Highland Fling 2019

Another (very late) joint report...
Jim

One of my favourite races, for several reasons. The route is incredible, and on a nice day with a bit of sun and a fair breeze, it’s magical.

The organisation is second to none with the emphasis on customer care. An example of the attention to detail is the crack team who hand you 4 safety pins all joined together in advance….I’m so easily pleased (mental note for Trail Race…volunteers?)

Speaking of crack teams, it was the usual trio of Davie Searil, Ruth Kelly, and myself. Davie is going to talk you through his race and the second half of Ruths, this is mine.

There are several views on the Fling. Covering the first 53 miles of the West Highland Way, it is the perfect way to get a long training run 9 weeks before the big one while others see it as the first step in the Triple Crown (all 3 WHW races).

For most it’s the furthest they have or will ever run; some will be happy to finish, others will look to scratch the WHW itch in future years.

For me, it’s a race in itself, and I decided to see what I could do. Having run it in 2016 and accidentally (watch always runs out at 8 hours or so) managed 12 hours 59 min, I set myself a target of sub 12 hours.

There were 3 starting waves. I chose wave 3 (12-15 hours), mainly so that I get a blether with the guys as we run out together for the first mile. Johnny Fling announced this as the “Party Wave” as we went off.
Davie

Cloudy, maybe some light rain and 8 to 11 degrees was the forecast about a week before the event but by race day that had changed drastically, the skirt tails of Storm Hannah were due to hit later on that morning so even the speedy runners, the ones who generally get away with just short shorts and a vest, were dressed up to the nines for this one.

The calm before the storm, in this case literally

 As usual Ruth, Jim and I had had different approaches to the Fling - Jim was only three weeks from running the Manchester marathon, Ruth by her own admission hadn't trained as much by this stage of the year as she had in 2018 and felt under-prepared while I went down with a virus (Gordon's?) some twelve days before and only finally decided I was (just about) fit enough to take part on the Friday morning.
The three of us ran together for the first mile or so before Jim took off, we are his anchor in races, give him a steady start and help him avoid the temptation to go off too fast. (I knew we had a purpose!)

Jim heading along the old railway line to the Beech Tree

Having mistakenly asked Alison for an americano instead of an espresso at Milngavie station prior to the start I consequently had four 'relief' stops before Drymen so Ruth was soon well out of sight. In a way I was quite glad as I simply didn't know how my body was going to react to being asked to run for so long while still carrying this lurgy and was able to plod entirely within my perceived comfort zone (and chat to my heart's content) uninfluenced by anyone's else's pace.
My jacket stayed in my race vest (unlike most of the 726 starters who'd had them on from the beginning) until the approach to Conic where one look at the sky ahead convinced me now was the time to cover up. The cloud came over, the heavens opened and, although it was changeable, the downpours were frequent and prolonged for the next six or seven hours making for a fairly miserable experience. Amazingly, as he always is, Graham Hewitson was standing up on the shoulder of Conic Hill taking photographs - and people say we're nuts?!

Jazz (balance?) hands even in the wind and rain coming down Conic

Plodding the last few meters to Balmaha

On the other side of the hill underfoot conditions were treacherous in the extreme which likely helped everyone avoid trashing their quads by forcing a slower pace than normal on the descent. Jim arrived at Balmaha in 3hrs 16m with Ruth through in an astonishingly fast 3:48 (we would normally run that section in 4:15 - 4:30 during training) while I tailed in some 17 minutes down on her.

A marshall's words of encouragement (I think) at the Balmaha road crossing

Jim

The first section to Balmaha is about 19 miles. It’s about getting out of Milngavie on to the Way….oh and the wee climb over Conic Hill!

I managed this in 3 hours 16 min which felt simultaneously faster that I wanted to go but also very comfortable.

I get very frustrated sometimes with me! I can take out huge chunks of folk on the difficult sections, and hills in particular, only to see half of them fly past me descending Conic, as I tiptoe down like Bambi on Ice…grrrr!

Balmaha to Rowardennan is a joy to run. Still feeling reasonably fresh, it’s a tricky wee 8 mile section with some lovely running, and sensational views…don’t be fooled though if you are doing this in the club relay, there are a couple of really tough climbs.

I’ve always said that it’s the cumulative effect of all the hills you forget, and not the big ones that you’ll always remember, that wear you down on the WHW.

Anyway, another 1 hour and 35min to cover this section meant that I was still under 5 hours for the first half of the race.
Davie
Being always conscious of how my body was coping I made steady if unspectacular progress over the next 14 miles to Inversnaid. Here, while eating and taking on more fluids, the rain was absolutely chucking it down and, as I left the checkpoint, started to feel ever so slightly hypothermic. Knowing the next section to Beinglas Farm was the least runnable of all I reasoned that I had to run now to warm up while I still had the chance. This must have had a galvanising effect on me as even later when the terrain forces you to walk I found my pace was taking me past more than a few competitors, looking  at the splits it seems I made up thirty places over those seven miles - perhaps my conservative start was paying dividends.

Jim

Looking back it seems really obvious that the first half is the easy bit. So again, it seems that the strategy of saving yourself for the 2^nd half can be an unsuccessful one.

I remember Alan in a good luck text on the evening before the race, suggested that he would be able to extrapolate my finishing time based on my first few tracking notifications.

I countered that he might be better using the law of diminishing returns as a guide!

Onward to Bienglas via Inversnaid and the famous Lochside section. If you take nothing else from these ramblings please remember this…..unless you want to break your personal worst for the half marathon, don’t ask Alan for a longish leg next week. And remember also to be nice to whoever takes this on…they really are taking one for the team!

For the record the 15 or so miles from Rowardennan to Beinglass took around 3 hours 45. At a cumulative time now of 8 hours 36 min, and the death of the watch battery, the finishing time was now anyone’s guess.
Davie
Sadly I didn't make such good headway on the relentless climb up Glen Falloch despite cow poo alley being free of poo and, as the farm is currently un-tenanted, entirely free of coos too! The path here has been completely relaid and is actually very runnable as some of you will find on the club relay this coming weekend. I read in Iona Mackay's blog that the elevation from Beinglas to Glen Bogle is greater than the climb up the backside of Conic albeit over a much greater distance and although I didn't know that at the time it certainly explains how I felt.
At the deer fence at Glen Bogle I met my pal Katie from whom I received a lovely hug and the news that Ruth was only a couple of minutes ahead. Surprised, as I'd had only positive news of her thus far, I looked up and could see her near the top of the climb. As I followed her up the hill I would have caught her quicker but for some pre-arranged hugs with a couple of accordion players, playing for the runners for the second year in a row.

I think Cat and her sister Fiona were wetter than most runners

A wee while later Ruth and I joined forces and I learned her nausea/digestive problem had returned with a vengeance and she was for walking the rest of the way. As I had already decided that should I catch her we would finish together and, despite her telling me to go ahead a few times, that's exactly what we did. No records were going to be broken that day and I wanted to finish without exacerbating my virus so what better way was there to complete a 53 mile race than in the company of one of your best running buddies?

Jim

Bogle Glen is the halfway point if you find yourself walking the WHW. In the Fling, it’s the beginning of the home stretch. Getting there has previously involved negotiating the path commonly known as Cow Poo Alley.

It’s now a rather surreal experience as this kilometre section of path has been smoothed and re surfaced. My shoes enjoyed this experience, and the smell in the car on the way home was not as bad as usual, but I’ll be honest…I missed it!

The final part of the Fling involves the “roller coaster” over Crianlarich, down to the road crossing, and the last 3 mile section from there to the finish line. I’ll be honest, I was knackered and it seemed to go on forever.

The red carpet finish, the accompanying sound of the pipes, and a big hug from Evelyn, who came to support saw me finish in 11 hours, 23 min,26 sec….Job done!

Again the organisation at the end is amazing as I was guided through the finish area to a nice warm shower, and a lovely lady handing me a beer.

A quiet and understated finisher's picture from Jim

Too tired even to lift my arms

Davie
We had heard in a phone call while in the forest above Crianlarich that Jim had taken an hour and twenty minutes off his previous time by finishing in a tremendous 11.23.26. Although Ruth and I quite literally finished together, as you can see from the picture below, I was given the nod by one second in 14.22.25, she must have been marginally ahead of me at the start (must remember that ploy for another day!) 

Dragging each other to the finish

The female winner was previous victor and course record holder Beth Pascall of Salomon UK in 8.02.46, runner-up was Nicola Duncan of Carnethy seventeen minutes behind and in third place was Morgan Windram-Geddes of Fife AC in 8.45.02.
The male podium places were taken by John Hammond from Carnethy, Sam Humphrey of VP Glasgow and Toby Chapman from Bournemouth AC in the respective times of 7.30.29, 7.32.08 and 7.32.57, apparently the closest and most exciting finish in the event's fourteen year history (not that I would know, being many miles away at the time). Scott Craighead, Stuart Paterson, Graham Connelly, Marco (the marcothon man) Consani and last year's WHWR winner David McClure raced more or less together along the lochside chasing the 2019 Scottish Ultra Trail Championship eventually finishing in that order and fourth to eighth overall.

Over two hundred volunteers give up their day and in some cases their weekend to make this probably the best lager in the world, sorry, best and most slickly-organised ultra race in Scotland. Unfortunately the weather also ensured the race had it's highest-ever DNF count of 79 (yes, they were included in the results - no rant about that from me today!).

Postscript. That's four weeks now and I'm still not 100% clear of this virus, finished a course of  amoxocillin last Friday so here's hoping - less than six weeks until the WHWR so I have to get another couple of big runs in.
Post Postscript. Once again I have to say how friendly, helpful and considerate all, and I do mean all, of the walkers were - it never fails to warm my heart how nice people can be. Which leads me neatly to the fact that Ruth has today just completed the West Highland Way (walking this time) with her husband Kevin and a couple of their friends, as I type they have just reached Fort William.
Post Post Postscript. I'm with Jim on the four safety pin thingy, really impressed!