Pre-race Preparation......

Everybody prepares for a race in their own individual way, but generally this is just a variation on a theme to make sure you arrive on the startline feeling fresh, rested, prepared and ready to run as well as you can.



A track-trot in race kit!

Relative to many comparable runners, I am not an especially high mileage person, so "tapering" can seem a little odd. I run because I love it, not because I "have to", and so the last week or so has been strange. Spring has finally arrived on Scotland, and so the early blossom is out, as are the bluebells, daffodils and wild garlic, and everything looks fresh and green. This is one of the best times of year for just taking yourself off to the trails and country roads and simply running, while surrounding yourself with nature. It has been hard to resist, especially in the glorious sunshine, but I'm hoping it lasts for another few weeks and that we haven't had our summer in the same week as our spring!

I have done a few things to keep ticking over and prepare myself as well as I can........which included going for a run in my race day kit. There's nothing more likely to cure you of the embarrassment of wearing running knickers than wearing them on a track shared with runners 30 years younger than yourself! Still, it's important to make sure you identify any potential chafing spots ahead of race day.



Running in the sun





With clubmates/colleagues

I also had a good fast run with many of my clubmates on a beautiful warm sunny day........so hopefully the sun and the warmth in South Africa won't be a total shock to the system (though we did also have hail and frost last week).

I have learnt a bit more about EFT (Emotional Freedom Training)and trying to rid yourself of negative thoughts and vibes, many of which have been ingrained in your psyche since childhood.

A minor stressor was being asked (2 days before flying) for a "clearance letter from my Federation" which sounded rather like something out of Star Trek. Luckily, English bank holiday notwithstanding, UK Athletics were able to come up with the goods in time for me.

Another good thing to fill my time with was a trip to see a friend, ostensibly for a cheeky legrub before flying.....but as usual, it ended up as a gossip catch-up, which wasn't a bad thing as it made me forget the upcoming trip. I visited the beautician to sort my "race face".......as you cannot have your mascara running when you sweat, now can you ladies?.....actually, I just treated myself to a nice relaxing head massage.

Finally, all I have left to do is get through another full day at work before driving up to the airport. A friend did offer to drive me there, but I felt it was important to have the time to myself to switch off, sing loudly (and badly) along with the radio, and just be alone as it does get a bit busy once you start travelling; meeting up with people, going to the expo to register, attending the press conference and generally catching up with friends from all over the world. 

As a footnote.....bearing in mind my love for food and drink, I'm looking forward to ice cream with Dan in Dubai and then wine with Dave in Durban. 

Oh yes, and then there's a day of running in the sun........

Nutrition

Ahhhh.......eating and drinking......2 of my very favourite things!!

And 2 activities that I think a lot of runners obsess over and have many hang-ups about.


A cup of molten chocolate....bliss!

Everybody is different, both in their basal metabolic rate, and in the food they like to eat, but I am a firm believer in that the body will tell you what it needs and you shouldn't deprive it.
Ok, so I'm not a super-light, super-streamlined, super-speedy track runner.......but I have sufficent stores to sustain my running over the distances that I enjoy. Using Comrades as an example - when you arrive in South Africa people look at you and make judgements based on your physique; I was told that I should be able to run it OK as I "wasn't as skinny as some girls". It is noticeable that in distance races such as Comrades or 100Ks (and I base this on observations both as a runner and as the medical support) that those runners who do not fuel adequately as they go along, soon find themselves fading even if they started out really strongly. If you get your nutrition and hydration right, you often find yourself finishing well ahead of runners that on paper should be well up the road.

You gotta love a free post-race buffet



I was lucky enough to listen to a talk by a dietician at one of the Scottish Hill Squad away days. Interestingly, she told all of the hill runners that they needed to eat more every single day. She guessed that this might concern some of them, but reassured them that as they were training regularly, the vital extra calories would actually help build muscle and strength rather than being laid down as fat. A few of my other running friends have also found that when they increase their intake, they perform better and some actually lost some weight, counterintuitive though that may seem. I know that after a long run (and sometimes for the next couple of days) I feel as if I can never satisfy my appetite, and so eat constantly, yet I don't seem to get any heavier.



2 breakfasts pre-race is better than one!



When in Lanzarote, I certainly took advantage of the "all you can eat" buffets at breakfast and dinner, yet did some of my best training there, so it cannot have done any harm, and probably did me some good!



Seafood and Sangria!!



Interestingly, if I think back to 2 specific races when I felt I didn't perform very well, both involved problems with my nutrition beforehand.... whether it was a long time spent travelling, missing out on regular mealtimes, or whether it was the fact that certain race organisers forgot to provide any carbs in the vegetarian meals the day before the race!

Basically, I've learnt to listen to my body, and not worry about what people think of the amount that I eat as it has always served me well. In fact, when away at my last two international races, the only people that eat more were the super-speedy Kenyans, so if it works for them......

Do As I Say, Not As I Do......

.......and I say that 3 races in a week is too many!!



Each race did have a purpose though, which is why I did them all. The first was my club hill race championships  - which was great for the sociable nature of the post run chat both out at the hill and back at the club over pizza in the bar. The second was the Scottish National 5K championships, which was a distance completely out of my comfort zone for racing, and so was a totally new challenge for me. The final race was the Lillaebelt Half Marathon in Denmark, which I was running in a Scottish vest as part of an invited team.



With my clubmate Jim after the 5K



The 5K championships were midweek in Edinburgh, so I had to rejig work slightly  (ie I started surgery at 7am) in order to be able to make the race. The plan was to drive up via Glasgow to pick up my friend, but unfortunately she had a last minute hold up at work and couldn't make the race....so I ended up giving 3 others a lift across.

I have to admit that I did not enjoy any part of that 5K......it was certainly an experience to be running on the limit of my lactate threshold for the whole of a race.....and it would definitely be better run with fresh legs. There was quite a lot of drama within the race itself, and I don't just mean people dropping out. The course narrowed significantly within the first Km, up to the turn....and I found myself almost stopping dead at the pinch points as I was held up by several men who sprinted off at top speed and then slowed significantly after about 400m (though it probably gave me a vital chance to catch my breath). Although the race was significantly shorter than anything I usually run, it felt like I was never going to make it to the finish line. I was quite disappointed with my run......both my time and position....but on reviewing the results, I consoled myself that although I'm no speedster, I had held my own and been faster than the marathoners.

The star of the show for me (apart from Elspeth who won the ladies' race in a faster time than her track 5000m PB) was definitely Fiona Matheson (again). Fiona was even more caught up in the early race congestion, to the extent that she tripped up and fell over. Luckily nobody crashed into or kicked her and she managed to get up and continue running. Afterwards, she said that she was so glad that she didn't look down and see her bleeding arm or leg or she might not have carried on, but instead she just pelted on round the course to work her way back up to an amazing 3rd place in 17:02.......who knows how quickly she might have run without that upset??!! To completely round off my day, I had a nightmare trip home - after dropping the guys back home in Glasgow, I was on the wrong end of  a random decision to close the motorway for night roadworks, and so I ended up detouring round the countryside, and got home about midnight!

This is the second year that Scottish Athletics have sent a team of runners over to Denmark to take part in the Lillaebelt Half Marathon, though English Athletics have been sending runners for several years. Fiona wasn't sure how she'd feel after the "excitement" of Wednesday night, but as I headed for Glasgow airport after work on Friday, she texted me to say that she was "good to go" - great news! We met up with Scott McDonald at the gate before boarding, and then with our other teammate Andy Douglas down in Stansted, as we had to change from Easyjet to Ryanair.



Fi showing off the double bed!



We were picked up at Billund and driven to Middelfart, eventually arriving well after midnight. Fiona and I heard squeals of dismay from the lads as they entered their room and found that there was only a double bed there, but then Fi was equally disappointed to find no kettle in our room for a nighttime cuppa.



Novel spelling!



We had to wake the lads up for breakfast the next morning, but then headed down to pick up our race numbers (and the t-shirts I managed to procure). Unfortunately (just for a change) my name had been spelt incorrectly on my bib, and they only had 4 bibs printed with Scottish flags on them, so it was either have the correct spelling on a plain bib, the missing letter added in with a felt tip, or just wrong with the wrong name. I went for the latter option - it wasn't as if it was the first time, and it certainly won't be the last!!!



After some "relaxation" time, we headed back down to the start around 1pm. A quick warm-up later (warm being the operative word, as it was 18 degrees and the wind had really picked up) and we headed  to the front of the 11,000-strong field. I vaguely understood the Danish countdown and we were off, round the twisty streets through town.

Team Scotland

In the second mile I found myself being pushed wider and wider across the road by Kim, one of the English runners (who I'd actually raced at Lochaber) and when I looked down at my garmin, we were running a faster pace than when I'd run my half marathon PB earlier in the year. I decided to be sensible and back off the pace, but unfortunately it meant that I then ran the whole of the rest of the race running entirely on my own (though that does seem to be the norm for me in races these days). For the next 6 miles, I could see Fi and Kim working together (taking turns to lead, though apparently never exchanging a word) into the wind about 300m ahead of me, but I couldn't drive myself to catch up to them. I didn't really notice a tail wind when we had first run across the long road bridge, but there was certainly a strong headwind as we returned.



The route

Not only had we just climbed up a slope from shore level but as I rounded the corner onto the bridge, I felt like I'd just run into a wall. There was no-one around to shelter behind so I just had to get my head down and push on into what felt like a gale. My stomach had been playing up with some dodgy cramps for the past few miles, but it was such a relief to see portaloos as soon as I turned away from the bridge, though I found it almost impossible to get back into my stride later. The last few miles felt like a nightmare long run rather than a race, but I was so glad to head into the final straight. I'm told that I looked strong coming into the finish, but that was probably just the relief at knowing the gut torture would soon finish. I had taken so long to run the race that the prize giving was already in full-swing, but it was quite inspiring to be running down the finishing straight hearing them announce Scott's 3rd place (in only his 2nd half marathon)!!



Making friends with the hotel frog



5am at the airport

Putting the run to one side (as I don't like to dwell on a poor performance - and we all have them - as soon as the sun has gone down on it), the rest of the day was really fun.......blagging 4 race jackets, enjoying some good chat on a cool down jog, a nice meal, and fun team banter in the bar afterwards. The race director came and joined us for a drink, so we all thanked him for inviting us over.....and he promised to look into the final results (some ladies' numbers had been sold on to male runners, so affecting female positions) as well as explaining his plans for next year's race, which seemed to involve having a beach (with beach volleyball games going on) at the side of the route!

Looking back, it was a great weekend - spent with good company, making new friends, eating Danish pastries and getting race experience in another country!

Fun in the Hills

Marathon completed….what now?

Time for fun – so for me that involves relaxing, eating, drinking, catching up with friends, and on this occasion….playing in the hills!

The first weekend after Lochaber, I headed down to Wales to catch up with my friend John, who was over from Ireland getting some climbing in. He was preparing for assessments which (in part) involves teaching novice rock climbers and getting them up some rock faces.  It has been years since I donned my harness and shoes, and so I was the perfect guinea pig.

Cwm Idwal

 Saturday in Capel Curig was beautiful and sunny so we headed off to the Idwal Slabs (Cwm Idwal) in the Ogden valley. A brisk walk in to the base of the slab took us away from the sun and next to some snow, but we could see a couple of other pairs of climbers already on the face. I debated whether I would actually be able to squeeze my feet into my climbing shoes (they were tight in Australia when I wore them with no socks, and the cold was definitely making thick socks a requisite), so John suggested I start in my inov8s and carry my shoes up with me to change into between pitches if necessary.

John sorting out the gear

It seemed easy to start off with, though I wasn’t very confident without my climbing shoes on, but John encouraged me to trust my feet and push up even when I was using tiny little ledges with half a toe on them. I dredged up a memory of being told that it was all about the legs pushing up and not using your arms to pull, and got back into the flow of it. Between pitches, I found it interesting to hear how people would be taught to set up belays and started to find myself looking for good positions if I had to do that.

Idwal Slabs

As we moved further up the rock, the sun seemed to tease us mercilessly……we would be about to move into a sunny patch, but then the route would veer away again, so my hands did get rather cold. Still, I really enjoyed it and it was fun to be out doing a different type of sport. Several pitches later we were at the top of the climb and then had some short-rope scrambling to do to the top, and again down the neighbouring gully to descend.

Finally we found a patch of sun, and I was allowed to sit down and eat. Almost a personal record for the length of time without food, but I hadn’t even noticed as I was too busy concentrating on both the climb and the amazing views. Full marks to my “instructor” as I never once doubted my safety or that I would make it up OK.

This weekend involved hills in a different way, as it was our club “hill race championship”. We have usually incorporated this into a proper hill race, but this year it was decided to use a local hill for the competition. This is less of an actual hill race, as it is short, and much of it is on forest roads, but means that more people come and have a go, rather than it just being the hillrunners.



Drawing the lads out!



Lotus Hill is only a few miles from Dumfries, and reaches a height of 321m. I have run a club race on it before and so knew the course was only about 3.5miles long, with 2 miles of that being on forestry roads, so I thought I’d go and join in, without having to worry too much about causing myself an injury and affecting upcoming events.

It was a drizzly dreary day and rather chilly, and so full body cover was tempting. However I knew that the offroad section would be ankle deep bog, meaning we’d end up filthy so I opted for shorts in the end….brrrr!

Over the summit..

The lads seemed to be running along together quite comfortably with no-one wanting to push the pace on (saving themselves to battle it out on the hill) so I had to run round them to get up a good pace on the opening forest road. This pushed a couple of them on and the group then stretched out, with a few moving ahead. Unfortunately the course was wrongly marked and marshalled so we had an extra mile to run – some on a step uphill part of the forestry road, and some through grass and bog as we descended back to the original course. Having thought it would just be a short run with only one section where I’d take it easy to avoid ankle twists, I had a bit of a sense of humour failure about the detour and so decided to power walk some of the hill.



Seriously? White off-road shoes??



Giving myself a stern lecture I started to run again and caught the man in front by the summit, which was in open moorland. That was my goal achieved, as I knew everyone would power past on the downhill – men seem much better about disengaging brains and going for it on downhill technical sections, whereas women worry about damaging themselves. Back to a forest trail, and I knew it was only a mile to the finish with the worst of the mud over and done with. I could hear my clubmate breathing heavily right behind me, and so I decided that if he was going to get past me in that final mile then I’d make him work for it. I managed to keep away from him and was actually glad of the challenge to push me all the way back.



Great to catch up with everyone afterwards over flapjack and water in the carpark, and then pizza and drinks back at the club!

What a lovely couple of weekends!

Ladies' Day in Lochaber

Our "Lodge" - what a front door!!!

My friend Mark and I had discussed going up north for a weekend, so he could go biking and I could go running, and last weekend was the only one that seemed to suit both of us. A colleague of Mark's offered the use of a lodge at one the Devere Hotels (Cameron House on Loch Lomond) and it seemed too good an opportunity to resist.

Judging by the Tom Scott race, I had recovered well from Barcelona, and so it seemed like a good idea to profit from all the training and run another marathon. This had been an idea developing over the past few weeks, but it had depended on finding a good marathon at the right time, and upon how long it took the spring to return to my legs. I had never run a marathon in Scotland before and Mark was happy to do his cycling up in Fort William, so the Lochaber marathon appeared to fit the bill. The only problem was that I had to be good and not make use of the sauna and steam room facilities at Cameron House on the Saturday........imagine starting a marathon dehydrated from spending too much time in the sauna!

Having entered the marathon at the last minute (number 495 out of 500), meant there was no external pressure on me for a "performance", and it helped to be staying somewhere nice and just travel up on the day. There was a speedy lady (Kim Fawke, a 2:39 marathoner) from Telford who had entered early (number 15) and was being accommodated by the race organisation, as she was hoping t break the 15 year old course record.....so that was another pressure I didn't have on me.....I could just go and run my own race.

The forecast was for pouring rain and gale-force winds......and so I started obsessively checking for updates, as if that would change anything. Whatever the day actually brought, I hoped to get a good strong run in the bank.

2nd Breakfast out of the rain

A soggy warmup

As we drove up on Sunday morning, we couldn't actually see any of the beautiful scenery as the rain was driving across Rannoch Moor, but it did seem lighter as we got to Fort William. After registering, I had a second breakfast of instant porridge and coffee in the car (my word, thermos flasks are a great invention), and then braved the elements for a soggy warmup. There were drinks provided on the course but no gels, so I arranged to meet Mark at certain places in order to grab some......and he kindly took my waterproofs from me as I headed to the start.

The race started on the shinty pitch and then we headed off through a housing estate out to the main road. I found myself passing Kim in the first mile, which surprised me, as I had been telling myself not to go off with her as it would be faster than I intended to run. I exchanged a few words with the guys running alongside me - one from Shettleston (John Duffy, who had actually won the race on two occasions) and one from Hunters Bog Trotters (HBT). We seemed to be going up and down a couple of sharp inclines and round some twisty corners......but I was sure that I'd read it was a fast flat course. They reassured me that the first and last mile were the worst (great......something to look forward to at the end when you're knackered) and that there was a drag uphill at miles 3 and 4.

In a sunny spell

After a few miles we were all spread out, with the leading 3 men visible quite a way ahead along the undulating road, and John having dropped back from us. I got slightly confused as there was no 6 mile marker, and a water station appeared earlier than the advertised 7 mile point. Mark, however, was standing in his high-viz yellow waterproof jacket (the jacket actually meant that many people asked him if he was a medic en route) at exactly our agreed 7 mile point and handed me a gel......mmmmm, tasty......not!

The weather had been improving as we'd been running, and not long after this, the sun actually came out and it became quite warm. This was amazing considering the horrendous forecast, but in true Scottish style, we were then treated to a mixture of rainy, windy and sunny spells as we continued on our way.

There was plentiful support on the roadside as we headed towards the turn around point and it was great to see the leaders heading back towards us, so we exchanged waves and "thumbs up" signs. I rounded the marshal in 5th place overall, but then watched the distinctive brown HBT vest shoot away from me at an amazing speed. It was also interesting to see that Kim was 40s behind me, with no one in between us, so I figured she'd overhaul me at any time.

Although I was now running alone and felt the wind more strongly on the return leg, I loved the encouragement from all the runners heading the other way. I felt that I was tiring but couldn't hear any cheers behind me so figured that everyone must be feeling the same.

Out on the road

If you wanted to think about something apart from where the next mile marker was, you just had to look up and be inspired by the beauty of the surrounding snow-covered peaks.......or you could focus on the road and be entertained by the traffic. The road isn't closed for the race, and although runners are told to keep to the side of the road and run no more than 2 abreast, there were times when cars and lorries were on completely the wrong side of the road. At one point a lorry kindly waited for a good time to pass runners when a car decided to pass it on the wrong side of the road and a cyclist also tried to cut through the gap. It was tempting to tag alongside the lorry and use it as a windbreak, but it just wasn't possible.

I heard that the gap behind me had narrowed to 100m but I gave myself a good talking to, reminding myself just how stubborn I can be. I figured that I had to keep driving on, so that if anyone passed me then it was because they were running well, not because of me flagging. By this point I had moved up into 4th position and was over halfway back. 

I was spurred on by seeing that the gap to the man in front (from Kilmarnock) was closing up, but felt guilty when I saw how much he was struggling, possibly due to his fast start. I passed him at the 21 mile marker though I did ask him if he was ok (and to give him credit, he carried on to finish under the 3 hr mark). I was very relieved to crest the hill at 23 miles as I knew that apart from the sting in the tail of the race, it was mainly downhill. Grabbing a last gel from Mark, he reassured me that the gap behind had opened up and I just needed to keep going for the win. I tried to calculate how much faster than me someone would need to run every remaining mile in order to go past, but I knew that it wasn't over until that line was crossed. In the next 2 miles the man in front (this time from Ayr - SW Scotland seemed to be dominating the sharp end of the race) also came back significantly, so that he was only about 20m ahead when he missed a right turn. I screamed his name and the marshals chased him to get him back on course. As we were within the final windy mile, which included those sharp inclines, I fully expected him to charge back past any minute.



Finishing on the shinty pitch

Not sure about my "finishing face"...

It was an amazing feeling to make the final turn out of the houses and towards the finish gantry on the soggy wet shinty pitch.

Everyone was very surprised to see me as the second finisher overall and they desperately tried to create a finish tape for me to break.
Unfortunately the only bit of tape they had was only about 50cm wide, but at least it made me smile!

Prizegiving

It was only after finishing that I heard the announcement that I'd broken the 15year old course record by 4 and a half minutes. And what a day for the ladies, as the second lady finished in 4th place overall, in a time that was also under the previous record! Girlpower!

Record Breaking Running

...........and I don't mean me.......though I did break a club record......but that's not the point here......

The decision about which 10 mile race to run at the weekend was almost an academic one, due to me having developed a great case of manflu after the weekend in Perth. I was having difficulty just breathing, and so the ability to sleep for longer than an hour seemed to have gone out of the window. Luckily, the bugs all stayed above the neck (so running actually eased the congestion), and by the weekend I was winning the fight. 

Saturday's 10 mile race was an inaugural one at Longtown, which my club was using as the second counter in our annual road race Grand Prix. Sunday's 10 miler was the 51st running of the Tom Scott memorial road race in Strathclyde Park, which was being used as the Scottish 10 mile championships, the West District championships and also the Scottish Veteran Harrier championships. The championship field would be a much greater test for me, which is why I opted for that race, though when I saw the beautiful wind free day on Saturday, I wondered if I'd made the wrong choice (but then again, I did have an extra 24 hrs to improve my breathing skills).

Sunday was also a clear day with no wind, though it was near freezing when I left Dumfries. Luckily the drive up the road saw the temperature rise a couple of degrees and as I have never been to Strathclyde Park without it being windy, it boded well for some good running.

And they're off.....

I had a slight drama right on the startline when my hair elastic snapped and I didn't have a spare. I didn't fancy running 10 miles constantly trying to get my hair out of my eyes, nose and mouth, but luckily my friend Fiona came to my rescue and lent me her spare one (note to self, secure your ponytail with 2 elastics just in case!).

The race was chip timed, but strangely enough their was no chip mat at the start. I guess the chips were there just to help with close finishes, but I hate starting at the front of races, as it takes me about 50+ metres to get my joints going. I still started my usual several rows back, but knew that I might have to actually get my head around racing right to the line if necessary (yes, I know most people do that anyway, but I've never been able to sprint so rely on distance).

Running with Fiona

The 10mile and 3.75mile race started simultaneously so it was impossible to work out who was racing who. I wasn't expecting an amazing performance after having the cold, so just ran on feel. Everybody seemed to go off incredibly fast, and although I tried my hardest not to be dragged along by the other ladies, I still went through the first mile in a much faster pace than I could maintain. I consciously steadied my pace to run my own race and was rewarded by being back in the leading pack of ladies at the point when the races separated. The long drag uphill alongside an amusement park seemed to go on forever, but when we finally returned to the lake shore, it was a relief to know that the whole of the second half of the race would be within sight of the water. Fiona Matheson and I were running side by side with Jennifer Emsley just behind, but at the head of the lake, Fiona pushed on and shortly afterwards Jennifer moved past me to chase her down. I knew that if I went with them, it would end messily for me, but I still had to give myself a good talking to as it would have been easy to slow down completely, and allow the whole field to pass me by.



Pushing to the line



Working my legs on the sharp rises made me realise that Jennifer was coming back to me, and surprisingly, I was just behind her again with a mile to go. It was tempting to just tuck in behind her, but as I know I don't have a sprint finish....and her legs are much longer than mine......I knew I had to go past early and then keep kicking.

I found it really hard to keep pushing all the way to the line, but managed it was rewarded with a shiny new PB, much faster than I could have dreamt of.



1 Race, 3 Medals...random!



Fiona had run a pressure-free race as her watch battery had died before the start, and so she couldn't keep checking her pace, splits and overall time. It worked really well for her, as she had a fantastic run, not only finishing as Scottish 10 mile champion, but also breaking the LV50 World Record for 10 miles........inspirational!

And, just quietly, I'm hanging on to that lucky hair elastic, as it was once owned by a record-breaker!!!

View From The Other Side

The period after a marathon can be a difficult time, leading many people to develop "post marathon blues". Suddenly you find yourself not training, but nor are you tapering, and you don't have that goal ahead to focus on. Rather than going over and over the race in your head, thinking "what if" and "if only" or making rash decisions about training and racing in the future, it's important to take some time out and have fun. 



Snow in Dumfries



The good old British weather did play a part in this for me as, having driven through snow on the way back from the airport, and it just got worse from there. On a couple of occasions during that first week, all the roads in and out of Dumfries were closed either by snow, or by drivers skidding in the snow. 

Still, I managed to get out with the girls from work for an afternoon and evening in the pub(s), which ended up involving karaoke, and when the roads cleared, my mother came to stay for a few days (which was lovely though she did say we did nothing but eat as I introduced her to my favourite coffee shops). I also caught up with a few friends who've been working overseas, but one of the main things I've done is to give something back to running and support others in their endeavours.

The "Self Transcendence 100k/50k" was being held in North Inch Park in Perth (no unfortunately not Australia). The 100k incorporated the Anglo-Celtic Plate home countries international and UK Championships, while both the 50k and the 100k were the Scottish Championships. The course consisted of flat traffic-free 2.4k loops around the park along the banks of the River Tay.

I had declined to run as part of the Scotland team so soon after the marathon, but when race organiser Adrian Stott asked me if would be the race doctor, I was keen to help out, support others, catch-up with some of the GB squad and actually get to know some more of the Scottish runners. I am fairly selective and so don't run that many races, especially not long distance ones, and of those that I do run, most are big races overseas so it was the first time I'd actually chatted to many of the Scottish squad (though strangely enough, I knew almost all of the English team).





Path up Kinnoull Hill



It was lovely to be able to enjoy the evening in Perth without worrying about racing the next day, so I got out for a trot up Kinnoull Hill (beautiful to be on the top, standing in the sun but surrounded by snow) and then checked out a lap of the course. It looked like it was going to be a fast race as the park was completely clear of snow an ice and there was a dead calm with no wind forecast. We were hoping that we might see several runners finish under the 7hr mark, as 3 of the English men had run sub 2:18 marathons.

At the evening briefing I gathered up all the medical forms and labelled them in race number order, highlighting any with pre-existing medical conditions, and divided them into 50k and 100k runners, as in an emergency, I might have had to ask an assistant to dig out a form for me. I took the opportunity to listen in to the Scottish team pep talk, which reminded the guys that although many of the English runners had faster marathon times, they didn't have so much ultra experience and so there was a good chance that they might fade later on into the event. Wise words from Adrian there!



Support tent and runners pre-start



Ready...Set....

After a sleepless night, made shorter by the clocks going forward, we were making sure that everyone was awake at 5 and having a good breakfast before heading down to the park (having to scrape ice off the windscreen didn't bode well for those standing around to support). There was a slight delay but it wasn't long after 7am that the runners set off on the first of their 42 laps. I didn't think there would be many medical dramas early on (except maybe frostbite in those trying to sort out food for the runners) so I took the opportunity to check out the medical room in the sports centre with its ice machine and defibrillator (fingers crossed for that not being needed). It was still quiet so I stripped off an outer layer of clothing and took the opportunity of running myself to appreciate the quietness of the park in the early morning (and mainly to keep warm). As per Hilary (the race referee), I started off in an anticlockwise direction, as the race was run in clockwise loops. I stuck to the outside of the cones so as not to impede anyone, but it was quite tight when passing through the feed stations and avoiding the timing mat, so I started running backwards and forwards in 3/4 laps, turning each time before I got near the pinch points. In order to ensure I didn't appear to be pacing anyone, I ran with different people each time I was going in the same direction as the racers, and made sure I included a Welsh, an English and a Scottish runner, and a mix of male and females. Hopefully, it was also nice for them to have someone different to chat to on one of their laps. It was lovely to be out running again, but I was happy to stop after a few laps........and didn't even slightly wish that I was racing, so had obviously made the right decision!

My only regret in the timing of my run, was that by the time I'd showered and changed, the feed station had no more hot bacon butties....but then again, their porridge was pretty fabulous!

 In a race such as this one, participants are generally quite experienced, so I didn't get the funny requests for medical aid that I've had before (eg bleeding nipples, or a splinter). In fact, after the 50k started at 10pm, the biggest casualties were actually members of the GB 24 hour squad, though luckily there was nothing serious to deal with.

It was great to watch how different race plans unfolded.......as we'd expected, some people went off very fast, but unfortunately didn't manage to take enough nutrition on board to sustain their efforts and so faded, while others got stronger and stronger as the race progressed. Experience really did show, and this was also reflected in the 50k race, especially in the ladies' field.




The lap counting/leader  board

Maybe it was the clock-change, maybe the weather, or maybe some totally unconnected reason, but unfortunately some of the volunteers didn't turn up to help.....or wandered off after helping for a short time. I couldn't help to support individual runners as I had to maintain "neutrality", but as long as I kept within sight of the medical tent and had my phone on me, I decided to get stuck in helping the others out (well, I needed to do something to break up my chain-eating of all the amazing cakes available). I ended up manning the 50k lap board. I now have total respect for those that do this job, as it is very hard to keep track of even a small number of runners in a lapped race. We had to look out for those in the 50k, both male and female, while ignoring the 100k runners, bearing in mind that they were all going different speeds and lapping each other. From time to time, we'd get a backup sheet from the chip timing system, but this was sometimes out of date by the time it got across to us. Add in to this, the difficulty of moving pins, names and numbers on a pin board when your fingers are freezing as you cannot do it in gloves, and then also having supporters and bystanders continually hassling you to correct certain runners' lap numbers and getting upset that you didn't do it yesterday! Volunteers are amazing.......the hard work they put in, while often getting lots of criticism from people who have no realisation that they are doing the best they can do!



Dan, the 100K champion



Helping with this job did have a big bonus......we knew exactly when people started their last lap so could let the announcer know, and got to cheer everybody home as they finished their race.....with proud smiles and flags flying.

The 100k was won in style by Dan Doherty of Ireland, who ran a steady race and stuck to his plan all the way through, and the Scottish boys came through to win the team competition as Adrian had predicted, using their experience of long races both on and off road. Emily Gelder of Wales won for the ladies.......for the 4th consecutive year, again showing how invaluable previous experience is. To back this up this observation , the clear winners of the 50k race were Paul Fernandez and Sue Harrison, both of who, I have met before at the world 50k championships and both of whom are experienced English ultra runners.

As for me, I had no regrets about not being out there running from a competitive point of view, but I also really appreciated the opportunity to watch and support others and just generally muck in and help as needed, often doing jobs that as a runner, I'd take for granted!