I first heard about the Highland Fling a few years ago when a couple of my parents friends ran it in preparation for a much longer run called the West Highland Way Race (95mls). Running the WHW Race is a fairly serious undertaking and as such the organisers are quite strict with the entry requirements. The Highland Fling or races of a similar distance are needed for your running CV before you can get in. So really it is stage one of a longer-term ambition I have…albeit a pretty stupid one.
I drove up to Milngavie just north of Glasgow on the Friday night and found a small campsite a few miles from the start. I spent an hour or so organising my clothing and food for the following day whilst I waited for my dad (my support person for the day) to arrive. A good nights sleep in my van ensued before waking at 5am and the process of eating as much as I could I begun. I headed over to the registration for a 7am start along with the other runners. Up until this year the event had quite a small following of around 70 runners but it has now been deemed tough enough to gain valuable entry points for a mega-tough race called the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB). This is one of Europe’s premier mountain running challenges and is very difficult to get an entry. This meant I was running with over 300+ other people setting off at different times which made for quite a competitive atmosphere.
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Bankell Farm Campsite
Carrying only water and a few snacks I set off near the front with a plan of getting under 10hrs. The first leg was pretty straight forward and predominantly followed an old railway line going north. 12.19miles and 1hr 51mins later I went through the first checkpoint at Drymen bang on schedule. Switching water bottles with my dad I set off on leg two which continued north to the southern tip of Loch Lomond where the terrain turned to rough trails. Passing over Conic Hill and down to Balmaha (19.8mls / 3hr 3mins) I stopped for a quick bite to eat before pressing on to checkpoint two at Rowardennan. This was the start of the tougher sections going along the easterly side of Loch Lomond where climbing over boulders and tree roots ruined any hope of getting into a rhythm. At 27.2mls and 4hrs 29mins I was 1min ahead of schedule.
Meeting my dad at the van I switch to a short sleeve top to try and deal with the increasingly warm sun and ate and drank as much as I could in a 10min period. The next couple of stages continued along the side of the loch and I knew it would continue to be tough work underfoot. Hitting a drinks station at 34.3mls in 6hrs 5mins I was confident I could still hit the 10hr target despite losing 10mins on my schedule.
At around 38mls I had my first wobble of the day. Climbing yet another hill I started getting some double vision that signalled my dropping blood sugar levels. An elevenses bar later I was fine and kept pushing onto checkpoint three at Bein Glas just to the north of Loch Lomond. At 40.9mls in 7hrs 36mins I was now 6mins off schedule. Some of my mums homemade chicken noodle soup washed down some grapes (it seemed normal at the time) before I got going on the final section.
The route follows the West Highland Way - only 42mls left to do
I had only ran 2mls before the double vision came back with vengeance as my blood sugar plummeted. I had decided to ditch some ballast in the form of spare food so without much choice, and barely being able to keep my eyes open, I weaved side to side down the track and tried not to slow as I struggled away. Knowing my dad was going to pop up where the route passed under the main road less than a mile away kept me going and when he appear round the corner I knew I was back in business. I sat on a big boulder for 10mins with my eyes closed while shovelling food down my throat. Having done this to myself before I knew I would be fine and right enough I managed to get up and start running again.
The planned 10hrs was now impossible but I was now feeling really strong, still no signs of cramp, and the 10 or so people that passed me during my ‘moment’ were now targets. Climbing high into the hills above Crianlarich I managed to pick a few off before entering a difficult forest section before dropping down to the final flat 3m dash on gravel paths to the finish. I caught up with a few runners with 2mls to go, but most annoyingly, suddenly had no option but to stop for the toilet. Sorted out I chased after the group again, catching and overtaking them. I went through the finish line at Tyndrum in 10hrs 29mins 38secs in 76th place.
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The final 10 yards
Other than a couple of blisters and stiff legs I don’t seem to have crippled myself too much. It seems ridiculous to think about running almost double the distance in the future but I thought that about a marathon the first time I did one. It has been great preparation for the forthcoming mountain marathon season and I am fired up for the LAMM in June. Richard is in the process of becoming a “human GPS” so we may be on for a good result.
