Speyside Way Race, 36.5 miles, 27th August 2011
Heading in to the weekend of the Speyside Way Race, I was filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand, ‘all’ it would take would be one more completion and I would have successfully finished all 6 of my ultras for the year without a DNF in site. It would also, unfortunately, signal the last ultra of the year for me and, as Leanne will no doubt testify, I would be at every run under the sun if I could!
I always find it so much easier to train when I have something to aim for and last year, if truth be told, I kind of lost my way a bit after I finished the Loch Ness Marathon. As a result, when I started off this years ultras back in March at the D33, I was essentially starting fresh all over again. At the D33 I was doing well until approximately 18 miles in when everything went pear shaped. Looking back now, this was hardly surprising. If I recall correctly this was the furthest distance that I had run since the Loch Ness Marathon the previous October and training had not exactly gone to plan!
This year I am determined to avoid a repeat performance and, as such, I have set myself 2 longer term goals – I want to beat each of the 6 new PBs from this year, starting with taking a fair chunk off of my D33 time come March 2012. There is also the matter of completing the full 96 mile West Highland Way race in June 2012, something that I know is also on the mind of a number of my fellow runners.
Having completed the Speyside Way Race in 2010, I had a pretty good idea what to expect this time around. The route itself, from Ballindalloch, North through Knockando, Aberlour, Craigellachie, Fochabers & Tugnet (Spey Bay) and then East towards Buckie, is a scenic one with a good mix of terrain underfoot. Around 13 to 15 miles in to the route the (seemingly never ending) climb over the 1546 feet Ben Aigan starts. Last year I hated this bit. This time around it felt much better, perhaps in part as a result of the recently completed and ever so undulating Devil O’ The Highlands run.
The weather (for once!) was favourable for running. Once up and running, the bitter cold from the start of the morning soon gave way to a gently breezy day, somewhat far removed from the torrential rain and strong winds that had been forecast. The following day the Peterhead 10k was cancelled due to the extreme weather. It would have been bad enough running 10k in those conditions, never mind 36.5 miles.
I took the opportunity to catch up with people before the start of the race including Colin Knox, Mike Raffan, Dave Morrow, Tommy and Alan. Tommy and Alan were running their first Ultra and going by their performaces, I hope it will not be their last!
I ran most of the first 13 miles with Sue Walker and found that I seemed to warm up and start to feel comfortable far quicker than I normally would. Thanks to Sue for setting a good pace and for the good company which was much appreciated. I generally take 6 miles to get warmed up these days, hence the general avoidance of 10ks, so it was good to make a slightly faster than planned start. I spent too long at the first checkpoint at Craigellachie, approximately 13 miles in, as I attempted to cram as much of the contents of my drop bag down me as possible. The total of 19 minutes for the mile that included that checkpoint was evidence enough that I need to significantly work on speeding up checkpoints!.
I actually felt pretty good coming out of Craigellachie on the start of the uphill that would eventually see me up and over Ben Aigan, something that I did not expect given how bad this stretch felt last year!
All was going well until approximately 21 miles in. At this point, I developed a sharp pain on the outside of my right knee. Soon after, the pain spread to my right hip. Classic signs of Iliotibial band syndrome. The next 15.5 miles proved very painful. I was gutted! Up until the 21 mile mark I had visions of smashing my 2010 time of 7.44 by at least 45 mins. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case.
I finished, looking somewhat ‘broken’ by all accounts, in 07:23:45. I had not ‘smashed’ my PB, at least not by as much as I had earlier hoped but I had improved on the time nonetheless, taking 22 minutes and 55 seconds off of my 2010 time.
The Speyside Way Race route is great and there are some cracking bits that I absolutely love – most notably, the trails underneath the bridge at Fochabers and then on towards Tugnet, and then again shortly after leaving Tugnet en route for Buckie. The forest on this part in particular resounded with creaks and groans that were thankfully from the trees and not my weary legs! It is quite weird that this excellent, runnable and so very peaceful trail all exists in such close proximity to the A96 with all of its roadworks and bypass construction!
Thanks to Iona, Sarah and all of the marshalls for yet another cracking Speyside Way Race – Here’s to the Speyside Way Race 2012 
Speyside Way Race Elevation Profile
