place on my own, it is a beautiful quiet tucked away Glen. I’m so glad I went last night though, it was one of those nights where the views will stick with you forever.

Strava Report

Toward the Lomond Hills with Bass Rock visible in the distance

Toward the Lomond Hills with Bass Rock just visible in the center

Looking North toward the Cairngorms

Edinburgh Marathon 2015

I ran Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday and survived! I say survived because the weather warnings leading to it seemed biblical at times and in the end, whilst it turned out to be a pretty nice day, the wind did play a significant part.

I signed up to this almost a year ago when I started running and it was originally my ultimate goal. Since then I’ve discovered ultra, hill and trail running and my overall running mind-set is significantly different to long distance road running. I considered in the lead up to Sunday about being a DNS, however, the allure of my first actual marathon event and some curiosity about how I would do took hold of me. I also have the Great Glen Ultra in just over a month so a hard, long run seemed like a good idea.

Looking towards the start from the yellow pen

So it was then that at 09:50am on Sunday I was lined up in the yellow pen ready to go. I think when I signed up I put In for a sub-4hr time, which earned me a place in this group. Given I hadn’t put any thought into this run or specific training, I wasn’t sure how I was going to do. It could have been a struggle to the death to get close to 4 hours, or I could have been easily jogging over the line in just over 3 hours. As it turns out I was somewhere in between.

I’d never taken part in a running event as big as this. Looking at my results, I see that there were over 7000 people taking part in the marathon and it certainly felt like that. There was an atmosphere around the start which everyone should experience at least once in their running lifetime. With so many people though what I discovered was that the start isn’t actually the start. The loud speakers all along London road proclaimed the countdown to the gun, two minutes later I was still stood in exactly the same spot. Eventually, as wave after wave of runners were released, the yellow pen got their turn and I was off. Or at least, I was almost off. I managed to spot Tony and Brian from Falkland Trail Runners at the start line and stopped for a blessing from these two squirrel gods. Thankfully it turned out they were before the timing mat, so it didn’t impact my overall time.

I set off with all the guidance I’d read about online in my mind, start slow, pace yourself, don’t get pulled into a faster pace than you want to run at the start. Going into this, because I hadn’t really thought about it too much, I was torn between running a 5min\km pace and a 5:30min/km. With a km down in the race, I was running at 4:45min/km. Sigh.

I was ok with the faster than planned pace as it felt like an easy pace for me to maintain. I suspect all the hill running has increased my average pace levels, but also since the fling, I’ve found that I have felt a much stronger runner overall. The route weaved its way through Holyrood park and out towards the coast via Meadowbank. The crowds were pretty special along these stretches and several others along the way. One thing that caught my eye was a tiny little girl on the path near Leith links with a sign saying “High 5 me for superhuman powers”. Who could resist such wonderful support?

Before I knew it I was on Port prom and my pace had averaged out at just below 5min\km. This was feeling good and my mind started to work out the possibilities. I knew from my quick pre-race calcs that a 5min\km pace would get me in around 3h 30min, which was my upper end of ambition. In my head I was expecting a 3h 45min time, so this was all feeling good at this point. My legs were pretty strong and I had settled into a nice steady pace and stride and felt like I could go all day.

We hit Musselburgh before I knew it and the race course flashed by. I knew from the course map that the finish was around there somewhere, so everything I was running now was to be run again after the turn. I started to pay attention to landmarks so I knew where the home straight was going to start. The slog out along the coast line was exactly that, a slog. I think mentally I had it being much shorter than it actually is, but the bulk of the marathon is along the stretch of road from the race course out towards North Berwick. I was keeping an eye out for the elite runners who I expected would be passing on the other side some time soon. My watch with the delayed start was saying 1h 30m at this point, which mean they were probably 15mins ahead of that, so should be coming close towards the finish by now. The course takes a loop around a country estate on the way back after the turn, so I missed most of the elites, however I managed to spot a few. I’d never seen elite runners before so this in itself was exciting for me and worth the effort of being there.

By now I was about 15 miles in to the race and still feeling ok. My pace had levelled out at just a few seconds over 5min/km which I felt good with. I had a hand held bottle with me for hydration and fuel, and I’d drained this already. I grabbed a couple of bottles at a water point and refilled as I ran. I was using Tailwind nutrition which I learned about from the fling. I’d used it on a few shorter runs recently since grabbing a bag of it when I was last in the US for work, and it seemed to work well for me. The challenges I had in the latter stages of the fling are something I want to overcome, and the marathon felt like a good place to give this stuff a decent road test. I have to say it worked well. Throughout the race I felt like I had a steady amount of energy and never once felt like I was starting to slump from lack of energy intake.

The course turns back at about 27km and you get to almost retrace your steps back to Musselburgh. It was at this point that I realised how strong the wind had now picked up and on turning around was faced with about 25-30mph winds. The offset of that of course is that meants for the past 27km presumably I had that same wind on my back, so things should balance out. I think the wind picked up towards the 2nd half of the race though, so that probably isn’t entirely true on this occasion. Whatever, the impact was immediately obvious. the few elite runners I’d seen heading in the opposite direction earlier all had strained looks on their faces and now I knew why. Running at their speed must be challenging enough, doing it into a 25-30mph head wind must be brutal.

My pace dipped enormously here. Mentally I was still feeling strong, my legs felt like they had some left in them, but the pace was saying something very different. Below is my pace graph taken from Strava and you can see the turning point at around 27km and the impact the wind had on the pace after that. I hit my fuel hard trying to perk myself up at this point, knowing I had a hard run ahead. I started to notice others around me pulling up with cramps and that made me focus on keeping a steady intake of my tailwind mixture to help prevent any problems from being low in sodium.

My pace profile (blue line)

About 35km’s in I spotted 3 other guys from Falkland Trail Runners heading in the other direction. We had an impromptu hug in the middle of the road for a second before wishing each other well and plodding on. In my head I wanted to try to run a strong final 10km, but the wind was arguing with that idea. I decided that the final 5km must be in a more built up area which should disrupt the wind a bit, so aimed to push through to there as best I could then to try to make some time back with a faster finish pace as the adrenalin kicked in.

That didn’t work either. By now I had long ago worked out my 3:30 time was dead, but I wanted to be sure to get under 3:45. I was keeping track of distance on my watch and saw the 2km to go point come up so started to try to open my legs a bit. Others around me were doing the same but were crashing with cramps almost immediately which wasn’t nice to see. The crowds had grown now and the noise was having a great impact. I turned the corner to see what looked like a motorway leading to the finish gantry and it was all over. My time was 3h 39min 43sec. Very happy with that given the conditions.

After taking in the atmosphere around the finish area, a quick stretch and bottle of water, I headed out to collect my drop bag and warm back up again.

Finish area selfie

The sun was out now and I felt fantastic.

Looking back I’m even more happy with the run overall and my time than I was after I finished. I felt comfortable at the distance and was glad to have run at a reasonable pace for the full race. My race day strategy worked with regards to logistics timings before and after, water and nutrition worked well as did my shoe and clothing choices. I think if it had been a calm day my time would have been closer to 3:30 and possibly under. I’m really glad I took part in such a big event with so many people. The marshals were all fantastic with so many smiles and cheers to keep you motivated.

The one thing I settled on after the race was that I don’t like road running any more. All the time I’ve spent in the last year running on hills and trails has really given me a different perspective on running. I can really see why people enjoy running the marathon, it is a huge distance and a hell of an achievement and I am tempted to pick up the challenge to better my time. I found the going tough on my legs though and there seemed to be less of a community spirit amongst the runners than you get at trail and hill races.

I feel ready for the build up to the Great Glen ultra (GGU) now. I think this run has given me some more confidence, it feels like my endurance is building and I am starting to feel that I know how to pace better than before in longer runs, although I still have some work to do. I have a 30 mile recce planned along the GGU route for next Monday with a running friend and I’d like to try some pacing options out on that. I also have the Caledonian Challenge coming up in just under two weeks which will be a nice stretch for my legs.

A walk in the dark

Saturday saw me and five guys I work with take on walking a large section of the West Highland Way. I’m leading this team in the Caledonian Challenge in a few weeks time and this was a weekend I designed to be as physically and mentally tough as possible to make sure the team is ready.

First breakfast in Lairig Mor

We assembled in our Edinburgh office from our distant outposts. Amongst us we had people from Aberdeen, Fife, Auchterader, Glasgow, Oxford and Hampshire. Those latter two made the drive up to Edinburgh on Friday morning with a 5:30am start, which made their weekend achievements even more impressive. After a kit check in the office to ensure we all had the appropriate items, we headed out to fuel up at an Italian in Edinburgh. Once we had carbed up, we went back to the office to wait out the evening before eventually driving up to Fort William. We stopped en route to leave two of our four cars at Bridge of Orchy which was our target end point for the walk. 1:40am saw us arrive in the Ben Nevis visitor centre car park on a cold, crisp highland night. The stars were out and the sun had just about dipped below the horizon. One of the things I love about Scotland is how bright the nights are during the summer. On the challenge itself, we will be just about at the longest day of the year. That means that assuming the weather behaves itself then we should have bright night skies to accompany us along the night time sections of the walk.

2:45am skies just south of Fort William

After final adjustments by headtorch in the car park, we attached glow sticks to everyone just in case of emergencies and set off up a forest fire road following the WHW markers. The cold air spurred us on and before long we were well into Glen Nevis and heading south. With no view to distract us and the nerves of the day ahead still fresh in the back of our throats, we were subdued for the first hour as everyone got into their own rhythm. After a couple of hours, we had plateaued into the entrance to Lairigmor and we started to recognise that the sky was taking on a feint glimpse of light. By now the cold was biting and with the fatigue from the previous day, everyone was starting to drop a little. As the darkness turned to twilight, I suggested we stop and make tea and take on some snacks, ensuring everyone got some warmth inside them and some food. We still had a couple of hours to get to Kinlochleven and an even longer day ahead of us after that. The tea and snacks did the trick, lifting everyone’s spirits and giving the sky some time to fully expose the beautiful scenery we were surrounded with.

Lairigmor

The WHW is generally made up of rough stone tracks and this section was no exception. The going was great, the weather was looking good and everyone was in high spirits. Before we knew it, we were emerging at the end of the mor and overlooking Kinlochleven, which by this time at 6am, was still fast asleep. Nothing else for it, but out with the tea making facilities and take a pew. As we sipped our early morning brew, the sun made its first appearance of the day over the hills to the east, bathing both the town below and us perched high up on the surrounding hills in lovely warm sunshine. I’ve seen it many times from years in the army. That warm bath of sunlight can lift anyones spirit, no matter how low they might be. Kinlochleven, and more precisely the Tailrace Inn, served as our breakfast spot, which by this point felt like our third breakfast, or even lunch. The landlady was surprised to see 6 worn looking walkers waiting for her as she opened the doors at 8am.

Kinlochleven in the early morning sun

After a hearty breakfast, the first big climb of the day awaited. The ascent out of Kinlochleven is a steady climb that saps tired legs. By the time we got to the top of the first section which is mainly well laid track, our group was strung out over a few hundred yards. We regrouped at the top, took in some food and water and the spectacular views to the east and Blackwater reservoir. Going from this point was easier on the legs and we eventually peaked at the top of the Devils Staircase. This is an iconic spot along the WHW and gives you the first view when heading south into Glencoe.

Yours truly with Glencoe behind me

It is a mighty view and gives you a thump in the chest as Buachaille Etive Mor looms up in a commanding position across the other side of the glen. We took our time on the top here, having plenty to eat and drink and savour the views. We were all surprised by the number of tourists making the trip up from the layby down in Glencoe. Most of us forgot the time, only to realise it when we talked to some folk on the top who gave us funny looks when we explained where we had come from. At this point it was 10am. Dropping down the Devils Staircase into Glencoe, we passed a big wave of people on their way up, our minds however were now on Kingshouse hotel and our next rest stop. Once down in the bottom of the glen, the WHW takes a fairly simple route with little to distract you away from the spectacular scenery. As we got closer to Kingshouse and our lunch, we passed a group of three ladies who recognised our hiking hound and cheered us on as they too were on their final walk before doing the challenge.

The hound in figure head formation

Kingshouse delivered the promised lunch we were all craving at this point and after some attention to blisters and packing of kit, we were heading across the road to the Glencoe ski center and the long path over Rannoch moor. This is bleak country with little to distract the eyes. Despite the recent food stop, some of our team started to feel the weight of the last 12 hours and the early start weigh heavy on their shoulders and our pace dropped significantly. I expected this around this time, most of us had been up over 36 hours at this point and the time of day was becoming irrelevant. Conversation amongst the group tailed off and we started to get a little strung out. On the day of the challenge we have to stay within 100m of each other for good safety reasons, so this is something we will have to watch out for and address during the event.

Final ascent before Bridge of Orchy

Despite the fatigue, the long path over Rannoch moor eventually deposited us down into Inveroran. From here it was one final small climb over the hill into Bridge of Orchy and our waiting cars. The day wasn’t over though, we still had two cars to recover from Fort William and a trip down to our hotel for the night in Crianlarich. We eventually made it, 5 minutes before the kitchen closed. With food orders placed, pints in hand, we all acknowledged what an epic day it had been. That strange exhausted tiredness you only get from ultra long exertions and its subsequent high upon finishing was clearly written across everyones face. We learned a lot of lessons over the weekend. Packs need to be light, we need less stuff for on the march, we need to pace more effectively and we need to do the challenge as a team and not individuals. All told, it was the perfect training exercise for what will be a tough challenge that we are all now looking forward to.

If you want to support us, please donate so we can raise as much money as possible for Foundation Scotland.

Sleakit Beasties

Short post today to give an update on the coming weekend. In June I am joining another 5 guys who I work with at Microsoft to take on the Caledonian Challenge. This is a 54 mile walk along the West Highland Way raising money for Foundation Scotland. Our team is called the Sleakit Beasties and this coming weekend will be our final training walk together.

We are heading from Edinburgh up to Fort William tonight aiming to arrive in Fort Bill by about 1am. We will then follow the WHW for about 35 miles down to Bridge of Orchy. The weather forecast is looking great, the team are all stoked up and ready to go. Should be a hoot!

I’ll post some pictures once I’m back, but you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. If you’d like to donate to support us on the challenge, our fundraising page is the place to be.

Finally, this is our Mascot, if you’ve got any thoughts on a name for him, please get in touch.

Our mascot – but what’s his name?

Snow storms and spectating

I spent Saturday at the Cateran 55 ultra as one of my friends was taking part and I offered to give him a lift to and from the race. My plan, which worked out almost perfectly, was to drop him and a couple of his friends who were also running the race off in time for the start at 7am. After seeing them off I went to have a run up and over a route which took in 3 Munros on the east side of Glenshee.

We arrived a little early so had plenty of time to get some breakfast and a cup of tea before the race. My only ultra has been the Highland Fling which is a huge event. In comparison the Cateran 55 is a smaller but no lesser race. Alongside the Cateran 55 is the Cateran 110 or double as people call it. The race takes place around the Cateran trail which forms a loop around some rugged territory in the south of the Cairngorms. It really highlighted to me how friendly and supportive the whole ultra running community is. There looked to be less than 100 people running the 55 and I heard that the double, which set off at 4pm on Friday and performs two loops of the trail, had 15 people taking part.

The race got underway with clear skies and a light breeze, perfect running conditions. I got myself into the car and headed across to Glenisla for the start of my run. I parked near Auchavan and followed the Walk Highlands route towards my first hill, Monega. The trail from the car meandered along the glen floor before taking a turn left to make the long slog up the ridge line of Monega hill.

Monega hill in the center of the picture

The climb up Monega was slow but steady. I tried to take a slow run all the way up but was forced to walk a few sections which were just too tough for my legs. Regardless, I managed to the King of the hill in strava; result! By the time I reached the summit, the weather awarded me fantastic views into the rocky end of Glen Isla. From the summit, the path followed a line along some cliffs towards Glas Maol, the first of two Munro’s on the route. I was happy to take a reasonable run along this and was taking the opportunity to snap some pics.

Me fannying about instead of paying attention

As I reached the end of the cliffs and before the short climb up to Glas Maol, I was still taking photos and hadn’t noticed the weather closing in from the west. Before I knew it, the blue skies and sunshine were replaced with clouds and snow showers. A very clear reminder of how quickly things can change at this height.

Stunning views from Little Glas Maol which distracted me from the weather

I checked my route map and read that Glas Maol had a shelter on it, so decided to up the pace and head for that. At this point, the wind had picked up and the snow was really coming down thick. I had my waterproofs on by now, hat and gloves, and was running to keep warm. It wasn’t working though. Within 5 minutes my extremeties were numb and I could feel myself stating to worry about where this was heading. By now, I was still running along a track but realised I was traversing Glas Maol rather than going to its summit. I tried to get a bearing but with limitd visibility it was impossible. I decided the slope to my left must be the hill I wanted and thankfully sumitted it quickly and found the sheep fold on the top. I hid in this away from the worst of the weather, had a cereal bar and some fluids and studied the map. My compass was telling me I had to go in a direction which just felt wrong. I took bearings several times and eventually decided to trust my map and compass and not my instinct, which by this point was also numb!

After some worrying meander down the slope to the west of Glas Maol, I found a stone wall that was to lead me over a bealach to Cleag Leacach, my 2nd munro of the day.

View from Creag Leacach as the clouds cleared

As I made my way along the line of the wall, the cloud and snow storm cleared as quickly as it came and the views I was presented with were just breathtaking. I thanked myself for being sensible and following my compass and decided to just focus on enjoying the rest of the run.

The last third of the run took in a couple of smaller hills before finally taking on Monamenach. After all the excitement of the snow storm and with tired legs, the direct climb up this final hill was….a little bit tough. Once over the top though, it was a long, steady decent back down to the foot of the glen and the flask of tea waiting in the car. By the time I was done, it wasn’t even lunchtime and I felt amazing. Distance: 22.6km, Time: 2h 29m, Avg. Pace: 7:56/KM, Total Elevation: 1365m. A perfect Saturday. Link to Strava for the running geeks.

Elevation Profile from Strava

I returned to Spittal of Glenshee to discover my friend had pulled out of the ultra with some ITB pain. We still had to wait to the finish as one of the passengers in the car was still running, so we headed to the Glenshee ski center for a bite to eat and then came back to see the race leaders finishing. Both the 55 and 110 finish in the same direction around the trail, so the runners were mixed as they came home. We headed up the hill which the races comes down in its final stage to cheer on our friend. As we walked up, the leader of the 55 came past looking strong and eventually finished in about 8h and 15m. Then over the hill came the 110 leader.

Now, I’ve seen lots of people finishing races since I started running and usually I find it really inspiring. Not on this occasion though. The guy we saw coming down that hill looked nothing short of delirious. He was running with pain in his eyes and a gait which suggested problems in later life were assured. I think it made me feel that races of that sort of distance are just never going to be my thing. The rest of the runners though just made me want to pull my shoes back on and get out there. I think the Cateran might feature on my race calendar next year. Being a spectator in the race also made me appreciate just how much work really goes into these things. I loved being part of the race without actually being in it and I will definitely be signing up to help with races in the future in some way.

In other news, I finally made the decision and signed up to the Great Glen Ultra in July. I feel I owe it something as it is the race which inspired me to consider running an ultra, so hopefully I do it justice and have a good run. With another ultra now on the horizon, I was inspired to get out and put some more miles on the clock this morning. I headed out with the Falkland Trail runners for a jaunt up West Lomond. It wasn’t quite the views from yesterday, but it was good enough. I’m enjoying my running at the moment; long may it continue!

View from West Lomond this morning

Flashywhiskers

Flashywhiskers

The Great Glen Ultra

Warming up

Stumbling towards the Glen

Caledonian Challenge 2015

Great Glen Way recce

Sma Glen

Edinburgh Marathon 2015

A walk in the dark

Sleakit Beasties

Snow storms and spectating