The hardest thing about training for an ultra in 2020? Well,
I would say it was the uncertainty of whether the race was actually going to go
ahead in the first place. When you first send off that entry form there’s
always the possibility of something stopping you getting to that start line
such as work or family commitments or illness and injury but a global pandemic?
Well, that’s a new one. It was only the Wednesday before the Bennachie Ultra
was due to take place that the First Minister confirmed that the travel restrictions
would be less severe for Aberdeen this time round and we would still be allowed
to travel more than 5 miles from home and running events, following Scottish
Athletics rules, would still go ahead. And this is me speaking as a runner, it
must have been incredibly difficult for the race organiser to know that all
their hard work could be wasted so close to the event.
It would be fair to say training had been patchy at best in
the lead up to the race. I got really pretty fit over lockdown proper in the
spring – not much else to do really was there? The weather was great and there
was the novelty of all sorts of virtual running challenges ranging from Scottish
athletics mile time trials to hunting trig points to running the ascent of
Everest in your back garden. I have to admit trig point hunting and megalith
hunting were particular favourite lock down challenges of mine and the North East
of Scotland seems to be particularly spoilt for archaeological remains. It was
also great to explore tracks and paths around the city and find new ones that I
had never run on before despite living in Aberdeen for 10 years.
At the start of the summer travel restrictions were lifted
and hill running was back on the cards for folk like myself who had been
restricted to the city. On the day on which the restrictions were lifted I got
up early in celebration before work and drove out to the last hill that I had
run up before lockdown in March and slowly trotted up and down that hill making
the most of my time on it breathing in the fresh air, relishing the silence and
the feeling of the light summer rain on my face. I was so relieved that that
trips to the mountains were back on.
Unfortunately, though it seemed that the rest of the
population of the UK had the same idea now they were allowed to travel again.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for encouraging people to get outside and enjoy
the mountains but what I wasn’t prepared for was the filth and the litter that
they would leave, it was soul destroying to see. I came back from runs with
bags of rubbish in my car and disposable BBQs that people had left and I prayed
that lockdown was lifted quickly so that this lot would go back to their beach
holidays in Torremolinos (lucky Torremolinos) and to wherever they usually went
at weekends. The camper van brigade seemed to be the worst, quite happy to
empty their tanks of human waste at the road side in rural Scotland rather than
pay for chemical disposal elsewhere. It really defied belief.
Then, in the summer, disaster struck. An oil worker who,
instead of self-isolating as he should have been, went on a pub crawl around
Aberdeen and some local establishments were less than rigorous in exercising their
crowd control particularly when players from the local football club were
present and these two events on the same weekend caused an outbreak of COVID in
the city. Aberdeen was placed firmly in lockdown and firmly on the COVID
naughty step. I had suddenly realised how precarious my freedom was and how
dependent it was on other people’s behaviour which is a very sobering thought
given the number of idiots going about. Motivation definitely dipped as did
training.
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| Wave 2 heading for the start line |
Then lockdown was lifted again but there was little time left
before the race and so I managed a 17-18 mile run on 3 consecutive weekends
over the race route and that was my training for the race wrapped up for better
or worse. I figured I would give the race a shot as I had nothing to lose.
The start of the race was tightly controlled, you could only
arrive at the start line within a designated time slot and pick up your number
in the start zone before lining up in a small socially distanced group. The
race itself was held in a handicap format to assist with social distancing. Over
cautiously perhaps I opted for an early start time and was set of in “wave 2”
with my little group. The Tunnel Ultra finisher and Spine legend Alan Cormack
was the race sweeper and I was a bit disconcerted to find that he had started
in the same wave as me. I think I spent the first 13 miles looking over my
shoulder to make sure I wasn’t being “swept” but the only people coming past
were faster runners who had set off in the waves behind me. We all seemed to
settle into a steady trot for the first part of the race which followed wide
land rover tracks through the forest in the early morning mist before climbing
up onto open hillside with the hills stretching out before us and the green
rolling fields in the distance. Next, we dropped down from the hill on to the quiet
Lords Throat Road for a 2 or 3 mile stretch which seemed to pass quickly enough
before reaching the checkpoint at Millstone.
The Bennachie Ultra is a bit of a cruel race in that all of
the climbing is in the second half of the race and sure enough, on leaving the Millstone
checkpoint it was time for the climb to the summit of Millstone hill. A light
rain had been on and off all morning but now the wind seemed to increase so
that was the jacket firmly on for the rest of the run. I seemed to be passing
people in my wave on the way up the hills but getting passed on the way down and
by now there was a steady flow of people who had started in the waves behind me
now coming past and likewise, I was passing those who had started in the waves
ahead of me.
The dreaded “Zig Zags” had often been mentioned in race Facebook
chat in the weeks preceding the race and it was definitely wise to have left
something in the tank for this series of trail switchbacks climbing up through
the forest out on to the open hillside. On a chilly autumn day the hill was a lot
busier with spectators than I was expecting. In true continental style one of
my fellow club members was encouraging runners and ringing a cowbell which
could be heard over the whole hillside and another popped up like a white
rabbit at numerous places along the route. By now the really fast
people were coming fast and I had to skip aside off the path to let race winner,
Commonwealth Games marathon bronze medallist Robbie Simpson, by. The downside
of the handicap format was having to jump off the path to get out of the faster
runner’s way when jumping was the one action my legs were not coping with after
mile 25. I started to gradually slow down on the muddy hillside tracks, that
lack of miles and lack of long runs was definitely showing.
The final summit was the ancient hill fort of Mither Tap
where we skirted under the rocky outcrop and I managed to blag some jelly
babies from a nice lady there before tackling the final descent. You would
think the descent would be the fun part but my quads by now were most
definitely feeling ever so slightly battered but I did my best to pick up the
pace. I think I had put my estimated time for the run as 7hrs on the entry form
and midway round I was wondering if sub 6 was possible but as the sub 6 hours
target slipped away I still thought I should chase sub 6.30. It was not to be
and I finished in 6.31. I’ll take it.
The race organisers did an amazing job putting this race on
in what are probably some of the most trying times imaginable and there was a
good spread of food at the end and an excellent goody bag as well and let’s
face it, that’s what really matters. Sadly, though there could be no prize
giving and no socialising after the race and so most people just headed home
after a fantastic race on the hills and, most importantly, for those few hours
it was possible to forget all about COVID and lockdowns.
But what if the race hadn’t happened and was cancelled at
the last minute? I think if nothing else then 2020 has shown that a complete
change in mindset and flexibility towards running is required.
I have entered a couple of events in 2021 and already one
has been cancelled and so I think the tactic I am going to employ is picking a long
distance route which can be my substitute “race” should the planned event be
cancelled, it seems prudent at the moment to have two targets to aim for so
that motivation can be maintained. I guess that’s why FKTs are all the rage
these days amongst distance runners and so at the moment lockdown evenings are
being spent poring over maps with a glass of wine in hand picking interesting
routes which will be my alternative objectives if my races are cancelled. We
are lucky to have this option.
