Highland Fling Race 2014

Apologies in advance, but this definitely won't be a quick read... There's just too much to write about! This was just my second year being part of the Fling Team, working for the inimitable Johnny Fling, alongside a crew of amazing people, many of whom are very experienced and knowledgeable in the ultrarunning community. I'm stupidly proud of being a small part of this, because, damn, Johnny Fling knows how to put on a pretty spectacular event!

Arriving at the pub on Friday evening where registration was taking place, the first thing Elizabeth said was "Can you believe it's been a whole year already?", which put the biggest grin on my face as I hugged her and hubby Mark hello. She was absolutely right - I'd not seen either of them for a year, but it felt like only a few weeks ago! The facebook pages had been buzzing excitedly for a while, and reaching fever point in the last week or two, so my adrenaline was sky high as I took my position as Relay Team Registration chick, and sussed out the lie of the land. The pub was already busy, and the main race registration work was buzzing - they had about 850 signed-up runners, and I had less than 60 relay teams. We were busy all night either handing out the timing chips, or number bibs, or sorting out last minute bus enquiries, but the whole evening ran ridiculously smoothly. It was a great few hours - and also a chance for a quick catch-up with Mrs Mac, Alice and Ada too. Plus a big hug from Pete Hunter, among with many others as the evening went on. You can't BEAT runner hugs, seriously! We closed up registration at 10pm, and I scuttled back to my hotel room, on a high. There was no chance I was getting any sleep...!! However, just in case, I set FIVE separate alarm calls on my phone, to make sure I was up in time!

I was out of bed by 3:30am, with the kettle boiling to fill a couple of insulated mugs with tea, and I dressed fairly quickly, albeit with bare feet as I couldn't face the struggle of putting my injinji toe socks on until I'd had a cuppa and a wee bit of breakfast!! Scuttling out into the drizzle, I loaded the car and drove down to the train station, arriving at about 4:15am - to find Johnny unloading the van, setting up registration in the tunnel where the runners start, because of the rain. I started putting the boxes out, until Elizabeth arrived and said we were moving to the bus shelter instead, so a hectic 10 minutes of reorganising took place, and together with the first very, very early runners arriving and clamouring for their numbers. And so, we were off!!

I was kept busy right up to 6am, either helping Elizabeth and her crew a little at registration, helping with general enquiries from runners, marshals, or others, and trying to grab hugs and hellos with as many folk as possible as I dashed by. I met Murdo, one of the original RDs, who explained to me that "back in the day" he would refuse relay teams who just called themselves their running club name, demanding something a little more creative, hahah. Then, 6am while the race briefing was going on, I opened the Relay registration, and from then I was kept busy registering the rest of the relay teams, and then tidying up. 7am arrived, the relay teams left, and I finished up and headed off to Balmaha, ready for my second role of the day.

When I got to Balmaha at about 7:45, David Hall and his team had already emptied out all of the drop bags, sorted them, and looked pretty much completely ready for the first runner, expected to arrive any time from about 8am. A short bit of banter with him, Kynon, and Scott, lead one of the other marshals to ask "where do you guys know each other from?" to which we laughed and pointed at our feet: "From here! 12 months ago!" - David asked if I wanted to marshal 'my spot' again, to which I was absolutely thrilled, as I'd been secretly (ehmmm, not so secretly) hoping this would be the case. As much as I loved the drop bag atmosphere last year, I had even more loved being stationed that short way up the road, which would also mean I would get to speak to every single runner in person. So, realising we could potentially be close to the first runner arriving, I set off up the road, chatting to another marshal who was coming with me to see the spot, in case he needed to relieve me for something (teeeea?) later.

As it happened, I stood on my own waiting for the first runner for probably about 25 minutes, entertaining myself with taking a couple of selfies and chatting to walkers and other passerbys. The weather was clearing, and the sun was peeking through, and I just had good feelings about it. The first two, Sondre and Abdul, arrived almost neck and neck, and I duly cheered and pointed them up the steep steps that come off the road. The next guy arrived 3 minutes later, and then there was a slightly longer wait, and then everyone else started arriving, trickling at first, then busier at the time went by. I congratulated every single runner, and used my very best cheesy banter in encouraging them up the hill. Many runners bantered back, mainly because they're still only 20 miles in, and in relatively high spirits (plus they've just put Conic Hill behind them) - so I was having a whale of a time. Gerry Craig arrived, looking strong, and as he hit the steep hill, I yelled up after him "Gerry! Are you WALKING?!" to which he yelled back "Aye, take a picture of my arse!!" - hahaha!! More runners passed, then Andy Johns arrived, arms held wide as he approached me, with a big grin, ready for a mid-race hug. Yay!!! I'd crewed for Andy at Glenmore back in September, and he truly is one of the nice guys, you wouldn't see a runner of his class telling me to photograph his bum, you know.... hehe

The runners started to come through steadily - and a couple of people I didn't know said they read my blog, which made me laugh a LOT because that particular refrain was a common thread in my blog post for the Fling 2013! So, hi guys, you MADE MY DAY. Plus the guy who must be in the Ultra Dafties facebook group, asking me about whether I'd got my socks on...! More runners passed, more times I bantered about them having to run up a hill, or how I'd have to drop tackle them if they tried to take the flatter shortcut, and so on - I made sure to say well done to every single runner. On top of that was the joy of seeing my friends running well: Noanie Heffron, Tim Downie, David Meldrum, Running Gannet, Amanda Hamilton, Emma Hamilton, Alan Doig, Fiona Rennie, Fiona Macdonald, David Ross, Karen Donoghue, Louise Jones, David Martin, George Furmage, Sharon Biggins, Rhona McKinnon, the Leggetts, Susan Addison, and many more (if I've not named you, it's because my brain is shot, not because I don't love you lots). My friend Clare had messaged me that morning saying if I saw her friend Dave to say hi from her, but not one to do things by halves I gave him a hug instead! Why not?!!

Towards the end, UltraBob and Moss arrived to say hi. They'd been at the Balmaha checkpoint to see Amanda and others, and popped up the road to see how I was getting on, for a little bit. I haven't seen them in a really long time, so it was fab that Moss recognised me and happily wanted to play. I threw a stick about for a wee bit (until she chewed it to pieces), and scritched her behind her ears; sadly this meant she jumped up for attention when I stopped, and my newly-prized Fling Race Team Hoody got a couple of muddy pawprints!!! It was good to see them both - reminding me I'm not doing much of my own running at the moment, of course, but that's a subject for a different blog post... The Moonertys also drove past to say hi and chat about the runners, on their way up to Sallochy Bay (sp?) from having left the Balmaha checkpoint. Davie had that wee glint in his eye which betrayed him even before he admitted he wished he was running today, lol. He's not doing much ultra stuff this year, but I hope to see him running past me in next year's Fling, for sure.

After the happy, bouncy sweepers arrived, I headed back to the checkpoint, finding it all packed away, and Boss Davy on his way out to pick me up! Said bye to him, and headed to my car - the checkpoint area was now deserted, save for a one or two support family/friends who had perhaps decided to pop into the Oak Tree, and then I spotted a runner getting packed up to leave. I felt a stab of sympathy, it was clearly a DNF ("did not finish") runner, but as I grew closer I realised it was Heather who had inspired so many people with her gutsy run at Glenmore last year. I stopped to chat with her for a bit, she was in reasonable spirits, though hugely disappointed as you'd expect, having had IT Band issues that she didn't want to fight with for another 33 miles. I reassured her she'd made a good decision, and if she could think of today as a great 20 mile training run, then I'm sure we'd see her come back stronger in her next race. I left, and drove to Tyndrum, thinking quite a lot about the guts it takes to DNF in your 'A' race when you know you could potentially carry on, but risk a game-changing injury, but also how disappointing and upsetting it must be. Earlier, a lad had passed me looking really out of sorts - "you okay?" "no, my head just really isn't in it today." - he looked really pained by it, seemingly not a physical issue, just a mental one - he had hit the steps, got about halfway up, and walked back down to me. "Nope, that's it." "Are you DNFing?" I asked, as he set off to walk back to the checkpoint. "I don't know" he replied, as I noted his race number ready to ring them to let him know. However, seconds later he ran back past me again: "No. I'm going to carry on." - it really, really resonated with me, as I encouraged him on. That mental struggle, where you know you're fighting something that can be stronger than you'd ever imagined. I thought a lot about it, on my way up the road. (That evening, I found out he had indeed DNF'd at the next checkpoint. I hope he has a stronger run next time, it's easy to underestimate how much of ultrarunning is ruled by the head rather than the feet.)

In the car, I realised I was starving, and thirsty, as I tried to sip from my (now cold) tea. It takes quite a while to drive from Balmaha to Tyndrum, and I thought about stopping for lunch somewhere, but I was doing some calculations, and if the race leader was close to the usual sort of winning time, I'd maybe miss him finish. So I went straight to Tyndrum, for shift 3 of my day! As I passed the road crossing at Crianlarich, just a few short miles from the finish, I saw George Reid turn and put his arm out to stop a runner until the traffic has passed. I looked in my rearview mirror, and saw a glimpse of a runner wearing a white cap, which - at mile 20 - Abdul had been wearing, and Sondre in a purple buff. So, not even noticing the colour of the runner's skin (yes, I'm just THAT observant) I decided the lead runner must be Abdul. Of course I got to the finish area, and Elizabeth told me he'd DNF'd, so I was rather confused!! The finish line was all set up, John wanted to check a few things in readiness for the first runner arriving, so Elizabeth's daighter was given one end of a Fling banner, and I think (not sure) Ellen the other end, and Johnny had a few mock 'finish line sprints' to try and figure out the photographer position and the height of the banner, etc. What a laugh, we all cheered as Johnny Fling was the first across the finish line!!! However, it wasn't that much longer until the pipers started up, and we knew the runner was arriving. We dashed out to line the finish, rattling noisy cowbells that Johnny Fling had got this year - a truly inspired decision - as Sondre turned the corner into By The Way, and towards a great victory for the Norwegian visitor. I made sure to congratulate him in person a little later on, I think he'd really enjoyed it.

So, setting up in the results tent, I gratefully nibbled some sandwiches (oh, who am I kidding, I inhaled them) and downed a mug of tea and then basically for the next couple of hours I helped Elizabeth as we worked on results, working out who were prizewinners from each category, sorting out the presentation plates, and so on. I'd grabbed a cowbell, and we were ringing them for every runner we could, such a welcome addition to the finish line area!!! I took the occasional chance for a quick walkabout, congratulating and hugging friends and runners, catching up with Julie Clarke, speaking to Craig Mackay who'd had a great run, chatting to Andrew Barnes, the South African contingent of the Ultra Dafties, who had been intending to run the whole thing in sandals until he realised how cold it was..! He was a friendly guy, though a wee bit confused by Gannet's instructions about where they were staying, so I took him on a walkabout to find Kirsty who runs By The Way (and had also ran the Fling!). It was also fab to catch up with friends who had ran the relay - Ally, Pauline, Angela, Heather, Jenni... everyone seemed to have had a pretty good run. Back in the results tent, we finished sorting out the awards and then Muriel and I helped Johnny with the presentations. Afterwards, with my duties for the day largely completed, I helped with a bit of tidying up in the results tent, and then went to chat to the Moonertys, Ally and Iain, and so on, as we cheered more runners home. Many of the cowbells had gone by now, which I thought was a little unfortunate. The people who had taken them from the fences earlier in the day had taken them with them when they left, meaning the later finishers had less of a welcome, but nevertheless, that red carpet finish, with all the flags, is something else!!! At one point, Mark asked Elizabeth for her cowbell, and she handed it over saying "why?" - only to see him hand it to a small child by the barrier, lol, she was gutted! I kept tight hold of mine, and zipped it up into a pocket when I went elsewhere, but alas mine also went to a couple of small children later, as well... Well, Davie and Julie, but close enough. ;)

I tried to speak to as many people as possible at the finish area, and I was really chuffed when Murdo came to speak to me; he's one of the ultramarathon stalwarts, with loads of finishes to his name, but we'd not met before. He'd had a good run too, I think, with a podium finish in his age group. :-) I also chatted to John Kynaston briefly, with a wave to Katrina, they'd had a great day volunteering out at Inversnaid checkpoint... but by about 7:30pm I was really flagging. Plus, I hadn't checked into my bed and breakfast yet, and although I'd phoned them at about 6pm, I didn't want them waiting around too long. So, I said a few byes and headed up the road, I was staying in a place just north of Crianlarich.

The B&B was absolutely lovely, with free wifi but no phone reception. I'd earlier received a text from the runner I was giving a lift home to the next day, so after settling into my room, I went outside to find a signal and it was the process of getting off the bed where I'd been sitting and moving outside that made me realise I was too tired to think about driving back into town and spending an hour or two at the post-Fling ceilidh. So, I went back to the room, washed up, and got into bed with a mug of tea and my iPad. Bliss!! I fell asleep with a smile on my face, I'm sure.

In the morning, over breakfast I quickly realised the guy at the table next to me with his partner had been a Fling competitor, so we exchanged 'witty conversation' (insofar as we were capable) for a bit - nice to meet you Gordon, and well done again!! Next time, if you stay at the Ewich again, when you hit the rollercoaster in the Fling, just don't look to the right and think about how close to your bed you're running, hehe.

I headed back to By The Way at 9am, to pick up Charlie Lees, who had ran his first Fling. I'd offered him a lift to Edinburgh after he reached out on FB, though we didn't know each other, and I have to admit having someone to witter on with for the 2 hour drive was very much welcomed. We talked about the race a lot, and our different fitness routines, and spoke a lot about his personal trainer and why I should give him a call. To which I laugh a lot, because the PT in question trains people like Jo Rae, Sandra McDougall, Ross Lawrie, and Lorna McMillan, and I am very much not in that sort of league... *laughs* Also, it would be a bit of a concern having an ultrarunner as a personal trainer... but Charlie was firmly of the decision it would be a life-changing phonecall. Aye. I'll think about it..... *stretches out on the couch with a mug of tea* ....later.....

Anyway. EPIC weekend of awesomeness. Huge thanks to John Duncan, and well done to every SINGLE person involved, in whatever capacity. You running types are bloody amazing, you know? I'm extraordinarily grateful to just get the chance to hang around you for a bit. x