I always find writing a difficult process – enjoyable when I get the random thoughts in my head down on paper, but it is difficult none the less. Running, however, is simpler, you just place one foot in front of the other until the end. You need a pair of shoes, shorts and a t-shirt then you are good to go. Whilst running can be simple, sometimes it is a challenge, sometime you need help, sometimes it hurts, often times it lifts my soul and helps me understand a little more about myself and the world around me.
It is 7:15pm, I am 41 years old, and yet I am being force-fed by a 6ft man mountain who is making airplane noises at me so that I will open my mouth while he stuffs a teaspoon of minced beef down my throat. By this point, I had been running for over 18 hours and had covered an exhausting 80 miles. This might seem desperate, but at this point I knew I could complete the race as the toughest mental sections had passed.
The 2014 West Highland Way Race started at 1am on the 21 June at Milngavie and for me ended successfully at 10 minutes past midnight on the 22nd of in Fort William. It is an epic race that has been run since 1986. I remember walking the West Highland Way route in the early 1990s as a student and taking 7 tough days to walk the route. My friend Andy talked about some of his RAF colleagues who had run the route in a day. This seemed a superhuman effort to me, only achievable by the super elite of the military.
Fast forward about 22 years and a mid life health kick later, I am standing on the the start line at Milgnavie just after midnight with shy of 200 runners looking to run the route in the allotted 35 hour cut-off. I am standing with my training partner Marc Sweeney. Marc and I have run a lot of miles and shared many conversations in the last two years. Marc had aspirations on the West Highland Way Race for the last two years but he had been injured last year and this. He kindly agreed to support me for the first night section of the race until Rowardennan (27 miles). It was great to have Marc there, he always keeps me calm. He also kept me warm by lending me his down jacket whilst we waited for race briefing. As we were listening Marc and I got a hug from Sharon Law whom we had met at the Fling Training Weekend. Another person we met at the training weekend was Katie Hall who was the ‘Angel of Death’ who was to cut the tags off all those that Did Not Finish (DNF).
I was chatting to Katie so much I forgot to line up for the race and had to squeeze through the crowd to get to the race start line after the hooter had gone. There is something special about running through the tunnel at Milngavie Train Station in the dark, it helps to mark the start of this epic journey.
One of the aspects I love about ultras is that they are super-friendly. However, I found that because of the dark, or maybe it was because of nerves, but people talked less at the start of this race, than in others I’ve run. The evening was absolutely beautiful, the perfect weather and temperature for running. Not long into the race I noticed that my insoles of my Salomon shoes had moved backwards which meant I was likely to get blisters on my toes. I stopped to adjust the shoes but by Carbeth is was a problem again. I had had the problem previously with these shoes but thought it was solved with some new insoles. I phoned Marc and asked him to look out my other Salomon shoes when we met at the Beech Tree at around 7 miles into the race.
One of my favourite sections of the course is between Carbeth and Glengoyne Distillary, the views over Drumgoyne hill are beautiful in daytime, but at night it is absolutely breathtaking with the deep rich blue night sky and the fringe of orange clouds caressing the mountains on the horizon. I started running with Alan Robertson one of my friends and heroes. Alan was talking about running in sub 26 hours, he finished in 24hrs27 coming first in the over 60 category. He said he wasn’t being competitive, but I reckon his pace increased a mile per minute as soon as I started running beside him.
Marc met me at the Beech Tree and had the shoes looked out so I was quickly able to get back on the road.
As I ran along the old railway sections I started chatting with Bridget Halewood. She had run the race a couple of times before. Just before we arrived at Gartness, I saw a beautiful shooting star fly through the night sky. I ran with Bridget to Drymen where she met her crew. I continued to Garadbhan Forest where Marc met me to give me some rice pudding. I should have given him my head torch at this point as I didn’t needed it after that. It was 03:30 and it was already nearly daylight. The climb started towards Conic Hill. I took the opportunity to walk the climbs to keep my legs rested. On the way up Conic Hill I spoke to a California lady who was doing the race with her husband with the aim of qualifying for the Western States 100 mile Endurance Race.
As we crested Conic Hill I phoned Marc to update him on my progress and request a few items to be looked out. I ran cautiously down Conic Hill to try and preserve my quads, but think that was a mistake as it seemed to impact on my muscles more than my normal run speed! I spoke to a lovely Irish fellow on the way down who had lived in Sheffield for many years.
At Balmaha, Marc gave me my Brichermuesli for my breakfast which went down a treat. The midges were starting to bite so I hurriedly tried to use some SkinSoSoft, but the spray mechanism failed so I used the evil DEET spray instead. After a quick hug I left Marc and headed up the shore of Loch Lomond.
The loch shore is beautiful and I took opportunities to walk on any steep uphill sections. As I arrived at Sallochy I was able to use the toilets. Stomach issues can ruin day many an ultra runner, so I was delighted to find that I was in good shape. My main memory of this section of the run was the roller coaster of ups and downs. The midges were also starting to be a frustrating problem. Having seen another runner wearing a midge net I decided to test mine and found that it was absolutely fine for running.
I had phoned Marc to look out my Hoka Stinson shoes. My Salomons were working fine but they were my old pair and I felt they weren’t offering the support they used to. Marc complemented me on my steady breathing, as he had seen several people who seemed to be working too hard. I gave Marc a final hug at Rowardennan, as this was the last time I would see him. At the next aid station I was going to be met by my wife Susan and my friends John Kelly and Jo Sahal. Marc met them at Balloch gave them my boxes of kit and advised them that I wasn’t eating and drinking enough.
From Rowardennan I started using a new SuperStarch drink called UCAN, which on paper seemed to offer a perfect nutrition that is easily absorbed by your stomach and giving a very slow release of carbohydrate into the blood, so avoiding sugar spikes, helping to aid the natural fat burning process. The problem was that I had not had time to test this product on long training runs.
From Rowardennan Youth Hostel there is a climb through the forest which gave me a good opportunity for a walk and to eat some food. I had some home made sushi rice cake and a polenta cake. On the descent down I started speaking to Richard Harrison. Richard had previously run Ultra Tour de Mont Blanc. Richard and I were destined to meet several times through the race.
At Inversnaid Hotel I collected my drop bag and unexpectedly met Grant O’Donnell who was one of the mountain rescue crew. Grant is a retired police officer that I used to work with when my job with the Forestry Commission covered the National Park.
The section from Inversnaid to Beinglas Farm is very technical and rocky and is often spoken about as the worst section of the route. It is, however, my favourite section. I like jumping from rock to rock and using my hands to pull myself up some of the rock sections. After a while I caught up with a runner, Jo, who asked if I wanted to pass. I decided to hang back and chat so that I didn’t abuse my legs on my favourite section. I only realised much later that this was Jo Rae. I had run sections of the 2013 Devil o’ The Highlands with Jo, but her dark hair confused me as last year she was blonde! Richard Harrison caught up with us as did a few other guys, but we all decided to run steady with Jo on the single track section.
As the path widened I pick up my pace a little and pushed on to Beinglas Farm. The midges by this point where biting hard so I needed the midge net. I arrived at Beinglas a little grumpy, in part because of the midges and in part because I knew I still had about 55 miles to run. Susan met me and showed me where John and Jo had set up base with the chair. I decided to do a sock change at that point. Susan had some soup prepared which was thicker than I wanted, so I asked for my mince beef instead. As I said, I was a bit grumpy. John did say I got less grumpy the closer I got to Fort William.
I set off towards Auchtertyre. The next section had a fair bit of walking uphill which gave me time to eat. I always felt guilty for walking uphills but I knew it was the right thing to do. I played a game of cat and mouse with another runner who didn’t want to acknowledge me. He was stronger on the ups and I was stronger on the downs. It was good to have someone to duel with. I overtook him at the infamous ‘cowpat alley’ which is exactly what it sounds – except it was all dry and desiccated under the sun.
The section from Crainlarich is a mixture of steeps ups and steep downs through the forest and there are some lovely bits near the river. I was conscious that this was about as far as I had run before and kept back on the climbs. The descents were a little painful but not too bad. I passed a few groups of backpackers on the route, but it did surprise me how few walkers I saw on the whole WHW route.
I phoned Susan a few miles from Auchtertyre Checkpoint (Mile 50) and said I wanted to change my top and socks. She told me my support runner Liz had arrived. If I was on target time then I did not expect to be able to run with Liz from this checkpoint. However I had strictly instructed my crew not to discuss times or distances with me. At the checkpoint I was offered more of the thick soup that I didn’t enjoy and I said ‘can I not have my mince’. Susan told me it was not ready yet. To my surprise I was allowed to run with Liz, I would have thought I was behind schedule but Liz blurted out “And you are exactly on schedule” to the embarrassment of the rest of the crew. It was good to know actually otherwise I would have been concerned I was way off target pace. You are not allowed a support runner if you are within 4 hours of the leader. As it turns out a battle at the front was making this a course record year. I had another successful toilet stop – stomach still in good nick.
Liz and I set off towards Tyndrum, this was only a few miles and Susan and John met us with a lovely selection of ice creams. I had the best tasting Solero ever. Liz was great fun. A little ball of sunshine that kept me going with stories about work (we both work for Forestry Commission) and her family. This point in the race was significant as it was further than I had ever ran before, yet I still had to run a further 43 miles. Liz kept this daunting thought from my head as we headed towards Bridge of Orchy. I met Jo Rae again but she was having stomach issues and was planning to pull out soon. I reassured her that she was still running strong but she called it a day at Bridge of Orchy. My memory is not good with details, so although I knew the course well, I was constantly surprised when I went round the corner to find that there were still several miles to get to the next checkpoint. My GPS watch had a false reading at some point in the run and reckoned I had run 584 miles by this point – this was good as it stopped me fixating on distance.
I was walking one of the climbs when my friend Elspeth Luke came running past saying “Hello, I am feeling strong, so I am going to push on”. I desperately wanted to push on too, but the sensible part of my brain (and Liz) told me to relax. I fell on my hands at this point but was saved from injury by my hand bottle. I didn’t see Elspeth again until the finish she had a storming run knocking almost six hours off her time from last year.
Liz really seemed to enjoy the run and offered to keep running till Glen Coe if Shona wasn’t available. Liz and I arrived at Bridge of Orchy met by Shona and John. I had met Shona on the Devil o’ The Highlands race last year and we ran the last 9 miles together and just really hit it off. Shona is super strong and I knew wouldn’t put up with any nonsense from me as I got tired in the later stages.
At Bridge of Orchy Shona and I met Richard again and we talked on the climb up. His support runner hadn’t arrived off the train yet. Shona and I then pushed on the descent and up towards Glen Coe. It wasn’t long before Richard caught up and pushed on hard to Glen Coe. He was faster on the climbs than me but I couldn’t seem to make up time on him and I think he was probably ten minutes ahead of me at the next check point. The journey to Glen Coe seemed hard-fought, but stunning nonetheless. Shona did a good job of pushing me to run when I needed. We passed a runner who was taking a nap at the side of the trail. His support runner found it amusing whilst he took guard over his runner.
The route rolled up and down and round the mountains, but eventually we got sight of Glen Coe. We arrived to be greeted by Susan. Susan had got me some mince. I later found that we had both forgotten the mince at home and Susan dissected a lasagne at the Cafe at Glen Coe to give me the mince I had asked about at the last two checkpoints. The problem was I was in no mood for solid food, so Susan started force feeding me whilst I changed my socks. John complained again that I was not drinking enough. I grabbed two hand bottles one with flat Sprite and one with UCAN. I felt shattered at this checkpoint, but my crew later said I was in good spirits.
Shona and I set off from Glen Coe to Kingshouse Hotel. My quad muscles seemed really tender but running was still possible. We went past the hotel and along the public road before weaving up a track towards the Devils Staircase. The Staircase is one of the steepest sections of the route but I took it as an opportunity to walk and enjoy the scenery. Richard caught up with us about half way up along with his support runner. Shona surprised his support runner by asking about his train journey. The four of us chatted up to the top of the Devil, where I stopped to tighten my shoes (with Shonas help). I love downhill, so we were able to make some ground. I was breathing a little hard at some points so Shona encourage me to lower my arms to take pressure off my heart. You’ll note she did not get me to slow down. Shona discovered how heavy my pack was thanks to Johns desire to make sure I was drinking and eating enough. The run to Kinlochleven is really nice with some good steep sections which we ran down. At this point my confidence about my ability to complete the race kept improving. Shona and I had bets about how long it would take to get to Kinlochleven, Shona reckoned it was 20 minutes, I thought 25 mins but it was nearer 30 mins.
Kinlochleven is one of the major weigh stations and the last Checkpoint before the finish. I had lost no weight, in part because I was still wearing my super heavy pack. There was more of that mince that I didn’t want but John force fed me despite my grimaces. I had a banana which went down a treat. We packed my Silva Runner Headtorch for the night section. I had another sock and t-shirt change. It was at this point that I heard that Paul Giblin had beaten his own course record by 40 minutes – a stunning performance.
I started shivering as Shona and I set off for the final leg of the run. Shona demanded that I put on her hat and gloves. I had my own, but I wasn’t saying no to Shona. I knew I would say ‘no’ – only once to Shona and I needed to save that for the right moment. The climb out of Kinlochleven soon warmed me up. The good thing is that once you get up the hill, the majority of the rest of the route seems to be downhill. This section of the route is also where I first met Shona so it held good memories.
We met Brian McFarlane and his father. Brian had supported his father last year and this year the roles were reversed. Brian and I met at the D33 this year, where we ended up having great conversation whilst injecting an extra minute per mile to our pace for the last five miles. We had a quick chat with the lovely guy from Wilderness Mountain Rescue. When we looked at ahead Brian and his father seemed to stormed ahead of us. I commented on their fast speed when Shona made a quip about “Brian the Snail” and forced me to pick up my pace. At earlier stages Shona asked me whether I was ready to run, but now she just started running and I dutifully followed. We caught up with Brian when he stopped to get a drink and Shona and I pushed on.
The run to Landuvra was really nice running but common with the previous stages, it took a lot longer than I expected. There were loads of corners. At Landuvra we had a quick chat with John Kynaston who said we would be about 1 hour 40 to the finish. The time was 22:30 which meant I was going to be slightly behind my 23 hour schedule – this was the first time I allowed myself to think about my finish time. We set off with some determination.
After a few miles it started to get dark. I had heard that the dark really slows people down but I had a 550 lumen head torch so I was comfortable I would be able to push the pace. However my head torch would not switch on. I had an emergency Petzel E+ headlamp which Shona insisted she used and I took her head torch (with low battery power). I was grumpy about my faulty head torch but Shona rightly kept me focused on the task. I was struggling to see properly and had to slow my pace through the forest. Shona insisted that I ran. “You can run but I am not” – okay that’s me used my one ‘no’. Glad I save it! Once we were out of the forest visibility was reasonably good so I was able to push on, especially once we got onto the forest road descent.
It felt like Shona and I were absolutely flying. Shona offered to support me again next year and we chatted through when she would do the race. Its a wonderful feeling running at this point where you know that a long-held ambition of completing the West Highland Way Race was now an absolute certainty. We arrived at the Braveheart Carpark which signals the last mile of the route. I couldn’t believe how good I felt at this point in the race. I felt like I could run another 20 miles, 40 miles.
We hit the outskirts of Fort William and kept pushing the pace. We saw Susan, which meant we were close to the finish at the Leisure Centre. I ran to the centre doors and had my timing chip recorded for the final time. I had finished in 23 hours and 10 minutes in 60 place out of 196 starters.
Shona commented about how lucky I had been. I had been strangely looking forward to hallucinations and soul crushing lows within the race. These did not come. I was tired at points but had managed to keep a positive spirit. It was a fabulous adventure, where I discovered that my personal limits are further away from me than I had ever imagined.
Thanks
I used to think running was a solitary sport, but Ultra running and especially this race is a team sport. My wife Susan and my girls Rosalind (6) and Alana (2) have supported my training schedule. Susan was fab pre race and during the race in getting food and other stuff ready. My Mum looked after the girls during the race. Marc has been a constant support through all the training runs we have done over the last two year as well as doing the unglamorous first night shift during the race. I look forward to many more training runs as he trains towards running the WHW race next year – third time lucky. John and Jo were brilliant throughout the day. John had been training especially to support me until he got a stress fracture – real friendship. Liz was a brilliant ray of sunshine in the middle of the race which is normally my worst point in any race. Shona ran the last 35 miles with me and was the perfect task master / friend that got the best out of me. Finally I want to thank all the family and friends who sponsored me for the ME Association, together we raised £1,374.96
Stuart Chalmers Ultra Run Blog 
I’m not sure Man Mountain is a flattering description and only you would be disappointed. In missing out on the dark mood swings. Next year I can make sure I bring you down if you want 🙂
Great write up. I still have to write mine but was fun reading yours and bringing back the memories! Keep running (and blogging) strong! Well done earning that fish supper
A super report. Brought back some memories.
(An Irish fellow, currently living in Sheffield).
Stephen – It was great to meet you. Sorry I forgot you name. I still remember the look of satisfaction you had when you were at the finish.
Well done Stuart- great race!
I always like bumping into you at a race as (a) the chat is going to be good and (b) if I’m that far up the field it means I’m having a good race!
I think I’d still be on the Lairig Mor in a fit of rage if my head torch hadn’t worked!
That photo of you being force-fed is brilliant!