Glen Ogle 33

A month after my training run at the Kielder marathon, and not much running in between it was with some hesitation I took on the Glen Ogle 33, an ultra race starting at Strathyre and heading through Glen Ogle over to Killin and back.  The course takes in forest roads and trails, cycle routes and a bit of road.

The race started at 8am in cold, damp conditions with rain forecast to come in later in the morning.

Without any real research I was a bit surprised by the extent of height gain in the first few miles before levelling off and then gradually climbing along the former railway line to the top of Glen Ogle.  At this point we dropped down towards Killin before heading back up.  This was perhaps the worst 2-3 miles for me as it was a spell of stop start running and walking and I got no rhythm going.  Once at the top of Glen Ogle again it was back to the rail line and only a half marathon to the finish!  Soon, and as predicted the rain started, about 3hrs into the race.  At the foot of the Glen we reached the 4^th and final drop point at 25.5 miles so it was a quick drink and pick up of a gel and I was delighted to hear one of the marshalls say it was only 5.5m to go.  How I was hoping she was right and 33 was in fact going to be 31m!

So after a bit of a hobble starting again I got a bit of a lift and some momentum for the last stretch.  With a couple of miles to go I caught another runner and we kept each other going and were soon delighted to  see Strathyre approaching and crossing the shooglie bridge it was under the finish banner  and all over.  Standing at the finish the rain seemed to be getting much heavier and I was getting much colder.  It was a 5 min walk (10 mins in my case)  back to the car and by the time I got there I was shivering vigorously.  After 31miles and in that state its not easy getting changed in the back of a car.  But eventually, and after soup and tea, the prospect of driving home wasn’t so bad.

I finished in 4.27.39, in 24^th place of 180 finishers and just over an hour behind the winner.  I was delighted with this , and also amazed how many others I spoke with during the race who do numerous ultras through the year with a few having done 38m at Jedburgh just the weekend before.  As I write this on Sunday morning I’m not sure I’ll do 30m in the next month!