Bennachie Ultra

                                              

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.

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.