D33 ultra marathon 2015

"Is it the A33? (No!) Is it the B33? (No!) Is it the C33? (No!)
Is it the D33? (YES! YES! YES!)" - I Beattie, 2015.

This was my first time at the D33, a 33 mile out-and-back ultra ran on the Deeside Way, but having volunteered or crewed at many other SUMS (Scottish Ultra Marathon Series) races over the last couple of years, I was keen to get involved in this one, and contacted Race Directors Karen and George some time ago. Note: this blog post is not a race report, it's just a post about my experiences on the day. :-) I was allocated a spot at registration/finish area, so I booked a hotel room, thought about logistics of getting from Aberdeen on Saturday to the race in Alloa on Sunday, and decided to play it by ear - my vague plan was that I would finish at D33, then get some food, and early night, get up early on Sunday morning, dress for the race, eat something in the hotel room, and drive straight to Alloa - as it got closer, though, I started actually thinking about this plan, and realised it was a bit daft - I'd have to leave Aberdeen at around 6:30am, would I be able to properly eat for pre-race? Would I be stressed from a long drive? ...and so on. So a new plan was hatched, and it worked really well.

I left work early on Friday, headed home to pick up my bag and pack some food up, and drove up to Aberdeen listening to a brilliant podcast episode of Talk Ultra, with an interview that had me grinning and motivated, and just really helped put me in a good frame of mind. The drive went well, and I was safely in my hotel room by dark. I ate some food I'd brought, watched some TV, and got an early night. Very relaxed, very quiet, just what I wanted!

Saturday morning, I ate some food in the hotel room then headed straight to Duthie Park for around 7am - finding people in full flow of setting up. Karen gave me a high-vis jacket, pointed me at registration, and I got cracking with sorting it out, as a gazebo went up around me. Others started arriving, and quickly - very quickly - it was time to open registration. I was kept steadily busy from then, handing over race bibs, crossing off the names, having a bit of banter with the more nervous looking runners, and leaning awkwardly over the table for hugs with loads of friendly faces. We had quite a good gang of volunteers, and it went pretty smoothly - with the only minor hitch of two runners with exactly the same name having mixed up race numbers, but Karen got things sorted, and then headed off to stand with George for the race briefing.

It was brilliant to see George, though sadly I never got much of a chance to talk to him all day - he's not terribly well, but it was important to him to be at the start, and come back later for seeing finishers, and I'm sure it was deeply appreciated by the runners. I'm pretty sure everyone had an idea of what Karen and George have been going through, and it's all the more testament to them that they still managed to put on one hell of a race! While he did the briefing, I started to pack up registration, and as the runners set off, we all set off into action in the next job of the day: the goody bags.

We had to put together 400 goody bags, but before we could do that, specially printed labels had to be stuck carefully on the bottles of beer! We set up a bit of a production line, and called in loads of help. The lads went on a tea run (heroes) while the rest of us carried on with the sorting - the bag needed a bottle of beer, bag of crisps, some leaflets, flapjack/brownie/type thing, and banana... and that's a lot of boxes! Halfway through, while I was outside the tent moving bags to the collection area as they were being put together, I heard a crash, and inside the tent was beermageddon: one of the tables had collapsed under the uneven weight of the beer, as we'd been taking bottles from one end to put in the bags. Bottles laid smashed on the ground, with other intact bottles (and their lovely white labels) lying in the frothing, muddy liquid. We all kinda stared for a few moments, before flying into action! Pick everything up, we can't have any glass lying around in the tent, and all the spoiled and smashed bottles had to be sorted. All the while, the smell from all this spilled beer was... well, I can only say utterly gross, I'm afraid. Deep, hoppy scent, in a relatively enclosed space: I'm gobsmacked none of us got drunk on the fumes!! :-)

Anyway, disaster sorted, we carried on with the bags, until we finally reached that magic number of 400. There wasn't long now until the first runner was due back, Karen had been getting updates from checkpoints the whole time, and we were all expecting something special. So, after a very quick break to go grab a camp chair from my car, and eat a boiled egg from my coolbag (I hadn't eaten anything in hours), while others got cracking with setting up tables of food for the runners, and sorting out the amazing medals (which were somewhat tangled!), for me it was straight onto my third job of the day: timing. I was handed one of the stopwatches, and a clipboard. A CLIPBOARD!! That's how important I am!!!!!! I don't think the importance of someone in high-vis with a clipboard in their hand can be understated. :-) Ian Beattie was the man in charge of timing, and he set up his team of cheerful volunteers thus: two on race number-spotting duties, and two on timing. He would marry up the two sets of data that each pair was collecting, hopefully in real time, but easily enough to catch up after busy spells, and enter it straight into the spreadsheet on his laptop. Angela and Heather set up to record race numbers, Angela with binoculars and an impressive 'outside voice' coupled with mad running-around skills, and Heather with clipboard. Martin and I did timing - he stood right next to the arch, checking times with me as each runner finished, as I wrote them down and announced them to Ian. And basically, that's as simple as it gets - after the race winner finished, taking an outstanding 19+ minutes off the previous course record, we then stood there for the next 4½ hours or so, calling out numbers, and cheering runners when we could. I grabbed the occasional hug, and was brought the occasional cuppa, and life was good. I ought to apologise to Johnny Fling for my ingratitude when he brought me a hot drink, and I excitedly grabbed for it "omg you're amazing! You brought me tea!" "It's coffee." "......what? " - lmao. Actually, the coffee went down remarkably well, but the look of disappointment on my face when first handed it is something I'm not proud of!! haha.

Ian, Heather and I checked with each other very regularly at what position on our records the runner just through the finish arch was, and every time we matched up. Ian got up to do a few celebratory dances, and we generally acknowledged our own awesomeness, even as runners who had just completed their gruelling 33 mile runs were filing past... never take me for humble, lmao. We kicked ass! :-) I had a great time, I tried to congratulate all the runners I knew by name, but it was often difficult because of the timing coming first, so to everyone who went past me without my recognition; you're bloody awesome, well done, and I hope you had a great race!

The last runner made it into the park about 7½ hours after starting, and we all cheered him and the sweepers in. Then it was dismantling time! I cleared up the timing tent area, and sorted out as much as I could, but it was getting late in the afternoon, and I was well aware I had a 2½ hour drive home ahead of me, so once I checked with Karen, I said my goodbyes, and headed to the car. In the car I sat and drank some water, ate a protein bar, and checked facebook, before switching on the engine, checking my mirrors, and catching a fleeting glance of a high-vis jacket... ah bugger. I ran back up to the finish area, and returned Karen's race high-vis to her, before jogging back down to the car, and setting off back to the hotel, to drink tea, change and warm up, eat proper food, check out early, and head home. :-)

It was such a fantastic day, and I'm so pleased and grateful I was able to part of it. It was great catching up with so many lovely people, I just don't have the time or space to list you all, but you know how fantastic you are. *hugs* The runners all inspire and motivate me to be more than I am, and being part of the race team is something special. All the stuff that goes on in the background of a race is quite incredible - I had three main tasks to do over the 10 hours I was in the park, but that's only a tiny part of what the crew were all getting up to; if you're a runner who's never had a go volunteering in a race, marshalling, registering, helping hand out goody bags and medals at the finish line, and so on, I would highly recommend it. It's an absolute joy and pleasure, and I had a ball - even though I'm pretty sure I lost feeling in my fingers in the cold wind at one point. ;-) My drive home was straightforward and I made it home by 9:30pm, for a cuppa then straight to bed. I had a race to get to in the morning, after all....