Glenmore 24 Trail Race 05/09/2015

The idea is simple, run as many 4 mile loops in the Glenmore Forest as you can in the time allotted.  During the last hour a small loop of around 400m is opened up around the base camp at the Hayfield, where you again do as much as you can before the final hooter sounds.   This year for the first time there was also a relay race.  Teams of four would run one loop at a time, always in the same order, for 24 hours.

The weekend started on the Friday afternoon.  We (Jenni and Tomas) arrived around 3.30 ish to pitch the tent.  The theme for the weekend was cowboys and indians, and the bucking bronco was already set up and ready for action once the party started.  Unfortunately (or perhaps not …) the rain came on so the ever sensible Coelhos decided to be boring and stay in the tent for the evening.  It certainly sounded as if the party was good fun, but it was lights out at 10pm in the hope of a decent night’s sleep.   And we weren’t disappointed.  Somebody even managed to pitch a tent right next to us and we didn’t hear a thing!

The next morning the midgies were out in force, so eau de smidge on whilst scrambling some eggs and brewing coffee!  Claire and Sophie arrived about 10am and before we knew it, it was time for the race briefing and then we were off at 12 noon!

I did the 24 hour race last year, but was recovering from norovirus, so ended up sleeping through more than half of the race.  This year, on the back of zero training and much eating and drinking over the summer, I just wanted to keep going as long as I could.  This being the case, I set off at a very slow pace which I knew I would be able to keep up for a few hours.  Claire “speedy” Reilly however, was off the blocks and away…

The weather was to be kind to us, remaining dry, not too hot and not too cold.   The four mile route starts with a loop around the Hayfield, with plenty of encouragement from all the support crews, a wee hill leading out to a path along the side of Loch Morlich, after a mile or so the path comes out onto a wider forestry track and then starts up a rather long hill, with a water station halfway up, manned by encouraging, usually midgie headnetted, marshalls.  Then a lovely long downhill leading back down into the Hayfield.

I saw Claire a couple of times during her 12 hours, always looking very strong and speedy.

Time passed really quickly, soon it was dark and I popped into the tent to change my clothes and have a magic cheese sandwich and coffee prepared by Tomas!  I discovered that Claire had already completed 12 laps (48 miles!) and it was only just after 8pm.  Wow.  I headed off out again into the night.   I next saw Claire after midnight, she wasn’t sure how many laps she’d done but thought 14 or 15, which was amazing.

I kept on going, things had gone a bit quieter now that all the 12 hour runners had finished.  The relay runners were still coming storming round, some of them still managing 30 minute laps.  Just after 3am I heard The Horn being sounded, as the first runner to break through 100 miles arrived back at the Hayfield.  It was about an hour later before the horn sounded again for the second placed runner.  I was looking forward to seeing the sun coming up over the loch, but I had to accept that I really was going to have to have a lie down for a while as I was weaving from side to side and almost falling asleep on my feet!  So, back to my tent, where I thought it was a really good idea to lie down fully dressed in manky damp running clothes and shoes with my sleeping bag on top of me.  I managed a wee bit of sleep and then woke up shivering!  So, change of clothes and then back off out again.  Tomas joined me for the first loop so he could experience my pain!

I took my time (even more so!) on what would be my last big loop, as from experience I knew that the short loops were just a bit mad …  and so it would be.  I donned my cowboy hat, swigged some ginger beer and suddenly, my legs had new life, as I trotted round the Hayfield, did mad sprints down the Party Tent straight, staggered up the hill and then charged down the other side, giving a leap and a loud yee hah to the crowds at the finishing area.  Then it was the final daft dash with seconds to go and the final horn sounded.  My peg with my number was stuck in the ground so that the distance could be measured later.  And that was it, all over for another year.

Well, not quite …  the tent and all the stuff was packed away and it was down to the prize giving ceremony.  Everyone gets a bottle of commemorative cider and a medal.   But first of all it was the winners.   Claire was absolutely gobsmacked when her name was called out as First Lady in the 12 hour race!   It was very tight, with the top three places being decided on the distances on the short loops as they had all covered the same amount of large laps (15, after all!).

The 24 hour record was smashed by both the first and second placed males – 144 miles for Claire to aim for next year 😀