Running Stories from Alasdair Meldrum!

I find these blogs a good way to reflect on what worked, what went wrong and what could be improved, so they are written as much for me as anyone else!!  Sometimes  they are written in draft and then I take weeks or months to get round to adding the photos and publishing.   Salomon Ben Nevis Ultra was booked last year as an event which might go ahead in 2020, but like many others sadly got cancelled. I don’t think I even read the briefing last year, just it was a 32mile race starting at Kinlochleven which took in Ben Nevis! The inevitable happened and it was shifted to this year, just 6 weeks after Cape Wrath . I had already  decided that if I was not recovered I would not run, but I felt like I had recovered pretty well so convinced myself to run and “enjoy a day in the hills”! The harsh reality was somewhat different!! A few weeks before I finally got round to reading the brief and realised there were some scrambling and exposed sections. As a self confessed ...

Like most people my running calendar for 2021 was a bit muddled up!! The big focus for the year was going to be the re scheduled Cape Wrath which was due to take place in May 2021. This was then bumped to early August 2021, so I was looking for another race!! I liked the idea of the WHW Challenger format as it all seemed hassle free – 8am Saturday morning at Milngavie for the bus to Fort William and an 11am start, and all going to plan I could be back in the house Sunday afternoon!!  Only problem was the WHW race was full so the only other options were the Ben Nevis / WHW race or the 180 mile race which started on the Friday. Being slightly sensible, I plumped for the Ben Nevis / WHW race along with Colin Anderson (Colin has the accolade of the only athlete to do the WHW and finish with a Ben Nevis summit in previous attempts!!). I had effectively been training for Cape Wrath since I entered in 2019 and managed to continue well through covid in 2020/21 with long (26mile+) runs ever...

  Cape Wrath Ultra from Fort William to Cape Wrath , 400km over some pretty harsh terrain over 8 days what could possibly go wrong! Finally after 28 months of waiting and training, and two cancellations (May 2020 and May 2021)  we finally set off last Sunday 1 st Aug!! I had purposely not reccied the route, so the whole route was new to me!! Day 1 Fort William to Glenfinnan Approx. 23miles, 500m elevation Kit check and briefing had all been carried out on the Sat. so all we had to do was get the ferry across Loch Linnhe for the start. Start was planned for 10am, but 2 nd ferry group was a bit late in arriving so we eventually set off at about 10.15am.  Departing Fort William Everyone was just raring to get going, I think the really long lead into the event, all the planning for kit check etc I for one was desperate just to get started.   Cape Wrath Ultra start - did we know what we were getting into!!? First section was mainly road and then gradual rise up the f...