A slightly overcast & chilly morning welcomed the 338 runners in this years Deeside Way Ultra … a jolly 33 mile jaunt from Duthie Park in Aberdeen to Banchory, and back again.
Three Moray Road Runners lined up with the elite, experienced and nervous … Ed Dunbar & myself doing our first Ultra and Jenni Coelho who is a highly experienced Ultra runner.
The atmosphere at the park in the morning was a mix of enthusiastic and nervous as we milled around sorting our drop bags, kit bags and equipment for the day … while I was trying to figure out how many layers I could get away with (and carry if it got warm!!) I was somewhat terrified to notice that there were guys warming up with just vests & shorts on!! I realistically figured that I was going to be out on the path for good bit longer than them and opted, sensibly it turned out, for a long-sleeved jumper & leggings.
The send off was great, with race director George Reid giving a speech & instructions in a way that didn’t for a minute make you think you were doing anything other than a wee jaunt in the country and then, to the sound of a lone piper, we were off.
The route is easy to follow out of Aberdeen as it follows the old Deeside Railway line to Banchory and is well signposted and tarmacked under foot. Random supporters on the bridges & overpasses made for a happy counterpoint to all the chatting and introductions going on with the runners.
Further along the route, once you are out of the city and suburbs the scenery opens up and you are treated to lovely views across the Aberdeenshire countryside, as well as a change underfoot to a slight trail path.
Checkpoint 1 comes along incredibly quickly (well it did for me!) at 8 miles and after downing my bottle of water and having a very quick snack I headed straight off again .. didn’t feel at this stage I needed to stop for long so I carried on happily.
I set myself a nice easy pace and felt I was pretty much sticking to plan .. a small call of nature at the first tree line after CP1 saw most of the runners around about me dodging in and out in an almost comic fashion …
More chatting to fellow runners and a lot of other first timers saw the time passing nicely as we came up to Banchory and neared Checkpoint 2 / Halfway … coming along this stretch is where you start to see those who have already made it to halfway and are on their way back! Lots of hugs, high fives and ‘well done’ ensue … the eventual winner, Ross Houston, flew past me when I had about 2 miles to go to CP2 … I couldn’t have been more depressed, I mean inspired, really, really inspired!!
The steady incline up to the halfway point seemed flat to me .. I really must’ve been enjoying myself and the ‘party’ going on at the checkpoint was brilliant .. it was hard not to linger too long! I enjoyed slightly more to eat, with Johnny Fling himself commenting on the sorry state of my banana! I topped up my supplies and text all the parents etc. to say I was halfway and then set off back down the path on the return leg.
Much chatting and waving happens on the trail down from CP2 back to Banchory as you pass friends and fellow runners and before you know it you are back on the open path heading back to checkpoint 3. I got a huge hug and stopped for a chat with Jenni Coelho .. I think she was enjoying chatting with everyone and was ambling along nicely, finishing in 7 hours 25 mins.
I started to slow down on this stretch and took the opportunity to take some walking breaks & catch up with other runners who were like-minded. I was still going well to plan and was feeling great … hard to keep the smile off my face quite frankly! I had some good tuneage in one ear, great company and the weather was picking up nicely, what could possibly go wrong!
Absolutely nothing it turns out! Checkpoint 3 came up a little slower than it did on the way out and I had to spend a bit longer than anticipated trying to dig a boulder out of my sock (actually the world’s smallest bit of grit but sooooo annoying!) and two miles up the road had to stop again to re-tie my shoelaces!
Hitting the tarmac of the path coming into Aberdeen sees the end almost in sight! I started to really slow down at this point and was concentrating hard on just target running and getting to the finish! Never has distance moved so slowly on my Garmin and with only a mile & half to go it gave up the ghost completely and ran out of battery! I was gutted … there went my chance to totally show off my distance & time achievement on Facebook with a photo of my finished watch face!
I needn’t have worried …
Two very nice chaps were happy to let me run the last stretch with them and we were able to count down the final mile or so together … must confess we were all walking quicker that we could run at this point … I also had a very nice conversation with a girl who was out for a random Saturday morning walk who encouraged me on to the end with the words ‘you are nuts, amazing, but clearly nuts and you are nearly at the park so run on now and enjoy yourself’ she couldn’t have been more right!
Ed was cycling … really, cycling??!! …. up the path out of the park, having finished in an amazing time of 4 hours 32 mins and gave me a big up to the finish.
I could hear the drums playing at the finish and realised at that point I was going to do it … finish my first Ultra … the marshals at the park entrance greet you with a huge smile (although I found it difficult to dodge round the car at the gate as it meant deviating from a straight line, something I hadn’t had to do for 33 miles!) and you can see the finish banner with supporters lining the path …
It is an amazing feeling I honestly can’t describe … but WOW … 5 hours and 39 minutes … I did it 🙂
I collected my fantastic and unique medal along with my goodie bag and was swept up by my lovely cousins who were there waiting for me with smiles, congratulations and, most importantly of all, alcohol!!
I can’t recommend this Ultra highly enough if you are considering stepping up your distance. The people, the organisation, the route …. it all comes together in the most amazing way and I loved it!!
See you all next year …….
Report by: Karen (Ultrarunner) Norvell