Excuse the delay in my report. I did send it from the camp but now I am back in civilisation I see it didn’t arrive.
As advertised, this was going to be a very tough day and it lived up to it’s billing. Although the overall gradient was less, 31.2%, there were places where I really did question if I would reach the top if in fact it was the top and not a false summit. I’ve questioned this before when looking a huge sand dunes and my feet were sinking in the sand, but to have those thoughts when standing on firm ground gives you an idea how difficult it was.
I was concerned right from the start because last night I could only eat half my dinner meaning there wasn’t enough fuel in the tank. Breakfast and I only ate a quarter of it so I knew I was going to have to eat regularly on the move and make sure I kept hydrating. I was in third place overall but expected a couple of runners to get past me on this stage as I was taking it easy in preparation for the long day, stage 4.
My good friend Laurent was on a mission and headed off fast so I decided to let him go. I caught up with him at CP2 which was after a 7 km climb but I decided to take 10 minutes rest as I wasn’t feeling great in the heat. I took a salt table and immediately was sick - warning bells were ringing in my head. I still had over 22km to go (advertised as down hill - aye right!) and if I couldn’t keep liquids or food down I was in serious trouble. I left the CP and the summit was a short distance away, straight up. Possibly the steepest gradient so far and I took baby steps at get there. It was less than 10 minutes from CP2 but I decided to rest and enjoy the view. Mike & Christine from Canada came through so I thought I’d follow them on the descent to be safe and knew the other runners would be some way behind - possibly an hour.
The descent was horrendous. All sorts of hazards under foot, each of them a potential ankle breaker so it was very slow. I knew I was struggling as my friends disappeared into the distance. I met some locals climbing up the mountain with baskets of blue berries they had picked and they gave me handfuls to eat. They were so sweat, my mouth is watering just now thinking about them. However every time I tried to drink I was getting reflux. It’s hard to explain my physical and mental state at this time. I had no muscular pain in my body but my stomach was not happy. I was on my own, no one around for miles and there was fresh bear poo and paw prints It was almost impossible to run with the deep logger tracks that were slippy where wet and mud coming over my shoes. Staying upright wasn’t easy but I focused on the next check point - just get to the next CP and re-evaluate and maybe get some medical attention. From CP3 it was only 12 km to base camp and I could recover there.
However I was doubting whether I could manage CP3 to base camp as I had studied the map and knew it was difficult and eventually I started to think about my safety as I was hardly covering any ground. I kept banging my poles together to hopefully scare off the bears but that’s not something I’d thought about when training in Scotland. Going through the forest you had to keep your wits about you as you didn’t want to miss a sign, and at the same time there was the possibility of meeting a bear. I know the probability was low, only one competitor had seen a bear up till that point but she was so traumatised she withdrew, but it was in my head.
With a heavy heart I came to the conclusion that even if I could complete the day, I’d be in such a state and would still have 125km in the next three days that I was asking to much of my body that wasn’t accepting food or water. When I entered the race it was with a view to competing for a top 5 place but now it was about survival and self preservation. I pressed the button on my GPS tracker which alerted the organisers I had a problem and they would come and get me. However I wasn’t going to sit in the woods and wait for them so I continued walking. The logging track was horrific. Churned up by the machinery I was stumbling across tracks that were 2 feet deep and slippy with mud. I became clear that the organisers could never get a car up here so I slowly made my way down the hill. Eventually I heard a scrambler and one of the volunteers was there to see what the problem was. I explained and he told me to sit down and that the car would be here shortly. I’d walked 6 km since pressing the button and was totally done in / finished.
I got in the car and we drove the last 13km to the camp - seeing the terrain, I’d never have made it. When passing my friends I lent out the windows and shouted encouragement to them. I could see the shock in their faces but fortunately they didn’t see the tears in mine. My race was over. When I got back to the camp the doctor sorted me and I was looked after. I was the 2nd runner to drop out with the same problem that day. I was allowed to phone home and explain why I wasn’t appearing on the tracker any more. Fiona then posted the message so that everyone knew and could “stand down from dot watching”.
I cheered my fellow runners home but it was strange being in the tent with them knowing I wasn’t running in the morning. I had given the videographer Mike my kilt at the beginning for a finish line shot so went off to see him as I always sang 500 miles on the start line. We agreed that I’d surprise my pals at the start line so I put my kilt on and when they were all lined up, I stepped out. Instantly I had runners and volunteers hugging me and demanding a photo which was lovely and I really worked hard not to cry (man the fuck up I told myself!). I sang them off and they heading into the distance for the long day. Then the camp was silent.
The volunteers offered me food - real food. Bread with chicken pate and then they gave me a tomato - I bit into the tomato and cried. I have never tasted anything so wonderful. Christ what was happening to me, but they understood. Arrangements were made and they got me to a hotel a few hours away where I spent the next three days. I’ll cover that in my next blog. I’ve lots to share as this adventure wasn’t over but sadly my race was. I’ll be posting another blog on Sunday but I’d like to thank you for all your support and for your emails that I received while in the race. I hope I have conveyed what a multi staged race is like however as will come out in my next blog, this was way more than a race and will forever be etched on my soul. I also would like to thank the organisers for looking after me before during and after the race.
