Cracking day in Kintyre

I'd never been to the Kintyre peninsula and didn't really see any reason why I would go there; not that there's anything wrong with Kintyre but there aren't any big hills and it's a long way... a very long way.

So, when I saw there was a SUMS race in Kintyre I thought, if I'm going to see the area I may as well see all of it at once! The 67 mile option for the Kintyre Way ultra was certainly going to give me that.

Paul McCartney wrote about the mist rolling in from the sea. When we woke up on the Saturday, there was no mist; only the promise of a great day. It turned out to one of those days where Scotland didn't fail to deliver.

It also turned out to be one of those days that I also forgot my suncream... but that was the last thing on my mind when my alarm went off at 04:00.

Somewhere between that alarm and 05:30, I'd managed to make my way to the start line at Tarbert harbour along with just 12 other idiots hardy souls tackling the full 67 mile ultra.

And we're off... Photo: Ken Clark Photography

The trail weaves its way in between a few houses before breaking out of Tarbert and immediately climbing to the highest point of the whole course (just around 385m).

A group of 3 (including me) had broken away from the remainder of the runners leaving an already sizeable gap. At the top, we were treated to majestic views over Arran with Goatfell still shrouded in early morning cloud.

Soon after Ian Docwra broke away from the other 2 of us in the lead group. That was the last we saw of him until the pub in Campbeltown. Ian not only went on to win the race but also smash the course record; a great run by him and a nice guy to boot!

The trail then dropped down to Claonaig and CP1, it was a welcome sight to see some of the Stoney Top Dogs relay team waiting for Chris to finish his leg.

Approaching CP1. 18.5km done in 1h41m. Photo: Ken Clark Photography

Still feeling pretty fresh, I dibbed in at the checkpoint and carried on. The next leg took us back over the peninsula from the East to the West, past a couple of picturesque lochans before spitting you out through some stunning woodland into Clachan.

The rest of the Stoney Top Dogs were there, so I was glad to receive help from Neil to have my water topped up while I demolished a flapjack, having realised that I'd barely eaten so far into the race.

Leaving the woods at CP2. 35.5km, 3h26m.
Photo: Ken Clark Photography

It was after this when things started to go wrong. About 30 minutes into this leg I was overtaken by the first of the relay teams (they'd started from Tarbert 45 minutes after us) and then shortly after that by Iain from Stoney.

That wasn't the problem, I was expecting the relay teams to come past me. After all, they had fresh legs for every section and I'd nearly done my first marathon of the day!

No, where things went wrong were when the trail dropped down onto the beach. I'm sure you've all seen the idealistic images of happy folk bounding down beautiful white sandy beaches advertising Southern Comfort or sanitary towels or some such. 

Well this was a shingle beach. If anyone reading this has any inclination to try running on a shingle beach, let me save you the time: DON'T!

It was impossible to run on and sapped my energy just to maintain forward progress.

Part way through the beach section, I was passed by an ultra runner dropping me into 3rd place. This, compounded with the struggle to keep moving, made me hit a real low and there were definite thoughts of dropping out of the race at the next checkpoint.

It may have been tough, but the views were stunning; Jura and her Paps visible in the background.

Photo: Ken Clark Photography

I reached the Tayinloan checkpoint (also the starting point for the 35.5 mile runners) and slumped on the grass. 50.7km run in 5h21m.

Having chatted to the marshalls, had a good feed and replenished my water, any though of a DNF was banished and I continued on my way.

The next section snakes back across the peninsula, this time from West to East.

And speaking of snakes, this was where I saw the first 2 snakes I've ever seen in Scotland. I'm fairly certain they were adders, but I'm also fairly certain they wouldn't have been troubling anyone after unfortunately seemingly being squashed by a vehicle's tyre.

Back to the race... an 8km climb up to a wind farm was hard going especially as the sun was towards its highest in the sky. The long descent down the other side was possibly harder work, with my quads already feeling the effects of my longest run of the year so far.

There are mile markers on the Kintyre Way, counting up from 0 at Tarbert; so each one provided a brief mental stimulation as you did the calculation of how far there was left to run.

I had a little chuckle to myself as I passed the 41 mile marker and stopped for a photo;

41 miles down, *just* a marathon to go!

The rest of this stage was fairly uneventful. A couple of the Stoney ladies relay team caught up with me in their van (apparently Google maps had directed them via the track I'd just run!), I took some water from them and they let me know that someone called Bruce was only about half a mile behind me (more about him later!...).

I was starting to feel pretty low again by this point, with a fair bit of pain starting to kick in along with a lot of tiredness; the last thing I needed now was to be overtaken, so I cracked on in the knowledge I was only about 5km from the next checkpoint.

What I didn't realise was that it was 5km over another hill...

I bumped into Bruce's partner at the top of the hill, who cheerily informed me that she had the Vaseline that he'd requested. I'd actually caught sight of Bruce at least a mile behind me, and the thought that he needed to stop to deal with some chaffing took some of the pressure off me.

So, CP4 reached; 75.7km done in 8h48m. 25km had taken me over 3 hours; I knew that I'd really started to slow but just needed to perk myself up for the final 2 sections.

The Stoney ladies were waiting at the checkpoint for their runner to come in. Kate helped me with my water, a bottle of Coke and some sandwiches; I was then given a stern talking to and told to get on my way... just what I needed to keep me going!

The next section was short. Only 9.6km.

But it started off boulder hopping down by the beach, where I passed a couple of the back markers for the 35.5 mile ultra, and then continued through a farm and then up...

Coming through the farm we were faced with a climb up a farm track. It was one of those climbs that just never seems to end. It was pretty much dead straight and extended as far as the eye could see.

Feeling really tired by this point, I just got my head down and settled into a steady, but strong, walk up the hill.

After a brief traverse along a plateau, the path then turned and dropped incredibly steeply down towards CP5 at Ifferdale. It was one of those descents that would leave you grinning from ear-to-ear with fresh legs; all I could manage was a grimace and to keep moving as quickly and as efficiently as I could.

Towards the bottom of the descent, Kara from the Stoney ladies came past me. I let her past just before a particularly wet looking section. The next thing I know, Kara was knee deep and face first in an enormous bog.

Fortunately that gave me the opportunity to skirt around the edge of it, as that may have been enough to break me and force me out of the race. Thanks for Kara for showing me the way not to go though!

Eventually: CP5 @ Ifferdale. 85.3 km done, 10h22m since I started and 22km to go. I was into new territory having never run over about 80km before, but there was only a half marathon to go.

Another seemingly endless climb saw me overtake a couple more of the backmarkers from the half ultra, but even just making forward progress by this point was tough. I popped a codeine to take the edge off the pain in my aching legs.

Past a reservoir and onto the tarmac road that would eventually lead me to the finish. The course notes said that the start of the tarmac was about 7km from the finish; I'd disagree as it felt much much longer.

The road descended quite steeply from the reservoir. "Great!" I thought, this is it down to Campbeltown... my heart sank as I saw a car struggling up the hill the other side of the valley! Only one thing for it, and that was to keep moving.

On cresting the next hill, I caught sight of Campbeltown for the first time; only a couple of kms to go!

I picked up my pace as I turned onto the main road, having my spirits lifted by a beep of the horn and a wave from a passing car; only to have them dashed again when the car beeped again immediately behind me.

I turned, and saw the mythical Bruce about 50m behind me! I picked up my pace again, but so did he... and coming around the final corner, with the finish line in sight, we were shoulder to shoulder.

Bruce kicked first and went for the sprint finish. I'd been in 3rd place for the last 10 hours... there was no way I was losing my first ever podium finish!

I don't know where I got the energy from, but I managed to put the hammer down and sprinted with everything I had... I made it! finishing a couple of meters in front of Bruce to the cheers of the race volunteers and some of the Stoney Top Dogs who were waiting for me.

This is Bruce. 67 miles and a sprint finish!
Chris Cowley's photo.

I was glad to see some familiar Stoney faces at the finish line. I had nothing left, so was grateful of the offers to carry my bags; I was even more grateful of the easy choice they gave me: soup and rolls across the road or a pint in the apres-race pub around the corner. 

I don't care how good your soup is, I'd been thinking about a pint for the last few hours so there was no contest!

There was a great buffet spread laid on, and I was even presented with a sizeable chunk of cheese for my 3rd place efforts!

3rd place cheese

In summary this was a great day out. Yes, Kintyre is a hard place to get to but it's totally worth it when you're there.

Will I do the race again? I'm not sure, there a bit too much fire road for my liking (and that beach section!); but Rob and his team lay on a great event, so I'd thoroughly recommend it for anyone that's not been to this part of the world before.

Some photos on this page, where listed, were taken by Ken Clark Photography. Ken was ever-present (and ever-cheerful) during the day. Look him up for all of your photographic needs!