The Final Push

Off we go...into the Scottish sunshine again

Although I had been given a start time of 8:30 and Iestyn one of 8am, Shane (the race organiser) kindly let us split the difference and start together at 8:15 and so gaily headed off (backtracking for a short way along the way we'd arrived down to camp the previous night) chatting away. The sun was shining and and the sky clear so it looked like it would be another warm one (a heat wave for Scotland!).

And back down to the coast

We started off on a beautiful route over moors and up round mountains into quiet glens and down to almost inaccessible remote sea lochs. As usual, I enjoyed leading the way as we climbed but following Iestyn and his tent mate Alasdair on the descents meant that we motored past many others (including my lovely tentmates) as I was scared of being dropped. Somehow, Iestyn and I lost Alasdair when we got down to the flatter ground near Glencoul bothy on the loch shore. Instead of heading around the shore line (why take the low level route when you can climb and descend again?) to the next "arm" of the loch we ploughed on up over the promontory and were rewarded with more amazing views. It was stunning and made you wonder why on earth the place wasn't overrun with tourists (but then again...not many people like to stray far from roads/civilisation....which was completely to our benefit).

Climbing up over the promontory

Being rewarded by stunning views!

Having descended back down to sea level, we came across a CP  - not a "scanning" CP but at least a "manned" one, which was rather fortuitous as there were also some horses blocking our route and I was rather nervous of passing them...but with safety in numbers, we negotiated a way through and carried on down the side of the loch. Turning away from the water we headed up again on a hot winding forestry road, passing a freshwater loch and then climbing up a small path to one of the few summits we "bagged" in the course of the week.

What goes up (ie me!)..

...must come down!!

From that summit there was no path at all, and it almost appeared as if a couple of other runners were waiting at the summit for someone to follow. Iestyn and I were happy navigating using our maps and actually looking at the geography/scenery rather than slavishly following a GPX trace, so we bounded across open heather, up and down little tussocks etc and then dropped down a very steep descent towards some small lochs. Looking back to where we'd come from, it appeared that we must have looked confident enough that several people were actually just blindly following us!!!

Escapee medics!!!

Playing cat and mouse on the trail

We then reached a section of rough track which became wider and slightly more manicured as we eventually wound down to an actual tarred road. Iestyn and I played cat and mouse with another runner along this section, but we felt that we were going at a relatively constant pace so "clearly" it was him that was speeding up and slowing down (well, that's the story I'm sticking to anyway). We sped by on the flat tarmac and were cheered on (or "off" as we then left the road and headed back onto a track) by 2 of our lovely medical team who'd actually escaped from camp to visit the beautiful countryside.

Still more amazing views

The route then teased us more than a little as it was achingly hot and it looked as if the track was going to head back up into the mountains, but at the last minute, we swung a 90 degree bend to the left and carried on back towards the coast again. From a quick glance at the map it looked like a very long straight stretch of about 10km to another road, but appearances can be deceptive (surely we'd have learnt that by now!!). We were chatting away encouraging each other to keep going in the hot sun, when we realised that we'd had a(nother) attention lapse and carried on slightly too far along the track and had to cut back across some rough ground to stay in the right valley. Luckily for the runners we'd passed on the track, the area was fairly open so they could see us ahead of them and so avoid making the same mistake.

A narrow track came and went up and down along the shores of two small lochs but it felt like we were making little progress in the heat. Luckily we then had a small river to wade across so we actually lay sat down in it, soaked our heads and faces and refilled our bottles, which gave us more life for the next section. I was very thankful for the rejuvenation as the final track was rather beautiful and it was a joy to run down the final section of "river" out to the road.

Running down the road

Finally...at camp!

There was a marshal at the road junction who gave us some tasty jelly babies and tried to spray us with water from a canister. When I say "tried", he did his best, but as we were some of the earliest people to pass him, he hadn't really got it working very well yet! The final few miles were all on road, but Shane had described it as "one of the most beautiful roads you'll run along". Coming from Tassie, Iestyn thought the road "wasn't bad" but that he had better at home. I know I am known as a "roadrunner" but I would gladly have taken out that part of the day as the sun beat down relentlessly on the tarmac. We were being teased again as we passed people sitting out in a cafe and then outside a shop selling ice cream.....we did debate stopping but by that point I just wanted to get to camp and was worried that if I stopped, my leg (and the rest of me) would give up in protest and I'd never make it (that was probably a wise decision as someone else bought an ice cream only to find it was 2 years out of date!!).


Cresting the last hill and spying camp
- what a relief!

Sunset at camp was sooo worth it!

The road seemed to get longer and longer and we found ourselves agreeing that even the smallest incline was now "uphill" so we could "legitimately" walk it - that's the official line anyway, though I think that Iestyn was just humouring me as he seemed to be getting stronger and stronger as the week progressed. He certainly kept me motivated throughout the day as it was a very long hot one, but we finally crested the final hill and saw the road down to camp - we picked up speed, "cruised" in (making sure not to cut the obvious corner!!) and were delighted to find that we were actually camping by a freshwater loch which meant another chance of a full body immersion/clothes wash. We also had phone signal in this camp, so I could get updates on the evening's football as well as my lovely Ultramail which told me that although it had felt like tough going, I'd had another strong day, finishing a long way clear of the "competitive ladies".
 

Around the freshwater loch

The all singing, all dancing marshal team

The final day looked like a short "glory leg" of "a mere 16 miles", but we knew Shane too well to believe that. A short trail/grass section round the end of the loch took us to a point further along the road we'd been on the previous night. It was slightly nicer to run along it earlier in the day with fresher legs, but it still seem to wind gratuitously up and down and round needless corners. The first checkpoint was "manned" (or womanned)...and what a way to do it. As we approached they appeared to be singing, dancing, clapping and waving in a line so as to bar the road ahead (probably a bonus for those to tired to navigate, as the road ended not far beyond them and they were actually waving us off to the right to double back on ourselves away from the last bit of tarmac of the whole route.



Approaching the beach section

We ran on rough tracks up hill and down dale for many miles, whilst hardly passing anyone....this is the price you pay for having a good day the day before...as Shane was adamant that faster runners shouldn't start before their advisory times (by this stage of an event, many people are just keen to get to the finish) in order that the race crew/marshals had time to get into position. Eventually we ran over a grassy area scattered with a few tents (what a beautiful place to camp....right up until a load of smelly runners come charging through, disturbing the tranquillity) and down onto soft golden yellow sand.

Not the easiest of terrains for tired legs

The beach was beautiful but crossing the sand was hard work on tired legs. I had the added problem of my right shoulder/rotator cuff. Ever since the very rough, steep, rocky, heathery traverse on day 4, it had been getting more and more painful. I don't recall a specific injury but I was using this arm a huge amount to hang on to tufts of heather as I lowered myself down small drops and also used it to push up/catch my weight as I landed (the hillside had been sloping up to my right).

My "makeshift" sling!

It had become so painful over the last few days that the only way I could run the downhills or flat sections was if I stuck my hand through the chest strap of my pack to act as a sling (uphills weren't so bad as I could my hand on my hips or thigh to take the weight off the shoulder). I don't like to take painkillers whilst running as I think you can do more damage to yourself if you numb the pain too much, but it had become necessary for the last few days (I couldn't even use my right arm to get in/out of my sleeping bag or pack/carry my overnight bag). I probably looked like an idiot running like that...but then again...none of us were exactly beauty pageant contenders by that stage in the event!
 

More and more headlands, but nice running!

We were now over halfway through the last day and we left the coast for some trackless wilderness. Some paths came and went, but it was great to be able to just pick your own way for most of it. There were lost of people closing up on each other now so there was no danger of going the wrong way (unless you failed to keep the sea on your left) even though we could just see more and more hills appearing in front of us, with no sign of the final lighthouse. After a creek crossing there was a particularly steep climb up to one of the "summits" on the route. Iestyn and I seemed to be fairly strong on these climbs, but not as strong as the leading men - as Jim (in 2nd place) climbed faster than us...but even he was doing a good "hands-on-knees" walk, and the leader kept pace with us until he shot off down the other side.

The lighthouse seen from above
(which was my only impression of it
prior to the event)

The actual finish line!

The lighthouse teased us by coming into view and then disappearing again as we headed for yet another rough hillside. I knew it couldn't be far to the finish by this time, and sure enough, we hit a rough vehicle track near the top of the climb. This was the final push to the finish and so we picked up the pace and followed it as it wound round to "Cape Wrath". We rounded a corner and there it was (though clearly there was another bend in the road to negotiate first)....a very welcome sight, though I have to say that I felt rather cheated. I had been imagining a brilliantly white lighthouse standing proud and isolated on a hillside with us approaching it from below - as it photographs of lighthouses on cliffs...or the Mull of Galloway lighthouse at the southernmost tip of Scotland (and much nearer home). There wasn't even a finish banner!

Happy Finishers!!

Still, at least there were a few feather flags and marshals cheering us in. We crossed the line together....but then I made Iestyn go back and run in again so that I could take a photo of him doing so (actually that was just my sneaky way of tiring him out a bit more so I could get into the queue for sandwiches and a can of fizzy pop first). People had their official "finisher's photo" taken - they took mine but then it was excluded from the Facebook album - a bit like my times from results - presumably because I'd missed day 3 (though some other non-competitive runners got theirs but never mind, I know I made it there and in a decent time too!)!

The "ferry"

Waiting for said ferry

Having finished, we then saw why there were so few of the race crew actually at Cape Wrath...and why it took so long for them to get there. We were shuttled along the rough singletrack road in minibuses....it took about an hour to travel 15km...but at that speed we could wind down the windows and encourage those still running up to the finish. We were then deposited at the end of the road to await a "ferry" which could carry 8-10 passengers at a time across the river estuary, and from the far side we were then bussed to Durness, where a campsite with showers (cold...but at least running water), pubs, cafes and chocolate shops awaited!

The whole crew at Durness!

Not too shabby as final sunsets go...

What an amazing experience the week was - I am sooooo glad I did it - another memory to be treasured and never forgotten! It was an epic adventure and a chance to catch up with friends old and new, visit beautiful remote parts of Scotland, get away from the stresses and strains of working life and, for me, a proper bootcamp as I'm sure my fitness improved day by day at a greater pace than tiredness accumulated. It was such a shame to leave that world behind and travel back "to reality" even if it took 12 hours to do so!!