Loch Ness Marathon 2013
The Loch Ness Marathon is a medium-sized event following the roads to the south of the Loch into Inverness. Around 4,000 runners did the marathon this year, with a further 5,000 in the shorter events. The event village has a festival atmosphere complete with a mini 'expo'.
It is picturesque and undulating. A great course to run steadily: when I ran it in 2008 in 4hrs 9 I loved it. This year, racing as part of Fife AC's marathon team I was to have a very different experience!
Having had a three-week cold I had tapered too deeply. This might not be a problem for most people but it's not great for a runner with mastocytosis! On the morning of the race my skin flared red in the shower and I realised I had let too many mast cells build up. People with mastocytosis are advised to avoid exercise, especially intense exercise. However I have discovered (through sheer bloody mindedness) that regular training - in my case - reduced the excessive number of mast cells by degranulating a few at a time on a regular basis. My long taper had allowed the little buggers to build up again.
My hotel (The Beaufort - mediocre and massively overpriced for marathon weekend) was a 20-minute walk to the start. The pedestrian traffic at 7am was pretty heavy. At Bught Park I found a bus with a toilet and took the last seat. I chatted briefly with the guy next to me then stuck my earphones in and closed my eyes. After an hour the buses pulled up on high ground in the middle of nowhere and we were ejected into the windy wilderness. I bumped into Amie and we headed for the start area. Our coach was down at the start having driven up the course (he was race referee). He told us it was a horrendous course. I laughed. It was soon to become apparent that my laughter was ill judged and my memory of 2008 entirely warped. How I managed to forget how horrific it was I have no idea. I'm still not entirely convinced that it hasn't somehow got hillier in the intervening years...
Because we were going for the Scottish Marathon team gold we had to line up at the line rather than further back as it's judged on gun time, not chip time. Expecting to be overtaken quite quickly I got down the side, this meant I was in the start photo which was pretty embarrassing! When the countdown reached zero we were off, and off fast. Because the early miles are downhill and the later miles very much uphill you need to store extra minutes in the first three miles. Consequently my first miles were 6'05, 6'41, 6'41. After that though - and contrary to the lovely elevation profile on the website - the course goes up and down like a seesaw. The downs are too steep to coast and the uphills steep enough to accumulate lactic acid.
By mile six and just after the Clif Shot hit my system I felt absolutely fantastic. I had been worried about how fast my team mates had gone off (and vanished by this point) but then Lou passed me and I relaxed. Lou is a very experienced sub-3 marathoner so I realised that, if anything, I had gone off too fast. I relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.
Around mile 8 the wheels began to come off. My fingers had swollen up like sausages, my throat had constricted so I couldn't take on fluids or gels without choking and my quads hurt like I'd already run 20 miles. At this point I got frustrated and angry and in truth seriously considered quitting. Marathons and mastocytosis clearly didn't mix. But I was also running this marathon to raise funds for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, and to prove that you can have a serious chronic illness and still compete. So, miserably, I kept going. I kept reminding myself that it was a beautiful, sunny day and the scenery was stunning. I tried to enjoy the Loch and focus on getting to the next feed or water station. Gradually the symptoms from the mast cell degranulation began to subside and I was just left with very sore legs. Sore legs I could cope with. Again I made myself look at the scenery and be grateful for the perfect weather. I got a boost when I heard a spectator say 'there's another Fife girl!'
Perversely, I enjoyed the succession of long hills from 17.5 to 19. It gave me a new thing to focus on. I got into step with a stronger runner and let him pull me along. Then I heard someone on a bike say 'come on Fife, your pal's just ahead'.
Sometime after the 'mile 21' marker I spotted a Fife vest up ahead and realised I was catching up with a team mate. I was so happy to see this but really shocked when I saw it was Amie who I thought would be a long way ahead of me. Unfortunately she wasn't coming with me so I went on alone. Looking at my splits shows how much seeing a team mate boosted me as I ran mile 21 in 7'14''. From there on it was a case of clinging on and counting down. I began lying to myself about how many miles were still to go. At the final Cliff electrolyte station I stopped to swap the lemon flavour with the cranberry razz. I needed every psychological boost I could lay my (by now very sticky and swollen) hands on and I love the cranberry razz.
In Inverness I got a piece of information that would give anyone a boost. A man called out: 'Come on Fife, one of your lot won it!'. I just had to get to the bridge, cross it and run a half mile back to Bught Park where I could stop. I suddenly realised that we would almost certainly have won team gold, all I had to do was keep going. You can't see the finish from a distance but when I did see it I was overcome with relief and happiness. It hadn't been a perfect race but it was over and I had a PB.
Pain vs Unadulterated Relief
Ron was waiting just over the line. After a hug I told him I was never doing that course again. What a contrast from 2008 when on finishing I announced I wanted to do another marathon!
Megan did win the women's race, and she also broke the course record! Megan's time along with Jen's and mine got us Scottish Athletics Marathon Championship team gold. Megan became Scottish Athletics Marathon Champion on her debut! What a day for Fife AC :)
Megan Crawford 2.46.35
Jen Kibble 3.16.53
Sophie Mullins 3.18.53
Amie McKimmie 3.22.20
If you feel inspired to sponsor someone daft enough to run a marathon with mastocytosis and help research into blood disorders please visit my JustGiving page and give whatever you can. Thanks :)
http://www.justgiving.com/tinyrunner
Comments