In March this year I took part in my 2nd Ultra marathon at the D33 in Aberdeen … after a so so run I concentrated on the Northern Scot 10K series and a new 10K PB (duly observed at Forres in May) before then setting my sights on the Orkney Marathon …. that was the first half of the year taken care of, whatever would I do for the rest of the year … Well, for the Summer at least !
After coming home from Orkney I went for a wee run on the Speyside Way and realised two things : I wasn’t broken and I loved running on this route … there you go, plan for the Summer sorted and cue an entry to the Speyside Way Ultra Marathon!
Discovering after I’d entered that there were two other road runners also doing the run made the decision seem all the more sensible.
A couple of training runs were organised with Neil & Alan as well as the usual suspects who simply like to come out and do long runs … Robert, Steven M, Paul G, Sally ….
Coming into the run I felt really good, I knew the route, had a plan and was injury free …
The route breaks down nicely into 3 parts :
Cragganmore to Craigellachie – mostly downhill on forest trail for 13 miles
Craigellachie to Fochabers – up and over Ben Aigen past Boat of Brig to Ordiquish with a mix of trail & road for 14 miles
Fochabers to Buckie – with trail to Spey Bay & Portgordon (8miles) and then road to Buckie for the last 2 miles
The weather on the day was hot & sunny with little wind until the last stretch where we had a wee sea breeze … the scenery along the route is both stunning and varied with plenty of picture opportunities, 
along with Sarah’s, frankly hilarious, notice boards.
This is a great run, which is organised locally with fantastic marshall support (Jenni at the bottom of Ben Aigen is a legend in her own lifetime and incredibly noisy when she sees you coming!) and lots of places for support to meet you and see you passing by.
As with most Ultra marathons the camaraderie amongst all the participants is second to none and the support you get from all around is fantastic .. from the most experienced to the first timer, it makes no difference, you are all in the same crazy boat!
Personally, I really enjoyed the run. I stuck as close to my plan as I could, running all the way to 
Craigellachie at a steady pace. Picking up my drop bag and eating my sandwich while walking up the first hill with Robert (who was my ace support for the day) meant I kept my eating plan on target too. I walked / ran over the hill to Fochabers and again tried to keep my pace steady .. was happily able to tag along with a couple of other runners along here although you do ebb & flow somewhat depending on your speed up & down 
hill. The noisy girls at the Earth Pillars checkpoint above Fochabers offered some hilarious relief and I was able to top up my water and have something else to eat … slightly bad planning on my part meant the wrong flavoured crisps and a dilution rather than top up of my tailwind, but lesson learnt and I was delighted to see my Mum just along the road from the checkpoint (she got the rest of my crisps!) From Fochabers to Spey Bay was the only point at which I started to feel I was struggling and a quick call with my support meant I had a hug waiting for me at Spey Bay rather than the planned Portgordon! Was also really chuffed to see my sister & brother in law at Spey Bay as they arrived literally as I was going by!! Robert & I ran walked along to Portgordon, still at this point I was amazed at how much running I was able to manage and I was starting to feel a bit happier. At Portgordon he took my running pack off me and set me free for the home stretch … The last 2 miles didn’t feel as bad as I expected, but it’s a long old haul going up that road and when you do get to Buckie you realise you still have a bit to go and, what feels like the North face of the Eiger up to the finish!!
But what a way to finish … turning into the park and seeing the End of the Speyside Way markers as well as all the marshalls and supporters is just ace, what a magic feeling to realise you’ve just run 37 miles!! Cue big hugs all round and a very well deserved coffee, which was miraculously produced from Robert’s flask … he is a genius … before I hobbled back to the car and home, where David’s response was ‘that’s enough for this year yes?!’ …. he never said anything about next year though!!
I was a bit slower than I had hoped for, set a target of between 6-7 hours and my official time was 7 hours 32 seconds (59th / 102)
Neil was 11th in 5 hours 39 mins and 3rd MV
Alan was 41st in 6 hours 34 mins
Thanks go to all the organising team, marshalls and supporters. Events like these are just not possible without you (and special thanks to all the Team Yella marshalls & supporters!)
Report by: Karen Norvell