The Glen Ogle 33 has rapidly established itself in the
Scottish ultra calendar in the three years of its existence, with entries
filling up rapidly in the months before the race. Although it’s not quite the
advertised 33 miles, it’s a challenge in terms of ascent, with a stern test at
the start, a long pull up Glen Ogle, and then a steep section coming back from
Killin to the head of Glen Ogle.
Kerry ran the race in 2011 and 2012, and was keen to give it
another go this year. On the back of their marathon efforts, Julia and Susan
were looking for an even bigger challenge, and Nic just seemed up for a big
long run. Kirsty was running as well, on top of a huge programme of half
marathons, and marathons, all leading up to her first ultra. We did originally
have three more entrants, but Liz decided it wasn’t really her thing after all,
Phil M decided his calf might not manage the whole thing and Phil T struggled
to regain his mojo after the Chester marathon in October.
The race started in Strathyre in decent conditions for the
start of November, cold but dry, and with a terrific atmosphere of camaraderie
among the participants and their supporters, and no small sense of trepidation.
The first two miles are a hard pull out of Strathyre on forest tracks, which at
least has the benefit of preventing runners going out too hard at the start of
the race. From the Kingshouse Hotel, the race route joins the cycle track to
start the long pull up into Glen Ogle. We drove up to the car park at the
burger van at the head of the glen and met up with the massed ranks of the
Sweeneys, Saunders and Taylors ready with well-stocked bags of provisions.
Colin and Fiona L were on their bikes down the track,
keeping Julia and Susan company as they made the long pull up from the Kingshouse.
As we walked down the cycle track towards the viaduct, all the runners seemed
to be in good spirits and enjoying themselves, about a quarter of the way into
the race. As we expected, Kerry was first on the scene, and we jogged with her
for a few hundred metres to the checkpoint. Nic came along next, followed by
Kirsty, and then Julia and Susan running together with Colin and Fiona taking
it easy on their bikes. Just before we left Glen Ogle to head down into Killin,
we were a bit taken aback to see the lead runner Robert Turner cresting the
rise down into the car park to start his descent back down Glen Ogle, having
done the eight mile Killin loop while some of the runners were still making
their way up the glen. Needless to say, he got a big round of applause.
From the head of Glen Ogle we drove down to Killin and
walked up into the forest tracks. Unfortunately we were too late for the speedy
Kerry, but we had a wee trot with Nic and then with Julia and Susan as they
made their way from the nice gentle descent onto the hill back up to the head
of the glen. Lots of people started walking as soon as they hit the hill, but
our runners, with lots of hill miles in the legs, kept themselves going on the
slopes.
So then it was back to the top of the glen, and the weather
started turning, with cold rain sweeping on from the west and a nasty biting
wind. At first I didn’t believe the distant figure in the pinky-purple top
coming down the hill was Kerry because she was going too fast and looked like a
thoroughbred hill-runner, but sure enough, there she was, happy to be out of
the trees and onto the return journey. For the next six miles or so, she had
Levi to keep her the company, back down to the Kingshouse. Nic came next, and
was accompanied by Wendy down to the Kingshouse. The Saunders-Greenlees support
crew was out in force for Susan and
Julia and after suitable refuelling, Daniel ran with Susan and Julia down to
Lochearnhead.
From the top of the glen we headed down to the King’s House,
and by now, the weather was getting really grim. Kerry arrived with Levi at the
checkpoint, both looking like cold drowned rats. At this point, she’d worked
out she was on target to beat the five-hour mark, so wasn’t in the mood to hang
about chatting with Jeff and Sav. Dave Graham was planning to run with her over
the last few miles but was delayed a bit, so had a bit of a sprint to catch up
with her as she zoomed out of the checkpoint. Dave ran with Kerry for a bit and
then went back to pick up Nic to chum her along for a while. Once we’d seen
Kirsty, Susan and Julia come through, we headed to Strathyre for the finish. Meantime,
Colin and Fiona stayed to join Susan and Julia for their final miles. (At this
point, the details of who was running with who started to get a bit confused,
so apologies to anyone I’ve missed out.)
We didn’t have long to wait before Kerry came in on the
stroke of one o’clock, with a finishing time of 4.54 – 20 minutes better than
last year (although it should be noted that she did do a bit more training this
year). Not bad for someone who’d been throwing up two days earlier on a warm-up
run with Nic, and who had only eaten one gel, a Quality Street and a wee sandwich
all the way round. Nic came in next, in a very creditable 5.23, at the lower
end of her target finishing range. Kirsty was next, finishing in 5.42, and Julia
and Susan also finished comfortably inside their target time, completing their
first ultra marathon in 5.45, coming in well ahead of many more experienced
ultra runners.
It’s quite easy to say what happened on the day. It’s harder
to say just what a terrific effort was made by all the runners. I’m in awe of
all of them, not just for the physical and mental fortitude they displayed, but
for the enthusiasm, the enjoyment and for the strength of the friendships which
helped them all with their achievements. I really did feel I’d witnessed
something very special.
