The Tartan Army & The Great Glen Way

Sometime last year, I had an exchange of messages my pal Roddy Riddle who is going out to compete in the 28^th edition of the Marathon des Sables. For those who don’t know, Roddy – he is an ex international cyclist who amongst various achievements broke Graeme O’bree’s Scottish 1 hour record and represented Scotland in the 1994 Commonwealth Games. 

Whilst there is no question about his sporting past being impressive, the fact he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes four years ago makes lining up to run the equivalent of six marathons over a seven day period in typically 40 degrees centigrade simply awe inspiring. Factor in the self-sufficient (in the MdS you need to carry all your own food for the week, sleeping bag & emergency equipment) and the challenge verges on defying explanation.

The exchange centered around suitable training. I mentioned that in the run up to my own shot at the hardest beach holiday in the world (the 2008 23^rd edition of the Marathon des Sables) my biggest back to back training expedition was to run the Great Glen Way from Inverness across Scotland to Fort William. Since Roddy lives and works in Inverness (see Bike of Inverness) a repeat journey made perfect sense …kind of. We agreed that the last weekend in January was close enough to be of benefit but far enough away from the event not to be too risky.

Being 100% honest I was nervous, very nervous in fact. When I did it last, I was the fittest I had been in my life and had many more training miles leading up to it than I did sitting on the train heading north last week.

Key to my preparation was the support of good friend Joe Coll who joined me on all the big trips. This time was no different and after losing the support team to the snow, he kindly stepped in to drive the van, fill flasks, deliver hot drinks, provide safety cover, run in and out from key locations to check on us, do his chef (for myself anyway …but more of that later) and probably most important …provide a link to the world and give encouragement and smile a lot.

Gradually, the running team grew in size to include other runners (mainly based in Scotland but with one adopted Scotsman) until there was a tidy number of seven MdS bound (Roddy, Steve, Colin, Alasdair, Andy, Derek and Robert) as well as another two ultra-runner / triathletes (Terry and Lorna). I had met Steve and Colin at the Marathon des Sables expo down in London but with the exception of Roddy, everyone was new – interesting side worry was how folks would work together in terms of pace !

Logistics sorted, we all arrived at 7am outside Inverness Castle and headed off west into the darkness. As we nipped along the river, up past the hospital and onto the single track through the forest I realized the pace was going to be much faster than my previous run and got a message to Joe to indicate we were well ahead of the scheduled time for meeting at the first support point of Drumnadrochit. The running meanwhile was great …enough snow to make it fun but not enough to make it difficult. Views impressive and everyone smiling. Huge part of the trip was for Roddy to test his nutrition and monitoring strategy for managing his diabetes. Slightly comic moment was when we stopped for some food / drink and Roddy did a quick blood test – the monitor simply told him to refer to the owner’s manual since the temperature was too low to operate (nae danger of that in the Sahara).

We met Joe and after taking some photographs of the famous Loch Ness Monster, gratefully tucked into tea & coffee, refilled bottles and headed back out onto the trail. Again, with the temperature just right and impressive views across the loch …the miles slipped away without too much effort. Nice surprise was meeting up with Joe who had in run to meet us.

Next support point was Invermorriston. Big difference this time round was dropping down into the village in daylight which was a very different experience from dropping down out of the darkness and Joe and I had done back in 2007. More hot drinks and only one 11km section to run to the overnight stop. Joe joined us again and succeeded in getting the guys to actually slow – key to completing the Marathon des Sables is managing the transition between the bits you can run and the bits you need to walk. We dropped down into the back of Fort Augustus and installed ourselves into the great Morag’s Bunkhouse.

Funny wee side story …

One of the guys on the run is actually an excellent and acclaimed chef – to protect his identity let’s just call him “Stephen”. Joe was in master cook mode making ma dinner …a tidy wee combination of mixed peppers, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, basil rice with smoked salmon and prawns. Couple of girls over from Oz were also in the kitchen and asked Joe if he was a chef (he had even brought his own olive oil and salt). Joe commented “naw…but this guy is” pointing at “Stephen”. The girls with an excited tone asked what he was making to which came the reply “ehhh …potato wedges and microwave pasta) …an awkward silence filled the room !

Spent a bit of time later that evening with a slide show from my MdS Beach Holiday – nice to relive memories and give the guys a taste of what they will be doing this April.

Next morning was another early rise and after some breakfast, we warmed tired legs up wobbling along the canal tow path headed for the first road crossing and the south side of Loch Oich. During this section Robert took the decision to power walk as much of the route as possible – in terms of MdS training every bit as useful as running …if not actually more useful.  The covered road works were used as shelter since the rain had started and another layer was needed. I commented that the road works shelter were actually luxurious in comparison to the sack cloth tents in the desert (not sure they believed me). 

Personally, I love the section along Loch Oich – it is an old railway track and on the opposite side of the loch from the road so gives an sense of isolation. It also has natural woodland which would make a great wee campsite sometime.

Sadly the rain had got worse by the time we met Joe at Laggan. Stopping was a mixed bag – good to see Joe and resupply but cold. Running along the side of the canal towards the locks it was inspiring to hear a bit of a tale about the extreme triathlon The Celtman. Next section was the committing and undulating 12km along the north side of Loch Lochy. A phone call to Joe from the end of the forest track at Clunes confirmed that Robert was still going strong and just starting on the loch side. We also arranged the next support point above Gairlochy. 

Last time round the 6km tarmac section had been torture …thankfully this time round morale was still high and it passed quickly. Last fill of tea and the end was in sight (well almost). The weather took a serious turn for the worst and the western wind was so strong at times that in addition to driving the rain hard into your face, made running impossible. Slowed to a walk with long straights ahead (and many miles behind) morale took an inevitable dip – it was not the way anyone want to finish the traverse. Upside …great mental strength training opportunity. 

The sting in the tail of the Great Glen Way is the section after leaving Neptune’s Staircase. The road section was bad back in 2007 and has since been rerouted to make it even worse. A pointless 2km round a housing estate (since checked the latest map and can confirm that we were on the right route) drained the last of spirit and energy. By this time a few of us were on the right side of hypothermia just. 

Finally rolled into the Nevisport bar which had an open fire roaring and everything seemed alright again.

Very well done to everyone involved and special thanks to Joe for providing faultless support. The MdS guys are certainly in better physical condition with a higher level of fitness than I was leading up to the big beach holiday and hopefully the weekend has given some thoughts on the remaining things to focus on in the next weeks. Roddy has his Type 1 management dialed for sure and reckon everyone on the trip learned loads about reality of the condition rather than what the media may have you believe. 

Cannae wait to follow the main event from the comfort of the internet …mibee even turn the heating up to create some atmosphere.