Race write ups, August 2024

Phoenix Fridays - Running Madness Friday, Marathon,16.08.24

An overdue chat-athon with Sarah on the towpath, and the miles went by nicely! 

To stick to schedule, and cover sufficient agenda items (which we had been adding to over the weeks), we separated the laps into topics, including: work angst (this ran over one lap), dogs attacking ducks plus other dramas, our respective runs since our last run together, general news, flower shows and sedgeway-ing, and black swans.

I also collected the last medal (Circle) in the Squid Games series. I know nothing about the Squid Games, still, so have had to go back to my old blogs to look at what I wrote when I collected the other two (Triangle medal on 13.11.21 and the Square medal on 26.03.22). Apparently, when I collected the triangle medal, I spoke with the barmaid in the Wier, and learnt that the triangle is the symbol that armed guards wear on their masks, and that there are also circle symbols (normal workers) and square symbols (managers). When I collected the square symbol, I learnt that workers who are the highest levels have squares on their masks and can give orders to workers who have triangle and circles, and apparently (I actually wrote this) I said if I collected the final circle medal, I might even watch the programme. Or I might not, and just continue being clueless.

Anyway, thanks Team Phoenix for a great event.

  

SVN - Mythical Series TiT Day 7, mini-ultra, 23.08.24

The first of two trips to the Costa del Gravesend this bank holiday weekend, where SVN is hosting their annual (and final!!) summer 10 in 10. 

I haven't managed to get to an SVN since last September, and it's been a full year since my last summer trip to C del G, and it was excellent to be back and see the gang! 

A really very lovely day. SVN are wrapping up soon, and I am going to miss the events Tills and Rachel put on very much indeed.

Sarah and I met at St Pancras, in good time for the 7.20 to Gravesend, to find it was cancelled. We sat in the station outside a cafe, which all felt very European-city-break-like, and pondered on the fact the next train was running, which would just get us there in time, but was now late, now later, now not so late...until we'd almost missed it by sitting moaning about the fact it was late. We caught an Uber from the station, driven by the world's friendliest driver, to the Cyclopark, registered, talked a lot and were excited to see everyone, went for a safety wee, and were ready to start on time! 

We did the 3 and a bit mile Rabbit Bridge route, which tracks the following route desription: rocky down hill, hay (HELLO!) field, derelict pub, uphill woods (watch for dog poo), Spain, dangerous downhill, uphill, Rabbit Bridge (bouncy), railway bridge, road where the wind is always in the wrong direction, TURN AROUND!, do the last few bits backwards, uphill to the gate, turn round for the downhill which isn't a downhill for ages, suprise uphill, still not downhill, finally a downhill, garage (wedding bus/ Ferrari/ bikers), horrible uphill, CHECKPOINT!

We did this 8 times, then a mini loop, to complete a mini ultra.

SVN - Mythical Series TiT Day 10, mini-ultra, 26.08.24

Another trip to the Gravesend with Sarah, and this time with Andrew, too. 

Not to be rude about Gravesend, but it's not top of my "lovely places in the UK to visit" list. I was wondering if it was like a chicken and egg situation - was it called Gravesend first, and then became like that, or was it like that and then got called it? Also, Pochantos is buried there, so is that something to do with it? Googling reveals that it's not actually anything to do with what it sounds like, and is probably derived from the Old English word "graf" which means copse, so means "end of the copse". Just probably though, as with anything, I suppose, there are many different schools of thought. That one sounds the nicest though. 

Other place names that I had been wondering about over the weekend, included St Pancras, which (worryingly, now I think of it) hadn't ever actually occurred to me, until talking about it with Sarah and Andrew, that comes from the name of a saint. To be fair, for years I always used to think it was called St Pancreas, so I was more thinking along the lines of body parts, rather than religious people. Anyway, unsurprisingly, St Pancras WAS a saint, and was beheaded by the Romans at the age of 14 in around 303 AD for converting to Christianity, which is a terrible tale. I shall go back to calling it St Pancreas. 

Anyway, back to the running. The route was on the big 5 and a bit mile loop on the "177 route" which I don't like so much as the other one, as it seems mostly to be all uphill, all on concrete, and always in the sun. Still, I felt much better running today than I have since my "challenging" track 100 miler three weeks ago, so I am hopeful I have finally got over the experience. 

Did another mini-ultra, in exactly the same time as Friday, which sounds pleasingly consistent, but probably can't take too much credit for, as didn't realise until afterwards. 

Thank you Sarah and Andrew for a fun day trip, and to Rachel, Tills and SVN for a brilliant series of events, as always!

Phoenix Fridays - Athletic Friday Marathon (26.07.2024) + Bannister Series 100 miles (03.08.2024)

Some race write ups....

Friday 26.07.2024 Phoenix Fridays - Athletics Friday, Marathon
8 laps of the Blue Bridge route at Walton-on-Thames with Sarah, James, Gavin and Craig. A classic chat-athon, and the miles ticked along nicely in the sunshine! The first day of the Paris 2024 Olympics - a lovely medal as a momento! Thank you Rik and Team Phoenix! It was my 340th official marathon/ultra.

Saturday 03.08.2024 The Bannister Series with Rasslebock Running, 100 miles
I ran the Bannister Series last year on the Iffley Road track in Oxford (where Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4 minute mile), and that was my first event with Rasslebock Running - it was fun and friendly, and I said at the time that I would like to do another.

This year, the event had to be moved, as the Iffley Road track is getting an upgrade, so it was held on another track in Oxford, the Horspath Road Athletics Track. This was a bit further out from the city centre, but still easy enough to reach on public transport.

I went up to Oxford on the train with Andrew on Friday, and we sat by the River Cherwell in Christchurch Meadow for a while in the late afternoon, watching the punting. I do like Oxford very much. Then it was on to Trattorio Mario's for pre-race pizza (just like last year - and just as good)! 

We stayed at the Cowley Road Premier Inn (aka the Purple Palace), which is just over a mile walk away to the track.

On Saturday morning, after a (eventually - after an exciting detour through a neighbouring industrial park) successful trip to the M+S in the retail park by the hotel (to stock up on luxury race snacks), I headed over to the track.

The Bannister Series is made up of a few different events on the track; a 6 hour and 12 hour day event, the 24 hour event (which I had entered), and a 6 and 12 hour night event.

I arrived at the track about 09:20, registered, and ran into Kerry, which was a nice surprise! We set up our things track side, and I immediately became worried about my luxury snacks, which were quickly going to seem less appealing once melted in the sun, which was already beating down.

The 6 and 12 hour day time events had already started off at 9:00, so there was plenty going on already. I had a walk around and got to know the set up. I decided I liked the Horspath Road track. It was quite "old school" with it's track side portacabin, old buildings and grandstand. It reminded me of doing track sessions back in Southampton. Being a bit further out from the city, it was also surrounded by trees, and there seemed to be lots of sports going in the fields around, and even a festival.

The 24 hour people set off at 10:00 after a race briefing from Eric, Race Director. We started off going anticlockwise, and the direction changed every 2 hours. It was quite busy, and although I didn't really know many people there, it was a really friendly event and an excellent atmosphere.

I don't mind to say that I have been struggling more lately with my mental health not being as good as I like to try and keep it. Lots of uncertainty and changes happening, and although these are all positive things, and I realise that I am very blessed in my life to have the opportunity of choice, change and uncertainty are things I struggle with. I hadn't really planned on running a track event at this point in the year, but a few weeks ago, the idea of going somewhere different and just running round and round in circles and trying to forget about everything for a bit seemed appealing. So that is how I ended up there!

In reality, trying to run away from problems is never a great idea, and actually meant I wasn't really in the right headspace to be running for 24 hours, but, you know, I'd entered, so I thought I might as well go and give it a go! I figured I would just go along and see how it went. I did really want to try and do the full 24 hours, but I reminded myself that 1) this was actually what I had chosen to do for fun, 2) I had paid for it, so I was going to try to enjoy it, and 3) actually, it really didn't matter at all what I did, did it?

The whole event was really quite a challenge for me, it was my 4th time doing 24 hours on a track, and I found this one the hardest - although I definitely also remember saying that in March when Sarah (who I missed lots!) and I did Track Wars, and had to get changed every 5 minutes as it was so dreadful and cold and wet. I collected what, in hindsight, is actually a very satisfyingly complete selection of "common problems encountered on ultra runs". Almost the full house! Everything that could have gone wrong did, really, which I suppose is some sort of achievement in itself. 

To begin with, I had bad period pains. I won't go on about it (too much), but really, I do think that females have a lot to deal with; generally, and in terms of running. Periods, having babies, looking after them, menopause, managing boobs and sports bars, etc etc. I suppose I've been lucky so far that periods haven't messed up too badly any of my very long runs, and it was only a matter of time, really, that it would happen. So, that was that, not much you can do, just keep on keeping on, as best you can.

Weather report: It was too hot. I will never again moan about doing a track event in March when it is too cold and wet (until next time, anyway, when I'm sure I'll have a good old moan like usual). It being so hot and sunny, I quickly got a bad headache, which refused to go away. I was counting down the minutes until I could take my next dose of tablets, and then they barely did anything!

Digestive report (exciting!): By the time the sun went down and my head did feel a bit better, I started feeling sick, and that lasted for the rest of the run. I didn't want any of my luxury snacks (even if they hadn't been melted). All I wanted was Kendal Mint Cake, and I'd obliterated my stock of that quite early on. I didn't feel like eating anything that I usually like and that I had, and obviously, that made it all worse, and I just couldn't get out of that cycle. I got so frustrated with myself, as I know what I needed to do! But I just couldn't do it. I was almost sick a few times, but nothing came up. I had to keep laying down, which made absolutely no difference to how I felt, but being horizontal at least made things look different. I also had an upset stomach. I did have a new ginger electrolyte drink, which I'm really glad I had, as at least I was able to drink that throughout with no problem.

Hydration report: I did well for peeing for the first six hours or so, then I stopped peeing at all for the next several hours and worried I had damaged my kidneys. Then in reaction to that, I overdid it on the fluids, and needed non-stop pees for hours on end. 

Skin report: I got sunburn AND chaffage AND 7 blisters.

Kit report: Despite feeling hotter than a hot thing at the University Of Hot at mid-day in mid-summer, I managed to get cold overnight and didn't have enough warm clothes. So I put on all of the clothes that I did have, resulting in a look of someone who'd got dressed at a jumble sale, in rush, with their eyes closed. Reminder - always take at least 2 extra layers!

Sleep report: I kept drifting off overnight and couldn't keep my eyes open. I found that doing short bursts of yoga every 4 laps (every mile) when I was really struggling overnight helped to break things up and helped me feel a bit better. Laying on the cool ground in funny positions really jolts you back into being awake. And helped stretch out the muscles.

Favourite things report: Eric and Team had a portable water spray that they walked around the track with spraying all the runners during the day! It felt like (I imagaine) being a plant! Lovely and cool. There were also fairy lights strung up all around the aid station and track in the dark - Rasslebock really made it all look great. And the floodlights were on all night, which was very cool indeed. Pizza delivery arrived in the evening!  

Music report: The festival (Paradice in the Park) in the field next to the track really got going in the evening. A real and truely unexpected highlight was a dance version of "Mary Had A Little Lamb", which I must remember to add to my running playlist, for those moments when things are going so badly that you need something really terrible to listen to, just to put things in perspective. To make up for that, I listened to the Hades Town soundtrack a lot, which I love, and is actually quite good to run to.

I got to 100 miles in 22:24, and decided to stop, as I was feeling so rough. I was disappointed that I didn't do the full 24 hours, but you can't hit your targets all of the time, I guess. I was happy to have made it to 100 miles, so that made it my 20th run of 100 miles or more. 

A big shout out and thank you to Rasslebock Running for a really excellent event. It was so well organised, welcoming and friendly, and the team took such good care of everyone! Also, to Kiernan from Timing Monkey for keeping track of our laps and 24 hours of encouragement! It was also great to meet some new runners - and the camaraderie was so nice. So, all in all, it was really challenging, but I did enjoy it.

Phoenix Running, Viking Run, Marathon, 20.07.2024

It has been a month since my last long run, and since seeing the Phoenix crowd, so it was good to get back down to the towpath to catch up on some long miles, and smiles.

Up at 4.50, the sky was pink, which was beautiful, but signalled trouble ahead, as beautiful things so often do.

On leaving the front door, I realised there were just 8 minutes until the bus left, so had an early morning sprint to the bus stop (a normal 10 minute walk away). On arriving, the screen informed that the bus was in fact delayed for another 15 minutes. Plan B! I did another sprint to a different bus stop to catch a different bus, to find that was delayed by 5 minutes also. Hmmm.

Eventually, a bus arrived, I wasn't fussy by this point about where it was going, so on I hopped, and by a stroke of luck ended up at Waterloo. Success! Two minutes spare to source a coffee, and then on to the early train to meet Sarah and complete a chat-athon of epic proportions (six weeks of news!) at the first of Phoenix Running's double event today, the Viking Run. In anticipation of having a lot to talk about, we had prepared an agenda, which we co-chaired, so we for the most part kept to schedule - holiday lap, work lap, bad news lap, running news lap, major life changes lap, etc. We slightly ran out of laps for topics, so will need a part 2.

The pink sky had accurately foretold the weather, which was altogether strange. Overcast but pretty humid. Sweaty! A half way ice lolly from the Phoenix Freezer was a delightfully cold treat.

After feeling uncertain and stressed for a few weeks, it was good to get rid of some angst, and as always after a long run, I felt much better. There is no truer fact that running, or in fact any sort of activity, is such great medicine.

I chose the non medal option today, to 1) choose a more economical option, and 2) the giant Viking ship would not fit in my hand luggage....but thank you Sarah, for a photo, as well as an excellent chat-athon!

In a final public transport challenge of the day, after an early start to be able to get to the airport in time for an evening flight to Scotland, it turned out the flight is delayed. The screens and Easyjet app seem undecided as to the exact delay, which varies wildly, from somewhere between 2 to 4 hours, depending on what screen you check and when you check it. Mysterious! I suppose it shall go at some point. Annoyingly, I did have time to stay and do the afternoon run, after all!

I have passed the time so far by firstly seeing how many times I can refill my water bottle (3 so far, I think I was quite dehydrated). I have also read several magazines in WH Smiths - most magazines are now £6-7, at least! As I had time, quite a lot of it, I did a search to find the cheapest, and this was the Angling Times, at £2.75. This seemed altogether very fishy, given it was so much cheaper than all the rest. I pearch-ed on a ledge, and flicked through a few pages, but I didn't find anything worth carp-ing on about, really, but that could just be my lack of fish knowledge letting me down, it's a bit bass-ic.

Having tired of fish related jokes, I did a few laps of the airport, to up my steps a bit more for the day, ate both Freddos from the race, and now am somewhat of a loss as to what to do next - one could say I'm flounder-ing, even. And on that note.... 

Phoenix Running, Titanic Too, 29.5 miles (16.07.24) and Running Miles, Jubilee Races 3, 31.4 miles (20.07.24)

I've had a nice couple of ultras during the last few days.

For some reason, I've felt pressure lately to always be trying my best and proving to myself I am "doing well", and getting frustrated with myself when I think I can't. I finally managed to neutralise these thoughts, concluded that nothing matters, and so I ran like I felt, and felt like I loved it.

Helped by some (finally) sunny and warm days!

Phoenix Running, Titanic Too, 29.5 miles, 16.07.24
9 laps on the Hampton Court loop, the first three being chat-a-laps with Sarah, which was great fun as always, and flew by!

The sky was bright blue (save for a few minutes where it turned stormy and poured down), and the trees and plants were a rainbow of beautiful greens. I love green, really I do. So many shades! It was quite mesmerising, tootling along, the greens sailing past, like a kaleidoscope.

It was good to see so many friends out in the towpath. I felt much better for a good long run. Running is indeed the best medicine.

Thank you Rik and Team Phoenix for a great event.

I did the no medal option, so here instead are some paintings in the theme of green.

Running Miles, Jubilee Races 3, 31.4 miles, 20.07.24
Going out the night before perhaps wasn't the best preparation for a run, but on the other hand, I was well fuelled by a generous helping of pistachio tiramsu and a healthy amount of white wine, and my core muscles had had a good workout from much belly laughing.

So it was off to Slough, to the Jubilee River, for a run with Running Miles.

The day was a beauty. Not a cloud in the blue sky. Green parakeets flying overhead with their trademark screeching. Green and blue was the theme of the day. I know I go on about this, but everything just seemed so vibrant. Perhaps it's because it seems like it's been such a long winter without sunshine, and suddenly its here, everything seems much brighter. And all the endless rain has resulted in all the plants being healthy and lush. The blues and greens were so intense, it felt like running in a paint pallet.

I set my intention again at the start, to enjoy myself, and that's what happened.

I love this course. It's all along the Jubille River, and next to fields, with some views of Winsdor Castle. 6 laps, and it was hot hot hot! Lovely. A nice gang out, and thanks to James for the lap of chats (and the cake!), it was great to catch up!

Thank you Rik and Running Miles! 

Summer Fun Friday Marathon with Phoenix 07.06.24 & South Downs Way overnight 56.5 miles 08.06.24

Phoenix Fridays, Summer Fun Friday, Marathon, 07.06.2024

A full chat-athon on the Blue Bridge route with Sarah. 

A lovely sunny day for a nice run, where a wide range a chat topics were covered off. Work angst. The calorie content of 2L of Baileys. Crop tops. Etc.

Lovely smelling, freshly laundered wrist bands. Into The Dirty Box! Cakes. Happy Birthday Eddie! Fresh shrimps and pretzels. Refreshing lemon squash. Dora the Explorer on the aid station. Dimitri out for the first 3 laps, enjoying the sunshine. Towpath maintenance underway ahead of the regatta tomorrow. 

Sore feet for Sarah and me....time for new trainers! I really should start taking a closer interest in monitoring how many miles my trainers do, rather than waiting for their holes, and my blisters, to get too big to bear. 

Thanks Rik and Team Phoenix!

Girls on Tour, South Downs Way Overnight 56.5 miles, 08.06.2024

New shoes (trainers) for a girls night out (on the trails).

Caught the train from Victoria to a very dodgy looking destination....

AKA, Amberley, to meet Tara at about the half way point of the South Downs Way.

Started off with tea and cake at The Riverside Tea Rooms.

Set off about 4pm for 56.5 miles to Eastbourne, for final destination - BREAKFAST.....

...along the way, having dinner with a view...

 

....sundown cocktails (with some inquisitive cows, and followed by a trip through a film set, and some spirited rounds of "A-Z of" and "in my rucksack I have")....

...and pre-breakfast, on the way to the Seven Sisters.

Wildlife highlights included "Sunrise over cows"...

..."bear encounter practice" ahead of upcoming Canada trip...

....a barn owl swooping overhead (and the rarer, wooden owl)....

...lots of pigs....

....and a white horse....

And, in botany class (trying to get better at this)....a heath spotted-orchid.

Getting to the Seven Sisters in the early morning was magical.

Happened to do this on the same day as the Centurion SDW 100, which I didn't realise until just before. So lots of company, and inspiring as always to see people in the last half of a hundred miles digging deep and getting it done - well done to all! I've never done a Centurion event yet, but it seemed really friendly and well organised with great support.

Phoenix Running, Run with the Ro, 29.5 miles, 01.06.2024

Celebration report: Up early, to head over to Walton-on-Thames for the "Run with the Ro" run, to celebrate Rohan's 100th marathon - big congratulations Ro!! Then, afterwards, caught the 458 bus from Walton town centre to Staines (love finding a new bus route!) to see Katherine at the end of her 100th Marathon at the Saturn run in Staines. Lots of celebrations afterwards - huge congratulations Katherine!!! 💛💙💛💙

Weather report: Lovely day. Bit breezy, but nice and warm. 
Route report: The Blue Bridge route.
Snack report: Shrimp shortage! But strawberry flumps replacement.
Wildlife report: Dimitri - out on the path by 8 am. A record early rising, surely? 
Chat report: Due to different schedules, only managed a half chat-athon with Sarah, which I guess makes it a "ch-ath" or an "at-hon" ? Either way, it was fun run! Thanks Rik and Team Phoenix for a great day.
Leg report: I felt sort of OK after the 100 miler last weekend, apart from my legs were feeling a bit heavy, and after a few laps seemed quite annoyed at me for trying to do a long run again already. On the plus side, I've been feeling sick all week, but that went away after the run, as did my migraine, so not all bad! 

LDWA Speyside 100, 25-27.05.2024

The end of May bank holiday marks the time for the annual LDWA 100 miler....this year, the Speyside 100!

We arrived to the start around 10.30 on Saturday at the Boat of Garten Community Hall (thank you Tricia for the lift!). This meant plenty of time for registering, chatting, packing and re-packing bags, making my mind up about things, changing my mind about things, triple checking the kit list, packing my bag again, and some more general faffing. 

My Mum and Dad and Auntie (on holiday in the area) also came down, so that was super to see them, before they headed off on their own walk with Tricia.

We set off on the 12:00 start, with bagpipes playing, off on a 100 mile adventure around the Speyside area. Despite spending a lot of time in Scotland since meeting Andrew 12 years ago, I don't know this area at all, so it was a great opportunity to explore somewhere new. 

Andrew, Alan and I ran together for the first few sections. These were mostly along good quality cycle trails, stopping first at Nethy Bridge, and then on to Grantown-on-Spey. From here, we headed along the Dava Way for a short section, past Castle Grant (after which Grantown-on-Spey gets it's name) to do a loop around to cross over the River Spey to CP3 at Cromdale. 

The next section was one of the big climb sections, up over the Cromdale Hills. Although tough, I loved this part, the weather was fantastic and the views were so beautiful (unlike when we recced it a few weeks back, when the only view was clouds). The 1 km uphill bog didn't even seem so bad as last time (green radioactive looking bog still there!), but nonetheless, the bogs were nice and full from a storm earlier in the week. 

Vertical bog completed, we reached the highest point on the route (1910 feet), took in the views, and then began the nice long descent to CP4 at Ballacorach. From a quick stop at CP4 (delicious marmite and butter sandwich!) it was off along the side of the River Avon valley to CP5 at Tomintoul.

 

 

At CP5 was the first Kit Check. This was a random check, and your item was picked by pulling a ping-pong ball with different kit items written on them out of a box. Mine was "first aid kit" which I was delighted about, as a) as my number one item of use, it's always at the top of my bag, thus easy to locate, and b) I was 33 miles in, and hadn't need to use it yet. 

Inside the CP I met Sammy (my cousin) who was also doing the event, so it was good to catch up over some pizza. It was also the moment that I learnt of an as yet undiscovered culinary technique (demonstrated by Dr Rob) of cooling down a hot bowl of cheese and tomato pasta by adding orange squash. 

From here, we retraced a bit of the route out of the CP, before starting the climb up to Carn Daimh. The sun was starting to drop, and the air felt cool and still, and as the sunlight hit the trees it seemed to send sparkles through the early evening.

 

 

The summit of Carn Daimh was a lovely moment.

 

From here, it was a nice downhill on an excellent trail all the way down past the Glenlivit Distillery (the air permeated with the smell of malt, along with a disturbing increase in number of midges).

Just as we came into the CP at Glenlivit (for some delicious soup!) the sun was starting to set, filling the sky with a kaleidoscope of colours and clouds.

We got out our headtorches ready for darkness to fall at some point on the next part, and then set off with Dr Rob on the next section, which was mostly along lanes and some forest tracks. Almost made it to the next CP at Recletich Farm before we needed torches - it was almost 11pm, I couldn't get used to how late it stayed light! This was half way, so celebrated with a half way croissant and a strawberry yoghurt in a barn, and very nice it was too.

The next section took us through Glen Harnes, and then the Glach-en-Ronak Pass. Alan and I had a slight navigational mishap (but an LDWA 100 is not complete without some "bonus miles"!). Back on track, we continued on. I realised on this section, that it really wasn't seeming that dark at all, despite it being after midnight. I think it was only completely dark for 2 or 3 hours, and even then there seemed always to be an orange glow on the horizon. 

We arrived at the next CP at 56 miles in Dufftown, which is known as the "Whiskey Capital of the World" and has eight distilleries in the town - so what a great place to end up on a Saturday night! This was the "Breakfast Checkpoint" where we had access to our bags transported from the start, a foot care section complete with foot baths and bubble bath (really!!), and breakfast. Alan went for the full Scottish (haggis included), and I opted for an egg, a hash brown, and a piece of toast. I changed my shoes and socks and my top (it was Saturday night after all, got to make an effort) and felt instantly restored to something like what might pass as normal (in the very loosest sense).

We set off towards Aberlour, past the impressive Balvenie Castle, which was looking suitably shadowy and mysterious in the darkness. We then ticked off a couple more distilleries (Glenfiddich and Balvenie), before picking up the Speyside Way again to reach Aberlour. 

Then it was along some more miles of the Speyside Way (which was following the track of the old Strathspey railway line at this point), past another four distilleries (I was starting to loose track, but remember Knockando because it has the best name, and is also pink), to the next CP at one of the old railway stations at Tamdhu, the sun rising along the way.

The next section was also similar, reaching Advie (seeing Dimi along the way!).

On leaving Advie, I knew the next part would be difficult, having recced it. It started with a long hill up through Knockfrink Woods, before dropping down to what was probably only actually a couple of miles through farmland, but which felt like at least 500, maybe more. The farmer has rerouted the Speyside Way around their land, following what I think is the top of an old wall, so the path is made of random rocks and stones at jaunty angles, interspersed with grass, and holes, and booby-trapped holes covered in thin layer of grass and moss. To make this even more exciting and perilous, each time (which will be frequent) you lurch off a rock at an awkward angle, you will end up disturbingly close to the barbed wire fence which encloses the narrow path on each side. After my encounter with barbed wire and A+E earlier this year, I have developed very strong negative views on barbed wire (but I'll save that for another blog - something to look forward to!!). Just in case there was anyone left who had not lost the will by this point, and was still managing to hold together some form of composure, the farmer had kindly added in chain stiles every so many meters. If you didn't open these quite wide enough, you would crack a knee cap on the solid metal on entering, and/or get smacked on the back of the leg on leaving these evil inventions. To make this even worse, many of them were broken, so they were completely pointless at keeping out any animals (of which there were none, anyway), and the one which the escaped cow destroyed on the recce was still broken. By the time (considerably later) that I arrived at the farm, navigated about 20 gates the farmer had installed to get across a tiny bit of land near the farm yard, climbed another great lump of a hill to the top of a forest, remembered the track down the other side of the forest was made of spiteful sharp rocks, re-joined the railway line and gone along a never ending mile of this to the CP at Cromdale, I was feeling all out of enthusiasm. But, as had happened all through the event, the marshals were incredibly kind and upbeat, and had my water bottle filled up and a snack in hand in a jiffy, and with some encouraging words I was off on my way again, to tackle the last three parts of the route.

The next part was 3.7 miles back to Grantown-on-Spey, lots of this through forest. I was getting a few, not what I would say were hallucinations, but more thinking I was seeing things moving in the periphery of my vision by that point, but when I looked directly, there was nothing there. I was on my own for this section, but it wasn't lonely or frightening, more that I just felt at one with the forest, and that things were happening all around, and I was just floating through it and being part of it. All a bit "woo"! It was a nice peaceful feeling. I did get a bit confused about the route quite a few times on that part, so being "woo" isn't totally helpful for being on the ball for successful navigation through small forest tracks.

 

Then it was another 7 miles along the railway line on the Speyside Way, which just really dragged and seemed to take forever to get anywhere. Luckily, my Mum and Dad and Auntie were at the CP, and it was run by Dave and Meriam and their team, so it was huge fun and a great laugh, and really cheered me up! There was even a monk there!

From here, it was about 10km back to the finish at the Boat of Garten, mostly on tracks through the Abernethy Forest (a Caledonian pine forest). This forest, like so many along the route, is just magical. The colours are so vibrant, everything just "pops".

I saw my Mum, Dad and Auntie again who were walking to the Osprey Centre, which was another big boost. It had been raining for a few hours by then, and about 2 miles before the end it got a lot harder, so it was a rain soaked run in to the finish! Such a good surprise to see Jennifer with Rosie, Kyle and Lucy at the end of the long road in to the finish, and for the pacing to the end, and the fabulous sign!! 

At the end - a hot shower, clean clothes, macaroni cheese and a few cups of sweet tea, chatting and catch ups.

Only three blisters, one midge bite and a sore shoulder. No falling over and no tick bites. So all in all, not too much damage! 

I don't think the LDWA 100 gets enough recognition for quite what an impressive event the organisers put on. It's a huge event, up to 500 entrants, and is run ENTIRELY by volunteers. The route is designed to show off the local area (different each year), and covers 100 different miles. It has 14 different checkpoints, plus a start and finish HQ location - and at each of these you could (actually, are encouraged) to eat your body weight in any number of delicious items of food, hydrate with a huge variety of drinks, and generally have a bit of time out and sort yourself out for the next section. Every single marshal at each CP is just amazing - being there for hours and hours, looking after every single person, chatting, cheering everyone up, and encouraging them on. It has 3 different start times, so as to be able to include all paces, and has a cut off of 48 hours. Tracking, medical support, transport for your half time bag, even a foot spa at half way! All this for £120. When you think of the hundreds, or even sometimes thousands, of pounds that some ultras cost nowadays, it's really remarkable. I would absolutely and unreservedly recommend it, and it's one of my top favourite events each year. Thank you North of Scotland LDWA and each marshal for a truly fantastic event! And congratulations to all participants! I absolutely loved it, and the memories are happily stored in my memory bank, to be replayed over again when in need of a smile.