The Highland Fling covers 53 miles of the West Highland Way and is ran individually as an Ultramarathon or as a relay event for teams of 4. This was
the second year the ‘Moray Babes’ were lucky enough to get an entry into the relay. The 2014 line-up were Sally Bruce, Tish Richford, Claire Riley and myself – this year Helen Low took over from Claire who decided to run the whole 53 miles as did Steven Morrison and Jenni Coelho – a fantastic
achievement.
The race starts at Milngavie and finishes at Tyndrum. Last year the ‘Moray Babes’ managed to lose a team member at Milngavie (me!), leave a cup of tea on the roof of the car and drive off, then manage to be in the ‘Green Welly Shop’ in Tyndrum while the final runner (me again!!) ran through the finishing line. This year there were no mishaps apart from some lacy underwear being accidentally dropped at a teenagers feet at Beinglas Farm.
Sally’s patient husband Ally chauffeured us down to the event last year then drove the team between changeover points – and he actually agreed to do it again this year! We all travelled down on Friday, clothes shopped at Braehead, had a fab carb loading meal at ‘Toni Macaroni’ then stayed in the Travel Lodge overnight.
Next day was an early start to get Helen to her starting point as the race started at 7am (Ultra runners started at 6am). After we cheered her off we
had breakfast in Milngavie then drove to Drymen to await her arrival and see Sally off who swapped the timing chip with Helen at the stage. Helen enjoyed her run, had a great time socialising with other runners and making new friends. This stretch was over 12 miles and included a few cheeky hills.
While Sally slogged over 14 miles from Drymen to Rowardennan we took a leisurely drive to Balmaha where there is a check point for ultra runners. We cheered Sally and Claire on as they passed through this section after enjoying coffee and bacon rolls from the ‘Oak Tree Inn’. We then made our way to Rowardennan so I could changeover from Sally for the next leg. Sally reported many hills, some large, on this stretch.
The next stage was mine and my apprehension of getting lost was unnecessary as the track was dotted with the many ultra runners at this stage. The first half of the 14 mile section was quite fast going with a few gradual hills but the path narrowed and soon wound its way round Loch Lomond for almost half the stretch. I found this section a bit unpleasant as it mainly consisted of walking and scrambling over rocks behind lines of other runners and people walking the West Highland Way. I also had a misjudgement of terrain which resulted in one foot going into the mud up to the ankle then a slip on wet rock where I landed on my knees but no harm done. While I was completing this section I’m not sure what the rest of the crew were doing but they met me at Beinglas Farm.
At Beinglas Farm Tish took over from me to do the final leg of around 12 miles. We had coffee, red wine, sandwiches etc sitting outside enjoying the weather. We then travelled to Tyndrum in good time to look in the ‘Green Welly Shop’ then take time to see Steven and his dad heading for the finish, near the pipers, and cheer on lots of runners. We made our way up the true finish which was a red carpet and waited to see Tish finish her glory leg, her son had made the journey to cheer her on which was appreciated. We saw many ultra runners finish many fresh legged, some almost collapsing in the last steps, one dressed as Spider Man, some running the last meters with their young children and one woman being followed by her dog which got a huge cheer. Tish finished well, had no complaints about her section saying that it was scenic and that there were no cows or cow poo on the track – bonus!
Post race refreshments and goody bags were had and some more catching up with fellow runners who had ran the ultra and new friends we’d met on the day from the relay race. There was a ceilidh on offer for all participants but we headed home after a fantastic day.
A big well done to all the runners, people who cheered us on and the organisers of this epic race. We are planning heading back next year if we can
get a place. We finished slightly slower than 2014 in 10 hrs 5 mins but spookily in the same place of 26th team.
Report by: Amanda Strang