2012 in Review

Well as 2012 closes and and New Year arrives, looking back it was a tale of two halves, January arrived and i was carrying an injury that i picked up after the River Ayr Way Race (RAW), i made the mistake of running the Glen Ogle (GO33) in the November which made it it worse.

Six months in and i was just getting back to where i was in September 2011, my races went as follows:

Clyde Stride

I entered the Stride as my first race of the year thinking that i was ready to race, how wrong i was there i am in the top six places and get to the 32 mile mark and have to pull out through pains in my calf's, i could not believe what was happening.

Devil O'the Highlands

It was seven weeks later and i was determined to complete the event, the only one of the triple crown that had eluded me, the race set off and i found myself sitting in third place behind Thomas and Casey until i was caught at, yes 32 miles by Craig Cunningham, i was now in forth place but found myself slowly pulling the gap back the closer we approached Fort ,we agreed to run in together but after crossing the finish line the race director gave third spot to Craig awarding me fourth and first Veteran, i was not pleased and believed they could have awarded the time jointly however i was over ruled and place a second behind him.

John Lucas Memorial

Two weeks later i was on the start line of the John Lucas, also known as the RS 50, sounds like my initials but the RS actually stands for Round Strathaven, anyway Grant Jeans had sent out a tweet trying to bolster the numbers due to them spiralling downwards in previous years, although the field was small i knew that Grant would be the guy to beat as he holds the record for the course and that he was not turning up for fun, we set off and before we knew it Grant and me where on our own, i slowly edged past Grant at the 15 mile mark and it stayed that way until the end, only after closing the line did i find out that he pulled out at 30 miles. i could not believe that i had won my first ultra, a big factor on finishing was through my support, David Mooney kept me going the whole way especially when i was struggling with hip pain and still had 20 miles to go.

River Ayr Way Race

Another one of my favourites after finishing third the previous year i though if i can run a reasonable race i could be in the top part of the field, i was leading until 24 miles when i was caught by Craig Reid, we both worked away until Andy Johns past both of us, we were both struggling but me worse than Craig my hip was in severe pain from the 50 miles pounding on the road a few weeks earlier. i decided again at the 32 mile mark that i could not go on, the number was really starting to haunt me, any way i returned my second DNF for the year.


Glen Ogle (GO33)

after some serious rest, i was offered a late entry by Mike and Bill, so i though i would take up their offer, it was a cold crisp morning and Craig Reid had picked me up on the road to the event we arrived and i said to Craig that he should fancy his chances of a top spot finish after looking at all the faces on the start line after all he was second at the stride and he had years on a few of us, the race set off from its new start and soon Craig was away i settled in with a group before moving in to the 3rd place until mile 26 where i was passed, i couldn't complain as there was not much left in the tank, but hung on for fourth spot which was pleasing as i really wasn't 100% fit.

West Highland Way Opens

I wanted to have another r go at this event after finishing inside the 20 hour window (16th posn) in 2011, it was going to be a waiting game until the entries had closed at the end on November.

Marcothon

I had committed myself to doing the Marcothon, for those not familiar, you have to run every day in December for a minimum of 5k or 25 min,this includes the 25th, i had decided that whilst i wait for the WHW ballot process, i would set a second challenge, which was to run the equivalent distance of the WHW times Four (380 miles), this was going to be a bold challenge as you just don't know what to expect from December.

The first week passed and along with it came the news of acceptance to the 2013 WHW event and before long i had a spring in my step churning out the miles, by Christmas day i had met my first challenge all that remained was to finish the Marcothon, as the last week came in and the friends i had made on Facebook were posting i believed that i could go a step further than planned so i pushed for the 500 mile mark which i duly got on the last day.

As 2013 approaches i will look back on a a six moth period where i won a race and finished fourth twice, completed the Marcothon and ran 500 Miles, all in all not a bad half season. as i write this i have just entered the D33 and plan to do the GEDM followed by the WHW, all that remains is to try and remain injury free like all of us hope for.

Best wishes to all for the year ahead :-)