Ultra tour’s highs and muddy lows
This week I finally got to run the 100km, two-day Rat Race Ultra Tour of Arran, having entered a year ago. Many of my running friends had told me what an amazing experience it is, which was enough to get me signed on the dotted line.
I knew about 10 other runners out of the 200-plus there, and standing with a few of them waiting to go I was filled with a mix of joy for making it to the start line and trepidation about what lay ahead.
Day one was just under 30 miles over stony beaches, up steep hills and through swamp-like peat bogs that had me sinking over my knees. But that was offset with stunning views of Scotland’s Isle of Arran, over the sea and up mountains seeing nature at its finest. We even had a seal pop out of the water to watch us run past.
Day two, however, was more of a challenge, with a longer course and over 6,000ft of climb over two mountains.
A few of my friends had not finished day two before as they had missed the cut-offs, so with that constantly on my mind, I pushed myself as much as I dared all day, running with my mate Chris.
Sometimes we chatted but at other times we just had to dig deep to keep going when we both wanted to rest up.
After many hours where we found the terrain near impossible to run, we reached the hardest challenge – the ascent and descent of Goat Fell.
We climbed from sea level to 2,800ft in one hard slog. At times it was so steep and we were so slow that my watch was not registering I was moving at all even though I was going as fast as I could.
Finally we reached the summit in glorious sunshine but then had the quad-burning descent back to sea level and the finish.
Sadly, again, some of my friends did not make the finish but for Chris and I we received our hard-earned medals and the chance to sit down.
Next week, I will tell you about the amazing support that I had on the race.
‘‘ Ran through swamp-like peat bogs that had me sinking past my knees