West Highland Way Race 2014

The West Highland Way Race  (WHWR) is one of the most iconic races on the Scottish ultra calendar and arguably one of the most stunning ultra races in the UK. It is a 95 mile route with 14,000ft of ascent, starting in the suburbs of Glasgow and finishing in the highland town of Fortwilliam at the base of Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain. With the start line a mere 5.5 miles from my front door it was a race I just had to do.
Over recent years I have been asked numerous times when I was going to do the WHWR, but I was keen to get  the more comfortable at the medium ultras (40-60M) first before stepping up to that distance. Until the WHWR the longest race I had done was 100k (62miles) and that was on the road. The longest trail race I had done was 55miles.
This years event was set to be memorable from the start. Paul Giblin the current record holder (15h07m) was back to defend his title and Robbie Britton was also keen to be the first to run sub 15 hours. In the lead up to the race there was some speculation as to who would win the race ( Paul hadn't entered at this stage knowing he could get a last minute entry) and my name had been thrown into the mix. This added a little pressure, but in all honesty my goal was never to win the race. Of course it would have been nice but most people win races of that distance don't do it on their first attempt. I had a time of  16 hours in my head that I felt was realistic and my plan was to run with that in mind and concentrate on finishing the course. After all I had failed to finish my last race and it was only 45 miles (see previous post).
For those of you who have never done a race like this before, don't underestimate the amount of prep work on the run up to the race. The weeks leading up to the race are filled with planning meetings, buying and organising insane amounts of sugary junk food, packing boxes and setting target times.

The race started at 1am, which in itself caused issues. When do you eat, sleep etc before starting, but after weighing in and the final race briefing I was glad to get started.
The gun went and as expected the pace was very quick from the start, in the dark it was difficult to see but it seemed that there was a lead group and a second pack slightly further back.

 Being fresh I could have comfortably ran with them but I was conscious that both groups were running faster than my target pace. I made the decision to hang back in the darkness on my own in about 10th position. Any other course may have been different but even in the dark I was confident of every turn the course made so I knew I wouldn't get lost. Hanging back is a hard thing to do in a race, but something I am used to doing and it often pays dividends later in the race. Even by hanging back I got to Drymen (13M) in 1h38m   six minutes ahead of my target time.
Leaving Drymen it was approaching 3am and being a clear night I was able to turn my head torch off, no one else was in sight and there was something special about being out there approaching Conic hill as dawn drew nearer.  Conic is the first big climb of the race and it was here that I passed my first runner. After that the course descends into Balmaha one the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, the first official course check point, where it was great to see my loyal support team braving the horrendous midges!

Along the loch side I caught another couple of runners and at about 30 miles I caught David Gardiner. Here began a game of cat and mouse that would last another 45 miles. The northern half of the loch side is pretty technical but I have always enjoyed the variation in terrain, having said that I was glad to reach Beinglas Farm, the next check point at 40 miles. I had a brief moment of panic when I couldn't see Dawn and Dougal my support team. Thankfully they were just in disguise under a veil of clothing and midgy nets. I arrived in 6:29 (target 6:41). I had gained a few extra minutes but was happy as I was feeling feeling strong and 10 minutes over 6.5 hours seemed an acceptable margin.
As we approached the half way mark David passed me again we clocked in about 30 second apart at Auchtertyre. At this point we were weighed, the medics use weight as a guide to hydration levels etc. I had lost 2kg but this was within the acceptable parameters.  With more fluid and food on board I hit the trail again.
The next section of the race took us past Tyndrum, the 53m mark, I would soon be approaching the 8h30 min mark, the longest in time that I had ever ran before and the end point for the Highland Fling Race which I had ran before. No ill effects yet and I was happy that I seemed to be eating and drinking without any issues. The next uneventful section took us to Bridge of Orchy. At this point David and I were neck and neck coming into the check point, we both fuelled up and pressed on with me slightly ahead.
Leaving Bridge of Orchy is a steady climb know to many runners as Jelly Baby hill. On a recent training run Marco (who has done the race 5 times)  had said if you can run al the way up at this stage in the race you are doing well. Spurred on by the fact that I new the friendly face of Murdo McEwan awaited me at the top of the hill bearing jelly babies I ran the whole way to the top. It was an added bonus to see my friend Thomas Loehndorf up there taking some photos.

Up until this point I had seen few people I knew outwith the check points. The next stage from Victoria Bridge took me beyond the 62M mark i.e. further than I had ever ran before and despite having run it before I hadn't appreciated that it is pretty much all uphill. The gradient is slight but it was definitely uphill. On top of this it is an old military road and cobbled along the way, my knees began to hurt. As we approached the steeper section before Glencoe David caught me again and reached the check point a minute ahead of me. I had dropped a few minutes but was still 3.5 minutes ahead of target.

For me Glencoe was a big landmark. It was 70 miles into the race, it was about 3/4 of the way and marked the start of what I felt could be a critical part of the race. The scenery is dramatic but with that came two of the biggest climbs of the route.The first is the Devils stair case a 400m climb followed by a 650m descent into Kinlochleven.

       Not long after leaving Glencoe I had managed to get back into third but there was still a long way to go. Being over 70miles in I had to give in and slow to brisk walk on the latter half of the Devils Stair Case, I was relieved to look behind and see that David was having to do the same. Reaching the top  I was anxious to see how my quads would feel on the sustained descent into Kinlochleven. Thankfully they feel good (relatively speaking) and I tried to relax into the nice technical trail, glancing up occasionally to the view ahead. Reaching the final official checkpoint it was a great boost to see my two old flatmates Evan and Shona who had come to to support. Little things like that really give you a lift when you are out there for so long. After another weigh in and some more food it was time for the final big climb of the race.

There was no sight of David, but he could appear any minute. I left the checkpoint and got a sudden sharp pain in my left knee which brought me to a hobble. For a few minutes I wondered was that the beginning of the end. I have heard stories from others of taking 8 hours to do the final 13miles and knew there was still potential for thing to go dramatically wrong. Thankfully  I managed to run it off and when I did I was more confident than ever that I would finish the race. The final big climb is  200m and I jogged/walked up as best as I could. Reaching the Lairig Mor below the Mammores I knew there was only one final small hill to come, despite a lot of long rolling climb. I said to myself I was going to run the whole way. I had to remind myself to keep eating and drinking. That had all being going so well until then I just had to keep focused a bit longer. Half way along another nice surprise was to see Graham a mountain biker friend who had pedalled up to take some photos and give me a shout along the way. I glanced behind and could see no sign of anyone following.

The final unofficial checkpoint was Lundavra, 6 miles from the finish. The atmosphere there was fantastic John and Katrina Kynaston were manning the checkpoint and had music blaring that along with Dawn, Dougal, Evan, Shona, Graham shouting for me. I grabbed a final top up of food and checked my watch 15:05. Could a sub 16 be on the cards? I knew it would be a bit of an ask but it didn't seem impossible, I was feeling good and there was a good section of downhill to come.

I reached Braveheart car park for a final cheer from Dawn and Dougal and Thomas shouted 4 minutes! I knew dipping below the 16 hour mark wasn't going to happen but I pushed on for the finish. Looking back on my splits I managed about 7:30 min/mile over the last couple of miles reaching the finish in 16h05mins in 3rd place. I was delighted, I could deliberate over the 5 minutes but I was ecstatic to run so close to my race plan on my first 95M race. I was even happier to see that I was had the fastest split of the whole  race field for the last 13M. As for 1st and 2nd, Paul Giblin annihilated his own course record finishing in 14h20 and Robbie Britton having led in the early stages came in 14h:47  sensational performances from both of them.

In the ladies race Fionna Ross won in 18h45, 17 minutes ahead of Rosie Bell who finished in 19h02. Keziah Higgins was in 3rd in 20h09.

At 12pm the next  the official 35hour cut off time for race finishers the organisers hold a prize giving in which individual finisher gets a coveted crystal goblet with the finale being that the race winner presenting the last runner with their goblet. It's a great touch which helps the cement the feel of the race for everyone.  All involved are affectionately known as the 'West Highland way Race Family' and while the times of the winners may seem impressive, the personal battles that many of the other runners will have overcome are undoubtedly more worthy of your awe.

Paul Gibin has just presented the final finisher with hid Goblet.

Three days on I can pretty much walk normally again and manage stairs, not quite ready for running yet but hopefully won't be too long before I hit the trails again.

Kit: Helly Hansen Pace SS 2 t-shirt
       Helly Hansen Pace 9" Training Shorts
       Helly Hansen Trail Kenosha Trail shoes

Food: Muesli bars, gels, rice pudding, nuts was the main sustenance along with soup and some fresh fruit(bananas and strawberries).
Drink: Energy drink, electrolyte drink, chocolate milk drink, cola, water