2021 Top 11 Races (runs!)
A bit of a stretch this year but my Top 10 races (runs) for 2021!!
Ranking - 6 - support running is tough, but nearly as tough as trying to break the records!
Just remembered another one so it is now a top 11!!
1st - 1st Aug to 8th Aug- Cape Wrath Ultra 8day stage race
2nd - 4th March 2021 – a virtual 3hr marathon!
3rd - 29th May 2021- Ben Nevis / WHW Challenger race
4th - 22nd January 2021 – Turf – all the green dots!
5th - 19 September 2021 Ben Nevis Ultra
6th - Support runner for Anna Rutherford successful SUW FKT Record
7th - 2 July 2021 – Galloway hills training run
8th - 12 September 2021 - Kilmacolm half marathon
9th - 3 October 2021 Jersey marathon
10th - 12th June 2021 – Durisdeer Hill race
11th - 18 December 2021 Cairnsmore of Fleet hill race!!
A few details, some pictures and links to blogs below in date order!
22nd January 2021 - Turf
With us all in lock down again the options were a bit limited for training. To break up some of the boredom I started playing turf ! You take your phone into an area, and once you are in the zone for about 10secs the zone goes from red to green. After 15min someone else can claim your zone. After the initial challenge of trying to work out the quickest route from each zone, the next challenge was to try and claim all the zones! Easier said than done as the total distance was over 40miles, and other players can quickly claim your zones. After a few attempts and a bit of plotting I finally managed to turn all the zones in my area green. In some ways it was totally pointless, but it did make for more varied running routes and encouraged you to do a few more zones and quickly rack up a few more miles. The only frustration was having stop in the zone until it turned green, but it certainly helped get through the winter months training!!
Ranking - 4
4th March 2021 – a virtual marathon!
The previous week I had decided to do a virtual half marathon doing two loops in Ayr. After finishing in 1:26:47 I decided I was not overly tired, and the next week I was going to see if I could keep the pace up for a marathon. Two bottles of water on top of the hedge as my aid station, two loops clockwise and two anticlockwise just to try and give a bit of variety. Delighted and slightly amazed to finish in 2:57:25 for my first ever sub 3hr marathon. My current marathon PB in a race is 3:23:23 so the obvious goal is to get a sub 3hr in a race!!
Ranking - 2 - I always thought a sub 3hr marathon was out of my reach, but without any specific marathon training I had done it (a lot to be said for hills and low heart rate running!)
29th April 2021 - Support runner for Anna Rutherford successful
SUW FKT Record
Following on from supporting Jack Scott in his successful FKT, my name somehow appeared on the list to support Anna Rutherford. An early start (3am) for a 5am start from Port Patrick for the first 40miles. Initial schedule had been for 10hrs so I never bothered tapering from training, the night before Anna decided to reduce it to 9hrs – in the end we did first 40 miles in 7hrs 37mins.
Needless to say, I was pretty tired and happy to let Anna continue on her way for a successful record.
I
now know the 1st 40miles and the 53miles (St Johns town to Beatock),
so you never know a SUW race may be beckoning!!
40.41miles,
elevation 4,055ft, Elapsed Time7:37:00
29th May 2021- Ben Nevis / WHW Challenger race
With Cape Wrath Ultra being moved from May to Aug, I was feeling the need for another race. I had been training well with regular long back to back days! Initial plan was to do WHW race only but the entry was full. For some reason Ben Nevis / WHW still had spaces - how hard could it be!! Honest answer was very hard – I could easily have thrown in the towel after the Ben. Somehow I did manage to grind it out and was surprised and delighted to claim 1st place! Ben Nevis / WHW Blog
Ben Nevis 3hrs 12mins
WHW 24hrs 52mins
Total 28hrs 4mins
Total miles 107.7
Total elevation 17,007ft
Ranking – 3 – not the fastest time for WHW, but a win is a win (even with a tiny field!!)
12th June 2021 – Durisdeer Hill race
A cracking 9mile route up Blackhill, round Steygail, up Well Hill, to Turn Hill and then back up Blackhill and down to the finish. It was the 1st race for 1.5years where a small squad from Ayr Seaforth were in attendance. A lovely summers day, a tough hill route with some steep ascents and descents plus a bit of grub after the race - hill races at their best and definitely an area I would like to go and explore a bit more!!
Legs were still a bit tired after WHW but lovely to be back out with club mates!
9.29miles, 4,049ft elevation 2hrs 5mins
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| Not me - but shows the steep terrain! |
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| Living the dream!! |
Ranking – 10 – hill races don’t deserve to be this low down – they are great!!
2 July 2021 – Galloway hills training run
I was struggling a bit for 10 races but this or a number of other similar training runs could have been chosen. Over the last couple of years I have done a fair bit of training in the Galloways – not particularly high but the terrain is very unforgiving and apart from a few of the main hills largely pathless. I often say I prefer the training to the races and doing 20/25miles in the Galloways often means a 6/7hr day. On this particular occasion it was very hot and sunny so a wee refreshing dook in Loch Enoch was required. Route started and finished at Stincher Bridge - Cornish hill, Sheil Hill, Craigmasheenie, Tunskeen bothy, Macaterick, Hoodens hill, Mullwharchar, Dungeon Hill, Craignaw, Loch Enoch dook, Merrick, Kirriereoch Hill, Tarfessock and Shalloch on Minnoch
23.92mi, 6:51:18, elevation 7,769ft
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| Not a path in sight! Loch Enoch for a refreshing dook beckons! |
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| Running water in short supply! |
Ranking 7 – if you don’t enjoy the training there is not much point running!
1st Aug to 8th Aug- Cape Wrath Ultra 8day stage race
This was first booked in May 2019, with the intention of completing in May 2020, meaning I've never waited or trained for a race for so long in my life. 240mile, 8day stage race from Fort William to Cape Wrath. It was awesome and brutally tough at the same time. When I booked it I had no idea if I could get to the finish in one piece! I was delighted to finish 6th overall (4th male). Cape Wrath ultra blog
Total running time 57hrs, 18mins 27secs
Ranking – 1 – it was tough but brilliant at the same time! And I had done enough training to get to the finish!
12 September 2021 - Kilmacolm half marathon
Another race where there was a Seaforth contingent out, so great to have the regular club banter. With Cape Wrath tiredness and a 30 year University reunion the night before, I maybe never had the best preparation for a half marathon!
First 10miles went well, but the last 3miles was a bit of a suffer fest – the legs died!!
Still managed to get a 2min 45s PB!
Time 1:26:43
Ranking 8 - running fast is tough!!
19 September 2021 Ben Nevis Ultra
This was a 2020 entry carried over to 2021. I was still recovering from Cape Wrath but decided to give it a go and “enjoy” a day in the hills.
It ended up being a pretty long, tough day in the hills, where I just managed to make the cut offs.
It is an incredible route and if you want a hard ultra / hill race I would definitely recommend it.
Ben Nevis Ultra blog
83rd out of 128finishers (101 DNF), 56% completion rate!!
33.38mi, 11:24:49, elevation 12,854
Ranking 5 – although I suffered badly it is an amazing route and race!
3 October 2021 Jersey marathon
I had last done the Jersey marathon and enjoyed the route which pretty much goes round the island! I had high hopes for a PB but my body decided otherwise. I was through the 1st half in 1hr 32, and although I felt good my heart rate was at 170 – which is pretty much my peak heart rate! I did try to dial back the pace a few times, but the heart rate refused to drop. With the sub 3hrs out of sight, I settled for a 3:10, then a PB (ie under 3:23)! In hindsight I should have backed right off and enjoyed the day but I pressed on. At mile 14 the dreaded cramp sniper came out, all my usual remedies failed to keep it at bay and by mile 19 I was close to dropping out and checking into first aid. At one point I even had cramp in my ribs - WTF??
On the basis I could not be bothered waiting for a lift to the finish, I decided I had finished ultras in worse shape so managed a walk / jog to the finish.
26.20mi, 3:39:46, 1,289ft
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| Perfectly placed hotel room with view of start and finish! |
Ranking 9 – although I had a bad race it is a great local event with a great atmosphere!
I did manage to also get on the local news at the start!!
18 December 2021 Cairnsmore of Fleet hill race!!
Another hill race, another small squad from Seaforth. Nice simply route, just over 3.5miles up to top of Cairnsmore of Fleet and then straight back down again. Annoyingly the climb was all pretty much runnable, so any time you ran out of energy to run, I felt a bit lazy for walking. With much of my long training I tend to walk the hills so trying to run them is tough. Fellow Seaforth runner, Simon Kirk got passed me about half a mile from the top! At the last hill race when we turned at the cairn I never saw him for dust! This time I realised I was catching him so steadily reeled him in. Once past, you have to stay ahead, and if you have ever done a hill race, the last thing you can do is look behind as you are too busy watching where you are going! I did manage to hold him off but it is great to have some healthy rivalry.
Race finished with coffee, soup and a few cakes in the farm barn house – all proceeds from entry into charity – hill races at their best!!
7.64mi, 1:16:47, elevation 2,277ft
Ranking 11 – great event, for a great cause. I will be back!
Reflections
This is my 2nd year of doing a year review and I really enjoy the process of reflecting on races and training.
As ever I have learnt lots but the big take home messages are -
Ben Nevis / WHW Challenger race – run your own race! It was a good lesson for taking into Cape Wrath, as for the first few days it was difficult not to get drawn into racing. My moto was get into to camp in good enough shape to start the next day!
Cape Wrath Ultra 8day stage race – take the recovery as seriously as the race. I never and had some pretty poor races afterwards. Before Jersey marathon I had already decided to take a month of running (something I did back in 2019). I took all Oct off, and missed most of the XC season but it was certainly something well worth doing.
The other thing is to have a plan for after the race so you do not get post race blues!!
Cape Wrath Ultra blog
Ben Nevis Ultra – if heading onto steep, difficult terrain prioritise looking after yourself, get wrapped up warm, get some food onboard. It is easy for things to go awry!
Things I want to do better in 2022!
- Look after my feet - get the big toes pointing ahead, rather than 45 degrees!!
- Train on more rocky terrain (I might have to leave the Galloways!)
- Plan in a month off running
- Get better with nutrition on long runs / races
- Pay more attention to sorting out niggles
- Sort my head out so I can run roads / forest tracks on ultras rather than having an overwhelming urge to walk! Put me back on harder terrain and I start running again!
2021 Stats from Strava! (at 29th Dec 2021)
Running - 2,455.4miles - I might try and round it up to 2,500miles before the year is out!
Elevation 335,945ft
Runs 163 (39%)
Gym sessions (46%) this is either S&C sessions, Les Mills Body balance or active recovery (watt bike, step machine, stairs, roller mill etc)
Total 790hours
If you got this far – thanks for reading and maybe see you at a race sometime soon!
Occasional poster on twitter – mainly of running give me a follow at @ameldrum7
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