Devil O'The Highlands

288 runners lined up for the start of the 2018 Devil beside Brodie's Store in Tyndrum last Saturday although this time only Jim and I were competing, in the loosest sense of the word, as Ruth had previously agreed with the devil himself, John Duncan, to marshall the event. She was however delighted to be given the task of tail running the 27 miles to Kinlochleven although her other task was to help erect the finish area marquees, around a dozen or so, and lug loads of food, drink and various items of equipment. Unwisely I travelled up with her on the Friday morning to lend a hand, not the best preparation for running the following day. We later joined up with Jim for a meal and the drive down to KLL where we had booked accommodation. Rising at 3am on Saturday we made our way to Tyndrum for the start where Jim bought the reviving coffees in time for us to awaken fully for the photo below.

Caffeine fuelled for the miles ahead

Starting nearer the back of the field than the front Jim and I started in starkly contrasting ways, he by running up the hill from the village while I walked most of the way as far as the railway crossing where the route levels out.

The only point of the race where Jim and I were together

The following twenty odd miles were rather sluggish for me as the muggy weather took it's normal toll on my breathing and it wasn't until the gradual climb out of  Rannoch Moor that a welcome breeze from Glencoe lowered both the temperature and humidity. Another happy by-product of the wind was that the midges were left behind on the moor, the only place they bothered me all day.

Despite his plantar plate injury and consequent lack of training Jim had started impressively fast which, coupled with an unscheduled (aren't they all?) early pit stop for me, resulted in him reaching the Glencoe checkpoint a full 28 minutes ahead. The CP this year was just over the bridge near the building site formerly known as the Kingshouse Hotel while the usual location of the Ski Centre had been taken over for a long weekend of drive-in Harry Potter films - cue many puzzled looks from kids in the rear seats of their parents' 4 x 4s as we ran down the access road in our usual strange and varied ultra gear, 'what are those weird-looking people doing mum?' I could almost hear them asking. You'll be pleased to hear there will be no magical puns in this report as I know next to hee-haw about it.

Glencoe CP, the tail runners in front of a misty Buachaille Etive Mor

Sadly the previously advantageous breeze had by now turned into a strong westerly which was in our faces for all of the four miles through the glen to Altnafeadh where the eponymous Devil's staircase awaited.

I genuinely think Ruth went up the staircase during the WHWR quicker than I did this time, as I certainly don't recall stopping as often - hill walking has to play a bigger part of my training in future (heard that one before? Yeh, so have I!). Upon finally reaching the highest point of the race it was most pleasant to meet the wifies fae Fife, Fiona and Pauline, who stand up here every year, devilishly dressed , dishing out hugs and jelly babies in equal measure. An extra this year was a guy who had lugged his pipes all the way up while wearing full highland dress just to play for us - he probably went up faster than me too! 

A horned piper and a wee devil

Jim somehow avoiding both female lucifers

Eating as usual

Despite feeling a great deal better I was a further 4 minutes behind Jim by Kinlochleven, no doubt due to my lack of climbing speed. Having (slowly) negotiated the never-ending drag up and out of there I was beginning to find my feet when I momentarily lost control of the right one - tripping over something substantial I took a header on a down slope and landed on both hands, knees and left hip, proceeding to slide to a halt on the rocky gravel which makes up the surface at this point. A thigh and both forearms took the brunt of the slow halt, resulting in a fair amount of the red stuff pouring out. Having ended up lying on my back downhill with cramping calves I was completely unable to move and was grateful to two girls from Dumbarton AAC who didn't hesititate when I raised my hands for a lift, restoring me to my feet in seconds. 

A good ten minutes must have been lost while I allowed the adrenalin to work it's way through my system, my heart to slow down a little from the shock and to take a couple of badly-needed paracetamol. Maybe I should take this kind of drastic action more often as I picked up my pace pretty well from here on in, arriving at Lundavra 3 minutes faster than Jim and by Fort William a further 5 minutes quicker. However he meanwhile had crossed the line in an admirable time of 9.40.31 for 190th place and a full 24 minutes ahead of me. I came over the line, hand in hand with a pal of mine, rather disappointingly in 10.04.06 for 208th place.

Jim completing an excellent run 

Bloodied hands and knees to the fore

While all this had been going on Ruth appears to have had a whale of a time, sweeping along with Karen, another girl from Kilmarnock (coincidence or great planning? - wouldn't you run faster knowing you were being chased by two Kilmarnock ladies?)  Such a good time was had that the two of them were referred to as the 'chatty wifies' by the lady who was eventually timed out at Kinlochleven! Couldn't resist posting this photo of what an athlete gets up to on her day off...

Ruth, apparently, 'finishing off the sweeties!'

279 runners finished with only 11 DNFs and the final runner reaching the KGV park in 12.29.12. The male race winner was John Hammond in an impressive 5.40.24 and the female race was won by Nicola Duncan in 6.23.18. Ruth's nephew Bryan finished only his second ultra in a speedy 7.18.10 for 37th place while Mark's cousin Ricky, of Giffnock North, was 48th in 7.32.44.
One slightly sour note was sounded on Monday when a friend of mine contacted me via messenger to say that he had seen another runner (who shall remain nameless) awarded the third MV60 prize on the Saturday afternoon. My pal had waited until he had the chance to check the provisional results and, sure enough, this imposter finished a full fifteen minutes behind me! I've messaged the RD, am awaiting a reply and will update this report accordingly, fingers crossed. Shame, as a podium picture would have made a great photo for the report.
Nothing spoiled our celebration that night though as Jim, Ruth and myself toasted one another, very carefully and gently, as we each now have WHWR finisher's goblets with a dram of  Glenfiddich 12 year old.

The following morning we made our contribution to the growing album of trail race tees 'pictures around the world'...

Photo credits to Monument Photos, Susan Murchie, Willie Irvine, Fiona Rennie, Ruth and a random American tourist!

As an interesting aside I looked at our relative positions in the field at each checkpoint and found that Jim and I progressed in opposite directions throughout the race. We were 119 places apart at Bridge of Orchy but only 18 by the end, food for thought - if only the finish had been in Inverness...

	BoO	Glencoe	KLL	Lundavra	FW
Jim	152	164	171	183	190
David	271	243	231	218	208