Tales from the Trails: November 2014

The Jedburgh 3 Peaks Ultra wasn't in my fixed race plan for 2014 but I had always intended on finding another race later in the season and after considering a few options I settled on the Jedburgh race.
The day before the race I left work to the words "you are a typical runner". I guess I shouldn't have expected much asking for the opinion on whether my colleague thought it would be a good idea for me to race 38 miles with a cold. As most of you know it is pretty common to feel like you are getting a cold in the week before a race (affectionately -taperitis! i.e. any weird transient feelings of unwell you get when you are hypersensitive before a race). Anyway this was a bit more than that I had been feeling pretty rubbish all week and on Thursday after feeling a bit better on Wednesday I felt the worst I had been. I really wasn't sure I was going to race. In the end I decided to pack the car and see how I felt Friday lunch time. While I had run and even raced some shorter races with a cold I had been fortunate never to have had a cold before an ultra before so I really wasn't sure if it was a wise idea.
In the end I didn't feel as bad as I had on Thursdays on the Friday so I took a few deep breaths to check I wasn't feeling it in my chest and decided to head east to Jedburgh. Driving down I felt excited, there is something very liberating about driving off somewhere new with your tent packed and an adventure planned for the next day. When I arrived I popped into the leisure centre to say hi to Angela and Noanie, the race directors and the team. I made a token effort to help before grabbing some pub grub and an early night.

Thanks for the photo Steven Somerville!

Despite a very windy night I slept remarkably well and we were definitely reaping the benefits of being on the east coast as the weather for the start was nice and dry. Having only been to Jedburgh once before the only knowledge of the course I had was from looking at maps and reading the chat on the race forum. I often like it that way as it means the whole route is new and the new sights add to the experience, but I had heard that in previous years a number of runners had taken wrong turns so that was playing on my mind.
The course it's self is a 38mile lolly pop type route with about 1100m of ascent primarily on trails throughout the stunning countryside of the Scottish borders, the climax of which includes running up the Eildon 3 Peaks. Before the race it was nice to catch up with a few familiar faces including a number of the guys/girls that I had been out at Transvulcania with earlier in the year.
The race started at 8am and as ever there were a few keen to push the pace from the start, one of them being the Neil MacNicol who had won the race the year before. If you have read any of my previous reports you'll know I'm not keen on going eye balls out from the gun. My ageing body needs a few miles in the tank to warm up. I was also feeling a bit concerned about what impact the cold would have on my running. I hung back a little and Neil took the lead, shortly after Hugh McInnes another runner who had ran well in previous years at the race came along side. We chatted briefly but he soon decided that he wanted to push on (or got bored with my chat) and took off in pursuit of Neil. As the first few miles went in my breathing felt hard work and due to the autumn winds a thick covering of leaves made following the trails challenging at times. As I lost sight of Neil and Hugh I made a wrong turn following the river instead of turning left. Thankfully I realised within 10-20 meters so corrected myself very quickly, but it did emphasis the need to keep up my concentration. I'm not sure quite how far in as my Garmin didn't start at the start of the race but I guess 4-5 miles in I began to try and focus on relaxing and let my breathing settle, as I did I caught up with Neil and Hugh. I felt good and weighed up my options. Do I A: be cautious and stick with them to help with any navigational issues and not push too hard in case my cold played havoc later in the race or B: push on and run to feel and hope I don't get lost. I chose the later.

As we reached the first check point at Maxton (10M) Neil and I were neck and neck, Hugh was a little behind. I had opted not to leave a drop back as I feel by carrying a bit food and drink you can save yourself a bit of time by not stopping. Having said that I was not forgetting the lessons I had learnt in Transvulcania. It proved to be a good decision as Neil stopped and I was able to run on through. The next section of the race took us along a great riverside trail along the River Tweed.

Up and down plenty of steps we went and I was quickly rejoined by Neil, sadly he wasn't ready to give up yet.

As we approached the Eildons I knew that this was going to be a critical point in the race with most of the race ascent happening in a few short miles. As we hit the steep climb up the first hill Neil was close behind. I did my best to run the whole way but not sure you could really call it running. I managed to keep the lead, up the second hill and I tried to quickly take in the view before starting the steep descent. This was my favourite part of the race. It was a steep path straight off the hill covered on grass and lose gravel. Great fun!!

Coming off the last hill I glanced behind me an saw that I had opened up a bit of a gap, but there was still a long way to go. As we headed back I bumped into a few runners still on their way out and one nearly joined me thinking she had taken a wrong turn and was going the wrong way. By now I was on my own and concentrating hard to make sure I didn't take any wrong turns. Despite all the twists and turns the guys had done a fantastic job at marking the course and although I did have a few occasions where I was running with that horrible feeling of being unsure I was on the right path thankfully the red and white tape kept appearing. At about 28 miles I began to feel a bit tired and the numerous stiles and gates we had to cross became increasingly unwelcome. I hadn't seen Neil for a while but he easily could have been near by and taking advantage of my tiring legs. Although the later stages of the race are retracing your steps the variation in terrain and number of twists and turns meant I had no chance to get bored. As the day progressed we were lucky to continue to enjoy a beautiful dry day, but the strong winds took their turn to help and hinder us throughout. In the last few miles I felt as if my hamstring was on the border of wanting to cramp. I had visions of needing to walk and things all going wrong. Thankfully, it held up despite the brutal head wind that made the last mile back into Jedburgh drag big time. Crossing the finish line in 5:01 I was delighted to find out I had broken the course record by over 20 minutes. It turns out you do need to listen to your body.....but not be afraid to question what it tells you. Thankfully on this occasion it was worth taking the gamble but like anything in running there are few hard and fast rules another friend ran the race with a cold and had a very different experience.
It was a great way to finish my season and I would highly recommend the race. Thanks again to all the team who worked so hard to put the race together.

Results:

Matt Williamson