My Glen Lyon Ultra – Alan O’Rourke
Having only entered the 31 mile Glen Lyon Ultra trail race 4 weeks ago on the back of the long runs I’ve been doing with Chris Cameron in preparation for his West Highland Way race. The journey there was interesting especially after an unscheduled shortcut which probably caused some damage to Chris’s shock absorbers. Eventually we arrived at the beautiful Loch Lyon. After a quick, hassle free registration with a cracking goodie bag included and cool running vest and it was back to Vicki Smith’s campervan for a final brew.
150 runners set off at 10 am in cool conditions hitting a climb in the first mile. I got to the top of the climb and settled into a decent pace well up the field over a rolling course including a few streams you have to wade through. Disaster struck at 10 miles when I briefly followed another runner who was going off course. I lost a few minutes and about 20 places which I let play on my mind for a while. I completed the first half just about on track in 2 hours 34 minutes and hammered down a full fat Coke, watermelon and rice pudding and was out the checkpoint in a reasonable 4 mins thinking a sub 5 hour 45 minute time was well within reach. Then I quickly hit the first of two hefty, steep hills and it was pretty much a struggle from there on in. My legs were on the edge of cramping for the next 3 hrs with my calves constantly pinging. I was reduced to walk/jog strategy for most of the 2nd half in humid conditions and had to get the ‘weird’ tunes on to lift my spirits which helped my death march over the final 2km climb. I did manage a mini comeback over the final 3km downhill to finish in a time of 6.01. Overall I am glad I entered, loved the beautiful course and happy to finish in one piece. I am a wee bit disappointed with time but deep down I knew I hadn’t done enough long runs or hill work compared to mu ultra exploits last year which is not ideal when you know you’re effectively got a Munro ahead of you in amongst a 31 mile run. But when you look at the positives I had 6hrs of running in the middle of beautiful Scottish Glens and smiled to myself that life ain’t that bad.
Also running on the day were fellow Glenpark Harriers Andy Smith and Craig Hyslop. Andy was doing only his second ultra and was enjoying role reversal with Vicki providing crew support this time. Andy had a belter of a run and definitely his best ultra performance to date finishing in an impressive 7.14. Craig let it slip beforehand the most he had ran this year which blew my mind. Craig obviously has great mental strength or maybe he’s just made of tough stuff as he managed to come home in 7.46. Huge kudos to both. This was my first time doing a ‘Runyarocket.com ‘ event and would definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a low budget, less faff, friendly event. I would also recommend Glen Lyon as a first ultra event (as long as you get that Hill work in). A big thanks to Chris and Vicki for crew support. Next up returning the favour as support runner over final 25 miles with Chris from Glencoe to Fort William in two weeks time on the West Highland Way.
