Illuminator Run 14th Nov 2015

This was first advertised when the days were still relatively warm and nights were hardly dark enough to warrant a torch.  However race day (night) was a slightly chilly and very dark evening, with four MRRs having ventured down to Aboyne for the first Illuminator run which is a 15mile run or walk event through Glen Tanar.  Douglas and Fiona Hamilton were well prepared, getting down early enough for a nap before registration and packed with a flask for the way round.  Nigel Williams and myself arrived and got registered, receiving the chip timing brick and also having our race numbers written on our arms.  Maybe that’s to identify any bodies found afterwards!

Everyone gathered in the sports hall, suitably suited and booted ready for an evening in the hills which turned out a bit too warm for some people as the race briefing was followed by a disco dance warmup and there were some people using up enough energy to get them up the first hill.  Douglas, Nigel and myself were having none of it, but Fi seemed to be getting into it.

As we got out to the start, Nigel and myself found ourselves way back so did a bit of barrier hopping to stand a reasonable chance of a good start.  That was probably the only gripe, having such a mix of pace jumbled up in the starting area, as there were walkers and fast runners mixed.  Anyway, head torches on and the 1km of straight road allowed things to sort themselves out before the start of the climb up the Fungle road.  Half way up, I was suffering with pushing a little bit too hard, so walked a couple of bits for a breather.  At the race briefing, it was mentioned that a piper from the Mountain Rescue Team would be playing at the top of the first climb, so bizarrely it was a bit of a releif to hear the bagpipes.  However the relief was short-lived as the second climb was seamlessly blended into the first and we kept going up before descending to the Allt Roy burn, where the marshals kept us over to a narrow crossing at the side of the trail instead of getting a wetting.  After contouring around the hill of Baudy Meg, there’s one more decent climb before descending towards the halfway point and the Light Zone drinks station.  Nigel went past whilst I was having a pee stop half way up the climb and he was a bit surprised when I caught up with him again.  Having planted the thought of a pee stop, that was Nigel doomed for an unscheduled stop too.

Running the two miles down to the Light Zone with Jeni Rees Jenkins, who is a fairly recognisable ultra daftie with bright red hair and wearing a Hoka buff. She was motoring the downhill parts with a rapid turnover which was leaving me struggling to keep up, but she stopped a bit longer at the drinks station, where I grabbed a quick gulp of hot blackcurrant juice and kept moving.  I’m sure the lights would have looked great but didn’t really notice much after spotting the direction arrow heading over the bridge.

6km of generally flat and easy trail, briefly interrupted to lend a bit of light for a runner to swap batteries on a dying torch, then gave way to the steepest climb of the night which was quicker walking than trying to run.  Eventually the gradient eased and became runable but the trail had taken a wetting from the recent rain and picking a good line through the mud was almost impossible but ploughing through bagged a couple of extra places and the Inov8 gaiters kept most of the mud out for a while.

Desending isn’t my favourite part but I think my legs were fairing better than some who were starting to pull up with cramp or stumbling from a lack of energy or lighting.  Finally out onto the road, the finish comes into sight in the distance as you recross the river and a final push thinking maybe I should have tried a bit harder.

Tea n medals, or in this case something a bit different being Illuminator mugs to hold a warming brew to wash down a well-earned cake 🙂

Navigation wasn’t an issue as the trail was well-marked with reflective tape, course arrows and also marshalled at several key points along the way.  However, don’t scrimp on the headtorch, as I think that probably makes the difference between enjoying it, or having to pay verrrry close attention to your feet.