Up at 4am to give me time for a good breakfast before the 6am start in Milngavie. Chilly morning (1C) with frost on the car window on the short drive from my lovely AirBnB to the start area. Spotted a couple of my clubmates at the start, and after a short race briefing we were off – 53 miles to go!
I took the pace super easy – I was chatting with a couple of club mates so the first 10 miles went by in a flash, by Checkpoint 1 I was in 52nd position.
The next 7 miles were up, up, up Conic Hill and then the sharp rocky descent down to Balmaha at 20 miles. 2hrs 30mins in and I was still feeling very good. But the sun was climbing higher, and the temperature was rising. I ditched the base layer; surprised at how drenched it was, and began to rue accidentally leaving my running hat at home.
40k to 50k took less than an hour, but the cramp had started to creep in. I’ve never had cramps in a race before, so it was a bit of a shock. It grew steadily worse, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time as we were entering the very technical 10 mile section along Loch Lomond, which is more of a 10 mile obstacle course than a running trail.
The next 10k took over 1hr 30 mins – with the cramps now bad it was without doubt the most I have ever suffered in a race. It was torturous climbing over rocks, up and down the steep steps and muscle spasms had started now too. I was yelping whenever I had to climb a big step – the poor lady in front of me must have thought I had tourettes or something! All I kept thinking over and over was, “Get to the next checkpoint – you can’t stop now, so many people have sponsored you”.
I was so relieved to get to Inversnaid checkpoint at 34 miles. I took some time to compose myself, got some water, coke, and some salt to help with the cramps. A few bites of a Snickers I was ready to head out. The legs were still bad, but I was telling myself, “Just one leg in front of the other for the next 20 miles”.
About 500m past the checkpoint, I must have clipped a rock as I went tumbling forward and smacked the ground. My right hand and knee were cut and it was a mix of mud and dirt. I flipped over onto my back and tried to get up, but couldn’t. I was going to roll down to my right but it was a drop into the Loch, and I couldn’t roll to the left. So I tried to get up forward, but my legs were spasming again so I lay there like an overturned turtle. I was genuinely worried for a second, but luckily a lovely young hiker was just 20m behind me and was able to yank me to my feet again. A quick body check and it was just some cuts and grazes and didn’t feel like anything was badly injured – my hand stung a bit but that was about it.
For a second I was tempted just to go back to the checkpoint I had just passed and call it a day, but again I thought about the all the people who has so generously sponsored me, and said f*ck that, you are not quitting now. I started to plod forward – the next 6k to Beniglas checkpoint took over an hour.
Thankfully after Beniglas the terrain was a lot more forgiving and not having to lift the knees much was a big help. Now, with just 20k to go I felt I was going to make it, and I just had to dig in and go forward. The weather was turning overcast and the last 6 or 7k I was beginning to feel better. Having to bend down to go through that tunnel was not fun, and stubbing a rock with my right foot was annoying – I woke up to two lovely black toenails. The last couple of km I just enjoyed knowing I was going to finish, and by the time I got to the red carpet I was getting quite emotional.
The marshalls and crew at the end were top notch as usual and looked after me really well. Thanks to Simon, Kim, Lorna, Sam and Hannah – and Donald near the end, for the encouragement and support.
It’s definitely the last time I do the Fling and if I never see that ‘bouldering’ section along Loch Lomond again it will be too soon. For those of you that already sponsored me for my 3 Ultra Challenge, you definitely got your money’s worth. If you would like to read more about my challenge, and perhaps sponsor me, visit https://shorturl.at/hjmt5
