Having an ultra-hiatus for a few years to focus on the shorter stuff meant there was an air of anticipation in Melrose on Saturday morning when we congregated in the Parish Church for a 5:40 (am!) race briefing. It was a new race and running alongside the 109km meant they wanted to get us going as early as possible. Suited me, get it over with and enjoy a bit of Saturday afternoon (that was the plan anyway!).
Out of the Church yard and through Melrose city centre and it was clear there were no sprinters, a good group of us (10-12) jogged through the streets and headed up the race. It wasn’t at all clear who was running the 50km and who the 109km, but it didn’t matter one iota at this point; we were all trying to keep effort down and move smooth. Pretty soon it was apparent I’d be leading this makeshift lead group, and as people dropped away I ended up on my own. Wholly down to my awful banter, everyone would’ve been more than able to keep up if they’d wanted.
Unfortunately I needed a comfort break at the first CP (one of two place there were toilets on the 50k), where I heard Katie pass (from the cheers from the CP volunteers) and came out into a group of about 7 other runners. Annoyed at having lost lots of places I started to accelerate to catch Katie, trying to tell myself to slow down and run my own race just didn’t work (I’m pretty stubborn, don’t often listen to myself let alone anyone else!). I finally caught her at approx. 11km, and chatted away for a few km about all things running. We went through the 17km CP together, and noticed at this point her Mum was appearing to cheer every few km as well. I decided I was in a good enough state to push on (very naive, knowing how this ends!) and left her and pushed on my own for a bit. Not for long! I managed to get lost, missed a sign and ended up going much further along a road than necessary, but found my way through someone’s garden to get back to the route (following my watch to re-find it). And of course Katie was right there; I re-joined the route exactly alongside her. That’ll teach me for dropping the local legend!
Into the Kelso CP, after which I knew there was a long stretch (15km) ago the next CP, so needed to eat and drink and recuperate. Unfortunately I managed to get confused at the CP and didn’t even stop for water, let alone food or rest. Idiot. I got swept up running with my friend, who also had another friend join her/us (Colin) for the next section. We were chugging along nicely together, but in the back of mind I knew; I’d run 30km, only drank 500ml, and eaten a Torq bar and a gel. Not enough on any front. We eventually came onto the river path, and as the river had broken its banks in places, some of the path was waist deep underwater! This was super-refreshing, nothing like it. All my muscles yearned to go for an ice cold swim, but we ploughed on. About 35km, I hit the wall. I started slowing and slowing, and asked Katie and Colin to pass me, wishing them well and ‘hoping’ to see them at the end. It got really dark. Muscles started cramping, hips and quads in syncopation. I was dehydrated, out of water, and still 6km to the next CP. I started looking at houses and around a farmyard to see if there were any taps I could use, no such luck. Then as the road straightened out, I could see Katie’s mum in the distance. But Katie and Colin were well ahead of me, had she missed them? As I got closer she started clapping, she had been waiting to cheer me! I was at such a low point, the pit of despair, and seeing someone I ‘knew’ made a massive difference to my state of mind. She also gave some HOMEMADE ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL! for my flask, which was probably the nicest thing I’ve ever drank. What a hero. She said she was now also crewing for me too and would see me soon! Cloud 9. She popped up again about 40km with a Rice Krispies choc bar for me, absolutely legend. And mother of a legend! What a family.
The last CP was at 42.5km, and was a little table with loads of water. Couldn’t have been more appreciated. I stopped to chat to the volunteer for a minute or two (the rest I needed in Kelso 90mins earlier!) and refilled, knowing just 8km from here. About 500m later the top popped off one of my flasks, so I drank the rest of the bottle and searched thoroughly for the top, absolutely refusing to leave litter on the trail. Found it, pressed ahead to the finish but had ‘lost some time’ (AKA, loved the rest).
47km I ran into a group of MTB riders as I stopped for a cramp-stretch. Great bunch, everyone keen to know about the race and what was going on, how far we had to go. I couldn’t be happier to tell them it was only 3km from here! And it was basically all downhill. Physically and metaphorically!
The last few km were just painful, but nothing out of the ordinary. I had strapped up my ankle to hopefully avoid damaging it any more than it is already, but it had been aching (sometimes sharply) for about 2 hours. But that wasn’t the problem. My legs had been cramping for hours, and rehydrating hadn’t really fixed the problem. It was too late now, I just needed to get through it. Into Jedburgh and along the paved river path I felt like I was flying along, but the reality of course is that, after 4hours 30mins running, you are never going very fast, it’s just marginally faster than the last half an hour or so.
Finally ran up the hill to the abbey finish line and saw Katie and her Mum there with cheering with everyone. We had a hug and showered each other with thanks and praise, and received our awards as 1st male and 1st female. She had put 14mins on me, and only left me some 17km from the end. Some pics by the abbey and the start of the recovery (long for me, probably quite short for her, she looked like she was already to run again when I finished!).
Some minutes later the leader of the 109km came through, one of the ladies I ran with in the first 5km! And she obviously looked absolutely fine as well (I’m sure most of the 109km runners would’ve looked ok at 50k, otherwise it’s a very long day out!). And the ladies team were miles ahead of the men’s team in the relay race. The Jedburgh CP (which was also the finish line for the 50k) was staffed by volunteers from the Jed Joggers, a ladies running club from Jedburgh, so all of the volunteers looking after us were enthusiastic-runner ladies, too!
I may have taken the 1st-male trophy, but this was unquestionably a day for the women. Hopefully a step towards equality of participation in ultra-running. I don’t know what the actual participation numbers were, and it definitely felt at the start like there were more males, but women winning all the races and staffing the CPs must be inspiring some more people to get involved. Ultra running is for everyone. Just don’t go out too hard haha
