Not so much the northern lights as the wind and the rain.

Three harriers headed to Aberdeen last weekend for the Deeside Way Ultra but, due to Jim’s plantar plate injury, only two of us would be taking part. I had been concerned to hear that Ruth was thinking of driving up on the Friday night straight from work, start running thirty three miles the following morning then drive home the same day as she had a busy Sunday ahead of her. Fortunately Jim negotiated himself a twenty four hour pass and was able to act as her chauffeur on both the northern and southern journeys. He bravely (having seen the forecast) volunteered as a marshall and was allocated checkpoints 1 and 3 (they’re in the same location before you ask).

I wore my harriers jacket to Duthie Park on Saturday morning in an effort to stay warm while we collected our race numbers and chatted with friends. During his race brief the organiser, George (Dod) Reid, officially announced that as well as the D33 next year there would also be a D100 in celebration of the tenth year of the race. Having heard about his plan a while ago I quite fancied the idea as I wanted to be able to say I’ve run a hundred miler as opposed to ‘only’ a ninety five miler but with my sensible hat on (I do have one) I know it would be a major challenge. Just getting the requisite training done during the winter months would be difficult if not downright impossible, anyone who has trained for the London marathon between December and March would no doubt agree.

An unusual sight, Ruth and I together near the start of the race

As things turned out I wore the harriers colours for the entire way albeit from the third mile with my 'proper’ jaiket over the top of it. That marked the start of some heavier rain as opposed to the drizzle we had had prior to the start. I can’t tell you how many runners set out as the results don't detail the DNFs but there had been just under 300 starters on Entry Central and there were 219 finishers so somewhere in between. 

I hadn’t felt quite right leading up to the weekend and struggled right from the off. Such was the lack of space on the narrow path I had to step off to get my jacket on and lost some eighty yards or so to Ruth. Slowly catching her I was so out of sorts I decided to run a few yards behind so as not to be caught up in the conversation she was having with a mutual friend. Imagine the headline, ‘Davie doesn’t want to chat shocker’!! Well, for once, Davie just wasn’t in the mood. I finally figured out the problem was partly down to a lack of energy so shoved some dextrose down my throat and almost immediately perked up. Doh!

Belatedly catching Ruth we ran together for a few miles and arrived at checkpoint one together for our first meeting of the day with Jim. He was well wrapped up and shouting out the numbers for others to grab the appropriate drop bags to hand to the approaching runners. I dallied to make sure I consumed plenty of calories to offset my earlier deficit and as a result this time lost hundreds of yards to Ruth. I couldn't quite believe how far ahead she was when I finally caught sight of her ( I did wonder if she'd put the hammer down to lose me) and it took around five miles to close the gap, coming together again just as we came to Milton of Crathes where Alison was waiting for our first rendezvous of the day. I was still stuffed from the checkpoint so only had a quick coffee and a hug and was on my way, but again behind. It was 6 miles or so to the halfway point and back to where Alison was and I caught and passed Ruth along the way but she passed me yet again while I was taking more food on board and changing gloves.

Leaving MoC, instead of setting off immediately in pursuit, I fell in with three guys I’ve known for a few years and had a great old time shooting the breeze and generally catching up - I was in damn good company as we figured out we had eighteen WHWR finisher’s goblets between us! All good things come to an end though and eventually two of us, George and I, pulled ahead of the others and caught and passed Ruth who sensibly ignored my invitation to tag along with us - we were motoring rather well at this point.

Twice more I stopped to meet Alison but in between those two meetings I saw Jim again at checkpoint three and was nonplussed to find my drop bag, along with a few others it turned out, had been lost. I improvised by drinking around half of a foul chocolate energy drink (it was the only suitable drink there as I can't abide any kind of fizzy rubbish).

Checkpoint 3 photographs

Ruth carrying off the 'wet but glamorous' look way better than me, see below! 

Me with said drink in hand

Having to spend more time eating stuff from Alison to make up for the missing drop bag (I'm not blaming you personally Jim, honest!) this time I found I couldn’t catch my pal George.

Despite wearing five layers and by now wearing my third pair of gloves my hands were so cold that the thought of exposing my skin to the cold and wet conditions to eat something was horrifying (this was true for Ruth too as she later told me) so ran for far too long without any intake other than fluid. The inevitable result was that I ran out of steam and walked twice during the final few miles. Ruth managed to avoid walking but her pace dropped considerably. Yet another reason for not attempting that 100 miler, I can’t cope with very cold and wet weather for six hours never mind for over a day! 

I dragged myself over the line in my worst-ever D33 time (seven consecutive years now) of 6:04:10 and was so feeble I had to ask someone to stop my watch for me, my fingers just wouldn't work! Ruth came home in an excellent time of 6:19:46.

The pal I had been running with over the final half marathon or so finished a full four minutes ahead of me, not by bursting away but simply by maintaining his pace – he certainly got his nutrition right during the latter stages.

We hurried away from the finish to our hotel room where Jim dried off (mostly!) and Ruth managed a shower which restored some feeling to her fingers (and no doubt other parts too!). They headed for home while I flaked out on the bed before heading out with Alison for a lovely dinner with my eldest brother and his extended family. I did think it was somewhat ironic that the restaurant had electric fires dotted among the tables as the heating system had broken down, perfectly in keeping with our day. 

It was just as well that Jim was driving as he told me later Ruth slept almost the whole way home! She did stay awake long enough to discover online that she had finished as third female auld burd, sorry, super vet! Proof in black and white below;

1st place Male	1st place Female
Name: Dwayne Batt Time: 3.55.02	Name: Lynne Allen Time: 4.00.41
2nd place Male	2nd place Female
Name: Lorne Crawford Time: 3.57.26	Name: Sophie Mullins Time: 4.05 15
3rd place Male	3rd place Female
Name: Neal MacDonald Time: 3.59.11	Name: Louise Marshall Time: 4.30.12
1st place MV	1st place FV
Name: David Naughton Time: 4.07.50	Name: Debbie Brazier Time: 4.40.25
2nd place MV	2nd place FV
Name: Emilio Cosimo Time: 4.08.44	Name: Colleen Black Time: 4.52.50
3rd place MV	3rd place FV
Name: Nick Reid Time: 4.11.11	Name: Kate Bloomfield Time: 4.56.41
1st place MSV	1st place FSV
Name: Willie Rennie Time: 4.02.39	Name: Sarah Houston Time: 5.02.42
2nd place MSV	2nd place FSV
Name: Neill Kelly Time: 4.29.26	Name: Catherine Williamson Time: 6.10.57
3rd place MSV	3rd place FSV
Name: David Blaine Time: 4.34.04	Name: Ruth Kelly Time: 6.19.46

The unique prizewinner's goblet which Ruth received today

And yes, that is Willie Rennie, the Liberal Democrat politician. All politics aside he ran a fabulous race finishing seventh overall and almost half an hour ahead of the second placed MSV. Give up the talking shop Willie and become a full-time athlete! Hilary Clinton was also running, but not that one.

The overall winner was Dwayne Batt of Metro Aberdeen in 3:55:02 and the female winner was unattached athlete Lynne Allen in 4:00:41 with the final finisher on a miserable day coming home in 7:27:34. As a footnote Scottish Athletics chairman Ian Beattie, on something of a comeback to ultra running, finished in 5:38:34

Photographs are courtesy of Ruth, Jim and Norrie Hunter.