On Sunday 4 October 2015…. I ran my first trail race…. And I loved it!
It all started, as these things often do, when procrastination on my part meant that I had missed the entry date for my planned race; the half-marathon at the Great Scottish Run. This was followed by desperate pleas to my fellow running club mates for assistant, ultimately false hope of a late reprieve and then a mad hunt for an alternative to fill the gap in my training diary my negligence had now created…
Given that there was an over 200-mile round trip, on a Sunday, for the Glencoe Marathon Gathering, logistically, it looked a non-starter at this late stage. But, the more I looked the more I kept coming back to it. I have raced many times in road events over recent years, but with The Gower only a few weeks away it did strike me that I had never actually even run with a backpack on, never mind having any idea of what to expect in the altogether different competitive environment of a trail race.
So with encouragement from coach Robbie, I duly committed to the Glen Nevis 10k….my first trail race.
The sun was shining as I set off from Glasgow at around 8am, and the drive up to the race start at the foot of Glencoe was quite simply breathtaking. This only heightened my excitement and trepidation even further.
My on the day registration was smoothly sanctioned and completed by the helpful Pete and his team from Wild Fox and before I knew it we were off. It wasn’t a big field (62 or so), but from the off I headed to the front with a leading pack of around five or so not knowing what to expect thereafter.
What I got was a tough four miles of pretty constant ascent up to the peak of Cow Hill, then an exhilarating two-mile descent back down. After the initial mile or so, I neither passed nor was passed by any other runners, apart from exchanging encouraging words and nods as we crossed routes on the way back in.
As I put my last effort into the home straight I was greeted by the supportive cheers of the small crowd, as well as encouraging words of the day’s compere over the tannoy.
I crossed the finished line and as usual stopped the watch.
It was at this point it suddenly occurred to me, that alarmingly this was actually the first time I had looked at it since the start of the race. As a mainly road runner, this realisation felt very odd but strangely liberating. As it happens, I finished 6th overall in 53:59, almost 13 minutes slower than my typical road 10k time but, although it was tough, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a race more.
As I drove the 100 miles back home, I reflected that while every runner to some extent has to obsess with pace, time and distance, maybe we would all benefit by placing equal focus on measuring enjoyment. And as enjoyment and achievement goes, the Glencoe Marathon must be hard to beat! Bring on the Gower!
