On Saturday 13th March I completed my first ever Ultra Marathon. The D33, yes simply 33 miles. Starts and finishes at Duthie Park in Aberdeen. I had already booked the Premier Inn months ago for this event. Yvonne and the kids were coming along to show their support. There were a few others from the Striders staying at the same Premier Inn that we were in......Craig, Karen and Andy.
On the morning of the race there were a few at the breakfast table with a look of intrepidation. I was one of them, I was at breakfast on my own.....to early for the rest of the family. By the looks of it I was not the only one dining alone. Sorry never got your name but we will call him the Glenmore Guy (He was wearing a top with Glenmore 24 on it). Even saw him after the race at the hotel heading out for dinner with the family.
Anyhoo, once breakfast as per usual was pretty uneventful. Went back to the room grabbed the rest of of my stuff and headed down to get a taxi to Duthie Park. I was running slightly late and I usually like to sip on water and have a banana about 1/2hr to an 1hr before the event starts. I scoffed the water and the banana 10 minutes before the race started. This was definitely not a good idea and I think this did come back to haunt me later in the race.
Said my hello's and good lucks to rest of the people I saw that I knew, Billy, Tina, Cathy, Bill Reid and Mr Carr. Before I knew what time it was all I heard was 4.....3.....2......1 Go and we were away. I had my supplies on me so there was no real reason to stop at the checkpoints other than to refill my water bottles. The day was brighter than the forecast had anticipated, but not to worry I had packed for ALL weather conditions. The run was to be both tarmac and trail but was told that the trail part was not too muddy, so I stuck with my road shoes.
The run to the first checkpoint was lovely and pretty much flat. There was 3 points in total each were about 8 miles apart after the last checkpoint it was the finish line. Before I even got to the 2nd checkpoint and halfway point. The leaders were headings back and the guy in first place was waaaaaaaaaay ahead of the rest of the pack. Once I reached the halfway point, I stopped to fill up my water bottle etc. Felt a bit dizzy but nothing that worried me. It was fairly warm but I could see that it was also going to rain. Saw Craig at the halfway point shouted encouragement as he ran on. I got myself sorted and went got running again. However that did not last very long. Got another 2 miles further and I started to get what I think was stomach cramp, then I realised it was I had wind that decided it wanted to stay with me. So that meant I could hardly walk and I could still sip water but that was it.
My pace fell and it became more of a battle of run/jog/walk. Then my groin started to get sore and then my back. I kept going even though I was getting passed by what felt like everyone. My head went down, I thought were have I gone wrong? I have done at least 3 runs of about 20 miles and one 26 mile run before the event. I have never endured this. Then I thought back just before the start the banana and water litterly just before we started, I should not of done that. Eventually made it to the 3rd checkpoint (which meant about 8 miles to go) The marshalls through out the day had been amazing, they kept my spirits up at the 3rd checkpoint so much so that I decided to see how far I could push myself before I needed to stop again. Managed a very slow mile before hobbling to a walk again. Kept this up for the majority of the remaining distance. Moria past me and so did Billy M, I did eventually catch up with Billy M. At last I could see the finish line and I did not want to walk over it I wanted to............NO..........needed to at least jog over it. Spotted Yvonne, Erin and Rebecca. They took my photo as I passed them. Erin even decided to run with and keep me company for the last 50 metres which was great.
I crossed the finish line was given a bottle of beer and a great momento. The food at the end was a site and another beer, pretty much thought that the smell of beer would send me over the edge but it was great to have.
That was tough going and shows how much more I need to do in training wise over the course of 7 weeks. Would like to thank all the marshal's and organisers for a fantastically run event, so much so that you will probably see me next year :D.
Finish Time : 5:24:25
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