UNLUCKY 13? (DRAYCOTE WATER 35 MILER) 18/02/07
Aye, it is me again. Left Edinburgh Airport at 0845hrs on Saturday 17th Feb for my 13th Ultra and as I was waiting to go up the steps of the plane I looked to the Pentlands and it looked like it was going to be a cracking day for the Carnethy 5. Glad some of you and took up the challenge, every runner could do with a bit of character building. Last year I went down for 3 days, stayed with a friend and hired a car but this year I was going by plane, rail and bus and hoping to hitch a couple of lifts. The hitching of the lifts I knew was to be the key to the success of the weekend and I could not help but think of big Gordon Brown and his present identity crisis. I see he has joined AA to try to come to terms with his problem. Oh the AA stands for Alba Anonymous. I dinae ken what his problem is, whenever I go down to England I get on great, make friends and folk go out of their way to help me. Maybe he should realise it is because he is a boring fart naebody likes or trusts him.Well I did slag David Cameron the last time so you have to even things up.
I had booked a room in a very posh hotel. You had to walk 600 yards up this drive to a red sandstone building. Being “Posh” I knew it would be Alan Aitchison free. Strolled into reception and was going to give the receptionist the Frank McAvennie treatment but thought nae, I have matured and gave her my name. To my shock and horror after handing over my booking ref, she could not find my booking; I had booked it for the 3rd of Feb. Thankfully there was room for me and I still got it at the internet price and no fee for cancellation. The girl was a star and I also got the walking directions to the start nearly 2 miles away. I was hoping to hitch a lift and she advised 2 runners had booked an early breakfast and I could do the same but it was only cereal. I decided to take the gamble, wait for the full buffet at 8 and hope somebody had the same idea as me. I managed the full monty including the fried bread. I was thinking of Big George Armstrong who has a cooked breakfast before a marathon.
Managed to persuade Sophia Da Silva runner number 229 to give me a lift to the start. Sophia is French and is presently staying in London and was running the marathon so it was a big help to get a lift. First person I spoke to at the race was a South African so it was always good to get a bit of banter with people from other countries. Once the race started I was running the first few laps with Allan Harrison from Northampton and it was his first Ultra. Allan has done a marathon in 2.52 so it was a bit of a shock to him as he came in at 5.09 but it is a big step up and he will make huge improvements if he sticks at it.
The start was split with the marathon runners on the low road and the 35 milers on the high road. I am in the second bunch and it was a fantastic day for running. Really warm and sunny in the sheltered parts of the course but a sharp cold North Easterly breeze. The wind direction was the opposite of last year and the course felt different. The marathon is 5 laps and the 35 miler 7 laps. You might think it is boring but there must have been 600 out walking or on their bikes with lots of bairns having fun. Kennilworth Road Runners had it all well organised. There was one blind runner and his assistant and they did the marathon in just over 4.35. You will see a wheelchair above and it is a father and son combination who run and raise a lot of money for charity. The son is in his 20’s and has various disabilities. It is some effort by his father pushing 13 stone plus around 26 miles. An impressive sight with him using just one hand most of the way. As for my own run well I just got into the groove after recent knee problems and was running great, feeling great and having a fantastic time. The course has the marathon point and 50k point marked and soon realised I could get a PB for 50k as it was set on the hilly Speyside Way. Not yet got my split times but I was well up on last year and went through the marathon in 3.15 but the lactic was too much and could not beat my 50k time and went through that in 3.57 so 5 minutes too slow. When I saw the clock at the finish my immediate reaction was a swear word beginning with B. 4.30.48 to be 16th out of 83 starters. Once the dust had settled I realised I was a bit short on fitness and got carried away around the 16 mile point and went too fast from there.
Allan Harrison gave me a lift back into Rugby to get the train which saved me a 5 mile walk so thanks for that. My luck had held. The day was rounded off with a bit of banter. First at the airport security there was a phalanx of security personnel lined up and a female member asked if I had any coins in my pocket. I immediately replied “I am Scottish, we've no got any money” the crowd in unison burst out laughing. Then when I got on the bus at Edinburgh Airport I handed the driver my return ticket. He was a typical Edinburgh bus driver who has obviously consumed a few mince pie suppers in the past. He took 45 seconds to pass the ticket even though when I handed it over I said it is a bit faded but it is valid. How old is this he enquired? It was from the La Rochelle Marathon in 2002. Oh some late news just in, Gordon Brown has covered more miles than me, he has been searching for his family roots in the Home Counties.
Next stop is West Yorkshire on 10th March for a 31 mile race called Wuthering Hike (Multi Terrain). I will probably be taking the car leaving on the Friday 9th March if anybody is interested. Part of a running championship for Trail Races. Details of all races at www.runfurther.com. Photos courtesy of Roger Wilkes.
Report Graham Henry
Photos - in Graham's words - Can you put a thanks for photos to Mick Morris as well as Roger Wilkes. I have made a donation to charity for the copyright.
