The last event on my calendar of what has been a life changing 2024 for me. I signed up for this back in June after getting fomo from a few pals signing up for it. I also thought it would be nice to see the year out with the same event organisers I started the year with.
The event is based at Balgone Estate in North Berwick. Unlike the 50km at the start of the year, this one was 5.6km loops around the estate with 6 hours to see how many you can do. The thing that makes this extra is it starts at 4pm. Everyone's first (and those speedier folk's second) are in light then it's torches on. The head/chest torches were obviously mandatory kit. At the start & end of the loop is 'camp'. This is where you can pick up your refuelling or if taking it easier, have a rest. They provided pizza, alcohol free beer, snacks and drinks of water, active root or Coca Cola. I had only the water and coke - I'll explain why later.
Lots of firsts again for me on this event. Night running (during an event), prolonged use of a headtorch and loops. I didn't feel nervous at all for this one and if anything was actually excited. I was looking forward to seeing my running pals again and some who weren't running but popping up for a while for moral support.
The drive is about an hour and fifteen minutes from the house. Since I drove back from my Glencoe to Fort William recce back in June (which took just shy of 3 hours back to Glasgow) I thought I'd be OK to fly solo for this one and told the family to stay at home. They wouldn't have seen much of me over the six hours and I think the kids would have got bored easily. It turned out to be a bit chilly in the end up so I'm glad they stayed at home. However, driving along the country roads in the daylight I was mindful the drive home would be challenging in the dark when I'm tired.
Balgone Estate was easy enough to find & parking wasn't an issue. Registration opened for 2pm, I arrived at half 2. I got registered, collected my timing chip to be placed around the ankle, number & coaster (there weren't medals for this event but the glass coasters were lovely & matched the one I got back in March for the John Muir 50km).
It didn't take long for friends to arrive soon after. The chat before was good & we found a place in the tent to put our stuff in for refuelling options. It turned out I had parked my car in a sweet spot as it was immediately next to the course right after the start line. I used this to my advantage further into the race. It was good vibes to get a chat with people before the event kicked off & always great to see them in person rather than just the daily messages back & forth. I managed to eat a banana about an hour before the race too which is telling how relaxed I was about it. I felt good.
Before we knew it the race brief was underway then we made our way to the start line. Bang on 4pm the air horn was sounded & we were off! Coming out of the farm there was a bit of slippy mud then onto the track along the field. The 1st lap was great being in daylight to get a feel for the course, where the hills were, the parts of the trail you had to watch, how narrow/wide the trail was & the differences in terrain along the loop.
The first loop was fast. I was pacing faster than what I should have but felt good about it. I messaged the group chat with the photo '1 down, 9 to go' which is where my confidence was at!
I didn't stop at camp & carried onto lap 2. Time for the headtorch to go on as it was getting dark quickly. It was this lap I met Leigh Ann. It was awesome to have company & get a good chat. The pace was quicker again but we managed to chat so didn't worry too much. On lap 1 I had a gel along with some Active Root. Lap 2 my intention was to have a breakfast bar to soak the first gel up. I reached into my bag to get it, none there. I'd left it in my box back at camp. Not to worry I'll have another gel then pick up a breakfast bar before lap 3. This was my undoing for fuelling.
I picked up the breakfast bar & a packet of cheese & chive pretzels for loop 3. Ate the breakfast bar and started to feel really nauseous. I tried to have some of the pretzels but they didn't help either. It was this loop where I started to slow down & the nausea was ramping up. I put it down to a combination of going out too fast and the gel/active root combo. But mainly the fuelling.
On returning to camp I filled my flask with water & got a cup of coke. I said to the marshals who asked how I was doing 'feeling a bit sick'. 'You can have a little rest if you like?' they replied sympathetically. 'Not an option, I need to keep going!'. They laughed & said go for it! I also saw a couple of friends who asked how it was going. 'Shite' I replied to them as I felt I could be a bit more honest when they know me. I felt really sick but from past experience I know bananas settle my stomach. They were in the car. I set off for loop 4 & grabbed the banana from the car. I jog/walked the loop while eating the banana but didn't manage to finish it. I met Gavin going into the woods who was walking. He had a sore knee but it was cool to catch up with him after seeing him at a few events earlier in the year. He was also on loop 4 & was calling it after that one. He ran Glen Ogle the weekend before so I found it impressive he managed a half marathon a week later.
Back at camp I looked at my phone & asked where everyone was in a group chat. No one I knew was in camp & I really could have done with the moral support (literal boot up the arse). My glutes, hips and hamstrings were really sore by this stage. I told the group chat I was struggling & they told me to go out and get it done.
"Just over 2 hours, come on Nikki you've got this!" I got up off the bench & went on the next loop on a bit of a sulk. Gavin saw me pass the start line & shouted 'enjoy the next one Nikki!' I replied 'enjoy your pizza!'. That next loop was slower again.
On return of loop 5 I found Stevie & Jimmy. They were calling it after 4 & 5 loops with niggles that weren't worth pushing for injury. They ended up being terrific support. They walked me out onto loop 6 and told me to get a long sleeve top & gloves on. They wisely saw me getting slower & colder so the extra layers helped enormously for that next loop. Jimmy took my dry robe back to camp as I wasn't sure I would have another loop in me. On the way out the tightness had eased off in the lower body & I could muster a jog again. Not for long though.
Mentally I wanted to quit after this loop. I bargained with myself if I didn't see Giz I'd get in my dry robe & enjoy the last hour of the event as a spectator. As fate would have it, Giz was waiting for me at camp. 'Do you want to go back out?' Giz asks. 'Will you come with me?' I said. Without hesitation her dry robe was off & pack back on. She said it wouldn't be fast as I think she underestimated how sore I was!
This became obvious on the loop. I felt bad as she was trying to get me to jog but the legs weren't having it. Having her there was fantastic. We chatted & the time passed. She was also my light guardian angel as my head torch didn't die totally but faded very quickly. She had a brighter chest torch so lit the way forward. We got back to camp with 3 minutes left. If I had wanted I could have gone back out & they would have let me finish the loop. It took just over an hour for that last one so I didn't want to face finishing close to 11pm & a drive back to Glasgow for the sake of getting a marathon distance. It wasn't worth it to me. 24.4 miles (39.2km) wasn't to be sniffed at & a decent effort with the lack of training post devil.
At the end it was fantastic to see how a lot of my pals got on. A good few had smashed targets & goals which I was delighted for them. I didn't hang about for long as I was aware of this drive back to Glasgow, I was really tired but needs must. Thankfully Jimmy had got me a coffee which I was very grateful for.
It was a great event & I would go back. Next time in a relay format. I didn't take full advantage of the delicious smelling pizza and alcohol free beer they had to offer. I also enjoyed the camaraderie & atmosphere in camp. It would be a great outing for friends & a club to go give it their best efforts. Run Rhaw looked like they were having lots of fun & I'd like to be more part of a team on the next one. The marshals were brilliant & the event was very well organised. I'd definitely recommend it to others to put in the diary in the future!
Comments
Post a Comment