There are moments in life that will always give you goosebumps when you think about it years down the line, and the roar of cheers that went up when James planted his Glenmore tentpeg in front of us, at around 11:55am last Sunday, is definitely one of them. Just intense. Shortly afterwards I took my turn to give him a congratulations hug, then turned away as I felt myself well up a wee bit - and got on with organising him a change of shoes, ice for his leg, and his water bottle. A very special moment, and one I was proud to witness. James is a complete superstar, but this blogpost is about much more than James' race, win and course record. It's also about Gerry's win, Michael's struggles, Des' good humoured amazing achievement, and Barry's battle for success. It's about the five of them - and also about a relay team of heroes, and a hayfield full of amazing people doing incredible things. And it's about the YMCA. It's long, but I make no apologies - I have a lot to get down! Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin....
This was my third year as support at this 12 or 24 hour trail race, and I was excited. In 2013, I crewed for one runner. In 2014, I crewed for three runners. This year, I threw caution to the wind and crewed five. Why not?! ;-) Okay, admittedly, it was supposed to be two runners, James and Gerry, with James' Dad, Andy, joining the support crew - at some point along the line James let me know that we'd be crewing his pals Des and Barry too. I mean, I'd like to think he asked, but my memory is shaky and partly I suspect he just said that was what was happening, haha. Then a week or two before race day, Gerry let us know that his brother was coming over from Singapore and had grabbed a late entry. Not to worry though, he was "low maintenance". So, five. I quietly panicked a wee bit, sent James and Gerry a message saying "Five is fine, but no more please?" - haha - then got on with my planning and preparation.
I could turn this post into a "how to" or a "how not to", like I'm some sort of expert, but I'll be brutally honest - managing the support needs for five runners is remarkably simple when you're looking after the guys I was. I know I should keep the air of 'supercrew' or something, but honestly, with just a wee bit of organisation, and forward planning, and the right runners, it was laughably straightforward. Gerry, Michael and Des were in the 12 hour race, with James and Barry in the 24. James and I had discussed his race plans in the run-up, as he had ambitious goals and the dedication and focus to know exactly how he was going to reach them. It was my job, I saw it, to make it as simple as possible for him - and since he was in with a strong chance of a win, I would need to track his competition too. We had discussed who that would be, and I had similarly looked up who Gerry's competition in the 12 hour would be. Little did I realise at the time, but Gerry's brother was his main competition once the race started!
I printed up some tracking tables for me to keep track of everyone's lap times (so I knew when to next expect them), and bought myself a waterproof clipboard (seriously - squee!) then got to work organising everything I would need. I won't bother with my list here, but needless to say they were things that I basically saw as anticipating the needs of the runners before they knew they had them. Oh, and more fairylights than last year! |
| Organised! five sets of food/drink on tables, kit underneath |
Race Day loomed, I packed up, checked out of the hotel, and went to supermarket to buy ice and milk for the coolbox, etc. I'm not saying my tea-drinking needs were higher than my five runners' needs, but... okay, no, I am saying that. I got to the Hayfield before 9:30am, then hopped about anxiously waiting for my runners, any of my runners, to arrive. They were all clearly laidback as fuck, though, rocking up about 10:30-ish, as I flew into action with organising the tent, getting their stuff off them, having them talk me through what they'd brought, and so on. "Go register!" and "Where's your head torch? WHICH BOX is your head torch in?" "Have you registered??" - I can hear myself sounding strict and exasperated, trying to herd cats, but I knew how I wanted things ready when they set off, and then I knew we could all relax!!! Well, as relaxed as running in a 12 or 24 hour race could be, of course... ;-)
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| My guys. L-R Barry, John, Des, Scott, Brian, Skoosh, James, Michael, Gerry. |
This post is already longer than strictly necessary, and the race hasn't started!! I'm going to pretty much whizz through the 24 hours now, though, mainly because 24 hours is a long time! But also because it would get a wee bit repetitive, haha. I watched everyone pass at the start, and got straight on with filling bottles and tidying the tables up a bit, etc. Mike Raffan flew past after something like 26 minutes, shouting "fastest first lap record!" - seemed a bit daft, with just under 24 hours to go, but somehow it was Craig Mackay I felt sorrier for, haha. He works hard to get that fast first lap in before crashing out of the race at some point later, poor lad... *grin*
James, Gerry and Michael were through a few minutes later, and then the first relay member, Skoosh, returned, having headed over to John. The two other guys questioned Skoosh intently on the course profile - it transpired that James had put a 4 mile trail loop together near their homes, to train on, and had put a hill in it that was tougher than the hill on the Glenmore course. The guys were ecstatic, having trained on a more difficult loop, and well up for taking their turns. You know that James fella, he's no' daft... ;-)
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| photo Carole Martin |
Andy disappeared for a while now, to go take some photos while people were looking fresh and there was plenty of daylight, so I chatted to the relay guys, and caught up with Noanie a bit. Craig Walling was sharing Noanie's tent, crewing for Katie, though I'm not really sure he knew what hit him over the next 12+ hours! Keziah and Carol were supporting Lorna and Keith, so we had a nice wee section of tents where the atmosphere picked up really nicely, excited for the race, and just out to have loads of fun. Noanie put some music on, Keziah impatiently waited for Wine O'Clock, and the pair of them bust out the dance moves to cheer the runners past to silly disco tunes. I joined in for a few rounds of YMCA, to start the day off in the manner to which it was going to continue - lots of fun, lots of support for every runner passing our tents, and lots of energy. It's a long, long day for every single runner out there, and as much as I was focussed on my five guys, I made sure to cheer on every runner as best I could.
Des and Barry had ran together for a couple of laps, but with a fair bit of faffing around from Barry, Des decided to go off and do his own thing - I later found out this meant picking sprigs of heather to present to the marshals, earning him a spot prize for being a Lothario, hahah. He was chatting to everyone, and just trying to keep going, with a smile on his face the whole time. After dealing with an ankle injury, and a looooong recovery, he really wasn't expecting much, and would be thrilled with anything over 40 miles (the most he'd ran to date) but he went on to run around 53 miles (final results awaited) - which clearly means he needs to do the 53 mile Higland Fling next, lol. Nah, all kidding aside, I was really thrilled for Des and how well he did. More than that, his upbeat spirit was perfect. And I don't think I've ever made a "jam piece" for anyone before, so there's a first... ;-)
Michael was having a tough time with his stomach and several bathroom breaks, and he decided to take a proper break a little after 4:30, to see if things could settle down a bit. He had ran 32 miles in that time, which is absolutely brilliant, and I believe he was in second place in the race when he took his break. After an hour with us, he felt a bit better, but had already concluded he was only going to run until it got dark - so a few more laps later, he finished early, making 44 miles in under 8 hours. Really impressive stuff, when you also consider that two days earlier he had flown in from Singapore, and was still screwed up with timezones/jet lag/the freezing cold! He went to go warm up in the car, while Gerry continued his race.
Gerry wasn't sure before the race started if a course record was in his grasp today (80.03 miles) - he told me he'd feel out the first few laps and see. He went through marathon distance in approximately 3:20, but he was feeling really tired, and started to slow a wee bit after that. He kept moving, but he was definitely finding it tough - but again, it's really easy to crew for him, as he just gets on with it, and as long as I have the occasional mug of soup poured out for him, or make a hot drink, it was all just about topping up his Tailwind bottle. It was tough trying to keep track of how far second place was behind him (especially as that tricksy James Stewart fella was actually ahead of Gerry, confusing me every time I tried to check results!) - but we knew he had a lead, and it was just a case of keeping moving. He finished his 18th lap (72 miles) at 11:20pm, then moved onto the small loops - I think his total will come out around 75 miles, when the official results come out. A good win, and another impressive result in what's been a fabulous running year for him, especially coming so soon after his win at John Lucas.
At 11:30pm, Noanie kicked off the YMCA again, and It's Raining Men, and with my fairylights, and her music blaring, as the atmosphere of the small loops was intensifying, it was a proper party going on! That's another wee memory I'm going to keep for a long time - Paul Giblin was standing at our gazebo, cheering runners past, and when the opening refrain from YCMA suddenly blared out from the tend alongside, he very noticeable took one wide sidestep away from it, Hahahahaha. Not a YMCA fan, clearly! (Similar to Scott, from the TeamSub4 guys, whose patience with that and "the bloody WeatherGirls" wore thin over the 24 hours, haha) It's very exciting, the last half hour, and we were especially chuffed to see people running who had been resorted to a walk for the last few hours, such as Angela - who was fair sprinting past us at times! When the race finished, Gerry and Des rejoined us - Gerry packed up and sorted himself out, and Michael drove him home. It was a shame they couldn't hang around for the results and prizegiving, but needs must. :-( Des was on cloud 9, had a bit of a chat with us, before heading into the tent for a few hours sleep.
Barry was already sleeping at this point - he'd come in at around 11pm, having ran 44 miles, pretty tired and well exceeding what he though possible, having only come back from being offshore the day before - offshore, his training had been limited to a few 5 mile treadmill runs! Add to that the fact he's never ran more than 26.2 miles, he was just here to see what he could achieve, and stay generally positive! he rested until 2am, then went out for three more laps before leg pain called an end to his race, shortly before 6am. He'd done 56 miles, more than twice the distance he'd ever ran before - you can't help but be impressed with what he had managed. Especially given the pelters he'd been getting from the relay guys, his friends and training partners. ;-)
James, meanwhile, was still running well. In the night he'd had some real difficulties with his stomach and his IT band, but he'd stopped to vomit in the bushes, and by the time he next came round to us he was declaring himself "Lazarus reborn!" - always good! James got Ada's horn (for 100 miles) shortly after 3am, and I gave him a big hug when he made it round to the tent, before sorting his fuel out and sending him on his way. It was an hour later when Neil MacNicol earned the second horn of the night, which we were sure to take note of. Of course, both runners' support crews were tracking the other, after Mike Raffan had retired earlier in the early evening - it basically became a two horse race, with Neil looking pretty strong each time he passed us! He made up some time on James, but James maintained a full lap's lead most of the way.
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| Skoosh keeping warm! |
I had a short sleep in the early hours, about an hour or so, and it did me the world of good, but I was freezing cold and waiting for the sun to come up! By 6am when it was out we were only crewing James now, and the relay guys were still smashing out the laps. They were fantastic - this was the first year the relay has been part of the event, and it's a brutal format. 4 members of the team have to run one lap each in turn, keeping the same order. It means that you run a 4 mile trail loop, then you have a couple of hours until your next - during which time you have to eat, stretch, and wrap up very warm. The guys were incredible, though - a couple of real metronomes in that pack!! Plus, the camaraderie, good humour and real warmth - it was a real pleasure to have their company. I ended up getting a wee bit bossy with them, each time one came back from their lap. "get wrapped up - make sure you eat something! Here, do you need a blanket?" - haha. But the banter was fab, and their enjoyment of the event, and their first exposure to ultrarunning ("there's folk of all sorts of ages and sizes out there! Everyone's so friendly!") was something I really appreciated. I'm sure I'll see some of them taking the step up to the 12 hour race next year... :-) Scott, John, Brian and Skoosh - I think their total mileage was around 152 miles, which is just fantastic.
While James was out running his 34th lap, and the one that would take him into Course Record territory, I was keeping close eyes on it, and sent Paul and the guys across to the start line to cheer him in as a record breaker. I heard the cheer go up, and then they legged it across the field to be back at the support tent for him making his way around to it. When he reached me, I gave him a big hug, then sorted out his food and drinks and off he went. I was ecstatic - I'd known he would break the record, but had only imagined it to be so comprehensively! the nerves were kicking in now, as we knew Neil was running well - I busied myself with taking down one of the gazebos, and starting some of the packing up early. Otherwise I would just sit there, biting my nails!!! On top of that, our tent was really getting pretty busy! James' brother and his family had come up, and a group of the 12 hour runners had woke up from their rest and come across. The atmosphere was buoyant. The sun was out, and everyone was in high spirits. When Neil went by at 10:45 for his last lap, with James yet to return from his, Paul and I sank into our chairs. We both admitted to each other we were nervous, though we both knew he had this won... But we were still worried. The race gets under your skin, and the excitement of the chase - I tried to distract myself, chatting and gossiping with people instead - the ladies race was very close, and very exciting, with Lorna Maclean eventually winning over Jeni Rees-Jenkins, two of the loveliest ladies ever - it had been very close for a while!
James made it back from his last full lap with an hour to run as many small laps as he could. We reckoned Neil would get back at around 11:25, so basically as long as James kept running for 25-30 minutes, there was simply no way he could be caught. I think I said something like that to James, and he pointed out he was really fucking tired now... "Just keep moving..." And the small loop opened, and off he went.
As the last hour went on, and more and more runners found their way onto the small laps, the atmosphere grew. In previous years, I've gone across to the start line area, where the atmosphere is fantastic with everyone shouting the runners' names out loud - but this time I stayed at the tent. Noanie, Keziah, Katie, Carol and I started our YMCAing again, and the runners got really into it too. Exciting to see all the smiles, especially seeing James going past time and time again. By the time Neil was on the small loops, it was game over, but both guys were still running well. At around 11:50-ish, I became aware that Paul, John C, the relay guys, Barry, Cookie, and a whole bunch of the 12 hour runners were back at the support area. The cheering and applauding was continuing, until a minute or two later James came into sight again. He stopped in front of the table, at around 11:55, raised his tentpeg flag a wee bit, then bent down and thrust it into the ground. A huge ROOOOAR of cheers went up, then a huge line of hugs and handshakes, and someone handed a chair across the tape. With minutes to go, James had done enough, and he wasn't going to attempt that hill one last time. The air horn went off to mark the end of the race, and we cheered again. The winner, and course record holder, smiled and tried not to look massively exhausted (fail). His coach stood beside him, thrilled. Those who know James, or even follow his strava profile, know how hard he's worked for this. His work ethic is like nothing else, and his victory this year, coming not that long after his victory and course record at Clyde Stride too, is incredibly well-earned. He fought hard for this, finishing in around 144 miles, around 2 miles more than Neil. Both runners smashed the previous course record, both worked hard. It was exciting, nerve-wracking, and all-round inspiring to be part of. A very memorable weekend.
I know I've not really written about any of the other incredible achievements from the weekend - this is mainly because I would hate to name some people and miss others - but each of you running, know that when I cheered you on, I meant every bit of it. You are all, without exception, bloody marvellous. I have a lot of memories to take away from this weekend (and a whole new way to cheer on Greg Beattie in every race he does from now on) and I will be forever grateful that I was part of this. The race gets under your skin, you know? Bill and Mike (and Cat, and Ada, and all the other amazing volunteers) put on one hell of a race - I can't imagine being anywhere else than Glenmore that weekend, for years to come. xSo, in short - Andy and I crewed TWO race winners this year. (And I got a steak dinner during the race.) Not that I'm feeling ridiculously smug, or anything. *winks* So happy for all of my guys, all five of you really did me proud. Thanks for letting me be part of your race. x x
James' fab race report is here, and well worth a read: http://jamesstewart13.com/2015/09/10/race-report-glenmore-24-hour-trail-race/
John's great write-up from the relay perspective: https://johnfkirkwood.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/glenmore-24-hour-relay-race-my-first-ultrarunning-experience/
My race reports from crewing 2013 and 2014 are here:
http://teapotandtrainers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/glenmore-24-2013.html and
http://teapotandtrainers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/glenmore-24-2014.html
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