I wasn't at all sure how this one would go, what with doing the Track 24 last weekend, and having a couple of rough marathons in recent weeks - all of which I had not felt well at! Plus Andrew had entered us into this, but was unable to do it in the end due to work travel, and so, abandoned (I missed you, Andrew!!), I had to go it alone! But.... I absolutely adore the Moray coast, and Moray Way Ultras are an amazing events company and I've loved every one of their events that I've done. So I thought, why not go and have a nice day by the coast, no pressure or expectations, but watch the scenery, not the miles or times, and enjoy it.
So, plan formed, I set off on Friday evening to Elgin, to stay overnight at the Premier Inn. I was there only briefly it seemed, before my alarm went off at 03:45!! The reason for this early start, was that I needed sufficient time to pad up my battered feet from the last few weeks (although I now am missing more toenails than I have left, so the job is getting easier), and work out how to use the coffee machine on max mode to fire me up for the 30 minute drive to Cullen, to catch the 05:15 race bus to the start. Here I found Liz also waiting in the car park, and we had a great bus ride together chatting away the miles, and distracting ourselves from how far the journey appeared to be, and which we would have to run all the way back....
The race started at the Universal Hall at the Ecovillage in Findhorn. What an amazing location for a race start! It was like a hobbit house, with stained glass and winding stairs, and had the most amazing toilets I've ever seen at a race start (quite a 70s vibe, brown).
Although I would have liked to have stayed longer, we had 50 miles to run, so at 7am, after a race briefing from Kyle and Debbie the race directors, we set off.
The whole route was absolutely terrific, and I don't have the words to describe how stunning every single mile was!
From the start, we ran up to the coast at Findhorn Beach, then along through the dunes and then through Roseisle Forest (where I had fall #1) to Burghead and CP1.
From here, we ran along the harbour, climbed up to the fort (fall #2 coming down from it!)...
I think Magnus the walrus was in Hopeman Harbour a day or two ago, but no sign of him today. No sign of any dolphins, either (not even Dave the Dolpin, Danielle!). Then, a few miles along beautiful trails, to reach the Natural Arch and Lossiemouth Beach.
A couple of miles along the beach, through Lossiemouth and to CP2, where there was a big buzz as the 50km was due to start in about 40 minutes time.
Then, it was over the bridge and back onto the beach. The first 2 or 3 miles were sublime. The sand was tightly packed and hard enough to run on, but soft enough that my feet loved it. The sun was dazzling, the sea was sparkling, and I felt absolutely all at one with nature and like we were on holiday somewhere tropical.
Then, everything changed in a minute, and the sand became pebbles, and the next 5km were as dismal a 5km as I have ever had. I found out later that this is known as "the 5km from hell". This makes sense. It felt like for every step forward, I sank at least two steps into the pebbles, I kept kicking the pebbles and going over on my ankles, and by the end of it all, I emphathised very much with how this bunker looked like it was feeling after years of being stuck on this wretched beach.
Relieved to have survived, we finally left said beach at Kingston, and headed inland down the River Spey, along some county lanes and picking up a trig point on the way!
CP3 was at Mosstodloch and had balloons, motivational signs, and fun! The marshals at ALL the checkpoints were so lovely, and I am very grateful to them for their cheer and support. Plus for countless toppings up of water bottles, bananas and sweeties! I had been having a little dip between Hell Beach and Mosstodloch, I think the hard work on the pebbles took a bit more out of me than I realised, but some sweets, a banana and a drink of cold water soon got into my system, and I perked up again. After crossing the River Spey, we ran back up the other side of it, along the Speyside Way back to the coast at Spey Bay. Beautiful cool running through the trees!
Back to the coast and the sunshine. The day was much hotter than I expected! Pleased I got on top of my hydration and fuelling again though, unlike the last few races - and no headaches, no nausea, no vomiting, no sneezing!! Back to plain water in bottles so I can track how much I drink, electrolytes in tablet form not liquid, and more "solid" type foods - bananas, flapjacks and sweets. All worked well.
After Spey Bay, there is a section through a beautiful coastal forest, where I had a nice chat with a roving marshal on a bike, who also kindly gave me a bit of a impromptu therapy session on my harrowing experience on the beach!
The final CP4 at Buckpool was fabulous, and I discovered that jelly babies show love too. I showed this to a fellow runner who said that was cute, but probably that none of us runners should try to hold hands, as we were all quite disgustingly covered in sugar and sweat by that point in proceedings. He had a point.
Wow wow wow, I loved it so so much! Thank you Moray Way Ultras and all your team for a superb day! Well done to everyone!
Was really surprised to feel good and finish in 9 hours exactly, and come first in my age category - and I guess that shows that just goes to show that enjoying yourself and not getting stressed is the best way to be 😍
Theo has showed absolutely zero interest in my race goodies 😹
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