Devil o the Highlands 2015

Pre race

A very chilled out affair compared with the last race. No 3 week taper. No car full of kit and food. Just hired a car and drove Jen and myself up to Tyndrum to stay in a hobbit hut the night before the race…which wasn’t a 1am start either.

When I woke up about 4am the rain was bouncing off the hut. Not a welcoming start to the day but I nipped over to the green welly cafe to register (thankfully had a car for a change) then back to the hut for breakfast. I finalised my kit for the day and got my drop bags sorted then we headed back to the cafe for race briefing the start of the race.

Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy

I started off fast….Maybe a little too fast. I could still see the leaders for the first few miles but I felt good and the weather had cleared up. So I reckoned I should make progress before the rain starts again.

Met a few familiar faces and chatted away and we churned through this relatively short section.

Bridge of Orchy to Glencoe

I passed straight through the aid station at Bridge of Orchy and pushed on up the hill. It was a shame Murdo wasn’t at the top handing out jelly babies but was nice to have energy in the legs this time.

Quite enjoyed the run over Rannoch Moor as I chatted away to a few race newbies. I was trying out Tailwind Nutrition for the first time in a race so instead of eating I was just sipping away on this strange white power…it seemed to be working. Plus I’m not very good at eating in a race so hopefully would see me through the latter stages.

Glencoe to Kinlochleven

I refilled my bottles with Tailwind and was straight out the checkpoint again. I was still moving well and running near the same group of runners. Should probably give a mention to Mike from Tailwind here too. I asked for some advice before the race on how to transfer the powder along the course, so he posted some prototype containers for me to product test during the race. Happy to say they worked a treat. 200kcal of nutrition, in a little container in the small front pocket of my Ultimate Direction AK vest and poured easily into my bottles (Although may have been trickier in the narrow mouthed bottle.)

Sorry non-runners, back to the race….

Still full of energy I pushed up the devil’s staircase and started the long descent into Kinlochleven. My legs were beginning to tighten up which really slowed things down on the descent…but I managed to arrive into Kinlochleven bang on target. I even managed to resist the bus to Fort William that pulled up on my arrival.

Kinlochleven to Lundavra

I refilled my bottles with Tailwind (still no solid food) and powered up the climb onto Lairig Mor. Stuart Chalmers eventually caught up with me (I’d been waiting for him to cruise passed). We had a wee chat but neither of us were up for much conversation. He was moving quicker than me though so moved on ahead. The weather started to worsen about 30 miles into the race and it was jackets back on. The WHW walkers provided some encouragement but they battling the elements as much as we were. Especially the guy with feet so heavily bandaged that his boots were strapped to his bag and had resorted to sandals.  The quote of the day came from the American tourist I passed…

Walker: good job buddy. Me: thanks…it’s a hard job today. Walker: that’s why they gave it to a tough guy like you.

Gave me a great laugh…What a legend!

Lundavra to Fort William

Having passed the worst part of Lairig Mor I was able to press on a little faster as the trail smoothed and started to descend. I reckon that I was able to run this section faster in the whw race…but a closer look at my stats will probably confirm I’m talking rubbish. The wheels were truly off the wagon now…was just surviving till the finish.

John Duncan decided to add his own branding to the race this year by diverting us off the road into Fort William and up over cow hill to keep us on the trail instead. I appreciated the sentiment of keeping us off the road…but the hill just seemed to keep on climbing. As I had just about given up hope, we stopped climbing and descended into Fort William. When I turned onto the finishing straight it was great to see everyone cheering me in (including my Russell and his daughter Amy who decided to get the train up for the day) and John announcing “Our next runner, Number 139 Fraser McCoull… Triple crown finisher”.

Aftermath

It was a tough race despite being the shortest of the 3. The first 26 miles went grand but the WHW Race must have caught up with me after that. My mind and body felt fine, but I just couldn’t turn any faster speed out of my legs. I claimed that I was running the last few miles faster in the WHW Race, but I’m sure if I checked my stats I’d prove myself wrong. Nonetheless it was fantastic to finish and a great way to round off the challenge. If you fancy reading the stats:

http://www.strava.com/activities/360998288

It was a fairly picture free race. Apart from me striking a first day at school pose, there were no snaps until the finish. The highlight [left] being my finishing photo looking like something from a certain episode of a popular Irish sitcom.

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The final word

As the final blog of my WHW Triple Crown challenge, there isn’t any other way to finish it, than a tribute to the man who started it all. He ignited my obsession with the outdoors, endurance and the West Highland Way. It is a place in Scotland that I will always treasure. I can only hope I would have made him proud with my efforts, and in my work for SAMH provided a worthy legacy.

The amount we have raised it truly astonishing, and at time of writing, approaching £6.5k. There is still time to donate at http://www.justgiving.com/fraser-mccoull. Massive thanks to everyone who has donated! 🙂