Speyside Way 36.5 (but actually 37!) mile Ultra
Saturday 22nd August 2015
Angie Mackenzie
Hugh and I travelled to Elgin on Friday evening to stay with relatives. We were late arriving and before we knew it, it was 1:20am and still supping wine and tea! It was a quick change and into bed with the alarm set for 5:30am. Seemed quite a long lie compared to the Devil of the Highlands 3 weeks ago!
After breakfast, I woke Hugh and he drove me to Buckie where I registered and chatted to a few runners whilst waiting on the bus to take us to Ballindalloch for the start. Last year I had a few friends for company (Sarah Clark, Fiona from Dundee RR, Beth & Pamela from Footers, Nigel from Inverness). This year, I didn’t really know anyone on the start list apart from Nigel….and he slept in and missed the race! I had briefly said hello to Ruslan, a visiting runner with FRR, on the Wednesday night beforehand and Brian B told me he was running Speyside too. We had a chat pre race and he was looking forward to his first race of this distance.
On the bus I chatted to a girl from Perth who had only started training 3 weeks ago (she was a very good runner so had good background fitness) I wished her good luck but got the impression she didn’t need it and would do very well.
This year, the start was moved about 400m up the hill to the Cragganmore Distillery. After the race brief and a tune from the lone piper, the horn was sounded and we were off down the hill. It was a warm sunny morning so my hydration pack was well filled but I also took on plenty water at every water station and had bottles filled with High 5 zero in my drop bags to drink and top up my pack with too.
This year the first 6 miles were such a contrast to last years muddy trail so I felt I was off to a great start. I chatted to a couple of guys as we ran but after about 4 miles I eased back as although I was running comfortably, I felt my pace was faster than I wanted. I reached the first checkpoint (12 ½ miles) at Craigellachie in 1:59 and Hugh and Rod were waiting for me ready with my drop bag. They had cycled and had been watching all the runners coming through. Ruslan had been in the leading group but had a hiccup when his drop bag appeared to be missing. I had some food and a quick toilet stop before waving to the boys and heading onto a very short road section leading up to Ben Aigan. I power walked most of the climb up Ben Aigan and my pace was quick enough to pass a few runners on the climb. Again, weather conditions meant the climb was easier as the forest track was dry compared to last years mud. The descent was a bit muddy however, so I went cautiously.
I arrived at a marshal point at the bottom of Ben Aigan and was aware of the female marshal’s voice directing me and giving encouragement. She had a small toddler about 2 year old with her. I was in a panic looking for Hugh and Rod as I thought this was where I’d met them last year, but no sign of them as I ran past and turned right. As I was heading off, I was aware of the marshal saying “the lady’s too busy for high 5’s” to which I immediately turned around, apologised to the wee boy and whilst giving him the biggest high five I said “I’m NEVER too busy for a high 5!” He was delighted and thanked me – such a cutie!
The boys were waiting for me further down the hill before I turned onto the main road so it was a quick hello whilst I munched my banana and headed on my way. I stopped to give a female runner some pain relief as she was walking and had a very sore back. Unfortunately, I later heard she had DNF’d. After a short section on the busy road, spurred by a few cars tooting and waving, it was onto a good downhill road section before the hairpin bend and hill leading to checkpoint 2 (approx. 24 miles) A group of young kids were waiting at the brow of the hill to give out more high 5’s! I had some food, a BIG drink and topped my hydration pack and since there was no sign of the rain, I ditched a few items from my backpack into my drop bag for return to the centre and this lightened my load. After the checkpoint there were a few more road miles before turning onto trail and I passed a few runners along the way.
At Spey Bay the marshals were cheery and I had another large drink before heading onto the final off road section. This part is quite undulating, narrow and tree routes lurking so I had to keep my wits about me not to fall like I did last year. It was nice to see Fiona Rennie with her camera snapping us as we wearily passed around the 32 mile mark. As I ran along the final stretch leading into Portgordan, I could see Hugh standing on the bridge waving. I met him at the road and after some words of encouragement he jumped in his car and drove ahead of me to then pop up and spur me on again. These last 2-3 miles through Buckie seem to go on forever and I could see runners ahead and gradually picked 3 of them off one at a time. At the final marshal point, just before the roundabout, my friend Tina cheered me on and then I managed to find some strength for a bit of a sprint finish up the path to the finish line, cheered on by a good crowd of finishers and spectators. My time was 6hr 34min 35 sec for the 37 miles, 47 minutes quicker than last year, 4th female vet. Because I was finished earlier, there was more of a crowd to welcome me over the line. I chatted to some finishers and watched a few more come over the line before heading back for my shower and massage. Ultra number 4 for this year done and dusted……next ultra will be Glenogle33 in November, but I have 2 marathons to run before that!
Angie