Wednesday 22 June 2011

Beinglas to Devils Staircase

So i arrived at Beinglas probably a tad grumpy but left happy and this carried me on to Glen Bogle. Although my ankles/knees were hurting more i just wanted to get there to see my crew again.

Even the usual cowpat pit wasn't as bad as usual, or was it? i dunno i knew my crew weren't far away. And i was right, there ahead of me was Nick, he ran down to meet me and find out what i wanted. I chased after him and arrived to an amazing cup of tea and another 2 wee rolls.There was nice wee crowd there shouting encouragement too, this is great boost. Nick & Susan walked with me to the picnic table until i finished my tea then i ran off saying I'd see them in few miles with another spring in my step.

The descent down to the road seemed to take forever, i passed someone going up who said "hi Sandra, only mile to go til crossing" sorry, i don't know who it was, say hello if your reading!

Took ages to cross road, traffic was pretty heavy. Again i knew this was me close to seeing crew again and i was happy.
Nick ran to meet me again i told him i didn't want to stop, that I'd pick things up in Tyndrum instead. I had to stop and get weighed but it wasn't for long and i was off again knowing I'd see them in 3 short miles.





It was also a boost to know I'd almost made it to Fling end having pulled out of that.

Got to Tyndrum to find a party going on, music was blaring. I danced to Reach for the stars with my crew and felt so happy. I had change of top, ate a roll, drank a red bull and had a cup of tea, all in 6 mins!

I left there full of beans in 12hrs23mins.  I love the section to BoO, and i knew i was picking up my first support runner here too (Susan) so i ran pretty much all of it. Smiling all the way.Donald was having wee break at station and i gave him quick hug and he said "you've caught me again you wee bugger!"
 Gavin ran out to meet me, i heard him before i saw him "dont stop movin" of course! He got some strange looks from a couple of walkers as he ran past them down the hill with me in hot pursuit singing to Sclub7

 Took me 1hr25 to get there and i was again surprised and delighted to see Ian. He told me JohnK was 20mins ahead of me, i was pretty shocked and knew he mustve been having a tough race in that case. Ian told me i was going great and to get moving, so i did! :) With Susan leading the way i ran when she ran, she told me "I'm going to do what you do to me and run when you can, and walk the ups"
ok, i'm happy with that. Here we are at famous Flag of Murdo's!

Not keen on the Rannoch Mor section at all, i find it rather bleak and sore on the feet. My ankles were hurting a bit again but i wanted to get this section over with soon as possible. Susan was brilliant, kept telling me we were going to catch person in front, kept looking behind to see if anyone was catching us to boost me on a bit. I kept thinking back to what Ian had said to me about that part too, that he knew if he ran strong and kept going over there he knew he'd get to end. I kept that in my head wherever i could and was somehow managing 10mm at times.We chatted the whole time and it seemed to pass much quicker thn i've remembered before.

 Passed Andy Cole here and had wee chat but soon left him, then it was with great surprise that we passed JohnK , i thought he was still way ahead, we'd spotted someone we thought was him. I was sad to see him as i knew it meant his race wasnt going to plan. He told me i was running really well and was as encouraging as ever, not many people can do that when they're having rubbish time themselves.  Katrina passed us soon after on way out to meet him so i knew this would give him a boost, and it did as he passed us on last bit leading up to Ski Centre.

I checked into race control  in 16hrs40 and kept going down road, Saying goodbye to fab Susan who ran in to get supplies and hello to lovely Nick was as excited as a 5yr old at Christmas time. My ankles were really hurting here but i knew it was short distance to Kinghouse so kept going. Nick was staying slightly ahead of me and singing, happy as a happy thing.

I found the tarmac section after Kinghouse incredibly painful on my ankles and walked all of it bar a few steps. Did run walk until i got to bottom of Devil where i passed yet again by Michelle! lol  Got to bottom of Devil 17hrs50 so it had taken my a long 1hr 10 from Glencoe, the longest its ever taken me and a good 15mins more than scheduled. .....

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