Seems a very hot topic on a lot of blogs of late so without going into the various discussions I thought I would put in my 2 pence worth here. Anyone who is a regular reader of the WHW Race Forum will already know my views and thoughts, as I am always telling people to relax and not get too obsessed with times and distances..
My first Ultra was the WHW of 2002... These days you would not even get an entry form with this sort of 'pedigree' but back then you could still apply in March and get in.. I was working at BP Grangemouth at the time and mentioned to someone that I had always wanted to walk the WHW. As I had done the London Marathon the year before, they knew I ran a bit, and told me about a bloke who ran the whole 95 miles. The bloke was John Kennedy and the rest is history .. Lesson number 1 - never listen to someone who can rationalise a 95 mile race and say - it's only 4 miles an hour average for under 24 ! Lesson number 2 - always have time to listen to someone who has done it before and decide what advice you want to keep.. The one I will always remember from John is "If you get to Kingshouse you WILL finish "
So at this time there was no forum, no real website, scant information.. In some ways this helped, too much information can be quite daunting and you worry if you are not doing enough, haven't got the right shoes, supplement, leg support or t-shirt.. I only did 1 'long' run with John that year - from Kingshouse to Lundavra and return (he ran to the end of Nevis forrest). This was just him and me, I was a rank novice and underfit, yet this did not matter. I would never get near John in a race, but for 6 or 7 hrs, we just plodded on and chatted, and cracked on..
So over the next couple of years, I went on a few more runs and got another goblet. I remember meeting Ian Beattie in Jan or Feb at Falkirk Station for a run with John and others from Rowaradennon to the top of the Loch and back, meeting mad Jim Drummond for the first time going around Queen Elizabeth National Park, John McLaughlan and other notable proper runners. And I learnt a lot, from people faster than me, and those at my pace or slower. I learnt from Ian that where the forestry road turns into track after Rowaradennon is about 45-50 mins, and to look for the concrete block that is less that 500 m from Inversnaid.
And not only in training. I have had the privilege of sweeping the race twice and supporting once, learning all the time. In 2006 (?) I met my Pirate mate, and learnt that it is possible to get lost at Auchtertyre, and no matter how crap you feel and the fact that your knee is going to drop off, you can keep going.. I also learnt how to better read the signs of people who really don't want to be told they are going to get poked with a big stick :-) ! And in this race I spent 3 or 4 hrs with Mad Jim Drummond going across Rannoch Moor, on a cracking still night, listening to his tales of life in the army, and the words of his Sgt Major "The Queen pays you and she wants you to go 40 miles that way and be there in 8 hrs.. The Queen doesn't care how you do it, and she doesn't care if have to stop in the bush and have a little cry, as long as you do as she asks.." Classic.. In 2008 I swept the whole race, and ended up finishing the last 40 or so with Jim Robertson.. 67 years old, doing his 12th race and going through all the ups and downs.. A truly awesome experience.. At 1:45 AM, going up the Devils Staircase, 40-50 mph wind, sleet, rain, dark, cold and we are all getting asked some big questions. I was thinking that they would give us a safety stop at Kinlochleven, and said so to Jim .. "No they won't stop us" was his only reply.. I immediately felt ashamed to have had that thought, and will always remember the big cup of Toughen the Fuck up that I got from this bloke 25 yeats my senior.. Needless to say number 12 was completed by Jim and I was so proud to be with him when we got to Lochaber Leisure Centre after 33 hrs 45 mins, how can a PW also be a PB ??
So what's the point of all of this... It's not only about training and running, at least not for me .. It's about the friendships, about the shared learning.. It's finishing a run in darkness in January with Mags and Jim and Michelle and Gus and Jeannie and John and others and sledging DQ coz his car broke down and having had a cracking day out.... It's about getting mental cues and aids for recovery when you are down in the depths, about taking something from every run, which if you are only set on the goal of beating a time, I don't think you can do .. A bad day running is still far better a day or period of time than most of the world can enjoy, which sort of means there is no such thing as a bad day running . So as a natural extension, a bad period or dip in a run, whatever the distance, is still only a passing and fleeting moment of insignificant discomfort... Best just dry your eyes and have a crack !
