Fletcher and I made the trip down to Ayr for the River Ayr Way Ultramarathon which came in on my GPS as 41.4 mls.
A 6am start saw us travel to Ayr then hop on a coach for the one hour journey to Glenbuck for the start of the race. The ninety or so starters milled about chatting and watering the plants before a very informal start announcement to beware of the coo’s, I shook hands with Fletcher and we were off.
The course is a mainly flat downhill affair and for the first 4 miles we were all basically single file along an old railway embankment settling into our individual pace. Fletcher was resplendent in his Maryhill Harriers top and I elected to wear my vest under a jacket as the weather was pretty cool and threatening rain, though it stayed dry all day and the conditions were perfect for running. The route took us through several small Ayrshire villages and some fantastic scenic countryside, the trail was mainly grass with areas which were waterlogged contrasting with the solid tarmac leading in and out of the villages, I chose to wear trail shoes which were ideal in the mud but unforgiving on the roads.
I successfully managed to avoid most of the puddles for 27 miles until I hit the promised diversion through a cow field due to erosion on the course, I found myself literally up to my calves in mud and slurry and was lucky not to lose my shoes as I emerged at the top of the field wearing a pair clay boots where my trainers used to be. By this time I was trying to push through the pain barrier, I had jarred my back running down some stairs and went over on both ankles in the mud and the usual problem of rigour mortice settling in on the rest of my joints, this is the point in these races where no matter how fit you are if your head’s not in the right place all you can think of are excuses to pull out. Luckily I spotted a runner about a hundred metres infront of me which gave me something to focus on as I tried to reel him in. The course was well marked and marshalled and I never felt lost or in need of direction which is ideal over this distance when fatigue plays havoc with your concentration, there were also eight checkpoints throughout the course giving a good set of point to point’s to run to breaking the mileage down nicely.
The last 5 miles or so were run on country roads into Ayr which after 30 odd miles in trail shoes was purgatory my hips and ankles were screaming which actually helped me to run on as I just wanted it over as soon as possible, I think the problem was I experimented by not taking my daily dose of brufen, that was probably a mistake, on the plus side my intermittent doses of salty crisps through the race staved off the bad cramps I suffered in previous races.
Its amazing how in the last mile knowing your nearing the end your pace picks up, and it was great to see Caroline along with a small crowd clapping at the finish. After a quick shower and taking Caroline for a pint to celebrate we saw Fletcher finish looking fresh as a daisy (I think he’s on HRT) so very pleased for him as he has not had the time to train properly for this race and it was only his wealth of experience that got him through to his umpteenth ultra finish (LEGEND).
In summary this is a well signed and marshalled race, mostly flat running through beautiful scenic countryside with more than ample aid stations to cater for the runners needs, but overall a bit tougher than the Clydestride due to the underfoot conditions.
The race was won by Andy Johns : 5hrs34m31s
First Female(8th overall) Rosie Bell : 6hrs25m05s
Maryhill Harriers
52nd Chris Hever : 8hrs19m11s
71st Fletcher Murdoch:10hrs15m17s
