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HT550 (Highland Trail 550) 2026
Preamble
The HT550 first came to my attention many years ago, when a colleague at work told me all about it, with particular emphasis on Fisherfield and the scary river crossing. I remember my reaction: “That’s too crazy for me” and dismissed it for the following 10 years or so.
Roll round to late 2025 and I had switched focus from ultra-running, had done the Westfjords Way Challenge in Iceland, and was looking for my big challenge in 2026. I had followed Kerry’s posts about HT550 in May and my interest was piqued. By the time the entry day came round, I was poised and ready to send my resumé to Alan Goldsmith, the organiser.
I was worried as I had never been bikepacking, nor had I done a biking event of this nature before. However, I hoped my experience in ultra running and adventure racing would be sufficient. A few days later I had my acceptance email … my first big holiday of 2026 was decided!
Preparation
“Much about the detail, but mostly about the bike”
As always, I prepared to the nth degree for this race – researching kit, doing some recce rides (including one fully loaded), noting down all the possible food options with full opening hours cross referenced against various sources and making a note of emergency exit strategies. One thing I had hoped to do was clearly going to be an issue – staying in accommodation where possible. I could see most of it was already fully booked and the rules were “no booking before the race start”.
The biggest thing I altered was my bike. After briefly contemplating going ‘new’, I instead decided to stick with my trusty hardtail titanium Lynskey, now 15 years old! However, I decided to make a few changes, and I’ll never forget when I received a message casually mentioning that “the hole on the .. chainstay is cracked”. Excuse me, what hole?!
And so it was that I fully entrusted my bike to Andrew at Interlaced Cycles to convert it with Jones bars, 1×12 gearing (from 2×10 – which was cutting edge when I got it), new seat post (unjammed after more years than I can remember), upgraded forks, cranks, rims, spokes and tyres. At what felt like the last minute, the frame builder replaced the chainstays for ones without holes or damage from chain suck. To back all this up, I also got some lessons in how to deal with the most likely mechanical issues and came away with a set of videos on my phone to refer to as needed.
Day 1 Tyndrum to Fort Augustus: 151km, 13h25
“Went largely to plan, but inefficient overnight”
It was a simple journey to Tyndrum by bus from Edinburgh for the start the day before. I hadn’t really accounted for getting very travel sick though, nor the fellow passenger loading his heavy bag right on top of my rear mech. I did my best to check the gears and I got through the race with some increasingly dodgy shifting (confirmed slightly bent hanger and mech on my return).
Even though everyone was friendly, I felt quite out of place in the crowd of people gathering, because I didn’t really know anyone and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a relief to get riding. The day started off relatively easily on wide gravel tracks, dropping into Glen Lyon, past the tea room where Chloë and I had sat drenched trying to work out how to fix a dodgy gravel bike headset.
On the first big climb my back complained, which I was sure was a result of riding too much in an ‘aero’ position against the headwind along the glen, so I stopped that and resolved the issue for the rest of the ride.
I pressed on until we got to a boggy section round Loch Ericht, where I stopped for my two slices of leftover pizza. Then we were climbing round the mass of Ben Alder, before dropping down and passing at least one person whose rim was a casualty of the many drainage channels. I took it very cautiously and just as I was wondering where I’d rejoin a route we had done in October, I popped out onto a road by an inland beach that I recognised.
This was very cheering, as I knew then it was just the climb on one of General Wade’s military roads over the Corrieyairack pass between myself and dinner in Fort Augustus. Deadline: 22:00 before the Chinese would shut! After a quick sip of whisky from the Trail Angels, I pushed on up, admired the stunning sunset, and flew down the other side, remembering how it was further than you’d think, but pleased how much easier and faster it was on a mountain bike vs a gravel bike!
I arrived at the restaurant about 21:40 to find it busy with other riders and got a good meal, picking up some mini spring rolls to munch on the next day.
I made my way over to the hostel where I’d booked a bed earlier on. Although it was nice to be indoors in the warm, and I was able to make a high calorie porridge breakfast in the morning, I’m not sure I’d do it again as there was a lot of to and fro up and down the stairs, to the bike storage and the kitchen, plus I had to queue for the single shower. My sleep was also disrupted by the others in the shared dorm room.
Day 2 Fort Augustus to River Black Water Inn: 136km, 13h30
“A good day, lulled into a false sense of security”
I started the day a little queasy, but after making use of the toilets at Invermoriston, I started to feel better. This was the first event where I’ve been organised enough to have some music to listen to offline on headphones via my phone, and it provided a good boost on some long uphills when my mood needed lifting.
I was happily meandering around a windfarm at the top of the hill, loudly singing along (probably out of tune) to some Bon Jovi, when I had my first ‘mechanical’. I stopped abruptly as I felt my back wheel rub the frame…
After taking a deep breath, I followed the logical sequence I knew Andrew would have talked me through, and soon realised that my rear sliding dropout bolts had come loose, despite being done ‘mechanic tight’ before the race. Easily fixed, thank goodness.
The day rolled on until I came across an unexpected set of Trail Fairies somewhere near Corrimony. Jenny Tough (who is a well known adventurer and endurance athlete) was out with her partner John sharing all sorts of snacks and motivational chat. I had a coke and a few biscuits and pedalled onwards to Kiltarlity. On the way I noted a fine-looking chambered cairn and made a promise to myself to come back for a proper investigation one day. Too late for the shop or café, I was on track to hit a lone hotel later that evening, and called to make sure I was OK for checkin time. The weather forecast wasn’t great and indeed it turned out to be a very cold and frosty night, so I was glad I opted to pay for the privilege of a warm bed.
The next objective was Contin, via the renowned ‘path of a thousand puddles’. However, I never did quite work out which path this was meant to be!! Either it was much drier and less puddly than usual, or it looked just like all the other puddly paths. In any case, after some wild wind and rain, I made it in plenty of time for a big portion of tofish and chips (this place caters excellently for veggies/vegans), although not in time for the shop. Just a short ride later and I was indoors, washing, cleaning my shorts, and gratefully accepting a packed breakfast / lunch from the hotel owner. I was pretty content that I’d eaten and ridden well today, and went to sleep content (and with much less faff than at the hostel).
Day 3 River Black Water Inn to Kylesku: 153km, 15h04
“A day of two halves and a crash: the slow nauseous half and the strong confident half”
After getting up, eating some of my packed food and setting off in good time, I was feeling quite nauseous and unwell. Compared to the first two days it felt like I was much more alone as I only saw one other rider (the indomitable Hatty, grappling with an ever-puncturing inner tube due to rim damage) all morning.
I had to keep stopping as my tummy was rebelling against … what, I’m not sure. Maybe stress, early starts, the balance of sweet / savoury food I’d been eating and my hormones. Despite this, I had time to admire the rewilding efforts at the Alladale Wilderness Reserve. Not the grandest, most remote or highest part of the route by any means, but one of the sections that left the biggest impression on me. I could only imagine how different the whole landscape would have looked in the past.
I had another fortifying sip of whisky from the Trail Angels as I approached the Oykel Bridge hotel, which was very shut. Moving along to the Achness Hotel arriving about 11:30 and expecting nothing (I knew we could perhaps phone ahead for breakfast rolls, but I hadn’t done so), I was astonished to see a whole gaggle of bikes lined up outside. Once I found my way in, I discovered a crowd tucking into full breakfasts. I had a couple of egg rolls and a coke and felt much better for it.
Heading back out I was suddenly amongst other riders again and feeling good. I powered through the road sections, loved the riding up through Bealach nam Meirleach and Bealach na Fèithe, laughed at the fact it was definitely snowing at one point and, although the descent wasn’t as fun as the recce I’d done with Chloë (wetter, less rideable), I made good time. Some people stopped early at the barn before Achfary, but I moved on for some companiable riding with Ben, wrangling with a nasty new very bike-unfriendly gate then up and over the final hill to drop into Kylesku.
It was here I had a moment of distraction and took a hard fall on a rocky descent. I was pretty sore, but after a brief spell on the ground scanning my body and deciding nothing was broken, Ben declared “it could be worse, your bike looks fine!” quickly followed by my concern for my new waterproof (sadly all scuffed up on the elbow). At the end of the trip, the technicolour bruises were quite impressive and rather painful for some weeks, so I’m glad I barely noticed them for the rest of the ride.
We continued a little tentatively along the final stretch, arriving at the hotel half an hour too late for dinner, but in time for some drinks, sticky toffee pudding and boiling water for our camp meals.
I was going to investigate the toilet block as a sleeping option, but another rider had taken the ladies whilst I’d been eating in the hotel porchway, so I pitched my tent outside in the lee of it for wind protection. First time sleeping in the tiny, tiny tent went OK, despite the wild weather that seemed to whip up and rage overnight.
Day 4 Kylesku to Ullapool: 119km, 15h43
“Rough”
After getting ready in the rain and insisting on entry to the toilet for its intended usage, I set off along the coast road. Arriving in Drumbeg at about 07:15, I didn’t expect the shop to be open as we were told this would be at 08:00. However, I spotted a light on and was delighted to find the owners and one of their cats were up and about and happy to serve the little group of us soon congregating there! My first open shop of the entire event so far.
Apart from much clumsy dropping of food, I felt well stocked and after removing my first tick in the public toilets and fiddling with my gears that weren’t changing as they should, I set off moderately happy.
Sadly, the feeling did not last long as I was soon battling general weariness and an uneasy tummy that I just couldn’t settle. I stopped in Lochinver for some decent breakfast in a café after pushing (literally) through the off-road section with far too much effort than was warranted as I tried to find my own space amongst other riders.
I also lost my Dynaplug tool along there somewhere, which was a lesson learnt in where to store something you want quickly accessible, but not somewhere it can fall out when you manage to topple over when you’re not even riding.
The Ledmore traverse came next, passing to the north of Suilven. I’m slightly obsessed with how distinctive this mountain is and how much its profile changes depending on your viewpoint. I joined up with Hatty as we pushed over the top and took on the long walk out to a road. I rode some of this when I did a recce, but was at my limit then. Today it was well beyond me and just not worth the risk. I can confirm that pushing a bike to the north of the mountain is still significantly easier than dragging a sit on top kayak to the south of the mountain. I got a lovely little lift and very welcome hug bumping into a friend (Dave) and companion, who were out on a mini trip dot-watching and travelling the other way.
After stopping for a little picnic at the road (the best egg mayo roll of the trip, courtesy of Drumbeg stores), I cruised through to Oykel Bridge again, where I headed inside for some crisps and a coke and some really encouraging words from the bartender and another lady who sent me on my way blowing kisses!
What followed was some sort of purgatory, as I slogged against a headwind feeling really rough on the endless return back to the coast and Ullapool. I was aiming to get there before Tesco shut at 22:00 and, despite pondering an early finish at a bothy, stuck to this plan mainly because I had no decent breakfast food, and because early starts were not proving to be my friend.
I made it in with another rider, and after pitching our tents we went to stock up. I ate in the toilet / shower block as my tent was too small to comfortably eat in, and washed my shorts, giving them a quick spin in the dryer. I decided to sleep in for an extra couple of hours to see if I could reset for the next day. I was also increasingly stressed about the knocking noises coming from the front of my bike on the descents and was considering waiting to see the local mechanic in the morning.
Day 5: Ullapool to Gairloch: 77.1km, 14h41
“A long slow walk with a loaded bike and increasing aches and pains”
I was woken up earlier than I wanted by the other riders leaving and checking up on me. I did manage to get back to sleep, but still felt bad when I did get up. It was a slow start as I tried to force down a whole tub of yoghurt along with a croissant and some other bits and pieces. I decided to try tightening my headset, which seemed to resolve most of my issue, though by the time I was ready to go the bike shop was open and he confirmed that my rotor was also slightly bent, which would cause secondary noises. However, he was confident nothing would go horribly wrong, so I set off feeling reassured.
Another cheerful moment as I passed Elizabeth on the road out of Ullapool, who dispensed hugs and words of practical encouragement. I needed them, as the ascent of Coffin Road was worse than I remembered even though we’d ridden it previously in the dark, ice and intermittent rainstorm. I was barely getting my bike over the lumps and felt quite ill with a headache, sort throat and stiff neck.
For a while I worried about whether I was really too worried about everything, whilst trying to get myself out of what I suspected was a bad energy / hydration hole from day 4. Every time I saw or thought anything to do with water at all, I made myself take a sip, and kept munching on my Bombay mix like a horse, direct from the handlebar pouch.
Moving on into Fisherfield, I just about started to feel slightly better when something in my knee cramped, like a body malady relay baton handover. It was definitely Unhappy as I pushed along to the infamous river crossing, which was much lower and warmer than when I checked this part of the route out with Elizabeth a few weeks before.
I decided to stop out of the wind, wrap a bandage round my knee, take some paracetamol and eat my veggie sausage roll from Lochinver whilst I contemplated life. This actually seemed to help, and the next part of the ride, sorry, I mean trek, passed much better than previously, as I alternated carrying and pushing my bike up the hill and down the other side.
The views and landscape here are almost worth the 11 hours of mostly hike-a-biking. In a theme that continued for almost the entire week, the mixed weather created some stunning views. One moment it would be raining, then it would stop, there would be shafts of sunlight streaming through the low cloud and the mountainsides would look very shiny and dramatic.
I passed Alan, the organiser, setting up camp at the causeway, but was keen to press on and get off the hill. I rolled into Poolewe about 22:30 and hoped I might make use of the public toilets for shelter, but they were locked 😭. I thought about camping here, but in the end decided to move on to see if there were better options in Gairloch.
Just a few km later, I got stabbing pains in my knee that forced me to stop pedalling. They kept coming and going, and I walked a bit on the road. This was so very demoralising, but I made it to the campsite at Gairloch, which gets the gold star for campsites on the route – there was welcome info for late arrivals, a lovely hot shower block and a shelter room with a kettle, plug sockets and tables. I was so relieved.
My knee hurt even moving around the site and putting the tent up, and my sleeping mat slowly deflated overnight, matching my mood.
Day 6 Gairloch to Dornie: 88.5km, 12h40
“Gratefully turning a corner”
I had the slowest start of the entire race and definitely exited ‘race mode’ about here. I was afraid to actually get on my bike and see how things were, even whilst telling myself that I could just wait it out for a day if needs be.
I’d spent the small hours of the night before bed googling adjustments for sore knees, and before I set off changed my cleat position and raised the saddle. I spent a while chatting to Christine, a fellow racer who had just arrived having had a bit of an epic exit from Fisherfield overnight. I then made my way to the chemist, getting there an hour after opening instead of at opening as planned, got a proper compression bandage and some ibuprofen gel (less dangerous to use than tablets when racing).
I then moved on to my first Co-op of the trip, where I actually enjoyed eating breakfast for the first time (keffir drink and two pastries), realised that Innocent Blue Bolt juice was perfect for my bottle & stomach, got a lunch of egg sandwiches, crisps and coke loaded up in my backpack, and added some lime & salt nut mix on the side.
This was also where I remembered how good the biscuits on day 2 had been and grabbed a packet of double crème Oreos. “snack mindfully” said the packet – which turned out to mean “make sure you get through a whole packet in a day”.
I then set off rather tentatively, attempting to switch to the ‘wrong leg’ for getting on the bike and starting (much harder than it should be) and generally anticipating the worst.
However, when I reached Kinlochewe, there was a café at the fuel stop that I hadn’t realised existed, and after a moment’s hesitation, I stopped and got myself a cheese toastie, crisps, tea and milkshake whilst sitting at a table chatting to Alan. It was definitely a good idea, and from this point on riding into Torridon, my world seemed a happier place. I was clearly sorting out what food was going to work for me and I was treated to yet more rainbows (another benefit of the unpredictable weather) as I worked my way up and over the saddle point, where you cannot help but wonder at the geology all around.
Walking down from the pass, my Achilles tendon (which had started grumbling a bit on day 1) was getting increasingly sore, but was bearable. I knew there was a nasty bit through Glen Ling, which I eventually realised was familiar due to passing through in the dark and rain in an Itera adventure race, then I would get to Dornie.
I tried my luck for any no-shows at the hotel, but sadly everyone had checked in, so I decided to follow the campsite routine, especially as I was getting quite adept at putting the tent up. No hot showers here as they needed coins I didn’t have, but I could at least sit in one of the shower rooms, eat some halloumi and bread, knock back some recovery drink and pick out a few more ticks before getting some sleep. The sinking feeling overnight was getting worse … I had to reinflate the sleeping mat in the middle of the night this time (later found to be a manufacturing fault – very speedily dealt with by the shop I bought it from).
Day 7 Dornie to Fort Augustus: 87.8km, 12h30
“Getting into the swing of things”
I think by this point the stress and anxiety I’d had in earlier days had dissipated, my tummy was feeling better and my knee was holding up. I knew the only shop or food place that I’d pass before Fort Augustus was going to be the fuel station at Inverinate (I was too early for food at the Invershiel / Kintail turn off). I was realising that a 15 minute lunch stop for egg sarnies, crisps and coke was working well for me, and I managed to get these items there, as well as some unusual but palatable drinks!
The next section takes the route through Kintail and on into Glen Affric – a part I hadn’t done but knew was difficult. Arriving at the turn off from the road I realised that I was at an Itera transition point, and that I had, in fact, trekked up here before. The pushing and carrying was hard, but not as bad as earlier in the race. I was walking beneath the five sisters of Kintail and felt a sense of solidarity, combined with some great views of the waterfalls. I met a couple of cheerful walkers, and one who assured me it got rideable at the bothy and wished me on my way with a cheerful rallying call to “suffer pleasurably!”.
It did indeed get much easier to ride, though by now I was totally alone and had been since leaving Alan just after Kinlochewe. I went into a sort of trance on the wide and easy forest tracks, listening to my music, pedalling and letting the scenery scroll endlessly by.
At the end of one long descent I realised my front brakes were making a bad noise, and halfway up the next climb decided I had better check the pads. They were worn totally to the backing plate (not a good thing), and the piston had come right out from where it should be. For the second time I consulted “Andrew-in-my-pocket” (I watched the hints and tips on changing brake pads video). Thank goodness I had had this bit of training, as I needed to open the bleed screw slightly in order to get the piston back in. He informed me later that if I hadn’t, I could have cracked the calipers and lost all my brake fluid, which would have been a disaster. After some almost-panic, I got the piston back in with more force than expected, put in new pads, checked the back (fine) and was on my way.
There was some nice riding into Fort Augustus and I enjoyed making my way along another military road, even though my Achilles was definitely complaining loudly on the final descent. I got back to the Chinese restaurant in loads of time (it was only just after 20:00), expecting to eat and then move on to camp somewhere down the Caledonian canal towards Fort William.
The race plan had been to sleep more earlier in the race, then push through towards the end. However, as I easily put away a very large meal, pondered how cold it was going to be overnight, noted the distinct lack of public toilets or taps in the next section, and mulled over the fact that the hotel sign said ‘vacancies’ – I had a change of heart, got the last room at the inn and headed upstairs to shower, wash shorts one final time and get a lovely few hours’ sleep in a bed up in the eaves.
Day 8 Fort Augustus to Tyndrum: 123km, 14h51
“More of a slog than I realised it would be”
The ride started well enough, nice and easy along the canal, with early morning mists and a ground frost in evidence. The previous night my fingers had started tingling, and it hadn’t gone away by morning, and now pushing open gates or doing anything really was making my whole hand buzz.
I wasn’t stopping now though, and after a great refill at the Co-Op in Cael, I tried the toilets (SHUT even though they were advertised as open grrr) and then headed through Fort William and onto the West Highland Way.
This was a shock to the system as there was now a constant stream of walkers going the other way, and far more limited safe-looking water stock up points (even with a filter). After a brief walk down into Kinlochleven (a-ha, another memorable Itera transition, but this one from a totally different event!) I was well into my Co-Op routine, picking up more very quaffable Innocent juice and some blueberries.
Only 44km to go, I thought! But what a slog they proved to be. I was getting good at shouldering my bike for the climb up Devil’s Staircase but didn’t realise I would be walking all the way down as well. A handy water stop at the Kingshouse Hotel, then a steady climb up a good track, but now my Achilles was really screaming after every walk or long descent. I was trying to adjust the position of my foot / heel, but mostly had to just grit my teeth.
The final climb was not rideable, for me at any rate. I was now fed up with the relentless problem solving and aches and pains, and was swearing at the gates, the hills and the route (but never my bike), just to see if it would make me feel better. It was no glorious, adrenaline filled, strong ride to the finish. More of a grind, a sudden downhill and there I was, wondering where exactly I was meant to stop.
Andy and Uisge (the dog) had come to meet me as planned, but driven up by Andrew which was the best surprise. I suddenly forgot all my grumbles, there were big hugs all round and I was just in time for more tofish and cheesy chips at the Real Food café before they shut and we headed home with me on a high talking non-stop now that I had company after 3 days in my own head.
Of the 65 starters (including an ITT (individual time trial) start) only 33 people finished, so even though I was almost right at the back and a whole 24h later than initially planned, I was happy to have made it to the end.
Reflections
In a nutshell: it was way more enjoyable than most (maybe all) of my multi-day ultra running events, and I definitely finished wanting to do it again, but better! There are many ways I think I could improve, I’d have more confidence a second time, plus familiarity with the route and what it takes to do it is always an immediate benefit. Compared to some events I found the very strict rules on being unsupported (and therefore no help allowed to other riders, not even offering a bite of food) a bit alien. I do love team racing with the right people and can’t wait to do Itera Lite with Dave again this year. But I’m definitely up for giving this another go if I can get in 😊
Thanks to Alan for organising it and his commitment to successfully getting 50% women on the start line. Also the support from everyone in the ‘lasses’ whatsapp group, to those cheering and sending me messages along the way (whether direct or via Strava). Graham the physio, as always, this time for some education and somewhat uncomfortable conversations relating to neuroplastic pain pre-race and a rather easier diagnosis of irritated tendon sheath post-race! Andy for cooking dinner to greet me after long days out. My very patient coach Doug. And one of the biggest thanks to Andrew for giving me lessons and advice, coming on training rides without complaint about the mud and getting my bike to the standard he would if he was riding it himself (and for driving us home!).
Food Gallery
Who can’t resist a few pictures of the food? Which got increasingly easier on my stomach as the race went along!
Itera Lite 2025 – Cairngorms
Itera Lite 2025 – Cairngorms
After my adventures at Itera “Lite” last year with Maria, I decided that I actually quite like the shorter format compared to the full thing. And this year we were offered the choice of either. I was super keen to enter, although finding a partner was a little trickier. On Christmas day I got a “yes” from Dave who I met at Cape Wrath Ultra in 2022. I remember being sat waiting for the ferry back over from Cape Wrath itself and asking if he was interested in adventure racing; it took this long for it to come to fruition!
And so this summer the Wrath Runners were on their way to the Badaguish Outdoor Centre for a few days of short-expedition style adventure racing fun! I was all over the slightly complicated logistics and planning, making sure we had the right shoes and kit in the right bags for the right stages. The course was heavy on biking and light on trekking compared to some others. Great for me, having done zero long hikes / runs since February’s traumatic ankle experiences. Not so great for Dave – I was unsure how his (lack of) mountain biking experience was going to play out.
Getting the maps – Tues 08:00
We got the maps on Tuesday morning, so the run through was, by necessity, pretty rapid. However, we soon worked out that a lot of the biking was on prescribed mandatory routes, and apart from special orienteering stages the hiking was straightforward enough that it was on the same 1:50k scale maps as the biking. We marked up all the cut offs and I felt weirdly ‘ready’ by the time we got to the captain’s briefing at 09:30.
All the endless lists were checked off, the bikes and bags were handed in, and we were ready to get on the coach.
Prologue – Tues 14:00 – run around Laggan (5.3km / 36 minutes)
I managed a snooze on the coach, then had time for a banana smoothie before the start. The stage went uneventfully and was mostly on road – we did actually run it all, though I was already concerned about how hot and sunny it was!
Stage 1 – Tues 14:48 – kayak down the Spey (20.5km / 3h20)
After a rapid transition (despite me putting the seat on wrong 3 times) we were off down the Spey. This was way more fun than I had anticipated, as we were straight into a narrow section, with trees and gravel and choices to be made. At one point I jumped out to help unground us and nearly tipped Dave straight in, though I promise it was an accident! I think he got me back by unceremoniously shovelling water on me with his paddle more than once later on.
As we went along, we alternated easy stretches with slightly annoying sections where the low water level meant we kept getting stuck. However, I was starting to enjoy the challenge of trying to read the best line, which was often close to the bank under tree branches that battered our faces as we went through, whilst I yelled ‘PADDLE’ and babbled something about tweetle beetles* as we lost all sense of coordination and clattered each other.
One time when we did have to get out, Dave forgot that legs often protest after sitting in a kayak for some time and promptly fell over in the water – nothing to do with me this time. Even funnier when he retold the story explaining he couldn’t understand that his legs weren’t working, so whilst I got the kayak moving he was repeatedly floundering around!
The only downer was that Dave was very uncomfortable because we couldn’t figure out how to adjust the seat to a better position and it was giving no support, plus the shoe choice (actually dictated by what we wanted to wear on a trek later on!) was hampering his efficiency. For my part, I’ve had far worse AR kayak legs and was quite happy with how it went 😊
Stage 2 – Tues 18:39 – mountain bike back to the event centre (29.7km / 2h34)
I wasn’t sure how transitions would go – this was all new to Dave – but I have to say he did rather better than I did in my first race. We got to the first checkpoint only to find to our dismay that his dibber was gone 😱. We considered going back to transition but then Dave suggested this is what the mandatory camera could be used for, and he was absolutely right, so we took photos instead until we could get a new one.
A little while later I turned over my shoulder after we joined a road to find Dave missing … uh oh, what had happened? Turned out it was the first of many ‘toppling over’ incidents. It transpired over the course of the event that Dave excelled at the actual ‘mountain biking’ i.e. moving along technical terrain, but not so much at ‘starting and stopping’ 😥. I almost felt the pain in his elbows and hips every time it happened, but there wasn’t a lot I could do other than wait for him to get up and start pedalling again.
The route itself was nice and straightforward from there to the next transition in the gloriously spacious games area at the outdoor centre.
Stage 3 – Tues 21:35 – hill loop trek on Cregan Gorm (9.4km / 2h45)
Before we’d started our own race, we’d looked on the tracking at the route the leaders of the full Itera race took to the top of the hill. The choice was: straight up, or the long way round the tracks. They did the former, and so did we!! Partway up we had regrets, but there was nothing to be done by that point, except to keep on working our way upwards until we got to an easier rockier bit and then finally popped out right by the control! I’d like to say this was pure skill, but there was probably a bit of luck involved…
Compass at the ready, I checked which way to go. We were going right, it said go left 🤔. Dave tried to argue, I said we had to believe the compass … and was helped in my argument when just then another team left in agreement with it!
I enjoyed the next section in the dark, having a nice chat, even running / jogging some bits. We got slightly tangled up in felled forest coming down, but somehow came out on the right track and sailed back to transition.
Stage 4 – Weds 00:53 – biking north to Glenlivet via a trail centre (54.5km / 6h06)
A long section of this route wasn’t mandatory, but there was only one way through the Abernethy Forest out of bounds area. I probably made this harder than I needed to, because I was keeping a very close eye on exactly where we were, ticking off turnings and other features. I’m sure if you knew the route and it was daylight, you’d be saying ‘just ride along that road until…’
It was along here that my ability to change into my big chain ring totally failed – on closer inspection my cable outer had a hole in it, the cable was fraying and tension in it was minimal. The best I could do was zip tie it up out of the way of further damage on my fork crowns and resign myself to little ring riding for the rest of the race.
At one point we found ourselves in an exceptionally midgy glen, crossing countless small streams (which we pushed our bikes through) and then having a slightly tricky bit of nav onto the right path. This was made worse by the fact we were getting eaten to death every time I stopped to try and make sense of a bit of a map confused by useless county boundary markings.
Eventually we got to the trail head for some red grade MTB routes that would take us up to a viewpoint atop a hill. It was nearly dawn, and we paused just to collect ourselves for a little while. I had a little lie down, and then discovered a very welcome, warm, open toilet … Despite the temptation to sleep we pushed on but now in ever increasing daylight.
An interesting confusion arose as we checked out the trail signage. Dave interpreted these like ski maps and assumed we’d have some downs as well as ups. Meanwhile, when I announced ‘post number 14, only one more to go’, he was very confused about where the down would come in! There was none, we were nearly there and then flying along the Speyside Way down into Glenlivet.
Compared to other centres I’ve ridden, this one was actually pretty cool, I enjoyed the uphill singletrack and some sections were quite challenging. Dave, on the other hand, had nothing to compare it to – this was his trail centre initiation ceremony!
Stage 5 – Weds 08:15 – trek on Ben Rinnes and Little Conval (29.8km / 7h55)
This was the biggest hill of the event, but looked straightforward in terms of navigation. As we climbed it got increasingly hot, and Dave was not feeling great. The conversation turned to castles and the never-ending challenge that Izzy and I are still on visiting castles / towers along the coastline from Stirling to Newcastle. Unfortunately for him, he made the mistake of sounding even just a teensy bit interested, which left the door open for me to expound on this topic almost all the way to the first of three of checkpoints we could take in any order.
Just as we got there, the skies started cracking with thunder and it duly poured with rain. I was not for putting on any extra layers, I was quite warm enough thank you! We noticed many other teams heading a different way from us, but we stuck to our route, trying to keep up with a couple of lads (not associated with the race) who weren’t even in running gear but were making a better job of a fast descent than we were.
Conversation was good as we wound our way along the road and onto the second hill. However, fluids were running low and there were no water sources apparent on the map for quite some time. I think we were both pondering the same thing when I suggested that maybe we should consider filtering the water out of one of these fresh rain puddles?? And so it was we got our first taste out of a logging road puddle, to be topped up later from the runoff along a pine needly forest track and then finally from a tap at a farm shop. What an exotic cocktail!
After a direct heathery descent off the hill, navigating some classic ‘tracks in the woods not on our maps’, seeing dragonflies flitting past and admiring the many cep mushrooms alongside the track, we finally made it into Charlestown of Aberlour, stopping in at the Coop on the way for a cold drink and other snacks.
We had planned to arrive here where we would have access to our tent and sleeping kit in the dark. Unfortunately, it was only ten past four in the afternoon, and yet we were both pretty jaded given we hadn’t slept yet. So we decided to stick to plan but just lay on the grass on our sleep mats to get some kip for about 2.5 hours. I convinced myself that although this meant wasting daylight for riding, at least it meant it would be cooler when we set off again. Sadly, my sleep was not gloriously deep as I had looked forward to, because we were right by a very noisy main road. In retrospect, maybe we should have had this sleep elsewhere, but it’s hard to decide in the moment.
Stage 6 – Weds 20:23 – bike to the sea (35.1km / 4h37)
This leg started with quite an intense climb, followed by a highly technical natural trail descent, now in the dark. I was at my limits, but constantly surprised and impressed to find Dave right there on my tail. As we blasted down some old forest tracks, I also revelled in how easy and fun it was to ride a mountain bike after many months riding similar terrain on a gravel bike!
Soon enough we were out onto some minor roads then attempting to follow the Speyside Way again. I was mightily annoyed due to the poor signage, which at times bore no resemblance to what we had mapped, and intermittently dropped in and out or was missing at key junctions. I did think to check that the next transition would be on the same route. I glanced down at the map – yes, red diamond right through it, excellent. What I didn’t spot was that the diamonds went in two directions at our intended turn off, and hence we found ourselves on a 20-minute diversion to the sea at Garmouth.
Stage 7 – Thurs 02:02 – mega orienteering & beach trek (36.5km / 10h10)
Although I felt as if the sleep before the bike had been inadequate, it must have done something, because we moved well through the transition, and I had some very cheery chat with Rachel who was handing out the bonus maps.
The walk-in to the first orienteering leg was quite long, and then we had to really focus on a map that this time had every possible detail. Now, I’m no great shakes as an orienteer, as any of my results in orienteering events will testify to. However, I have results in orienteering events, meaning that I am at least familiar with the maps and can do it, albeit slowly.
And so we worked our way through mile after mile of sand dunes, with a true highlight being the big bag of Bombay mix that Dave produced just after it got light and after a slightly dodgy spell with my tummy. We were careful, found all the controls (including number 6, which was particularly pesky) and emerged in one piece at Lossiemouth. I was very impressed with the accuracy of Dave’s counting / distance estimation – I soon stopped double checking when I requested something like ‘tell me when we’ve done 180m’. There followed a long beach run where our diligence to stick exactly to the prescribed mandatory route up and over the cliffs by the lighthouse was probably an unnecessary waste of energy.
I was feeling like I was all done with the heat and the trekking by the time we got to Gordonstoun, a famous private school where we had a more urban orienteering course to do. I found this straightforward, although one lady did get quite annoyed with us: ‘I don’t know why you’d come this way round the building when they are doing works on this side’ … we meekly backed out and went the other way without explaining that it was the direct route and our maps did not show live demolitions…
Finally we paused to get a drink and ice cream at the village shop before we made it to transition, me with sore feet and shins and glad it was over, Dave probably wishing it went on for twice as long rather than get back on his bike.
Stage 8 – Thurs 13:58 – long bike with interesting bits to break it up (130km / 17h56)
We had a lengthy transition where we just took our time and sat and ate lunch together without trying to multitask, whilst collecting our thoughts for the next leg. We also got some advice on how to loosen the springs on Dave’s pedals. This was as I had guessed but had been too timid to try. It had an immediate positive effect, and I wished I’d just done it after the first MTB leg.
Eventually we set off, getting another cold coke on the way out and considering our route options on the MTB orienteering map we’d just received.
The wayfinding was a little testing, this time following the Moray Coastal Trail, whose signage was even worse than the Speyside Way. I regretted not keeping a closer eye on distances and our location, as we weaved along through woods, taking total guesses on the correct route at various junctions and hoping for the best.
At one point I pulled ahead and, not seeing Dave behind me, stopped and turned back. He appeared round the corner with a look of consternation on his face. His seat post had been slipping & requiring constant readjustment all race and now the quick release clamp holding it up had given up the ghost and was no longer functioning at all.
By pure good fortune, not 20 metres from where we were, a girl was running a mobile beach sauna and had a fat bike lying by the car. After ascertaining the nearest bike shop was in Elgin, we asked if there was any chance at all whether, if it fitted, we could buy her seat clamp off her? She said it was her mum’s and she needed permission … there followed a very anxious wait whilst contact was made and we received the answer – YES we could borrow it. Then some moments of stress seeing if it actually fitted Dave’s bike – YES!!! Ecstatic, we were on our way again, though it took quite some time for Dave to relax and trust it was actually going to work. Louise and Fiona – thank you, you were awesome!
Kinloss Airfield was more fun than I had expected: who knew that a runway was just so wide and long?! I was oblivious to the apparently obvious Top Gun references and was more concerned about whether it was acceptable to pee on army property.
Next up was some MTB Orienteering – now this I haven’t done before, although the mapping is very similar to foot orienteering. I made my second notable nav error of the race, where I set off to control 6 instead of 16 .. once corrected we made good progress.
I got increasingly tired as we went round and was trying to keep myself awake and just make it to the end. One path looked overgrown, but passable, and was much shorter than the alternative. However, at the very top it turned into a wall of impenetrable gorse. Many other riders had clearly come this way, and we abandoned the bikes whilst we investigated every dead end until we found one that actually got us out.
After all this palaver, Dave had a slow puncture, which I was reluctant to try and actually fix (who wants to find what is probably a tiny thorn in a tyre when you’re as sleep deprived as I was?), so we resolved to just keep pumping it up and see what happened.
By the time we got to the end of the section, it was dark. I thought a quick mental break like we’d had at the trail centre would be wise, once we could find somewhere ‘suitable’. Somewhat comically, after lying down, nibbling a bit of food and chatting for about 10 minutes until the midges descended, we got up to go with Dave announcing he’d nodded off for a while. What?! We’d been talking the whole time! I guess my conversation was less fascinating than I thought…
We pressed on to the next exciting control at Lochindorb Castle, but I think our focus on ‘getting there’ got in the way of thinking about the best time to sleep. I was singing to myself, trying to talk in between and reportedly slurring my words. Meanwhile, Dave was making zero sense whatsoever. We were on an old railway that just went on and on and on, ever so slightly uphill. It was now the turn of Dave’s gears to play up, but I was in no mood to try and adjust them in case his hanger was bent from one of the tumbles. The last thing we needed now was a broken mech!
When we got to the loch side and I asked ‘shall we take a sleep here?’, Dave said yes quicker than you can say ‘midges incoming’. My alarm was set and we crawled into our bivi bags, pulling them right up over our heads to stay warm and midge free. 30 minutes later I went to wake Dave. After saying his name and shaking him quite hard several times, nothing was working. I gave up and resolved to reset the alarm for another hour.
The second wake up attempt was more successful and we got ourselves ready for a paddle across to the island with a castle. Dave seemed to think he’d let me down somehow, but I couldn’t fathom how. Later, it turned out this was maybe the surfacing of some whole other inner monologue that I’d not been party to – such are the strange things that happen when you’re so sleep deprived. I managed to get him to agree to sit back and relax whilst I used the single paddle to get us across and back. In the dark with gentle waters lapping at the boat, I genuinely rather enjoyed the provision of this taxi service, imagining I was delivering some sort of Scottish version of a gondola ride.
Once back on land we rode off again, making good progress to the ropes stage, where we zipped off a cliff and across a ravine, then climbed back out the way we had come.
There only remained ‘a bit’ more cycling along the Dava Way, which won the prize for best signposting, before rejoining the more confusing Speyside Way and some ensuing debate about whether we were allowed on the road like that other team, or should stay on the trail that ran alongside it at somewhat more effort (we took the latter option).
Eventually we got to the last climb where, as the issues with gears and tyres continued to conspire against him, Dave finally succumbed and filed a request to stop riding. I like to finish hard, so it wasn’t my first choice, but I decided on balance the right decision was to walk, talk and try not to make any stupid mistakes at the final turns. To be honest, it probably wasn’t an awful lot slower, and by the time we saw the buildings of the event centre peeking through the trees we were already riding again and pressed on to cross the finish line 6 minutes under 66h, well ahead of our planned schedule. We were both delighted to have completed the full course, which was our primary aim and a first for me.
We just won’t mention our failure to wake up for the finisher’s ceremony & dinner and the subsequent need to have our own pod party in the wee small hours of Saturday morning!
Reflections
This has to be one of my favourite events and just re-emphasised how much I love adventure racing in general, and this race specifically.
For a few days, I was totally focussed on something I enjoy i.e. staring at maps, finding our way and executing on the logistics we so meticulously planned before the event. Looking back, the times I felt rough were minimal compared to overall race duration and they were never bad enough to have made any impression compared to the times I travelled with a big grin either literal or metaphorical, loving being out in nature, whether in a kayak, on foot or on my bike (though I could skip the scorching sun!).
Despite a total dearth of what would traditionally be classed as decent trek / run training, what I had done (which did include some strength work and uphill treadmills) was sufficient and my ankle, which suffered so much earlier this year and last, seemed absolutely fine.
But more than all of that, it’s about who you do it with. After the success of racing with Maria last year, would it work out again this time around? Well yes, I quickly realised I could just be myself and not worry about it. There was an easy sense of companionship and no major disagreements or conflict to deal with (that I noticed, anyway!). Dave’s limited experience in adventure racing and some of the difficulties he faced could have turned things sour if he had not come in with the right mental attitude and amazing teamwork. Dave; once you’ve stopped being ‘mad at your bike’, maybe you’ll be tempted to give it another go!
As ever, big thank you to all the race organisers, planner, volunteers, photographers and everyone else who makes these things happen.
* If you don’t know about these, you need to read ‘Fox in Socks’ by Dr Seuss
Scurry Events – Yellowcraigs Swimrun
This was my first actual, in person race since … March 2nd 2020! Izzy originally signed up to do this with Andy, it didn’t run last year due to sea conditions. And so this year it came round, and I was the substitute partner, and it was so much fun 🙂
I actually was quite nervous beforehand, being totally out of practice with the whole process of preparing for a race day. We have a bigger (longer, larger field) race coming up, so it was actually perfect timing. It was also so good to be doing a swimrun race on our local patch in East Lothian. We do a lot of training there and it has so much potential.
The route for this event was largely an out and back, with a long swim to start with and an ascent of North Berwick Law at the far end.
With an easterly wind, the sea was quite rough. Despite doing a number of swimrun training sessions already this year, we hadn’t done anywhere near 2km in one go and we were both cold enough for the bum shake by the time we eventually got out 😀 Was fun to do such a challenging loop out to Fidra and back though.
The run and short swim to North Berwick was uneventful. The next part was unmarked, but I had gone through the route on Google street view, so we made a beeline to the bottom of the Law. Here we got mixed up in some other ultra event, but we zoomed to the top, with me doing my very best to keep up with Izzy.
It came sooner than expected, we turned around and raced back down! The final swim before the finish line was only half the length of the initial one, but we were chasing down a male pair who had just overtaken us, and also trying to make it back before risking getting swamped by the line of amassed swimmers doing the aquathlon.
Checking out the second last swim – thanks to Tim Chad for this photo 
Approaching the final swim, bracing for the cold and the chase!
We stormed out and back and made the final sprint for the line, delighted to be back racing again 🙂
Whatever way you look at we were on the ‘podium’; 3rd overall, 2nd females, 1st pair!
Thanks to Peter for putting on our first local event, which all went smoothly, to Andy for taking some photographs to record the occasion and to Izzy for being my swimrun buddy! Next stop, Cornwall!
Itera Scotland 2019 – part 3
Foot stage:
24.7km trek / 8h55 / finish time 15:55 Thursday
A bit of a false start to this stage as we set off down the road the wrong way – transition wasn’t marked on the map in quite the right place!! That’s our story anyway, and we’re sticking to it.
We finally set off up the right path, with me still munching my breakfast and Chloe managing a lot of ankle pain. At transition we had been given information that teams were taking 3h to get to the rafting from the start of the kayak. Andrea and Jon had calculated that if we could just motor this trek, taking opportunities to jog the flats and downhills, we had a chance of making it after all.
The first part of the final trek had some incredible views, including this waterfall
We got into a rhythm, being smoother and helping each other with snacks and drinks and kit adjustments to minimise stopping time. Although this was the stage we had targeted for doing the long course over the Five Sisters of Kintail, we were again short course, but the route here did not lack spectacular views. The path was easy going and we made good time.
As we had to head off-piste it got harder, but I was on fire. I powered up past the waterfall with Andrea and was springing ahead on the downhill to find the best path for Chloe and Jon, whose ankle was also now sore. I thought we might make the rafting after all, and expected the second half to be easier.
As we crossed the road past the Cluanie Inn it felt we passed into a different stage. Andrea and Chloe were able to speed walk whilst Jon lagged behind and me somewhere in between. I tried everything I thought I could to get us back together and moving at a better pace. Near the first ‘top’ Chloe needed to stop and change her socks before she got blisters from the accumulating grit inside. She wanted us to go ahead and she would catch us, but we refused.
I was hopping about on the inside, worrying about the time and sensing it just slipping through our fingers. But I did not want to snap or stress anyone out. Andrea took some of Jon’s kit and we got moving again. But now we had to either go the long way up a bit more hill and further on a path, or cut across.
We followed a team taking the direct line, through peat hags and rough ground, down to a river that proved too deep to wade. As we walked along a bit we were about to decide to stuff it and swim, when the other team found a spot to wade only up to mid thigh level 🙂
The path when we re-joined it was good. The weather had turned glorious. I wanted to run down the other side but could not cajole this out of everyone. As we got to the road, we walked when we needed to run. Chloe’s partner appeared on his motorbike to say hello. It was emotional for her.
It was just before 16:00. The guy in transition told us people were making it to the rafting from kayak put-in in about 3.5h and we might just do it. We got out fairly quickly, though not as fast as the team that arrived with us. We walked down to the river when we perhaps could have jogged. We faffed about getting in and setting off.
Trying to get ready fast at final transition to kayak
Kayak stage:
2.8km total portage / 1h35
6.2km walk / 2h15
26.5km total kayak / 5h / finish 04:20 Friday
Although we were going down a river now, this part wasn’t straightforward either. There were some mini rapids – we nearly came out on the first set but got a lot better at coordinating and steering through the second! Unfortunately there was some more portage where Andrea and I were working our hardest to get through whilst the tendons in my wrist complained loudly and Jon and Chloe struggled.
Back on the water I was asking Andrea “where is the urgency in the other boat?”. She had no answer. We decided to offer a tow, but it was refused; ‘we are keeping up fine’. On the roller coaster of emotions I was now dejected as I knew we would not make it, our speed was just not there. We soft paddled and kept together as we made our way along Loch Garry, with Chloe and Jon falling asleep and hitting each other with their paddles.
As we neared the end of the loch everyone was hallucinating as it got gloomy. The trees formed strange animals and carvings and it was hard to keep our eyes open. I’m not sure we had warned Chloe enough about this!!
Jon suddenly came alive saying we might just make it, but we couldn’t. We arrived at 20:26 – 26 minutes too late.
Later, on the way home, I spoke to Chloe about this. It turned out she wasn’t aware of the urgency – she thought we were home and dry and there was no rush. She also believed they were keeping up, not realising we were waiting. Clearly something had gone wrong with communications and I went over this a thousand times after the race. I take responsibility for not getting us there in time. You could lose 26 minutes anywhere – the nav error on the bike for one. But I also felt I should have understood what was happening better and either found a way to keep everyone motivated and focused or established a shared agreement to give up on it. Learn and move on!
Missing the rafting prompted a slight hypothermic meltdown in Chloe. This was caused by a combination of being wet, tired, not moving, the disappointment of missing the rafting and then being told we had to walk 5km and wait until 90 minutes were up before we could continue. It was all too much and she ended up inside the bivvy bag with Jon, putting on every item of dry clothing she had. Whilst Jon and Andrea looked after Chloe, I shivered and got the kayaks ready for transport. Thanks to the marshals here for helping, and the team who provided some hot water.
Finally we set off, trudging into the dark in search of food in Invergarry. Unfortunately, Invergarry is not a hot bed of food options and by the time we arrived just after 22:00 and stumbled into the pub, we were greeted by a barman who declared he could give us tea and crisps, but he was shutting up in 20 minutes just in case we thought we might fall asleep in the corner. A team arriving after us were given equally short thrift as they had takeaway teas shoved in their hands and were told to leave.
We made the most of what we had, then decided we had to sleep. As luck would have it, we found a road bridge over the path where it was dry with a smoothish surface. We got into pairs into two bivvy bags, set the alarms for 20 minutes (or not) and went to sleep.
As I spooned Chloe I was violently shaking with cold. I was still in my shorty wetsuit, still damp. I became aware of Jon and Andrea talking about it being time to get up. This was just about my worst moment of the race. I really had no notion of whether I was asleep or awake, and kept looking at my watch, unable to decipher what it was telling me. I got my bag back together and trailed behind in a daze as we made our way back to the water.
It turned out later that Andrea’s watch had misted up so she couldn’t see it properly setting the alarm, and I had managed to set the timer for 20h instead of 20 minutes 😮 . We had slept for an hour and a half.
The rest of the kayak was an uneventful paddle down to and along the Caledonian Canal. Chloe taught us some crazy round involving fish and chips and vinegar, dustbins and bottles of beer, which we executed very badly. After a couple of ‘easy’ exits and portage round the locks, we arrived in Fort Augustus and gladly abandoned the kayaks for the last time!
In transition we had a nice corner spot. I found my second of three ticks of the race attached near my eye … and we assembled our bikes ready to go. It was late in the race and despite any rules, people seemed to be sleeping where they fell on the paths outside the door.
Episode 4 – Official Film
Bike stage:
61.7km / biking / 6h25 / finish 13:50 Thursday
Despite faffing with lights, the darkness had lifted by the time we got away. This stage was actually the best mountain biking we had done all race and one of my favourite legs.
I was keeping an eye on navigation in the woods as we followed the ‘Great Glen Way’. At some point we ended up on the high walker’s route, which added a climb and some technicality. On a normal day it would be my preferred option, but I’m not sure it was what we needed at that moment!
I think at this point we were all a bit tired and fractious and were not riding harmoniously. We stopped for 30 minutes of kip somewhere, and again for our first café 30km from the end. The wasps were out in force and we did not hang around, thanks to some speedy service.
The final descent was one to savour, swooping down from high ground it went on and on and was a delight to ride. It landed us in the centre of Inverness, where we negotiated the crowds through the final few hundred metres on a section we had checked out before we left. I’m glad we did as we could weave our way directly to the finish line.
We were greeted by race directors with medals and miniature whisky from Glenmorangie. Jonny was there to do some facebook live videos and make sure we got some pictures! We all made our way over to eat pizza and relax over a meal for the first time in five days…
Episode 5 – Official Film
Reflections
On reflection, this race was not as straightforward ‘fun’ as the one I did in Wales. The rafting deadline loomed large all race and we were under pressure to make the short course, with no room to correct for any miscalculations. It was so disappointing to miss it anyway after all that focus! To play to my own strengths and favoured sports I’d have loved more mountain biking and less portaging 😉
Team dynamics were also very different, with somewhat more conflict and less cohesion. However, racing with that little sleep under such difficult conditions isn’t exactly conducive to harmonious socialising. Everyone laboured under different hardships ranging from sore throats, diarrhoea all race (!), swollen ankles, blistered mouths and feet and who knows what else.
Having said all that, we resolved any issues and made it to the finish line together. We did really well, finishing 12th overall thanks in large part to our early strategic decisions. I learnt a lot and we achieved a lot, though it is still hard to take it all in! Some of the places on the trek stages were incredible and it is amazing to think how crazy some of the race was and what we went through with those kayaks. An unforgettable experience!
For my own part I was delighted to escape with ‘normal’ 5 day race swelling, a single blister and sore tendons in one wrist. All subsided quickly. Worse, was picking up a probable flu virus a week after finishing, which I still haven’t been able to completely shake! The race reminded me how much I do like adventure racing after several years of swimrun focus. Maybe I should look for another one to do … 😉
Many thanks to John Ovenden and support from Lochland Runner, to our live social media updaters Andy and Jonny, everyone who sent us motivational trail mail, the race organisers under Open Adventure banner James, Tom and Paul plus a special one from me to my physio Graham who over the last 10 months somehow helped me rehab my hamstring tendon sufficiently to take part with no pain.
Finally, thanks to my teammates Jon, Andrea and Chloe for being up for going on such an epic journey!
If you like numbers, this is how our race shaped up in totals – distances, times – yes, there is a spreadsheet! You can see our route here, just select our team on the right.
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- Each stage with total time and distance, plus time of day we finished
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- Total time and distance spent on each discipline
Finish line photo
If you missed part 1 – it’s here! And part 2 – here!
Photo credits to Chloe (team photographer!), Rob Howard from Sleepmonsters and Photogractif. Team videos by Jonny Collins.
Itera Scotland 2019 – part 2
Foot stage:
13km trek / 8h45
2h sleep
26km trek / 10h36 / finish stage 16:50 Wednesday
And so we set off up our first big mountain. Everyone was tackling An Teallach. I haven’t been there before, but it turns out it is big, scrambly and has vertiginously steep sides! We were keen to make the most of remaining daylight. As we ascended it got windier and colder. Soon I was wearing all of my clothes save one emergency thermal jacket, including my waterproof trousers. I also had my first ‘moment’ as I felt woozy and incapable of climbing a mountain. This time handing over some kit to packhorse Andrea and taking a couple of gels worked wonders.
It got dark and then Chloe had her ‘moment’, finding the exposure bringing back some difficult memories. We pulled together and made slow but steady progress until we were onto the boulder field, clambering down to the track to the bothy everyone had spotted on the map earlier. We hadn’t slept for about 45h by this point and tempers frayed a bit as we all badly needed some rest. I was worried we would find the place full, but there was only one way to find out.
It was indeed busy, but we found space on the wooden floor and crashed out for 2h, with Chloe opting to brave any midges in the more spacious outside quarters 😀 .
Up we got and we decided to go for at least one of the long course controls. It wasn’t significant extra distance, though it was significant extra climb. It was also intriguingly named ‘tennis court’ and I am a sucker for funny place names.
We were all somewhat muted to start. I was slow as we ascended and also stopped to put protective gaffer tape on hot spots developing on my feet. I wasn’t up for blisters like those I experienced during UTS… There was some ‘debate’ about which way to get to the top, slightly confused by some hints we got at a briefing. In the end, Andrea took off up a gully, with Jon chasing after to check it out and Chloe and I gingerly bringing up the rear. I was afraid of scree or scrambling at the top, and as it was we were holding onto grass as we climbed. Not the most secure, but it was OK in the end.
As you will see later, going for this control was possibly a strategic mistake in terms of race position. However, it was also one of the most memorable and amazing parts of the course that we did – so this time I am happy that we got to experience this regardless. The ridge walk was incredible, and the ‘tennis court’ itself looked like someone had just come and sliced the top off the mountain.
One of my favourite pictures – on the ridge with tennis court second blob along in front of us
On the descent I came alive a bit and even ran. Or maybe jogged. Further down the views of the river cutting through Gleann Bianasdail creating swirling rock formations with waterfalls and pools looked very inviting. I’d like to go back to that and explore. The beauty was only marred as my ‘usual blister’ underneath my little toe burst causing every step to be agony for a while.
After negotiating ‘paths not on the map’ and a slightly sarcastic comment to another team about my ability to identify a graveyard (sorry), we finally arrived in Kinlochewe.
Rachel doing a grand job at midge central, checking we were all in the tent for the required time
This was the first time we had access to our tent at a vaguely sensible time for sleeping, and we had to put it up and stay in it for 20 minutes anyway. We got ourselves ready for the next stage then all clambered in for a couple of hours kip. I wondered if we should have more, or less? But it was too complicated to think. As the rain hammered on the roof, and a French team swore at the midges outside, we drifted off. Not the best sleep, but we needed it.
Stones on the beach as we rejoin a path
Episode 2 – Official Film
Bike stage:
69.3km / biking / 7h40 / finish 05:10 Thursday
We set off just after 21:30 in the dark. It was now obligatory for us to short course this stage. Before we started we had hoped to do more than this here, sketching out a couple of different options. But course changes and our slow speed meant it wouldn’t have been sensible anyway.
After leaving all the map reading to Chloe and Jon on the foot stage, it was my turn again. I confidently took the first turning, with Andrea stopping to check the map. As we waited for her to catch back up she appeared, a bit shaken from a fall as she had tried to adjust her lights. We were all tired.
Peering at the map, I had in mind ‘just follow the double track alongside the loch for about 5km’. I was trying to prove myself by navigating swiftly and keep us moving. Mistake. We passed a junction and hesitated. ‘It says cycle trails this way’ someone said … and I pushed on as that was just a footpath and we wanted the track, right? We were going up and up in a forest and it didn’t feel right. But I stubbornly carried on, not wanting to faff about. As the distance came up, we emerged from the forest. I looked properly at the map and immediately realised my error. We should have taken the path ARGH.
Jon went to investigate a possible joining path and we dithered, eventually turning back on ourselves. I thought it would be quicker just to descend at high speed to the junction, but the team were lagging behind. My adrenaline and drive to fix this was not matched! As I agitated I was annoyed with myself – not a mistake I’d have made in the daylight, and quite costly, maybe half an hour.
It was slow going along the path and I was now doubting myself about where to look for the right turn. Then there came a horrible noise from my bike. Clank! Clank! I stopped, turned the pedals. Clank! Clank! I spun the wheel without the pedals. Clank! Clank! It seemed to come from my bottom bracket but the wheel was the only bit turning. Chloe and Jon came to help – concluding it must be a disaster with my hub. Then we suddenly spotted an extremely large nail embedded in my tyre and hitting the chainstay on every revolution …
We got it out, and Chloe put her thumb on the hissing hole. By the time Jon produced a magic bung gun it had sealed, but we whopped it in anyway. With much relief we were on our way.
Nav was tricky and now I was very careful. There were many paths not marked on the map but once we got onto the Coulin Pass it was straightforward and easy going. I had run this in the opposite direction many years ago on Celtman! But remembered little!
At some point it started raining. And then it was like riding under a shower head. We were on a road by now, and my new coat did an admirable job of keeping me dry, but it was still a bit epic. Near Strathcarron we happened upon a pub with umbrellas outside. We stopped to get extra layers on, but the lady who ran it waved us inside. She had already closed and hadn’t heard about the race before a team stopped to talk to her, but was encouraging us all to make use of the toilets and the back room to warm up and change. What a lovely lady!
Shortly, we were back ascending on a fire road before going over a high point on a rough track. I was feeling optimistic because it was all downhill back to a road from here, and despite being rocky and muddy it was mostly rideable. We went in pairs; Jon and I going ahead a bit, then watching the lights of Chloe and Andrea catching us before we set off again.
The riding came to an abrupt end however, as the path got narrower and harder going. We were forced to walk again, tripping and stumbling as we pushed our bikes on through the dark.
We had made a calculation of how much time we needed from the end of the next trek to get to the rafting on time. We thought a generous 5-6h, and by calculating backwards as we stood on that dark wet hillside, I knew we needed to be starting the next trek right about now…
When we emerged on the road all somewhat the worse for wear, we felt the need for a team hug before we could get moving again. About 10 seconds later Chloe’s light went flat (she was having a nightmare with batteries all race!) but we swapped things around to get us all legal and going again.
Second castle of the race, looking splendid
More road, pausing at Eilean Donan castle and quickly locating the control by looking closely at the map and reading the description instead of heading straight to the castle (we had seen a team searching there for a long time…)
Next transition was difficult. It was now light, but raining, and we weren’t allowed indoors with our kit bags. We dismantled the bikes outside first. I found a seat clamp on the floor and asked the team if it was one of ours. “No!” said everyone. I wasn’t so sure. Jon and I checked – it fitted Chloe’s bike perfectly, it was next to her box … we quietly put it back on and headed indoors.
Teams were getting crotchety with each other as bags were moved and they rummaged around in them. I had to go back and forth for things I forgot first time, and despite instructions I am sure some people were using the showers in the toilets as I queued for an age just to relieve myself.
Before long though, we were ready to set off again on foot for the final trek.
If you want to go straight to part 3 – it’s here! If you missed part 1 – it’s here!
Photo credits to Chloe (team photographer!), Rob Howard from Sleepmonsters and Photogractif
Episode 3 – official film
Itera Scotland 2019 – part 1
It has taken me a while to start this report – to let the race sink in and to get over the dreaded lurgy sufficiently to have energy to write!
We were number 26, Team Lochland Runner – Andrea, Chloe, Jon and myself. We started the week well by managing to arrive in Inverness only 5 minutes apart. I had come up with Chloe and we had chatted the whole way, making wild guesses about what the course might hold in store.
The weekend was spent registering, getting maps, going to briefings, planning, sorting out kit and most importantly – eating! Pizza! Tensions did rise a bit as we fully grasped the scale of the kayaking element relative to everything else (though we had been warned) and there was a bit of drama when all our buoyancy aids failed the ‘test’. Luckily, we were 4 of many and plans were put in place to hire some out to us.
As we pored over the maps and route book a couple of key things became apparent. There were time cut offs for both a canyoning stage on Tuesday afternoon and a rafting stage at 8pm on Thursday. Both carried significant time penalties and we wanted to make them both. The rest of the race was planned around this, using the information given about likely leg times and our own experience to estimate what we thought we could do. Our plan was always to short course, but we did hope to do some of the long course options such as extra biking near Applecross and the Five Sisters trek.
After an early alarm on Monday morning, we all found ourselves on coaches heading for Dunrobin castle. It was a slightly midgey and cool wait with some confusion over the actual start time. Oh, just me? OK then!!
Episode 0 – official film
Run and kayak stage:
5.1km run / 35 minutes / finish 09:05 Monday
19.4km paddle / 3h25 / finish 12:45 Monday
The 5km run through beautiful woods and a gorge got us nicely warmed up before we jumped in the kayaks for our first taste of the sea – this time on the east coast. We were headed for Glenmorangie Distillery. The journey was fairly uneventful, apart from our first experiences with the right-veering kayaks. I developed some sort of combination of right sweep strokes and missing left strokes to keep us vaguely on course.
Bike stage:
77.7km / 4h35 / finish 18:10 Monday
We had decided right from the beginning to do all of this leg short course. The only temptation to go longer was the fact that this would mean we were riding on roads most of the way to the next transition. Pleasant, quiet, low traffic roads; but tarmac all the same. Our rationale was that we needed time in hand to get through the next kayak stage and make it to the canyoning before the cut off.
We shot off like hares, and Chloe had to get us back on track at a more sensible pace.
Transition was a bit chaotic as we had arrived earlier than expected and the marshals hadn’t quite got a system sorted. We had beaten the first long course team in, but they were gone before you could say ‘that was fast’. As it was, I got a shock to the system as Andrea whipped us all into transition shape and we were in and out a lot faster than I had experienced in similar races. She’s raced with some top teams though, and deemed us too slow! We had a lot of information to take in before we could leave, with course changes to the kayaking adding in more distance and extra portage in order to keep us nearer the mainland in forecast strong winds.
Kayak stage:
18km total portage / 9h
46.1km total kayak / 11h10 / finish 15:55 Tuesday
We paddled off on a loch heading west into a glorious sunset. The scenery was magnificent. Although adventure racing novice Chloe was pondering whether she liked ‘AR’ yet due to the lack of adventurous biking so far, she did have to admit that as we stopped for the first portage in the dark and rain, that this wasn’t an experience she’d have had otherwise…
The changes meant this leg was going to take longer than planned. There was an optional run up Suilven which we had originally considered, but we decided now it was best to press on and make use of any time saved later in the race. Doing this plus the short course bike turned out to be a kayak-leg saver, though we didn’t know it at the time.
Snack and water bottle refills in the dark and rain on the delightful road portage, somewhere on the west coast
The first portage was only a taster of what was to come. A we inched towards the coast, we lugged a pair of 30kg kayaks, plus portage trolleys and kit over rough rocky ground in the dark and rain. We were being careful not to drag them. At times we were ferrying the kit separately in relay, with all four of us coming back to carry each boat the next section and trying not to twist our ankles on boulders or to disappear thigh deep in bog as we staggered blindly forward. When we could, we used leashes attached to the front, Andrea and I pulling our boat like shire horses over the heather. As some of the long course teams overtook us we took note of their technique …
When we reached the road it was bliss to put the kayaks on their trolleys and roll them along. In no time it seemed we were getting back in. We had half hoped for a sleep but we were wet and the two of us without dry suits got cold very quickly as soon as we stopped moving (and this was despite me wearing a shorty wetsuit). We got back in, quite literally for me as I lost my footing and was dunked, seeing my paddle nearly disappear down the river.
Finally we were back on the sea, now all the way across the country and on the west coast. This was near the Summer Isles; apparently a mecca for paddlers, but we couldn’t see anything except the dark hulks of land mass and the occasional shooting star.
Taking the risk of heading to the spot where the strobe light of a team in front had disappeared, we landed safely at the next headland, only to be greeted by a new form of portage hell. We couldn’t make progress over the bushes, so opted for the river. As it we ascended it progressed from merely rocky to mini rapids that I wouldn’t want to walk up, even without a kayak in tow. We had to anchor ourselves on rocks and haul them up in stages. We eventually gave up, clambered out on the other side and were lucky to find a path where the going was ‘easier’ before hitting the road at Achnahaird, scene of some of my childhood holidays.
It was not over yet though!
Another long sea crossing awaited. Although we could now see the various islands, we were being battered by the wind and waves. The boast continuously turned right, which was getting tedious. Our instructions were to head to within 100m of Isle Martin where a boat might indicate the turning point. I was facing a mutiny as the team got cold and fed up seeing us paddle past the place we were heading to on the other shore before we could turn and go back up.
AJ and I haul a kayak up a hill with no path. This was the portage that broke the camel’s (or our) back!
Crossing the ferry line at our best estimate of a right angle, we neared the far shore and turned straight into the wind and tide. I was only focused on our landing spot when Andrea announced we weren’t moving anywhere. “It’s just perspective”, I said. I was wrong. We decided after another 15 minutes of fruitless paddling to head straight into the shore and see if we could walk along. Even getting there took an humongous effort and I started to panic. When we arrived we were faced with large unwalkable boulders. We considered taking a penalty if needed and getting the boats straight onto the bottom of the track marked on the map. We were desperate. But the wind suddenly dropped, the white horses disappeared and we leapt back in to paddle round the shoreline and say hello to some waiting cows.
Jon demonstrates solo portage style. See how far away the sea is?
Only to face even worse portage hell!! We must have only been in purgatory before! Where did they find this stuff? This time there were rocks, it was steep and it took all 4 of us to climb the first section. Then it was heather and uneven ground up a hill, as we dragged and swore. I practically threw ours over the fence at the top. Well, ‘threw’ is an exaggeration. We bumped down the other side for what should have been an easy downwind paddle to transition, but was a race against time to get to the new canyoning cut off (though it had subsequently been extended). It didn’t feel easy. And I still couldn’t steer us in a straight line.
After some face pulling and head shaking at Paul, a hug from James stopped some close tears from me and we were so glad to abandon those boats…
Many of the following teams got stuck close to where we did and were transported by coach from Ullapool incurring a hefty time penalty. Our choice to short course early and get through the kayaking combined with a bit of weather luck had bumped us up the standings.
Canyoning:
We all wriggled into full wetsuits and headed up the hill for a fun interlude of canyoning, including a jump which had preyed on Andrea’s mind, an abseil down a waterfall and another where we dropped into a pool off the bottom of a rope and something I forget the name of but involved not quite whizzing down a wire and having to pull yourself over with the danger of getting your hands munched! I battered myself here and there on the way down but it was refreshing.
Me abseiling the waterfall. Quite cool.
The transition was the best of the whole race – a great big barn with loads of space and places to sit 🙂
We had to be out before the time cut off if we wanted to consider any of the long course. As it turned out it might have been better race-wise if we had had this choice imposed on us, but we didn’t and I am not renowned for my cautiousness!
And so we set off on foot into the dying embers of day 2 (Tuesday).
If you want to go straight to part 2 – it’s here!
Photo credits to Chloe (team photographer!), Rob Howard from Sleepmonsters and Photogractif
Episode 1 – official film
Team Lochland Runner – Itera Top Tips
Team Lochland Runner all got together for a training weekend recently. Included on the itinerary were sharing our top tips for expedition adventure racing and planning our strategy! Chloe is new to expedition events, but we have all been in different types of races and can always learn from each other.
I thought I’d share these in case you’re interested in the kinds of things we’re thinking about, or are looking for inspiration! Let us know if you have any questions or other top tips you would share 🙂
FOOD
This is one we talked about many times! I for one like to know where the next meal is coming from and don’t go anywhere without snacks. However, in an expedition race you have to think about what will keep well in your kit bag for a week and make sure there are savoury items on the menu. We may also need to take opportunities that present themselves on the way. We’re just concerned about how well-endowed the race route will be with handy cafes! Since finding hidden cafe gems is one of my special skills, I will have to make sure I don’t spend the pre-race weekend researching detours …
With me being vegetarian and Chloe vegan, it is an extra challenge to think of good ideas and this is still a work in progress. Knowing that hot water is usually available in transition, some of our savoury ideas so far are:
Instant noodles, instant mashed potato, cup a soup, couscous, rice cakes, oatcakes with peanut butter, meals from Tentmeals, Firepot and Summit to Eat (I can vouch for at least one of these being very edible…), German rye bread, flavoured cooked rice pouches…
Sweet things are easier as we can use gels and bars and energy drinks in moderation. Lochland Runner are also helping us out here with Born products. Variety will be key!
FEET
… or more specifically, blister prevention!! Everyone has their own theories on this. Our consensus seemed to be:
- Get shoes and socks off feet quickly in transition to let them air
- Have crocs or similar to wear in transition
- Either talc them or moisturise them
- Treat hotspots quickly en route with either Compeed or gaffer tape
- Avoid woolly socks (I find tight fitting, quick drying compression socks work well)
- Stay hydrated
- Have a spare pair of running shoes to change pressure points
- Take sterilised scalpel blades and wipes to burst any big blisters that do appear…
Jon gets his feet up and has a power nap – an essential adventure racing skill
CLOTHING AND KIT
Our discussion about this was more general, as we have to use what we are comfortable in and have tested well. Ideas we shared were:
- Take shoes for paddling, especially if there is any portage or walking involved (which we now know there will be!)
- Take two different pairs of shoes for running. If one pair are a bit bigger it can help with swollen feet later in the race
- Expect to be cold … colder than you expect! The effects of tiredness, night time and low food intake will all affect how warm we feel. I am still surprised how many of the photos from the race in Wales feature trousers and waterproofs …
- Have spare brake pads for your specific brakes
- Have enough battery power for your lights
- Pre-pack food into bags that will last about one stage so you can just take one out in transition
- Have a heavy duty waterproof bag to shove your backpack in and strap down on paddling stages
- Pre pack clothing into clear, labelled bags like short sleeves, long sleeves, shorts, trousers
- Pack as much as you need in transition bag, but no more! The more you have to rummage through or choose between, the longer transitions will take
- A tick remover per team is essential – they just love the damp Scottish heather and bracken. You need to keep checking and get them out within 24h to minimise risk of Lyme’s disease
- Caffeine tablets of some kind might come in handy as you pull your fourth all-nighter in a row!
- Take lip balm, you will not regret it
GENERAL STRATEGY
Well … I obviously can’t reveal too much here, it’s top secret 😀
However, my advice is to definitely discuss this and make sure everyone has the same idea about what you’re trying to achieve. You also need to be realistic about your collective abilities and what to expect from the course so that you can make smart decisions. Although you can’t predict what will happen, having a basic fall back plan and common goals will help make decision making easier.
I’d say things to think about include:
- Any aims for finishing position in the field
- Long course / short course
- How much sleep to expect, when and where
- Pacing and degree of ambition for different stages
- Towing and kit distribution
- Navigators (lead / back up and in different disciplines)
- Transition process (what order to change, eat, sleep), including ‘checkout’
- Team roles
Finally, always keep an eye on the details and don’t forget about your hairdo – no washing for a week with plenty of rain, sweat and river or sea water mixed in! I always go super short – I’d better go and get booked in for a cut 🙂
Itera 2019 Team Introduction
This year my main race will be Itera Expedition race in Scotland in early August. It’s for a team of 4 and we’ll be on the move for 5 days, trekking, mountain biking, kayaking and possible other modes of transport or activity that have yet to be revealed! Here’s a wee introduction to our team and our thoughts about the race.
Team Name: Team Lochland Runner
Team Members: Rosemary Byde, Jon Ellis, Andrea Davison, Chloe Rafferty
Team Information:
We are supported by Lochland Runner, who supply innovative brands for sports like trail running, swimrun, OCR, and orienteeering.
I raced with Jon in Itera Wales – but one of our team members was Paul McGreal who is otherwise occupied this time round (he’s one of the organisers)! Andrea is an Open Adventure regular, has expedition race experience and is making her comeback. Chloe is our secret weapon … she runs events company LoveSwimRun, lives in North Wales and can often be seen out in the mountains biking, climbing, running or swimming.
The most important thing in forming our team was making sure we had similar goals and expectations and that we all have a similar ethos and approach to working together. We’ll be putting that to the test with a training weekend later in June 🙂
Special team skills include engineering, mountain leading, sewing, an obsession with detail, a love of maps and more than one person trained in optimising solutions to problems! As the race goes on, I am sure we will discover many more talents amongst us.
Personalised team map buffs! Can’t think of anything much cooler than that.
Why did we choose to do this and what are our expectations of the race / Scotland?
The Scottish highlands are a wild and beautiful place and we all want to experience more of it. We know we are going to the perfect location for an epic adventure that Paul, Tom, James and the team are sure to deliver. The anticipation and excitement are already growing.
Whilst the rest of us have done similar races before, this is Chloe’s first time. She’s alternately terrified and excited and can’t wait to race as part of a team. Although the effects of sleep deprivation and how to stay fuelled as a vegan are on her mind, she has been primed for special ‘visual effects’ (sleepmonsters) and someone has promised to carry emergency flapjack supplies 😉
Even though it is the first week of the new school year, Andrea is making her expedition race comeback before she gets ‘too old’! Sleep is on her mind too, as she doesn’t want to miss out on the memories.
However, Jon and I clearly remember the fun, camaraderie and amazing landscapes we moved through last time and nothing was going to stop us entering again …
We’re all relishing the challenge and anticipating the sense of achievement we’ll get from doing the event. We’re going to be pushing ourselves and it has been the motivation for some of us to increase our training, pick up new skills or reacquaint ourselves with old ones. I for one know that whilst I still soldier on with hamstring rehab for running, my mountain bike is seeing significantly more action than recent swimrun years have afforded!
Our expectations are that we will finish mid pack. The most important things are for us to work hard, help each other, make the most of our collective abilities and never stop trying until we get to the finish line!
Finally, one person has already mentioned the dreaded ‘M’ word … we’re all hoping that we’ll be moving too fast for any midges to catch us for breakfast!
Testing out buff and making sure it was one of ‘mine’!
Scurry to the Sea
Andy and I were seeking inspiration for our Sunday long run. Izzy did Scurry to the Sea last year and I liked the idea of it, but it looked sold out. However, as people cancelled and told the organiser, he released spaces … so at about 2030 on Saturday night we grabbed two spaces to do the race early Sunday morning!
Scurry Bag
This set off a flurry of activity, checking logistics and working out a route. The race has 3 checkpoints and free route choice in between. I mainly based my decisions on the route the top people took last year (via Strava stalking). Then I also had to help Andy learn how to use the route following function on his gps, as he had a minor panic about knowing the way.
And so very early on Sunday we were up, cycling over to Musselburgh to register and get a coach up to the ski centre. The route is straight up to the top of one of the hills in the Pentlands (Allermuir), then back via two prescribed points to Musselburgh at the sea, finishing with some obligatory beach running torture.
High tech start line!
The field seemed to be largely made up of Portobello Running Club people! No one wanted to stand on the start line so I edged forward … At the starting signal off we all went, soon power walking the steep bits. I was in 5th place out of the girls and as we turned at the top, I could see there was a bit of a gap to the next. Down we went, and as the terrain got easier and less steep I could see Andy’s friend Sarah up in front. Grace, another friend, had vanished.
As I went along, my watched beeped every km and it looked alarmingly fast. I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to keep this up, but it was downhill … I thought I could catch Sarah and was slowly making ground. As we got to some traffic lights and she hesitated over the route I caught up and showed the way. Out of the feed station I was slightly ahead until the next lights, and so on!
Start line
At the second feed station she accelerated away and opened a gap, which I was holding but making no impression on. She had two teammates with her too! At this point my pace dropped somewhat, though it was more of a step change and stabilise than a terminal nosedive.
All the way along the main feature had been the HEAT. I was boiling and shade seeking. Despite two drinks stops I had some of the water I was carrying ‘for emergencies’. I probably should have had a gel as well, but by the time I decided that, I just wanted to concentrate on getting this thing finished!
Straight up the hill in a sea of Porty vests!
A familiar voice behind on a cycle path cheered me up as a cyclist I know came past yelling encouragement (thanks Sandra!). As I slowed to scale the bridge over the railway I felt quite dizzy and the only option was to keep running or slump to the ground! I gave up on catching Sarah at this point and concentrated on getting to the finish line.
As we turned onto the beach, there it was. But it took a long while to come … as I fell over the line I headed straight for the nearest shade and lay down, squirting water on my face and drinking. 20 minutes later I was feeling alive enough to get up in time to cheer Andy in.
The face says it all …
A great little event, much more taxing than it looked on paper, as I had DOMS for a week afterwards! I was pleased to finish 5th female and 1st vet (14th overall), for which I got an Active Root bottle and sachet and a bottle of something more bubbly! Grace and Sarah were in 3rd and 4th respectively. Well done all 🙂
First vet!
Full results here. Thanks to everyone involved, all the volunteers, the organiser Peter Ness and Kate Freedman who took the photos. After some post-race analysis I am tempted to do it again if I am free next year, if only because I have spotted about 5 places to take a fractionally faster route 😀
Bowhill long duathlon 2018
This one was the race I should have done when The Beast came and dumped snow on us instead. Fortunately, I was still able to make the new date and Damien stepped in to get me there when it turned out my lift couldn’t! We even managed to safely negotiate the clock change and arrive in very good time, if still a little bleary-eyed.
For my warm up I went and investigated the tricky singletrack section at the end of the bike leg, which I remembered from last time I did this race. Hmm, I did not do a great job, though I did see which bits I was likely to have to jump off and run down!
The start of the race was a bit of a jostle and I felt like hoards of people just whizzed away from me up the hill, which affected my confidence. All I could do was keep working at it and keep Caroline (my series rival!) in sight. Sure enough, I eventually came past her as the hill went up and up.
A flattish, bumpy and wet puddly section followed, and I hesitated as a guy came through and cut me up. I was trying to keep pedalling hard when Caroline retook the lead! More hills followed – she pulled away as I had to walk, I caught up as she walked … We entered the top of the singletrack together, which I knew was not to my advantage 😀
As she disappeared I walked / ran / scooted and sometimes even pedalled, although I also fell sideways at one point. My best moment on this part was actually riding the final corner and tree roots after working out the best line in warm up. I nearly skidded on my cleat at the dismount line and transition seemed to take forever as I fumbled into my running shoes.
I thought Caroline would be long gone, and indeed she had gained over a minute on that tricky bike section. Skills pay off! However, we were wearing matching coloured tops and I caught fleeting glimpses of her through the trees up ahead. I was trying to go fast but my shins started screaming at me. I wanted to sort of relax my legs but it was impossible, going uphill and working hard over the terrain!
The run route on this race is an out and back. We turned into the twisting uphill section through the trees and I could see no one. But when we popped out, there she was again. I think I even started gaining just a little bit to the turn and back down …
But then returning to the trees she knew where her strengths lay (on foot, as on bike!) and when we emerged she was well out of sight. I think she must have hurdled the logs I clambered over! I only saw her once more, far in the distance, so instead I focused on beating the guy I’d been going back and forth with for a while!
2nd female and 2nd in the series to Caroline, who played it smart and was better on the technical terrain than I!
I had a jolly time and was pleased to have entered again this year. Now just an Open 5 to go before all focus turns to my first big race of the year – my second ultra – 80km up and down mountains in Snowdonia. Can’t wait!
Planet Byde 