Four miles in and starting to enjoy the race!

The Glen Ogle 33mile ultra is a cracking event but for the first time since I stopped being a fat pie I had no real appetite for a race. Ironman Barcelona had come and gone 5 weeks before hand and with it 18 months of focus and determination. I had come crashing down from my “A” race high having not only completed my first Ironman but also surprising myself with a decent time of 12hrs 32ms. With Glen Ogle looming I went into training 10 days later but my body didn’t thank me, going back to running only was difficult and after 2 x 6 miles and a 9 mile I pushed out a 15 miler with Stevie 3 weeks to the day after crossing the Barcelona line. Stevie was flying on that run and the last 5 miles crushed me! I decided to rest for the final two week run in to Glen Ogle and only ran a 6 miler on the Monday before to break in new race shoes.

On the Wednesday morning I woke up feeling ill, gunk was coming out my left ear and my balance and hearing were affected. A quick trip to the quacks led to a diagnosis of an aggressive ear infection, a prescription of Amoxicillin and orders not to run………………..

So obviously I ran.

DNF there is no shame in those three letters although to date I have never had one, I am sure it will come to me one day but I would rather see those letters next to my name than DNS. So at 5 am on Saturday morning I picked up Stevie and we rocked up to Killin and as soon as I registered the love came back. The atmosphere of the other runners and the thought of the challenge ahead brought my mood back to buoyant and I looked forward to running.

Stevie boy and myself around 18 miles in.

We met up at the start in Breadalbane park with Kevin, Greg, Tim and Ross and the banter began. Kevin and Greg would be competing in their first Ultra with Kev’s longest race to date having being some novelty race he called a “half marathon” or something along those lines. Their focus had been on this race and they had trained hard for it but it didn’t save them from savage ribbing! I am proud to say though that they both went on to have a storming day.

So with the skirl of the pipes we set off, 350 or so dafties trotting up Killin main street and into the woods. Using a bit of experience and savvy Stevie and I marched up some pretty steep hills only running the flats to save our legs for the miles ahead. It was a brutal start to the race but at mile four as the terrain changed to some flatter cycle track I got in to my stride and began enjoying the running and strangely was still in tow with Stevie. We chatted, ran and ate, crunching up the flat easy miles in sub 9 minute pace and were soon onto the road in to Balquhidder and the 13 mile mark. By now my legs were starting to tighten and I was struggling to keep hold of Stevie, it was also bouncing it down with rain and a funeral cortege passed me adding to my darkening mood, even the dead where travelling quicker!

I dug in and got back to Stevie and we walked a hill as I took in a gel that injected a bit of life. A great wee stop at check point 3 in which a lovely volunteer filled my water bladder as I faffed, put on a jacket and ate my weight in chocolate and shot blocks. I felt better and a glance at my watch showed us to be at 3 hours, a sub 6 hour finish was well on the cards which cheered me up no end as I didn’t think my legs and body had that left after a long hard season. So with my jacket on the rain obviously stopped and we hit the monster hill across the A85. Two miles of tramping up a never ending forestry track followed by the same down the other side and we were back on to the cycle track and on our way back in. I had a problem though, those shoes I had “broken in” with a six mile run 5 days before hand were a different brand than normal. I usually run in Asics but was giving Sketchers Ultras a go, great on the flat so far and really comfy but they had a wider toe box than I was used to and my big toes were slamming in to the front of the them on the steep down hills. I knew I was doing damage!

Doh, school boy error.

So we snaked up the switch back hill on the cycle track and hit the 26 mile mark around 4hrs 30ms and spied Kevin and Greg ahead of us. We tried to sneak up on them but Kevin turned round and saw us! I immediately felt sorry for him as when he seen us he was at that very moment struck down with cramp and twinges forcing him to grab his leg, limp, walk and make funny faces all at the same time. Greg? Well he just s**t himself. Quite literally actually as he set a course record of “visits to the woods” with four in one day!!!!

The boys were glad to see us and it gave us all a lift as we teased the next mile or so out together. Stevie’s pacing had been impeccable so far but I could no longer hold on and I slowly fell out the back of our wee group. Kevin and Greg fell to a similar fate a mile or so on as Stevie stretched away. I kept the other two around 50 – 100 metres ahead and at this stage thought my experience of grinding out the harder final miles would see me catch them. However a mixture of their fitter running legs and the fear of being caught by fat Pedro saw them hit the final down hill 4 miles before me. My toes were battered by now and I knew I had no chance of catching them so concentrated on keeping a decent pace with sub six hours still in my grasp.

Oops.

A last wee push had me back in doing a sadistic loop of the park (whose idea was that!) to cross the line.

So after not really feeling the love in the run up I ended up having a great day, a finish of 5.49 and probably the best I have ever ran. Great pacing by Stevie really helped and being the uber athlete that he is I know that he could have pushed on at any point and I am grateful that he tolerated me so long!

All the guys had could times with Tim breaking five hours and then puking and Ross beating his previous effort. a special word of praise to Kevin and Greg though, first go at an ultra and a finish of 5.43 on a tough hilly course.

So thank you BaM racing team and your brilliant band of volunteers you host a great, friendly race in stunning countryside and all for a measly 22 quid! See you next year.

Kevin mocking me with a slow hand clap.