Glenmore 24 - 2014

I know I still owe a blog post about the ultras I attended in August, but there's just so much to say about Glenmore, and it's whirling around my head, so you get this one first. :-)

Last year, I crewed a 12 hour runner, and had a whale of a time, so when I was asked maybe 6 months ago to crew for James Stewart in the 24 hour race, I leapt at the chance. Firstly (and controversially, it seems, after comments my last post inspired on my FB page) because I knew he was going to really take this seriously and train for it. It wasn't a lark about wi' his pals. Secondly, because omg, crewing the business end of a race is exciting, and I had a sneaking suspicion things could go quite well. Thirdly, and most importantly (the main reason I ever crew anyone), simply because he's a thoroughly nice bloke, and he promised me no Diva moments, haha. So, I was all set. Closer to the time, I was contacted by Viki Williams - she and her Mum Marianne Grover only had one crew member lined up for the pair of them running 24 hours, so how about we shared a support pitch and could help each other out? I readily agreed, and was all set to be a crew of 2 for 3 runners. Then, the week before race day, Dave Meldrum asked (politely, as he only asks anyone anything) if he could use our table for his stuff, saying he would self-support for 24 hours, to which I quashed such silliness and said of course I would crew him. By this point, I knew that Viki and Marianne had a larger crew lined up, so I would be free to crew James and Dave in the 24 hour race, no bother. Then, a couple of days later, in the run-up to race day, Gerry Craig contacted me, and asked if he could leave his stuff on my support table too, requiring nothing more than the occasional hot drink. How can you say no to Gerry Craig? The wee cheeky chappy was running the 24 hour race as part of a mega-Craig Family fundraising effort for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Last year, he'd had a blinder of a first half in the 12 hour race, but had suffered badly in the second half, but last year he was perhaps a little over-raced - this year, he had that 100 mile in mind (known to all as "Ada's Horn", as every runner crossing the lap start/finish line at the end of the 25th lap gets marked with a blast of an air-horn). I was all up for helping him get it.

And so, on race day itself, I found myself crewing three 24-hour runners, and helping out with 2 more where I could - Viki had Phil to crew her, and Marianne had Andy, and James, Gerry and Dave had me. What could possibly go wrong?!! ;-) James' Dad Andy also offered help a couple of times throughout the 24 hours (which I'll come back to later), and actually 3 "full time" crew plus 1 "part time" was definitely a good mix for 5 runners. Maybe next year I'll stick to 2 runners, though.... who knows?

Viki had arranged the loan of a gazebo from Bellahouston Road Runners, and I was thrilled to see it was a pretty sturdy number, because by the time the race started, the weather had let us all know, in no uncertain terms, that it wasn't going to be an easy 24 hours. And by god, it wasn't. The hail storm, and thunder and lightning, has been documented in many places now, so I won't really dwell on it, other than saying just when you think ultra runners can't be more mad and inspirational, you get to see them pulling out performances like they did this weekend in atrocious weather, and your esteem of them raises another notch or two. For me, I learned a valuable lesson. Buy a warmer jacket. Buy wellies. Pack your walking boots. Wear more layers than you ever thought possible for a person to wear. And tie your stupid hair differently, because in crazy rain/hail/etc it's gonna frizz up and piss you RIGHT off. So... you know... live and learn!

James and Gerry ran the first 5 or 6 laps together, each of them getting a little something to eat every lap. My job was made easy by them both being pretty good at that, and having easy to understand requirements for their drinking bottles. I kept their bottles topped up, and if they asked for anything to be ready their next lap round, I'd do that. Simples. Dave was running a comfortable first few laps, and again, he was absolutely spot on with eating something each time, and drinking small amounts every lap. He quickly got himself into a rhythm with that, and I topped up his mini 250ml bottles of electrolytes or coke regularly, which lasted him 2 laps. I felt a bit like a Mum talking to a wee schoolkid at one point, demanding: "what have you done with your bottle?" (Did one of the big kids steal it?) - but he told me he'd left his coke at the mid-loop aid station, so I reminded him to bring it back when it was empty, and off he trotted happily enough again, with a pocket full of conkers salted peanuts.

James and Gerry split up after a while, with James nicely settled into 37 minute laps. That made it very easy to keep track of him, and know when to expect him again. Gerry slowed a little, but again, was sticking to quite regular lap times for the first half. In the meantime, Viki and Marianne were going really well. Viki was eating regularly, which is something she's not managed well with in recent ultras, so everyone was happy, and of course her trademarked happy "whoop whoop" announced her arrival in the hayfield each lap. Marianne was worrying that she was 'too slow', and we kept reminding her she was managing a really awesome, steady pace. She, too, was eating regularly, and having given Andy a very detailed list of what she wanted in each lap, in advance, I loved her face light up in happy surprise when she was handed something. "Do you want your hotpot now?" "Ooooh! Yes please, that would be lovely!!" :-) :-) As darkness slowly descended a little before 8pm, we made sure all the runners had their head torches, and I quickly set about the most important task of the day - I put up fairy lights around the gazebo. I'm so thrilled I bought these on a whim a few weeks back - they're weatherproof outdoor fairy lights, and once it got dark, they looked fab. Loads of the passing runners commented, it raised a few smiles, and suddenly the decorative competition was on with the girls in the gazebo next to mine. Noanie was crewing Johnny Fling, Lorna crewing Gavin Bussey, and Keziah crewing Gavin Orr, and the girls had a Plan to beat my display. They inflated bright pink ballons, and attached a wee glowing pink light to the end of each one. I'm sure you don't need me to explain further, but... yeah, my gazebo was the one NEXT TO the one adorned with the large glowing pink breasts. *sigh*

As the 12 hour race headed towards its conclusion, I was aware that James was well out in the lead in the 24 hour race. Any time someone mentioned that to me, I would calmly pretend I wasn't much bothered, saying "Yeah, but we all know the race doesn't really begin until about 6am." (WOW, how those words came back to bite me!) - but inside I was like some sort of squealing fangirl, a teenager at a One Direction concert every time he came around having completed another lap. He'd slowed a little, as the night went one, but was still comfortably under 45 minutes each lap, and looking absolutely fresh. As you can do, I mean, running in that weather... Andy, his Dad, had been along to help out in the early evening, and James had asked him to take his wet trainers away, try and dry them as best as possible in his B&B room, and bring them back in the morning. Andy, watching his son doing so incredibly well in a 24 hour race, got a tad overwhelmed by the task, and spend the night lying wide awake in bed wondering if the trainers were dry enough yet! In the end, he gave up on the idea of sleep and headed back to the Hayfield early.

I'm a little ahead of myself. The wee loops opened for the 12 hour race at 11pm, and we got to cheer the runners as they ran around and around. Some of the performances from my friends were absolutely outstanding, and I'll forget people if I try to name them all so I won't. I cheered you guys on, and I meant every word of support - you're amazing. At 12, the race finished, and the Hayfield quietened down a little. With half (ish) of the field gone, the number of times a runner passed by decreased, and some of the nearby support stations shut up shop. Jenni Coelho, in the tent next to us, had long since gone to bed, doing the 24 hour race less than a week away from Norovirus, she'd not been having the best of runs. She ended up staying in her tent for 12 hours, smashing last year's "who can sleep the longest" record!! However, she was ill, and I think seeing her last 3 hours of running was one of the highlights for me. Another was seeing Dave Meldrum cheerfully continue making progress around the course, towards a final distance that exceeded his own hopes. Every time he passed Stan Bland, Stan told him the equivalent spot along the West Highland Way that his distance would now leave him, which he loved. One point, when I was over at the main race support tent, refilling the hot water flasks, I was told to tell David he was now "at Derrydarroch" next time he came through. I then got pelters for not prononcing the "ch" with enough Scottish gutteral flair. One day, maybe I'll learn how to speak Scottish... Maybe.

After midnight, the 24 hour runners were allowed a support runner if they wanted, and weren't in the top few positions in the race. Viki and Marianne both took advantage of this, so Phil and Andy disappeared off to run laps with the ladies, and I was left on my own for a while. Tiredness set in, and I felt myself nodding off gently in the chair, but also shivering with the cold at times too, which kept me awake. It was all rather strange. Every time someone came past my pitch, I would congratulate them and encourage them on, often with no idea who it was until the moment they passed my fairylights, as all I could see coming was a head torch! At one point, Noanie came to my rescue with a toasted croissant and butter - she was instantaneously my new favouritest person in the whole wide world EVER. Speaking of croissants, I'm wondering if James' blog entry about the race will refer to his race game of Croissant Roulette? We'll see...

As James passed 96 miles, I was so thrilled for him. I checked the timing sheet for when I was next to expect Gerry and Dave, and got busy with their requirements, but all I was thinking was "listen out for the horn, listen out for the horn...." - and then, at 4:57am, Ada's horn blared out across the field. Biggest grin from me - he had ran 100 miles in under 17 hours. Outstanding - especially when you consider that before today his furthest distance ran was 56 miles. When he made it round to my side of the field, I leapt out to give him a huge hug. So proud of him, but there was still 7 hours to go! So, onwards. 5 or 10 minutes later, Andy arrived with the dry shoes, and nervous anticipation. I filled him in on how everyone was doing, then he told me to go get a little sleep. I promised 90 minutes, and shuffled off to my car, where I put the heaters on, and pulled my sleeping bacg over the top of me. I dozed for a while, listening out for Ada's horn, and when the second horn came, I was absolutely floored to see it was well over an HOUR from James' had been. The third horn was only 5-10 minutes later. I decided I'd had enough rest, a good 75 minutes plus, and got out of my car feeling bizarrely refreshed for such a short snooze. Heading back to the tent, I was met with good and bad news. The good, I was right in what I'd heard, Johnny Fling was over an hour behind James. The bad, James had slowed right down to 1 hour laps, having injured his knee a little on the 26th lap. I did the sums, and figured that Johnny could catch James by the end, but it could be a pretty close call. I just hoped everything was okay. With Andy still here, I headed over to the support tent area to make a cup of tea, and was just heading back when I saw James arrive at the end of his 27th lap. He went straight to Sean, the race medic, and they huddled together briefly, with Davie Mooney and Andy, then James headed straight back to Ada, and leaned in. From halfway across the field I heard her yelling "No!" and something to the effect of "keep going, ya big girl's blouse" (or something similar, lol) , but James produced Sean, and Ada was convinced that James was stopping there. He'd ran 108 miles in 19 hours, never complaining, alway smiling, and he was my new hero. (Don't tell him I said that.)

We got him over to the support tent, sat him down and put some warm clothes on - he was definitely glad of the dry shoes, too! Sean told him to pop over to the physio lady when she arrived a little later, so in the meantime, I made sure he got warm, and worried about how to keep his spirits up after having to drop out when he was going so well. I needn't have worried, he was absolutely elated in what he'd achieved. Sure, he wasn't happy to have to stop 5 hours early, but he was so philosophical about it, weighing up the pros and cons, and coming down heavily on the pros. His attitude was infectious, and none of us could feel too gutted. He'd ran nearly twice as far as he'd ever done before, and he'd crossed 100 miles an hour before the next runner. Simply fantastic. His Dad headed off to go get his own breakfast, promising that on his return he would bring us a bacon sarnie, and I packed James off to sit in my car, which was warmer than the hayfield!! Gerry and Dave were still running, and both running really well. Gerry was down to 55 minute laps, and Dave about 70, with the last few hours to go, and both were still able to get food in them, no problems, though Dave got a wee bit queasy for a while. When Gerry passed on his 24th lap, he said he'd decided he was going to come into the support area after he got the Horn, and sit down for a bit, get some food in him, and change his clothes for dry ones. While I would NEVER admit this publically, I might have suggested to Ada that any suggestion of giving up at 100 be met with her cattleprod. I had no intention of letting him stop at 100m, but I should have trusted him - he reach his 100 miles at 7:45am, and he came over, said Ada had told him he could "have 5 minutes", then took half an hour to get a complete change of clothes, sit down for a bit, eat some porridge, and just generally sort himself out for a bit. He then went on to run 4 more laps, to finish with a total of over 116 miles (I'm not sure the exact total) in 4th place. Outstanding, sheer class. He grinned every time he came through the aid station, and he was an utter privilege to crew for.

Dave had asked if I wouldn't mind walking his last full lap with him, but with Gerry still running, and Phil/Andy out on the course with Viki and Marianne, I didn't feel I could. Plus, if I'm honest, my feet were soggy blocks of ice, and the idea of making them walk 4 miles wasn't ideal to me, which sounds so ridiculous when you consider what the runners were doing!!! Anyway, I asked Julie Docherty if she'd join Dave for his last full lap, knowing she'd chatter away with him and keep him moving well, which she did. Dave completed his last loop to find his girlfriend waiting for him; she'd driven up as a total surprise. Wow! Really emotional stuff!! He'd ran 92 miles, and there was still an hour to go - so he came across the field to sit down, absolutely overjoyed in what he'd achieved. "You have to go run a few small loops too, you know!" I prompted. To which he looked up at me, and with a tired, quizzical look on his face, asked "Why? Why do I have to?" Now, normally, I'd boot someone out of my station to get a couple more miles notched up, but Dave had far surpassed his goal of 80 miles, and he was burst. I would have to say 92 miles is a VERY good day in the office, so I smiled, and said he didn't have to at all, and lets get him into some warmer kit. So proud of him!!

With only Gerry left running from my 3 runners in that last hour, I deserted my station, and headed across to the main start/finish area, to join in with cheering all of the runners on their short laps. The emotions in that last hour in the field are incredible. People start running with energy you simply can't figure out where it came from, and push themselves round their 24th hour of running - supporters scream out names, and yell out support, cowbells ring, George yells out race numbers to count laps, and the runners shout back, and just the noise is incredible to be a part of. Then, finally, the countdown, and as the clock turns to midday, the runners sink their pegs into the floor and stop moving. Freaking amazing.

We hung around for the prizegiving, and although I was gutted that James wasn't up there in a podium position, there was no way at all I could begrudge John Duncan his outstanding perfomance. He had been running strongly those last 6 hours, in fact all 24, looking comfortable, running around the field in a vest and tiny shorts, while everyone else was layered up to the max against the weather. He knocked out a fantastic 131.22 miles, and was well deserving of that first place. So pleased for him - he and Noanie worked well as a great team, she flew across that field over and over and over, in her bright pink wellies, and never lost her enthusiasm in supporting him all night. Noanie had chose not to inform him that James had pulled out, so I don't think he had any idea in those last 4+ hours that he was out in front, even though at one point when he passed our station, James was sat down in fresh clothes - I don't think Johnny registered that. What a truly great run!!

So, I realise this blog entry is already ridiculously long, so let me just quickly mention a few key memories I'll take away from the weekend, asides from what I've already written above: Kynon hurling abuse at the sky, giving it the finger, as thunder rumbled overhead. The constant smile on Gannet's face. Viki being overly impressed with the merits of Phil's ability to reheat Heinz tinned spag bol. Jenni arriving at her support tent and yelling "BOY!" to wake her support crew up. Helen running the small laps in her pirate party costume. Ally pushing on to complete 12 hours despite clearly hating it in that weather. The black pudding and tattie scone roll that Andy bought me. Julie Clarke's amazing outfit of awesomeness. Marianne's smile every time she arrived to us ringing a cowbell. Alan Doig's frequent outfit changes. :-) Pete Hunter's speed and consistency on his podium-placed running after a year of epic injury. Seeing so many of my friends and ultra family going up to collect their medals. Being awarded a spot prize for best support station!!! And, finally, those post-race celebratory hugs with James, Gerry and Dave. What a trio, I couldn't have asked for a better set of runners to crew for.

Bill and Mike, and your team of awesomeness, you certainly know how to put on a race, and I'm already counting down the days til next year, though I guess I need to find a runner or two to support...!! Thanks guys - arrrr, it was a special weekend, me hearties. x


(Photo courtesy of John Kynaston, who was supoporting the runners by being out there running laps of the route in reverse!!)