A Devil-ishly great run

My prep for an ultra normally (well as much as you can have a ‘normal’ from only 5 previous races) involves building the training to a crescendo and then having a 2 week easy taper, to ensure the legs are fresh for the race.

My prep for the Devil was different; I’d run around 220km in the preceding 10 days with Elspeth on her Watershed Adventure (more on that in another post and at www.watershedscotland.com)… so not ideal.

I’d already pre-ordered the hoodie for this race, so that was my motivation for running. If I didn’t finish the race, I’d have a hoodie that I couldn’t wear!

So after just making the 0400 bus from Fort William, we were on our way to the start at Tyndrum.

It was great seeing a mix of old and new faces milling around the Green Welly café at registration; some folk recognised me from the Watershed, so it was clear that word of Elspeth’s exploits was getting around.

The usual question of aims for the race came up and, with little thought, I decided on the following:

• Main aim – to finish… so I can wear my hoodie
• Good time – anything under 8h30m
• Great time – anything under 7h30m

 At exactly 0600 (according to his brand spanking new race clock!) race director we set off up the hill and away from Tyndrum.

I was having a race-within-a-race with someone for who’d be the first of us to Bridge of Orchy; after just 51 minutes, I won – but I was convinced that I’d gone off far too fast as I wasn’t planning on being there until about 65 mins.

Bridge of Orchy – 10km. 0h51m. 25^th place.

I was feeling surprisingly great at this point; better than I’ve ever felt during a run.

Whether it was the Watershed training method… or the Tailwind energy drink I was trialling… I wasn’t sure, but I decided to keep the pace up and see what happened.

Rannoch Moor is normally one of my least favourite parts of the run as it’s a long steady ascent that just seems to sap the strength from your legs. It didn’t help that I’d spent the preceding few days zig-zagging through the bog of the Moor.

This morning, with the sounds of the latest Above and Beyond podcast thumping through my headphones, the sun broke through the clouds and I couldn’t have felt better. I was running strongly and a massive grin spread across my face.

Glencoe ski centre came much quicker than expected, along with the contents of my drop bag that I was looking forward to.

A guy in a hoodie with a beard grabbed my water bottle and started to refill it:

“Shit, you’re Paul Giblin” I said

“I know” said he “here’s your water”

(Paul’s won the last 3 WHW races and holds the record for that race, he was also joined at Glencoe by many of the rest of the Team GB ultra runners)

Glencoe – 28 km. 2h27m. 18^th place.

I chased a number of folk out of Glencoe, and passed Caroline Mckay (first lady) approaching Kingshouse.

Going up the Devil’s Staircase my legs still felt strong (in spite of the preceding week’s 12,000m of ascent!) and I passed a few more folk.

The sight of Fiona Rennie and Pauline (?) in fancy dress at the top of the Staircase was a welcome one (thanks for the jelly beans ladies!)… time to open up my legs and enjoy a fast descent down into Kinlochleven.

I didn’t see anyone else on the descent, and I started to question whether I was actually still in the race, and if so what position I was in.

Kinlochleven arrived about an hour before I’d anticipated being there, to my shock! A quick chat with the fabulous volunteers there let me know that there were only about 10 folk in front of me and that I should be able to catch the guy in front fairly soon.

Kinlochleven – 44km. 4h09m. 11^th place.

I was onto new territory now, having never run this section of the WHW before; so I was running blind and to feel.

Well, I still felt amazing… power hiking up the climb from KLL and even running some sections.

The Lairig Mor is renowned for its exposure to the elements, and for it’s spiky jagged rocks to hurt your feet (just to give you something to moan about even if the weather’s nice!).

All the runners at this end of the pack (it’s an unusual experience for me to be this far forward) were pretty spread out; I only saw, and passed, one other runner on the whole Mor.

Even the light drizzle couldn’t dampen my spirits, as my legs still felt great and Above and Beyond was still keeping me massively entertained.

It’s a long drag across the Mor though and the Lundavra checkpoint seemed to take forever to arrive. But it did arrive, and I was greeted by Alexa who told me I was in 10^th and to get my arse in gear down to Fort William.

I checked my watch, and was shocked to see that I was on course for a great time.

Lundavra – 57km. 5h29m. 10^th place.

On the climb out of Lundavra, I spotted another runner and chased him down; passing him at the top of the ascent. I don’t think he was expecting to see anyone else as he nearly tripped over as he heard me approaching (sorry about that!).

After a fun descent through the trees, a wee climb up on the fire road, and I had the next runner in my sights.

I was staring incessantly at my watch too as, in the back of my mind, a sub 6h30m finish was possible… I was astounded!

I managed to close the 500m gap on him by the time we reached the Braveheart carpark. Turning left up another climb (the final sting in the Devil’s tail), the guy in front saw me and kicked.

I tried to follow and was able to hold him but not close the gap; I waved at him to let him know that the position was his and I wasn’t going to race him – we both kept running strongly to the finish, now only racing ourselves and our watches.

The finishing archway and the blaring music were soon upon me, and I’d finished my best run ever (and I mean EVER!).

Finish, Fort William – 68km. 6h34m. 9^th place.

So the 6h30m finish had slipped away from me, but I’d still finished faster than I could ever have hoped for.

I’m putting a lot of my performance down to the training on the Watershed (long, slow, tough days out with plenty of climbing) and Tailwind (I didn’t eat anything solid throughout the entire race, but always felt full and energised).

Thanks to race director John Duncan, and everyone else who volunteered at the event to make what was a truly memorable racing weekend.

I need to reflect on exactly what went well, in the hope of repeating it in 3 ½ weeks at the TDS.

But for now, 2 days’ rest before re-joining Elpeth for my final support stint on the Watershed.