A Weather Report from Fort William

The forecast said rain. I checked another couple of websites. They all said  rain, except those which suggested heavy rain. A gentle breeze, 8-10 mph south to south easterly was predicted. Force 3 on the Beaufort scale. Thought I better check that......small twigs blowing gently on the ground, flags extending. That sounded ok. Anyway, I was dressed for anything the weather could throw at me....I wore my vest (I 'm a Calderglen man now). Oh ...and my girlie gloves!
As you know my preparation hadn't gone too well in the build up to the Lochaber Marathon. Got a wee injury leading up to the race and I was sadly short of miles in my legs and up until race day hadn't ruled out withdrawing. All I had in the locker was that my taper had gone extremely well!
I have to say that the thing about your training not going well, is that the pressure's off a bit. So I stood on the start line feeling very relaxed. Aside from the training thing, I left nothing behind in my quest for the perfectly timed run, apart from my Garmin this is. So my tentative plan for running 8 minute miles was already looking in trouble. For those of you who have yet to run Lochaber, it starts on a muddy shinty pitch in Fort William and heads north towards Spean Bridge,before you turn on to the Mallaig Road, the road to the isles. After passing over the Caledonian Canal at Corpach, you are running alongside Loch Eil. The scenery is amazing, even in the rain. A quick 3 2 1 and go from the starter and we were off. It's a hand timed run so you don't want to start too far back at the start. A supportive local encouraged us as we left the stadium with the inspiring words 'only 26.1 miles to go' Thankfully spectators were thin on the ground and I'm sure the deteriorating weather conditions affected even his cheery disposition as the afternoon wore on. There's a bit of a canal path at the start with a steep downslope and you can just make out where someone has written in chalk ' keep going, almost there' Presumably to give you a wee boost on the way back. Without the watch I was pretty much guessing the pace, but with the help of one or 2 fellow runners I was able to confirm I was on schedule. It's got a nice friendly feel to it and I found myself chatting to fellow runners over the first few miles. Ran for a mile with a guy called Mark who recognised the vest. Turns out he did the yoga session at the TTC. He was aiming for 330, so I seemed to be on course. The nice girl in the picture ran with me for a little while and I'd like to tell you she was laughing at one of my jokes, but actually, after a mile of dodging big puddles a big lorry drove past and soaked us. After 6 miles I began to feel something I hadn't felt for a while......no pain! Actually I realised I was actually moving pretty well.....and found myself passing runner after runner. The heavy rain forecast was indeed just that, but not slowing me down. It's an out and back course and the first half which appears on the course profile as undulating, has a downhill feel to it. It's a marathon of 2 halves (any more would seem cruel). The turning point at 13.1 miles gives a welcome psychological boost although you find yourself kinda fearing an uphill slog on the way back. It's an odd thing, it doesn't feel uphill, and when you look back smugly at those poor souls yet to complete the first half it looks like they are running uphill. (honest). That's a recurring theme for several miles. Speaking of miles, not sure what happened to mile markers at 14 and 16 miles, but its a cruel trick to play on a man without his Garmin.
For those of you asking for a weather update, it was still raining but noticeably the wind was getting up. A cross wind from the right. I knew this because I could see twigs rolling on the ground and I had a suspicion that if I had a flag, it would be unfurling in the breeze. Still feeling pretty good and this was confirmed by a very relaxed looking Ruth heading in the opposite direction giving me a time update. I was at 1 hour 52 at 14 and a half miles. Under 8 minute miles!  The miles to mile 18 continued and I started to grow in confidence. Sub 3 30 in the bag! I was passing all manner of runners in all sorts of terrible states some walking, some hobbling, others slowing badly. It's a human instinct to feel for my fellow runners, but as I said before I'm a Calderglen man now.....I strode past them and never looked back! At mile 18, I met an old friend. I don't know his name but he lives in my head, and he started whispering in my ear. He reminded me about my injury (was that a little tweak I felt?), he told me that I didn't have the miles in my legs, that a sub 4 hour run was respectable, and to ease off a little! It took me a while to silence him. I gave him some jelly babies to keep him quiet , and I strode on. A wonderful, amazing, drenched woman in a sowester told me I looked strong (we both knew it wasn't true but its not the first time I've been lied to, and as she made me happy I chose to believe her). Another grand old lady in the shape of Ben Nevis loomed large in my view now and I knew I was almost there. At 24 and a half miles, the course turns sharply to the right for the last couple of miles. I'm assuming the Met Office changed their website at this point as we turned into a gale force wind and driving rain. For a mile I found myself struggling to move forward at all, and all thoughts of a sub 330 were fading fast. The last half a mile along the canal path and up the steep slope in the rain was reminiscent of a wintry night in East Kilbride, and try as I might really couldn't enjoy the chalky 'almost there' on the pavement. The final 100 metres is played out alongside the grandstand on the muddy shinty pitch and I was lucky enough to get there in time to get a nice welcome and name check from the locals. A medal and a hug from one of the organisers (nice man) and I kept running, over to the warmth of the sports centre for my complimentary coffee and cheese roll.
I finished in 3 hours 31 min 22 seconds, and I 'm going to have to take their word for that. 90th place out of 328 finishers.
John Mullen also ran and finished in 3 hours 50 min 39seconds, and Ruth in her fifth marathon ran yet another PB finishing in 4 hours 31 min 5 seconds. Start polishing the performance award!
All in all a fantastically well organised marathon, in a wonderful setting, and a cracking run.
Jim Mearns

A big thanks to Jim for an excellent report and well done to all three Harriers. Good luck to all the Harriers taking on Mo tomorrow in London!
Alan