Ben Nevis Race

2011-09-06T15:20:00.002+01:00

On Saturday I travelled north to run in the annual Ben Nevis Race,as most runners know this is no ordinary hill race this one is up and down Britains highest mountain which includes 10 miles of pain, climbing 4,400 feet in approx 5 miles then a leg trashing descent back down rocky scree before you reach an 800 ft grassy but mostly muddy steep bank caused by the heavy traffic of studded fell shoes, you then have the rocky footpath back down to Achintee to negotiate with legs that sometimes don't work in sync with your brain due to the fatigue that has set in, on reaching the bottom of the track you have a mile on the single track tarmac to the finish, it's no consolation to hear spectators saying "not far to go only a mile" yes but it's the longest, hardest, slowest mile I will ever run.I was feeling a bit apprehensive on the 3 hour drive up mainly because I felt it's not the best running shape I've been in going into such a gruelling race, too much time in the pool or on the bike has limited my running time and a groin strain which has been bothering me for the past 8 weeks was not exactly ideal preparation, but the lure of the Ben is just too much so I just went with what I had in the tank and hoped experience would carry me through ,you can blag your way through a 10k or Half marathon on limited training but a race of this intensity you will get caught out and to be honest I think that proved to be the case finishing 27 minutes slower than my last Ben Race.
After a breakfast stop at the Green Welly Tyndrum I arrived in a very wet Fort William but by 12 noon the rain had stopped and I made my way to Claggan Park to register and prepare for the torture ahead on the Ben,it was good to meet a few familiar faces in the park before the start, Peter Duggan telling me how much he hates the race as he pins his numbers to his vest,Gus and Jean Bowman hill runnings equivalent of Richard and Judy (that's a compliment guys :-)) Steve Fallon world record Munro bagger who incidentally learned me to navigate my way around Scotlands mountains if only he could learn me to run the Ben in under 2 hrs,and last but not least the amazing Bob Allison 1 week after finishing the UTMB he was running the Ben hardcore or what ?
After a short briefing and handing over our runners cards we were off round the park
and out the gate onto Achintee Rd making our way up to the start of the track at Achintee Inn, I was running well within myself along the undulating single track road not wanting too push too hard as I was thinking what lay ahead,on reaching the track I was feeling surprisingly good going through the gate and heading up to the style , from here up to the first shortcut opposite the hostel where you can cut out the zig zag by taking a straight line I started to feel I was working hard, basically you can just go as fast as the person in front as the path is congested with runners and walkers on their return from the summit, on another day this would have frustrated me but I was quite happy as it stopped me pushing too hard and heading for a crash and burn scenario,on reaching Red Burn the field was well spread out and I was feeling it by this point, a kind spectator offered me a jelly bean from her outstretched palm I gratefully accepted but to be honest this was no ordinary jelly bean it was huge it resembled something the Doctor would prescribe you pop up your arse, I had to take a drink from the stream to try and wash this monster down it was proving to be hard work, for the next 1000ft I was working hard my heart was pumping like a piston my legs and back were aching I think pride and fear of failure take over and you just deal with the pain and relentless climbing knowing you're gonna reach the top eventually if you keep moving onwards and upwards, between 3 and 4 thousand feet I was wearily progressing up the mountain with my palms pushing firmly on my thighs amongst a long line of gasping breathless runners, at one point my back was so sore I stopped briefly to stretch it out a fellow runner witnessed my discomfort and kindly asked me what I needed "a fuckin helicopter would be nice thanks" even amidst the pain we both still managed to keep our sense of humour and laugh ,that is the one thing I love about the hill running fraternity there's a feeling of togetherness we all look out for each other on the mountain if someone falls and gets hurt you stop and offer assistance a persons safety is more important than time or placing and it's always a good excuse for a breather! :-) as I approached 3,500ft the leaders were starting to pass us on their descent I tried to be as courteous as I could trying not to block their path, it's much easier for the runners ascending to move out of the way than the guys descending at speed , eventually I reached the plateau but there's still around three quarters of a mile to go over the rocky landscape to the summit, it's not as steep as the previous mile so I broke into a jog slightly quicker than walking pace passing Gardyloo Gully and its sheer 1000 ft drop eagerly trying to get to the summit, the visibility wasn't great on the plateau every group I saw I was hoping it was the marshals waiting to take my race disc from me as proof of reaching the summit, there were a few disheartening false alarms but eventually I got there handed over my numbered disc and set off on tackling the horrible descent.
As I descended the rough scree runners were staggering in all directions some being more cautious than others and with the fear of being struck by falling rocks I was eager to get off the scree as quickly as possible and didn't see the point in wasting time being cautious so it was gung ho until I reached the dreaded 800ft grassy slope I mentioned earlier , some runners were adopting the muddy arse option of descending down the slope I wasn't risking getting my arse ripped open on a jagged rock lurking below the turf/mud I chose to dig the heels of my Mudclaw 333 into the mud braking constantly causing me horrendous thigh pain,at the bottom I gulped more water from the Red Burn as I waded through it and ran towards the bridle path where I received some jelly babies from a kind spectator once more, incidentally it happened to be a female again it must be the mothering instinct in them! From this point down to the Achintee Inn I was concentrating hard on where I was placing my feet and zig zagging round descending tourists a fall on this section would be carnage, as I was descending one of the muddy shortcuts a runner in front came to a sudden halt with cramp, as I was right on his back I ended up taking a tumble through the undergrowth to avoid colliding with him on probably the only soft part on the path talk about luck! As I passed through the gate and back onto the tarmac single track road towards the finish my legs turned to jelly and buckled I can only describe this feeling as being drunk from the waist down , only a mile but boy is it a long mile, my legs were going in a forward motion just ! I think my arms were moving quicker, on reaching the park I was gone, staggering round the park just willing the finish line to appear , as I stood bent over with hands on thighs after crossing the line an elderly gentleman said to me only 364 days until next years race son "cannae fuckin wait " I muttered through my foaming mouth.

A Hobby Or An Obsession

Ben Nevis Race